World Water Day, Earth Hour, and Earth Day are just a few popular humanitarian efforts/events that take place in the early months of the year. With their popularity growing exponentially, I don’t think they could’ve timed it any better. Earthquakes, tsunamis, climate change, and as mentioned last week, corporate crises, seem to be occurring at a startling rate, but just when you think the world is going to fall to pieces, the volunteers come to the rescue. Or, wait; is it the ad agencies with their brilliant campaigns that have saved the day? [...]
Book review
The Sage of Persuasion: Part II
[Organ music swelling] Last time on Sage of Persuasion:
Which Hollywood starlet’s father was a big time radio producer in the 1940s? (Hint, he would later create such prodigious television programs as The Today Show and The Tonight Show). Answer: Susan Alexandra aka Sigourney Weaver. Her father was Sylvester “Pat” Weaver.
Viral marketing
OK to go viral?
OK Go, a rock band from Chicago, Illinois, would be hard pressed to make it to the airways of your local radio station, but yet everybody knows about them. Despite being a rock band, they’re better known for their obscure music videos than the songs themselves. With almost 6.5 million views of their latest video since it was uploaded to YouTube a little more than a week ago, it would be an understatement to say it was a successful launch. However, can a band, or better yet a product, survive on video appeal alone? [...]
Event
A Canadian Cinderella story
Did you see the gold medal game? Of course you did – everybody did. The fact that everybody knows what I mean when I say the gold medal game is a case in point, but what about those who didn’t watch the Canada vs. U.S. gold medal men’s hockey game? The triumphant victory isn’t even 48 hours old, but yet it’s almost old news. Have instant news updates and social media redefined the meaning of “news”, or is it just expected that everyone knows what’s going on by the minute? [...]
Event
Building a cleaner, greener community
Today I attended a launch event for an important initiative being undertaken by Halifax Regional Municipality and Conserve Nova Scotia. Metro Transit has acquired two brand new, hybrid buses to service two of the city’s busiest routes — #1 and #10. Trampoline was proud to be involved with the creation and design of the artwork for the bus wrap and the associated micosite, www.getonboardhrm.ca, provides information on the project itself and the technology behind the hybrid buses. Make sure to check out the nifty ticker as it counts the amount of greenhouse gases reduced over the duration of the project. [...]
PR
Toyota, Tiger and Taylor Guitars
Corporate crises, PR catastrophes, and customer care conundrums seem to occur all to frequently these days. Maybe my youthful naivety has gotten the better of me, but off the top of my head I can list a slew of corporate hiccups that have occurred in the past two years alone that made more headlines than Avatar. Maybe that’s a good thing (the fact that they get more attention than a 3-D film), but the frequency cannot be healthy. Tiger being dropped by Accenture, and Taylor guitars being dropped by United may not be overly significant in the grand scheme of things, but when the pedal suddenly drops on a Toyota, real damage is done. However, how do these companies pick up the pieces and recover successfully? [...]
Book review
The sage of persuasion
The other day I did something odd. I walked into a bookstore and bought a book right off the shelf. It might have been peer pressure (Lindsey/Nadine!), or it might have been the bright red starbursts on the front and back covers (Brad’s favourite!). But really, I think I can chalk it up to 2 small words: Terry O’Reilly. Anyone familiar with this name will know they’re in for a treat with this book. An extension of his popular CBC radio show Age of Persuasion, O’Reilly waxes poetic on a variety of advertising topics. A consummate storyteller, he’s brought his A game with this offering, switching nicely back and forth from amusing anecdotes to advertising parlance to historical references. In an effort to organize all this in an aesthetically interesting manner, he uses “callouts” in the margins of each page to provide further information. [...]
Video
A trampoline take on the 2010 Olympic Games
Tramps speak out on the best and worst moments of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. [...]
Guest Blogger
Varying degrees
Editors’ note: Dorian Burns-Coyne is a recent graduate of the Gerald Schwartz School of Business at St. Francis Xavier University with a Bachelor Business Administration and Major in Marketing. He is now pursuing his passion to establish a career in the ad industry.
It seems that getting an undergraduate degree is a prerequisite to securing a decent job these days, but is it always applicable? When I think back to my high school days, my biggest concern was not if, but where I would go to school. However, as a recent university graduate, I can’t help but look back and question if it was relevant to the career I wish to pursue in advertising. [...]
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