Can you imagine the reaction “Chad” would get handing these out to the lucky ladies at the bar?

“Here’s my dating card.”

“Umm… thanks.”

“Oh, it’s not weird… I swear. I didn’t even pay for them. I got 250 free on the Internet.”

“Right”

“So can I buy you a Jagerbomb?”

“No.”

Poor VistaPrint is running out of use case scenarios for their online advertising.

The ANA is an organization comprised mostly of in-house marketing and advertising departments from very well known American companies. The organization provides a wealth of resources on its website including research and presentations from other members and hosts conferences year round, all over the country. This was my first time attending an ANA event.

So needless to say, it was a great opportunity to attend the conference and hear presentations from some very popular consumer brands. My favorite part of the conference was hearing case studies from the companies that experienced the challenges (and successes) of implementing mobile marketing projects. Honestly, I was astounded by the openness of these companies to share this experiences with everyone.

My absolute favorite part of the day was hearing about H&R Block’s mobile app development. The presenter did a great job of recalling the ins and outs of the project and providing very useful “lessons learned.”

My least favorite part was hearing from the agencies that presented. I got the impression that some of the presenters were talking down to the attendees as they spoke about how to develop a mobile strategy and things to consider when undertaking a mobile marketing project. I am extra sensitive to this because the first thing I look for when working with a vendor is the potential for partnership. Any given agency might know more about their product or technology, but it’s important to me that I can collaborate with them to make the best possible project.

Now that the conference is over and I am working on a presentation to share with my colleagues, I am chomping at the bit to work on mobile projects!

You may have recently heard that Chevrolet sent a mandate that all brand communications should discontinue the use of “Chevy.” In a recent article from Ad Age, Al Reis discusses the value that a nickname brings a brand. He argues that, in most cases, it’s a good thing that consumers call your company by its nickname because they are familiar and comfortable with the brand.

Reis goes on to discuss many companies that successfully do business under two names (Coca-Cola/Coke, for example) and offers further proof that a nickname cannot be contrived by marketers (Radio Shack/The Shack) and be expected to catch on with consumers.

His formula for success? What he call’s the Marketing Trifecta: “In addition to its formal name, a brand should have 1) a relatively short nickname, 2) a word it owns in the mind and 3) a powerful visual. If you can accomplish all three, you have hit the marketing trifecta.”

It makes sense to me. But I can think of a couple brands where this doesn’t ring true because Reis’ trifecta doesn’t necessitate a positive connotation to the nickname.

Take Jack in the Box, for example:

• Formal name: Jack in the Box
• Nickname: Jack in the Crack (ouch)
• Word it owns: Jack
• Powerful visual: Big head with little hat

Do you have any examples of other brands that you think have hit the trifecta? Which ones fall short even though they have all the requisites?

Recently a client request came through my office for an illustrator that does real time drawings of meetings. The idea behind the concept is that written notes are more apt to be biased and meaning distorted than if an artist sketches the conversation.

This was a particularly interesting concept to me, as I like to think of myself as a “words” person.

1. I like lists.
2. And neatly spaced grids.
3. And bullets.
4. And paragraphs upon paragraphs of 12th-grade-reading-level prose with phenomenal topic sentences.
5. Uncharacteristically, I am also starting to appreciate a well-organized flow-chart.

But words CAN be extremely limiting. Limited by personal vocabulary, by listening comprehension, by connotation and by the language itself.

The best example I can think of is how you explain the middle-ground between liking and loving someone. There isn’t a word in English, at least one that I can think of, that adequately explains the feeling of liking someone more than a casual acquaintance without the full-on connotation of love. Thus, the term “LIKE like.”

Person 1: “I like Chris.”

Person 2: “Do you like Chris, or do you LIKE like Chris?”

Okay, I admit that is probably a horrible example…

Which is a great example of how words can be limiting! (You fell right into that one, didn’t you?)

Anyways, the whole reason that I wrote this post was to share a link with you. But I won’t share the link until I explain who posted it first. My college friend Wendy (you might remember her from the Books for Cameroon project this past fall) amazes me with her ability to learn new languages and successfully interact in many cultures that are very different from each other.

Wendy was born in Taiwan, moved to Missouri in elementary school, studied and interned abroad in London and Paris, and, most recently, spent 2 years in Cameroon, West Africa, serving as a Peace Corps volunteer. She speaks more languages than anyone else I have ever met. She learns new ones for fun. One day, Wendy will probably rule the world, and be able to talk to everyone about it in their native languages.

She shared a link via her Twitter account from the Wall Street Journal on how language influences culture. The article goes beyond the cliche “how-many-words-for-snow-do-eskimos-have” and provides some very interesting facts on the effects of language and perception of reality on criminal justice, politics and economics – see the bit about Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson and the wardrobe malfunction for proof.

Do yourself a favor and take 35 minutes to watch this documentary called Lemonade that chronicles the big things that former ad agency employees were able to do once they were given the gift of losing their job.

During this recession, I have watched fellow colleagues get the pink slip. I have watched friends struggle to find jobs and go on countless interviews. Question their worthiness. Despair over their future. I’ve feared for my own future.

But as these strangers stories will attest, there truly is something to the phrase, “a blessing in disguise.”

Who is this JD Power and why should I trust his associates?

I went to JDPower.com to try and figure that out. Turns out it is a marketing information company that does research, tracking, forecasting and consulting. They specialize in auto companies but have also expanded into other markets.

What weight does one of these awards have? It seems to me that this may be a rating that is lauded by the company but not valued by the typical consumer. Like many industry awards, most consumers don’t know what these awards mean, how a company goes about winning such an award, or what value is brought to a transaction when you work with an awarded company.

Am I right? I’d love to hear your thoughts on JD Power and other industry awards and their relevance to a purchase decision.

Knowing that I work in interactive marketing where 99% of our products are never even printed out onto a laser jet, I started reflecting on how much has changed in my industry, and our world, in the last thirty years.

My mom took computer classes where they used punch cards. My grandpa was on the original ARPAnet team. I remember the days of DOS. And here I am today.

I wonder what the future holds for technology, marketing, and, well, my life.

In a semi-related note, my childhood friend, Lauren, just had her first cover story published in Southwest Airlines Spirit magazine. Her article is about obsolescent technology. Read it! http://www.spiritmag.com/features/article/last_tech/

Unless you are one of these guys, who pogo-sticks, roof-jumps or back-flips into their jeans.

This would make a great viral video campaign for a clothing company.

Then I started reading the Clients from Hell blog and found that sometimes these sorts of things can be humorous.

Today, they posted a Dilbert cartoon:

Not going to name names or anything, but seriously… this happens to me at least once a week.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell

While at times it can be very frustrating (and humorous) to provide client services to people who do not understand web design and development, I really do enjoy educating people about the process.

Now if only they would trust me to provide them with good counsel!