If people don’t understand your advertising, can it be great?

*It’s sorta like Nike’s “Just do it” but you’re not sure because, well, you’re not sure.*

“What the heck does that mean?”

Not gonna lie. A lot of our latest campaign will make absolutely no sense to a great majority of people who see it. Many who drive past the billboards will just shake their heads. As will those who see bus shelters on Van Ness covered in code.

But the developers who build the internet we’re addicted to? They’ll get it. They practically wrote it. (In some instances they completely wrote it.)

While last year's Stytch campaign from boutique ad agency Division of Labor reminded us all how much we hate remembering passwords, this year’s is telling a very different story. Stytch is about a lot more than just passwordless authentication. It’s an entire platform for developers who build authentication. And building those pages and having them work seamlessly can be quite a chore.

But not with Stytch. They’ve developed a modern platform that let’s developers build authentication without workarounds or writing thousands of lines of additional code. And while that message may not resonate with the majority of San Franciscans, it can create an emotional connection with those who do understand.

Tourists, confused. Seagulls, confused. Developers, having a good laugh.

Division of Labor specializes in working with Series B Startups and tech companies like Stytch. Of course, before we can develop ad campaigns like this, we have to dig into the product and figure out what it is we’re talking about. Our clients at Stytch were incredibly patient with us as we iterated on ideas and stared with blank faces as they took us into the depths of the GitHub universe. After poking around a bit on Reddit, we came away with a simple visual that would instantly convey the benefits of Stytch while simultaneously flying over the heads of the non-coding majority.

Pair the visual with a headline like git commit -m “auth, simplified” and you’ve got yourself advertising gold. Or, so we think.

The Captcha executions are especially fun because of the stupid irony they display; humans spending time convincing robots that we’re not robots. Meanwhile, robots are better at solving Captchas than we are! Infuriating. The idea came out of a human insight; the irritation we all feel when we’re served up a Captcha. But when Stytch founder Juliana Lamb pulled out the fact that bots are now more skilled at solving these things than humans, the messaging got more focused and highlights the fact that Stytch has a better way.

Stytch Captcha bus shelter Fraud Protection

So to the question; If people don’t understand your advertising, can it be great? The answer is, yes. As long as the people who are meant to get it, get it, it can indeed be great. On the other hand, when Coca Cola runs ads that look like the one below, it’s a missed opportunity. Because everyone in the world should be able to figure out a Coke ad. But even after you explain that this is about recycling and that’s supposed to be a crumbled-up can, or something, it still doesn’t make any sense.

A recent Coca Cola ad campaign that confused a lot of people. Do you get it?

Thanks to everyone at Stytch who continues to be amazing clients. There are a lot of great San Francisco ad agencies out there. And we’re honored Stytch chose us. If you’re in San Francisco, keep your eyes peeled for the ad campaign and those scratching their heads nearby. And if you need Series B startup advertising and are looking for an ad agency, let’s talk!

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The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top San Francisco ad agency and digital marketing firm that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award-winning creative shop services clients on a retainer or project basis. They also offer freelance services and hourly engagements for startups and smaller brands. Click here for a free consultation.

Why Every Series B Startup Can Benefit From an Ad Agency Relationship

*Stytch’s founders and their internal team worked closely with Division of Labor Advertising to create their hugely successful first advertising campaign.*

The people who work at ad agencies are generally not Rhodes Scholars, rocket scientists, or Mensa members. They didn’t graduate from Stanford, Penn, or MIT. And if you’re the CEO of a Series B startup, you may be smarter than many of them. But intelligence doesn’t make great advertising. Insight does. And ad people know how to connect emotionally with people and make them want things.

Yes, it’s sometimes hard for really smart people to relinquish control, but if we could give you one piece of advice when running a Series B start-up it’s this: Stop solely collaborating internally on how best to market your product and bring in an ad agency to help you and your team get the job done.

If you have the money to build an internal agency, that works too. Keep them independent and hire experienced talent and internal agencies are amazing. But before you spend the millions, spend a few thousand. Why?

We don’t know everything

And that’s a good thing. You all know too much; about the product about the market about the technology about the details. Your target audience doesn’t think about your product 1/100th as much as you do. Neither do we. But an agency can help find that little piece of truth, that one thing that will make people sit up and go, “Ooah, what’s that?”

Strategic Planning: Sure, you can draft a business plan, but can you craft a campaign strategy that weaves seamlessly beyond just digital and social clicks? An ad agency does more than just draw pretty pictures; they map out the entire journey, sorta like a GPS with a PhD in marketing.

Copywriting: Anyone can string a few adjectives together, but crafting copy that’s actually memorable is an art form. Your product or service may be as exciting as watching paint dry, but in the hands of the right creative team, even insurance can be entertaining.

Design: Product design is not graphic design or art direction. You probably have great product designers and UX designer on staff. But that’s not the same as a conceptual art director or a designer who can bring a campaign to life and create a brand that’s unignorable.

Media Planning: Buying Ad Space is Not a DIY Project. Ad agencies are like real estate agents for your content, securing prime advertising spaces and negotiating deals that make your budget stretch further than your yoga instructor doing downward dog. We’ve seen countless campaigns get messed up because the wrong media is bought or the timelines aren’t clear or the specs are wrong or the assets are shipped incorrectly. Yes, you’ll pay a small commission. But do it right or don’t do it.

Data Analysis: Ad agencies don't just throw darts in the dark and hope for the best. They dive deep into the data, analyzing the performance of your campaigns. They can adjust the messaging and adjust the target media to get the absolute most from your media spend. At the same time, we do not blindly follow data. We use it to craft holistic campaigns. If advertising was pure science, we would have written the algorithm and retired a long time ago.

That’s it. What an ad agency does for you isn’t exceptionally complicated But it’s a skill like any other best left to the experts. You trust them to know their craft and you’ll benefit from their perspective.

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The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top San Francisco ad agency and digital marketing firm that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award-winning creative shop services clients on a retainer or project basis. They also offer brand consulting services and hourly engagements for startups and smaller brands. Click here for a free consultation.

The Phantom Returns

If you’re celebrating Halloween this weekend, you’ll be looking for the perfect adult bevy to go with whatever insane costume you’ve come up with. I’m personally liking the Kortney Kardashian and Travis Barker thing, but that has nothing to do with anything. What to drink? What to drink? What to drink as you gather the troops for a party or invite the parents in for a glass while trick or treating?

That’s always the question and there are a number of Halloween wines. But we’re biased here because Phantom Vineyards turned to Division of Labor to promote their Phantom Red Blend and Phantom Chardonnay. And with a name like Phantom, sure it’s gonna be popular for the holiday. But it gets between 92 and 96 points depending on the vintage so it holds its own any time of year.

Michael Myers comes back every Halloween too.

So as part of our ad campaign and point-of-sale promotion, we turned the Phantom into a movie. And since any good horror flick always has a sequel, we started with the sequel. The Phantom Returns hung not in movie theatres but in grocery and other retailers along with social and Instacart promotions for the season. For smaller brands like Phantom, in-store paired with social and digital is a cost-effective way to get the word out without breaking the bank.

It was a fun project that allowed us to create a bunch of designs before selecting the one to go out across the country.

Look for The Phantom at the store this weekend and buy a bunch of it to give out to any adult trick-or-treaters. As for your Travis Barker and Kortney Kardashian costume, some boots, tats and drumsticks and you’re good to go. Enjoy.

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The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top San Francisco ad agency and digital marketing firm that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award-winning creative shop services clients on a retainer or project basis. They also offer brand consulting services and hourly engagements for startups and smaller brands. Click here for a free consultation.

TEN THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WORKING WITH AN AD AGENCY

Any excuse to use a picture from Mad Men works, even if the Sterling Cooper team is probably less versed on digital marketing strategies than the Division of Labor team. .

There are a lot of good agencies out there. A lot of good clients too. But as you’re looking for that perfect agency, remember how important you are to the project’s success.

From selecting the agency, to briefing them, to reviewing work, giving feedback, handling production and dealing with the costs, there are a few things to know to get the most out of your ad agency engagement.

And if you’ve never worked with an ad agency before and never produced an ad campaign before, that doesn’t matter. What does is that you’re forthcoming with your agency about your novice status. This leads us directly to point number one.

1) Honesty is Everything

Be honest about what you know and what you don’t know. Be honest about the budget, your internal structure, office politics, the approval process, how you’ll be judged etc.

Be honest because that’s how you’ll get the most out of your ad agency relationship. Your ad agency team doesn’t know your business. You don’t want them pretending and bullshiting. You want them to ask questions and learn from you. If you do the same, you’ll have a great relationship, which in turn improves your ad spend’s performance.

How do you find an agency?

2) Start with a paid project

Don’t waste time trying to get a lot of free thinking from a lot of agencies. Find a few you like (just look at their past work, and ask for case studies and a credentials presentation). Then give one or two a paid project. Reward the one you like with more work. The money you spend on a couple of paid projects will be far more valuable than wasting time with RFPs and pretend assignments.

Once you have an agency, how do you brief them?

3) Remember, nothing is more complicated than simplicity.

Ask for something simple and you’ll get something great. Ask for something complicated and you’ll get a steamy pile of poop. Make sure your brief contains any research, past work, past findings, testimonials etc. And put them all in one Google Drive or Dropbox. If you have the time and budget for a kickoff workshop, do it. Then it’s the agency’s job to distill everything down into a cohesive story. Once they do that...

4) Don’t “Ya, but. . .”

So when the agency boils the strategy down into one sentence, don’t say, “Yes, but we need to remember the secondary target and retail sales channel support blah blah blah.” The job of the ad agency is to boil it down to one message.

What’s the best way to measure success?

5) Have one clear project goal. Yep, one.

You can measure awareness pre and post, or track site visits, downloads, click-throughs, sales in one market vs another. But the overall goal needs to be singular. And it can be as simple as, “Get people to our website.” Or “Increase brand awareness.” Or, “Get people to read our blog posts down to point number 5.” Of course, each piece of an integrated campaign has a different role to play. But each piece of communication down the funnel, whatever it’s doing, should be in service to the one, clear project goal.

How do I judge the work?

6) React like a consumer, not a client.

Advertising interrupts people who don’t care what you have to say. Whether it’s a social post or pre-roll video or TV spot. Try to judge an idea like it’s interrupting something you’d rather be seeing.

Who should I run decisions by?

7) More opinions do not equal more help.

Your opinion matters. So does your CEO’s and your head of sales. But don’t ask your friend who studied marketing in college to weigh in. And don’t ask your spouse. The more people you consult, the more opinions you’ll get and the more fear people will instill in you. “Hmmm, I like it, but I just worry what (insert group of people here) might think.” Worry and fear create bad advertising.

How do I keep criticism constructive?

8) Compliment before you criticize.

Always start your feedback with what you like. Toss in the word “brilliant” and your creative team will work their tails off for you. (No matter what you say next.) We don’t suggest this just to be nice, though it is a decent thing to do. If you’re positive and encouraging, the team will be more engaged and more receptive to your changes.

How do we avoid mediocrity?

9) Great work has to yield great results

Ask your agency to push you to do something breakthrough. Demand the unexpected, the unique and different. You can always do additional executions, alternative media and more conservative pieces to support the campaign and shape it to sell like crazy.

Can you prove a campaign will be successful with data?

10) There is no algorithm for great work.

Every startup wants to use data to break the advertising code. If there was a formula, we’d all be using it. (And half of the startups wouldn’t fail.) So if you want to get the most out of your agency because you love their work and their results, consider trying it their way.

Now, go hire an agency.

How to get more foster parents in San Francisco

One of the many executions in a new campaign seeking foster families in San Francisco.

San Francisco’s housing crisis impacts everyone in the city, including long-time residents who can no longer afford rents and young families forced to move away to buy homes. But one of the under-reported tragedies: It’s also having a devastating effect on foster children.

Right now there are hundreds of kids waiting to be placed into homes in the city. And without a steady stream of volunteers, those kids will be forced into homes far from the only city they’ve ever known.

So how does a government agency get fresh recruits? They team up with one of San Francisco’s top ad agencies, Division of Labor.

The creative brief set forth by the San Francisco Human Services Agency was simple: Create an attention-grabbing ad campaign that recruits 100 new foster families to join the cause.

The ask is huge. It’s not like getting people to try a new laundry detergent or switch to a low-fat peanut butter. Becoming a foster parent is a life-changing decision. To that end, we needed an emotional hook that would get people to pay attention.

Inspiration hit while someone on our creative team was walking through a parking lot. He saw a huge SUV taking up two compact spaces. Not surprisingly, his first thought was: “What a jerk.” But his next thought was “Unless that jerk happens to be a foster parent. In that case, they can park wherever the heck they want!”

That idea really rang true with everyone on the project. It resulted in an edgier, more humorous campaign that changed people’s perspective on fostering and got them to think about it in a new way.

There are over 40 different executions across billboards, bus shelters, digital banners and social media platforms and they’re all based on the horrible, but not-so-horrible things we all do that can be made up for by being a foster parent. Things like, you might be a serial re-gifter or you might only tip 10% or you might eat all the m&m’s out of the trail mix, but at least you’re a foster parent. The tagline across the campaign: Fostering. It makes up for a lot.

The San Francisco Chronicle did a piece on the campaign launch, along with the perspective of a family who has fostered multiple kids over the years, including a medically-fragile baby they’ve since adopted.

And while ad agencies love free press, in this case, we’re hoping the free press attracts new families, not new clients.

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Ad Campaign Killed Following Feedback From CEO’s Wife’s Book Club.

Pictured above: Beth Clutterbuck’s Book Club eating chips, dip and passing judgement.

Production of a major advertising campaign was abruptly halted today following negative feedback from the CEO’s wife’s book club. Word came down at the start of day two of a three-day-shoot as the crew and ad agency gathered near the craft services truck to feast on breakfast burritos and kale smoothies.

The company’s CEO, Dwayne Clutterbuck, had just called with instructions to shut the commercial production down as a result of feedback he’d gotten from his wife Beth, and six others in her book club. Five of the six book club attendees had made negative comments about the advertising campaign after hearing it described by Ms. Clutterbuck while they were waiting for Margie and Dale to get back from the bathroom.

Clutterbuck’s company, Clean GreenTopia, had spent nearly four months, and invested more than $250,000 in consumer research for the ad campaign. But the random musings of six, mildly-intoxicated people who are not in the target market really made Clutterbuck rethink his marketing team’s approach.

“When you get a perspective of people that aren’t actually seeing the finished campaign but are reacting to one person’s third-party description of what she kind of remembers the campaign to be, you have to take it seriously,” said Clutterbuck.

The book club attendees spent a full 15 minutes dissecting Tara Westover’s best selling memoir, Educated, before conversation veered in another direction. “We were talking about her family’s tincture business, and this lead into a discussion of alternative wellness products, which then dissolved into us tearing apart Gwyneth Paltrow’s company Goop,” says Beth Clutterbuck.

Three of the dozens of titles kind of talked about, but mostly glossed over in Beth Clutterbuck’s book club.

“It really is a stupid name for a company. But it also lead us into a bigger discussion about corporate responsibility. And, well, that’s when I mentioned Dwayne’s new global ad campaign for organic bleach.”

Ms. Clutterbuck, initially gave the ad campaign idea the thumbs up, lauding its light-hearted and whimsical approach to dirty laundry. However, when she explained the premise to the book club, they weren’t having it. “There is no place for humor when you’re dealing with the destruction of the planet.” said Kathy Taylor who is currently unemployed but took some marketing classes in college. “Why would you make light of something as serious as global warming?” she asked seemingly unaware the advertising campaign has nothing to do with climate change.

After processing their feedback, Mr. Clutterbuck became concerned that the professionals he’d put on the project, who had nearly 500 years of marketing experience between them, just didn’t get it. “Sometimes you have to question people who do advertising and marketing campaigns for a living and go with the gut instincts of people who consistently offer opinions on things they know little about.”

The book club attendees, who meet quarterly, have two master's degrees in art history, a PHD in French cuisine and a certificate in canine grooming among them. Along with global marketing decisions, the group regularly advises the Clutterbucks on topics ranging from vacation destinations, gluten free restaurant options, or what to do when your child gets lice.

With regards to the latest digital marketing debacle, the group advised Clutterbuck to keep it simple. “Don’t waste time being clever or funny. When people want humor, they can watch a funny movie. When they want bleach, they just want to know how the manufacturing process affects our carbon footprint,” said Jill Friedlander, the one in the club that never bothers to read the book.

Anita Milton also voiced concern. “There’s too much money influencing our kids today. Corporations need to do a better job of focusing on responsible practices,” she explained without offering details on what her gripe has to do with a bleach commercial.

The one dissenter was Janelle Patterson. She actually thought the ad campaign was memorable and effective. “I thought it was hysterical,” says Patterson. “It made a boring product feel hip and cool.”

At press time, there were unconfirmed reports that Patterson would not be invited back for next quarter’s book, Where the Crawdads Sing.

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Ad Agency Hires Explainer Video Company to Explain the Idiocy of Explainer Videos.

A scene from our explainer video explaining the drawbacks of explainer videos. See full video below.

Last week we wrote a tongue-in-cheek blog post about how every tech startup seems to use the same style explainer video to launch their company. But there was some confusion as we noted a number of people were debating whether the article was parody or real.

This speaks volumes about where we are in the industry. We were blatantly making fun of a fake company called Woo Woo and how they had a pitch for their 100 million dollar business but instead hired a kid named Dwayne to make a cartoon for $500 bucks.

And as ridiculous as it sounds, so many of us in the industry have watched dumbfounded time and time again as startups have made this same marketing mistake.

So we at Division of Labor decided to hire an explainer video company to explain why marketing executives should not use an explainer videos in place of proper branding and advertising.

We were nervous at first that explainer video companies wouldn’t take kindly to our little experiment. After all, hiring someone to create a video that makes fun of what they do for a living might not go over too well.

But the company we hired saw nothing strange about what we were doing and charged us the standard $400, which incidentally is one hundred bucks cheaper than our fictitious explainer video mastermind, Dwayne Clutterbuck.

So what did we learn? The service was seamless. Our contact was professional and willing to make whatever tweaks we suggested. And, in the end, we got what paid for: A crude, formulaic, 2-D animation video that looks exactly like every other explainer video that’s now ubiquitous on the internet.

And while disruptor culture certainly makes it easier to do things, faster and cheaper. It’s ironic that the end product is in no way disruptive. (Save for the tree shrews eating people’s brains and our main character pole-dancing to a cash shower.)

There’s certainly a place for explainer videos in the world. As a way to detail a complex product in simple, disarming language, it’s a technique. But not if you want to set your product or brand apart from everyone else. These sorts of videos do nothing to differentiate, nothing to establish a voice, and nothing to set your product apart or make anyone remember you.

If one marketing executive or startup founder watches our “explainer video on why not to use explainers videos” and finds merit, it was worth the investment. Though, admittedly, we’d be even more delighted if said marketing executive or founder offers Division of Labor the opportunity to properly position their brand for optimal success.

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Long before Nike, there was Krazy Kaplan

Division of Labor is closing up shop for the Fourth of July. Like most of you, we’re taking a break from brand launches, digital marketing campaigns, and media strategies to instead celebrate this country and our freedom.

And as I will be traveling to the Midwest to spend time with family, it got me thinking about the face of the Fourth of July in the Midwest. Not Uncle Sam. Not a Yankee Doodle Dandy. But a deranged looking cartoon character called, Krazy Kaplan.

Krazy Kaplan Billboards line the highways of Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. And growing up, Krazy Kaplan got us kids all excited to blow our fingers off. Krazy Kaplan’s outdoor boards have endured for decades. Nothing clever. No smart writing or design and certainly Krazy Kaplan isn’t spending $700 per entry to try to win a Cannes Lion. But these sons of bitches have sure sold a lot of fireworks over the years. And while I can’t recall the names of any of my children’s grade school teachers, I sure as hell remember that Krazy Kaplans is conveniently located just across the Illinois border in Hammond, Indiana. And it’s the go-to store for all my fourth of July fireworks needs.

And it appears Krazy Kaplans has expanded their inventory since I was a kid. They now apply that same marketing strategy - buy one get six free - to their artillery shell selection. The maiming possibilities are endless. Happy Fourth of July to everyone. Take time off and savor the day.

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The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top San Francisco ad agency and digital marketing firm that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award-winning creative shop services clients on a retainer or project basis. They also offers brand consulting services and hourly engagements for startups and smaller brands. Click here for a free consultation.

Seven essential tips for an effective OOH campaign

In the digital age, the growth of traditional advertising, print, tv, radio—has stagnated with one notable exception. Out of home advertising (OOH), a catch-all term for billboards, transit wraps and point of sale signage is actually going gangbusters. According to the research firm, Magna Global, OOH spending grew 4.6% in 2018, a record high. But, of course, not every billboard campaign will yield record results for the brand. So how do you make sure your OOH money is spent wisely? Of course, a well thought out, efficient outdoor buy is crucial. But great placement with a boring, wordy, generic message is worthless. Consider these seven essential tips for an effective OOH campaign.

#1 — Strategy First

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Start with honest, human insights. An outdoor campaign for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, for example, targeted visitors to the city. The assumption is that people use social media to plan their trips, research their destination and ask for recommendations. But research found that 85 percent of vacation itinerary decisions are actually made at the destination. This one statistic was the driving force behind the See Them Both campaign. Rather than compete with some of the more iconic tourist destinations, the museum chose to capitalize on their fame by promoting the museum alongside, Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge and other bucket list faves. Following a three month campaign, museum traffic increased 48 percent while the average ticket sale increased 14 percent. So not just more people visiting the museum, more people spending more money.

# 2 — Put Google to Work

Don’t try to explain everything while someone is driving 60 miles an hour. Compel people to do their own research. Ninety percent of Americans are proficient with the same research tool that got you to this blog post. If they drive pass something intriguing on their commute, they’ll Google it. This approach proved successful for Comedy Central, which in 2018 ran an OOH campaign with messaging that read: #CancelSouthPark. Fans rushed to the internet for confirmation only to discover that it was the creators themselves pushing for the show demise, capitalizing on past viral Twitter campaigns which successfully saved the tv shows, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Lucifer both slated for the chopping block.

#3 — Invest in Multiple Executions

OOH is meant to build brand awareness. And the best way to do that is to stick with one unifying message and then create varied executions that people won’t get sick of. According to the 23 Below Media Group, Multiple OOH executions improve lasting impact by 14 percent thus extending the overall life of the advertising campaign. This was the strategy used to help launch Roku back when awareness of streaming was only at 7 percent. Despite being a superior product, they were having trouble stealing market share from brand leader Apple TV. Before we explained why our small, black box was better than the other small black box, we had to equate Roku with streaming so that when people did decide to jump into the streaming market, Roku would be top of mind. We blanketed communities with out-of-home messaging around the holidays that was funny and simple, but also varied. So it remained entertaining like the TV shows they love. By the time the campaign was over, we had established brand awareness on-par with Apple TV and increased Roku sales by 30 percent.

#4 — Give Them Something to Talk About

People hate boring advertising. They love things that are funny, compelling or worth talking about. And, of course, outdoor advertising needn’t be static. Just recently, for example, Kelly Services needed a digital video execution for the Times Square facing side of New York City’s landmark NASDAQ building. It’s a fabulous location in terms of eyeballs. But because there are 26 windows smattered throughout billboard it’s a design nightmare. Most companies ignore the windows, which then breaks up the type and makes the images look pretty crappy. But Kelly, a temporary staffing agency, incorporated the windows into their creative concept seizing on the adage: “Every time a door closes, a window opens.” In this way, the windows went from distraction to focal point and dovetailed with their overall brand message that no job is permanent. And because we knew the installation would turn heads, we even hired a production team to record people’s reactions when it went live in Time Square, which prolonged the life of the campaign by allowing it to proliferate on social media.

# 5 — Keep it Simple

Less is more. We promise. Per research uncovered by 23 Below Media Group, OOH ads are 23 percent more likely to get noticed when they have fewer design elements. The billboard’s purpose is to build brand awareness. In the case of Metro Mile, for example, we cut right to the chase: Insurance for People Who Don’t Drive Much.” The message, coupled with a playful illustration, is a way to pique curiosity, not close a deal.

# — 6 Pay Attention to Placement

If a board or location is super cheap, there’s a reason. Is it behind a tree? In a bad part of town? Blocked by construction? Also essential: Pay attention to what’s being advertised on adjacent OOH real estate as it can negatively impact your brand. A billboard purchased by Burger King in Louisiana went viral, but for all the wrong reasons. The billboard was created to promote the fast-food giant’s meal deal—two sausage and cheese breakfast sandwiches for three dollars. Nothing provocative about it. However, it was placed alongside a billboard purchased by the American Heart Association (AHA) which read: One in three people will die from heart disease. No further explanation is necessary.

# 7 — Quit asking your agency to make the logo bigger

The logo should be visible, but not so visible it’s the first thing people see. No one gives a crap about your logo without a compelling idea. Give them a reason to WANT to know who is doing the message. If all you had to do was make the logo bigger, we would have done that years ago for all our clients and retired by now. Apple’s “Shot on iPhone campaign” embodies this approach. The company used crowdsourced photos shot with the iPhone to demonstrate the power of the product’s camera. The Apple logo is dropped quietly and tastefully into the lower left hand corner of each billboard.

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The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top San Francisco ad agency and digital marketing firm that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award-winning creative shop services clients on a retainer or project basis. They also offers brand consulting services and hourly engagements for startups and smaller brands. Click here for a free consultation.

An All-In-One Marketing Kit For Startups

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No one needs great branding more than a startup. But too often, startup companies have startup budgets. Since the day Division of Labor opened its doors, we’ve had a steady stream of requests from startups in this exact position. VC funding, but never enough.

So we got to thinking; we’re a boutique creative agency, designed to run lean and churn out the best advertising on the West Coast without sticking clients with huge markups to cover overhead. If we got even more efficient and had clients willing to do the same, we could serve startups in the early phases of funding, which is, in actuality, the ideal time to build a brand.

So, after numerous internal discussions and an equal amount of time spent crunching the numbers, Division of Labor developed a strategy which we believe can bridge the gap between the marketing needs of small companies and that irritant, reality.

We call it “The Start-Up Marketing Kit”. For a flat fee of $35,000 (a pittance compared with typical full-service agency fees) Division of Labor now provides start-ups with the basic necessities of a successful brand launch without the commitment of a long-term agency contract.

The Start-Up Marketing Kit includes the following:

1) A Brand Manifesto. We start by developing a strategic positioning. We determine what you stand for and what you stand against. Then we craft the story of why you exist. A Mission statement is a rational document. A manifesto is the emotional story that brings the mission to life.

2) A Clear target. Who are you talking to? Not a demographic, a personality type that will embrace why you exist and want what you’re selling. We use Simmons proprietary research and our strategy group to isolate the target audience.

3) Home Page Story and Design. We bring the mission and manifesto to life with a simple, singular statement and design that greets everyone who comes to your site. We write and design a home page and secondary pages.

4) Social Media Assets. This is the start of advertising and what takes your message to the world. At a minimum, you’ll do social media marketing. You need a simple campaign that gets your product and message out there. We create executions for LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

5) Video. People want video more than anything else. Your video should celebrate why you exist and introduce what your product does. It should live on your homepage and be sent out via social media platforms as a promotion. We write and storyboard a video and prepare it for production.

And, of course, clients always have the option of adding additional pieces, including logo design, digital advertising, integrated advertising, TV, Radio, outdoor, design, media planning, and video production. Division of Labor recognizes that the idea of a set price for engagement is a bit unconventional. But we see it as a long-term investment. We give clients everything they need to get started with the assumption that when they get that VC cash infusion, they’ll remember who helped them in the early days and will re-engage for the Super Bowl commercial. Click here to learn more.

The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top West Coast advertising agency and digital marketing firm that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award-winning creative shop services clients on a retainer or project basis. And also offers brand consulting services and hourly engagements for startups and brands interested in testing new ideas, but who aren’t quite ready to invest in an integrated campaign or media spend. We can assist with brand strategy, brand voice, early stage asset development, video creation and other communications to get things up and running without busting your budget. Click here for a free consultation.

Brand Loyalty: a Marketing Case Study.

Marketing agencies are always trying to encourage brand loyalty. But the smart ones are also thinking about reciprocating brand loyalty. In other words, if you want people to love and embrace your brand, how do you give away and engrain your brand into people’s lives?

The San Jose Sharks have some of the most loyal fans in the NHL. They love the players and the organization and the passion the Sharks have brought to San Jose since 1991. So as the San Jose Sharks marketing agency, we at Division of Labor thought about how we could be even more loyal to those most loyal to us.

Fans already spend a lot of money on tickets and jerseys and swag. But there’s an even more passionate group of fans that have taken our Sharks for Life mantra to the literal level. The number of fans with Sharks tattoos is amazing and humbling and a beautiful sign of loyalty. It’s the kind of thing that makes the players want to win it all for this town more than anything.

So earlier in the season, we came up with the idea to give away free Sharks tattoos to fans. We’d already encouraged fans to paint their houses teal (Teal Houses of Sharks Territory) and we expanded that to create the Teal Cars of Sharks Territory. But giving away free tattoos? We weren’t sure how that would go over.

But the Sharks loved the idea. They embraced it immediately and knew they had to make it happen, the question was how and when? We wanted to bring artists into a suite and have them ink fans while they were watching a game. But that proved logistically difficult. So we developed a digital marketing plan around the playoffs.

The plan: We partnered with three local San Jose Tattoo Shops to give away free sharks tattoos during each away game of the Western Conference Finals. The first 40 fans to show up at the designated shop will get to choose one of six sharks designs. Of course, we couldn’t execute the idea until we made it past the second round. But we still had to prepare.

So we created social marketing assets that encouraged fans to gather at a pre-game street rally before game five of the second round. We brought a crew down to film fans already inked with Sharks tattoos who wanted to tell their stories. The response was incredible. In less than 2 hours, we rounded up 22 fans willing to share their Sharks ink with the world. And after Joe Pavelski’s triumphant game 7 against the Avalanche, we were off. The digital video went out onto Sharks social channels along with some digital display network ads and, as expected, the press got hold of it.

We are still 48 hours away from the first tattoo shop giveaway and already garnering lots of free, positive publicity for the team, including this story by Kron News.

Certainly, not every brand has the kind of fans as loyal as the Sharks organizations. But, no matter the product, thinking about how you can give loyalty while you get loyalty is a worthwhile, but shockingly underutilized marketing strategy.

If you’d like to talk about more advertising stuff, contact us here. If you’re a rabid Sharks fan ready to get inked, click here.

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The one thing every marketing plan needs.

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“If you build it they will come.”

This catchphrase bastardized in the 1989 film Field of Dreams, has inexplicably become the battle cry of would-be entrepreneurs. The truth is, few products are so revolutionary that masses flock to them. And that sort of blind optimism has sunk more than its fair share of startups. But rather than squelching that can-do spirit, might we suggest you tweak that mantra:

“If you build it, and invest in SEO, they might come.”

Most start-ups are strapped for cash. But the first thing they should spend money on is SEO. If you can spend money on nothing else, spend it on SEO. And please keep in mind, we at Division of Labor have been creating successful advertising campaigns with large media budgets and detailed strategic marketing plans for years. But not everyone can afford all that right from the get-go. And when money is tight, you get a lot of bang for your buck with a proper SEO plan.

SEO research isn’t rocket science. But learning how to stay one step ahead of Google’s ever-changing algorithms is a niche field and a degree in computer science is quite helpful. But it’s also a topic that makes many otherwise brilliant marketing officers’ eyes glaze over. And it's for this exact reason, that we offer in-house SEO research. The primary purpose of an ad agency is to take complicated ideas and distill them into simple ones. We help clients execute an SEO plan, and provide them with marching orders on how to improve their organic search ranking. We’ll lay out the basics, imagining we were talking to our parents who don’t understand the first thing about search engines—let alone optimization, metadata or tags.

The beauty of SEO is that when done properly, it’s a small investment with huge upside. And while paid digital marketing and larger integrated campaigns will absolutely help your brand grow, there’s something very powerful about an organic following. When consumers stumble upon your brand, “organically” they approach your product with less skepticism. But keep in mind, there is no such thing as an organic search result. Every result in every situation is influenced by a number of factors that will be finessed during an SEO audit.

“If you build it, and partner with the right professionals, they’ll definitely come”

Inventors believe in their innovations. And, if they’re lucky, they can often get their friends, families, and possibly, even a few investors to see their genius. But getting complete strangers to buy into your concept is totally different. You can’t make rational arguments with millions of complete strangers. You have to make an emotional connection and lead them to discover the benefits. And that’s what a good ad agency or branding firm can do.

Need help getting your brand to the tipping point? Contact us for a free consultation. Alternately, we encourage you to continue trolling for insightful advertising and marketing blogs like ours. Because, really, reading a few how-to-guides on the internet is almost as useful as hiring a group of seasoned professionals. And, afterward, you might want to crank into this youtube video on how to build your own airplane. It’s a great way to save a few bucks on all future family travels.

The small agency blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top advertising agency and digital marketing agency in San Francisco specializing in brand marketing and digital advertising campaigns. Clients include Ford, Dropbox, Roku and San Jose Sharks. We offer the services you’d expect from an integrated, digital marketing agency, but we also offer hourly, brand consulting services for startups, smaller companies and brands that want to start doing something, but aren’t ready to get into a big integrated campaign or media spend. We can help with brand strategy, brand voice, early stage asset development and other communications to get things up and running without breaking the bank. Click here for a free consultation.

San Jose Sharks Playoff Mode

san jose sharks Hertl is in Playoff Mode neon sign

Last year when the Sharks hit the postseason, we launched our Playoff Mode ad campaign.

The marketing plan called for TV, radio, outdoor and digital assets along with neon signs distributed to area bars and restaurants that could literally be toggled on to Playoff Mode.

The campaign—and especially those neon signs—struck a chord with the Sharks faithful. According to the Sharks VP of Marketing, Doug Benz: “We saw higher TV ratings, stronger ticket sales, and more community activation.The idea of Playoff Mode really resonated with our fans.”

So this year the Sharks, along with their agency of record Division of Labor, invested even more heavily in Playoff Mode—with a neon-inspired campaign that builds on last year’s success but then takes it to the next level.

What did we do? The creative team created 23 unique neon designs—one for each Shark’s team player and as the playoffs commence they will light up all over the bay area.

And we’re not just taking it to outdoor, digital and social. Playoff Mode neon will be everywhere. We’re coordinating with the Sharks internal production teams who will take the neon designs into the pre-game 3D light show—a truly amazing production coordinated by the talented Dustin Lamendola. Additionally, custom Twitter animations will be created and in-stadium signage is already in place. And the biggest piece: 10 different custom neon signs to hang in bars and as fan giveaways. We anticipate the Burnzie (Brent Burns), The Don Father (Jonas Donskoi), Dilly Dilly (Bendon Dillon) and Jumbo (Joe Thornton) installations to be among the most coveted.

Of course, it’s not feasible to give every fan a five-foot neon sign to light up their living room. So we collaborated with the Shark’s street team who will be heading out into the community and handing out Playoff Preparedness kits, replete with teal phone covers, Playoff Mode rally rags, and teal light bulbs. Fans can then “turn on” Playoff Mode on at home. “You can show everyone you're in playoff mode by putting that (teal light bulb) in your front porch light and showing off your teal.” says Benz. The new neon designs are now emblazoned on everything from rally towels to T-Shirts, hats, and related swag in the Sharks shops at SAP Center.

The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top West Coast advertising agency and digital marketing firm that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award winning creative shop services clients on a retainer or project basis. And also offers brand consulting services and hourly engagements for startups and brands interested in testing new ideas, but who aren’t quite ready to invest in an integrated campaign or media spend. We can assist with brand strategy, brand voice, early stage asset development, video creation and other communications to get things up and running without busting your budget. Click here for a free consultation.