Direct Choice Blog

Paging Don Draper

May 21, 2013 Leave a Comment

In spite of the fact that Don Draper is an anachronism, he’s still everywhere.

There are dozens of Draper-driven sites online, inspired by a variety of the adman’s mystifyingly contradictory qualities. Most seem to seek answers for today’s complex marketing and advertising conundrums, attributing oracle-like seer capabilities to his fictional—and fictive—character.

Other sites appear to be testing out whether the Don can improve their own SEO positions.

Why are marketers so in love with him? Take away the stylish clothes, the tone-perfect reductive rendering of the “simple ’60s.” In the end, we think it’s the grip of guilty nostalgia overtaking many of us. That sense that it’ll never be like that ever again. And why would we want it to be, when the times were clearly less evolved, less honest, more challenging to women, minorities and others?

It’s truly just the story of swine, posing as swain. Don’s pessimism and relentlessly empty soul remain a fascination, regardless of the times or industry.

“What you call love was invented by guys like me to sell nylons.”

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Direct Choice Inc. is a full-service direct marketing agency that has worked with national and regional brands in a wide variety of vertical markets. In addition to this blog, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

Filed under General Marketing Tagged with full service advertising agency, Philadelphia advertising agencies

Images please

May 7, 2013 Leave a Comment

People don’t read. Alas and alack. The hard truth for social media-ites is that if your copy isn’t illustrated, it won’t be noticed. And if you haven’t kept your inner Tolstoy (long copy) in check, you can forget about likes and shares.

After all, the power of social media is the ability of your audience or community to echo your message to extend its reach.

For marketers, the skillset they need to master is the ability to ensure they utilize messages that are remarkable. Recognize that images significantly increase the chances of your message being shared.

To that end, some stats about how image use boosts reposting.

Google images can be a good quick source, but dicey. We also like Deposit Photos.

Key to remember:

Always use high-quality images…watch out for pixilated ones
Images help shorten the copy
Images help brand you
Humor helps
Make sure the images you use are relevant

Picture that.

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Filed under General Marketing Tagged with direct marketing advertising, full service advertising agency, Philadelphia advertising agencies

Will bleed for brand

April 30, 2013 Leave a Comment

Some of us have been spending time judging the various industry awards lately. And so we are thinking like that.

Outside those awards, we came across a truly over the top example of breaking new boundaries for a brand. As is often the case, it’s a small European agency—Rh Creative—with big time guts.

Gory? Maybe. Glory? Oh yeah.

According to these docs of design…

“When creating our own identity, we set out to prove our key message, that every point of communication is a chance to advertise our company. We created a simple brand message and applied it across multiple touch points. One of the key elements of the identity was a direct mail [package] in the form of a blood bag, which we personally delivered to creative directors in several ad agencies in Prague. As a result we’ve received quite a few interesting jobs and two bronze awards from the Czech Art Directors Club.”