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[amymadonia]

Did I Lose You Already?

Did I Lose You Already?

We all know it: attention spans have decreased over the decades with the fragmentation of media (did I lose you already?). My parents recall a time when there were only three cable channels, while I’m not sure I even have a sense of how many streaming services are available today (Pluto, anyone?). Choice, choice, choice is what modernity has spoiled us with, and the ability to control and shape…

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[amymadonia]

Cheers 2020, This One's on Me

Cheers 2020, This One’s on Me

We all wanted to say goodbye to 2020. It’s amazing how much we focus on this change to midnight and switch to 1/1/21 as if things will change and suddenly be different, suddenly be better. It’s an arbitrary marker we agree to, midnight of 1/1, each year, and the closing of a chapter.  We could have decided that by June 30 – we’d had it with 2020, and we could have collectively agreed to start…

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[amymadonia]

Chevy, Find His Manhood

Chevy, Find His Manhood

Media support for Chevy Silverado’s “Strong” campaign nears $300 million, per today’s article on Advertising Age. The article mentions the decline in truck sales due to the recession, ignoring the confounding variable of increasing gas prices during time….but, argh! This isn’t economics lunch its called marketing lunch so let’s get back to brass tacks, the video please:

2014 Chevy Silverado…

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[amymadonia]

UberChopper Sticks the Landing

Take Off with UberCHOPPER

Sometimes a marketing effort is so timely and relevant I’m giddy with excitement and I want to scream from the mountain tops…BRILLIANT!   That happened when I received an email from Uber NYC promoting their helicopter service to the Hamptons.

As any New Yorker knows, for the well-to-do, the summer and weekends in the Hamptons go hand in hand.  The launch of this chopper…

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[amymadonia]

Booking Awesome

Ok, full disclosure.  I don’t have kids.  So for me to relate to the family on this TV commercial by Booking.com and smile ear to ear each and every time I see it is something.  It also helps I’m on the couch a ton watching way too much TV these days nursing a broken foot, but I digress.

I love the music, which is Mozart’sLacrimosa…

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[amymadonia]

Pistachio Ads Crack Me in Two

I have a love/hate relationship with the now 3-year old pistachio nut campaign “Get Crackin.”  I’m split over it.  The TV ads feature a number of famous (The Globetrotters), and D-list (Snooki), and cartoon (Mr. Bill, The Simpsons) celebrities, showing us how they crack (pistachio) nuts.

Get Crackin’ Pistachio Commercials

The consistent lime-green theme is memorable and ties obviously to the…

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[amymadonia]

Drive-In Dominance

Sonic Drive-In (Photo credit: Wikipedia)The TV ads for Sonic do two things well that make them entertaining and strong branding vehicles.  First, the formula is consistent each time, two average-looking guys sit in a car in at a drive-in and say, dead pan, seriously funny and stupid-silly things incorporating some new food or drink from the fast food purveyor, Sonic.…

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[amymadonia]

Just Pick Two JCP

JC Penney at The Shops at Tanforan in San Bruno, California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)J. C. Penney is as American as ice cream cones and lollipops.  How do you take a brand with 100% awareness, 111 years as a retailer and kill it in less than 24 months?  What happened? Management malfunctions and financial slides aside (since those have been beat to death in the press), let’s talk about the…

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[amymadonia]

Welcome to the Marketing Olympics, People.

I feel a sense of shame; I’m jumping on the bandwagon on this one. I lose all credibility as an “independent thinker” forevermore with this post – which kills me, I just can’t help it. Deep breath – I love the new iPhone 5 commercial. I have NEVER gotten my kicks from electronics. Call me a girly girl, but my eyes glaze over in Best Buy. I fall into a mind-numbing stupor in a Verizon store. My…

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[amymadonia]

Unless you are A. Weiner, Don't do it.

Unless you are A. Weiner, Don’t do it.

Hello, Weiner.Few marketing tactics confuse me to the extent of a brand name change.  Unless your name is Anthony Weiner, I am hard up to capture and share the unique junk that makes changing your name a smart move (all puns intended). Brands generally spend a ton of ad money to become known, fight tooth and nail to own their message, hoping one day to attain the holy grail of brand marketing –…

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[amymadonia]

Warby Parker's Full Frontal

Warby Parker’s Full Frontal

Warby Parker has done many clever things to speed their ascension to Internet darling status, including taking transparency to the level of full frontal from the word “go.” It doesn’t hurt that the co-founders have been on the eCommerce speaker circuit for two of the company’s three-year life.  While doing so, the co-founders epitomize their solid fashion cred with their consistent look.  I’m not…

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[amymadonia]

Don't Flash Me, Bro

Don’t Flash Me, Bro

I love a good flash sale.  Nothing inspires urgency like you won’t get it at this price for much longer, or at least, not beyond the next 8 hours and 22 minutes.  I remember when the Rue la la concept came over from France in 2008 and regular eComm retailers were scared. Today a list of similarly modeled retailers with new boutiques tied to the rising sun (11 a.m. or noon, pick your fancy) pepper…

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[amymadonia]

Oh Snap! Do you still think I'm pretty?

Oh Snap! Do you still think I’m pretty?

You might have enjoyed the latest advertising attack by Microsoft on the iPad like I did, during Sunday night football while I was…on my iPad. The narrative of the mock Siri caught my ear first.  Then the side by side comparison with its clever wording (no kickstand!, I’m going to need a “hand” with that).  Clearly entertaining,…

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[amymadonia]

Note to Microsoft: This is America

If you think this is going to be a blog post slamming Microsoft…..Um…you’d be right.  I bought a Lenovo IdeaPad with ……(just end my life now)…Windows 8.   This is what window dressing looks likeWe thought about getting a Mac instead of a PC.  The sole reason we ultimately made the unfortunate decision to go with a PC is because I do a ton of work in MS Excel.  I’m an Excel geek.  And as many of…

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[amymadonia]

ESPN Wins One for Excessive Celebration

I’m not really ESPN’s target but I really appreciate their latest commercial.  It plays on the familiar “Da da da, da da da” sound that bookends their decades-old program, Sports Center. The first most amazing thing about this ad is that it plays on existing equity that they’ve built around their brand over the years – through the…

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[amymadonia]

Don't call it a Chromebook, It's been here for years

Don’t call it a Chromebook, It’s been here for years

I just finished saying how strong sound can be in marketing when this great ad by Google came blasting out of my TV during NFL Monday night football’s commercial breaks (thank god for TV time, these games are too long, and are two days of every week reeeeeeally necessary?!!?).  Anyhow, the song is amazing, that caught my ear.  The engaging graphics, they caught my eye.  I mean, using Power…

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[amymadonia]

Why That Guy isn't a Tool

Why That Guy isn’t a Tool

So often in marketing you see the classic struggles: selling features vs benefits, man vs nature, man vs machine, man vs the in-laws, man vs the Saran Wrap, (don’t even pretend it never happens to you). I pretend as well. I pretend there is no struggle at all, that I’ve got the sale already in the bag. Then I was recently asked to come up with the top ten reasons someone should buy from my…

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