High Billy Mays Here with OxiCaine!

A friend of mine is playing dress-up this Halloween and going as the dead Billy Mays. He figured he'd just grab a bucket of OxiClean and call it a costume. I called bullshit on that, renamed the product and took an hour last night to put together a more cheeky label for the tub o' clean. And since Im in the halloween spirit I thought I'd offer it up to the masses if you or a friend are planning on going as the spirit of Billy Mays this weekend. Below is a link to the high res jpeg file. It'll fit on an 11 x 17. Attach with spray mount or tape. Just download it, print it, cut it out on the pink line (called a dieline for you novice) and forget it!
OxiCaine Label

Alphabet Chefs

My friend and her gals are starting a new blog based on the Sept. issue of Gourmet Magazine where they did the A-Z of recipes. They needed a logo and we delivered.

Buffalo Development Corporation

Mark Croce has announced he is renovating the Curtiss Building into a 57-room upscale hotel. With that announcement he needed a new logo for his development corporation. His logo needed to be: strong, aggressive and most definitely Buffalo inspired. We were able to take the initials of the company, BDC, and create a logo that hits all three brand attributes. See it?

Post-This

No logo. No words. Just entertaining.

The Short Answer to Social Networking and Business

A friend of mine posed this question today:
"I have a couple of business/friend acquaintances who I have been urging social networking stuff to. Is it helpful? Does it bring in business? What is your take on social networking and business?"
If it's done right and you cross-promote through several sites, it works wonders. Thats the only way I promote [Buffalo T-shirts] as they dont have a bricks-n-mortar store and have a limited budget. Its more about connecting and participating with current customers and having them chat about your product/business thereby increasing 'brand' awareness. It's less about actual sales. Although if done right and on a consistent basis, those come as more people get acquainted with your product/service.

There is obviously alot more to it. In terms of helping business there's no doubt that as long as a brand has a voice that an audience finds interesting and engaging, this social interaction can only help with brand awareness. As a 'brand' gains awareness, sales seem to follow.

Not Sharpie Enough

I stumbled upon this ad today and it took me a couple minutes to say, "Whoops, that ain't right." Take a look and try to figure out how/where this ad fails...

Give up? In magazines/newspapers, an advertiser normally fights to have their ad on the right hand page because as a reader flips thru the pages, the right page is the first page they see/read. Because of this, the reader actually reads the pay-off to this ad prior to reading the left side. While its a great creative use of the spread and good art direction, the delivery fails because the information should really be reversed. The 'reveal' and signoff (logo/website, etc.) should fall on the left page and the initial message, "Two times the Pen." should fall on the right where the reader would read it first.
Now Im wondering who made the mistake: the ad agency or the company's communication department... I'm leaning towards the latter.
Regardless, it's still my favorite marker.

Good work doesnt need to cost a great deal

Heres a quick little article on guerilla marketing in Portland (VIA Group) for the Salvation Army. I'll use this type of advertising here and there in Buffalo as the concentration of people is centralized in a few areas. Blanket Elmwood with some chalk 'ads', tag some napkins, etc. with a $12 rubber stamp and leave a bunch of 1-c bumper stickers.