Today, the entire world looked on as a video showing HP’s facial recognition software failing miserably hit the mainstream. While the video was put onto youtube last week, the video didn’t hit the front pages of the news sources until today – and was met with immediate response all over the internet. Twitter was filled with tweets, the web was filled with articles, and HP was in a rush to get their statement out.

15 years ago, were a company to face something this disastrous with one of their products, there would have been no way for the world to hear about it so quickly – or through so many channels. They would have had some time to develop a statement, see exactly where they needed to target and chose the right media outlets to talk through. Now, they have to be able to respond almost instantly and in many directions. It is a much scarier world for companies who deal with customers…

While large companies have always had PR teams in place, writers ready to prepare statements and ways to spin stories, small businesses often don’t have the resources for this protection. But, that doesn’t mean it is okay to let it slip aside. It is almost more important for small companies to know what to do if your product fails because of the smaller number of customers you work with. If HP loses one customer, what does that mean to them? Not much. What if you were to lose one customer? Means a bit more, right?

Does your business have a disaster plan ready? Why or why not?

Last night, I caught the tail end of the Funniest Commercials of 2009 on TBS. Many of the commercials were from other countries, which is always a blast as we don’t usually get to see them here. I liked a lot of the ones they chose, but there were definitely some they considered funny (the kia soul/hamster commercial?) that were just awful!

So, it got me thinking: What is your favorite ad so far this year?

When are the majority of fireworks sold?

What about pumpkins?

Turkeys and canned green beans?

Mistletoe and Poinsettias?

Okay, so those are probably simple to guess…but what about:

Computers?

Furniture?

Coffee Mugs?

Cell phones?

Not so easy to determine, right? Every product has a time of year that it sells the best, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t sell well the rest of the year. But, in order to improve sales in down times, you must work on a strategy that will keep your product in buyers minds throughout the year. That may mean coming up with a new way to cook it, use it, or protect it so that it works in other seasons and in other ways. Products are only limited by the creativity and promotions of their marketing team.

How can you help your product to sell better through down times?

We are into the first week of November (already? Where in the heck did this year go?) and it is time for a look back at some important news from the past month that will change how you do business in the next month.

The first time homebuyers tax credit has been extended. Basically, this means that more people will be rushing to buy homes towards the end of the year, companies will continue to be advertising and more money is going to be coming back into the economy. If you are affiliated in any way with the real estate market (home decorators? Stagers? Mortgage Brokers? Furniture Stores?), you should be advertising like crazy to help them get into those homes. Check out blogging and twitter for some easy ways to promote your services at a lower overhead.

5 Magazines to take a look at: Some of the easiest ways to improve the way that your business is running is to look at how top companies are keeping ahead of the game. Each of these magazines is finding a way to be successful while all the others seem to be struggling to stay afloat. Your business may not have their budget but that doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from their strategies.

A couple weeks ago, we mentioned the collaboration between Microsoft and Family Guy. Shock…Microsoft wasn’t happy with the taping of the Family Guy show they were going to be part of and pulled the show. According to Mashable, The episode was apparently the typical Family Guy fare, but Microsoft felt that the “riffs on deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest” were “not a fit with the Windows brand.” If a Microsoft executive had even watched an episode of Family Guy, they should have known it wouldn’t fit with the brand and could have saved us this whole ordeal. So what can we learn from Windows 7? Maybe before you partner with a company/group you should watch a little bit about what they do first.

And for a fun fact, did you know that we just past the 15 year mark for the start of Digital Advertising?

Recently, I have noticed a trend in companies changing their logos and creating an entire advertising campaign around that switch.

Huh?

How does changing a logo qualify a company for a new ad campaign? Especially when the message they choose is: “New logo, same company”.

Basically they are saying “we spent a ton of money to get a new logo for absolutely no reason”.

So, how can a company capitalize on a new logo?

They can create an ad campaign that talks about what else is new with the company. A new logo means nothing to the consumers. They don’t care that you spent gobs of money to come up with something “cutting edge”. They do care about how you treat them, the quality of your products and the value you provide.

A new logo is not a reason to spend huge money on billboards and TV commercials.

Improved service, more stores, better products PLUS a new logo? Now that is worth advertising.

Just 15 years ago, these guys would have gone unnoticed and under appreciated. Their creativity and hard work would never have been past around through tweets and blog posts. If they were lucky, they might have gotten one or two newspapers to notice. But, with the upswing of technology and the ease of access that the general public has to sites like youtube, these guys have become an Internet sensation. Currently, there are over 150,000 views in the last 12 days and the number continues to rise. What impresses me the most is that this was not done to raise money or make them famous, the first screen even tells us that we are free to send it, share it and talk about it. All they want is for people to see what they do, and hopefully enjoy it. So, enjoy it, share it and have a wonderful weekend!

I wonder how much stealing someones idea and tweaking it a bit costs these days? I bet Mazda would know.

Confused? Check out the following two commercials:

Commercial #1 – Volkswagen (circa 12 months ago)

Commercial #2: Mazda (circa this month)

Hmmm….there is something similar here, I just can’t put my finger on…Oh wait! I know what it is! It’s the fact that Mazda’s creative team apparently has no creativity left. Or they left the decision making to someone who hasn’t seen another car ad in over a year.

I understand that the ads are different, Volkswagen was funny and caught your attention. Mazda wasn’t.

Volkswagen was original and clever. Mazda wasn’t.

Volkswagen was the first to come up with the idea. Mazda wasn’t.

Yes, the ads are completely different.

What do you think? Am I being too hard on Mazda or do you agree that this is unacceptable?

I rarely have free time to read, but when I do, I make sure that these 3 magazines are always within reach:

Communication Arts: They are filled with great creatives. Looking through the work always provides me with new inspiration. In addition, the articles are well written and cover a variety of topics.

Lürzer’s Archive: The advertisements in this one are crazy, out of this world and completely eclectic, which makes them so great for inspiration. The interviews with the designers are also well put together and provide great information. It’s the only magazine I read for advertisements from other countries.

Adweek: See what’s going on in the “big” world of our biz and latest trends. Although their online version covers almost all the same articles, I still prefer the actual magazine. The colors, pictures and information just seems so much more precise.

AdWeek is a great resource for anyone in marketing. They cover what is going on in the industries, new trends, new successes and new failures. They are also great for some articles that make you laugh and nod your head. This was an article that I had bookmarked a couple months ago, and just stumbled upon again – The 5 worst (and best) ad songs of all time. The judges for this one are dead on.

In the worst category: The Wendy’s one drives me the most crazy.

In the best: I definitely loved the old school Nike Ad.

Take a look, remember the ads, and let us know which ones you like (or can’t stand)

Would you hire Jeff Gordon to drive your race car and then insist you drive it while he rode in the passenger seat?

Probably not.

So then why would you hire a graphic design and marketing team to drive your brand with a new image, new strategy and killer creative concepts but then limit what they can create?

People hire marketing firms because they don’t have all the answers or the ability to create the designs they need. We understand that your products are your babies, and we promise to treat them with the love and care that they deserve, but when you try and hold the reigns, it really limits our creative ability.

You hired us, you need to trust us.