Giddyup little website

Google has a neat tool for sniffing out any clunky items in your or your clients’ websites that could slow loading or navigational speed.

Try it here:

http://pagespeed.googlelabs.com/#

Speed is becoming an issue as more and more people browse with smartphones. So, getting your website to run a little faster will definitely put you at the head of the herd.

Best spam email (in a while)

I have to admire the bold confidence of this spammer, as well as the retro date designed (I guess) to stay hidden from view until I stumble upon it later.

Damn, not only do they have illegal drugs, but it looks like they’re on sale, too.

The real Dos Equis guy

I’ve always gotten a kick out of the Dos Equis TV spots. Here’s a short piece in the New Yorker on the real Most Interesting Man In The World.

New skills require practice

A pirate walked into a bar, and the bartender said, “Hey, I haven’t seen you in a while. What happened? You look terrible.”

“What do ya mean, ya scurvy dog?” asked the pirate.

“That wooden leg? You didn’t have that before.”

“Aye,” said the pirate, “a cannon ball took me leg.”

The bartender said, “What about your hand?”

“Cut off in a sword fight, so I got fitted with this hook.”

“And the eye patch?”

“Arrr, one day at sea I looked up, and a bird crapped in me eye.”

“You’re kidding,” said the bartender. “You couldn’t lose an eye just from bird crap.”

“It was me first day with the hook.”

It’s cold

“The cold was so extreme that even the sun’s rays froze and hung down from the roof of the world.”

– Carlos Valdez Diaz

Leadership

Managers light a fire under people; leaders light the fire within them.

Thanks to Jeff Deckman for the essence of this great observation.

Gap changes logo; incurs customer wrath

What was wrong with Gap’s new logo? Apparently everything, according to vocal Gap loyalists who unleashed their collective fury on the retailer’s Facebook page. The trusty old logo (on the left) was ditched by the company in favor of a stylish new logo (on the right)…  For a few moments, that is.

Gap quickly announced it had made a mistake and reverted to its familiar white serif type on dark blue background.

There’s nothing right or wrong about a logo (designers can jump in here), but if it has been etched into the hearts and minds of loyal customers, companies would best tread carefully before changing it. 

For anyone who believes that c0nsumers do not pay attention to advertising, the Gap episode clearly argues otherwise.  They do. They develop loyalties and relationships with brands. Furthermore, today’s social-media-connected consumers can voice their opinons immediately.

Was the whole thing a clever ploy to create buzz for a brand in decline? Probably not, although it certainly did put Gap in the news, generating tons of free publicity. For daring companies with slumping sales, the lesson could be that such a rebrand (whether or not it meets with consumer acceptance) might just be a great strategy.

How I broke into advertising

It all started in Miss Gershkoff’s typing class at Scituate High School. Carl Rossi and I would dream up products and ad campaigns, including our most famous: Nagilas. Nagilas were corn snacks shaped like gila monsters, formulated from corn (and whatever additional ingredients go into incredibly tasty corn snacks), and marketed in homes across America with TV spots anchored by the irresistible jingle, “Have a Nagila, have two Nagilas, have three Nagilas, they taste like corn.”

Now, with every project I take on involving Marketing, Advertising, Public relations, Creative direction, Copywriting, Brand building or Brand strategy and planning… I look back and thank Miss Gershkoff for the really handy typing skills and sweet teaching style, and thank Carl for the genius two-man ad agency that operated solely between practice sessions on those funky manual typewriters at SHS.

Billboard: I need a freakin job. Period.

“What’s that? Look, your government leaders have more vital issues to work on, like extracting a big fine from you nice young people unless you buy health insurance. So stop this silly ‘job’ stuff. Just get ready to fork over some extra dough to us. And don’t tell me you can’t borrow from your parents; they’re loaded.”

Sincerely,
The President

Check out INAFJ.ORG

Companies oozing personality and vibe — what a concept

I was poking around the Net and spied a great headline and story…

With a knowing grin and nod of my head,
This writing before me was clearly of gold and not made of lead.

The column by Jason Fried is at Inc. Magazine. The subject: B2B writing and how many companies squander communications opportunity on generic writing; while others, like woot.com run with the opportunity to shape a corporate personality that sets them apart, and that creates rapport with their customers.

Jump over to the article on Inc. and check it out.