I've always found myself to be a creative person, able to come up with funny, off the cuff, some times dark comedic scenarios towards the promotion of things in general. I remember a grammar school contest where we were asked to come up with an ad for Tropicana orange juice (why exactly, I don't know), but I drew a carton of orange juice next to a glass and some school books, and wrote the slogan: "Juice...it's great before a test" In my opinion it was the better of the submissions but I did not win because "I didn't specify what KIND of test" I remember thinking "Seriously? ... a test ... ANY TEST" DUH! Today, as a business owner in the very demanding field of amusement park and family fun center theming and attractions, I constantly find myself re living my grammar school advertising contest day, in my need to convey our products and services.
Maybe I never would have been the great advertising executive I once thought I would be, and since I find my sculpting skills to be very high up in the scale of abilities, I don't think I would want to do anything else. It's almost second nature to me. But it is the advertising and promoting of our company that still baffles me to this day. After all, we have been in business for the past 19 years now and find new comers with less experience overall, gaining more exposure. Today, we were discussing new promotional ads and how to creatively convey: "Buy from us you bastards, were better than the other guys". (See: off the cuff, dark). Is that not PC? I posted the same question on my facebook page and received a comment from someone high up in the industry: "I kind of like exactly what you said. It's attention grabbing and to the point! Think anyone has ever tried that approach?!?" Well I don't know, but I do like grabbin attention and getting to the point thats for sure. My YouTube's video channel (giocal) proves that. How about re-running an old ad where we included pics of oversized head sculptures for the MTV music awards? Pics included Ozzy, Snoop Dog and Fred Durst holding their oversized sculpted heads. The ad slogan read: "WE GIVE GREAT HEAD". The immediate reply was "I love it! Better to be provocative then politically correct. Even if someone doesn't like it, it gets their attention". I agree. We are in a creative industry and thinking outside the box is what makes one shine.
But what direction should our next ad campaign take? What ads work better than others? Which direction do you take to properly convey your message? Who are we? What do we do? What sets us apart from the others? These are all valid questions that apply not only to me and my competitors, but our clients as well.
So I put the question to you: What do you look for in an advertisement?
note: I don't readily give out my personal Facebook page but I do invite you to follow my public Facebook social sites: Follow us here for theming! and here for black light minigolf!
Ad # 1) ..... Too Racy? Would the slogan scare you away?
But what direction should our next ad campaign take? What ads work better than others? Which direction do you take to properly convey your message? Who are we? What do we do? What sets us apart from the others? These are all valid questions that apply not only to me and my competitors, but our clients as well.
So I put the question to you: What do you look for in an advertisement?
note: I don't readily give out my personal Facebook page but I do invite you to follow my public Facebook social sites: Follow us here for theming! and here for black light minigolf!
Ad # 1) ..... Too Racy? Would the slogan scare you away?
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