I’m kind of digging on these pistachios commercials. They are simple, straight to the point, and leverage the heck out of some “celebrity” endorsements. Thoughts?

In the marketing world being “the first” is an incredible thing. Whether it is being the first brand in a niche product category, the first to use a new media strategy or the first to make a creative new ad claim, people take notice. Firsts also provide tremendous competitive advantage. The only thing worse than being second is blatantly copying the brand that did it first. We’re talking to you Dairy Queen!

If you haven’t seen Dairy Queen’s latest campaign – take a look. For me, it’s a little too close to Old Spice’s campaign. We all know how popular and successful Old Spice’s use of the sarcastic new icon was with the over-the-top irony of their spots. They scored a huge “first.” They came up with a creative strategy that really worked to grab (and hold) the attention of their target audience. It was so popular many of the spots went viral, topping the most watched YouTube video charts. So I can certainly understand why someone in a board room at Dairy Queen must’ve thought – let’s do that! And granted, the two brands aren’t even in the same product category, but still – did they really think the copycat campaign wouldn’t be obvious? And the worst part? Others (like Edge Shave Gel) have starting shamelessly jumping on the bandwagon.

Lesson learned: do your own thing. Sure, plenty of people say there are no more new ideas out there; that everything we come up with has probably been used in some way, shape or form at some point over the past 100 years (even if we don’t know it). Maybe that’s true in many cases, but that doesn’t mean we’ve lost our ability to create new and impactful advertising. And I’m not saying we shouldn’t use creative ideas and strategies from great campaigns that are already out there. We should be inspired by the great advertising around us, not take the easy, copycat way out.

You’ll probably recognize this commercial from the 2011 Super Bowl. It is Chrysler’s “Born On Fire” ad, you know, the one where Eminem doesn’t smile. I won’t get too deep into the merits of it as a commercial, but there is a good advertising lesson in it.

At it’s roots, this ad is a quintessential North American car maker commercial: it’s patriotic. American car makers have been appealing to our sense of patriotism and love for the mother land since, well, forever. Yet while Chrysler used this same tactic, they twisted and turned the method to work for their brand. Instead of the red, white, and blue fanfare of other car commercials, Chrysler pulled at its roots. “Imported from Detroit” is dirty and bruised; it draws out an emotion in all of us. You get that feel of an underdog story, you hear that redemption song, and as Americans, we love nothing more than the little guy stickin’ it to the man (I mean, they did make 6 Rocky films). With the hell and back story of Detroit, Chrysler nailed this commercial and gave goosebumps to the down-but-not-out fighter in all of us.

Chrysler shows us there is nothing wrong with using tried and true ideas. Finding a fresh angle or voice for that accepted idea can be huge for making your brand stand out. So what are you waiting for? Take those tactics in your tool belt and make ‘em new and exciting. Go on… add a bit of flair.

I love ads that air during sporting events. They are often funny, over the top, or creative. So I wasn’t surprised to start laughing out loud at Troy Polamalu’s Head and Shoulders commercial last night during the Steeler’s game. I might be biased because I am a Steeler’s fan, but this commercial had me cracking up. And since I was still laughing about it this morning, I figured you might enjoy it, too.

What are some of your favorite sports spots?

I say all the time that creating a print ad is so much harder than creating a TV spot. In print, you have 1.2 seconds to nail your point before a page is turned or passed by. With TV, you get 30 seconds. That’s a lifetime to sell something. What is difficult in writing for TV is the temptation to let the bells and whistles of today’s technology take the lead – let the tail wag the dog.

If technology furthers the strategy, use it. But strategy is where the TV commercial begins. Which leads me to the other difficulty in writing for TV. All our lives we’ve learned to tell stories using words. Now you need to tell them with images, with words merely supporting them. So how do we use visuals in strategy to begin?

The big idea. What’s the main message that persuades and makes the product stand out? This is marketing 101. Determining a product’s USP.

The benefit. What is the benefit of the big idea and whom does it benefit? You have your product’s USP determined and you now need to think about how your target audience will want to hear it and what they’ll be interested in seeing.

Create visual elements that stick. Here’s where the personality of the brand shines bright. If the tone of your brand is rugged, dramatize that toughness with like imagery, typography, movement and sound.

Now you take that visual and tone to script. This is what we call a “treatment.” Use a narrative to tell the story. Much like a Cliff’s Notes version or the basic plot line of what happens. e.g. “Guy walks into a bar, gal comes over and says…” Once you’re happy with the scenario, put it in script form. Once you’re finally happy with your script, you’re off to storyboards. Now you can put technology to work for your script. The dog is now wagging the tail and strategy has not been sacrificed for the sake of cool effects.