Holidays at HenkinSchultz
November 25, 2008
We’re beginning to feel the wiggly piggly holiday spirit, my friends! And what better way to show that spirit than by hanging a billion red balls from the ceiling of Lobby Part Two?
What’s even cooler is that this isn’t the end of it. We’re going ABSOLUTELY CRAZY for the holidays this year. EVERYTHING MUST GO!
Wait. Wrong kind of crazy.
Jetpacks in South Dakota
November 10, 2008
Post Haste - and HenkinSchultz in general - recieved some nice praise from one of my favorite ad blogs: Where’s My Jetpack.
From WMJ’s post “They Do Advertising in South Dakota?”
Some coastal dwellers (probably of the NYC and LA variety) long ago deemed the interior of the nation “flyover country.” But until you’ve lived there, you don’t know what you’re talking about. The cost of living is waaaay cheaper and they get the same channels on their cable boxes that you get. The sushi is a little suspect, but that’s offset by the ability to leave your front door unlocked.
So I was checking out my tanking ranking at Technorati to see who links here when I found that rare thing: an agency blog that doesn’t suck. (There are a few over in the sidebar that fit that description.) It’s from agency Henkin-Schultz of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
That’s us!
National attention - even on the blog level - is always appreciated. Even if those who leave comments spend more time talking about the shape of our parking lot and landscaping than anything else.
We’ll take it. Here’s to hoping these two links helped raise your Technorati score, WMJ.
The Difference Between the Colas…
November 10, 2008
Two rivals. Two very specific strategies. Two of the most recognized brands in the world.
On one hand, there’s Coke. At a recent South Dakota Advertising Federation meeting, we were treated to a presentation by the brand manager of Coca-Cola, Terisa Monroe. She walked us through the history of Coke – the name, the logo, the bottle, the ups and downs and successes and failures.
One thing stood out. They have found success through a strict dedication to their history. Their logo has been unchanged for over a century. Their bottle has become an icon unlike any other. They have the same colors, the same attitude and the same marks.
And the one time they strayed from the original? New Coke. We know how that ended.
On the other hand, there’s Pepsi. The agent of change. The cool kid in the cola market. Generation Next. And on. And on. They’ve spent the last few decades racing after a younger market, fighting to stay on this generation’s minds as they grow older.
And while their logo has stayed the same for the most part, it has been tweaked and re-shaped at least three times since I became old enough to notice such things. Every several years there’s some kind of identity crisis. The logo undergoes a million-dollar-rebrand and emerges – let’s be honest here – a little goofier than the last.
Which leaves us with this. The new Pepsi logo. A little too subtle (it’s supposed to be a smile…get it?) and a little too disingenuous. As if they are taking Coca-Cola’s message of happiness and enjoyment a little too far, attempting to create brand loyalty by simply stating that there IS brand loyalty.
The logo smiles, as if we’re smiling too.
What I wonder is if this is becoming expected. Pepsi is unable to keep their logo stable, always changing it to meet oncoming trends, and I wonder if the public is now more likely to subconsciously expect a change every several years? Are they able to look back on old logos and realize how dated they look?
When you look at the Coca-Cola logo (acknowledging that, yes, they have that secondary “Coke” logo, etc.) there is no change. None. You know what you’re getting. It’s stable. It has the “everyone loves us” market tied up.
Likewise, Coca-Cola shrewdly positions itself ahead of the game, dictating trends rather than following them.
Which leaves Pepsi no choice but to try to play catch-up.
It looks a little desperate, if you ask me.
(For more thoughts on the new Pepsi re-logo-ization and, more specifically, the “blogger outreach marketing plan” that Pepsi attempted, check out my more random and harsh thoughts over at Make the Logo Bigger.)
Happy Election Day
November 4, 2008
It’s election day.
This means a lot of things. For those of us who are able, we have the privilege of voting. To make our voice heard. So go out and do it, for Pete’s sake. Seriously. What are you waiting for - tomorrow?
Also, it means we can gain a little respite from the barrage of political ads that have battered us into submission. I mean, you know, it gets to the point when you simply don’t care who wins, as long as you can get away from the yard signs and negative campaigning and endless e-mails about giving cash to already rich campaigns.
But before we say goodbye to all of the political advertising, let’s take a look at some historically negative campaigns.
For instance, the vicious hate-mongering that Stephen Douglas riled up against future President Abraham Lincoln.
Or what about the fear that George Washington placed into our hearts. At 3 a.m., we’d all want him leading our country.
(A major thanks to two of the best ad blogging minds in the adblogosphere: Make the Logo Bigger and Where’s My Jetpack? In fact, I’ll be the first to make the endorsement: MTLB/WMJ 2012.)
Happy Election day, everyone.
HS Happenings
November 3, 2008
You know, it’s been a busy few months for us here at HenkinSchultz. But I promise not to take it out on our poor Post Haste anymore. It’s just an innocent blog – there’s no need to stoop to abandonment or neglect. We’re better than that.
Of course, things have happened in those few months.
First, we took a trip to Huron to visit our new friends at Dakota Provisions.
Well, let’s be honest. We went up to race turkeys.
The HenkinSchultz team consisted of Wendy, Teresa, Karla, Craig and Phelps the Turkey. Together they managed to come in second. But I’d like to think that, in a turkey race, everyone is a winner.
Unfortunately, the International Turkey Race Committee of America thought otherwise. There was only a prize for first place.
We were happy just getting a picture of Teresa and Wendy gently leading a turkey down the streets of Huron.
Oops. Wrong way.
WINNERS! (Once removed, that is)
In real business news, HenkinSchultz spent nearly all of October preparing for the 102nd Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting. It was a grand affair, chronicling the Modern Marvel that is Sioux Falls. Tom Brokaw was there, as was nearly everyone else in the city, and it seems to have been a smashing success.
The Stage, part one.
The Stage, part two.
The venerable Tom Brokaw.
Even the construction equipment seemed happy.
For a long (and long-loading) view of the entire stage, click here.
E-mail Subscribers…
November 3, 2008
If you used to subscribe to the site via e-mail, you will need to resubscribe using the link to the right.
We have updated our e-mail script to FeedBurner, and unfortunately there’s no way to transfer the subscriptions.
Sorry for the trouble. You know how these Internets work sometime.
- Wishing for the Attainable
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About HenkinSchultz
HenkinSchultz is an agency. An advertising and marketing and branding and design and production agency. All of those things, and then some.
But, underneath all that, we're really a bunch of thinkers. As in, we think about stuff, both pertinent and not, with and without boundaries, as if our lives depended on it. And this right here, Post Haste, is where we write about it.
Visit us at http://www.henkinschultz.com.