A Winning Ad Campaign Visual for a Transparent Product

Can't see the product? Promoting the packaging is one alternative ...

There was nothing particularly unique about the Absolut Vodka bottle until an incredible ad campaign made it iconic. The Absolut bottle became one of the most recognizable in the world with a print campaign of approximately 1,500 separate ads that ran for about 25 years.

When the campaign started, Absolut had about 2.5% of the US vodka market. When the campaign ended in the early 2000s, Absolut had a US market share of about 50%.

Here are some examples of the ads that had such an incredible impact:

Takeaway 1: Your product may initially appear boring, but you can tell its story in an interesting way that can differentiate it and make it successful. 

Takeaway 2: Sometimes just a properly selected word or two combined with the right visual is enough copy to reach the desired result.

SPIN: Faces, Family, & Real Estate Marketing

I just shaved off my quarantine beard.

That's my spin on my new clean-shaven look.

Because prior to this morning, I haven't been beardless for around 20 years, but am now because of an easily avoidable trimming incident that makes me feel like an idiot. A beardless idiot. 

Spin: I meant to do that.

Spin is the way we knowingly offer a biased interpretation of an event or action or comment or whatever gaff that positions ourselves outside the way we want to present ourselves to the world.

My kids have never seen my chin. They will soon. Probably in minutes. As will my wife. I've had a beard since before we were engaged.

If ever there was a time for spin, this is it. 

When we do something potentially embarrassing, such as an inept attempt at facial hair trimming (which until today I had done successfully a few times a week for a couple of decades), we want to tell the story -- or spin it -- in a way that puts us in the best light. 

Outside of politics, the spin that amuses me the most is found in the world of buying and selling residential property.

Real estate is a veritable spin-fest. If an apartment is so small that you have to step out into the hall to change your socks, it is advertised as cozy. If the kitchen appliances are well-worn harvest gold remnants from 1963, the ad boasts original condition. 

Other real estate spin that entertains me includes:

• Beachfront steal translates to, "You ain't never gettin' hurricane insurance on this baby."
• Country living is an indication that your commute will be longer than your work day.
• One-car garage let's you know that, with skill, you can squeeze your Fiat 500 in, but you might not be able to get it out.
• Must see inside is code for: the outside is uglier than a lard bucket full of armpits.*
• Usable land is spin for "no trees or landscaping."

As a copywriter, I am often challenged with positioning a product or service in the best possible light while, at the same time being truthful. Sometimes that includes describing a house that brings to mind, "What a dump!" as a home that needs TLC.

I'm glad I don't have to do that in my family.

When they ask, I won't give 'em the spin, I'll tell them the truth: 

• When trimming my beard this morning, I made a stupid error and carved a stubbly swatch from just under the center of my nose to just under my left ear.
  
  
• Then, after a few moments of looking at my gaff in horror and realizing there was no saving any of it, I mowed off the rest. Giving my face a look similar to usable land.
  
  
• When I looked in the mirror, I had trouble recognizing myself. 

The kids'll be surprised. So will my wife. There will be laughter.  

And in a few weeks my clean-shaven appearance will be gone. But the ribbing about letting me near sharp objects won't.

*props to a very funny book: "uglier than a lard bucket full of armpits" is courtesy of Cooter Browns' South Mouth. 

PERCEPTION vs REALITY

What if you don’t really know what you think you know?

To survive, that's what an established product had to convince a sophisticated target audience.

By the 1980s, Rolling Stone Magazine had moved from its fringe, counter-culture roots and had become a mainstream music and entertainment publication.

However, advertisers didn’t acknowledge the change, considering the readership as being closer to hippies frequenting head shops than to upwardly mobile Americans buying cars, homes, and clothing that wasn’t tie-dyed.

As such, media buyers were not buying much space. And that was a problem. Rolling Stone wasn’t making its numbers.

Enter advertising agency Fallon McElligot to plant the seed “What if you’re wrong?” in the heads of the advertisers Rolling Stone wanted and needed to buy ads.

The “Perception. Realty.” campaign was a smash hit, boosting Rolling Stone ad revenues by about 50% in the first year.

The campaign ran for around 10 years and featured over 50 “Perception. Reality” ads. Here are a few examples from this iconic campaign:

Good stuff, huh?

Punch in the Gut Poetry

Can something that wasn't composed as a poem be poetry? If it punches you in the gut hard, I say, "Yes."

Poetry transfers an intense expression of feelings, ideas and emotions from the poet to the audience. 

Poems can elevate the spirit and they can punch you in the gut.

This was never meant to be a poem.

But it is. 

One that should never have been made.  

One that should be read often.

One that could change everything.

8:46 by George Floyd

Some water or something, please. 

Please. 

I can’t breathe, officer. 

Don’t kill me. 

They’re gonna kill me man.
Come on man. I cannot breathe. 

I cannot breathe.

It’s my face man. 

I didn't do nothing serious man. 

Please, please, please. 

I can’t breathe.

Please man.
Please, somebody.

Please man, I can’t breathe.

I can’t breathe, please.

Man, I can’t breathe. 

My face. 

Just get up.

I can’t breathe, please.

I can’t breathe, shit.

I can’t move.

Mama. Mama.

I can’t, my knee, my nuts. 

I’m through.
I’m through.

I’m claustrophobic.

My stomach hurt.
My neck hurts.

Everything hurts.

They're gonna kill me, they're gonna kill me.

I cannot breathe.
I can’t breathe.

Please sir, please sir, please. 

I can’t breathe.