Amazing.

I remember the first time I saw this commercial, I actually teared up a bit.  The vivid pictures of the helpless animals were so heart-breaking.

This commercial, like some, are made directly to effect the viewers heart or emotions, trying to cause them to react in a way to gain more money or in this case, adoptions.

Did it work for me, no.  The practicality of me having another dog is null and my charitable contributions go elsewhere.

However, it did create brand recognition for the organization.  Everyone was talking about the ASPCA commercial and how sad it was.  I think it was forwarded to me via email.  I am sure, for some, a donation was made.

In your opinion, do ads like this work?  Does it cause you to act?

Less is more.

What does it really mean?  Will we get more from life is we do less work?

I had a long drive to check out a billboard positioning yesterday and had a lot of time in my truck, so I downloaded a book called The Power of Now to listen to on my iPhone.   Basically, the main theme of the book is that in order to reach full enlightenment, you have to stop thinking.

Absurd is what I said too.  How does one stop thinking?  I have thoughts racing through my head all the time.  Did I turn off the front light?  When will I ever get my school loans paid off?  Will I ever get a BMW?

So on and so on.

What the author is really trying to convey is that we all have an inner being that is not yet identified, that we identify ourselves by what we think about ourselves.  He also goes on to state that we allow our minds to rule our lives and in order to stop this, we must step outside our mind and observe our thoughts.  Are there any continual patterns in our thinking?  Are we compulsive thinkers about something from the past?  Just observe these thoughts, don’t judge them or even question how to deal with them.

Another underlying theme through the whole book is that we are all connected, that a power higher, more complex our physical bodies, dwells within each of us.  I am not saying this is or isn’t God or a Spirit or Buddha or anything.  Just that everything is connected via one conduit of endless unity, most of us just don’t access nor use it at all.

Now, what does this have to do with this blog?

Well, 24 hours ago, I wouldn’t have ever thought I would be talking about enlightenment.  I would have never thought about driving in the middle of nowhere and stopping to just look around.  I had a GPS system going, the audiobook, texting a friend all while trying to get a hamburger down while driving down I-65.

It was all just too much.  So, once I got my task done, I pulled over on the side of the road, and old country road and just stopped.  I stopped the book, the GPS, eating and just observed.  I observed what I was thinking.  It was very difficult and it only occurred for about 3 seconds but there was a point where thoughts stopped and  I really took in everything around me.

What happened?  Creativity happened from the simplest things.  A mountain scape inspired me to paint.  A winding road ahead inspired another project in the near future.

When I put together a message in the form of an ad, outdoorboard, etc.  I think about all that needs to go into it, what it needs to do, how will it get out, how much money will it cost, getting all the messages in, blah, blah, blah.

In actuality, I need to break it down to the most simplistic form.  What is the simplest outcome you want from an advertising message?

Find that answer and go with it.  Don’t add unnecessary confusion for the reader by added information that isn’t really needed.

Less is more.  Less thought, more results.

We have all heard the term and we see them on our Facebook pages or on blogs, like the ones to the right of this text.  But do we really know what they are and what all they are capable of doing.

By definition, a widget is an online tool that permits a portion of one webpage to appear on other webpages.  These appearances look exactly the same and can be updated from a single source.

Easy enough, right?

Wrong.

I first heard of a widget when I got my Mac Pro computer a couple years ago.  I accidentally pushed the wrong button on my mouse and up pops 4 four or five little information boxes.  I then did a little research and, of course, downloaded like 40 more from Apple’s web site and boom, I was counting down the days until Christmas, feeding virtual fish and receiving live weather cam views from my hometown.

They were amazing.

It was until this year, I learned that I could actually make one.

And its actually very easy, I did my first one yesterday and already posted it on my Facebook page.

Sproutbuilder.com is a free widget making online tool that allows the typical computer user, meaning you don’t have to know web design, to create useful widget for any site.

From weather widgets to advertising widegts, you can make them all.  Wow, I am starting to sound like a salesman for Sproutbuilder.com.

I recommend it to anyone trying to push a web site, whether it be a blog or a large company, to check it out.

There are many other helpful features on the web site like the ability to track your widget to see the click thru rate and see on which days your widget was used the most.

See for yourself:

And now, our Goodwill ad:

Also, like clock work, the advertisements for cash advance businesses come on.  My all time favorite is the ad for Mo Money Taxes.  The commercial is obviously supposed to be silly, but it takes it to a whole other level.

See.

So, I pose the question, do outlandish ads like this really work.  You know the ones that are just super silly.

If you were in a situation that you needed your tax refund back quick, would you go to Mo’ Money Taxes, based on their commercial?

Which parts are you skipping?

The top of a mountain is rarely the best part.

You can watch “the good parts” of a baseball game in about six minutes. The web has become a giant highlights reel… the best parts of SNL, the best parts of a speech, the best parts of a book.

We can skim really fast now. This is a problem for marketers, because it means that if they don’t make the good parts easily findable and accessible (and bold and loud and memorable) then the whole product becomes invisible.

As consumers of information, though, I wonder if the best parts are really the best parts. Yes, you can read a summary of a book instead of a book, or watch the trailer instead of the movie, or read the executive summary of the consultant’s report instead of the whole thing… but the parts you miss are there for a reason.

Real change is rarely caused by the good parts. Real change and impact and joy come from the foundation and the transitions and the little messages that sneak in when you least expect them. The highlights of the baseball game are highlights largely because the rest of the game got you ready for them.

Don’t skip that page, it’s there for a reason.

So, how does one make an ad stand out in a sea of black letters on white paper, without using any spot colors?

Reverse print.

Whenever I am designing for a newspaper, I ALWAYS design with a solid black background and white letters.  No matter where the ad is placed, it should pop out among whatever is around it.

Designers often forget that black is a color too, plus, black has no additional charge.

Just out of curiosity, I am wondering if there are any cross-news gatherers, people who get their news from the Internet and print mediums.

Here’s how it went down.  The manager of our shopgoodwill.com group, Susan McCullen was in the mood for something new to post for sale.  She was wandering down an aisle in our processing plant glancing into wire donation bins when she spotted the corner of the painting and thought it looked interesting.  She pulled it out, saw it was an original watercolor and took it to her desk where she found out the envelope/letter were attached.   After a bit of research, she learned that Woodward’s art was selling for between $500.00 and $3,000.00.

The painting went online for bid on Jan. 16 for $500.00.  Bidding was slow for about a week.  Then Susan came to me to talk about the painting.  We both felt it warranted media because the painting, called the Felucca Capri was done in 1907 and in the letter Woodward writes about how beautiful the Bay of Naples is and that, “No one is prepared for the incredible clearness and the blue and green.  It is so beautiful that it makes one ache.”  But we still weren’t quick to distribute the press release.

Discussions were held with senior management about alerting media for one big reason.  We didn’t know the donor’s identity and there’s always the chance he or she might have donor’s regret and ask us to return the painting.  We agreed, though, that the donor would have to come up with certain identifying factors before we’d even consider returning it…so I hit the ‘send’ button.

The press release about this rare painting went to Nashville area television and radio stations and the local paper.  It took all of five minutes before the media came calling.  That was Thursday, Jan. 22.  Over the course of the next six days media kept calling.  Once the story ran in the Tennessean, and once the television stations notified their affiliates and CNN, this puppy took on a life of its own.  Our little piece of the art world has been in all the major papers in the U.S., I’ve done a radio interview with a station in Edmonton, Canada, and it’s front-page news on most online news sites.

And when the donor read about the sale on the Tennessean web site he did have donor’s regret.  He told us that the day after the sale ended, which was Sunday, Jan. 25.  He called us to say he was happy we got such a large amount for a painting that had been his mom’s, had been in storage after his mom died, and didn’t really fit his taste.  He said that twinge of regret lasted about a day.   Media jumped at this angle of the story and we held a press conference to introduce Speed Thomas to the world.  Once again, the story made the national news.

Now we’re ready for phase three.  I’ve promised all my reporter friends who have been so supportive, that as soon as the buyer comes forward they’ll know.  We know the buyer lives in Boston.  I’ve also contacted my counterpart at Goodwill in Boston and he’s contacted the Boston Globe.  When the buyer comes forward, we’re ready to pounce with our next media blitz.

The stars were definitely aligned.  Speed donated the painting.  Susan found it.  Goodwill sold it online for infinitely more than the price it would have commanded in one of our retail stores.  Speed has a tax write-off.  Goodwill benefits.  The world has seen a beautiful piece of art resurface.  And the reporters who’ve been involved have thanked me because they’re tired of covering all the negative news we’ve been plagued with recently.  They’ve also asked for more story ideas about Goodwill and our services.  It pays to make media your friend.  Stay tuned for more when the mystery buyer surfaces!

Here is the actual story, just in case you are interested.

PAINTING DONATED TO NASHVILLE GOODWILL SELLS FOR $8,101.00
1907 watercolor found in a donation bin

The stars must have been in alignment the day Susan McCullen was walking through a processing plant at Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee in Nashville.  She was on the hunt for items to post on shopgoodwill.com when she noticed the corner of a gold frame and aged mat a bit buried in a wire bin.  For some reason she was focused on that side of the aisle, on that particular bin at that particular moment.  When she pulled the framed artwork out of the bin she said she had a gut feeling it was an original watercolor.  As the manager of shopgoodwill.com, Susan has learned to listen to her gut.

Susan took the painting to her desk to begin research.  The watercolor was signed
E. Woodward 1907 with the word Capri on the lower left side of the piece.  She turned the frame and found another jewel; an envelope containing a letter was attached to the back of the painting.  The handwritten letter from the artist, Ellsworth Woodward, details his painting.  “One of the very noteworthy things about the Bay at Naples is the color of the water.  No one is prepared for the incredible clearness and the blue and green.  It is so beautiful that it makes one ache.”  His watercolor, done more than 100 years ago still reflects the gem-like colors of the water he saw while visiting Capri, Italy.

After consulting with area galleries, and being told that Woodward’s work had recently sold for between $500.00 and $3,000.00, Susan posted the Felucca Capri on shopgoodwill.com for $500.00 with a ten-day selling window.  The bidding was quiet at first.  In the first week the price jumped to about $1,500.00.  But by Thursday afternoon, January 22 the price was starting to creep up and closed that day near $3,000.00.

It was then that we (Goodwill) decided it was time to go public with the story of a great find in a donation bin.  The media caught on as fast as the bidding started to rise.  All area television stations covered the story.  The Tennessean newspaper carried a front-page story and picture and the AP, CNN, MSNBC, NPR and most national media outlets picked up this feel-good story with a bit of mystery.  Everyone was watching as the bidding drove up the price.  By the time the bidding war ended at 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25, the Felucca Capri sold for $8101.00.

With all the publicity we still had unanswered questions.  The donor had not yet revealed himself and who was the buyer?  The first question was cleared the day after the sale when a quiet real estate developer from Nashville called Goodwill to say he had made the donation.

Speed Thomas and his brother and sister had divided their parents’ belongings after their mom and dad died about ten years ago.  Speed kept the painting in a storage facility and had slowly been going through items to donate to Goodwill.  He said the painting was not to his taste and took it to a Goodwill donation site early in January.  It wasn’t until he read about the painting and the bidding that he realized it had been his.  Was there donor regret?  “Yes, for a while,” said Speed.  But he said that passed and he was happy that the painting went for so much money and that it would be used to further Goodwill’s services.

There’s one person who might not be so pleased, though, says Speed.  “My art history teacher probably isn’t thrilled right now,” he said laughing.  Then he added, “My mother would be very happy with what has happened.”  His mom was also a watercolorist.

Speed and his siblings still aren’t sure how the painting came to be in their family.  But he said some of the pieces are starting to come together.  Ellsworth Woodward and his older brother William Woodward moved to New Orleans in the late 1800s and were influential in the development of art programs at Tulane and Newcomb College.  Speed’s maternal grandfather was from New Orleans and he feels that may be the connection.

Next on the list is learning the identity of the buyer.  All the media attention may have him hunkering down.  He has seven days after the sale is final to pay for the painting.  Stay tuned for the next piece of the story!

No matter which way you lean – left or right – we all have to agree that Sarah Palin came in like a lion.  And once she left the national media spotlight she was back in the hands of her PR staff in Alaska.  So, did anyone see her pardon the Thanksgiving turkey after she resumed full duty as governor of Alaska?  FIRE HER PR PEOPLE!

There’s the shot of the governor swigging her cup of joe at a turkey farm.  Fine.  Most governors with turkey farms in their state probably save a turkey from having its head cut off.  Or in the case of the Alaska turkeys, having their neck severed with the camera rolling.

After Governor Palin read the official turkey pardon, a reporter and videographer pulled her aside to ask questions.  I don’t even remember what the questions were because what was happening behind the governor was so gruesome.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving turkey.  And maybe I’m a bit of an ostrich because I don’t want to know how the turkey goes from the farm to my table.  But there it was, for the world to see.  The turkey going upside down into some type of grinder with the farmer holding its legs and the governor chatting up the reporter. The worst part was seeing the turkey’s body convulse.  WHERE WERE PALIN’S PR PEOPLE?  DIDN’T THEY SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON BEHIND HER?

As a former reporter, this is the stuff careers are made of, especially in today’s world where a feathery story like this one makes its way around the world thanks to YouTube. Now that I’m a PR and Communications manager, it makes my toes curl.  Rule number one – survey the environs to be certain your head of state is the focus of attention – meaning the background is benign.  Rule number two – if you’ve done your job and the background could be offensive – whisper in your CEO’s ear, pull their jacket or force them to change camera angles in any way shape or form.  Your boss will thank you and you will still have a job in the morning because he or she isn’t the laughing stock of the entire planet. Rule number three – always have a resume at the ready should you fail to follow the rules.

Caution – If you haven’t already seen this video be prepared.  It’s really disturbing, VERY disturbing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-kjM1asH-8

Again, should her PR people be let go?