BuyMoreCoffeePlease3Euro

I saw this a few days back on Ads of the World and thought, “What a fantastic idea.”

A coffee shop was having trouble getting those pesky wifi users to, you know, actually buy things other than a small cup of coffee. (Full disclosure: I am one of these people. I will buy one cup of coffee and sap wifi for three hours. I am a jerk. I know.)

The solution: bring the menu to the computers through the computer’s wifi screen.

Pure brilliance.

I didn’t post anything about it immediately because, let’s face it, I wanted to steal the idea for my own. Of course, now that brandflakesforbreakfast has posted about it, everyone will find out anyway.

Thanks, guys.

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Holidays at HenkinSchultz

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.

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Jetpacks in South Dakota

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.

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The Difference Between the Colas…

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.)

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Happy Election Day

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.

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HS Happenings

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.

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E-mail Subscribers…

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.

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The Good, the Bad, the Nike

Some days, you just need to sit back and enjoy the beauty of a great Nike commercial.

Maybe it’s the Ennio Morricone track. Or, maybe it’s the consistent entrance of each player (LaDainian Tomlinson: always from the right; Troy Polamalu: always from the left). Regardless, it’s a wonderful story.

(Via: V.V.I.’s twitter)

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Saying what you mean. Showing what you say.

It’s simple.

In marketing, you want to say what you mean.

And visually, you want to back up what you say with images that correspond.

Any disconnect will be noticed. Pounced upon. Seen as weakness, as an disingenuous attempt at trust.

Say what you mean. Show what you say. Mean what you show.

These are all common things to keep in mind when designing and writing and developing a concept in all aspects of marketing. But really, I’m using these common sense ideas as an excuse to play this great YouTube clip: A’Ha’s “Take On Me,” as if the song was written to match the video.

It all makes so much more sense now. Take me on.

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When the audience helps. Or not.

When you ask the general public to come up with great ideas for you, you risk the backlash of information overload. Even more, you risk an unfiltered flow of unfocused and pedestrian ideas.

At the same time, you also tap into the untapped – reaching outside of your cozy office, looking past that copywriter who may be stuck on his or her own idea and into the vast world of unbridled creativity.

Which will you get?

Example one: Best Buy is looking to reach out to a female market that doesn’t quite jibe with the current color scheme. Blue and yellow are about as attractive as neon pink and lime green, apparently.

Their idea is to ask their customers to help create an interior design that better suits the buying styles of women.

Putting aside the assumption that more stylish carpets will lead to more television sales, my question is with the validity of tapping into customers for a retail redesign.

From what I know about interior design (which admittedly isn’t much) it seems like this is counterproductive. Design – both interior and in other fields - isn’t something that can simply be cobbled together from different minds. There’s a fluid method that benefits from likeminded ideas, each leading into the next, creating consistency. Creating a larger view of the situation.

In other words, taking one idea from this person and one idea from another and smashing them together is kind of like matching plaid with stripes. They might work on their own, or as part of an overall theme, but how well will they look side by side?

Example two: There’s an art in collecting the views of an outsider. Which is exactly what David, a fellow copywriter and Moleskin enthusiast, does for Write In My Journal, a project that asks complete strangers – people David may never meet again – to, fittingly, write in his journal.

It’s simple. David finds someone who looks interesting and asks them to write what they want. In doing so, he has developed a collection of thoughts that span from introspective to absurd. And it’s fascinating. I can’t stop reading it. He’s gathering together an army of ideas. He’s showing how the collective effort can be greater than the individual parts. It succeeds in spite of it’s randomness, because it’s unfocused and unbridled.

There’s a fine line between success and failure when it comes to asking your customers for help. Does it work? Is it hampering? Do you get inspired work or do you get a watered down, ideas-by-committee feel? The answer is cheap – but accurate.

It depends.

(via brand flakes for breakfast and metafilter)

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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.

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It seems as though everyone is in the holiday spirit. But no one can top the HenkinSchultz HOLIDAY CAKE WALK. (Boo Yaa)

Recent Posts

• BuyMoreCoffeePlease3Euro
• Holidays at HenkinSchultz
• Jetpacks in South Dakota
• The Difference Between the Colas…
• Happy Election Day
• HS Happenings
• E-mail Subscribers…
• The Good, the Bad, the Nike
• Saying what you mean. Showing what you say.
• When the audience helps. Or not.

Recent Comments

• jetpacks: Just doing my job, ma’am. Enjoy your Thanksgiving.
• jetpacks: Very niceTM (Especially shot #2.)
• Sharon: I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I...
• bg: This election is too important too not vote early—and often!
• Paul: Worthington, MN is the Turkey Capital of the world. Much love.

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