While waiting for my flight at Reagan National Airport, I happened to look up and experience one of the most striking technology campaigns I’ve seen in a while. The Smarter Planet campaign, designed by Ogilvy Paris for IBM, employs a collection of simple yet sophisticated illustrations by Noma Bar titled Outcomes. His work precisely uses shapes, form, and negative space showcasing his skills as an artist, illustrator, and designer. The resulting images are deceivingly simple and often require an extra moment to see the meaning within. I only wished I had taken a photo of the actual display at the airport, however the images below should give you a good idea.

Noma Bar's Outcomes illustrations for IBM's Smarter Planet campaign

It’s been said many times over, “It’s never too late.” This is especially true when it involves props, singing, and spreading smiles.

Case in point: Grafik’s 2011 Holiday E-card which was sent out to clients, friends, and our social followers early this week. Yes, it may be a bit tardy, but it’s still darn worthy of the mere 30 seconds you need to view it. So if you haven’t given it a look, click on the image below. Immediate smiles guaranteed!

Washington Area is Key Destination for Strategic Communications

WASHINGTON, DC, January 6, 2012 – The DC Ad Club, metropolitan Washington’s chapter of the American Advertising Federation, announced yesterday that Teddi Alyce Segal is chairperson of Advertising Week DC 2012 scheduled for this September. Segal is vice president of marketing and business development at Alexandria, VA-based, Grafik, the creative agency for the event. Advertising Week DC attracts communications professionals to a four-day event engineered to keep practitioners current on all aspects of marketing communications. Although major metropolitan areas such as New York and Los Angeles have more employees in the advertising and marketing sector, the Washington area has the highest per capita among all the major metro areas in the nation.

According to IHS Global Insight and the Greater Washington Initiative studies, the Washington metropolitan area is home to over 300,000 advertising-related jobs and is the highest per capita employer in the advertising sector. Over 21% of the $489 billion economic output in the Washington area is attributable to advertising expenditures.

“The high concentration of communications professionals is indicative of the demand for top-notch, strategic talent in our region for a breadth of communications disciplines, including marketing, advertising, public relations, advocacy, digital media, social media, and more. Our program is developed to serve the needs of all marketing communications professionals,” said Segal.

Every fall since 2004, Advertising Week DC celebrates the best of the advertising, marketing, and media community with a week dedicated to networking, professional development, and education. It is the area’s largest professional and networking event for advertising, marketing, public relations, and media leaders. The Advertising Week DC Steering Committee is comprised of key players from companies in the Greater Washington advertising, marketing, and media industries. The event will feature nationally recognized marketing experts in an extensive program of discussions and presentations focused on best practices in the rapidly evolving field of marketing communications. The conference will be attractive to client- and agency-side junior talent and, of course, the mainstay of seasoned professionals, and those currently in college studying communications.

“Advertising Week DC is the place to listen, learn, contribute, and engage in lively discussion around our profession. Our objective this year is to raise national awareness that the Washington area is the “go-to” market for strategic communications because of the breadth of marketing work being performed in the region,” said Sherri Anne Green, president of the DC Ad Club. “We’re excited to have Teddi spearheading the effort.”

Segal served on the Advertising Week DC Steering Committee in 2010. She joined Grafik in October 2008 and is responsible for business development and marketing efforts, as well as all public relations and social media on behalf of the agency. She previously served on the American Marketing Association-DC Chapter Board of Directors and is currently serving on the DC Ad Club’s 2012 ADDY Award committee.

Prior to coming to DC, Segal was with several agencies in Miami, FL, including Zimmerman and HDC. Advertising Week DC is a mix of professional development and networking. Both events have taken place annually since 2004. Past speakers have included Joe Grimaldi, Chairman & CEO, Mullen; Shelly Lazarus, Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather; Liz Dolan, former Chief Marketing Officer of The Oprah Winfrey Network; Stuart Elliot, Advertising Columnist of The New York Times; and Miles Nadal, Founder, Chairman & CEO, MDC Partners.

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About The DC Ad Club

Since 1918, the DC Ad Club (a.k.a. the Advertising Club of Metropolitan Washington) has served as the premier industry organization for area advertising professionals. As a chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the DC Ad Club promotes integrity and excellence in advertising through professional development seminars, recognizes industry leaders andoutstanding work, and serves as the leading networking venue for the industry. The DC Ad Club membership represents all segments of the industry—clients, agencies, production companies and the media. Ad 2 DC, a subset of the DC Ad Club membership, represents and provides programming for young professionals (age 32 and under) in the industry.

Grafik had its holiday party this weekend.  Here are a few of the photos from the event.  If you would like to see more photos, check out our Flickr page!

The Smithsonian announced this weekend that they are launching a new brand line, “Seriously Amazing.” Before you read any further, in the interest of complete disclosure, you should know that Grafik has worked with the Smithsonian on many of their initiatives including the branding of the National Museum of the American Indian, and a brand exercise for the Smithsonian Institution’s Latino Center. And we have had a beef over the years, on behalf of all of the excellent branding firms in Washington, D.C., that we are never invited to the dance. So in the context of having a large chip on my shoulder, I have to say that the new tagline for the Smithsonian is really pretty good—excellent in fact. The firm called in for the assignment is a well-known branding agency in NYC, London, and Dubai Wolff Olins and branding museums and international institutions is their specialty.

A news item in the Washington Post on Sunday shows that Wolff Olins spent the time to research, and get input from many of the museum directors and board members. As a pre-eminently political beast it must have been a huge endeavor to interview all of the people necessary to build consensus for the new line—one that costs $1 million dollars. It seems they hit the nail right on the head, getting a huge round of applause when they launched the brand last week.

I personally like “Seriously Amazing” as it taps into the research as well as the vast store of treasures that are held by all of the museums making up the Institution. Known for years as the “Nation’s Attic,” the new tagline has a more forward direction. It remains to be seen how the mark will play out in future fundraising and the awareness building campaign.

Job well done, Wolff Olins! Oh, and a note to self: Every time the Smithsonian cries poor to our local D.C. agencies, we should think of the tagline’s million dollar price tag and refuse to do their work on a pro bono basis.

Driving home from work the other day I was listening to NPR and heard a story about a battle between Chick-fil-A and a small Vermont T-shirt manufacturer who is producing T-shirts saying “Eat More Kale.” Chick-fil-A owns the tagline “Eat Mor Chikin” and, indeed, the corporation has done a splendid job advertising their fast food chicken restaurants through the Eat Mor Chikin campaign. It seems that the T-shirt manufacturer, Bo Muller-Moore, has been doing a booming business producing “Eat More Kale” shirts out of a studio above his garage and has enough orders to support himself. He decided it would be wise to apply for a trademark for “Eat More Kale” and was confronted by a cease and desist letter from the chicken guys. In a statement, Chick-fil-A  said, “We must legally protect and defend our “Eat mor chikin” trademark in order to maintain rights to the slogan.”

Laws regarding trademark and patent infringement are complex, which is why we always tell our clients to consult with their own trademark lawyers or use one of ours. But one test of trademark infringement is whether there would be confusion in the marketplace or whether the existing brand equity would be diluted. Muller-Moore’s lawyer commented in a New York Times article, “There’s no one out there that’s going to come forward and say, ‘I thought I was buying a Chick-fil-A product but I got this T-shirt.” Add to that the fact that the food chain does not have a franchise operating in Vermont so there is even less chance for confusion.

Can a company or brand own words exclusively? Clearly many wonderful campaigns have been copied such as the Got Milk? campaign that I wrote about several weeks ago. Harley Davidson has copyrighted the sound of their motorcycle—and no other motorcycle or bike can use the same sound. But can you hold a copyright to the words “Eat More”? I did a quick search on Google to see how many “Eat More” campaigns and ads there have been. Witness just a few.

Clearly there have been many campaigns that have used the the words “Eat More.” And it is equally clear that Chick-fil-A has done a superb job of imprinting their brand through their deft ad campaign. So what has been accomplished and what are the effects of this lawsuit? Well, Eat More Kale has gotten way more publicity than they ever thought possible, getting national coverage in the NY Times and an NPR spot. Muller-Moore has tapped social media and drew incredible support from Facebook followers, both a former and the present governors of Vermont, and a groundswell of kale lovers nationally.

At a recent press conference, Governor Peter Shulmin of Vermont noted, “If you think that Vermonters don’t understand the difference between kale and a chicken sandwich, we invite you to Vermont, and we’ll give you a lesson about the difference between a kale and a chicken,” Shumlin said. “There are some very distinct features that should be noticed in that difference. Kale is a vegetable; chickens are birds. Birds create manure; kale eats manure.”

What has the Chick-Fil-A brand gained—a tarnished reputation as a corporate bully that flies in the face of its humorous campaigns. How many people will look at the cows and think of the “Eat More Kale” controversy and leave with a bad taste in their mouths? With little possibility of confusion and not even one Chick-fil-A restaurant in Vermont, one has to wonder if this was a giant mistake by the Chick legal department with little thought how it might effect their brand. In this case their cease and desist order may have a real correlation to less counter orders. Governor Shumlin sent this message to Chick-fil-A, “Don’t mess with Vermont. Don’t mess with kale. And, Chick-fil-A, get out of the way because we are going to win this one.” (Source: NPR.org—Chicken Vs. Kale, Kirk Carapezza)

Vintage Ivory soap

Okay. I freely admit that I love old packaging. My house is filled with thousands of antique tins, old boxes, and discarded packaging from days gone by. I notice packaging, so when Procter & Gamble decided to pump up the packaging and advertising for one of its oldest brands, Ivory soap, I was eager to see what change was in store.

The new campaign devised by Wieden+Kennedy is nothing short of brilliant. But the new packaging by Sterling Brands is uninspired. One has to wonder why their advertising agency did not show the new look on any of their ads, TV spots, or online placements. If you want to look at 125 years of Ivory soap packaging, Procter & Gamble has set up a Facebook page that shows all the different ways they have wrapped their pure white soap.

The most controversial aspect to their simple blue and white packaging was the Procter & Gamble logo which was thought to have ties to Satan.

Old Ivory soap packaging the showcased a P&G logo that was thought to have Satanic themes

For years urban legend maintained that the man in the logo was proof of the company’s ties to Satan. Supposedly the curlicues of the moon man’s beard was an array of 6’s and if you connect the dots with the 13 stars, three 6’s appear. The curlicues at the top of his head resembled the horns of a ram representing the false prophet. Eventually in 1985 the Procter and Gamble logo was taken off of Ivory soap. Over the years the Ivory logo has been modified and most recently Wieden+Kennedy modernized the wordmark. Tag lines have also changed and those in use over the years have included:

• Pure Clean. Pure Ivory.
• 99.44% Pure.
• So Pure it floats.
• Keep it pure, clean and simple

“Ivory is P&G’s oldest and most beloved brand, and while consumers relish in the nostalgia and heritage of the product, it’s time for a holistic reinvention of the brand as we work to touch and improve more consumers’ lives in more parts of the world more completely,” says Jay Sethi, Ivory brand manager. “We’ve answered the call for consumers wanting a ‘simple and clean’ solution and the most powerful aspect of Ivory still remains the simplicity of the product.” Lisa McTigue Pierce—Packaging Digest Oct. 4, 2011.

Karl Lieberman, creative director, Wieden+Kennedy, spoke about the new advertising. “Unlike a lot of other brands, Ivory has stayed true to its equity. It has remained the antithesis of the overly complicated—from its ingredients, packaging and advertising—it’s a throwback to an era where there wasn’t time for such things. And that’s what makes its new voice so refreshing.”

Ivory has changed its look over the years, but has always kept it simple.

But while Ivory has remained a strong brand since 1879, competition in the soap category has changed. The Ivory brand has been running third to Dove and Dial. (Source: NY Times, Nov. 7, 2011). Product managers felt that with the increased consumer focus on cost savings during the recession years, it was a good time to promote the Ivory brand promise of “value and simplicity.” “Renée Richardson Gosline, an assistant professor of marketing at the MIT Sloan School of Management, also predicted the simplicity of Ivory and its campaign could appeal to consumers. However, she also questioned the absence of the new Ivory packaging in advertising. ‘If you’re proud of the packaging, show it off,’ she said.”

Display of Ivory soap products

I did it. I grew my Mo’ (that’s slang for moustache). And what a wild ride it has been. What started off as a simple gesture to support a client (PCF) and a cause (Movember for men’s cancers), became a personal test of dedication and perseverance. I know, we’re talking about some facial hair on the top of my lip at the end of the day. But as my wife often tells me, I am a vain Wain. And I do care about appearances, particularly in the work place. So with a full slate of meetings and pitches set up throughout the month of November, there was certainly some anxiety about letting my follicles run wild. And that anxiety was going into full force week one.

Can see the little fuzz just prior to catching a train to New York.

I had to travel to New York for a new prospect meeting at the Harvard Club and partner networking event at the historic New York Public Library. As my colleagues can attest, I had SERIOUS reservations about hitting both with the peach fuzz and contemplated breaking out the old trusty Gillette. But I sucked it up, got all decked out in a suit and tie, and sported the infant Mo’ for all of New York to see. All I kept thinking about on the train ride up is that the folks in my meeting would be staring at my lip and if it were me, would I really want to do business and talk to a dude with a weak attempt at growing a ‘stache? But much to my surprise and delight, I was greeted at both venues with “you’re doing Movember aren’t you?” Suddenly feeling like the guy from the Old Spice commercial I proudly replied—YES I AM!

Week two—the stubble started to turn into real hair and I was getting some serious attention. Every time a colleague would walk into my office, I would either get a smirk, a chuckle, a double take, or a full blown laughing attack (Cheryl Haar). As I posted on my Facebook page, I felt like a cross between Tom Selleck and the fictitious Dirk Diggler (see Boogie Nights). But again, I was shocked when one of our clients came in for a meeting and immediately said to me “Good for you Lance—I take it you’re doing Movember.” He told me he donates to the cause on an annual basis, but couldn’t go through with growing the Mo’. I was starting to feel proud of what I was doing and riding some serious Mo’Jo.

Ever more confident in week three, and heading into the Turkey holiday, I had to mix it up a little bring some flavor to the face.

This opened up a whole new round of critiques.

These are some of the comments that I jotted down:

From one of my friends—Fu Man Jew.
From a female colleague—OMG—Ew….
From a  male colleague—Fierce, Lance. Really fierce.
From my 5-year-old niece—You look like a man from the highway.
From my sister-in-law—I’ll give you 500 bucks to shave it off.

While the last offer was tempting, at this point, nothing was going to get in the way of me and my Mo’. In fact, I found myself looking forward to each morning to do a little trim and manicure to make it looked polished for the day.

How time flew. Yesterday was the end of the month, and just as my Mo’ has really become a part of me, the campaign came to a close.

Me and my full grown Mo’.

So what are my key takeaways from this experience?

1) I actually enjoyed being a walking billboard for Movember and raising a few bucks for men’s cancer research in the process.
2) I had no idea there was so much recognition for Movember and what a successful viral brand it has become.
3) As attached as I have become to my Mo’, I don’t believe moustaches are making a comeback anytime soon (although it’s December 2 and I still haven’t shaved).

Speaking of viral, yesterday the entire Grafik team sported fake Mo’s and surprised me with a small celebration showing their amazing support. It was hilariously touching. See for yourself.

Grafik get hairy for Lance's Movember Suprise

Yesterday, Facebook + Media released the list of Most Shared Articles on Facebook in 2011. As a sucker for “top” and “most” lists and the like, I look forward to the last quarter of the year, when they start popping up left and right on any topic you can possibly think of, because they are somewhat descriptive of the past year. Much longer than other year-ending rundowns, this list surprisingly had a really good mix—funny and serious, informative and seemingly useless, print and multimedia. This list left me almost in tears (of both laughter and sadness), but most of all, it has left me a bit confused. Its wide variety of subject matter and type of content makes me wonder about what all this means.

With online video and multimedia consumption emerging, only 11 of the 40 stories are videos or have a video component, and only four are primarily based on photos or have an interactive feature. With 44% (and growing) of Facebook users accessing the social networking site via mobile, does this mean that multimedia content has yet to be better utilized for mobile consumption despite Facebook’s recent push for mobile? Or do text-only articles show no signs weakening? My bet is on the first rather than the latter.

I also noticed that reputable news sites such as CNN.com, NYTimes.com, WashingtonPost.com and Yahoo! News dominate as the most popular sources. As someone from a journalism background, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside that the online community still primarily refers to the respected and esteemed news outlets for content—at least I’d like to believe that. Much of the sharing could be better attributed to Open Graph apps which has increased Yahoo! News’ traffic by 600% and garnered the WaPo more than 3.5 million users via the Social Reader app based on early statistics.

With this in mind, the majority of the articles are content primarily originating from, or touching issues directly affecting, the U.S. despite 75% of Facebook users living outside the United States. With topics ranging from Steve Jobs, job hunting, laughing babies, the U.S. deficit and Japan tsunami, this list is indeed indicative of this past year. It would be really interesting to see analytics and demographics on who shared what. Check out the list and let me know what you think.

Most Shared Articles on Facebook in 2011

1. Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami (New York Times)

2. What teachers really want to tell parents (CNN)

3. No, your zodiac sign hasn’t changed (CNN)

4. Parents, don’t dress your girls like tramps (CNN)

5. Father Daughter Dance Medley (Yahoo)

6. At funeral, dog mourns the death of Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan (Yahoo)

7. You’ll freak when you see the new Facebook (CNN)

8. Dog in Japan stays by the side of ailing friend in the rubble (Yahoo)

9. Giant crocodile captured alive in Philippines (Yahoo)

10. New Zodiac Sign Dates: Ophiuchus The 13th Sign? (The Huffington Post)

11. Parents keep child’s gender under wraps (Yahoo)

12. How to Talk to Little Girls (The Huffington Post)

13. Stop Coddling the Super-Rich (New York Times)

14. Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior (Wall Street Journal)

15. Twin Baby Boys Have A Conversation! (Yahoo)

16. Man robs bank to get medical care in jail (Yahoo)

17. Why You’re Not Married (The Huffington Post)

18. A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs (New York Times)

19. Ryan Dunn Dead: ‘Jackass’ Star Dies In Car Crash (The Huffington Post)

20. Scientists warn California could be struck by winter ‘superstorm’ (Yahoo)

21. Notes From a Dragon Mom (New York Times)

22.  A Message to Women From a Man: You Are Not “Crazy” (The Huffington Post)

23. Obama’s and Bush’s effects on the deficit in one graph (Washington Post)

24. Penn State, my final loss of faith (Washington Post)

25.  Golden-Voiced Homeless Man Captivates Internet (Yahoo)

26. The most typical face on the planet (Yahoo)

27. Widespread destruction from Japan earthquake, tsunamis (CNN)

28. Permissive parents: Curb your brats (CNN)

29. A father’s day wish: Dads, wake the hell up! (CNN)

30. Laughing Baby Loves Ripping Paper! (Yahoo)

31. Epic Cover Letter: How To Get Hired For Your Dream Job (Pic) (The Huffington Post)

32. New Zodiac sign dates: Don’t switch horoscopes yet (Washington Post)

33. Things Babies Born in 2011 Will Never Know (Yahoo)

34.  The Psychology of Revenge: Why We Should Stop Celebrating Osama Bin Laden’s Death (The Huffington Post)

35. Where Children Sleep (New York Times)

36. Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet, shifted Earth’s axis (CNN)

37.  Steve Jobs, Apple founder, dies (CNN)

38. China’s latest craze: dyeing pets to look like other wild animals (CNN)

39. Grant Hill’s Response to Jalen Rose (New York Times)

40. Steve Jobs’s Patents (New York Times)

I was raised in a Jewish household, so Christmas was not celebrated. I used to look wistfully at the beautiful Christmas decorations, think about the cookie baking marathons, and go to our fireplace every Christmas morning hoping that Santa had left us something…he didn’t. There is one Christmas memory that rises above all the others, The Norelco Santa commercial.

The Norelco Santa ad first ran in 1961 and appeared in black and white. It was rather crude but the Santa riding on the electric razor was enough to get everyone’s attention. As a young girl I knew little about the Norelco brand, and I really did not need an electric shaver, yet the TV spot remains imprinted on my mind. Not only was it fun to watch, it was a new kind of animation that many had not seen before.

The TV spot was so successful that it was updated several times to add additional products and to take advantage of color TV. In 1994 the commercial was remade with a more up to date Santa, better animation, and more scenes of Santa frolicking through the snow. While viewers continued to watch their sets for the first Christmas viewing of Santa, it seems that Santa’s job was on the line.

In his book, Santa Claus: A Biography, author Gerry Bowler notes, “Santa’s job as adman was not secure. Norelco electric shavers had employed Santa Claus in its Christmas ads for years. “Norelco,” the ads would chirp. Unfortunately this presentation seemed to suggest to viewers that the company was in the toy business and so in 1986 Santa was dumped in favour of a manly looking fellow shaving to the slogan “We made close comfortable…” The result? Sales boomed and the company expressed no regret making its loyal, old employee redundant. His appearance was a classic example of how an advertisement could be popular without being effective. “Santa Claus advertising at best created a cute, warm, image for the brand, but nothing else.”

After  Philips decided to subsitute Santa with a new ad, the company was besieged by letters from loyal fans wondering why Santa had been replaced. For six years viewers, like me, felt as if something was missing from the pre-holiday TV fare. In 2002, the company realized that they had made a mistake and Santa was reintroduced. This year finds the Norelco commercial hipper and more contemporary with better production values.

And my eyes will probably gloss over while it is on. It’s missing the nostalgia for a simpler time and the magic of animation is magic no more. I highly doubt that kids watching this commercial today will remember it years from now, but not due to any Norelco missteps. It is a different time, a totally different world, and the black and white jerkily animated Kris Kringle has to be put out to pasture. Still, for this non-Christian, Norelco will always symbolize the fun, beauty, and magic of the holiday season.