Small San Francisco Ad Agencies Founded by Goodby Silverstein Alumni

Many great San Francisco ad agencies are actually spinoffs founded by former employees who worked in the hallowed halls of Goodby Silverstein and learned to hone their craft.

One time I asked a client how they found Division of Labor and he said, “I Googled ‘ad agencies founded by Goodby Silverstein and Partners employees’ ”.

I thought that was pretty smart. When you can’t hire the best, hire the people who learned from the best. Given the longevity of Goodby Silverstein and Partners’ and the talent that’s gone through the place over the years, a good number of us have started agencies. Some got big, some got mid, some stayed small, but all have pieces of what Jeff and Rich started 40 years ago.

Those guys pushed us for fresh, weird, honest, funny, smart, and quirky and they wanted the place to be a reflection of the clients and the people who worked there, not of them. So if you’re like our former client, Preston and you want an agency founded by people who worked up on 720 California St or 921 Front St before that, here they are. Our competitors but also our friends. 

I will say, Division of Labor has pitched and won against most of these agencies. And we’ve pitched and lost against most of them. But if a client hires one of them over us, at least I know the client made both a crappy decision and a great decision at the same time. So here they are in alphabetical order, not by ranking, as they’re all great shops.

Argonaut - Hunter Hindman started it with Robert Ricardi, one of the best ad guys out there, and the place is a staple in the San Francisco scene.

BarrettSF - Founded by Jamie Barrett, ex Fallon, ex Weidan and Kennedy and ex Goodby Silverstein, the trifecta of agencies.

Butler Shine - The original spinoff. ButtShine has been doing it well for longer than all of us.

Camp King - Set in the Presidio, founded by Roger Camp and Jamie King. Roger did great work before he was at GS&P and they still do it today.

Cutwater - Founded by Chuck McBride, a great writer who also got to work under Lee Clow, so he has that going for him too.

Division of Labor - Founded by Josh Denberg and Paul Hirsch (and now run by Josh) they focus on Series B startups, tech companies and brand relaunches.

Funworks - Founded by Craig Mangan and based on the idea that improv can lead to great advertising.

Odysseus Arms - I don’t know Libby, but I know Libby’s work and it’s good.

Partners in Crime - Founded by Steven Goldblatt who liked our storefront idea but wanted it near the Giants ballpark.

Venables Bell - Paul and Greg started their place with Bob Molineaux and had Audi within 4 years. Still have no idea how they did that!

So if you’re looking for a shortlist of San Francisco ad agencies, skip the pitch and contact of a few of these places. Though our completely biased opinion says, start by clicking here.

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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.

HOW TO RELAUNCH A LEGENDARY BRAND

In the world of climbing, Royal Robbins is a legend. He was the first to climb Half Dome. The first to climb El Capitan. The first staunch free-climbing advocate who refused to use pitons, bolts, and other rock-damaging hardware. And his clean climbing ethics are still used today. Not to mention, his name was “Royal”. It gets no cooler than that.

The company he and his wife Liz started was conceived on top of Half Dome and born in Basecamp in Yosemite Valley in 1968. The clothes they made were for people like them. People who lived in basecamps all over the world so they could climb, hike, trek, ride, travel, and talk about it all night around the fire.

But somewhere along the way, the brand lost its luster. While Royal’s climbing buddy and old friend Yvon Chouinard founded Patagonia and became a mainstay in outdoor gear and apparel, Royal Robbins sold the company in 2007 and it shifted toward more of a travel brand.

That’s where it was until 2018 when the brand was bought by Fenix Outdoor, which also owns brands Fjällräven, Tierra and Hanwag. And that’s when we got a call from an old friend. Erik Burbank, a client back in the Nike days and then again in 2019 when he was with Keen. He was hired as the GM of Royal Robbins and wanted to relaunch the brand. Needless to say, we were happy to help.

Liz and Royal on Half Dome. After Liz saw this picture, she decided they had to start a clothing company.

The thing about a guy like Royal Robbins is that he was gonna spend his life with someone even more impressive than he was. Royal’s wife Liz is a woman of incredible character and a helluva climber in her own right. She was the first woman to climb Half Dome and the first woman to ascend a grade 6 climb anywhere in the world. It was at the top of Half Dome that a famous picture was taken of the couple. Liz saw it, looked at her clothing and said to Royal, “We need to start a clothing company.” So they headed back down to Camp 4 and that’s just what they did.

Once we heard that story of Liz and Royal at the top of Half Dome, we had the line: “Conceived on Half Dome. Born in Basecamp.” Because every great adventure starts and ends in a basecamp somewhere. And that's where you'll find Royal Robbins clothes. 

Thanks to Erik Burbank, Gareth Martins and everyone at Royal Robbins. It’s been a long journey getting “Born in Basecamp” into the world. Thanks for inviting us on the adventure. There are lots of great San Francisco ad agencies. We’re glad you chose Division of Labor for your brand relaunch.

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The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor;I added this lining submitted the CO in there whistling thank you people as a great work greatSan 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.

How'd we get to be the Foster Care Ad Agency?

As a result of a shortage of foster homes, the city of San Francisco sometimes has to send foster youth to stay with families outside the city. It’s a tough situation. Keeping kids within the city and their communities is as important as keeping them close to the schools, friends and support networks they rely on every day.

To help recruit more people to become foster parents, we started working with the San Francisco Human Services Association back in 2019. Since then we’ve raised awareness of the problem, helped recruit more foster parents and helped keep foster kids in San Francisco.

Across the bridge in Marin County, the same thing is true: more kids need homes than homes are available. Because of our work with SFHSA, we started working with Marin Foster Care to recruit families here in Marin and to give these kids a place to live in their community.

This month, we launched new campaigns for both agencies.

In the city, for the first time ever, we launched a full TV and streaming campaign along with outdoor, social and digital. See the campaign here.

Across the bridge in Marin, we launched the second part of our TV campaign featuring local foster parents. While last year we featured foster kids from Marin and heard their stories. See the Marin Foster Care work here.

Please share this work with anyone you know who might, maybe consider taking in a foster child. Most of these kids just need temporary homes until their parents can get back on their feet. 

For Foster-SF, special thanks to the fabulous Producer Julie Costanzo, DP Lou Weinert, Editor Doug Brown, Colorist Ivan Miller and Audio Engineer Chris Forrest Account Lead Rebecca Reid, CD Faruk Sagcan and Art Director Luis Gonzalez.

For Marin Foster, a huge thank you to DP Petr Stepanek and to Editor Cristobal GONZALEZ who did the campaigns this year and last and to Account Lead Rebecca Reid and designer Ruby Noto.

Nice work everyone. There are so many great San Francisco ad agencies out there. Division of Labor is proud and honored to have been tapped to work on these worthy causes.

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The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor;I added this lining submitted the CO in there whistling thank you people as a great work greatSan 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.

Six Ways to Make the RFP Process a Positive One

Potential ad agencies don’t want to be ghosted anymore than your Tinder date does.

It’s an ad agency story as old as time. An RFP comes in. You have a meeting, perhaps even a second meeting. The chemistry between the ad agency and the potential client is palpable. You give them all sorts of free advice on how to improve their marketing strategy.  Then they ask you to work up a detailed proposal for how the two of you would work together. The ad agency spends time and resources pulling relevant case studies and calculating a budget. You send it off for consideration and never hear from the company again.

Is it really too much to send an email back that says, “Thanks, but we’ve decided to go with another firm?” Why is ghosting commonplace and acceptable?  We’re better than that, aren’t we? If you think, “Heck yeah, we’re better than that, tell us, how to be part of the solution and foster a culture of respect and accountability in RFP interaction” this San Francisco ad agency will give you a few tips to consider. Feel free to leave additional tips in the comments section. We’d love to hear from the client-side folks as well. What bugs you about the RFP process?

Provide a Ballpark Budget: Companies are often cagey about how much money they have to spend. When you give the ad agencies a budget it’s not like giving them a blank check to spend your money. That’s not how it works. If you’re going to partner with an ad agency, you can’t come to them from a place of distrust. The ad agency needs the budget to figure out how much money to allocate to creative, media, and strategy. If the spend is too low, the ad agency might bow out simply because their overhead is too high to make your project profitable. Or they may see your budget being so wildly off from your goals that there’s no way to succeed. Either way, at least give a budget range. It’ll help you as much as it helps the perspective ad agencies.

Lead with Transparency: Set clear expectations from the outset. Communicate the company's intentions regarding the RFP process, including the possibility of not selecting any agency at all. Remember, you’re asking people to work for free. If there’s a chance that no one will get the business, that needs to be communicated. Transparency builds trust and allows agencies to make informed decisions about allocating resources.

Identify the Decision-Makers: When the people making the decision are involved early, they get a better idea of whom they’re hiring. If someone asks you to “go find some agencies” let the agencies know this is a preliminary phase and that you are not the decision maker. This is part of the transparency thing from above and it helps the ad agencies know what might be involved. And if the decision-makers will remain out of the process until the end, let the ad agencies know that, as well. Many, including Division of Labor, will not participate in an RFP without being able to communicate with those making the decisions.

Acknowledge Efforts: Take a moment to acknowledge receipt of the ad agencies' proposals. A simple thank-you email goes a long way in recognizing the ad agency's time and effort. It demonstrates empathy and appreciation for their hard work. One time, we had a supplement brand invite us to a pitch. We liked them a lot and put in a ton of effort, but they ultimately went with an ad agency that had worked in the supplement space previously. But they took the time to give us feedback, and sent us a gift basket to thank us for the hard work. Now, we were still quite bummed to have lost, but the cookies were darn good and it was the nicest rejection we’ve ever had.

Close the Loop: Once a decision has been reached, promptly inform all participating agencies of the outcome. Whether positive or negative, closure is essential for maintaining professionalism and fostering trust. And always, always, always over specific feedback as to why you chose the ad agency you chose. Was their work better? Did you bond with the team more? Was it a budget decision? (Please be honest.) And if someone did something or said something that was a deal breaker, let them know. The honesty is always appreciated and helps the ad agency do better the next time.

Explore Alternatives: Consider alternative approaches to the traditional RFP process, such as paid pitches or collaborative workshops. Give each agency a small budget and a small assignment and see who you like working with best. That always works better than a bunch of questions that are probably answered all about the same anyway.

 That’s it. It’s not a tall order. Just some simple steps to help clients and ad agencies get together more efficiently.

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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.

Statsig’s Outdoor Launch Campaign in San Francisco

Division of Labor launches a new Ad Campaign for Statsig

If Karl Malden was driving the Streets of San Francisco today, he’d be seeing a whole lot of outdoor advertising for Statsig. (If you don’t know The Streets of San Francisco, click here for the best mid-70’s TV show intro ever.) 

Statsig builds software that helps product developers, well, develop products. Startups to Fortune 500s rely on Statsig feature flags, experimentation, and analytics to help them, test and launch new products and new product features faster and more reliably than ever before.

Another one of our Series B startup clients told Statsig about Division of Labor and that’s, like, the best compliment an ad agency can get. Forget the award shows and Cannes Lions; when clients tell other clients your campaigns moved the needle, that’s gold.

The communication strategy we used follows a proven success model Division of Labor has executed with other Series B startups. Basically, technology companies with highly targeted products utilize a broad outdoor media buy combined with targeted digital and social media to build awareness with our key target while also building secondary awareness among a more general population. This drives website traffic and instigates consideration while the digital media and social channels (along with good salespeople) can drive trial. But it also seeds the ground for companies and decision-makers to be more receptive when their developers ask to bring Statsig into the company.

Of course, the key to all of this working is creating messaging that is unignorable and taps into some little bit of truth that makes product developers go: “Those people get me!” And getting this right happened thanks to great collaboration with Statsig’s internal communications team led by Elizabeth George and Brock Lumbard along with Margaret-Ann Seger, GB Lee, Skye Scofield and Statsig’s founder Vijaye Raji.

“Our research shows that while our customers are highly engaged in the technical world, they also take time offline, and that is where we plan to meet them,” Statsig founder and CEO Vijaye Raji said. 

The core idea for the campaign is the core idea for the product; build, measure, learn, repeat.

Messages talk about the importance of testing product features with thoughts like, “Don’t think, test.” Other boards praise the power of product testing with lines like “A/B testing saves V/C money.”

The campaign utilizes Statsig’s signature 3D iconography that brings to life the lab-like environment the brand believes in. Brex handled the out-of-home media buy and, like they did with previous Division of Labor projects for Stytch and Hirect, they did an amazing job finding great boards and unique properties we could have some fun with.

Please keep your eyes peeled. And check out the launch story here in Geek Wire.

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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.

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.

Why is every Series B startup brand blue?

There’s plenty of research that shows how blue is the world’s favorite color. Studies going back to 1941 indicate that universally, bluish hues are the most preferred. Even Republicans generally prefer blue. But why? And does that mean blue is the right color for your startup branding palette?

A seven year study conducted by psychologists Stephen E. Palmer and Karen Schloss, published in 2010, reveals that a person’s preference for a given color can be determined by averaging out how much that person likes all of the objects they associate with that color. For example, how much you like the color orange depends on how you feel about pumpkins, traffic cones and Cheetos, among other things. For green, it depends on how you feel about brussell’s sprouts, dollar bills and the lawn.

“If you look at all of the things that are associated with blue, they're mostly positive,” explains Schloss, an assistant professor of psychology at University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Which is also where this writer went to college and met his future wife. Just sayin’.) “It’s really hard to think of negative blue things.”

So should the fact that people overwhelmingly like the color blue be the reason your company chooses a blue color palette? The short answer is, hell no. Millions of people who like the color blue do not drive Fords, use IBM or purchase Viagra from Pfizer. (All massive blue brands.) The first rule of marketing and advertising is not: “Do what everyone else is doing.” The first rule is “Do what you can to stand out, not blend in.”

People also see blue as a responsible, corporate color. It connotes trust. It’s a color to be taken seriously because so many Fortune 500 companies use blue as a primary color. So isn’t a predominantly blue brand inherently responsible and able to be taken seriously? Again, hell no. Too many other factors influence the way potential customers see a brand. And the first one is, do they even notice the brand? And if you’re one of thousands of tech startups using a sans serif typeface over a blue, grey and black palette, fewer people are gonna even notice you, let alone pass judgment.

DIG INTO THE BRAND GUIDELINES

We often have clients that say their main color is blue, yet when we look into their branding documents we find these incredible arrays of secondary colors. So we build campaigns off the secondary colors because for Series B startups just beginning to advertise, people don’t know the brand, nor the brand color, nor anything else for that matter. So this is the time to use colors and design that helps your ad campaign yes stand out.

Besides the secondary color palette, there’s often graphics or blog design guidelines that can inspire what the main brand can become. Often these guidelines were put together early and without much purpose and there’s no harm in adapting things as you launch an initial campaign.

One of the hundreds of OOH boards we created for the tech startup Stytch.

When we dug into the Stytch brand guidelines, we found the stitched color lines on the very last page. This became the basis for our design and campaign, even though Stytch is a pretty blue company. They knew the brand could stretch beyond a single color and that potential customers had no brand experience anyway.

When we worked with PagerDuty, Collins had developed an amazing non-blue brand design that still evoked trust and security, two core tenets of the PagerDuty brand. So when we created the digital and outdoor campaign and re-designed the website, there was no way anyone was gonna use the most basic color on the planet.

Blue stands for trust, but what color is the red Cross logo?

A sea of blue branding.

Just look at a quick Google search of blue brands in the universe. You’re not gonna own the color blue. No one is gonna think of your startup when they see blue. Yes, blue stands for trust. But the Red Cross is red, so?

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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.

How to Create Word-of-Mouth Advertising

Word-of-mouth is the most powerful advertising tool in your marketing arsenal. But much to the dismay of many out there, word-of-mouth is not a free version of advertising you can simply use instead of paid advertising. It’s not one or the other.

Word-of-mouth works because people trust their community and are more likely to listen to their friends than a talking head on a paid commercial. But that doesn’t mean there’s no value in the paid commercial. In fact, there’s huge value in the paid commercial to trigger word-of-mouth. 

When a woman tells a friend that she loves her new antiperspirant because it doesn’t leave streaks on her black shirt, that private moment between gal pals was not the genesis of a word-of-mouth ad campaign. The word-of-mouth was the result of some brand behavior or communication. At some point, the antiperspirant company did something or said something or created something that made your friend want to talk about her antiperspirant.

It’s important to draw a distinction between knowing 1) why word-of-mouth works and 2) how word-of-mouth happens. If you want word-of-mouth advertising, you have to create something worth talking about. To create word-of-mouth advertising, a good digital ad agency or branding agency or anyone internally, for that matter, has to do things that make your brand or product talk-worthy. (Talkworthiness is kind of a dumb name, but we haven’t come up with anything better yet. Please send any suggestions ;)

Making your brand talk-worthy starts at the product name, moves down to the packaging, carries over to your website design, and includes your tone of voice, product extensions, customer service, social media accounts, PR, videos, billboards, swag, really any part of your brand people engage with should have some reason to be talk-worthy.

Below are a few key ways to trigger word-of-mouth. Some are straightforward, some are a bit more controversial. It’s up to you whether you prefer to play it safe or go bold. 

1. Offer Exceptional Customer Experiences:

Outstanding customer service and exceptional experiences are the bedrock of successful word-of-mouth marketing. Nordstroms letting anybody return anything is one example. Trader Joe's being the friendliest bunch of people in the grocery business is another. When customers feel valued, listened to, and delighted by your product or service, they are more likely to share their positive experiences with friends, family, and colleagues. So do something unexpected on social media when responding to a complaint or concern. Offer to name a child after the customer. Invite them to be on your board. Ask for their address and Doordash them a cake. You don’t have to be a big brand to offer customer service worth talking about.

2. Get in trouble.

Break the rules. Know your audience and embrace them and actively ignore not your audience. You need a few haters to have the lovers talk about you. I’m not saying to be a jerk or a liar, just don’t appeal to everyone. If someone gets worried and says, “I’m not sure everyone is gonna like that.” Perfect! You don’t want everyone to like it. You want passionate people to talk about it.

If that means getting in trouble, getting a cease and desist letter, or bringing in some angry emails from people who write angry emails for a living, then do it. We gave away free tattoos for the San Jose Sharks and that didn’t sit too well with some parents. And we painted Sharks fan’s houses teal, which pissed off a few neighbors. But the press was amazing and the fan support was incredible. So a little trouble is well worth it.

3. Talk like a person, not a company

Be social on social media. Don’t be a nameless, faceless, asshole of a corporate tool. Say stuff people might repeat. Be self-effacing. Reply honestly to comments. Share facts about your brand or category that someone might repeat. The word “engaged” and “community” are trite, yes. But interact with people like a person and someone might talk about you like a person.

4. Leverage Influencer Marketing:

Influencer marketing has become a powerful tool for triggering word-of-mouth advertising. Partner with influencers or micro-influencers who align with your brand and target audience. Don’t reach out to celebrities unless you have a lot of money or power or something. If you think it would be cool to have Zendaya love your stuff, wake up. “Influencer” does not mean celebrity.  Also, smaller influencers can authentically promote your product or service to their followers, who trust their opinions.

5. Run Referral Programs

Referral programs are a structured way to encourage word-of-mouth advertising. You’ll want to get software that works seamlessly with your website but Google around, they’re not that expensive. Offer incentives, or rewards to existing customers who refer new customers to your business. “You get $20, they get $20” that sort of thing. This not only motivates your loyal customers to spread the word but also provides an attractive reason for their friends and acquaintances to try your product or service. 

6. Make Videos

Make lots of videos. Helpful ones, instructional videos, funny videos, recipe videos, fashion videos. If you’re a tech brand, make videos where stupid people try to explain your product. If you’re a bread baker, make videos watching dough rise. Whatever it is, use type and your voice to give it a point of view and eventually, people will start talking about one of them. Then they’ll go back and see some others and, voila, you have word-of-mouth. One of the many videos we did for Live Nation got featured on Vimeo and it took off. Rodents on Turntables ended up with millions of views because we kept putting stuff out there and something stuck.

7. Talk About Yourself

If you want word of mouth, start with the words coming out of your mouth. Do interviews, become the category expert, seek out speaking engagements, write articles for magazines and blogs. Get on podcasts. Word-of-mouth advertising remains a potent force in the marketing world and always will. But it needs fuel. Be the word-of-mouth you want.

So there you go. Word-of-mouth.

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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.

Ad Agency or Freelancer? Which is right for your Series B startup?

We get a lot of calls from Series B startups about advertising agency services when really what the client needs is a freelancer or freelance team. Division of Labor does offer the choice of freelance services or full agency capabilities, but it seemed like laying out when one was better than the other might be helpful. Here are a few insights to help you make the right decision. 

Consider Your Budget

Ad Agency: If your marketing budget exceeds $50,000 and you have specific marketing challenges that require comprehensive solutions, an agency might be the better choice. Ad agencies excel at addressing complex problems and have the capacity to coordinate multiple disciplines to execute a seamless marketing strategy. 

Freelancer: If your marketing budget is limited to less than $50,000, hiring a freelancer or freelance team can be a cost-effective solution. Freelancers typically earn between $800 and $2000 a day. So this can be a great choice when you have a smaller budget and require specialized expertise for a defined project or campaign.

Are you buying media?

Ad Agency: If you have an approved budget for paid media and need strategic planning, creative execution, and production for social ads, digital ads, video ads, billboards, broadcast, or other media placements, an ad agency can provide better rates and handle the coordination effectively.

Freelancer: If you have no approved media budget but need to build your brand and create assets for social media, website, or sales meetings, hiring a freelance team can deliver significant value. Freelancers can assist in designing and creating brand assets on a smaller scale for specific projects.

Full Funnel Media Campaign or a few executions?

Ad Agency: If you envision a multi media campaign that builds awareness, drives consideration and initiates conversions across multiple media touchpoints, you want an agency. An advertising agency brings together the strategy, creative, account management, project management, production capabilities and media planning, buying and tracking that you don’t want to try to replicate on your own

Freelancer: If you have one or two media assets for a limited amount of time, hire a freelancer. Maybe you need some out of home or a radio campaign or a couple social campaigns to A/B test. A good freelance team will knock it out faster and for a lot less money.

New Product Launch:

Ad Agency: When launching a new product or service in multiple markets using various media touchpoints, an agency's ability to coordinate PR, social, digital, outdoor, audio, events, and tradeshows becomes indispensable. They excel at managing complex launches and ensuring a coordinated execution across multiple channels.

Freelancer: If you’re just looking for preliminary presentations for internal approval, or want to explore launch ideas without committing to anything, working with a freelance team can offer flexibility. Freelancers can collaborate closely with you, present ideas, and develop presentations to showcase to management before proceeding to production.

Strategy/Research:

Ad Agency: When strategic research is needed to gain insights into marketing problems that require creative solutions, involving an agency ahead of time is recommended. Agencies can offer valuable perspectives on research outcomes and guide you in identifying the most actionable insights to inform your marketing strategy.

Freelancer: If you have an in-house planner who is looking into target audience segmentation, or evaluating current market awareness, hiring a freelancer to assist with implementing focus groups, tallying polls, and tracking surveys can be helpful. 

Website Development:

Ad Agency: If you are planning a multimedia campaign that requires a comprehensive website redesign, along with landing pages linked to various media placements, an agency is better equipped to handle the project. Agencies possess the expertise to integrate multiple disciplines and ensure a cohesive execution of your site build. Additionally, if your existing website has complex requirements, such as extensive content transfer, intricate security measures, or custom design solutions, an agency's expertise becomes invaluable.

Freelancer: If you need a relatively basic website with fewer than 10 pages and have specific examples of designs you like, hiring a freelancer can be a suitable option. Freelancers can quickly design and build a website using platforms like WordPress, Squarespace, Webflow, Shopify, Weebly, IONOS, GoDaddy, or Wix. They can collaborate with a freelance writer to ensure effective content execution and a swift launch.

If you’re still not sure, fill out this form and we’ll tell you which way to go, whether you work with us or someone else. Happy to help.

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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.

Why Series B Startups Should Spend Money on Marketing, Especially Now

“No one ever got fired for hiring IBM” may not be as true today. But the premise holds; brand awareness means everything.

According to Crunchbase, in recent months, Series B funding to U.S. startups has fallen sharply. So far in 2023, investment is on track to come in at the lowest quarterly level in more than three years. So if you’ve got it, congratulations. Capitalize on it. With most Series B startups valued between $30 and $60 million, you have to start acting like a brand and not the creator of a product.

History has proven that brands outlive products. Always. Name almost any company you like and they no longer rely solely on the product they started with. (Yes, Coke. But you’re not Coke.) Whether you hire a digital marketing agency or start a project with a creative agency or hire a freelancer, here are a few reasons to go all-in on marketing:

Rising Competition and Market Differentiation:

Your product may be better than the competitors, but if competitors are out-spending you in terms of marketing dollars, no one’s going to care.  People don’t always know what is better. What matters is what is perceived to be better. And name recognition is always perceived to be better.  When you invest in marketing, it's your chance to create a brand identity, and your brand is a product unto itself. Every chief marketing officer, digital ad agency or successful brand manager will tell you the same thing. Products come and go, brands live on.

Scaling Customer Acquisition:

You've clearly already got some traction in the acquisition game. Use those customer assets to your advantage. Well-targeted ad campaigns using look-alike audience targeting will build awareness within a market segment. It's not just about making sales; it's about expanding your reach and becoming a force to be reckoned with. And your current customer profiles can help. Execute a digital marketing campaign combined with a targeted awareness campaign in a specific market and you will increase awareness if you create messaging that doesn’t bore people to tears.

Investor Confidence and Future Funding:

The people that gave you the Series B money want to see you out in the market. When they see you pouring resources into marketing, it shows them you're serious about growth and you know how to scale. Marketing builds your reputation, boosts brand perception, and gives you the upper hand when it comes to securing future funding rounds. When they hear the buzz about your videos, ads, and billboards, they feel good about their investment. As an ad agency that specializes in Series B startups and tech companies, we’ve done a lot of billboards in the 101 corridor between San Francisco and San Jose combined with targeted campaigns reaching I.T. Decision Makers and their associates. Make sure the message is engaging and you will succeed.

Expanding into New Markets:

Marketing is the best way to expand into new markets. Adapt what has worked and support your sales staff. Potential new customers are far more likely to take a meeting or consider your product if they’ve heard of the brand. Especially in the B2B space. And by tailoring your messaging, promotions, and initiatives to resonate with local audiences, you'll increase adoption rates in previously uncharted territories. 

Customer Retention and Engagement:

Attracting new customers is crucial. But let's not forget the ones you already have. You’re a new company, which means you need to work hard to establish brand loyalty. Happy customers become your biggest cheerleaders, spreading the word about your awesomeness and bringing in new customers through the power of word-of-mouth. Market to them. Spend money to make them feel good about the brand so they tell their friends. 

The message matters:

With Series B funding, you’re no longer in the “struggling startup” phase. Fear of failure should be much, much lower. It’s time to take risks with your messaging to get attention. We remind our clients at Division of Labor, when you’re creating awareness-building advertising and lead-generation campaigns, don’t worry if someone writes you an email or doesn’t like your video. Who cares what your friend’s mom says? Get attention. Make it emotional, honest, self-deprecating, edgy, ballsy, funny. Swing big. Now that you have a few bucks to spend, just make sure no one can ignore it.

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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.

Recession is coming? Five reasons not to slash marketing budgets

Don’t do it, Chicken Little. Why slashing marketing budgets when a recession looms is a tactical mistake.

The most important rule of marketing is not to follow the herd. Never ever follow the pack. So why do so many companies instinctively do the exact same thing when the economy slows down? Panic, slash marketing, panic some more, then realize you’re either in business or you’re out of business. So stay in business. Because in actuality, an often overlooked opportunity arises during these challenging periods: doubling down on your advertising spend. While it may sound counterintuitive, allocating more resources to marketing efforts can actually yield significant benefits and propel your business forward. Here’s how.

Capitalizing on Reduced Competition:

During an economic downtown, so many companies slash their marketing budgets or pull out of the market altogether. This creates a huge opportunity for proactive companies to stand out and eat share. By increasing your marketing budget, or at least holding steady, you can capture a larger share of voice in the market, allowing you to establish a stronger brand presence. With reduced noise from competitors, your brand messaging has a better chance of resonating. And as we’ll discuss later, that share of mind space does not dissipate.

Maintaining and Expanding Customer Base:

As inflation rises, consumer behavior undergoes significant changes. That’s a nice way of putting it. We’re all a bit nervous. But nervousness should not dictate business decisions. Yes, people become more cautious with their spending, and brand loyalty may falter as individuals seek value and reassurance. But by increasing marketing efforts, you can maintain a strong connection with your existing customers, reminding them of your value proposition and reinforcing their loyalty. Moreover, well-executed marketing campaigns (and there should be no other kind) can attract new customers who are actively seeking alternative solutions due to shifts in the marketplace.

Leveraging Cost-Effective Channels:

Crappy times often present an opportunity to leverage more cost-effective marketing channels. Traditional advertising rates may decline, reps are better able to negotiate, and digital advertising platforms offer competitive pricing. And everyone is gonna flock to organic social which will make things even more glutted. By strategically investing in bigger channels, you can maximize your marketing dollars, reaching more potential customers at a fraction of the cost compared to boom times.

Exploiting Emerging Opportunities:

Bear markets often bring about changes in consumer needs and behaviors. IE, we all freak the f*ck out a little. As a result, new market segments may emerge. It’s a good time to do market research, identify evolving trends, and tailor your marketing campaigns to capitalize on the shifting landscape. Being agile and responsive during a downturn can help your business not only survive but also thrive in the long run.

Once Top of Mind, Always Top of Mind

This is especially important for startups. Plowing ahead is crucial when your competitors are panicking. Competitors will instinctively “pull back”, “ride it out” and “wait for the opportunity” and you’ll have dominated the market with a massive campaign, increased market share, and set yourself up for a huge windfall when things turn. And the space you’ve carved out in everyone’s mind will not disappear. When everyone else zigs, you zag. Bold, fearless companies act that way and they are rewarded for it.

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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 Manifest Presents Division of Labor as San Francisco’s Most Reviewed B2B Leader for 2023

The idea of the B2B Award given to Division of Labor by The Manifest.

Since its inception in 2010, Division of Labor has been providing top-tier advertising and creative services to brands in need. With clients like Dropbox, Roku, Stytch and the San Jose Sharks they’ve made a name known through their commitment to deliver unignorable work that drives results.

Today, we proudly share with you all an exciting award made possible by their clients’ wonderful support. During the recently held The Manifest Company Awards, Division of Labor was officially hailed as one of the most reviewed B2B companies in San Jose and San Francisco, California. 

To give this award more context, The Manifest is a business news resource and buying guide designed to help browsers navigate through different B2B markets worldwide. The site annually holds an industry award to highlight the importance of trust and exceptional client relationships. The winners honored are chosen based on the number of testimonials and recommendations they’ve earned over the preceding twelve months.

Receiving any award is an honor, but earning one because of their clients’ support and feedback makes it that much more meaningful. Congratulations to the clients and partners who cheered on and trusted Division of Labor. Cheers to more challenges and brilliant projects ahead!

What better way to celebrate this than by welcoming more opportunities? Contact Division of Labor and see what else they can do for you. 

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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.

Why you should start your holiday marketing now.

Start your holiday marketing in May and by the time the South Park Christmas episode comes on, you’ll be done.

Holy crap, Christmas is here already? Well, kinda yes. It seems like you have time to wait, but you don’t. As a digital advertising agency, we see it every year and we get those panicked emails every September. But right now, May, is the time to start your holiday marketing plans. Why now?

Christmas is in 7 months.

By the time you see Christmas lights, your marketing should be done. Too many marketing people have planned their holiday travel before their marketing. Not wise.

Thanksgiving is in 6 months

Shopping kicks into gear, the day you stuff your face. So you need to have a finished digital holiday marketing campaign in front of people no later than November 1. Which means securing digital media and traditional media, securing product inventory, researching competitor plans, creative, production, approvals, website updates, analytics planning etc etc.

Media should be secured in 4 month

Good media gets bought early. Bad media is an expensive waste. You’re competing against the whole world, not just one or two others in your category. September is too late if you want good outdoor locations, streaming spots on the best shows, digital page takeovers on the top networks, partnerships, influencers, audio plugs, celebrity talent blah blah.

A station takeover in San Francisco for Roku’s holiday campaign. Outdoor, digital, social and radio increased sales by 30% in every market that ran the campaign.

Creative needs to be done in 3 months

Creative works with media and takes the most time. So you have to know what you’re saying before you know where to say it. Also, everyone gets busy, shoots need planning, websites need updating, editing, music, voice recording, landing pages need building, internal reviews take longer because it’s the holidays and it matters. What product? What SKU? What the hell, get on it. 

Strategy needs to be done in 2 months

Who are you talking to? What are you saying? Why are you different? Strategy means doing research and seeing how the market has changed since last year. What are competitors saying? What new products or messages do you have? Everyone will be showing elves and egg nog, how are you gonna stand out?

“Who’s gonna do all this crap?” needs to be done in 1 month

If you have an internal team, then all this is already in motion. If you don’t, you want to talk to pick the right advertising agency, marketing agency, creative agency or whatever you want to call them. See which digital ad agency has done this before, look at their case studies and see if you can deal with them for the next six months! (Hint: Division of Labor has done all this before and we’re nice people so it won’t be a stressful nightmare.)

Budgets need to be set now.

Like, now, now. Not later now. Seriously. If the holidays matter to your bottom line, at least set aside money for the communication strategy and creative development portion. You have a couple of months until media needs to be bought. But start now. 

Visit DivisionofLabor.com and we’ll talk you through more details.

Raley’s holiday campaign drove awareness and trial of their holiday delivery and showcased the uniqueness of different Raley’s shoppers.

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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 Re-Birth of "Playoff Mode" for the NBA

Playoff Mode for the San Jose Sharks in 2019 and Playoff Mode for the NBA this year.

The NBA playoffs are in full swing and the league has unveiled their new star-studded “Playoff Mode” marketing campaign. It’s bold, brash, beautifully chaotic and even manages to weave in John McEnroe. Who’d have thunk?

Division of Labor, the San Francisco digital ad agency, created a “Playoff Mode” marketing campaign for the San Jose Sharks back in 2018 and 2019. You can see it here. It was a 360-degree marketing campaign with Playoff Mode ideas directed at fans and players. We utilized social media and digital platforms along with outdoor, live events, digital video and promotional programs.

We created Playoff Mode kits and gave away teal light bulbs so fans could light up their homes in teal on game day. We did a marketing promotion giving away free Sharks tattoos to fans who lined up in front of tattoo parlors the night before and slept on the street for their chance to get free Sharks ink. We made Playoff Mode neon signs, one for each of the 24 players, and posted billboards around the city. We turned the Shark Tank neon with a fresh Playoff Mode logo and neon towels at every game. It was a crazy time, back when the Sharks were on fire and in Playoff Mode consistently. (Not so much now, but we’ll be back.) 

One of the 24 neon designs, this one for Brent Burns.

We made actual neon signs that were raffled off to lucky fans.

The NBA’s Playoff Mode work takes a totally different approach to Playoff Mode than what we did. The launch spot hurls viewers on an insane journey from city buses bound for Playoff Mode to workouts, practices and highlights with NBA players and, of course, Charles Barkley, all in Playoff Mode. And the scene with the KD bobblehead and the slam dunk that goes through the pavement and comes out in Serbia? Amazing.

Seeing the way different advertising agencies bring a simple two-word phrase to life differently is fascinating. We’re all dancing on the head of the same pin with so many companies and products doing similar things, saying similar things and courting similar audiences. Maybe the taglines sometimes overlap, but good ideas are much bigger than a couple of words.

Keep up the good work, NBA.

Free tattoos were given away as part of our Playoff Mode campaign. Each person in line was given a unique numbered card so if they fell asleep on the sidewalk, no one could take their spot.

The Kevin Durant Bobblehead in the NBA Playoff Mode commercial.

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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.

Six Reasons Why AI Will Not Be the Death of Ad Agencies (Plus a Little Diddy that Proves the Point in Song)

Photo Caption: AI is a powerful tool that can be harnessed by ad agency creatives. However, it’s certainly not going to put them out of business.

The Following was Written by a Mere Mortal

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly present in day-to-day life. But the November 2022 launch of ChatGPT, the conversational robot from start-up OpenAI, took public perception of its capabilities to a whole new level. So much so that many of us began to wonder whether our job positions would go the way of BlockBuster.

And as self-absorbed ad people, we are, of course, most concerned with what might become of us. (To hell with everyone else!) Well, fear not, we asked ChatGPT whether ad agencies were, indeed, doomed. And in less than 60 seconds, the AI darling assured us this was not the case. (Phew!) See below to read what ChatGPT has to say about all this. And, yes, we think our two paragraphs, written by an actual human, deliver the information with a side of wit and charm devoid in the upcoming paragraphs. And, after all, isn’t that exactly what advertising is meant to do? Read on for the dry, but informational specifics of why we are confident in the future of the ad agency.   

The Following was Written by AI

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance and make inroads in various industries, there is a growing concern that it could eventually replace advertising agencies. However, there are several reasons why AI will never make ad agencies obsolete.

1.    Human Insight and Creativity

One of the key advantages that ad agencies have over AI is human insight and creativity. While AI can generate personalized marketing messages and engage in conversations with users, it lacks the ability to develop creative concepts that connect with audiences emotionally. Ad agencies employ human creative teams that use their intuition, experiences, and observations to develop campaigns that evoke emotions, capture attention, and drive engagement.

2.    Multi-disciplinary Approach

Ad agencies often have a multi-disciplinary approach, employing teams with expertise in various areas such as design, market research, branding, public relations, and advertising. This approach allows agencies to develop comprehensive campaigns that address different aspects of a business's marketing needs. While AI can automate certain tasks, it lacks the capability to provide a multi-disciplinary approach that addresses all aspects of a business's marketing needs.

3.    Human Connections and Relationships

Advertising is not just about creating messages; it is also about building relationships with customers. Ad agencies employ account managers and client service teams that build relationships with clients and understand their specific needs. This human connection and relationship building are critical to the success of ad agencies. While AI can help automate certain aspects of communication, it cannot replace the value of human-to-human interaction.

4.    Ethical Considerations

Advertising involves ethical considerations that cannot be handled by AI alone. Ad agencies have a responsibility to ensure that their campaigns are not misleading, offensive, or harmful to society. They must also ensure that they are complying with various regulations and guidelines. Ad agencies employ teams that are trained to handle these ethical considerations, and their decisions are based on human values and judgment.

5.    Human Adaptability

The advertising industry is constantly evolving and changing. Ad agencies must be able to adapt to new trends and technologies, and they need to be able to respond to changes in the market. Human adaptability is a critical advantage that ad agencies have over AI. While AI can be trained to respond to specific tasks, it cannot adapt to new situations, market trends, or unexpected challenges.

6.    Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is another critical advantage that ad agencies have over AI. Ad agencies employ teams that have the ability to understand the emotional needs and motivations of their target audience. They can develop campaigns that resonate with their audience emotionally and create a lasting impression. While AI can analyze data and identify patterns, it lacks the ability to understand human emotions and motivations.

In conclusion, while AI has the potential to automate various marketing tasks, it will never replace ad agencies entirely. Ad agencies offer a range of services beyond just advertising and have the advantage of human insight, creativity, multi-disciplinary approach, human connections, ethical considerations, human adaptability, and emotional intelligence. AI can complement ad agencies by automating routine tasks and generating personalized marketing messages, but it cannot replicate the value of human creativity, judgment, and relationships.

The Following was Written by a Mere Mortal

And now, recognizing that we will all be gainfully employed in the future, we asked ChatGPT to write us a celebratory song.

The Following Song was Written by AI

Verse: Am, F, C, G Chorus: Am, F, C, G Bridge: Dm, F, C, G Outro: Am, F, C, G

Verse 1: I heard some folks talking 'bout the end of the day Saying ad agencies won't have a place to stay They think technology's going to take us down But I'm here to tell you, they're just a clown

Chorus: 'Cause ChatGPT and the ad agencies Are gonna dance together, don't you see? Our AI and your human expertise Are a perfect match, just wait and see

Verse 2: Sure, ChatGPT can do a lot of things But there are some things that just need a human being You know what people like, you know what they need You know how to make them pay attention and take heed

Chorus: 'Cause ChatGPT and the ad agencies Are gonna dance together, don't you see? Our AI and your human expertise Are a perfect match, just wait and see

Bridge: We'll work together, side by side To create campaigns that can't be denied Your creativity and our data too We'll create something amazing, just for you

Chorus: 'Cause ChatGPT and the ad agencies Are gonna dance together, don't you see? Our AI and your human expertise Are a perfect match, just wait and see

Outro: So don't you worry, we'll be just fine The future's bright, and we'll keep on shine With ChatGPT and the ad agencies We're gonna change the world, just wait and see.

The Following was Written by a Mere Mortal

We think Taylor Swift’s future is also secure.

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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.

Top of Form

Ana

6 Tips for Series B Startups Hiring an Ad Agency

Every Series B Startup needs a marketing plan and a great ad agency to implement it.

Finding the right ad agency partner can be a daunting task for startups, particularly for those in their series B phase. A good creative agency, like the team at Division of Labor, can help a startup reach its target audience and increase brand awareness. But, let’s be real, a crappy ad agency can result in a waste of resources ineffective campaigns, and a short tenure for the chief marketing officer. To keep heads from rolling, here are six tips to help you find the right ad agency for your needs:

1. Define your goals: Before you start looking for an ad agency, it's important to clearly define your marketing goals and what you want to achieve. This will help you find an agency that specializes in your industry and has the right credentials to meet your needs. You’ll also need to have some ballpark figures on your media, strategy, and creative budget.

2. Look for a strategic partner: An ad agency should not only create effective ads but also provide valuable insights and strategy to help your business grow. Look for an agency that will work with you as a partner, not just a vendor.

3. Consider the agency's portfolio: Look at the agency's portfolio and case studies to see if they have experience working with companies in your industry and if they have a track record of success. This will give you an idea of their capabilities and what kind of results you can expect. Analytics that show success with one client’s business are not a guarantee of success for your business. But it’s the strongest indicator that the agency knows its stuff.

4. Check references: Ask the agency for references from current or past clients. This will give you a better idea of their work and how they interact with clients. Make sure to speak with several references to get a balanced view.

5. Evaluate the company culture: The relationship between a startup and its ad agency can be a long-term one, so it's important to make sure the agency's culture aligns with your company's values. Look for an agency that shares your passion and understands your vision.

6. Be realistic about budgets: It's always a good idea to get quotes from several agencies to compare prices and services. This will help you find the right balance between cost and quality, and ensure that you get the best value for your investment. No one wants to overpay for goods and services. But, hey, would you go to the cheapest dentist? Or would you prefer that the person drilling into your tooth charges what they charge because they know what they’re doing? Just a thought.

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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.

Wine, Football and Advertising Promotions.

The Gap sponsoring the gap. Red wine sponsoring the red zone.

One time I was at a San Francisco Giants game and I looked in the outfield and noticed The Gap had placed signs on the outfield wall. But they were placed in the gap between left and center field and right and center field. Genius. The Gap sponsors the gap. It was perfect and has always represented exactly what brands should do to create a successful promotion/partnership.

More recently, I hit pause on Hulu to go to the bathroom, and on the Pause screen was an ad for Charmin saying, “Enjoy the Go.” Even that inane tagline couldn’t stop the perfection of Charmin sponsoring the pause screen.

When promotions work seamlessly, they don’t have to work very hard.

These are just two examples of products not randomly sticking their names on stuff. There’s a connection that makes them both work. That’s the kind of connection we were looking for when our clients at Bogle Vineyards asked us to make their wines an integral part of football season. We needed something that made the pairing a natural, seamless fit. In the course of our creative exploration, we had this one idea that seemed too simple to have not been done before.

Bogle makes a fantastic Red Blend, Cab, Pinot and Merlot, so we thought, “Let’s sponsor the red zone.” We proposed a special box set of Bogle Reds for game day. When teams get inside the 20-yard line we ask fans to tweet pictures of themselves enjoying Bogle and the game. The Bogle Red Zone would instantly make Bogle part of game day.

We created an in-store campaign, digital InstaCart campaign and for social, to make The Bogle red Zone part of Fantasy Football, we created Start ‘em Sip ‘em - wine advice for Fantasy game day. Now, if you’re a fantasy nut like us at Division of Labor, you know that Start ‘em Sit ‘em advice is a staple of Fantasy. So Start ‘em Sip ‘em advises what wine to start with what appetizer and what heavy, gassy, beer-y drink to sit on game day.

The whole promotion is part of our Better With Bogle campaign which started with pizza, which is Better With Bogle, then extended to Football, also Better With Bogle and will soon take over the world and extend to everything that doesn’t involve driving, flying or operating heavy machinery. Thanks to everyone at Bogle who made this happen.

A few more promotions that tie the brand seamlessly to the idea; the Chores Light Laundry Basket for Coors light, McDonalds scented candles, ripped off two years later by Shake Shack and purchased by your truly. (Side note: burger scent is not something you want wafting from your candles.) P&G sponsoring moms during the Olympics and Taco Bell’s Steal a Base, Steal a Taco promotion.

Taco Bell Steal a Base, Steal a Taco.

P&G sponsoring moms for the Olympics.

Scented candles from McDonalds.

The Chores Light Laundry Basket.

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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.

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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.

Beck Covers Neil Young to Promote Brady vs. Mahomes.

Halfway through the Sunday Night Football game between the Broncos and the 49ers, there was a break in the action and viewers saw Beck sitting on a stool singing one of the greatest songs of all time. “Old man look at my life I’m a lot like you were” he sang while strumming a guitar.

As he performed the Neil Young classic, footage of Patrick Mahomes began to appear on the screen. And then came footage of Tom Brady and then things started making sense.

The song about an old man and a young man thinking about his life was a perfect way to encapsulate the relationship between the two quarterbacks and to promote their matchup Sunday Night.

The idea was born when NBC turned to Cade Co. in Los Angeles for ideas to promote Sunday Night Football. Founder Nick Cade turned to some old friends to collaborate. Fortunately, one of those collaborators was the guy writing this blog post. (That’s Josh Denberg, in case you’re not a super-fan of the Small Agency Blog, which, we find hard to believe, but OK, whatever.)

As we came up with ideas for the week 4 game, the idea of Brady and Mahomes each winning their first Super Bowl at 24 years old stuck with me. “24 and there’s so much more.”

“24 and there’s so much more.”

As Beck sings that line and we see footage of a 24-year-old Brady winning the Super Bowl and then of Mahomes when he won the Super Bowl at the same age, the coincidence is pretty poignant.

The song is actually about an old caretaker on Neil Young’s ranch. He tells the story in this clip from 1972 on the BBC. But it really tells the story of anyone who looks up to their elders. And Mahomes does.

Of course, haters will say, “Mahomes hasn’t come close to doing what Brady has.” No shit, Twitter-verse. But that’s the drama. That’s the tension. Mahomes is considered the only QB who might, maybe, possibly approach Brady. His success at a young age. His poise in the clutch. Plus the young star vs the Old GOAT makes the song perfect for a Sunday night matchup that might be their last. Check out the Yahoo Entertainment article here.

Thanks to Nick Cade and Beck and everyone at NBC for making this happen and especially to Neil Young who has made it clear over the years that he is no fan of advertising or commercialism. While we don’t expect he’d ever allow one of his songs to be used to sell snack chips, oil filters or insurance we appreciate the leniency on this one.

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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.

We Are Not a Healthcare Ad Agency. But We Play One On TV.

We’re not a healthcare agency, we just happen to do some good healthcare advertising. Sometimes our commercials even run during Gray’s Anatomy.

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It’s nice when you’re not sure exactly what kind of an ad agency you are. Maybe it means you’re evolving. Or maybe it means you’re taking on challenges you haven’t before. Who knows. But for not being a healthcare ad agency, we sure have done a lot of healthcare advertising lately. 

After projects for UCSF, Lively and Michigan Health Professionals, we got a call to pitch El Camino Health, one of the premier healthcare brands in the South Bay. And what do you know, we won the dang thing.

We had a simple idea that led to a strong collaboration with our clients and ultimately the launch of the biggest brand campaign El Camino Health has ever done. Not that “biggest” really means anything, but it does show the company is behind the work, internally and externally. So, yes, that feels good. 

Of course, Division of Labor never intended to become a healthcare ad agency. And, in fact, we work hard to maintain a diverse roster of clients in order to avoid being pigeonholed into any one category of advertising. But the reality is that healthcare is probably the most emotional category there is. And it deserves more than changing the words to old pop songs and jumping into swimming pools. “Oh, oh, oh, Ozempic!” (Look it up if you don’t know it. I can’t bear to put a link to it.)

The El Camino Health campaign took a while to get out the door because we went through extensive brand strategy work with our partners at Paragraph Project to help everyone understand the key communication points to focus on and ensure any future messaging would be consistent. After developing multiple campaign ideas to bring the brand position to life, we did some consumer testing to get validation.

TESTING PROVES TESTING WORKS

Of course, I’ve never met a creative person who liked concept research. In the wrong hands, it dumbs down ideas and kills creativity. But, in the right hands, with good clients, it helps you make a decision. It doesn’t make the decision; it helps. And when you work with scientists, engineers, tech founders, consumer packaged goods, B2B companies, hell, anyone these days, you’re going to need data. So don’t fight it, go get it.

In the end, the idea that won out was the original ad campaign idea we presented in the pitch. We brought in director/editor Doug Walker to help us bring it to life. And Vince Genovese to help navigate the complexities of filming in a hospital. 

Through it all, our clients navigated us into and around the various complexities and red tape of the medical system to the point where our line producer, Brian Benson offered our client, Holly Trollman a job in production. (She declined, by the way.) 

The body of work was difficult to produce, frustrating at times, and one of the most satisfying and rewarding projects we’ve taken on.  Vineeta Hiranandani is our amazing client who led us through strategy sessions, board meetings, medical reviews, design reviews and final production. While Lydia Antippas ran our entire primary care campaign and the entire digital media campaign. Thank you both. 

Over a year after someone in our office, and I think it was account director Rebecca Reid, said “Accept Nothing Less than El Camino Health”, we are thrilled to see it come to life on TV, streaming, social and digital video, outdoor, radio, and it’s everywhere in the South Bay thanks to our media planner and buyer, Brenda Goodman.

So are we a healthcare agency? No. But we’re really proud of this one.

El Camino Health launch video - Division of Labor

Credits:

ECH - Vineeta Hiranandani, Lydia Antippas, Holly Trollman, Dan Woods, all the El Camino Health physicians, nurses and staff.

Production - Doug Walker, John Ettinger, Brian Benson, Molly Condit, Norman Bondy, Paul Chaput, Ryan Kavanaugh, 1606 Productions, Caruso Films,

DoL - Rebecca Reid, Faruk Sagcan, Ruby Noto, Lauren Chandler, Brenda Goodman, Dawn Margolis, Vince Genovese, Scott Aal, Dustin Smith, John Reid, Lynda Greenberg, Dan Carlton, Jess Sebbo, Chelsey Robertson.

This Never, Ever, Ever Happens in Advertising. Or Does it?

The Dead Pile. Once ideas are killed, they stay dead forever. Usually.

Every creative at every advertising agency has a dead pile; their collection of ideas killed along the way by various clients in the pursuit of that one campaign that would, ultimately, get bought. The dead pile is no longer behind the door, but instead stored in the cloud or copied onto a hard drive, just in case you have to make a break for it. 

 The thing is, on the way to the dead pool, every idea sits in purgatory for a period of time because the client (we’ll call them God just to keep the metaphor going) the client/God says something like,

“Maybe we can do that idea next quarter or if there’s money next year.”

So the idea hangs on, foolishly, on life support, as the chosen idea heads into production. But dead ideas almost always stay dead because only one of two things can possibly happen:

Either the client has chosen an amazing campaign that is flawlessly executed and is a huge success so everyone forgets about the other ideas. (This is the norm at Division of Labor.) Or the executed campaign fails, the agency is fired and no one gives a shit about the other ideas. Either way, once an idea is dead, it almost always stays dead.

Except for this one idea. Because this one idea was presented to one of our favorite clients of all time. (We wrote about them in another blog post you can read here if you’re a true Division of Labor devotee or just have a lot of extra time on your hands.)

The client is 15Five. And last year we presented four ideas. They killed two, loved two, and ultimately chose one. But they said, as previously stated, “We love this other idea too. We’ll do it next.”

To which we thought, “Bye-bye idea. Off to purgatory you go while we go crush it with the chosen one.”

And we did. The ad campaign was a huge success. We launched in San Francisco, saw great results, then increased the media spend and started planning the campaign for other cities.

It was then that Julia and Greg, our clients, said something I’ve never heard another client say before. They said, “Remember that other ad campaign you presented?” Wait, was an idea actually getting out of purgatory?

They continued: “We always loved that idea. Let’s do it.”

So we did. We hired photographer Cody Pickins to shoot portraits of HR people. But with “The new HR” HR doesn’t stand for Human Resources. It stands for things like Hiccup Rectifier, Holistic Reviews, Humongous Reformer and Huuuge Receipts.

Our “Welcome to the New HR” tagline continues through the new ad campaign and NYC is going to be introduced to the new HR next.

Thanks to Julia Stead for uttering those words we’ve never heard before. And Congratulations to Greg Hewitt who always kept the campaign alive and just had his first baby!

Huge thanks to Dustin Smith who originally developed the idea with Division of Labor.

And to all the creatives with their own dead piles; keep the faith.

The Ad Agency for Series B Startups

When a startup gets Series B funding is when it can finally focus a bit more of its efforts and dollars on marketing and advertising. According to Crunch Base, the Series B funding stage, “. . . is typically the point in a startup’s lifecycle when it has proven technology or market traction and is on the cusp of major scaling.” And that goes along with exactly what we’ve seen the past five years or so. Looking back at all the companies we’ve worked with, the calls coincide directly with when Series B funding has come in.

“The Series B funding stage is typically the point in a startup’s lifecycle when it has proven technology or market traction and is on the cusp of major scaling.”

— Crunchbase

Division of Labor has been fortunate to work with a large number of Series B startups. Our unique business model combined with the proven results of our creative campaigns seems to be a good combination for Series B companies. Certainly, our position in the Bay Area helps, as well. For the past couple of decades, the vast majority of Series B funding has gone to companies in a small number of geographies, dominated by the San Francisco Bay Area. Again, according to Crunchbase, “Bay Area-headquartered companies pulled in roughly 40 percent of all Series B funding. New York and Boston companies together pulled in about 16 percent of capital.”

Every time we start working with a new startup, we get to apply all the learnings from previous startup projects. Of course, not all advertising campaign goals are the same, nor are all tactics applied equally across companies. But we’ve seen what works and what doesn’t and we’ve discovered the basis for a pretty successful formula that can be broadly applied in many cases.

Our ad campaign for Series B-funded startup Stytch took over San Francisco at the beginning of April.

Stytch - Our latest ad campaign for a Series B start-up took over the streets of San Francisco. From buses to billboards to painted walls and bus shelters, this ad campaign not only took over the city, it connected with people emotionally focusing on a single universal truth: we all hate passwords. But Stytch knew that who you sell to and who you target with advertising are not the same thing. They were incredibly smart in separating out those two notions and creating advertising that hit with consumers and at the same time, resonates emotionally for developers and IT Decisions Makers who have the same hatred of passwords as the rest of us.

Roku - This is a Series B ad launch from back when streaming was understood by less than 7% of the market. Roku needed to become synonymous with the category knowing that more and more players would soon be entering. So product differentiation was not the goal. Focus on product benefits was not the goal. Becoming the category leader was the goal, even though 93% of people had no idea what the category was. Check out the campaign here.

Outdoor for Roku

Series B startup Stytch

TV launch for Opendoor

Founder of 15Five, David Hassell

15Five - 15Five got their Series B and came to Division of Labor to take over the performance management software space. We quickly launched a campaign in San Francisco, measured the effectiveness and expanded to New York. They also quickly solidified the importance of good decision making. They, like all great clients, make decisions quickly and make them decisively. And with that, we moved fast, learned fast and did really, really well. See the campaign here.

Hirect - This was one of the fastest turn-around projects ever. And it’s where we solidified our most crucial rule to working in this space: have direct access to the founders. The reason we took on a project over the holidays with insane timelines is that Annie Zhang, one of the co-founders, was the one who called. She was ready to work fast and wanted to make a splash, so we were too. Without direct founder involvement, it’s much more difficult to create something that makes an impact. Check out the work.

Dropbox - Dropbox was launching Dropbox for Business after their Series B funding and they invited us to pitch. I just looked back at that presentation deck before writing this and it was good work! But what Dropbox wanted then was very different from what, say, Stytch or Hirect was after. They were already quite well known and needed to reposition in the mind of IT Decision Makers. So the ad campaign was much more tactical and under the radar but still massively effective. It ran for well more than two years, (long after we were no longer working on the ad campaign.) And while we did not have direct access to the founders on this one, we did have direct access to an amazing client who remained our client even after she went on to another startup. View the campaign.

Opendoor - After the aforementioned client left Dropbox to have a baby, she came back and joined Opendoor which had just gotten Series B funding. So she called us and we were off. For this campaign we honed in on that single, emotional truth about trying to sell your home; it’s a looooong, frustrating process. And we devised messaging that brought that process to life and allowed Opendoor to be the solution to a universal problem. See the campaign here.

Lively - When Lively reached out to Division of Labor, they too had just received their Series B funding. Like Roku, they were in a category that few had heard of. Like Stytch, they had their roots in both the consumer and B2B space. But with health saving accounts, we quickly realized that we also needed to educate the consumer on what this was, why it mattered, and how someone might use it. Healthcare is already inherently frustrating, but the universal truth around HSAs was really that no one knew how they might use one. Here’s the work.

Of course, every marketing problem is different and every solution is unique but there are a few things to keep in mind if you just got Series B funding and you’re thinking of building awareness.

1) Start in one or two cities and perfect your message and media plan before expanding.

2) Spend properly on media; 500k minimum per tier-one city (less in smaller markets) 1m is the sweet spot and 1.5 if you can swing it.

3) Involve your founder from day one. If they don’t believe in marketing, it’s not worth the effort.

4) Justify your decisions. Series B funding is still someone else’s money. Do the research and spend it wisely.

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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.

Lively + Series B + Division of Labor

Post-it Notes, Passwords and the Future of the Internet.

Our newest out-of-home ad campaign: More than 1,000 hand-written Post-it Notes make up each poster covering the streets of San Francisco letting people know they will soon “Never remember a password again” thanks to Stytch, secure, passwordless login technology.

Hatred of passwords is universal.

No matter what color state you live in or what language you speak, you speak ill of passwords. From the technophile to the Luddite, Gen Z to Gen X, Forever Trumpers and Never Trumpers, one of the few things the internet can actually agree on is our collective hatred of passwords.

That universal truth, that thing we can all agree on, that’s what we look for in advertising to create campaigns that make an emotional connection with people. Find that little piece of truth and make it big. That’s all great advertising does. It makes people feel something they already feel and then promotes something related to it.

Don’t you hate it when there’s just a drop of milk in the carton? Why yes, I should get off my fat ass and just do it. Finding that universal truth is what ad people do.  And the truth is, passwords make the internet a frustrating, incongruous collection of sputtering starts and stops - Login, reset, verify your account, enter this code, re-login, incorrect password, ping customer service, scream profanity, wake your sleeping spouse. You know the drill because we’ve all been there. And we all hate passwords.

Hundreds of Post-it Note pads all hand-written.

Enter Stytch, a San Francisco startup that just closed series B funding, with a billion-dollar valuation. Stytch founders Julianna Lamb and Reed McGinley-Stempel come from Plaid, so they know the sector, have the product, and are confident in their vision of a passwordless future. Their brief to us was a simple blog post with the title #KillThePassword. And that title is the strategic underpinning for our latest campaign.

One of the ways people try to remember all the passwords they have crammed into their brains is by writing them down on Post-it Notes and sticking them to computer screens, bulletin boards and cubicle walls. And we thought it would be pretty amazing to take all those sticky notes and cover billboards with them. A brilliantly colorful hodgepodge of notes, reminders, and passwords. An analog announcement that the world was going to be changing. Not a picture of Post-its or a computer-generated recreation, mind you, thousands of handwritten Post-its stuck onto billboards around the city. 

When we presented it they were like, “Yes! We love that idea!” And we were like, “Yes! Of course, you do because you’re amazing and smart and you have a billion-dollar startup as proof!”

So then we had to make it happen.

To do that you need a media guy like Kasper Koczab. Kasper arranged custom-built glass enclosures to house the hand-made boards. He arranged execution tests to ensure the backlighting would be right and got a local artist to assemble each board by hand. Then we ordered 10,000 Post-it Extremes and Post-it Super Stickies and got to work writing.

We brought in about 25 production assistants to create the notes during three marathon sessions with more multicolored Sharpies than I’d seen since high school art class. But by the deadline, we were still short by over a thousand notes. So we arranged one final Friday night Shabbat charity session, invited friends and donated $400 per finished Post-it Note pad to the relief efforts in Ukraine. Thirteen pads amounted to over $5000 raised and pushed us over the number of Post-its needed.

Ron Lester at Iron Maverick is a San Francisco artist and metal worker who took on the task of arranging each board and layering the thousands of notes so people could just barely read the headline “Never remember a password again.”

There are also buses covered in cryptic, password-style headlines like, d0nTUh8pA55w0rD5L1kETh15? And K1LLpA55W0rD5oNcE&4aLL! Plus about a billion other billboards, bus shelters and bulletins with reminders like “Your dog’s name123 is not a password.” And “The average person resets passwords more than they have sex.” The whole thing starts launching early April to tell the world they will soon be able to forget their passwords, permanently.

Trying to remember passwords does trigger a lot of profanity. But you can’t actually cuss on a billboard.

We’re so proud of this ad campaign. Huge thank you to everyone involved:

Julianna Lamb, Reed McGinley-Stempel, Ali Pulver, Aiden Forest

Rebecca Reid, Faruk Sagcan, Dom Haury, Vassil Vassilev, Dawn Margolis

Kasper Koczab, Ron Lester

All our Post-it Note creators:

Anita Avila, Maia Sullivan, Henry Denberg, Raney Wolfers, Hennessy Boyarski, Lincoln Brown, Gabriel Aal, Jordyn Okumura, Shivani Amin, Sachie Ohara, Dani Steinberg, Bella Hann, Dahlia Zail, Gabriel Lobet, Sophie Letts, Brit Norris, Julia Sigel, Masina Tufa, Julia Dearing, Colton Kitan, David Wong, Mary Friedman, Vanessa Friedman, Deb Toizer and Eric Toizer, Ellie and Lydia Reid, Nils Krueger, Nikita Sriram, Lauren and Cora Arebalo, Emma and Katelyn Daniel, Emma, Eva and Elissa Holyoke, Alessandra and Guiliana Mancini.

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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 LARGEST OUT-OF-HOME CAMPAIGN EVER IN SAN FRANCISCO

To view more campaign executions click HERE.

As 2021 was winding down, our small, but mighty San Francisco-based ad agency got a call from a startup company called Hirect. They were already the number two hiring app in India. Annie Zhang, the co-founder, and her partner founded the app in her dorm room in 2018 and now have over a million-and-a-half registered users. 

We hadn’t heard of them because they hadn’t launched in America yet. Hence the call. Given our experience and Bay Area location, our ad agency gets a fair number of calls from startups. But this one was different. First off, it was Annie calling directly, not a marketing associate or assistant. This is her company, she’ll make the calls.

Second, she and the company were about to launch what’s believed to be the largest outdoor ad campaign in San Francisco history; over 500 pieces of creative throughout the city and around the Bay Area. And they needed an ad campaign. Fast. (Just to be clear, we don’t usually track out-of-home campaign spending dollar amounts, but Out of Home Today does. So we’re passing it on.)

Oh, did I mention this all happened the week before Thanksgiving and we were about to close up shop and leave town? Ya, that. But after we got off the call, we were impressed and intrigued. The product is a chat-based hiring app that lets founders connect directly with job candidates and vice versa. No portals or middle people or recruiters or “Let’s set up a Zoom call to start you on a long interview road to hell.”

One of the first boards to go up talked directly to startup founders. See more of the campaign HERE.

Just text with talent and hire them. Or text with founders and get hired. People get responses in seconds, not days, and hires happen in days not weeks.

The buy was starting in ten days and would launch fully in January. So they needed finished ideas in less than two weeks with copious amounts of turkey to be eaten in between. That’s an insane timeline. But if they were up to the challenge, so were we. 

We hung up, put a scope of work together, and sent it over around 5 pm. Just before midnight, we got back a signed copy and we were off. Twelve hours from meeting to scoping to signing. (I loved these people already.)

We quickly set out to learn everything we could about the company, the sector, the problem, and the target.  All this was occurring on planes, trains, and automobiles en route to our holiday gatherings. Did it put a bit of a crimp in our vacation plans?  For sure. But, on the bright side, working over the holidays gets you out of awkward family dinners and when your loved ones start talking politics it’s an excuse to duck out.

A few days into vacation we presented roughly ten campaign directions with 8-10 executions in each. Certainly, that’s overkill for a few launch boards, but we were gonna need a lot of executions to fill out the media plan. It was done by Kasper Koczab at Hirect’s financial partner, Brex, via their Billboard Rewards program. The plan was excellent. Well thought out with dramatic executions paired with consistency all over the city.

Another board was on a first name basis with the startup founder of all startup founders. See more HERE.

When we presented, Annie was on every call. Collaboration was easy and honest. They wanted to make a splash and be true to the brand they were building. Before we’d eaten any turkey or watched a lick of football, everyone had marching orders and directions were set. 

The first few boards hit the streets of San Francisco before I even made it back in town. And the rest was tied up and locked a few weeks later. Hundreds of executions went up across the city talking to startup founders, hopeful workers, and anyone else who had their eyes open.

Often times it takes months, and yes, sometimes even years for clients to commit to an idea and execute it. Hirect, true it its mission, knows how to get things done fast. So far, all measurements point to a hugely successful U.S. launch for the company. Congrats to a great client on a great campaign. See more of the campaign HERE.

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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.

Drinking wine is now work - Bogle Vineyards + Division of Labor

Understanding our client’s product is rule number one at Division of Labor. To that end, we moved the agency to Dropbox when we started working with the cloud storage company. We bought Roku’s for every TV when they were our client. And we went electric for our EV clients, Drive Clean Bay Area and VELOZ. 

And now that we’re working with Bogle Vineyards, it’s our job, our responsibility, actually, to sample every wine the vineyard produces. And, yes, it’s a tough job. But, we have a dedicated team that’s always willing to go that extra mile. That means blocking off time on our Google calendar for Pinot tasting. And, if necessary,  agency status meetings might get pushed to 4:30 to allow for more “tutorials.”

The Bogle + Division of Labor partnership kicked off in September and includes duties on all the signature Bogle wines as well as the Phantom brand. Our partnership is perfect because our personalities are very similar. Bogle isn’t one of those highfalutin vineyards that makes you feel uncultured because you can’t taste the “hints of rose petal and toasted almond notes.” Huh? And we’re certainly not that kind of ad agency. 

The classic Bogle Cabernet Sauvignon is a crowd pleaser. The Phantom Red Blend is also a winner.

Bogle is a family vineyard, still run by the Bogle family and they make the best $10 bottle of wine on the market. Yep,  the humble $10 bottle is their bread and butter. They want wines that are approachable and easy to drink for regular folk.  And they sell it at Target, Cost Plus, Safeway, and Trader Joe. (But don’t worry, people who shop at Whole Foods will find it there too.) And Bogle gets plenty of internet media love as a standout in the great-tasting, affordable wine category. Food and Wine, for example, gave our client a shout-out last spring on a list of affordable red wines under $15.  Ditto for Good Housekeeping who mentioned Bogle in a piece titled 21 Wines that are Cheap in Price, But Not in Taste. 

Bogle has a strong strategic platform already in place. They know their market. They know their buyers and their retail distribution is well established. But wine at this level is often an impulse purchase. Eighty percent of the decision-making happens at the point of purchase while looking at labels. And with retail becoming more and more digital, the purchase process is longer, with more consumer touchpoints along the way. 

And that’s where a good ad campaign can really influence outcomes. Becoming top of mind earlier and remaining in people’s thoughts longer can influence a consumer’s reaction to in-store materials, including the label. We’ll be developing campaigns with multiple touchpoints around promotional messages that are uniquely Bogle.

Finding wine brands that stand out these days is tough. The reality is that wine advertising has been lacking in attitude and ideas for years. Lot’s of bottle shots, pour shots, vineyard shots and grape shots, yes. But, in the end,  not a lot of big ideas. 

There are exceptions, of course, like this campaign by Chiat in London during the heart of the pandemic lockdowns for Hun.

Hun wine campaign is an example of great advertising.

Of course, the vintage wine posters from back in the day are a treasure. Like this one for Prunelle Du Velay. And who could forget Orson Wells for Paul Masson? “Paul Masson will sell no wine…DEEP DRAMATIC PAUSE…before it’s time.”

But for now, we’re raising a glass to our new clients at Bogle and expecting some great campaigns that sell a lot of hooch in 2022. In the meantime, we’ll be hard at work “testing product” and tweaking the creative.  We’ll keep you posted on our launch. 

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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.

Tips for Rookie Marketing Managers

Some advertising and marketing rookies go on to do great things. Others, however, have to re-think their career plans.

Congrats on your new head of marketing gig. If you have no idea what you're doing, don't panic. You’re hardly alone. We often get queries from first-time heads of marketing who are bumbling their way through the process, exploring new ad agencies, maybe hiring one, maybe not. To make your first campaign/agency interaction a successful one, and perhaps more importantly to save you from looking like an inexperienced boob, please avoid these five rooky mistakes. 

Don’t try to reinvent the process.

Startups and tech companies have been reinventing advertising since the invention of advertising. If there was a way to prove success by spending $10,000, we would have patented it, sold it and retired. There is no magic bullet. There is no one way. But if you decide to work with an agency, try it their way first.

Don’t appear dumbfounded when we ask about your company's biggest competitors.

The moment you take over a position as a marketing director, it's important to dive into your company's data and research each of its biggest competitors. When you have a basic understanding of who your most significant competitors are, it will be easier for you to determine what strategies need to be set in place in order to gain ground against them. It’s often better to have a deep understanding of what your competitors are doing than what you hope to accomplish.

Don’t Underestimate the Power of Brand Identity.

A strong brand identity is at the heart of every marketing campaign. It’s what helps your business stand out in a noisy marketplace and drives customer loyalty. It’s what makes people interested, it’s what triggers an emotional response. If you don’t have an identity or a point of view, everything falls on your product. And that’s a tough way to grow.

We don’t know this TV show. But someone out their must. And, if it resonates with you, perhaps you’ll be inspired to read this blog post and follow our sage advice.

Trust the research not the random musings of friends or family that you run the campaign by. 

If you fail to see things from your customers’ point of view, you won’t understand what they want, or how they think. This can lead to missed opportunities and outright fails—like an ad campaign that doesn’t resonate with customers, or a product launch that falls on deaf ears. Once you’ve done the research and relayed these details to your agency partner, resist the urge to second guess your decisions.  Some of the greatest ad campaigns ever conceived, never see the light of day because the marketing director decided to show the work to a spouse who blithely pans it. And, just like that, all the time, money, and research that went into a campaign for a specific target audience gets ignored. 

Be Honest About Your Budget.

As I said, we get endless queries from rookie marketing heads. To that end, we often start by asking a simple question; What is a ballpark figure for your all-in advertising budget, including creative concepting, media fees and production? Responding with something vague like, “It depends on the scope of the campaign” or “you tell us what you think” isn’t helpful to you or the ad agency. We ask the question to get a sense of what level of scope to develop. And, also, to gauge whether you have realistic expectations for what your advertising dollars can buy you. If, for example, a client comes to us with a million-dollar budget, that can be quite robust or a pittance depending on what they hope to accomplish with that dollar amount.  For more specific advice, please click on the link to our previous blog post: How Much Does It Cost to Hire an Ad Agency?

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at info@divisionoflabor.com

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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.

How to Launch a Brand in Three Short Months

Division of Labor’s new ad campaign for 15Five.

We won some new business this past April and launched our new client’s first-ever brand campaign this past August. The process from award to launch was incredibly efficient, which is rarely the case. Why? Well, to launch a campaign quickly, there is one major thing that must be done over and over again throughout the process. What is that thing?

Job One: Make Decisions

The client we’re talking about is 15Five. They're a major player in the employee engagement space. They’ve got a great product, but they’ve also got something many companies do not have; a decisive management team. Decisiveness is what separates the good from the great. The brunt of efficiency problems comes from delayed decision-making, or making decisions and then changing decisions. Or making decisions, changing the decision, and then showing what was intended to be the final decision to someone higher up the corporate ladder who actually has the final say. And then this new decision-maker eighty-sixes all the previous decision-maker’s decisions and now you’re back to square one. Sound familiar?

A well-run brand launch is best approached as one big decision tree. As you move through the process, you have to be decisive and never look back. This latest process was three-plus months start to finish:

Strategy workshop in May. 

Develop creative in June. 

Production in July. 

Launch in August. 

Make a shit-ton of hard decisions along the way.

Out of home advertising from Division of Labor and 15Five

The strategy workshop brought all the company players into one virtual room where we explored everything they could possibly say or stand for. (We run good strategy workshops; fast, fun, insightful plus there’s coffee cake.) From there, they had to decide on targeting, brand persona, archetype, main purpose, and a ton of other things that are all important but must be prioritized.

The next step is the creative brief which compiles the results of the workshop into a simple, pointed document used to brief creative teams. Give the brief to any team and they will know everything needed to communicate the brand. (It’s easy to un-decide things in this phase, so be careful.)

Four creative campaigns were presented and the team quickly eliminated two ideas and kept the two that they loved. They did not ask us to bring in other elements from other campaigns. Nor did they consult with their book clubs, spouses, therapists, investors, advisors, children or spiritualists. They decided which they liked best, and stuck with it.

Media plans were developed based on the creative and creative was revised to accommodate media. The client had to get serious about media spend and decide on a budget level for launch. This is a crucial point where delays can happen as the reality of spending money kicks in.

We then presented a production plan and prepared to brief our digital artists, designers, and producers. We presented everything via Google Sheets and in a Slack Channel and all along the way our clients could make comments, choices, and decisions.

They built out landing pages, prepared PPC, SEO, and organic planning. Then we all built out tracking and analytics plans and launched the campaign.

When does this decision need to be made?

Making decisions is easier when you know the effect of your decision. Is it permanent? Is it reversible? Is it crucial to the timeline? In every meeting they asked questions like:

What decisions do we need to make now?

Can you post our options and deadlines in the Slack channel?

What will you be doing next and what decisions will we need to make next?

These are the kinds of questions that need to be asked if you want to launch a campaign quickly. And if you want to make good decisions along the way. In the end, we have a shiny new campaign and, wait… what does 15Five do, actually? Ah, thanks for asking. 

Basically, 15Five helps companies treat their employees better. And helps HR people revolutionize what we all think of HR. Their software helps learn what your employees actually think and does away with the yearly review process. 15Five will increase employee retention and engagement while helping companies behave better.

The entire employee engagement space has been blowing up the past five years as evidenced by all the articles out there including this recent one in Forbes, which is far more relevant and trustworthy than the blog of a small, independent ad agency.

So there you go. How to launch a brand campaign efficiently and some news about the employee engagement space and 15Five.

Thank you Julia Stead and Greg Hewitt and everyone at 15Five. Plus Dustin Smith, Rob Lee, Faruk Sagcan, Rebecca Reid, 29 Black, Rigved Sathe, Resize Guys etc.

The Chief Human Resources Officer is evolving. And 15Five is leading the way.

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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.

5 New Tips to Improve Your Award Show Humblebrag

Congratulations to this year’s winners from last year’s. We should hang out and talk about how to best brag about our accomplishments.

No industry has perfected the humblebrag like the seasoned executives in advertising. And now that Campaign 40 Over 40 has released their winners once again, we’re back to help you humblebrag like a pro. This is next-level humblebrag graduate degree shit.

Like, say you run a boutique ad agency in San Francisco and you won the Campaign US’ Forty Over Forty award last year. How do you maximize your social media humblebrag, even a full year after you won?

No. 1 - Congratulate this year’s winners, from last year’s winners

This technique is more humble than the “Proud and Humbled” because everything is implied. You don’t have to say outright, “You know, last year’s winners vote on this year’s winners, and I won last year.” That would be downright narcissistic and, well, way over-the-top. It’s better to simply congratulate this year’s 40 Over 40 Winners. Then, in a simple caption under the top photo in a blog post, say something complimentary like: “Congratulations to this year’s winners from last year’s. We should hang out and talk about how to best brag about our accomplishments.”

No. 2 - Photoshop your picture from last year next to this year’s winners.

This technique is a great way to associate yourself with the winners, remind people you used to be a winner and, do it in a tongue-in-cheek way that makes people feel like you’re not totally glomming on to their moment in the sun, even though you totally are. And really, there are so many awards shows that no one can keep track of who has won what, which year. (Except a couple of British creative directors. You know who you are.) 

No. 3 - Call out specific winners by name in a blatant attempt to suck-up

This humblebrag-congratulations-custom combo technique is perfect if you want to tell specific winners, like Sophie Kelly from Diageo, that you’re proud to have her in the 40 over 40 winners club with you (see how I did that.) This also creates an opportunity to say, “Hey Sophie, I’m a huge Bulleit Rye fan. Let’s work on a project together.” Or something like that.

Behave like the Woody Harrelson character (Hamish) in Hunger Games who won a previous Hunger Games and is now a raging alcoholic with a chip on his shoulder who gives advice to this year’s winners, as if they care what he has to say.

No. 4 - Give a shout out to a local winner inferring that you and the winner are somehow connected

By being, “Proud and humbled to congratulate Stephanie Prager from Twitter on her 40 over 40 win” people assume there’s a local bond between you two. Even though Stephanie Prager and you have never met, because, well, tech people don’t hang out with people from boutique San Francisco ad agencies. But no one knows that. It’s a freebie name-drop that makes the previous year’s recipient look important too. Kind of. Keep in mind, this is not a move for rookie humblebraggers. But, done right, it can really broaden the reach of your humblebrag audience.

No. 5 - Write a blog post about Humblebrags

If you’ve won some award, like the Campaign 40 Over 40 award, you can consider yourself a micro-niche influencer in the Campaign 40 Over 40 award space and write a blog post about how to extend the life of your award show glory by mentioning other winners in your blog post like Deena Bahri from StockX and Fiona Carter from Goldman Sachs and Kevin Frank from LinkedIn. Playing the long game, it’s important to mention that you voted for them. That way, if they need an ad agency someday, maybe they’ll see you congratulated them and that you two have a lot in common.

Congratulations to this year’s winners from one humblebragger to the next.

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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.

Making Ads in a Post-Covid World

DP Jim McKee and cameraman Mike Elwell on set with Brian Watt and Division of Labor, founder, Josh Denberg (otherwise known as “me”) staring awkwardly into the monitor.

It almost felt normal inside KQED’s new headquarters. There were lights, cameras, mics, monitors, and random construction noises interrupting things. Oh right, that’s what an in person advertising production looks like. Yes, that’s right.  For the first time since the Division of Labor offices went virtual in March 2020  we were shooting advertising again right here in San Francisco. 

And, yes, it felt great on so many levels. For starters, it was amazing to finally meet up in person with the KQED crew who we’ve come to know well via Zoom calls, Slack, emails, and texts. And guess what? Our clients looked as good in person as that did on our laptops. And not once during our in-person meetings did anyone’s face become pixelated, nor did their speech become garbled. And, best of all, no one's face froze in an awkward unflattering sort of way. Did we say they looked just as good in person? On second thought, they all presented better. 

For two days we worked with a KQED production crew and a gaggle of KQED talent ($100 bucks for using the word “gaggle”) to create a campaign promoting KQED Live; a new series of lectures, concerts, discussions and other live events with entertainers, journalists, politicians, musicians, authors, chefs and others all in KQED’s new public events space. 

And, as if actual human interaction wasn’t exciting enough, we also had actual human interaction with a number of local celebrities, including Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal from Forum along with Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos from Political Breakdown not to mention with Priya Clemons, Brian Watt, Olivia Allen-Price, Lily Jamali and Devin Ketayama. (Oh, and If you don’t know who any of these folks are, just nod along and act impressed, otherwise your well-educated liberal friends will pass judgment on you for being ignorant about all things public radio and TV.)

In any case, here are the pictures to prove we showered and left the house. Stay tuned for the campaign launch in August. Oh, and make sure you buy tickets for the gala KQED Live launch event on September 25. It’s live and in-person and the sooner you have tickets, the longer you can casually mention that you’re going to a big KQED gala event. (Yep, that’s a sure fire way to one up your well-educated liberal friends who tried to pass judgement on you for your being ignorant about all things public radio and TV.)

Josh gives Alexis Madrigal direction and tries to convince him that the commercial will indeed be funny.

Priya Clemons and Brian Watt.

Stage Manager Linda Kagan boxing, for some reason, with Priya Clemons.

Iris Lax, Marketing Communications Manager @KQED, Alexis Madrigal, co-host of Forum and guy who has to fill Michael Krasny’s shoes.

Who wore it best? Jim and Josh are dressed by the same designer.

Scott Shafer in one of the best looking sport coats ever.

Producer Carlos Manuel LaRoche runs a top-notch production.

The Division of Labor and KQED crew, including Rebecca Reid back left, who took most of the pictures so she was in few of them and Maria Diokno, Executive Director of Brand and Audience Development, who, along with Iris and Peter Cavagnaro, made it all happen.

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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.

Toddler interrupts Ad Agency Zoom call. Staffers Feign Interest.

A creative director’s toddler interrupting the ad agency Zoom meeting.

A San Francisco ad agency status meeting was brought to an abrupt halt Monday by an attention-seeking three-year-old who also happens to be the son of executive creative director, Tom Goodman.  

The child boldly entered the meeting dressed as Spider-Man and wielding a sippy cup full of oat milk. 

At first, he could only be seen at the edge of the frame spinning in circles and muttering something akin to “Dada boo boo, Dada boo boo.” Eventually, he got so dizzy, he fell to the ground and bumped his head,” notes production assistant Cathy Callaway. “But then he caught a second wind, popped up, and began licking the laptop camera.”

Agency staffers, initially caught off guard by the interruption, didn’t know how to react. “We assumed Tom would holler for the nanny to collect the kid, but instead he began clapping along, singing the Spider-Man theme song,” says junior copywriter, Jenny Evans. 

While those in attendance undoubtedly found the intrusion annoying, they embraced the opportunity to suck up to their boss by feigning interest in the child’s onscreen antics. 

Kelly Bauer, account exec on the coveted Scaredy Cat Kitty Litter account, jumped in first with comments like,  “Wow, is that really Peter Parker?” and “Don’t wrap me in your web, Spidey!” The toddler, who goes by the name Satchel, responded to Bauer’s pandering with the nonsensical retort, “I’m wearing  poopie shirt.” Satchel then squealed and dragged his grubby fingers across his father’s keyboard. Then, for no particular reason, he added: “You a toilet face.”  

A few of the action figures displayed during the meeting: Aqua Man, Green Lantern, and the Waldorf-inspired Stick Man.

Emboldened by the attention, however, the child seized the opportunity to introduce the group to his rather large collection of action figures while his father kept repeating, “And who’s that?” The beleaguered staff listened attentively as the kid ticked off the names of nearly a dozen superheroes, including Aqua Man, the Green Lantern, and Stick Man—a Waldorf-inspired figurine that’s really just a hunk of driftwood. 

Undeterred by the toddler’s incessant rant, one digital marketing firm staffer, Dwayne Clutterbuck went so far as to request, “Spider-Man, will you help us with an ad campaign!” Satchel wisely ignored this request.  Those in the know speculate that the toddler may have instinctively known that Clutterbuck has a reputation for passing his work off onto others. 

The interruption was going on nearly five minutes when project manager, Denise Cartwright Blurted out “Your Spidey Sense should tell you we have a lot of work to do.” Asked about it later, Cartwright said, “I thought I was on mute, but I’m kinda glad he heard.” 

At press time, Cartwright had not yet been passed over for a promotion for suggesting her boss's child should be seen and not heard.

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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. 

How Much Does it Cost to Hire an Ad Agency?

How much does it cost to hire a top San Francisco Ad Agency?

We get this question a lot. And it sure would be nice if you could price an ad campaign like a rump roast or a haircut or a bikini wax, But it really does depend on a number of factors. That said, what a product costs shouldn’t be a secret. So we’re gonna do our best to give you a simple answer.

Ad agencies and digital marketing firms charge clients an hourly rate for each person working on the client’s project. Every person at the ad agency is billed out by the hour. Every agency has a rate sheet you can request. You just need to know you can ask for it. (You know, like animal-style fries at In N’ Out Burger.) Junior account executives might be $125 an hour while a managing director might be $400. Ask for the agency’s blended rate to get their average hourly, which is somewhere between $225 and $300 these days.

That’s what an agency costs. But how much will it cost you? Now, this is where it gets tougher. Tell the agency what you need to accomplish, a general marketing budget, and they’ll give you a Scope of Work outlining the services they’ll provide along with a proposed timeline for deliverables and an estimated cost for each deliverable.

NOTE: There’s no charge for beer, gummies, video games, hipster beard cream, or ironic T-shirts.

Generally speaking, bigger agencies’ hourly rates are higher than smaller independent shops, because they have a lot more overhead. Also, a client spending only on social media ads would pay an agency a lot less than a client doing a multimedia, national campaign. Because the latter requires a lot more time and money to develop, produce and execute. 

Ironic T-shirts are included within the hourly rates of ad agency and digital marketing firm fees.

Some agencies, Division of Labor among them, will take on small projects for a flat, package rate. This allows us to engage with startups and companies with smaller budgets. We also break from traditional agency pricing and offer consulting and in-house freelance services.

Couldn’t I do it myself for tons less?

You can.  Everything you ask an agency to do, you could do much cheaper on your own. You could go to Facebook or Instagram, pull down their ad campaign tools and start making ads. You could buy a lightbox, photograph your products, pull them into Photoshop to create designs, and write headlines and copy that bring your brand to life. You could write a script and ask your TikTok-making daughter and her friends to shoot a video for you and pay them a fraction of what you’ll pay an ad agency. 

Some companies have had tremendous success creating and producing amazing videos and ad campaigns on their own; DollarShaveClub is brilliant, for example. If you have a gregarious founder and can write and produce something on your own, go for it. If it sucks, you can hire an agency later. If it’s great, fuck the agency.

But, generally speaking, the people who know how to create a product, manage a staff and scale a business (clients) have a totally different skill set than the people who know how to market a business (ad agencies). 

Dollar Shave Club made their first video on their own and have since built up an amazing internal department.

Why should I Pay an Ad Agency Before I See What Ideas They Have?

This is a great question. Why should you? 

Restaurants don’t cook meals for you hoping you’ll like the food and decide to pay them. Lawyers won’t work on your case for six months hoping you like the outcome and decide to pay them. Accountants don’t do your taxes hoping you like the way the math works out and decide to pay them. (This section could go on longer, but you get the idea.)

The fish counter doesn’t work like this.

You’re paying an ad agency for their thinking, their strategic planning, their problem solving, design skills, writing, and most of all, for their ideas. So they can’t do it for free.

But there is another way. Try this; Search “top ad agency San Francisco” or “best digital marketing companies San Francisco” or something else in the Google. Look at what each agency has done for other clients and narrow it down to a few agencies you like. Have a call with each and ask for a credentials presentation.

Then hire two or three agencies for the same small project. Pay each agency for the project. And agree to give the agency you like best a larger project after you’ve worked with each of them. It’s a great way to see what they’re really like and what they’re capable of. 

How do I know what our budget should be?

When figuring out your marketing budget, know there are three different things you pay for: Paid Media, Production, Agency Fees

Paid Media is usually the biggest cost. This is how much you pay to a TV network or a streaming service to run your commercial. Or how much you pay Facebook or Instagram to run your promoted video or ads. 

Ad agencies develop media strategies, create media plans, buy the media, measure effectiveness, optimize the campaign, give you weekly reports and use their knowledge to secure the best media at the best rates. For that, the agency takes a percentage as a fee; typically between 5% and 18% depending on the media and depending on the agency.

Production costs are what you need to spend to make your campaign. Filming the videos, recording the commercials, photographing things for billboards, coding banners and social media, developing digital and social executions of all shapes and sizes. Agencies oversee production and hire all the production companies needed to get everything made in all the required sizes and formats and then distribute all the assets to the media outlets. Agencies are paid for their time to oversee production and/or they can mark up the production costs.

Agency fees are the hourly costs you pay the agency for their time to do strategy sessions, digital planning, workshops, creative presentations, research, revisions, Zoom calls and late-night panicked phone calls. Plus SEO, SEM, PPC, social channel management, all the meetings, and anything else you might ask the agency staff to do for you.

So that’s how much an ad agency costs. If you made it this far without the costs making you throw up in your mouth, check out DivisionofLabor.com 

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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. 

Vaccinated Workers Return to Discover Office Still Smells Like Burnt Popcorn

Workers returning to one of San Francisco’s top digital ad agencies were stunned to discover their offices still wreaked of burnt popcorn. It’s been nearly 14 months since front-end developer Jason Curry accidentally set the microwave timer for 20 minutes instead of 2 minutes in the company kitchen and yet the odor still lingers.

Initial reports suggest the burnt popcorn hailed from an 18-count Pantry Pack of Orville Redenbacher's Ultimate Butter. Workers described the residual odor as resembling a mixture of burning hair and damp sweat socks left under the seat of a 2002 Dodge Intrepid with the heat on. 

Many were surprised that the odor lingered at the ad agency so long after the pandemic shutdown. “The whole world has changed. Economies have collapsed and come back, but that smell, well, it's still here.” said social media marketing expert Kara Goodheart, who sits nowhere near the kitchen but still threw up in her mouth more than once.

The litter box in George Callahan’s home office allegedly smells worse than the burnt microwave popcorn stench lingering inside a top San Francisco ad agency.

Despite the stink, most creative agency staffers were thrilled to be out of their home offices and thus took the unpleasant stench in stride. “I’ve been working out of our spare bedroom for the past 15 months, which is where we keep our cat’s litter box. So, if I’m being honest, burnt popcorn is an upgrade,” notes head of production George Callahan.

Ever optimistic, SEO specialist Ginny Kerris, tried to make light of the situation: “One of the good things that came out of the pandemic is that we’re now all masked up at the office and this makes the smell less intense.” Unfortunately, the comment did not sit well with a slew of cancel-culture employees, all under age 28. They took what they describe as a, “stand for humanity,” filing insensitivity charges against Kerris with HR. “Yes, this office stinks,” says an unnamed whistleblower. “But to suggest that protecting the olfactory systems of a handful of well-compensated white-collar workers, while so many others are suffering, reeks of privilege.”

A Pringle’s bong, similar to one’s made by the San Francisco ad agency’s creative staff. Note the photo is neither a staffer nor a compression bong. But you get the idea.

This is the second time snack offerings caused trouble for the agency. In 2019, Pringles were banned after it was revealed that the cylinder-shaped packaging was being repurposed into compression bongs by some in the ad agency creative department. “Edibles are fine, and helpful in terms of the creative process,” says Frank. “But smoking in the workplace is prohibited by California law.”  

At press time, no disciplinarian action had been taken against Curry for burning the corn and causing the odor. However, one employee tweeted how ironic it was that Curry had caused the problem as he shares a last name with a pungent spice. This led to another round of cancel-culture ire. Plans are now in the works for an educational workshop on spice shaming.

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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. 

How to insult people with your new Ad Campaign. Sort of. . .

StockDweebs insults the wealthy and the nerdy. It’s an equal opportunity brand.

Diesel’s Be Stupid ad campaign is one of the best of all time. It insulted an entire generation, reveled in the stupidity of young people, and invited them to wear Diesel clothing as a badge of dishonor. Most marketers would be horrified. But the Diesel marketing team are not most marketers. The campaign was a massive, global success. And, certainly not without controversy. But if no one hates you, does anyone remember you?

Diesel’s Be Stupid campaign. One of the best, and most insulting, ever.

I want to be clear. When I talk about hating on something, I'm NOT talking about civil discourse, public behavior, political speech, or the way we treat our fellow humans. I’m speaking only of branding.

That said, we certainly advocate for being self-deprecating.  Great marketing turns negatives into positives. If you can take what is typically seen as a drawback and flaunt it as a badge of honor, well then more power to you. Avis proudly declaring, "We're number 2" Pepsi embracing the degrading “Is Pepsi OK?” And Guinness lamenting it takes 119 seconds to pour the damn beer. Embracing stupidity, though insulting to some, was genius.

When we started working with a new financial client, how to insult the audience quickly became part of the project. The company is called StockDweebs, an investment advisory that helps people build stock portfolios for short and long-term growth.  

StockDweebs is named for those dweebs so often picked-on in high school. The outsiders, the geeks, the nerds: They weren’t cool, couldn’t play sports. They embraced science and mathematics. And these days, those former sad sacks run the world. For our client, founder Eric Choe, nothing is insulting about being a dweeb.

StockDweebs logo and brand was designed by Division of Labor, specifically Creative Director Faruk Sagcan.

Dweebs follow the numbers, look for patterns, and quietly find the hidden stock gems, then stand ready to pounce. So we created a brand that mocks traditional indicators of social status. "Dweebs don’t join country clubs, they buy them." And revels in wealth in an over-the-top way; "Rich people are shallow and materialistic. But you'll get used to it."

We built a site that serves as the center for the brand where Eric and his team post their picks, track each stock, and subscribers can join, follow the team’s advice and build their own portfolios.

We designed the brand to be brash and unapologetic. With a bold color scheme and copy dripping with "dweeb" attitude. We even added a glossary of Dweeb terminology so users can learn the difference between a Big Fat Dweeb, a Dweeb-and-a-half, and Elon Dweeb. 

As proof of our dedication to Eric and his picks, we set aside a certain amount of the fee to buy his picks. So, far, this exercise has paid off. Eric's picks are up overall in big chunks. 

So here’s to the dweebs, and socially inept. Here's to embracing your flaws, and turning deficits into strengths. Stay tuned for more from StockDweebs shortly.

One last wonderfully insulting image from Benetton. Just imagine the complain letters. Great brands are never ignored.

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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. 

New Ad Campaign Helps San Francisco's Foster Kids Find Local Homes

In late February of 2020, we launched our first campaign for Foster SF and San Francisco’s Human Services Agency. The goal: Find foster families and foster homes for the city’s most vulnerable citizens.

 The campaign hit all the marks in terms of website traffic and inquiry calls. But it’s tough to reach your full potential when you launch an outdoor campaign during a pandemic-induced lockdown. “Much of the media buy was OOH, which doesn’t work so well when the city was asked to shelter in place,” explains Josh Denberg, Division of Labor Advertising’s chief creative officer.

Then came the crashing economy, riots, and record-setting wildfires, these external forces didn’t exactly help in our quest to find viable foster homes. And when there are no homes available in San Francisco, these already traumatized kids were forced to move out of the city for placement elsewhere. It’s a tragedy on top of tragedy because, in addition to being separated from their parents, they also get separated from friends, classmates, teachers, and a familiar community.  And, to that end, it’s Foster SF’s mission to do everything they can to prevent that from happening.

Last year’s messaging relied heavily on humor. But for this year’s campaign, the creative team agreed that a change of tone more in keeping with the state of the world was imperative. “We needed an approach that was both strategic and empathetic,” says Denberg.

DOL’s, creative director, Faruk Sagcan, quickly figured out how to do just that. His idea focused on what happens when Foster kids are forced out of The City. He proposed illustrations of San Francisco’s most iconic landmarks, but with a piece of the landmark removed. The message: “When Foster Kids are placed outside San Francisco, we lose a piece of The City.” Executions include the Golden Gate Bridge minus one tower, a gateless entrance to China Town, and the Painted Ladies sans one of its ladies.

 For media, we focused almost entirely on digital and social, plus a few pole banners strategically placed along main city arteries. Hopefully, we can get the caregiver families needed to get these kids back to San Francisco. After all, it’s been a tough year for everyone. But even tougher on foster kids.

We’re honored to work with the San Francisco Human Services Agency and have high hopes for this year’s campaign.

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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. 

Featured in Fast Company. Kinda Sorta. . .

Thanks Fast Company for the shoutout. You’re our favorite magazine, “among others.”

We’re proud but humbled to be mentioned in this Fast Company article about the rise of the independent ad agency. And in such amazing company too; Preacher, Humanaut and Haymaker, “among others.”

Sure, we’re not named by name or anything. But it’s super obvious to everyone, especially Josh Denberg’s mother, that the “among others” reference is a nod to her son’s small, San Francisco ad agency, Division of Labor. Clearly, all that bragging to yenta friends Carole Rosenberg and Linda Randall “among others” paid off. Fast Company, indeed, took notice. Unconfirmed reports also suggest that Josh’s mother cornered Fast Company CEO, Eric Schurenberg’s mother at a Zoom Canasta tournament to sing her son’s praises.

“The “among others” group is a small, but tight-knit community of people, most of whom worked for Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners in the late nineties to early 2000s and then left to start independent ad agencies. Places like Chemistry Club, Cutwater, Funworks “among others.” “We even use the “among others” line among ourselves,” says, Division of Labor founder and chief creative officer, Josh Denberg. “It’s always been our little inside joke. So when Fast Company decided to run with it, rather than call us out individually, we all got a chuckle.”

But the bottom line: all of us “among others” agree with Jeff Beer that indy ad agencies are having a resurgence and the past year’s economic situation has certainly influenced that. At last week’s virtual gathering at Grumpy’s, the group was just talking about how the situation is really similar to when Division of Labor started in 2009.

There was economic instability after the 2008 economic crash, there was a new president trying to clean up the mess of the previous administration and the agency world was a shit-show of new tech, media fragmentation, and brands looking for an alternative to the high costs and cruddy service of the holding companies.

So thanks Fast Company for the mention and for recognizing the importance of small ad agencies like ours, “among others.”

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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. 

OOH Today Features Division of Labor Advertising as its Agency of the Day.

Quick shout out to OOH Today for featuring Division of Labor as the Agency of the Day. We always welcome positive press. And it’s an especially gratifying way to begin the new year. As we mentioned in our last blog post, we have high hopes for 2021, as a company, but also for the ad community, our country, and the world at large. So cheers to 2021 and starting off the year right. And, special thanks to reporter, Will Farmer for taking the time to write this piece.

One of several billboards in an OOH ad campaign for Lively HSA.

The Ad Agency. Not the Government Agency

By No Fear No Favor Last updated Jan 4, 2021

by Will Farmer
OOH Today
Media and Communications Manager

Division of Labor is an independent, San Francisco advertising agency. They develop strategies and creative campaigns to promote brands and sell products across all media platforms, including out of home.

Josh Denberg, founder and chief creative officer at Division of Labor Advertising.

Josh Denberg is the chief creative director and founder of Division of Labor. On top of his work with Division of Labor, Denberg also directs commercials and wrote a book titled “Stop Tweeting Boring Shit.” Additionally, he changes lightbulbs when they go out in the office. He’s a pretty good guy.

We had the chance to talk to Denberg. Here’s what he had to say about his company:

Interview with Josh Denberg, Founder and Creative Director at Division of Labor

 Will Farmer: Could you tell us about Division of Labor. How long have you been in business? Staffing? Size? Specialties? Billing? Regional Offices?

Josh Denberg: Division of Labor started in 2010 with projects from Microsoft and Nike and has worked with clients like Dropbox, Roku, Ford Motor Company, Live Nation TBS and the San Jose Sharks. We are between 6 and 10 people in the office before COVID but have project workers and freelancers around the world.

WF: What would you like brands and the OOH Industry to know about your shop?

JD: Our philosophy is, “Drop a bomb in the room and then throw in the leaflets.” Meaning, get attention with something big and emotional first and then follow up with rational benefits. We believe outdoor is the perfect medium for a digital age because it gets attention and gets people to Google. Digital and social can support from there.

WF: Do you work with clients directly and/or through agencies? What is the percentage breakdown?

JD: As an ad agency, we work directly with clients and outdoor is often part of the integrated campaigns we create and produce.

WF: Any comments or suggestions for OOH reps in approaching or working with your company?

JD: Being able to see the locations both on a map and from a consumer perspective is most helpful.

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 WF: What is your most memorable new business pitch?

JD: Our latest pitch win for Keen Shoes was most memorable because at 10 pm the night before the pitch, someone hit a button on the shared digital presentation and all the slides started disappearing!!! After some panic and %$#@ing, we found the digital restoration in our Time Machine, and life came back to normal.

 WF: What differentiates your business from others?

JD: We focus on great creative and results. Both are required in every project.

WF: How do you obtain new business?

JD: Clients often find us just by searching “Best Creative Agency San Francisco.” Our past work and reputation are what we rely on.

WF: Can you discuss some recent OOH campaigns?

JD: We’ve been creating award-winning and effective outdoor campaigns for over 20 years. We can turn around ideas in just a few days. Have a look at some of the outdoor we’ve done over the years: 

For the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, we created a simple, visual campaign that matched famous San Francisco tourist attractions with famous works of art from the museum.

 This Roku outdoor campaign went up in six major cities. Bold design and getting people to laugh were the keys to a 30% holiday sales boost in every city that had a campaign.

This holiday ad campaign was a game changer for Roku and digital streaming as a way to view TV.

Sticking your logo on a billboard is not enough to stand out these days. Today’s outdoor can also be a digital video. And taking advantage of great media placement with compelling creative is often the difference between success and failure.

 Website
http://www.DivisionofLabor.com

Industry
Marketing & Advertising

Company size
2-10 employees

Headquarters
Sausalito, CA

Type
Privately Held

Phone
415-944-8185

Email
Info@divisionoflabor.com

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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. 

Happy holidays from your favorite San Francisco advertising agency

Division of Labor office dog, Mort models his 2020 holiday sweater.

Traditionally the Division of Labor offices close from December 24th thru January 2. While not technically counted as vacation time, we encourage our employees to relax, unwind, enjoy quality time with loved ones but be available for any advertising emergencies that come up. And, yes, we recognize that an “ad emergency” is the ultimate oxymoron.

 Of course, this year, the Division of Labor offices have been closed since March.  So, while we won’t be winding down our day with a staff lunch, a holiday gift exchange, or water cooler discussions about our holiday travel plans, we will be encouraging our team to focus on family.

As we did last year, in lieu of client gifts, we’re making one lump sum donation to the Milo Foundation, an established 501(c)(3) non-profit, no-kill organization providing an alternative for homeless pets throughout California. In addition to community education, volunteer opportunities, and adoption services, Milo provides sanctuary for animals needing more time and space to have a quality of life until the special homes they need can be found.

Collectively, Division of Labor employees have provided permanent homes to six rescue dogs, two rescue cats, and fostered an additional three Milo dogs until they could be permanently re-homed.  

And with that, the entire Division of Labor Team, wishes our fellow ad folks, and valued clients a happy holiday season.  Stay safe. Stay healthy.  We look forward to re-grouping in 2021 where we are hopeful that the world can begin to heal from the collective pain and suffering wrought by 2020.

Oh, and our office dog, Mort got himself a snazzy new sweater as a gift this year. So 2020 did have a few bright spots.

Happy Holidays to all and to all a goodnight.

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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.

Eight Reasons to Be Thankful for the Shit-Storm That is 2020

No large gatherings means no family drama. Plus, you’ll never run out of white meat.

2020 was clearly the worst year in history. A global pandemic, racial injustice, political upheaval, wildfires, murder hornets. Fortunately, advertising execs are masters at burying the negative and promoting the positive.  Thanks to ad people, generations of children ate bowls of sugar cereals, filled with high fructose corn syrup and we said it was, “Part of this nutritious breakfast.” Not the nutritious part. But who cares. See, positivity!

It’s in this spirit that this San Francisco ad agency has agreed to re-brand the worst year in history as the “New and Improved Roaring Twenties.” So let’s put all this nonsense about the apocalypse behind us. Because there are, in fact, plenty of reasons to be thankful for the shit-show that is 2020.

2020 is the year a 107-year-old lady cheated certain COVID death and celebrated with a Bud Light. Worst year ever? Hell no.

Reason #1

You Can Blame Your Failures on External Forces

In 2020, it was easy to blame world events for your own stupidity. If, for example, you were laid off for gross incompetence, or stealing office supplies, or just being lousy at your job, it was easy to pass yourself off as another victim of the economic collapse. No one had to know you were actually laid off because the company considered you an insurance risk. And because you were laid off, that pending HR investigation into your behavior at the office holiday party became a moot point. (Innocent until proven guilty, right?) That makes 2020 a great year to be a thoroughly ineffectual boob.

Reason # 2

A Family-Free Holiday Season

For Americans that believe in science, this is the one year when you’re actually not supposed to spend the holidays with extended family. How great is that? No passive-aggressive conflicts with your mother-in-law. No creepy great uncle that’s overly affectionate with your teenage daughters. And no heated debates with your redneck cousin who still insists the election was rigged. It’s also a boon for broken families. No need to attend a 4 pm Thanksgiving meal at your mother’s suburban townhouse and then slink out, drive downtown, and sit for a second dinner at your dad’s pied-à-terre, which he currently shares with his 28-year-old girlfriend.  

Reason #3

Less Keeping Up with the Jones’

No need to spend money on luxuries you can’t afford. This is 2020. You didn’t go anywhere! No large gatherings meant zero dollars spent on fancy dresses you can only wear once. Ditto for shoes, handbags, and even soap. (Well, maybe, that last one is just me.)  No money spent on new work clothes since no one ever saw what was going on below the waist (unless you’re Jeffrey Toobin). Sure you spent a little bit more having drugs and alcohol delivered, but that’s so much cheaper than dinners out with your pompous friends who insist on ordering the most expensive bottle of wine when, in actuality, they couldn’t tell a bottle of Screaming Eagle from Boone’s Farm. Truth be told, if you didn’t lose your job, you probably saved more money than ever before.

Reason #4

The Pandemic Saved Our Democracy

Joe Biden will soon be president. But his victory was no landslide. It’s safe to assume that had the Trump Administration not thoroughly mishandled the Corona Virus he may well have been re-elected. So while our hearts hurt for the many families who lost loved ones to this horrible disease, we hope there’s some comfort from knowing their death was not in vain. With a new president about to take office, and a vaccine set to be distributed by year’s end, this pandemic may have actually saved the republic.

Reason #5

Fewer School Shootings

It sucked not having our kids in school and online learning is a pain. But, on the bright side, there have been far fewer school shootings since this insanity began. In 2019, there were around 130 incidents of gunfire on school grounds. In 2020, there were only 62! (Even for ad people, it’s tough to make 62 school shootings into a positive, especially with 98 percent of schools closed from March until September, but we’re trying.) But there’s more good news: With all the kids stuck learning at home, bulletproof backpacks no longer top the Christmas wishlist. Yeah, 2020.

Reason #6

A 103-year-old woman beat COVID-19 and celebrated with a Bud Light.  

This one would be even better if Anheuser-Busch was our client. But, nonetheless, you can’t argue with a comeback story about a blind nursing home resident stricken by COVID. The family said their final goodbyes to the great-great-grandmother. When asked if she was ready to go to heaven, the feisty centurion replied, "Hell, yes."  But, as it turned out, heaven wasn’t ready for her.  The blind, bed-ridden woman survived, and once out the woods asked to toast her recovery with her favorite beverage, an ice-cold Bud Light.

It was a great year for Division of Labor head of security, Mort Denberg, pictured here with the guy who picks up his crap.

Reason #7

There’s No Better Time to be a Dog

2020 has been heaven for dogs. They love this COVID thing. Masks and PPE shortages be damned. Everybody stuck in the house, wearing the same clothes day after day, smelling like a wet sweater that’s been wrapped around a dead trout. Our dogs haven’t been left alone since lockdown started. Prior to 2020, dogs were left in the house for hours while we drove to an office to sit in a cubicle and not talk to 90% of the people there. These days our dogs rule the world. They’re always lighting up our Zoom calls and they’re gonna hate this vaccine more than vacuum cleaners.

Reason #8

Endless Fodder for Saturday Night Live

SNL, one of the longest-running TV series in broadcast history, has gone thru many iterations. Some seasons epic, others epic fails. But with all that’s gone wrong in 2020, coming up with crowd-pleasing comedy sketches is like shooting fish in a barrel. We will miss Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump, and Kate McKinnon as Rudy Giuliani. But we look forward to more Jim Carey cameos as our lovable, albeit doddering and slightly demented, leader of the free world.  

Alec Baldwin as the Big Orange Machine and Kate McKinnon as Rudy G. 2020 at its best.

Well, that’s all. Wishing all advertising agency insiders and anyone else who got sucked into reading this blog post a very happy Thanksgiving. Stay safe. Stay healthy and let the holiday merriment commence.

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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.

Five Marketing Tips for Effective Holiday Advertising in a Pandemic

Vice President Mike Pence, head of the White House’s Corona Virus Taskforce insists elves have natural immunity to COVID-19. However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the current director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infections Diseases encourages everyone, including magical elves to wear masks and maintain social distance.

Christmas still falls on December 25th this year. And neither pandemics, riots, wildfires, nor even murder hornets will change that. There’s no doubt 2020 will be one for the history books. And, hopefully, better days are ahead for this divided country. 

But one thing is certain to come to red states and blue state alike; Christmas—AKA, the retail fourth quarter savior previously known as Jesus’ birthday. Or, since we prefer to keep this post politically correct, we will henceforth refer to it as the non-denominational holiday season. 

Now, if you think 2020 hasn’t been disappointing enough, just wait until you fail to plan for the most important holiday shopping season in decades. We all need a win here. Change is coming and online marketing is gonna spur online buying like there’s no tomorrow.

So if you haven’t started planning for the holiday shopping season yet, here are 5 marketing necessities you should execute immediately.

1. Begin Now

The earlier the holiday season comes this year, the sooner consumers can start pushing the horrors of 2020 out of their minds. Shoppers are pent-up and ready to spend. Online sales have been increasing as brick and mortar sales continue to plummet. Common sense tells us this. But for those who require hard data to back it up numerous industry reports, check out Fast Company detailing the latest retail mall apocalypse victims after you finish reading these words of wisdom.

Online shopping trends will no doubt continue into the shopping season so the earlier you get your campaigns out, the sooner you can start optimizing and measuring consumer reactions. This will put you in a favorable position even as discretionary spending is expected to be down.

You can be sure every brand with a pulse of life and a few bucks in the bank will be marketing early. To that end, you can roll your eyes and say, “It’s Halloween, for Pete’s sake! Not Christmas!” Or you can plan for it now. (This is not the year to be cynical.)

In short; consumers have less money to spend, so get your advertising in front of them early, while they still have some money earmarked for gift giving.

The John Lewis Christmas TV commercials are always epic. Make your advertising epic too.

2. Begin at the Top of the Funnel.

Don’t focus so hard on selling your product. Think about getting attention. We’ve all heard a lot of the same sweet, piano music on commercials and videos lately, and you can expect a lot more brands insisting on playing it safe. But if you hope to stand out and get some attention, forget the same cliche’, saccharine, tinsel, lights, and tired Santa jokes. Boldness wins. 

In London, John Lewis holiday ads are a national event. People wait for them like movie premieres. Last year’s, for example, was the story of a sad, fire breathing dragon. The 2018 ad campaign focused on Elton John’s Piano. The Takeaway: Do something that stands out from the crowd, not something that fits the holidays. If it feels supremely holiday, then everyone else is probably doing it too.

Even if you don’t have a large ad budget, you can create things that get people curious. Use design, graphics, any combination of words and pictures that make a point and get people to your website.

Emotional messages, like this billboard campaign for Roku increased sales by 30 percent.

3. Emotion Trumps Logic Every Time.

Rational arguments don’t make people love stuff. Think of the must-have gifts of years past. There’s nothing logical about a Furby, Razor Scooter, Guitar Hero or L.O.L. Surprise! 2-in-1 Glamper. These products struck a chord, made people feel something, created buzz and took off. 

So, your mission is to find an essential truth about your product. What does it do for people? Pinpoint the emotional trigger that makes your product stick in people’s minds. Before you tell people that a Roku is the best way to watch streaming content on your TV, tell them it’ll help you “Spend less time talking to your in-laws this Christmas.” Messages like this were followed up with more rational features and benefits, after we got people curious about Roku. The approach increased holiday sales by 30% in every market that used it. You can do that without selling so hard. If you get consumers to your site or a review or a video landing page, you can get them to consider and engage. Then, and only then, you can use logic and the data-driven tools of digital marketing channels to follow up until the sale happens.

Having a social media presence isn’t an effective marketing approach unless you use it as a platform for introducing engaging content for your target audience.

4. Everyone’s using social media marketing.

Social media is not the answer. Great advertising on social media is the answer. A beautiful design on social media is the answer. Unforgettable videos on social media are the answers. Every brand and product in the world is on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok. Being on social media is now as innovative as choosing to make a commercial or to create a website. Being on the same platforms as everyone else doesn’t do anything if no one notices your message. Make sure you create something beautiful, funny, insightful, charming, magical, or any combination of the above.

Social media platforms are inexpensive and allow precise targeting. They are where small and midsize companies get that top of funnel awareness because of those things. Your media dollars will go a lot further and you can test messages easily. But when you test messages, don’t just change a word or a picture. Test ideas to better understand which messages really resonate with people.

If you just look at social platforms as places to sell your product, you’ll only go so far. If you look at social media as a place to make people fall in love with you, you’ll behave differently. You’ll create things that intrigue people, amuse people, entertain people, and attract people. Until, ultimately, they fall in love with you.

The era of ad agency talent behaving like Sterling Cooper is long gone. Just Google “Best Ad Agencies,” look at the work they’ve produced, and then email a few you like.

5. Get Help

You don’t have to know what you’re doing. Reach out to a few agencies you like. Don’t know agencies? Google “Top Ad agencies” or find lists of agencies and just look at their work and see what you like. Then email them. Have a chat. Set up a Zoom call. Tell them what you want to accomplish and what your ad spend is. Then just pick one and go. Make it a project that gets you a target market analysis, strategic media plan, consumer insight, and creative assets to cover awareness to consideration through retargeting. (Remember the funnel: You have to get Awareness before you get Consideration before you get Engagement and then finally Conversion. )

There you go. You just crushed the most important holiday shopping season of your career.

Any questions? Click here. Happy Holidays!

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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.

Who Says Traditional TV Advertising is Dead?

There is strong evidence that TV is still incredibly relevant as part of an overall advertising media mix.

This post is from our partners at Palisades Media. If TV advertising was dead, they’d know it.

While the industry continues to discuss the demise of traditional” TV as we know it, has anyone bothered to share this information with the top streaming video services looking to gain awareness and viewers? 

If so, based on recently reported spending within the “dying” medium, the streaming services are not listening. The biggest streaming platforms – Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Disney+, HBO, Hulu, and Sling TV, collectively spent half a billion dollars on “traditional” TV and Cable platforms in the past three years.  The most recent 12-month period represents the highest TV and Cable spend to date at $252MM, a 137% increase over the previous 12-month period.

Streaming advertisers continue to join in on National TV activity, even with the pandemic. Those who added National TV activity to their mix for the first time during the first half of 2020 include AT&T TV, Quibi, Peacock, and HBO Max, who collectively spent about $90MM during their first advertising foray into the medium at the beginning of this year according to a recent VAB report.

This might resonate for anyone who watched the Emmy Awards on Linear TV in September and recall seeing any number of streaming advertisers in the Primetime show, including Peacock, Apple+, HBO Max, Showtime, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime - just to name a few.

And it is not just the streaming services who are in on the game.  According to Moffett Nathanson Research, big brand technology companies like Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, eBay, and Facebook spent an estimated 20% of their media budgets on television in 2019.

So, what is the secret?  Why dump so much money, effort, and messaging into a decaying dinosaur of a medium that nobody watches?  Could it be, perhaps, that there is a large audience still watching? Sure enough, the numbers prove that most Americans are still spending the majority of their free time watching TV the old-fashioned way.  While industry reports tend to focus on the increased growth of streaming video viewing, which is correct, the reports tend to offer little in context on the size of the growing streaming audience versus the size of the shrinking TV audience.  

According to Nielsen, as of Q2 2020, streaming comprised one-fourth of all television minutes viewed.  True? Yes.  Impressive, maybe?  However, the flip side gives some additional context: Live+Time Shifted TV still comprises 75% of all television minutes viewed.  That’s nearly 4 hours and 30 minutes per day for the average A18+, compared to 1 hour and 6 minutes of streaming. 

As eMarketer recently reported, this year 86.1 million US households will have Pay TV/vMVPD, a 5.9% year-over-year decrease.  Even with this decrease Pay TV/vMVPD households remain double that of Non-Pay TV/vMVPD households.  And, looking ahead to 2024, it is projected that Pay TV/vMVPD will still be in 33% more households than Non-Pay TV/vMVPD. 

And audience size matters.  According to Nielsen, as of Q1 2020 Live + Time-Shifted TV reaches 85% of A18+ on a weekly basis, compared with 49% reach for an Internet-Connected Device.  TV remains the dominant video platform to maximize reach. 

The emerging content platforms that the industry claims are going to be the death of traditional television continue to build and promote their brands and programming the good old-fashioned way.  If TV helped build awareness for Disney+, who is estimated to hit 72.4 million US monthly viewers in 2020, just think what it can do for your brand message.  So, don’t listen to the naysayers. TV is NOT dead by any stretch of the imagination. 

This guest post from our friends at Palisades Media Group. Thanks, Genevieve Wiersema, SVP, Group Director of Strategy, for sharing your POV with Division of Labor Blog readers.

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

Five Tips to Perfect Your Advertising, Award Show Humblebrag

Photo Caption: Make sure your humblebrag sucks up to your co-honorees. Read on for details.

When it comes to smoke and mirrors the advertising industry is second only to magicians and illusionists. So it should come as no surprise, that no one has perfected the humblebrag like a seasoned ad executive. Nonetheless, in an industry glutted with self-congratulatory award shows, how can you make sure your ad exec humblebrag stands out from the competition?

Let’s say, for example, you run a boutique ad agency in San Francisco and you’ve won something kind of awesome, like, I don’t know. . . say . . . Campaign US’ Forty Over Forty award. Well, there are numerous ways one might approach the announcement of the said accolade. 

 No. 1 - The Simple, “Proud and Humbled”

The Proud and Humbled is the classic humblebrag and should accompany a link to the award announcement with a headline like, “Proud and humbled to be honored on Campaign US’ Magazine’s 40 over 40 list.” Variations include the “Surprised and Honored,” “Stunned but Thrilled. ” It’s, of course, also customary to post your humblebrag along with a picture from ten plus years ago creating the misimpression that you are not only successful, but also aging better than your colleagues. The beauty of the “Proud and Humbled” is the way it fits perfectly with the advertising industry’s ethos of being just barely half true. Because if you were actually humbled, you wouldn’t post anything at all.

No. 2 - The Self-Promotion with a Side of Suck-Up

This technique takes the simple “Proud and Humbled” a step further by also stroking the ego of a co-honoree who might further your career at some future date. If, for example, you’re the founder of a small, independent ad agency and would like nothing more than to get bought by a larger firm for gobs of money, switch up the wording a bit and suck-up to specific co-honorees with something like, “Proud and humbled to be honored on Campaign US’ 40 over 40 list, along with some of our industry’s greatest talents, including Kim Getty at Deutsch, Jason Harris at Mekanism and Susie Nam at Droga5.”  Alternately, use the opportunity to brown-nose a potential new client with: “Proud and humbled, to be honored by Campaign US’ 40 over 40 list, alongside Stacy Taffet, VP of PepsiCo’s Water Portfolio.  

No. 3 - Force Your Employees to announce It For You

Worried you’ll sound like a douche bag tooting your own horn? It’s easy to circumnavigate this problem and still get the publicity you crave and let’s face it, you deserve. As the boss, you can subtly suggest to your direct reports to use their social media feeds to promote your not-quite a Pulitzer accomplishment. (This method works particularly well during a pandemic when employees are scared shitless about losing their job.)

 No. 4 - Pay an influencer

Why just force your employees to humblebrag for you when you can get complete strangers to do it for you? All you need is a few dollars and a true commitment to your ego. There are plenty of advertising blogs that would love to tell their readers about the Campaign US’, 40 over 40 honorees list, and every one of them will improve your SEO by adding backlinks and will give you an additional humblebrag opportunity to use your, “Thanks for the mention” humblebrag technique.  Or, you could experiment with sites like Grin, Brandbassador, or Instagram and pay influencers to Tweet about you for a few thousand dollars. Ultimately, isn’t it really a fraction of what it probably costs you in entry fees to “win” your award to begin with?

Photo Caption: Make sure your humblebrag photo is from at least 10 years ago.

No. 5 Write a Self-Deprecating Blog Post to Mask Your True Intent

If you’re the founder of a small, ad agency and digital content studio, you could simply write a blog post about the art of the humblebrag never mentioning the fact that you are the one who has been chosen as a 2020 Campaign US 40 over 40 Honoree. If you go this route, it is important to wait until the very end of the blog post to combine all the techniques into one final line that says something like, “Hell yes, it’s about friggin time I got some recognition, Kim, Jason, Susie, we’re good and for sale. Stacy, how about a project? And everyone at Division of Labor, feel free to repost this blog, or you’re fired. And Campaign US, how about you post this? Do it and we’ll send you a deli basket from Zabars.”  

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

A Tour de France victory. A campaign win.

Tadej Pagacar riding in the yellow jersey toward Tour de France victory through Paris.

When we were asked to create a Tour de France campaign for Colnago and their UAE team, we had no idea Tadej Pogacar would ride the Colnago V3RS all the way to the podium to win the biggest prize in cycling. We did know that some of the most iconic riders in history have ridden Colnago. 

But Pogacar, who was down by nearly 1:00 to his countryman Primoz Roglic at the start of the 20th stage, miraculously came back. He overtook the leader and made up an incredible 2:00 minutes in the time trial to secure the yellow jersey and all but guarantee a Tour de France victory.  

This was a beautiful victory for a number of reasons. Pogacar became the youngest Tour winner since 1904. The 20th stage victory is being compared to Greg Lemond’s improbable victory in 1989. And it vaulted the young rider to icon status along with Colnago riders like Gianni Motta, Eddie Merckx, Giuseppe Saronni and so many other.

This setting was the perfect launch for our new campaign. When you’re working on a brand with such an incredible history, you have to be careful with the tone. It’s important to be deferential to the brand while at the same time making a strong enough statement. 

When the line, “Icons Ride Icons” found its way onto the page, we knew we had something. Faruk Sagcan set it in yellow, Graphik type and then added the classic Colnago Club logo in the “O” of the second “Icon.” Then we paired it with photography of the greatest riders we could get our hands on and left every other line on the floor. 

The client loved the campaign. We loved the campaign. And today, we put the line over a picture of the 2020 Tour de France winner. And it was that much better. Congratulations, Pogo, and the UAE Team. And thank you to Mark Reidy at True Communications for bringing us in on this amazing project.

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

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.

Ad Agency takes Cues From Jewish Deli to Woo Back Customers.

Manny Deli 1141 S Jefferson St, Chicago, IL 60607

Manny’s Deli in Chicago is an institution. For 87 years they’ve been serving Jewish deli, cafeteria-style on Chicago’s South Side. So when COVID threatened to tank their business, a simple plea on social media to their legion of loyal fans was all it took to bring back the customers. Their message on Twitter read: 

“We are struggling. This isn’t a joke. Support your fav deli for dinner tonight. Thx.”

The following day the customers returned in force. The line snaked around the corner. Customers waited patiently, socially distanced and masked, to take home pastrami, corned beef, and chopped liver. (Can’t say for sure, but we imagine tongue sales were not as brisk.) 

Customers wait patiently for the deli they love. Photo from Chicago Tribune.

Well, clearly DoL clients are just as loyal as Manny’s clientele. Surely they would come out in support of their favorite creative agency in San Francisco just as Chicagoans showed up for their favorite deli. 

Surely there would be lines of people out the door waiting for consumer insights, ad campaigns, and digital marketing plans, just like foodie’s young and old waited to be served up heart-valve-clogging delicacies.

So we’re sending out that tweet! ATTN: DoL clients. We could use your help. Support your favorite ad agency and get the social media, digital video, and brand building campaigns you love! Thx.

We’ve even packaged up our services to-go, just like Manny’s Corned Beef Party Platter. It’s all part of our pandemic pivot. Choose fixed-rate projects, right off our menu. 

Get the Social Media Special or try our Digital Campaign Classic. There are five specials to choose from. We’ll even put your picture on our wall and name a sandwich after you.

We expect the line to be virtual since our dashingly handsome governor closed down all non-essential offices again. But our Zoom waiting room is comfortable and air-conditioned (Unless you don’t have air-conditioning.)

But wait, that’s not all. Sign a scope of work of $25,000 or more and we’ll send you a Manny’s Corned Beef Kit. The package, sent direct to your home, includes: 

• Two pounds of Manny's signature thinly sliced, pre-cooked corned beef. 

• A loaf of rye bread

• 8 hand-made 3-oz. potato pancakes

• Manny's special horseradish mustard

And, here’s the best part: Your company pays for the ad campaign, while you keep the corned beef for personal use. This is the pre-pandemic equivalent to your company paying for your plane tickets and you pocketing the frequent flyer points. So, yes, it’s a win-win. 

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

How Our Ad Agency Found Joy in Getting Fired

Division of Labor is proud to have donated its Keen Footwear retainer fee to GLIDE, a leading social service organization, a social justice movement, and a spiritual community that has served those most vulnerable for more than 50 years.

Running an independent ad agency is not for the faint of heart. You have up years and down years.  There’s no big holding company to bail you out when the going gets tough. And last year, Division of Labor was having an up year. (That’s not a humble brag cuz the previous year sucked balls.)

Things were humming along. We’d landed two big retainer clients to go with a steady stream of project work, social media production, commercial production, and a strong showing in the ad agency fantasy football league.

Then came the shit storm known as Covid 19. Blah blah blah, whine whine whine, bye-bye profits.

Given the enormity of the situation, we shouldn’t have been shocked when our two new, hard-won clients, along with several others, called to say they were slashing their marketing budgets, laying off their own staff, and putting marketing contracts on hold.

We usually have a 60 day out clause in our contracts, which gives us time to get our own house in order when clients leave. And, in normal times, clients are good with that and we adapt. 

But these aren’t normal times or normal clients. One of the greats, for example, is Keen Footwear. Besides the fact that they’re probably the most environmentally-conscious shoe company on the planet, I’ve known the GM for over 10 years and he’s a great guy. The whole company is hell-bent on doing good whenever they can and our relationship is a lot more important than a month of payment.

So, we got on a Zoom call, poured a cocktail, talked about it, and came up with an idea: Since they were long on product and tight on cash, why not get paid in shoes? And then we thought, “What the hell are we gonna do with all those shoes?” Then we realized we knew a guy who had the answer.

Rabbi Michael Lezak the staff rabbi at GLIDE Center for Social Justice since 2017. Yes, a rabbi works for the church. And if you’ve ever been down to GLIDE in San Francisco at mealtime, you know they’re doing God’s work no matter how you choose to pray. (GLIDE is one of the leading social service organizations, a social justice movement, and a spiritual community that has served those most vulnerable for the past 57 years in San Francisco.)

By the second cocktail, we had devised a plan: Roughly half our retainer fee would be paid in shoes and 220 pairs would go to GLIDE. The Rabbi and his team would oversee the distribution of men’s and women’s shoes to the people hit hardest by this pandemic. Another 40 pair of shoes would be donated to a local shelter in Marin county called Mill Street, run by the non-profit Homeward Bound. About 40 residents live at Mill Street at any one time and they’re working to get back on their feet, no pun intended. Free shoe codes were donated so each resident will be able to select the pair of shoes that works best for them.

It was a win for everybody. Keen is a values-based company that back in March donated 100,000 pairs of shoes to workers on the front lines and those hardest hit by the pandemic. And, more recently, after shifting one of their factories into a mask-making facility, donated 100,000 masks to frontline workers.

So donating to a worthy cause while conserving cash was instinctual for them. And, for us: Let’s just say it takes the sting out of being fired. Under normal circumstances, we don’t have the disposable income to make large donations like this one. But these are not normal circumstances. And when we take inventory of all that we do have, we know we’re more fortunate than most. Essential workers are out there risking their lives to keep society functioning, while all we’ve been asked to do is wear a mask and practice social distancing. So, facilitating a shoe donation makes us feel slightly less useless.   

It sucks losing business, and we know it’s only temporary, but this feels like a pretty good outcome, for us, for Keen, and for so many who will be grateful for the gift.  

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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 agency services clients on a retainer or project basis. They also offer freelance services and fixed-rate projects for startups and smaller brands.

Okay, Boomer: What Teens Can Teach Brands About Social Media Marketing Campaigns

Teens who can’t vote just voted. What happened at Trump’s Tulsa Rally shows the power of young people to influence an election and the power of TikTok to influence a brand. (In case you’ve been living under a rock, teens reserved nearly a million tickets to the rally with zero intention of attendings.) So, how is this brilliant and unexpected move by the Zoomers related to advertising? Allow us to explain.

Millennials are selfish. Gen Z is lazy. Gen X figured it out. Boomers don’t get it. What a bunch of crap. There is no way to generalize about an entire demographic. It’s silly. Do adults of the same age range in red states behave the same as those in blue states? Eighteen to 24-year-old poor kids from Alabama are different than 18 to 24-year-old wealthy, kids living in LA.

Algorithms, on the other hand, generalize using behavior models, psychographics, proven interests, actions, and likes. And that’s where TikTok just influenced the November election and reaffirmed its position as the social media platform that can best influence your brand. Let’s be clear, this is not another post about the power of data. That too is misleading without taking emotion and the content posted into account.

We recently wrote about how TikTok is different for everyone that goes on the platform. As @Aridennn, points out “There’s far more than one TikTok.” There’s “Dad TikTok,”, “VSCO Girl TikTok” and “Jock Tok.” The algorithm sends different people different videos based on other videos they’ve watched and liked.”

The Trump campaign just learned there’s also K-Pop Stans TikTok (fans of Korean Pop) and ALT TikTok (a loose band of kids that are the polar opposite of the dancing lip-synchers you might imagine.)

K-Pop Stans started posting videos with messages about reserving tickets to Trump’s Tulsa rally and not showing up. Those messages spread quickly to followers and the ALT TikTok followers. The messages were deleted within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mainstream detection.

Another factor, or the main factor, was the fact that Black TikTokers had been expressing frustration that Trump’s rally was on Juneteenth (he later changed the date) and teens from all walks of life, in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, stepped in to make their voices heard.

The result was an embarrassing rally for Trump, lies about protesters blocking people from coming into the rally, and proof to young people that their opinions matter. Likewise, it proves that those who can vote should, while those who can’t can still influence.

However, this whole event is also a continued demonstration of the power and importance of the TikTok platform. 

Certainly, advertisers can use social media marketing to sell stuff to specific groups of people with similar interests. Facebook data started that and still kills it in the hyper-targeting department. But the group loyalty isn’t there in the same way. (Not to mention the current Facebook boycott #StopHateForProfit.) But stop me before I tangent again.

TikTok, however, gets to the brand level. It demonstrates what great brands have been doing for years: creating messages that people love thereby creating brand loyalty. If you just try to sell a group of people a bunch of crap, you’re only as good as the crap you’re selling.

Look at the ads on TikTok and you’ll quickly see all the classic mistakes. Product sellers try to make their ads “look like TikToks” but users see through the lameness and scroll past instantly.

It’s really just like TV was back in the day when advertisers first started using it and they were all rational and boring and figured just being in front of the right people was enough to sell those people. But then Bill Bernbach, DDB, Lemon and VW to the power of creativity to invoke an emotional trigger that makes purchase intent a natural byproduct.

So what are the takeaways:  If you want to sell, stop selling so hard. Create messages that matter to people and action will follow. Also you don’t need to pay influencers if you can motivate the masses to be your influencers. Finally, if you can vote and you don’t, you’re an ass-hat. When people that can’t vote are accomplishing so much, the least you can do is pull the lever.

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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.

Holiday Advertising in a Pandemic

It may only be June, but you need to start planning your Christmas ad campaign now.

Christmas still falls on December 25th this year. Pandemic or no pandemic, protests or no protests, it’s coming. There’s no question 2020 has been a year like no other. And, hopefully, change finally comes to this divided country. 

But one thing is certain to come to every red and blue state alike; Christmas—or, the retail fourth quarter savior previously known as Jesus’ birthday. Or, to keep this post politically correct, we can also call it the non-denominational holiday season. 

And, if you think 2020 hasn’t quite sucked enough already, just wait until you fail to plan for the most important holiday shopping season in decades. We all need this one. Change is on the horizon and online marketing is gonna spur online buying like there’s no tomorrow.

So if you haven’t started planning for the holiday shopping season yet, there are five things you have to do right now:

1. Start right now

The earlier the holiday season comes this year, the sooner people can start pushing 2020 out of their minds. People are pent-up and ready. Online sales have been increasing as brick and mortar sales have been plummeting. Common sense tells us this. But if you need data to back it up numerous industry reports, including this one from Fast Company detailing the latest retail mall apocalypse victims.

The trend will no doubt continue into the shopping season so the earlier you get your campaigns out, the sooner you can start optimizing and measuring consumer reactions. This will put you in the best position even as discretionary spending is expected to be down.

In short; people have less money to spend, so get in front of them early, while they still have some.

You can be sure every brand with a pulse of life and a dollar in the bank will be out marketing early. To that end, you can roll your eyes and say, “It’s Halloween, for Pete’s sake! Not Christmas!” Or you can plan for it now. (This is not the year to be cynical.)

John Lewis Christmas Commercial.

2. Start at the Top of the Funnel.

Don’t think about selling your product. Think about getting attention. We’ve all heard a lot of the same sweet, piano music on commercials and videos lately, and you can expect a lot more playing it safe and not rocking the boat this season. But if you want to stand out and get some attention, forget the same cliche’, saccharine, tinsel, lights and Santa jokes. Boldness wins. 

In London, John Lewis holiday ads are a national event. People wait for them like movie premieres. Last year’s is the story of a sad, fire breathing dragon, while 2018’s epic is the story of Elton John’s Piano. Do something that stands out from the crowd, not something that fits the holidays. If it feels perfectly holiday, then everyone else is probably doing it too.

Even if you don’t have a lot of money, you can create things that get people curious. Use design, graphics, any combination of words and pictures that make a point and get people to your website.

Emotional messages, like this one, increased Roku’s holiday sales by 30%.

3. Emotion Beats Logic Every Time.

Rational arguments don’t make people love stuff. Think of the must-have gifts of years past. There’s nothing logical about a Furby, Razor Scooter, Guitar Hero or L.O.L. Surprise! 2-in-1 Glamper. These things struck a chord, made people feel something, created buzz and took off. 

So find the truth about your product. What does it do for people? Find the emotional trigger that makes your product stick in people’s minds. Before you tell people that a Roku is the best way to watch streaming content on your TV, tell them it’ll help you “Spend less time talking to your in-laws this Christmas.” Messages like this were followed up with more rational features and benefits, after we got people curious about Roku. The approach increased holiday sales by 30% in every market that used it. You can do that without selling so hard. If you get people to your site or a review or a video landing page, you can get them to consideration and engagement. Then you can use logic and the data-driven tools of digital marketing channels to follow up until the sale happens.

Being on social media is not a strategy.

4. Everyone’s using social media marketing.

Social media is not the answer. Great advertising on social media is the answer. A beautiful design on social media is the answer. Unforgettable videos on social media are the answers. Every brand and product in the world is on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok. Being on social media is now as innovative as choosing to make a commercial or to create a website. Being on the same platforms as everyone else doesn’t do anything if no one notices your message. Make sure you create something beautiful, funny, insightful, charming, magical, or any combination of the above.

Social media platforms are inexpensive and allow precise targeting. They are where small and midsize companies get that top of funnel awareness because of those things. Your media dollars will go a lot further and you can test messages easily. But when you test messages, don’t just change a word or a picture. Test ideas to better understand which messages really resonate with people.

If you just look at social platforms as places to sell your product, you’ll only go so far. If you look at social media as a place to make people fall in love with you, you’ll behave differently. You’ll create things that intrigue people, amuse people, entertain people, and attract people. Until, ultimately, they fall in love with you.

Fear not, the days of ad agencies behaving like Sterling Cooper are long gone. Just Google “Top Ad Agencies” and email a few you like.

5. Get Help

You don’t have to know what you’re doing. Reach out to a few agencies you like. Don’t know agencies? Google “Top Ad agencies” or find lists of agencies and just look at their work and see what you like. Then email them. Have a chat. Set up a Zoom call. Tell them what you want to accomplish and what your budget is. Pick one and go. Make it a three-month project that gets you a target market analysis, strategic media plan, consumer insight, and creative assets to cover awareness to consideration through retargeting. (Remember the funnel: You have to get Awareness before you get Consideration before you get Engagement and then finally Conversion. )

You can be done by October 1 and have two months to tweak it, test things and ask your spouse what they think. (No, don’t do that. Really.)  

There you go. You just crushed the most important holiday shopping season of your entire life.

Any questions? Click here. Happy Holidays!

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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.

ADVERTISING ON TIKTOK IN A TIME OF CRISIS

From doctors on the front lines to people stuck at home; TikTok is keeping people sane and advertisers are expanding their reach.

We are in a time of protest, upheaval and, hopefully, change. However, we are also still in a pandemic. The world is starting to open up, but a huge majority of the country is spending a lot of time at home. And TikTok can prove it.

In The United States alone, TikTok had 22.2 million mobile unique visitors in January of this year. 23.2 million in February, 28.8 million in March and then, wait for it, 39.2 million in April, according to the most recent Comscore data as reported in Adweek.

So as the world closed down, TikTok exploded. Analytics platform Sensor Tower reported that TikTok crossed the 2 billion download mark globally by the end of April. And had generated the most downloads for any app ever in a quarter with more than 315 million installs globally across the App Store and Google Play, according to Adweek. 

So what’s everyone watching on TikTok while we’re stuck inside? Well, as @AriDennn, AKA TikTok Queen, likes to point out, there’s far more than one TikTok. Apparently I get fed “Dad TikTok” while she gets fed “VSCO Girl TikTok” and my son gets fed “Jock Tok.” The algorithm sends different people different videos based on other videos they’ve watched and liked. “There’s also, for example, “Gay TikTok” “Sorority Girl TikTok” and, of course, “Kink TikTok” for the thriving BDSM community.

Now, on to the videos; as we did during the holidays, we’re bringing back Ari Denberg - @aridennn, to tell us what’s happening on the world’s fastest growing platform that no one over the age of 30 quite understands yet. Her insights take this top digital marketing agency in San Francisco beyond just the numbers when we’re considering marketing campaigns for TikTok. And, now, on to the videos.

“I’m just a kid and life is a nightmare…” Recreating childhood photos via TikTok.

ALBUM COVER RECREATIONS

A common trend on TikTok now is to recreate album covers and songs as they apply to you. These recreations have included a diverse range of artists including the Jonas Brother, Drake, and this example, Hozier.

Every video uses the same music, oddly enough, a Dave Brubeck track called Kathy’s Waltz, and most of them use the meme culture structure, “When blah blah blah” and then the scene they’ve recreated to reveal an album cover and title that answers the structure. Check out some more examples.

GOOGLE TRANSLATE / ROSES ARE RED

Another popular quarantine trend is to use the Google translate feature combined with a popular movie or TV reference to narrate a homemade poem. In this example. The creator chose the popular reality television series, Keeping up with the Kardashians. https://vm.tiktok.com/K1JMFa/  The poems start with “Roses are red” and then a second line, then cut to a video clip to make it rhyme. Here’s one from @aridennn that’s had over 80k views.

RUBBER BAND WRAPPER

This popular creator has content devoted to wrapping rubber bands around objects with the goal of getting them to explode. The most popular item of choice is watermelon, but he has also done this with gallons of milk and cans of Coke. Watch.

The Rubberband Wrapper and a chain reaction TikTok.

I’M JUST A KID

A popular trend that precedes quarantine is the “I’m Just a Kid” challenge in which people use the song by Simple Plan to recreate their favorite childhood photos. While this started before the pandemic, it seems to have grown as families have been brought back together and are bat-shit crazy for something to do. Watch.

CHAIN REACTIONS

Combining old school Rube Goldberg with TikTok is perfect for people stuck at home with time to kill. Chain reaction TikToks are different than other TikToks. They’re not polished. They’re usually shot multiple times until everything works just right, so you can always hear the uncontrolled excitement of the creators in the background when things actually work. Check out the montage. 

TIKTOK AND MUSIC

TikTok is, at its core, a video creation and sharing service. But music and discovering music has become a big part of the platform and the app’s identity. Now I don’t know if @joealbanese uploaded Lion Sleeps Tonight or found it, but who cares. This video gives it new life in a funny series of videos.

A FINAL WEIRD ONE

Keeping up with the song theme, this trend uses the song “Come Get Her” by Rae Sremmurd to joke about bad dancing in real life. This example takes it to the next level with a squirrel climbing and twirling on a stop sign, as the lyric suggests “dancing like a stripper.” Until the next time - @aridennn

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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.

Evander Kane on George Floyd and Being Black in the NHL

Evander Kane is one of few black players in the National Hockey League. After George Floyd’s hideous murder, it was moving and inspirational to hear his perspective. I can’t imagine what it’s like being black in America and having to teach your kids that they are targets and they can’t wear hoodies or walk with their hands in their pockets. And I can’t imagine what it’s like to be black in the NHL where your teammates are white, your fans are white and your coaches and owners are white. Thank you to Evander Kane for speaking out. I hope I can do better. His interview with ESPN is here.

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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.

San Jose Sharks Get Added Rest for Next Season

Burns, Karlsson and the boys will be back after a much needed rest.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced a return-to-play plan for hockey on Tuesday. This plan confirms the conclusion of the 2019-20 regular season and implements a playoff format that includes most of the league’s 31 teams. Most of the league’s 31 teams.

The 2020 postseason will include the top 12 clubs in each conference for a total of 24 in the playoffs. This means seven franchises will not participate in this first-of-its-kind tournament.

Those seven teams are the Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, and—sadly—our San Jose Sharks.

This season was an unfortunate turn of events for a franchise that was six wins away from the Stanley Cup less than a year ago. Nationwide Insurance didn’t lie: Life really does come at you fast.

But this prolonged offseason—lasting at least a month longer than usual, possibly more—gives the team a chance to physically and mentally rest and reset.

The Sharks have played 1,341 regular season and playoff games since the 2004-05 lockout, which is among the most in the league over that span. That’s the cost of being almost better than everyone else for well over a decade.

The franchise has also been subject to one of the most brutal travel schedules. The three teams in the New York Metropolitan area play between 60 and 65 games within 500 miles of their home arena. The Sharks, on the other hand, play just 50. So, when you sign with a California hockey team, you’re coming for the weather but leaving for the games.

And, of course, the physical demands of the game took their toll on the players as well. Both Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl suffered season-ending injuries part way through the year, while captain Logan Couture missed significant time throughout the campaign as well.

All of these factors combined to form a disappointing season, but as the saying goes, there’s always next year.

So, while we’re sad to see the Sharks hockey come to an end, we’re excited for what the future brings. Here’s to more electric goals, more huge hits, and more crazy ads in 2020-21.

We’ve been the Sharks Ad Agency of record for the past five years and given that this is the Sharks 30th anniversary season, you can expect one helluva campaign to support Team Teal.

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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.

Bay Area Now Open for Film and Video Productions

A scene from Bullitt, shot in San Francisco 1968.

San Francisco is now open for shooting. This is great news for ad agencies, production companies and anyone tired of shooting Tik Toks in their bedroom.

We got a memo from Susannah Greason Robbins, Executive Director San Francisco Film Commission via our talented producer Julie Costanzo. And with LA still on production lockdown, this gives crews a great California option to get back to our craft. And, well, getting back to some level of normalcy in the industry. Here are the specifics, as we understand them, from the memo:

As of May 17th, there has been a re-introduction of permitting for productions in San Francisco.

Under the order, there are some specific conditions that need to be met for film permitting according to San Francisco order of the health officer #C19-07d.

Film SF/San Francisco Film Commission will begin issuing permits for productions and to production companies that want to engage in film production in San Francisco in accordance with the May 17, 2020 ORDER OF THE HEALTH OFFICER No. C19-07d, provided productions are able to meet the following guidelines:

• Crew and personnel on location is limited to the fewest number of people needed up to a maximum of 10 people. (This will reduce the number of hangers-on, groupies and paparazzi, but this seems consistent with everything else going on in the world.)

• All crew and personnel on location must comply with social distancing, face covering, and sanitation requirements as noted in the Order of the Health Officer. So if you don’t like wearing a mask, you gotta go work in Georgia.

• If filming indoors, the location must be (and remain) closed to the public in addition to the three requirements noted above.

Note: Film SF/Film Commission still does not permit private locations, Recreation & Parks jurisdictions or GGNRA

These three provisions are the main criteria we’ll need to follow. There are a few questions this brings up and we can assume it’s a fluid situation. For the latest update on the health order in San Francisco, go to this link: https://sf.gov/stay-home-except-essential-needs

The questions that came up are answered here:

Are photographers permitted to work under the new May 17 order?

Yes, photographers are permitted to work as follows: First, photography related to news/journalism is permitted under the exception for “Newspapers, television, radio, and other media services.”  Second, personal outdoor photography is allowed as a permissible outdoor activity.  And third, as long as it was done before March 16, 2020 primarily outdoors, professional photography that is done outdoors is permitted as an Outdoor Business, so long as social distance requirements are maintained.

Are permits for film productions allowed right now?

Yes, in compliance with the listed above.

How long will it take to get a permit?

We typically require 4 full business days to process a permit (5 business days for student permits) but due to Covid-19 circumstances we may need more lead time to process your permit.

Can I get a permit to post parking for production vehicles?

Yes, if a production meets the requirements for filming under the Order, then you may also obtain a permit to post parking.  You will need to go through the procedures to obtain a permit and will need to work with one of the posting vendors to post your parking. We are not allowing productions to self-post at this time.

What are the current social distancing, sanitation and face covering requirements for productions?

Productions should follow the social distancing, sanitation and face covering guidelines in the Order of the Health Officer at:  https://sf.gov/coronavirus- safety-essential-businesses

Productions must also give the personnel screening handout to all cast/crew who work on productions found here:  https://sf.gov/sites/default/ files/2020-05/COVID19- Personnel-Screening-Handout- FINAL-05.08.2020.pdf

What Else Do I Need to Know?

• It’s always important to be respectful of the public and merchants and try to impact access to merchants as little as possible. Same as usual; be respectful when shooting and give people extra space.

• Posted parking will be limited in order to facilitate merchants getting back to business, including curbside pick-ups by their customers.

•Permits will be issued on a case-by-case basis

Big thank you to the SF Film Commision and Julie Costanzo. http://jmcostanzo.com/

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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.

New Rules of Work — The 2020 Pandemic Edition

When Division of Labor first set out to become a top, independent ad agency in San Francisco, the industry was enduring massive changes. Digital was coming into its own, social was taking over and the old model was crumbling. Things were bad, though admittedly, not Covid-19 bad, and we were looking for ways to stand out and get some attention. Because, well, if you can’t find ways to promote yourself, how do you convince a client you can promote them?

So we created a series of posters to serve as our HR manual. They said things like, “Nothing Good Comes From Hitting Reply All” and “If It’s Really Funny, It’s Probably Harassment.”

We hung them on our walls and in our store-front window and gifted them to well-positioned industry insiders. Soon our campaign was featured in trade pubs like Ad Age, but also consumer media darlings including, Fast Company, BuzzFeed, Huffington Post and Dwell. And, from there, Division of Labor’s New Rules of Work went viral. Posters were selling like toilet paper in a pandemic via a partnership with Fab.com We even negotiated a publishing deal with Chronicle Books and parlayed our posters into “Stop Tweeting Boring Shit” - the New Rules of work. It was a fun collection of tidbits documenting a new time in the world of work—a social media first, digital workplace filled with entitled millennials and visionary, AKA asshole, tech leaders. We even achieved our life long goal of having a novelty book on that table at Urban Outfitters. It was sandwiched between Everybody Poops and the Onion’s Our Dumb Century.

There was truth in the series, which is the key to any good marketing campaign. As a digital marketing firm, it’s our job to find what’s true and reveal it in an interesting way. And that’s exactly what we did. The workplace had changed dramatically post-economic crash of 2008. But work, if you had a job, was still a place you went.

That Was Then. This Is Now

Today there are new, New Rules of Work. And, yes, in the beginning, we were shell shocked just like the rest of you. But then we did what ad people do: We picked our selves up, dusted ourselves off, and plotted a way forward. And, of course, that starts with a whole new playbook.

So we sat down and wrote it—from home, in sweats, unshowered, just like everybody else in the world. We tried to capture what people are feeling and sharing globally. And to do that, we collaborated with designers across the globe as we collectively do our part to “Stay the Fuck Home.”

We tapped Rigved Sathe, a designer quarantined in Maharashtra, India, to create colorful, motion graphics. Anton Darri Pálmarsson, designed in black and white kinetic type while self-isolating in Reykjavik, Iceland. We even worked with our old friend, Paul Hirsch, a Division of Labor founding partner and current creative officer at Doremus. Hirsch revisited his classic letterpress style of the original series.

We’ll be posting them one a day until we run out of ideas or until the rules change again. That would be nice, but we’re not holding our breath.

In the meantime: “Keep Smiling Under Your Mask.”

For Zoom background downloads click here

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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.

Social Distancing for Better Collaboration

This horrific pandemic does have its upsides. It’s made collaboration with our clients better. The walls are down. The curtain is wide open. All our flaws, mess, horrible pajamas and lack of showering are on full display. And that all makes sharing ideas and being honest, easier.

As a small San Francisco Ad Agency we’ve been figuring out new ways to adapt and change since we started in the last economic meltdown. Today is bizarre and sad and pretty damn scary, but we still have to adapt.

This new adaptation is happening right alongside our clients at KEEN. The brand launch we’ve been planning for months (%$#@ mutha $%#kers!) was shelved as we started from scratch to figure out the best way forward.

So every day, we get together on Zoom. They’re scattered around Portland, some within a few blocks of each other, we’re scattered around San Francisco, some within a few blocks of each other. But we get on every day, often multiple times a day, often in the clothes we slept in, to write, think, design and produce content together. Not as an agency for our client. But together.

We use the platform as the production space. KEEN employees are the actors, artists, illustrators and photographers. 

We write, screen shot, motion capture and mix it all together, into gifs and video that captures what we’re living right now and puts on display where we hope to be living soon.

KEEN started this pandemic by giving away 100,000 pairs of shoes to front line workers and people in need. And the process was a labor of love that kept us busy and occupied helping others so we didn’t have a free moment to panic about the state of the world.

Then we settled into this stay at home culture and started coming up with ways to promote shoes as KEEN continued to figure out ways to distribute and discount them.

Every agency is doing it right now. We’re not special in that way. Virtual Easter Egg hunts from Cutwater. A gorgeous rip video from Droga5. We’re all using the same tools, drawing from the same F%5@ked up reality. But the way we’re able to work more closely together, even though we’re further apart, is the inspiring thing.

Who knows how long this all goes on for. But it’s helping shape how Division of Labor evolves. We’ve thrived through the changes in the industry because we keep finding new ways to do things. Today, while very different, is no different.  Thanks, KEEN. Stay healthy everybody.

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.

Nobody Cares What a Small San Francisco Agency is up to During a Pandemic.

Companies like GrubHub, Instacart and Costco are killing it. Others like the cruise industry will need a massive brand relaunch if they hope to be resuscitated. Division of Labor is here when you’re ready.

As we think about those businesses that are deemed essential during this pandemic, it is hard to believe that an industry like advertising was left off the list. I mean, when you think “essential business” you immediately think about healthcare, food, pharmacy and digital marketing agencies. You know, staples. Oh, and drycleaners are considered an “essential businesses” for some reason. A bit confused by that one. Does the government fear healthcare workers will arrive at the hospital wrinkled and frumpy? God forbid.

But, alas, we have grown comfortable with our non-essential lot in life, and this San Francisco ad agency is strictly adhering to California’s Shelter in Place Orders. Oh, and even if we were located in one of the dumbass states that refused to invoke a shelter in place order, we still would have decamped. It’s the right thing to do.

That said: We’re happy to report that all of our employees are safe, healthy, and working from home.  If we’re being honest, no one really gives a shit what we’re up to, but here’s what we’re up to:

As a small creative shop, we are nimble, scrappy and working to create marketing opportunities for our clients with daily Zoom calls, plenty of time to think, and a shit-ton of digital tools and software to put stuff together.

Our latest digital ad campaign for Keen footwear offers loyal fans a 25% discount with the message “Keep the Love Going”, which follows up our initial effort that helped KEEN and their fans give away 100,000 pairs of shoes to workers on the front line and others in need. And now, inspired by that collective compassion, they’re offering everyone a 25% discount. No, it won’t save the world, but it’s something.

For our restaurateur client, True Food Kitchen, we had to pivot. With all but a handful of locations temporarily shuttered, we eighty-sixed the Easter brunch, Earth Day, and Mother’s Day messaging and are currently tweaking it to target summer offerings.

For the San Jose Sharks, whose season was cut short, we are beginning our plans for next year’s campaign with hopes that life is normal enough to care about sports again soon. It’s the Shark’s 30th season so our Teal Together campaign will be pulling out a few new surprises.

We also completed projects for Foster SF, Cloudflare, Roadie, Lively and Bay Area News Group as the world shut down. Of course, no one knows whether life will return to normal by summer, or at least something approximating normal. But all we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Regardless, we are here for our clients. We look forward to the day when the Division of Labor can reunite in person. But for now, we are thankful for good health, extra family time and Zoom conference software.

 Happy Passover. Happy Easter. Happy non-denominational weekend.

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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.

100,000 Pairs of Shoes to the People That Need Them Most

When a crisis hits, our instincts tell us to get out there and help. But in this case, we can’t do that. In fact, that does more harm than good. But we’re incredibly proud of our clients at KEEN who figured out a way to get it done. KEEN is partnering with their fans to give 100,000 pairs of shoes to the workers on the front lines and the families at home fighting through COVID-19. Please have a read of the letter that went out from them today or click here to let KEEN know who you feel could use some help during this difficult time.

Together, we can help.

 In 2003, when we started KEEN, we made two promises to ourselves: 1) KEEN will reflect our personal and family values, and 2) We will be more responsible citizens of the planet, embrace other cultures and ideas, and make a positive contribution. 

Today, the world is facing the COVID-19 virus, a pandemic that has advanced rapidly, shutting down global capitals and causing loss of life on nearly every continent. With large swaths of the population forced into seclusion, the economic and human costs are rising. 

We understand shoes may not be a priority for some, but making shoes that help people get outside and get the job done is what we do best -- it’s the unique skill we bring to the world.

So in keeping with the original promises we made when we started this company, we have made a pledge to provide up to 100,000 pairs, about $10,000,000 in shoes, to the workers on the front lines and the families at home fighting through the crisis. Whether these shoes help a worker stay comfortable during a long shift or simply allow people to get outside to breathe in the benefits of nature while safely practicing social distancing, we feel compelled to share our strengths for the common good.

And, to do that, we’re asking for your help.   

Let us know who you feel could use some help during this difficult time, and we’ll provide them with a new pair of shoes at no cost. 

During times like these, we all need to share our strengths, and we believe working together we can act with kindness and make a positive impact.

Click HERE to let us know who needs shoes, and we’ll take it from there.

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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.

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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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.

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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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.

Division of labor is Hiring Art Directors / Designers

NOW HIRING ART DIRECTORS / DESIGNERS

Division of Labor is looking to fill two positions:

The first is a multi-disciplinarian designer who knows Adobe Suite, After Affects and if you’re an animator or editor, all the better. You’ll be working on everything for the San Jose Sharks to keen Shoes and a huge variety of other projects and clients. You’ll be working with a writer on ideas, but also independently on design. Organizational skills a must as you will be handling some studio duties, as well. 2- 6 years of experience.

The second position is an internship for an aspiring Art Director / Designer. No experience necessary but good student portfolio a must. Adobe Suite, After Affects and any animation or editorial skills requested. Social media chops also a bonus. Internship is 3 months paid with goal to hire when 3 months are up.

For information email dawn@divisionoflabor.com and include your portfolio site and contact information.

Offices are in beautiful Sausalito, just over the Golden gate Bridge. Ferry to work or take the bus or drive and parking is free.

Client Asks For “Out-of-the-Box” Thinking. Subsequently Demands Return to Box.

The Marketing team at Atom Analytics panicked today after their advertising agency delivered on the company’s request for “out-of-the-box” thinking. Pandemonium erupted following the initial creative presentations. Senior executives immediately scrambled to shove all the “out of the box” thinking back into the box. 

“When I said “out of the box,” I didn’t mean way outside,” said chief marketing officer Dwayne Clutterbuck. “Like, if the box were a house I wanted the ideas to be, maybe, like in the tool shed.” 

Top brass who sat in on the meeting were even more blunt. “This is not the type of out of the box thinking we’re used to,” said Connie Jennings, director of Status Quo. “We see out of the box thinking every day, and it never looks like this.”

Middle managers, however, hoping to quickly restore order initially gushed over the marketing plan and then mercilessly picked apart the presentation, blaming the agency for delivering precisely what they’d asked for.

The team from Atom Analytics reacts to their new agency’s presentation.

The plan included a number of thought provoking ideas along with a robust digital marketing plan and some stunts that would most certainly garner publicity. “There was something with Dennis Rodman walking on a tightrope over Times Square. It was just way too attention grabbing for us. You don’t need ideas to get attention when you have a great product,” said Clutterbuck completely contradicting the entire purpose of brand marketing and advertising.

Executives across the board feared that these new ideas might actually make the company appear different from the competition. Following the meeting, a feedback email from Atom Analytics to the agency read: “We were talking about next steps, and decided a safer approach would be to make TV commercials that point out our features and benefits like you know, those Ped Egg commercials. Would you be able to get us a script by Tuesday?”

Days later, Atom Analytics again asked the agency for “out-of-the-box” thinking, as if they completely forgot everything that just happened.

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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.

Wanted: Aspiring Art Director and/or Designer For Three-to-Six-Month Internship

Can you pull off a monocle? If so, an internship at the award-winning ad agency, Division of Labor may be your ticket to a successful career as a creative. If you’re lacking this skill, we will also consider candidates with killer student portfolios.

Division of Labor, a small San Francisco ad agency and digital marketing firm, is offering a three-to-six month internship for an aspiring art director and/or designer. The ideal candidate should have:

- An undergraduate degree in puppet arts, auctioneering, quantum physics or equine studies.
- The ability to speak three languages, including ancient Aramaic.
- Working knowledge of Rolls Royce Merlin engines also helpful.

- Experience as a race car driver.

- The ability to dunk from a standing position,

- Having a niece named after a city, preferred but not required.

- Adept at wearing a monocle or at a minimum tying an ascot.

Alternatively, we will consider anyone with an impressive student portfolio and a strong work
ethic.

Please feel free to re-share this. Or, if you know someone who fits the bill, encourage them to contact us at info@divisionoflabor.com

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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.

Son Accepts First Job in Advertising: Parents Forced to Grapple with Dashed Dream

Charleen and James Weber smile through the pain. Drew’s decision to pursue an advertising career means their dream of retiring at a Ritz Carlton Retirement Community is now unlikely.

Yesterday was a dark day for James and Charleen Weber as their son Drew officially accepted his first job in advertising. Their hearts were heavy as he signed an employment contract with Division of Labor, a small creative shop in the San Francisco bay area.

Drew, a San Jose State University and Miami Ad School graduate, took the job at Division of Labor, after completing a six-month copywriting internship with the company. During this limbo period, the Webers hoped their son would come to his senses. “We hoped the vapid nature of the work would deter him, but apparently once the creative director dubbed him ‘head In and Out Burger instigator’ the power all kind of went to his head,” says Charleen.  

And while the news wasn’t exactly a shock given his extended internship, the couple was still left reeling. “When we had him, we pinned our hopes on him becoming a heart surgeon, astronautical engineer or even a professional hockey player. You know, something where he could buy us a nice house and send us on vacations and stuff,” said Charleen.

 But Drew had other plans. Instead of going after a lucrative job where he could give his parents a comfortable retirement in exchange for all they did for him, their youngest and most selfish child chose to pursue his passion for selling stuff people don’t need.

 It’s not about the money for me,” said Drew, whose parents have already taken his name out of the will. “I wanted to make a difference in the world, and I thought using my writing skills to sell hockey tickets and courier services were my way to do it.”

Drew Weber is officially a copywriter much to the chagrin of his parents who’d have preferred their son become a cardiac surgeon.

 In fairness to Drew, the 25-year-old’s journey into the world of digital marketing, social media, and creative writing developed only after his attempt to pursue a music career fell flat. In an effort to become the next Justin Timberlake, he applied to several schools as a music major. But once reality sunk in and he began to recognize he simply wasn’t hot enough the celebrity dream quickly withered.  “You have to be at least a 9 to be a pop star. I’m maybe a 6 on a good day,” said Drew.

 It goes without saying his parents were devastated by his decision and hoped things wouldn’t pan out for him as a writer. They prayed he would realize advertising wasn’t his calling and go back to chasing a seven-figure career.

 But as Drew got closer to landing his first copywriting gig, their dreams of living a life of luxury via their son got thinner and thinner. And, of course, yesterday’s news was the final nail in the coffin.

 “I can’t believe he would do this to us. We spent all that time raising him and this is what he’s become?” said James. “He might as well be a stripper.” When asked what they would do next, the married couple of 40 years suggested having another child and trying again.

 “This kid didn’t work out. Maybe the next one will,” said James.

 Drew seems happy with his decision and is living the life he wants to live with the career he wants to have. But, it’s going to take a long time for his parents to come to terms with the situation.

 “We’re not mad. We’re disappointed.”

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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.

WHAT I LEARNED THIS YEAR

There is no secret sauce. Image courtesy of Gibson Diesel.

SF Egotist does a year-end, “What I learned” segment and this year, Division of Labor was invited to participate. Thanks for the free press, SF Egotist.

It ran the day after Christmas, so few among us were perusing industry news. If you were hoping to glean a few pearls of wisdom from this small, but mighty San Francisco ad agency, fear not. In an act of shameless self-promotion, Division of Labor has reposted the article in its entirety here. On that note: Happy 2020 everyone, and read on.

Ten years ago we had the chance to start Division of Labor and somehow we’ve managed to stay around for a decade now. This year was a good one: Division of Labor moved to a bigger location, won a bunch of new clients, added some new employees who have completely changed how we operate. The experience has taught me quite a bit. So here’s what I learned this year about running a small independent advertising agency:

Craft Still Matters

Technology is ubiquitous. There’s a new platform developed every day. But the writing and the design are still what impress clients most. (At least, that’s what our clients tell us.) We can do things our clients can’t. That’s why they come to us. We can write in human, simple ways that get people to click and engage and buy. And we create designs based on design principles, not ephemeral technology platforms. We make things our clients don’t make. So don’t try to mimic a client’s skill set. Execute yours.

There is No Secret Sauce.

People, please. It’s just mayonnaise and ketchup. Big words and complex processes that claim to be proprietary or secret are what we refer to as, “liar, liar pants on fire.” Engaging ideas, properly executed by people you like working with is not a secret, it’s just hard to do consistently. But, hey, that’s what we’re paid to do.

The Importance of Saying No

We said no a lot more this year and it was good for everyone. Say no to anything that sets you up for a bad relationship. Say no to pitches that don’t feel right. (You know the ones.) Say no to potential projects that don’t align with your thinking. Say no to timelines that are too short. Clients want great work and great relationships, and if they’re asking for stuff that won’t deliver that, it’s your job to say so. 

What’s Best for the Agency is Best for the Client

This year a potential client said to me, “I’ll need to present this work to my bosses and they don’t care about making a fun, brand message they want to move the needle.” As if our goal as an agency is not to “move the needle.” Everything we do is designed to “move the needle.” But we know you can’t just tell the needle to move. What’s best for an agency is creating work that is engaging, entertaining and successful. That’s also what’s best for the client. What’s best for an agency is having a successful campaign case study with great results. And that too is best for the client.

Small Ideas Beat Big Ideas

Big, brand launch ideas are essential for any successful campaign. They make a statement, set the tone for a brand, get press and attention. But the small ideas that follow matter just as much, possibly more. SEO is a small idea. Retargetting using a benefits chart is a small idea. Landing page optimization is a small idea. Promotions run on SnapChat is a small idea. Live-read radio to support digital video is a small idea. But you need these small things to be executed perfectly if the big ideas are gonna work.

“Best Practices” is just another way to say “Copy Cat.”

If everybody does something one way, that doesn’t make it best. It makes it common and exactly what you want to avoid. And for every piece of data that suggests some “best practice” there are ten pieces of data that point to avoiding the way everyone else does things.

Find New Ways to Do Things.

Advertising is like technology; the moment you get used to it, it becomes obsolete. Just because you do it a certain way doesn’t make it right. We put in place new SEO this year, new partnerships, new presentation plans, new shared working documents and I’m even going to teach a class at Miami Ad School this year because, well, I’ll learn new things while teaching the craft. So if you’re used to it, maybe look at changing it.

Thanks, SFEgotist. 

https://www.thesfegotist.com/editorial/2019/12/26/what-i-learned-this-year-josh-denberg-founder-creative-director-at-division-of-labor/

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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.

Best Holiday TikToks of 2019

Image courtesy of the New York Times

It’s the end of 2019. Time for the “Best Ads of the Year” “Best Ads of the Holiday Season” “Best Ads of the Decade” sorts of posts. Hell, maybe you’re not working, but you’re on your phone cuz you’ve run out of stuff to say to your in-laws.

But instead of the best commercials or videos, Division of Labor wants to focus on the best TikToks of the season. This holiday has produced a batch of some pretty funny videos on the hottest platform of the year. (Forget the fact that it all might be a Chinese plot to spy on America.) People are making a lot of TikToks and spending hours and hours watching them. So, if you haven’t heard of them, or don’t quite get what they are, allow us to introduce you to a massive platform that Millennials and Gen Y are spending reams of time on. And, well, this means you should be there too.

We’ll start by pointing out that there were a number of noteworthy traditional holiday commercials this year like Goodby’s Comcast ET spot and Peloton’s shit show of a commercial and the Ryan Reynolds genius Aviation gin ad that followed. But, let’s be honest, they’ve been talked about to death and, well, Division of Labor has nothing to add on the topic. Fortunately, we have plenty to say on the top holiday TikToks of the season. So, we’ll stop the blathering and get right to it.

MARIAH CAREY’S KEYBOARD PLAYER

This gem is set to Mariah Carey’s Christmas classic, “All I want for Christmas is You,” which plays as we watch the POV of someone frantically running toward a random suburban house. The shaky footage feels frenetic as the camera reaches the front stoop, pushes open the door, looks around and sees a couple of people holding instruments. The camera runs toward an empty keyboard and gets there just in time to play the piano solo of the song.

A huge number of TikToks are set to music and people create all manner of bits, sometimes just lip syncing and other times having fun with a songs lyrics, and in this case, just timing it perfectly to nail the joke. This TikTok had close to 500,000 likes at this posting.

A LOT FOR CHRISTMAS

This TikTok is set to the same Mariah Carey song as above, but it works with the lyric: “I don’t want a lot for Christmas.”  The woman in the video expresses her annoyance after being gifted a parking lot for Christmas even though she specifically said she did not want a “lot for Christmas.” 

This is a fairly common TikTok construct but here it’s just so dopey you can’t help but laugh. This TikTok has close to 600k likes as of this posting.

POST MALONE

Rapper Post Malone has frequently been regarded as a pop cultural symbol as well as the subject of many internet memes. In this Tiktok, someone shows off their new car interior and then reveals the custom Post Malone door light with the rapper’s face on it.

Taking pieces of internet meme culture and playing off of them in new ways is the point of Tiktok for a lot of people. So your very own Post Malone custom door light is spot on. This TikTok has close to 400k likes as of this posting.

I LOVE YOU

This TikTok started gaining momentum during the holiday season. It uses a popular TikTok format of lip syncing to the Google translate voice that’s reading something the creator wrote. The neutrality and lack of expression of the computer voice set against some deeply personal shit has made for great Tiktoks. And this one is no different with 450k likes as of posting.

SLEEP OVER / GOOD MORNING

The original audio for this Tiktok comes from a 2013 video taken outside Kanye West’s house early in the morning. In the original clip, the person filming says “good morning Kanye” to which in typical Kanye fashion, he politely replies with “shut the fuck up”. This audio was recently recovered and dubbed over many TikToks such as this one, which depicts the struggle of sleeping over at a friends house when they don’t give you a blanket or pillows. The TikTok has close to 2.6 million likes as of posting.

OK BOOMER - HOLES IN JEANS

We all know of or have at least heard of, the “Ok Boomer” meme. If you haven’t, this trend, at its core, is meant to make fun of or belittle the attitudes of the baby boomer generation. Naturally, this trend has taken off on Tiktok as well, and these commonly backed by the song written by Peter Kuli and Jedwill. This TikTok, and others, take common phrases, complaints, or traits of the baby boomer generation and mock them with dry sarcastic undertones.

BRANDY MELLVILLE

Another important format in the TikTok platform is the point of view or POV video. The idea here is that videos can be filmed from a certain person or even objects point of view. If this sounds broad and confusing that’s because it is, but it also leaves a lot of room for creativity. 

This particular video plays off of a recent trend-making fun of the popular retailer Brandy Melville, a store characterized by rude employees and clothes that only fit pre-pubescent teenage girls. If you’ve never shopped there, watch this video and it will feel like you have.

IN THE GHETTO

This TikTok was made popular, like many other videos on the app, by its sound, The original audio was uploaded by one user and has since been dubbed over many times making jokes about things that upper-middle-class people may classify as “ghetto”.

Political correctness is also kinda tossed out the window on TikTok as inside jokes on top of inside jokes blur the line of what’s appropriate and not. 277k likes at posting.

GLEE

This TikTok does not rely on sound from within the app. Instead this popular format for creating content has the video creator stand behind an open computer and read through a popular scene or monologue from television or a movie, all from memory. Not only is the memorization aspect impressive, but so is the way he is able to capture multiple characters at once.

To see more, jump on TikTok and just start watching. We’ll do more of these “best of” updates every month or two. This post was written by Division of Labor’s Meme Queen Ariel Taylor. She knows her TikToks. Thanks, Ariel.

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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.

Drive Clean Bay Area Featured in Campaign Magazine

Our work for Drive Clean Marin was just featured in Campaign Magazine. So, of course, we’re bragging about it and patting ourselves on the back. Campaign is a staple in the industry and when they like our work enough to feature it, that really means something.

Division of Labor launched this ad campaign to help Drive Clean Bay Area with its mission to get more drivers into electric vehicles. They’ve partnered with Cartelligent, a concierge car buying and leasing service, to offer group discounts on some of the hottest EVs on the road. 

This is the second non-profit client we’ve worked with in the electric vehicle space. So, I guess you could say we’re getting to, kind of, be experts in the area. The ad campaign is focused on the idea that people in the Bay Area do so many things to help the environment but the biggest thing any of us can do is go electric.

The work has been showing up in Instagram and facebook feeds for the past few weeks now and digital and mobile executions are out there too.

Check out the article here and if you want a massive discount on a new EV, check out the campaign landing page. Thanks to Elaine Underwood and the staff at Campaign.

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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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.

Cheap, Animated Cartoon used to Launch Billion Dollar Startup

Woo-Woo’s soon-to-launch explainer video looks nearly identical to every other explainer video out there. But the company notes their trademark “Boyyoyyong!” Sound effect is 37% more effective than traditional “Boyyoyyong!” sound effects.

After inviting four top San Francisco ad agencies to pitch for its business, Silicon Valley tech giant Woo-Woo changed course and instead contracted with 19-year-old Ben Clutterbuck, a Chico State sophomore who creates low-quality explainer videos with rudimentary cartoons and operates out of his dorm room.

Woo-Woo recently obtained nearly 100 million dollars in series B funding from four different venture capital firms and earmarked five million dollars for marketing and advertising.  But after sitting in on the pitches, Woo-Woo’s most seasoned intern, Valerie Peabody, offered up an alternative approach. “The agencies were quoting costs of $300,000 to $5000,000 in creative fees alone,” notes Peabody.  “And I thought, ‘that’s insane’ when my brother’s buddy, Dwayne could do the creative and production for, like, $500 bucks.”

Peabody arranged a SnapChat group so Clutterbuck could get to know the marketing team. After exchanging multiple dank memes, it became clear Clutterbuck understood Woo-Woo’s corporate culture exponentially better than any of the pitching agencies. “It wasn’t hard to see that crude animations and the occasional “Boyyoyyong!” sound effect would be just as effective as anything a full-service agency could produce,” says Woo-woo company spokesperson Victoria Pheferman.

Clutterbuck’s business model, which focuses on creating antiquated, two-dimensional style animations on the laptop his parents bought him, definitely appears to resonate with millennial tech executives who neither understand, nor value the complexity of an advertising and marketing strategy.

Clutterbuck, who runs his company out of the Royal Arms dorm-style apartment complex, says he’s stoked to be tapped. “This is lit,” Clutterbuck hooted. “Hundo P we will crush this.”  

Woo-Woo, a Silicon Valley darling since late 2018, has developed an innovative, new, cloud-based, SaaS procurement optimization portal module. “The product has a universal appeal,” says Phefferman. “This kind of innovation practically sells itself.”

The bold decision to 86 the company’s marketing budget was ultimately approved by Woo-Woo’s senior management team, which, incidentally, consists of five 26-year-old virgins with zero business experience.  “Every one of the guys in our c-suite is an Ivy League grad,” says Phefferman. What’s more, she notes: “Three of the five earned admission without bribes, fake athletic credentials, or cheating on their ACTs.”

And while the decision was a cost-cutting measure, it was also a change more in keeping with strategies at other large tech companies. “Our board said it was time to grow up a little,” says Phefferman. “And nothing says captain of industry like an animated explainer video with ukulele music.” 

The explainer video will have a soft launch on the company website and will be tweeted out extensively on Clutterbuck’s social media feed. “I post all my client’s videos on my Instagram page. For an extra $20 bucks, I’ll even talk you up on my finsta page,’” says Clutterbuck.

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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.

AD AGENCIES IN CRISIS AS THEY RUN OUT OF THINGS TO CALL THEMSELVES

AD AGENCIES IN CRISIS AS THEY RUN OUT OF THINGS TO CALL THEMSELVES

Ad agencies have officially run out of new things to call themselves so as not to call themselves, “ad agencies.” The news comes as small agency founders launching new ventures discovered they could not come up with any pseudo-intellectual gibberish to replace the phrase, “Advertising Agency.” This reality has left the entire industry flummoxed.

“Creative Consultancy, Brand Collective, Content Company, Digital Workshop, Experience Agency, Design Studio, Engagement Lab, we’ve tried em’ all,” says one of the eleven former big ad agency creative directors currently running a design experience consultancy/brand engagement studio out of a WeWork.

The crisis has come as a shock to industry veterans who claim to not make advertising or anything resembling advertising, even though they totally do.

“Advertising professionals made Halitosis a disease, turned station wagons into Sport Utility Vehicles and got a whole generation freaked out by, “Ring around the collar.” Surely, we can come up with some new nonsense to call ourselves,” says Division of Labor Creative Director, Josh Denberg.

A group of copywriters from some of the most respected ad agencies that don’t want to call themselves ad agencies have come together on a Google Doc to solve the crisis. But the first session was marred by debate over whether Google Docs was the right vehicle to use and whether Slack, Asana, or a shared Keynote was better. Immediately, TikTok videos were made belittling the process.

“The English language has been exhausted. But what about other languages?,”  asked Drew Weber, a copywriter at Division of Labor who calls himself a “content creator” and is currently searching for another term for “Guru” to use on his LinkedIn profile.

Desperate American advertising agencies have contacted foreign ad agencies to inquire about using their language in their titles. While talks with the Germans and Italians have gone well, the French have taken offense to the proposal.

“Just because you don’t have enough words in your stupid language doesn’t mean you Americans can come in and steal ours,” said one cliché, condescending Frenchman from a company we can neither spell nor pronounce.

Meanwhile, concern is growing between America’s shores that these businesses may have to revert back to the archaic title of “advertising agency.”

“I mean, I guess we could call ourselves an ad agency. But we don’t make ads; we make content and experiences that surprise and delight consumers,” said a representative from one of the billion shops that claim to not do exactly what they get hired to do.

But with options running thin and time running out, ad agencies may have no choice but to call themselves what they really are. “It’s a dark day for the industry,” says Denberg. “But we will find other ways to obfuscate and deflect. It’s what we do.”

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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.

Ad Agency Embarrassed to Discover All Standing Desks in Sitting Mode

In an unexpected turn of events, the San Francisco advertising agency Division of Labor reported that shortly before noon, on October 14th, all the standing desks in the office were discovered in the sitting position. 

The phenomenon was first noticed by copywriter Drew Weber, who was, incidentally, in the sitting position at the time.

“The office just looks so much more open,” said Weber, who pointed out he had uninterrupted sightlines for the first time since joining the agency. It was also his first time seeing everybody on level ground. “I just thought everybody was really tall.”

The agency-issued white Stand Desk with matte grey frame, deluxe memory handset, 10 outlet power strip and squishy, mall security guard stand pad is set to sitting mode by touching a keypad—often accidentally. But, until today, there has yet to be an occasion when all employees have chosen this configuration simultaneously.

“I’ve never hit that button on purpose,” said designer Ryan Lockhart, who also noted that he could see the back wall unobstructed for the first time. “It made me realize one of the posters on the opposite wall isn’t level, which, as a designer, is super annoying.”

The company, known for digital marketing campaigns, brand strategy and humorous digital video content, had trouble explaining the moment of serendipity. 

Much of the blame for the incident was placed on creative director Josh Denberg, who usually has his office-appointed desk in the standing position, believing it makes him healthy or something.

“Sitting is the new smoking,” chirped Denberg, citing an internet cliché that has little scientific merit but something the advertising agency executive has no problem repeating anyway.

Denberg has long been a fan of the standing desk, believing it makes him morally superior to those who sit.  “When people drop into a conversation that they don’t own a TV, it’s easy to put them in their place by casually mentioning that I stand at work, like, 90 percent of the time,” says Denberg.  

The standing desk trend has taken the advertising agency scene by storm in recent years as agencies attempt to behave more like startups, minus the VC funding and gluts of excess cash. “We don’t offer our employees catered meals, in-office massage, or free afternoon yoga classes, but when clients walk into the office and see that every employee has their own stand desk, well, the ad campaigns pretty much sell themselves,” says creative director, Faruk Sagcan. 

At press time, all employees had their desks back to the standing position. 

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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.

New Brand Awareness Marketing Campaign for PagerDuty

If you’ve ever gotten one of those “Aw Snap” screens from a website then you know how annoying it is when technology doesn’t work like it’s designed to. Or if you’ve ever tried to buy something online and you get to the end of the process and the shopping cart doesn’t work? I mean, not the end of the world, but it’s irritating none the less.  

And things that are irritating to consumers are potentially devastating to companies. The business of digital operations management is massive because all companies rely on technology and when there’s something wrong with their network, they’re screwed.

Enter PagerDuty. A digital operations management company that works with Fortune 500 companies, startups, government agencies and even non-profits to ensure incidents are handled expeditiously. Developers can use PagerDuty a bunch of different ways but the main thing is that PagerDuty analyzes signals and data on digital networks of a company and can detect when potential issues might surface and then alerts the developer, or anyone else for that matter, to the incident so adjustments can be made before any problem ever reaches a user. 

A simple example I use because it’s one my tiny advertising brain can process is; let’s say Division of Labor creates an amazing digital video that funnels a ton of traffic to our client’s website. And since our video is so good and funny and emotionally compelling, the increase in traffic threatens to overload our client’s website. (We are that good.) 

But PagerDuty detects the increase in traffic, alerts the developer so she can increase server capacity and avoid any disruption. PagerDuty also learns over time and can implement network adjustments on behalf of the developer or predict future issues so the developer can prepare for them. Developers have even said they won’t work at a company unless they can have PagerDuty. Pretty cool company.

But not enough people know about them. So they asked Division of Labor to help with an awareness campaign to increase brand recognition and drive trial ahead of their big PagerDuty Summit19, held at the end of September in Union Square.

At its core, PagerDuty solves problems before they become problems. So we launched their first brand awareness and digital marketing campaign anchored with the line: Solutions Before Problems.

Division of Labor worked in close collaboration with the folks at PagerDuty along with our partners at MediaSmith. But we also inherited some beautiful brand design work from the folks at Collins. Collins created a palette and brand template for us to work with allowing us to focus on developing the messages and simplifying the communications; from digital and out of home to podcasts and a completely redesigned and rewritten website. The campaign launched in San Francisco and New York with executions in Times Square and Madison Square Garden.

We are now preparing for phase two, but check out PagerDuty if you’re a developer and see what you think. Thanks to all who made this campaign happen.

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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. 

New Sharks Marketing Campaign Not Your Typical Sports Marketing Campaign

>> CLICK THE IMAGE TO PLAY THE NEW SPOT

Brent Burns skates on toy fire trucks. Logan Couture sings while lounging on a piano. Joe Thornton gets rabies. And those are just a few scenes in the new San Jose Sharks advertising campaign.

As the 2019 NHL season kicks off with a playoff rematch against Vegas, our advertising and marketing campaign kicks off with a series of new TV, radio, digital and social executions. And while Sharks players still star alongside Sharks fans as in years past, this campaign is not like years past. For one thing, it’s animated. For another, it’s based on a strategic insight that came out of market research.

After sending a bunch of non-hockey fans to Sharks games and having them film and document their experiences, it became clear that Sharks fans could come from all walks of life. Previous experience with hockey didn’t seem to matter. The main thing we learned: “You don’t have to be into hockey to enjoy a Sharks game.”

With this nugget in hand, gleaned with the help of our strategic partners at Paragraph Project, we wrote a few scripts around the idea and tried to explain the game in the context of other things that people might be into.

But we knew this campaign couldn’t be produced like past campaigns. It had to be animated. So we turned to Matt Vescovo, an animator, writer, director and fortunately for us, an old friend. Together, we collaborated on the TV scripts and developed a series that crossed over a whole myriad of activities that people might be into more than hockey: decorating, dating, going to the dog park, bird watching, yoga, book club etc.

We ended up with 50 plus scripts between radio and TV and also worked with two of our resident Sharks fanatics Peter Rudy and Drew Weber.

The marketing team at the Sharks was all in. In fact, it was their idea to take the concept beyond the original radio scripts. We further collaborated with them to come up with more ideas and directions for the campaign. As usual, the Sharks behaved less like traditional clients and more like creative partners, pushing us as much as we push them.

In the end, there are nine TV spots that we will edit and alter to use for digital marketing, social media campaigns, in-stadium content, along with more than 15 radio spots and who knows what else. 

But for now, the first spot has launched, the home opener is tonight, Matt is working his ass off to get the drawings done and the edits complete. The rest of the campaign activations are well underway. In the meantime, let’s kick the crap out of Vegas and get the season going.

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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. 

Ad Agency Intern Fills Sandwich Punch Card, Earns Free Sandwich

Division of Labor is proud to announce our copywriting intern, Drew Weber, became the first DoL employee to successfully fill his Mollie Stone’s punch card, earning a free sandwich. Getting the sandwich required purchasing nine others sandwiches before it, which explains why he always asked if people wanted something before he left for lunch.

“Most of our employees lose their punch cards long before they can collect the requisite number of stamps,” says Josh Denberg, Division of Labor’s founder, and chief creative officer. “His accomplishment reinforces my initial instinct when we hired him, there’s something special about Drew.”

Remarkably, Weber is taking the accomplishment in stride.  "I just happen to be a fan of a good rewards program. I’m also a fan of a sandwich on a sweet roll. Mollie’s has both, so they’ve been my go-to place since I started working here. "

Ever humble, especially for a millennial, Weber insists he is no hero. In fact, when pressed on the matter, he chose to heap praise on fellow co-worker Ryan Lockhart for turning him on to Molly Stone’s in the first place. "When I first started here, I asked Ryan what he thought of the closer deli two doors down. He said-- 'That place is the Spirit Airlines of sandwich shops. You need to go to Mollie’s.' So, I did what any good intern would do and listened."

A photo of the Molly Stone’s sandwich captured just prior to its exchange for Drew’s sandwich of choice.

Weber’s typical selection is turkey with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, mustard, and mayo. If he’s in a spending mood, he’ll add avocado for an extra dollar. "Sometimes you’ve got to ball-out and get the avocado," he explains.

From an advertising and marketing perspective, Weber’s achievement shows the importance of valuing a customer and offering an incentive for brand loyalty. By giving consumers something to work toward, the store drives shoppers to purchase their product. And as a top ad agency, we agree with this kind of targeted messaging. Although digital marketing and geo-fenced mobile advertising are both effective, sometimes you gotta go back to the classics. “Without these rewards cards, Mollie Stone’s customer base may have chosen to go hungry during lunch rather than get food for themselves—or worse, decided to eat a soggy sandwich from home,” says Denberg.

Weber is already working on his next rewards card, which he hopes to complete before November. "I have a lot of goals in life. This is one of them."

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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. 

Division of Labor Lands Prestigious New Business

RSS Industries Headquarters in Los Angeles, CA. So proud of this big win.

Last week, we ran a Labor Day Sale promotion in honor of Division of Labor Day. The offer: Free Advertising Campaigns to anyone working on Labor Day. We hoped it would yield some new introductions, branding opportunities and maybe a digital advertising campaign or a social media project. Boy did it ever.

We landed a huge new piece of business that we’re proud to announce today. Division of Labor is now the agency of record for the coveted Rich Siegel Sucks account. RSS is a pop culture, lifestyle brand with a social consciousness bent. The company is founded by Erik Moe—Director, Freelance Writer and part-time antagonist. The goal of RSS is to promote the notion that in this technology saturated, social media heavy, data-driven world, it’s still important to remember Rich Siegel Sucks.

The ironic thing about Division of Labor winning this prestigious piece of business is that we don’t know Rich Siegel, nor have we ever encountered the suckiness that the founder suggests. But, as one of the top ad agencies in San Francisco it’s our job to lend an outsider’s perspective, and help a brand see itself in new ways. We are hopeful this will be the case with Rich Siegel Sucks.

We look forward to delving more thoroughly into the market research. However, according to RSS founder, Erik Moe, the Rich Siegel Sucks brand has grown out of the fact that Rich Siegel does indeed Suck. Furthermore, as a freelance copywriter, Erik Moe is vastly superior—as is Division of Labor, but that’s another matter. Erik Moe’s Linkedin feed best illustrate the suckiness of Rich Siegel. However, we at Division of Labor are delighted to have been tapped by Moe to take the brand message and ongoing feud to a bigger audience.

To that end, we are sharing the complete creative brief as we plan our marketing strategy, creative presentation and media plan.  

 Main Thought/Idea

What’s the one thing we want people to remember? Rich Siegel sucks.

Support: Why does Rich Siegel suck?

• He tries to steal work from Erik Moe.

• On his Linkedin profile, he falsely claims to be 44-years-old.

• He takes long lunch breaks that usually include swimming lessons, but then charges clients for the whole day.

• He complains a lot, including statements about his neighbor’s dog.

• His talent, such as it is, is more suited to selling vitamins than writing ad copy.  

Deliverables:

One to three social media posts to run on Erik Moe’s Linkedin page next week.

Rest assured, we are hard at work producing the requested ideas. Pending our client’s approval we look forward to sharing them with you all soon. Thanks to everyone involved in this great win.

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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. 

Free Advertising Campaigns for Labor Day

Adam Smith pioneered the concept of Division of Labor. We stole the idea and named the agency after it

Happy Division of Labor Day. While most Americans are out grilling hot dogs, hamburgers, or faux vegan versions of the classics, we at Division of Labor are slaving away, along with the mattress and car salesmen. 

And in honor of our namesake holiday, we are offering Free Labor. Yep, that’s right. If you’re currently lounging at the beach, picnicking in a park, or just waking up, and you scrolled past this post and clicked, it could be your lucky day. Cuz while most top San Francisco ad agencies are goofing off, we at Division of labor are ready to give you one free advertising campaign. 

Adam Smith pioneered the idea of Division of Labor, which we honor by bringing in only the right specialists for any given project and charging our clients accordingly. The ad agency world has changed dramatically over the years. Retainer accounts have been replaced by project work. Digital advertising and social platforms have changed media and the influx of data, data, data has totally altered the ROI conversation. 

Division of Labor has thrived through all this craziness, because we’re built for it. We don’t have enormous overhead. Project work is our bread and butter. We expand and contract as projects come in and out. And we’re a production company as well as an ad agency. So we produce things efficiently, save our clients money, and retain creative control.

But enough about us. Let’s talk about you. And how our Free Advertising Giveaway can turn you into a hero when you return to the office tomorrow. (Also, there will be less attention paid to that nasty sunburn on your neck.)  

Contact us via email today, and today only, and we’ll give you an ad campaign for free. It could be a social media advertising campaign or maybe an out of home campaign or a digital video advertising campaign. And if you like it and want to sign on for a paid engagement after that, great. If you want help placing media for the campaign, great. If you want to take it and have your brother shoot it on his iPhone, great.

Just send us a creative brief; problem, target, one thing the campaign needs to say, and we’ll send you one free advertising campaign. Hell, if you’re working on Labor Day, Division of Labor is working on Labor Day too.

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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. 

Meet Drew Weber: DOL's Newest Ad Agency Intern

It’s a slow news week here at Division of Labor. But the same internet marketing experts we rely on to help our clients amplify their message insist we post blog updates at regular intervals.  And, really, what sort of ad agency would we be if we didn’t heed our own brand advice. With that in mind, we’re introducing our first installment of “Ask The Intern” featuring our new creative intern Drew Weber, who has hit the ground running, since joining the DOL team earlier this month. If he has any major skeletons in the closet, we have yet to discover them.

According to our thorough background check (Read: We didn’t do one. Though we did stalk his Instagram feed to confirm he is indeed a huge Sharks Fan, and not just posing as one to get the position), he’s a standup guy motivated enough to drive all the way from San Jose to get his foot in the door in the crazy, world of advertising. And after forcing him to participate in this sham blog post, we actually do feel we know him a little better. And now you can too! 

1. What Made You Decide on a Career in Advertising?

“When I was in college I studied aviation. But then I realized learning to fly is stupidly expensive for someone working like 10 hours a week at minimum wage. So I switched to journalism and started covering the NHL for some small websites. That got boring, though, since you can only write so many articles about Marc-Edouard Vlasic getting snubbed for the Norris. Plus, as it turns out, journalism jobs pay only slightly better than minimum wage. So, yes, I decided to sell my soul to the devil and use my writing skills for a career in advertising and digital marketing. I love the idea of creating ad campaigns from scratch and doing something new every day. It can be hell, but it’s a fun hell.”

2.  What compelled you to send a job query to Division of Labor?

I thought your work for the San Jose Sharks was what the kids would call "totally lit, yo." Or something like that—25 years old is the new 100 years old. Being at a small ad agency, particularly one that won Small Ad Agency of the Year, was also something that appealed to me. I like being close with my coworkers. I want to work with people, not mannequins. Nothing against mannequins, though. Y’all are cool too. Oh, and there are dogs here.

3. Did the classes you took in college prepare you in any way for a career in advertising? 

The classes I took at San Jose State and Miami Ad School definitely helped me on my journey to becoming a handsome man who happens to write for eight hours a day. I not only learned copywriting, but also digital marketing, UX/UI, and—for some reason—standup comedy. But nothing quite prepares you for the pain of seeing a script you wrote on the Google Doc receive the dreaded strike-through of doom from the CD. That’s stuff you can only learn on the job.

4. Question: What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned so far? 

I’ve learned a lot of important skills since I started: How to get a good insight, writing faster, making sure every word counts, and the importance of brand strategy. But the most important thing I’ve learned since getting to DoL? Don’t change the music when Josh is in the office.

5. Question: What shocking truth about yourself have you managed to keep hidden from your Division of Labor colleagues?

I’m a guitarist and songwriter who has recorded EPs, played at bars, and performed in musicals. My most interesting musical moment, though, was when I made a terrible song/music video with my friends about the book Ender’s Game for a library competition. The author randomly saw the video and tweeted it out to thousands of followers with the caption "Give these guys a Grammy!"  Despite this recognition from Orson Scott Card himself, we only got third place. Which was probably deserved, because none of us actually read the book.

6. Question: What is your favorite ad of all time?

While I've gained an appreciation of digital media, guerilla marketing, and other non-traditional advertising strategies, my favorite thing to consume is still a good ole TV spot. Do you guys remember TV? It came before Netflix, but after radio. Anyways, my favorite spot is "We're Going to the Playoffs" from Allstate's Mayhem campaign.  I've watched it three times just while answering this question, and it still never fails to make me laugh. Plus it does a solid job of blending entertainment with product benefit.

7. Do you think Josh has an unhealthy attachment to his 17-pound rescue dog, Mort? 

I mean, yeah. But he’s the boss, and everyone else has been acting like it’s perfectly normal to serve a dog baked salmon for breakfast. I’m certainly not gonna be the one to point out the insanity. On the other hand, Josh lives in Marin. So, maybe it’s a cultural norm I’m just not aware of. 

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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. 

Happy Anniversary to the Best Small Ad Agency in San Francisco

This summer Division of Labor is celebrating its 10th anniversary as an independent ad agency.  It’s been a long run from our humble beginnings in a backyard shed to a storefront in Sausalito and now a slightly more grown-up office space up the road. Through the years, we’ve worked with lots of great clients, churned out lots of great ad campaigns, and managed to earn a decent living doing it. 

To mark the occasion, we’ll be gathering this Friday in our conference room to enjoy a slice of sickly sweet sheet cake and sip champagne from disposable plastic cups. And while we wish all of you could join us, we simply don’t have space to invite the internet. Instead we thought we’d regale you with tales of what we will likely reminisce about in between sporkfuls of artificially colored frosting. 

Like remember when McCann SF was collapsing and Microsoft gave Josh and Paul a huge project to shoot a bunch of videos for Office and they scrambled to start an agency, without a business plan, financial backing, or even office space?

Or remember when after renting a storefront in Sausalito we hung hand-painted grocery store signs hawking  “mercury tainted salmon steaks” and “genetically engineered corn” in the agency’s window.  And, then some anonymous tipster (read: Josh’s wife) sent photos of the poster to the Marin Independent Journal and a reporter wrote that article about us?

Or remember when we shot a music video for Kris Orlowski and the idea was to have him play live on Chatroulette. And Snoop Dog popped up along with a bunch of creepy dick picks? 

We filmed Kris as he played live on Chatroulette to random people around the world. (Chatroulette.com is a web experiment where you log on and have no idea who might pop up for a chat, But no one could have predicted Snoop Dog would pop in to say hi.

Or remember when Division of Labor was asked to create an ad campaign for a TBS sitcom? Josh then convinced his wife to be a bad haircut model, which  entailed styling her hair and makeup to resemble that of a bad eighties Texas housewife. Putting a black “fashion don’t” box across each of the model’s eyes may just have saved his marriage because her image ended up on billboards all over New York. Thankfully not in San Francisco where she might see it. 

Or remember when Chronicle Books published our book Stop Tweeting Boring Sh*t after a poster series we made to hang in our storefront windows went viral? Besides clarifying etiquette for modern office workers, we studied the behavior of 750 actual office workers around the country and gathered statistics on a variety of topics including, "The most vile office smells and "The percentage of people who steal office supplies." Thanks Paragraph Project.

Or remember when we were shooting that Bart commercial at the Powell Street station and the sun was spilling perfectly onto the stairwell when we yelled “Rolling.” And the footage turned out epic, but for the fact that nobody noticed the junkie shooting up heroin in the background?  

Or remember when you shot that commercial  for Groupon about an unemployed inflatable Gorilla? It was a brilliant commercial that won at the ADCC Awards so it’s in the archives at MOMA. But remember how all the gorillas we ordered from China turned out to be the wrong sizes. So we had to order four new ones and have them express shipped from China. And remember how that cost us about 30% of a miniscule budget? But hey, it’s about the memories not the money, right? 

Or remember when Burt Reynolds wanted $10,000 to use his name in a Roku ad? And our client wasn’t sure it was worth the investment. So we pointed out that if he signed the contract they’d get a celebrity autograph to boot.

Or remember when we filmed a Live Nation video with rodents running on turntables in the Division of Labor offices? Our talent, eight trained hamsters, gerbils, mice and rats, were true professionals.  The baby deer the animal trainer brought along was less so, crapping and pissing in our office every hour on the hour. But what’s a little deer scat among colleagues. And when the video became a Vimeo Staff Pick, it went viral and garnered millions of views, as well as hundreds of reposts to blogs and websites across the planet. 

Or remember when the LA Marathon sold out? And we got Kato Caelin to be a spokesman because he’s LA’s biggest sell-out? And remember when O.J. Simpson’s infamous houseguest upped the ante by showing up in Charlie Sheen’s bathrobe? We have no idea why Kato showed up in Charlie Sheen’s bathrobe, but he was super proud of it and he was a pleasure to work with so we skipped wardrobe and shot him in his treasured robe.

Or remember when you did all that great work for that nonprofit dedicated to promoting electric cars?  And you pitched this idea to use Arnold Schwarzenegger driving an electric car in an epic special effects laden Hollywood car chase scene. And the client loved the idea and arranged for you to pitch it directly to Arnold. And Arnold agreed to do a commercial but not the one you pitched. And then Arnold cut Division of Labor out of the equation by insisting he’d write his own script and use his own production people? Remember that? Well, even if we lost a major account, at least we get to reminisce about the time Arnold Schwarzenegger stole our account.

And remember when Josh finally finished his cake and said, “OK, get back to work. These award winning ad campaigns aren’t gonna make themselves.”

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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.

Advertising, Branding and The Art of an Effective Tagline

In a bold move that further illustrates Nike’s commitment to brand identity, the company chose Colin Kaepernick as the face for its award winning ad campaign which, incidentally, coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Nike “Just Do It” tagline.

Arguably, “Just Do It” is one of the most successful—not to mention memorable—taglines in the history of advertising. The award-winning ad campaign, which launched in 1988, was the catalyst for Nike’s meteoric rise to becoming one of the world’s top brands. Thirty years later the now legendary line endures, along with the company’s commitment to keeping their brand identity laser focused.

It goes without saying, that every client that engages an ad agency to orchestrate their brand launch (or re-brand launch) dreams of a similar success story. But know this: When searching for the best ad agency to sell your wares, it’s important to remember that advertising is part art, and part science. How consumers react is only partially predictable. Sound market research, strategic thinking and brilliant creative can help. But the thing everyone focuses on first, is the tagline.

If there isn’t an actual secret sauce to replicating Nike’s “Just Do It,” how do you increase the odds that your message will resonate? The tenets below serve as some basic building blocks of an effective tagline. Choose wisely and a few choice words will be ingrained in the consumer’s head today, tomorrow, and for decades to come.

Keep It Simple

A tagline is intended to encapsulate a brand’s personality. It’s definitely not the place to explain your product’s many benefits. When presented with taglines, clients will often say: “I like the line, but it doesn’t tell the complete story of who we are.”  That may be true. But that’s not what the tagline is supposed to do. The tagline is simply about evoking an emotional response. Gillette’s tagline “The Best a Man Can Get” doesn’t explain why. It doesn’t explain how a close shave can help you present a well groomed image and therefore appear more trustworthy to others. It’s all about how a guy feels.

Embrace What’s Unique.

A tagline can help set you apart from competitors. What do you offer that’s different? Avis’s “We Try Harder” tagline is a great example of this. The tagline came out of a discussion between DDB creatives and the Avis management team. Asked why anyone ever rents a car from Avis when Hertz was clearly the brand leader they said: "We Try Harder.”  This tagline, which prevailed for 50 years (the company went another direction in 2012) positioned Avis to not necessarily compete with Hertz, but embrace its second-place status. It’s a classic example of owning your negative to turn it into a positive.

If it Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

“A Diamond is Forever" has appeared in every single De Beers advertisement since 1948. The tagline drove diamond sales to a record high and made a diamond engagement ring as essential to a bride as her dress, veil, and a multi-tiered cake.  In 1999 Ad Age named “Diamonds are Forever” the tagline of the century. And, nearly two decades into the 21st century, there’s no indication that the campaign’s effectiveness is waning.  

If you can create a simple line that says something great, keep it. Change your campaign, executions, media, social content, videos, products, promotions, digital marketing, everything, but leave the line unless there’s a good reason to change it.

Cut Your Losses

If you’re working with a brand with established gravitas it’s not always advisable to re-invent the wheel. In 2014, Burger King scrapped its 40-year-old tagline “Have it Your Way” and replaced it with “Be Your Way.” The intent was to promote individuality. However, fans panned the new phrase because it simply made no sense. “Have It Your Way” lets the public know that they can customize their orders. “Be Your Way” just confuses the consumer. Although Burger King put a lot of time and money behind their new tagline, it never caught on. And, in the end, they quietly condensed the line to read “Your Way” which is ultimately a face saving move without any acknowledgment that the change to, “Be Your Way” was a colossal mistake.

Say One thing Well



Apple’s “Think Different,” which ran from 1997 to 2002, says nothing specific about Apple products. Yet, to this day, those two words are synonymous with the Apple Brand. It was a nod to the early adopters—at the time just 5% of consumers used apple products—who were thoughtful enough to embrace to totally different kind of computer, which operated in a totally different way than brand-leader IBM. More than two-thirds of Americans now own at least one apple product. And while Apple users now far outnumber other brands, the cache of being part of something innovative and unconventional lives on.

Trust the Agency

You know more about your company and its product than anyone else. But your ad agency knows more about how to endear consumers to your company and product than anyone else. When you say something like, “I ran the creative by my wife, brother, neighbor, dog catcher, (fill in additional name here) and they didn’t care for it” that’s neither helpful nor constructive. If you hired a lawyer you wouldn’t run his legal arguments by your wife, brother, neighbor, or dog catcher, nor would you seek a consensus opinion on whether your accountant filed the firm’s tax returns properly.

Early in my career, I was working for a guy who was, and still is, one of the most successful creative forces in the advertising industry. We were presenting new taglines to a large sporting goods company. Afterwards the client said: “I like this line, but do you have anything else.?” Without missing a beat, the creative replied, “This isn’t a fucking restaurant, This is your tagline.” Few ad execs could speak to a client so directly without losing the account. But, as I said, this guy is a legend. My point, however, is that the client backed off, ran the campaign and reaped the benefits.

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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.

Why Top Ad Agencies Should Strive to Sell More Than Just Widgets.

If you were to make a list of the noblest professions, it’s safe to say ad executive wouldn’t make the cut. However, it’s worth remembering that a good advertising campaign can do more than just encourage conspicuous consumption. And given the opportunity, we can use our craft to change the way people see the world, shape public opinion, and focus on the greater good.  

As an example, our friend and fellow ad guy Matt Rivitz, created Sleeping Giants. A campaign that brilliantly demonstrates to ad agency and marketing insiders that we can be the change. If you’re not familiar with Sleeping Giants, it’s a movement that began in 2016 as an anonymous twitter campaign with a simple goal: Persuade companies to remove its ads from news outlets that support hate speech and bigotry. As a result of retargeting, the bread and butter of digital marketing campaigns, companies often have no idea where their message is showing up. But @sleepingiants is keeping tabs. They follow extremist websites and let brands know when they’re appearing on the sites without their knowledge. To date they’ve alerted thousands of advertisers, and diverted millions of dollars from extremist websites.

The campaign operated entirely anonymously until July 2018, when The Daily Caller, a conservative news site founded by Tucker Carlson, outed Matt as the founder. They published his name and address online exposing him and his family to an onslaught of trolls. And while Matt never intended to go public with his social justice campaign, it was heartening to see that supporters outnumbered haters. And, just last month the ad agency world cemented its support by awarding his “Defund Bigotry Campaign” a Cannes Gold Lion.

We at Division of Labor always try to have at least one project going that goes beyond simple consumerism. (Don’t get us wrong, we love simple consumerism and we’re pretty good consumers ourselves.) However recent projects for the California Electric Car Coalition, VELOZ, NexGen America, and First Graduate are examples of how we use our skills to make an impact with clients.

 But we can all do more than just that. We have a particular interest in kids with learning disabilities so we created and now promote an application called ModMath. It’s free app for kids with learning disabilities that we financed, built and manage along with our partner and friend Jonathon Rose at Apptitude Digital.  We started the project because my son has a writing disability known as dysgraphia. (It goes along with his dyslexia.) People with dysgraphia have nearly illegible handwriting and the very act of putting pen to paper is so mentally taxing that interferes with cognitive abilities.  And because he couldn’t write math problems, he couldn’t solve the math problems. Although there’s plenty of speech-to-text programs to help with writing assignments, there’s was nothing to help with math. Since we launched ModMath in 2015, it has been used by thousands of schools and is helping to level the playing field for students with disabilities.

Division of Labor is certainly not the only top ad agency in San Francisco to donate time, resources and funds to a passion project. And it's also worth noting tha that many for-profit clients also earmark ad dollars to be the voice of change. Proctor & Gamble, for example, has sponsored two separate, but equally powerful films, The Talk, followed more recently by The Look, both of which address racial bias.

 So while we in the ad community do not earn our livings, searching for the cure for cancer, rushing into burning buildings, or running towards gunfire, we’re eternally thankful to those who do. And we relish even small opportunities to leave this world a better place. 

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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.

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

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.

LGBTQ in Advertising - A Brief History of Inclusion in Brand Marketing

2009: Absolut saluted 40 years of Gay Pride marches with a rainbow bottle.

If it’s not already apparent from the onslaught of rainbow-themed merchandise on display at malls across America, June is Gay Pride month. And while the overcommercialization of holidays tends to insight naysayers, critics, and purists, it’s hard to see this turn of events as anything but a win for both the LGBTQ community and humanity as a whole. In the not too distant past, it would have been unthinkable that retailers, including Macy’s, Target, and even gun-loving, music-lyric censoring Walmart would be stocking their shelves with LGBTQ pride merch. So as we near the 50th anniversary of Stonewall— it’s June 28th— this small San Francisco ad agency would like to add to the marketing fanfare with a look at the evolution of LGBTQ inclusion in advertising.

Ellen

The backlash that ensued after Ellen Degeneres outed herself on her self titled 1997 sitcom, which aired on ABC, is a good place to start. Advertisers including Chrysler and JC Penny boycotted the episode, and Wendy’s stopped advertising altogether. In the months that followed, religious groups began picketing the studio. There were death threats, bomb scares and endless hate mail.  The network responded by backing off on promoting the show and even aired disclaimers before every episode suggesting there may be themes that are “inappropriate for children.” Eventually, the show was canceled.

And while homophobia may have been socially acceptable in the nineties, not every CMO was complicit in tolerating it.  

Ikea

In 1994 a small, but rapidly expanding Swedish furniture company called IKEA  became the very first company to feature a gay couple in a mainstream ad.  Ikea ran the ad after  10 p.m. in three markets:  New York, Philadelphia as well as Washington, D.C.  It did this intentionally so as not to conflict with "family hour" programming. But this concession did little to silence the objections of the American Family Association and its leaders who called for boycotts of Ikea stores. The retailer, however, continued to air the ad, which was part of a lifestyle campaign featuring different types of consumers, including a divorced mom, adopting parents, and an empty nester couple.  (Keep this in mind the next time you try to assemble one of their particle board desks only to discover half the screws you need to hold it together are missing. It will keep your frustrations in check.)

Volkswagen

Other retailers took a softer approach: In 1997 Volkswagen aired its  “Sunny Afternoon” spot (also called Da Da Da)  which featured two young guys rescuing a piece of furniture discarded on the street in their VW Golf.  Incidentally, the spot debuted on the Ellen coming out episode. But unlike the Ikea spot, the relationship between these two men was intentionally left vague. Were they friends, roommates or boyfriends?  It allowed for multiple interpretations meant to cushion against criticism. The spot was perhaps the first in a category known hereafter as “gay-vague.”

A tongue in cheek ad for Ambassador Scotch that passes judgement on some old-school thinking.

John Hancock Financial Services

In 2000 John Hancock Financial Services aired a spot where two Caucasian women are in line at a crowded airport immigration line, holding an infant girl with Asian features. As they're waiting, they coo over the sleeping baby.  One might infer from the dialogue that the two women are a couple on their way home with their newly adopted daughter. The tagline: "Insurance for the unexpected. Investments for opportunities. John Hancock."  Then on the cutaway with only audio, one woman says to the other, "You're going to make a great mom." Her partner replies, "So are you."  The company, of course, caught flack for the ad. And while they didn’t pull it, they did send it back to the editing room, pulled out the cutaway dialogue from the end and ran a re-released, “gay vague” version. (We scoured the internet to find a link to this one but came up empty. If any knows finds send us the URL so we can post)

Heinz

Fast forward another eight years and America was still struggling to come to terms with LBGTQ PDA. The Heinz company went for it anyway releasing a commercial for Deli Mayo. It opened on a typical morning scene as a family gets ready to start their day. There’s the obligatory kiss as dad goes off to work. Nothing amiss here, except that this man’s spouse is also a man. A week after its airing, Heinz caved to pressure after receiving hundreds of complaints from consumers suggesting it was “offensive” and ‘inappropirate to see two men kissing.”

Gillette

Even today, any of these ads might still cause a stir in some communities.  The difference: Today advertisers are much more likely to stay the course because the backlash from the other side for caving to social pressure will be that much greater. That said: there’s still plenty of room for companies to push the envelope and show consumers what America really looks like. Last month, Gillette did just that, running a documentary style commercial featuring a father teaching his transgender son how to shave. Simple idea. Well executed. Wish we’d thought of it.

Being an ad man or ad woman may not be as noble a profession as, say, a teacher, a social worker, or a mental health counselor. But it’s worth remembering that a good advertising campaign can do more than just sell widgets. We can use our craft to change the way people see the world, shape public opinion, and focus on the greater good.

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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. And 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

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.

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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.

Five Things Every Start-Up Marketing Campaign Must Do (But Often Don't)

Marketing blog posts usually talk about the importance of data, analytics, measurement and all the logical, basics that young MBAs focus on for a successful marketing campaign. But targeting, tracking, optimizing and measuring aren’t the differentiators. They’re the basic nuts and bolts of a marketing campaign that everyone should be doing. What most people, amazingly, ignore is the message.

What are you gonna do to make people pay attention? Why should anyone give a crap? How are you gonna make people have an emotional connection to your brand or product? If your campaign doesn’t have a strong point of view that makes people feel something, you’ll have to spend exponentially more money forcing a bland message down people’s throats. So use the data and analytics and optimize the hell out of your campaign. But make sure you do something that can’t be ignored. A few thoughts on how to go about that.

1. If You’re Not Offending Someone, You’re Boring Everyone

Muslims, Jews, Catholics, African Americans, Asians, Christians, Latinos, white people, homosexuals, heterosexuals, PETA, the elderly, conservatives, the NRA, the NAACP, smelly hippies, trailer-trash, the Amish, private militias, people with chronic foot odor—anyone on this list might be offended if they’re mentioned in an ad. Yet someone left off this list may be offended if they were omitted. Put a kid in a wheelchair in your ad and you’re pandering. Don’t show a kid in a wheelchair and you’re ignoring the handicapped. Use the word handicapped and you’re an insensitive boob. Use the term challenged and you’re insulting. That’s the way it is. If you have a point of view, and you get a lot of attention, you’re gonna offend someone.

We once did a radio commercial for a power company in Chicago about proper insulation to stay warm. And we made some joke about how heavy wool sweaters are itchy. Seemed innocuous enough. Until our client received a terse letter from the Wool Council suggesting our ad was misleading and offensive as only poor quality wool is itchy. They asked that we stop running it and blah blah blah. But if our radio commercial motivated a wool lobbyist to write a letter, I’ll tally that as a win for my client. It’s proof that our message is getting noticed. So don’t be so bland that no one even notices you. Also, when the wool lobbyist complains, post their comments proudly on your social media feed.

2.  Knock Off a Few Liquor Stores While Plotting the Perfect Diamond Heist

Like any smart entrepreneur knows, great is the enemy of good. Because if you wait for things to be perfect, you’ve waited too long. Same goes with marketing. Quit pondering and testing your way toward never actually doing anything. Who cares if you’re gonna change your brand colors in six months. Do something! Rather, than spending months and months on focus groups “testing” ideas, get things out into the ethos, monitor success, and tweak as necessary. Instead, combine research and instinct to choose a campaign most likely to resonate with your audience and roll the campaign out in a test market. Then use the feedback to plan next steps, knowing that the data you’ve gleaned is far more valuable than anything you’d extrapolate from a focus group.

3. Drop a Bomb in the Room and Then Throw in a Bunch of Leaflets

This is our somewhat politically incorrect philosophy: Drop a bomb, meaning do something big that gets a shit-ton of attention (yes, that’s a technical term) and then follow up with rational product messages after people are curious. Brands need both emotional and rational messages.

The job of your advertising is not just to explain how your product works. Saying a lot of things that matter to you will not make those things matter to others. Because no one makes rational purchase decisions. We all make emotional decisions and justify them with rational thinking.

Think of the two most important purchase decisions you’ve ever made: your house and your car. The average person looks at the house they buy 1.5 times and spends less than an hour there. There’s nothing rational about that. You fall in love with the view or the pizza oven and then you rationalize the purchase by saying, it’s in a good school district or the kids’ rooms are close to ours, or whatever.

Same with your car. If you were being rational when buying a car, you’d buy the most economical, safest vehicle to transport you from point A to point B. But you’ve convinced yourself that a BMW handles better and performs better. Even though if we took the badge off the front, you couldn’t tell the difference between a loaded Hyundai, Ford Fusion or a BMW. (And please don’t write me letters BMW fans. I know you could tell by the tight suspension and that BMW engine growl. Whatever.)

The point is, we fall in love with what the brand stands for and then we rationalize all the reasons it’s a “better” car for us. Same with every purchase we make. Emotions like love, envy, pride, and vanity are the driving forces of our existence. It’s what makes us human. So when it comes to vetting the perfect ad campaign, make sure people will fall in love with it or shed a tear or bust a gut laughing or say, “I totally do that!” Or, just make sure they want to wear your logo on a T-Shirt. Because, well,  there is nothing rational about wearing a logo on a T-Shirt, and yet it’s probably the most popular piece of clothing in the world today.

4. Quit Worrying So Much About Insulting the Customer

I hear this all the time from marketing people as if there’s a subsection of executives who actually want to insult their customers. Marketing people who overthink customer reactions operate from a position of fear. They think that if a person in their commercial or video is the butt of a joke or looks foolish, that equates to “making fun of our customers.” But, in actuality, people watching the commercial or video do not see themselves as the person in the commercial—unless they want to be that person. If the person is cool or smart or sexy or looks good in those jeans, they might picture themselves as that person. If it’s funny and the person in the commercial is made to look the fool, the viewer does not think, “That buffoon in the commercial is me and they’re making fun of me.” So, if you’re gonna make a joke, there has to be a butt of a joke. All your favorite commercials show people acting foolish, being made fun of and looking like buffoons. That’s why you like them. Because those people are NOT you.

5. Know Your Bedfellows

Analytics and data do a great job of tracking your target around the web. Retargeting allows us to follow people where they go and get our message in front of them. But that’s a big problem. The data doesn’t think or feel. It just follows. So if your target goes to an extreme political website or porn site or another site whose values are inconsistent with that of your brand, your ad goes there too.  So talk to your media company to target safe sites, generally denoted as whitelist sites. And follow @sleepinggiants. They follow extremist websites and let brands know when they’re appearing on the sites without their knowledge. Full disclosure: @sleepinggiants targets Breitbart and helped reduce their ad revenue by nearly 90%. So if you’re a Breitbart fan, this is probably where we part ways.

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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.

Free Sharks Tattoos and a Whole Lot of Free Press

They started lining up last night at 8:30 pm in front of Players Ink Tattoo Shop in San Jose to be one of the first 40 in line to get a free San Jose Sharks tattoo. “Sharks for Life” is the tagline we started using three years ago when we first started working with the team. Today, Sharks for Life became literal. Hundreds of fans came out to show their support for the team they love by getting Sharks ink.

We launched the marketing idea on social media before the Sharks had even won their second round series against the Avalanche. It was heartening to see how many people came out, in the rain no less, to be a part of this event. It’s also a great example of how to harness social media to build engagement and encourage brand loyalty.

We and the Sharks partnered with three local tattoo shops. The Sharks cover the cost of all the tattoos, they help promote local businesses, do something nice for their fans, build community spirit and brand awareness. Not to mention, they get a ton of earned media worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for a fraction of the price of equivalent paid media. It’s proof that if you take big swings and do something unconventional, it pays off for everyone involved. Thanks to the Sharks for always supporting bold ideas.

ABC News, NBC Sports, KRON4 News, San Jose Mercury News, Yahoo Sports, . SFGate, KSBW News, KFOX Radio, 105.3 Radio

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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.

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.

An Advertising and Technology Case Study

Advertising and technology often intersect as media strategies, creative ideas and digital engagements get more and more elaborate and quite frankly, more interesting. But sometimes the intersection of advertising and technology has a different purpose. Allow us to explain.

This Saturday, May 4th 2019, there is an amazing event in San Francisco called ED REV, which is held annually at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.

Ed REV, short for Education Revolution, is a day-long event geared towards the 1 in 5 children who struggle with learning and attention differences, often compounded by anxiety and depression. As branding experts, we don’t love the name, but we love the organization. (Perhaps if they call us, we’ll happily offer pro-bono hours to create a name that more accurately embodies their LD mission.)   

Now in its 11th year, EdRev offers education sessions, resources, and consultations with a celebratory community day at the ballpark. It is the only convention of its kind that brings together the entire LD community—students, parents, educators, and professionals. There will be an exhibit hall showcasing the latest learning technology, a stunning art gallery of the works of LD children from 100+ schools, community organizations and service providers focused specifically on learning and attention differences.

And there’ll be plenty of activities to keep the ADD kids engaged. The highlight, for most kids, is the ability to run the bases on the Giant’s field, while you relish in the knowledge that you’re surrounded by kids who all know what it means to live with a hidden disability.

As a San Francisco based ad agency, our small contribution comes in the form of a free assistive technology app we created called ModMath.  It levels the playing field for students who are falling behind in math due to dysgraphia, a condition that makes writing anything out longhand extremely difficult. Rather than bore you with the specifics check out this explainer video which sums up the disability and the app’s functionality in about 60 seconds.

The point is that advertising and technology come together whenever we use our skills to create things that push the envelope, not just for our clients, but for our world. Of course, the obvious question is: Why would an ad agency champion an app for students with learning disabilities?  Well, one in five people have a learning disability. But in my family's’ gene pool, that number is more like 3 out of 5 as it’s often hereditary. And my son (the handsome dude in our explainer video)  has a particularly bad case of dysgraphia to go along with his dyslexia. So, when we realized there was no existing technology to help a student like our son around his disability, we brought advertising and technology together. A lot of agencies are doing amazing things with technology for all kinds of causes.

And if you visit ED REV this year, you’ll learn about dozens of assistive technologies that, like ModMath, are designed to help LD kids realize their full potential. It’s a powerful event you don’t want to miss.

Please learn more by checking out ED REVs fantastic partners Understood and the Children’s Health Counsel, who work tirelessly to educate the public on learning disabilities and related mental health issues.

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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. For a free advertising consultation.click here .

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The one thing every marketing plan needs.

“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.  

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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.

Division of Labor Recognized on Clutch

Search Google for the top advertising agencies in San Francisco and there’s a good chance Division of Labor comes up toward the top of the listings, along with a company called Clutch. Clutch is a top provider of ratings and reviews for B2B service providers. Sort of like an aggregator or a matchmaker for business. Clutch uses data driven research to identify top firms in dozens of industries and categories, including  ad agencies in San Francisco. And lately, we’ve been moving up the ranks on Clutch, sitting in the top 10 in a number of categories.

But how does Clutch actually determine its top 10 lists? Well, first their analysts conduct research on firms, considering factors such as marketing presence, company portfolios, and social media efforts. But most importantly, ranks are based on client reviews.

 Several of our clients gave us detailed reviews of the work we completed for them. And, we’re happy to say, all who were interviewed (included the two below) gave us five stars. Reviews are conducted over the phone with Clutch analysts or online through a detailed questionnaire

“I loved their passion for creativity. They cared about my personal success and the success of my company.

-       Former Director of Marketing, Roku

“They’re smart, and they get things done.”

-       CMO, LA Marathon

 In addition to our presence on Clutch, we are featured on their sister-site, The Manifest, as one of the top video production companies in San Francisco. The Manifest is a resource for firms of all shapes and sizes, offering curated industry advice and how-to guides to help identify and address all manner of challenges. Our inclusion was the result of our work, as well as the size of our team and the cost of our services, and we are grateful to be recognized for our production talents. But in the end, it all comes down to great clients and the partnerships we have with them.

Thank you to everyone on the Division of Labor team, as well as our amazing clients. Our next high-water mark: Recognition as one of the top 10 West Coast ad agencies. Stay tuned. We will let you know when that happens. 

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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.

San Jose Sharks Playoff Mode

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.

Kelly Services in Times Square - A Marketing Case Study

This past St. Patrick’s Day, Kelly Services was is invited to ring the bell at the Nasdaq. It’s obviously a big honor, worthy of far more celebration than a green, plastic hat and a few shots of Jamison. The event reminds the company, and the market for that matter, that Kelly is a Fortune 500 company and a global leader in workforce services.

So how does Kelly honor this New York event? They tapped Division of Labor, one of many ad agencies in San Francisco, but arguably one of the few who could concept, design and produce a execution for an iconic video billboard, in just 10 days.  That’s right. We were tasked with creating a digital video execution for the Times Square facing side of New York City’s landmark NASDAQ building. This is a fantastic location in terms of eyeballs. But here’s the catch: It’s a design nightmare because there are 26 windows smattered throughout billboard.  

We looked into how other digital marketing agencies and branding agencies dealt with the problem. And for the most part, they just ignored the windows, which then breaks up the type and makes the images look pretty crappy.

Our solution: We recommended the windows be used as an asset to organically tell the Kelly story. For a temporary staffing agency, this meant seizing upon the adage: “Every time a door closes, a window opens.” In this way, the windows become the focal point of the ad. It’s also in keeping with Kelly’s positioning that no job is permanent.

Full disclosure: Our first idea involved filming on green screen so it looked like people were climbing out the windows of the building.  We all thought this was pretty clever until someone suggested it might conjure up images of 9/11. And, well, as marketing strategies go, that’s a Bozo No-No.

In the end, we pulled off a powerful visual presentation that achieved the same goals without controversy. And while solid, strategic creative is the bedrock of any brand strategy, it takes a wealth a talent to bring it all to fruition.  And there’s no doubt that without our producer, Julie Costanzo, plus Ned Brown, and Elisa Morse at Native Content and the fabulous VFX artist, Justin Leibow we couldn’t have pulled it all together so flawlessly.

In the end, Kelly’s story was told in a more memorable way through an execution designed specifically for this iconic piece of media. Did it require more effort on our part? For sure. But well worth it in the end. Congratulations Kelly Services.

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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.

Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein to be honored by Cannes.

Thank you Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein. And congratulations on being 2019’s Cannes Lions Lifetime Achievement Honorees.

You are responsible for the birth of multiple top advertising agencies including Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, Venables Bell and Partners, BarrettSF, Black Rocket, Heat, Cutwater, Division of Labor, Funworks, Muhtayzik Hoffer, Erich and Kallman, Eleven, Mutt, Creature, Tool, Argonaut, Chemistry Club, Mad Dogs and Englishman and countless other marketing agencies that we forgot to mention but welcome in the comments section so we can update. We are all in your debt.

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.

Division of Labor Has Moved

Thanks to the workers at Gianola Awnings for starring in our moving video.

After eight years in the same office, the Division of Labor finally outgrew our space and has relocated. We considered joining the glut of top advertising agencies based in San Francisco, but in the end, couldn’t quit our love affair with salty Sausalito.

We have, however, moved a little further from the fudge shops and souvenir stores to fly under the radar of curious European tourists. It was charming, at first, when folks stumbled into our office with their fanny packs and selfie sticks and began flipping over office chairs in search of price tags. We also loved it when some of the Sausalito locals, often wreaking of gin— dropped in to share their unsolicited political opinions. Guiding them out the door when they outstayed their welcome was less pleasant. On the bright side, it was a great way to hone our conflict resolution skills.

Is our new space a little more grown up? Maybe a little. But it’s twice the size and has assigned parking spaces. And it’s clear that stress levels are down now that our employees no longer live in fear of the meter maids.

Of course, we miss our lattes from Cibo and especially their pastries. But the Nespresso machine in our new kitchen makes a decent cup of coffee. Pair it with a PopTart, purchased in bulk for employee consumption, and quality of life at the new Division of Labor headquarters is pretty sweet.  

On a final note: If any Kellogg or Nespresso executives happen upon this blog post and need help with data-driven marketing strategies and require the services of an agency in San Francisco, we’re already brand loyal.

Living with the San Jose Sharks

What happens when the San Jose Sharks come live with a suburban family in their San Jose home? Well, the short answer is, not much. They’re pretty boring, actually. They hang around, do some chores, clip their nails, maybe plunge the occasional toilet. And that’s the point. The Sharks aren’t much fun hanging around at your house. It’s better to come watch them at our house.

And that’s the premise of our new San Jose Sharks campaign. The Sharks have the fans. They’re some of the most loyal in the NHL actually. But the goal was to move them from TV-watching fans to game-attending fans.

To make the point, we brought the Sharks players to a home in suburban San Jose and filmed them doing a bunch of mundane tasks and chores. We had them clean the grill, brush their teeth, paint miniature civil war figurines, you know, boring stuff.

Turns out, even when they’re boring, they’re pretty damn funny. Joe Thornton ordering window treatments from a catalog. Joe Pavelski clipping his toe nails on the living room couch, Brendon Dillon looking for his loofa to take his bath. It’s funny.

And the fact is, the NHL has a problem: it’s hard to see the puck when you’re watching on TV. We began combatting this problem with a Snapchat promotion where we hid custom hockey pucks around San Jose labeled with the headline: “It’s easier to see the puck in person.”

Anyone who finds a puck, enters a special code on the back good for two free tickets.

The success of these promotions helped lead us to this new work. Thanks to Donavan Sell, Director of Photography and an amazing crew who worked like mad to get it all done.

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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.

How to launch a new product and a new category at the same time.

More often than not, startups aren’t just creating new products, they’re creating new categories. A new thing within a new thing, so to speak. Uber is the product, ride-sharing is the category. Roku is the product, streaming is the category. You get it.

But launching new products in new categories causes a marketing dilemma: Talk about the category too much and risk ignoring your own brand. Focus too much on product specifics and risk confusing your audience.

This was on our mind when we started talking to Opendoor; the San Francisco startup that’s disrupting the real estate market. The basic premise: If you want to sell your home, Opendoor will make you an offer in just 24 hours and you can close in a few days or weeks. Whatever is best for you. The entire transaction happens online. And since the company began operating, others have followed suit creating an entirely new category in the real estate market.

But when we began working together on a campaign to launch the brand in new markets, we had to confront the original question: how do you launch a product when no one’s heard of the category?

We know from our initial research, and a healthy dose of personal experience, that the category is riddled with emotion. Selling a home is a frustrating, stressful process almost always accompanied by some major life event. Understanding and tapping into the emotional problem is key. If you can capture the emotion inherent in the problem, you’ll have an audience for the solution.

After working together on a strategy, we dug further into their research with customers. The pain points they uncovered were the stress and uncertainty that comes with selling a home, along with how long the whole thing takes.

One of the first ideas we worked on together was a video called, “The Process” – a long, step by step account of the insidious rigmarole people have to go through to sell a house.

It was immediately embraced by everyone on the Opendoor team and we dug in to collaborate on the idea. Together we wrote and rewrote the script, talked about visual treatments and shooting styles and started the search to find the perfect director.

A few months later, we went down to LA to shoot for two days with Sam Fleischner and All Day Every Day. It was an ambitious number of scenes to get shot in two days. And even more ambitious to cut into 60, 30 and 15 seconds. That task went to the fabulous Drew Blatman.

In the end, the campaign launched in Raleigh with TV, outdoor, radio, digital and social. We doubled brand awareness and market share, while conversion rates and website traffic increased dramatically. The idea successfully tapped into the emotion people could relate to. And positioned Opendoor as a simple solution to a long-standing problem.

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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. 

What's Klay Thompson’s Pre-Game Ritual?

A lot of NBA players have pre-game rituals. For some, it’s habit, for others superstition. Jason Terry wore the shorts of the opposing team to bed the night before each game. Kevin Garnett ate a PB&J before every game. While Kevin Durant unties and reties his shoes on the scorer’s table just before tipoff.

But Warriors guard Klay Thompson keeps it simple; he reads the newspaper. Before every game, the Warriors PR team puts a fresh newspaper in front of his locker for Klay to read before tipoff. On the road, any paper will do. When he’s at home, Klay prefers the local East Bay Times.

The Bay Area News Group owns East Bay Times along with the Mercury News and Marin IJ. And they came to us and asked for a campaign to help boost sagging newspaper readership among a younger demographic.

After a little research, we found out about Klay’s story. And we decided to just tell it honestly without getting in the way.

Klay’s gotten attention recently for his dance club moves in China and a commercial where he bathes in a bathtub full of shoes. But this is different.

An NBA star who reads an old-school newspaper shows a guy who’s clearly a lot deeper than he previously appeared. And maybe a generation of people who have foregone traditional news organizations in favor of news via social media will sit up, take notice and start a new ritual of their own.

Thanks to John Madden’s Goal Line Studio, DP Lou Weinert, Producer Ben Latimer and a great client team lead by Olga Mitina.

It's Official: Advertising is Art.

What happens when a small, San Francisco ad agency teams up with the largest modern and contemporary art museum in the country? 

Division of Labor has launched a new campaign with our partners at The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The campaign pairs popular San Francisco destinations with iconic works of art from the museum’s collection and encourages people to, “See them both.”

For example, the Golden Gate Bridge is juxtaposed against Mark Rothko’s similarly colored painting, No. 14, 1960. While a rainbow flag flying in the Castro sits alongside Ellsworth Kelly’s painting, Spectrum I. 

The goal is to inspire the 25 million annual visitors to San Francisco to visit SFMOMA along with the bridge, Alcatraz, cable cars and the like.

When we started the project, our research showed that of the favorite destinations for tourists coming to San Francisco, museums rarely cracked the top 10. Even though SFMOMA is the largest modern and contemporary art museum in America.

We also found that while the majority of travelers use social media and the internet to plan their trip, 85% of the final decisions are actually made on the ground after people arrive.

So the campaign utilizes social and digital to build awareness when people are planning their travel and then uses outdoor and geo fenced mobile to target people while they’re visiting other places around the city.

All the artists’ estates were incredibly gracious in letting us use their work. Huge thanks to XYZ who did all final production and helped us ensure that we were reproducing these amazing works of art accurately. You can check out more of the work here.

An oversized retail stunt for Shopkick.

Nearly 500 rolls of toilet paper were used to build a shoe that stands over 8 feet tall.

Shopkick is a mobile app that allows people to earn points whenever they buy stuff. And you trade the points for gift cards. So buy a bunch of toilet paper and you earn money to buy, say, some new shoes.

Which got us thinking; “What if we build a huge pair of shoes out of toilet paper?”

So we did. It’s a 10-foot tall stiletto built out of nearly 1000 rolls of toilet paper.

We actually built three different TP shoe sculptures to anchor sign-up events across the country. Shopkick beacons are inside Target, Bestbuy, Marshalls, CVS and hundreds of other retailors. Hopefully our little stunt will get more people on the platform.

WANTED: Small Ad Agency with B2B Experience. Sort of.

As one of the premier small ad agencies in San Francisco, we're asked often about our B2B experience. We've executed a lot of B2B campaigns for a variety of different clients. But those campaigns have been successful not because we have B2B experience, but because we have B2C experience. And, because we think both those terms are passe' and need to be retired.

There's been a lot written about the consumerization of B2B. But John Becher from SAP summed it up best when he was encouraging his team to get to know their business customers as individuals and he reminded them that, “Big glass buildings do not buy products. People do.”

And there is no distinction between a person “at work” and a person “at home.” They’re always “at both.” We can’t manage to put our phones down at the dinner table, or stay off Instagram at the conference table. And where we happen to be located when we see a message does not change the way we make purchase decisions. It just doesn't.

The purchase process is the same no matter how long the purchase funnel is.

People need awareness. People want brand value. People read information and content about a category and products. People consult friends and colleagues. And ultimately, people make emotional decisions based on rational input because that’s the way people are.

Humans make emotional decisions no matter their physical location. They’re insecure and need to feel like they made the right decision whether their boss is judging them or their spouse is judging them.

SAP, IBM, GE and HP have done some of the world’s best advertising. Is it business to business?

Apple, Nike, AT&T and VW have done some of the world’s best advertising. Is it consumer advertising?

Marty Homlish, EVP and chief customer experience officer at HP sums it all up this way: In today’s networked world, terms like B2B and B2C are no longer relevant—it is all about B2C. Whether you are a CEO or a CPA, you can be a consumer anywhere and at anytime. You can window shop, read and write reviews, bargain hunt, or bespoke until you drop. And when you go back to being a CEO or CPA, you want the same always-on, simple experience in your “B2B” world since there is no longer a distinction between what hat you are wearing.”

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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.

How does bad advertising happen?

I was driving with my friend Marty the other day and he said, “I see so much really bad advertising on TV, how do things so bad get approved?”

We’ve all asked ourselves that at one time or another because there is so much talent out there and so many great agencies and yet, still, so much bad work.

Of course, a lot of things contribute to the caca that pervades. But there is one belief about the purchase process that is fundamentally false. And it is the one belief that causes so many of the problems.

Companies believe, too often, that people make rational decisions.But they don’t. People don’t buy things for rational reasons. People make emotional decisions and then rationalize them.

That’s true for everything we buy from cars, to clothes, to facial cleansers. We buy for emotional reasons and then we justify the purchase by citing product benefits. NOT the other way around.

A recent study undertaken by the Wharton School of Business and the Advertising Research Foundation agrees. (And they’re smart, rational people.) They analyzed 880 entries to the UK’s Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Effectiveness Awards, which are based soley on business results of campaigns. And they cited two things that a campaign should do to be successful:

- Influence consumers emotionally rather than rationally

- Create ads with "talk value"

Now that said, there is, and always will be, a need for rational benefits in the purchase funnel. Because once people are emotionally taken by a brand, they need rational reasons to justify the purchase. But they need to react emotionally first.

Anyway, hope that helps, Marty. Something to keep in mind tonight when you're watching The Voice and that floor cleaner commercial comes on that you love so much.

Using Snapchat to build an audience.

As a small ad agency in San Francisco, we take a hands-on approach to social promotions. And in this case, we used Snapchat to remind Sharks fans how much better the game is in person.

One of the biggest problems with NHL Hockey is that it’s a tough sport to watch on TV. Because you can’t see the puck. It moves too fast and it’s just too small.

So we hid custom pucks all around the Bay Area that said, “It’s easier to see the puck in person.” Find a puck and there’s a code on the back that gets you free tickets to a Sharks game.

The whole thing played out on Snapchat where we gave clues to where the pucks were hidden. People who found them became part of the Snapchat story. And their followers got introduced to the Sharks and the whole thing is one, big, happy social circle. And when people are reminded of how much a better a Sharks game is in person, they’re a lot more likely to go again.

The promotions were such a success last year, that a bunch are scheduled for this year. So follow sanjosesharks on Snapchat and get ready to see the puck in person.

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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.