Terry Levine | Noggin Advertising | Copywriter | Digital + Direct Writer | Blogging | Toronto | Canada

GREAT ADVERTISING IS GREAT STORYTELLING.

This sweet new Tim Hortons TV spot about an immigrant arriving in Canada for the first time makes me cry. There, I said it. A damn doughnut shop ad makes me cry. I'm a loser.

It's not the first time. My all-time favorite is this one from a few years back about an Asian-Canadian family and hockey. 

Gets me every time.

But why?

The answer is simple and something that marketers tragically forget most of the time. Marketing's objective might be to sell more product but advertising's goal is a little different. It's about communicating a marketing message by connecting with an audience on an emotional level. 

It's about telling a story.

There are a lot of opinions as to what makes us human. But I think number one on that list is our need to tell stories, so we can better understand and learn lessons from each other. If you ever wondered why the Bible or Macbeth or East of Eden or The Godfather are still with us, it's because they are some of the best stories ever told.

And it's why Tim Hortons commercials make me cry. (Don't make me admit it again.)

THE WEIRDEST THING I'VE READ TODAY.

I've done a fair bit of work for the pharma industry, mainly for Wyeth and all of it for over-the-counter medication. And it's a good thing because I've always felt bad for creatives who work on prescription drug advertising. There's just something weird and wild about having to develop ads that, on the one hand, show carefree people laughing and living large thanks to their medication and, on the other, include voice overs warning you that the same medication might kill you. (God giveth, God taketh away.)

Creative and legal hate one another on the best of days. I imagine discussions on these accounts must involve surrendering all pointy objects and staplers before entering the boardroom. 

Which is why, though not really a laughing matter, I loved this post from HowStuffWorks detailing the top 10 weirdest prescription drug side effects.

Not included in the list but my all-time favorite is, of course: Anal leakage. 

Enough said.

THE MOST PRACTICAL THING I'VE READ TODAY.

A couple of years ago I was approached online about writing advertorial copy for a client half-way around the world. My gut told me not to take the job because getting paid might be a problem if things didn't work out (this was before I'd set up a PayPal account) but I took the job anyway and lived to regret it.

The client asked me to submit a copy platform before I wrote the entire article. I did so, received minimal feedback and moved on to the copy deck. After submitting that document, which followed the platform, the client told me he wasn't satisfied and wanted a rewrite. When I asked for specifics, all I got were vague comments like "it's not really there" and "can you have another go at it." Still not clear on a new direction, we spent nearly two hours chatting via Skype and I came to the conclusion I wouldn't get anywhere. He was certain what I'd written was wrong but couldn't articulate why.

One thing I love most about the web is discovering people with challenges similar to yours.

This blog post over at copyblogger.com is a perfect example. It offers practical tips on how to deal with clients who demand time-consuming rewrites -- and even what to do if you can't seem to please them.

I've intuitively used many of these techniques in the past but it was still gratifying to get confirmation. Stupidly, in my situation a few years ago, I concluded I'd never be able to pursue someone on the other side of the planet and didn't even send out a bill.  

Who says you don't live and learn?  

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MICROSOFT > MICROSOFT ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

Client: Microsoft
Agency: Wunderman
Media: Integrated, Website, Email, 3D DM, Brochure
AD: Aris Mantzouranis
Writer: Terry Levine

BP > A LITTLE BETTER GAME

 

Client: BP
Agency: Wunderman
Media: Integrated, Digital, POS
AD: Jesse Edwards
Writer: Terry Levine, Andrew Ennals

16 THINGS YOU OUGHT TO KNOW ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA.

Tweets. Friends. Blogs. Confused about social media and how it can help or hurt your business?

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David Berkowitz at AdvertisingAge has posted a useful summary to get you up to speed fast, including this:

"Any company or brand can benefit from having a direct connection with their target audiences, whether those are customers, prospects, business partners, local peers, analysts or others. Marketers feel the need the most when they're in a crisis, but it's like learning to swim -- you'll want to pick up the skill before you find yourself stranded in the Atlantic Ocean, or at your boss's pool party."

Time to dive in.

140 WORDS ON ''IT'S COMPLICATED"

This is the first in an occasional series of blog posts I'm dubbing megatweets -- 140 words instead of characters.

 

February isn't a great movie month. So stuck between the latest from an alcoholic anti-Semite and the anti-Christ, my friend and I chose It's Complicated with Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

My feelings are, well, complicated. I love Streep -- she really is the best actor around -- and Baldwin is the funniest thing about 30 Rock. But while there were charming moments, I couldn't help thinking that something wasn't right. Maybe I never quite believed these two were ever a couple or maybe I couldn't get past Baldwin's belly and T-Rex arms. Coming to terms with Martin not being funny since 1980 didn't help.

I suppose this was targeted more at my parents and I'm glad Hollywood had the balls to show older people getting it on. I'm just not sure I needed to see it.

Did you? What's your take?

THE 7 TRIGGERS OF FASCINATION.

This article from American Express OPEN Forum was, well, fascinating.

It presents information from Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Fascination and Persuasion by Sally Hogshead, including this tidbit:

"According to the research, a fascinating brand can charge more than an un-fascinating one, up to four times as much. People also will pay a premium for brands that activate desired triggers. In the presence of a fascinating product, 80% of people report a strong emotional or physical response."

Another book I'll need to pick up.

A FRIDAY SMILE.

The world needs a little more of this sort of creativity. I defy you not to smile when you watch this. :-)

THE POPULARITY AND POLITICS OF PINK.

The best line from a movie in 2009 might have been uttered by Joann in Precious who told us her favorite color was "florescent beige."

At least she didn't say pink.

Pink has jumped the shark -- or at least I hope it will soon. Especially that oppressively hot pink that every Gen Xer mother I know dresses her little girl in. And that Holt Renfrew introduced a few years ago on its shopping bags, website, gift cards. Ugh. Enough already.

It didn't always have to be this way.

An illuminating slide show essay over at Slate reveals how different things were at the turn of the last century:

"In Catholic Germany, little girls were dressed in blue in honor of the Virgin Mary, while little boys wore pink, considered a watered-down shade of masculine red.

In America the rules were the same. "Use pink for the boy and blue for the girl, if you are a follower of convention, 'the Sunday Sentinel advised mothers in 1914. Ladies' Home Journal flatly contradicted this notion in 1918: "The generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.'"

Pink stinks, no?