Author: Melton Cartes

How Bad (Automobile) Marketing Ruins a Country’s Economy and How to Fix It

Advertising Rules

Or: How you can learn to be better at marketing from the mistakes of others.

In the wake of the US automobile manufacturers’ pleas for yet another bailout, a great marketing lesson can be learned. Three articles featured on the Huffington Post together create a very compelling picture for not only what is wrong, and what could be right, with Detroit but also for how critical marketing is, not only to the health of a business but to the health of the economy as a whole. Yet another case of “We’re all in the same boat.”

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An Old Layout

Portfolio

Eighteen years ago I came up with an ad layout for Torres wine while working at an ad agency that held the account. It was one of three concepts I developed that I felt really proud of—so much so that I’ve consistently shown the rough comp in my portfolio at practically every job interview since then.

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But Microsoft doesn’t make PCs…(updated)

Pop Culture, Strategy, Updated

You’ve seen the new Crispin, Porter + Bogusky campaign for Microsoft, first the Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld roadshow followed by the supposed next phase of the plan, the cavalcade of real people and celebrities claiming to be “a PC.”
Can this dude make Microsoft Cool?This first came to my attention with the cover of Fast Company’s June 2008 issue that pretty clearly asks if CPB’s Alex Bogusky can make Microsoft cool. While the article itself quotes Andrew Keller, one of CPB’s co-executive creative directors saying “To try to be cool is to not be cool,” the resulting campaign does just that.

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Why Movie Marketing So Often Sucks! (updated)

Advertising Rules, Strategy, Tips

Millions of dollars are spent each year producing and marketing movies. By some schools of thought, whatever the size of the production budget, the marketing budget should equal that. This is definitely true of bigger budget films above the $60 million level. So, a lot of money is spent by Hollywood trying to get people into theaters.

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Movie Theaters, America’s One True Place of Worship

Pop Culture

“Television will kill the movies!” That’s what Hollywood was afraid of in the 50s. That’s when wide screen “epic” film formats were developed and movies like Cleopatra and Ben Hur came to represent the movies. The idea was that filmmakers had to come up with something that would clearly draw audiences away from television otherwise no one would ever again leave the comfort of their homes.

Hollywood
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