Bonnie's blog

We love our teams. And are well-known for getting behind them. Win or lose, they can count on a loyal fan base to be there for them. Cheer them on. Believe in them.
We have another team to get behind. When they suit up—it’s dressed up. They are the mighty, fighting Business Leaders of Michigan.

Hereʼs a good example of a difference between men and women: shopping. Women shop. Men retrieve.

The Sunday New York Times Style magazine had an article this past week titled “Google’s Doodles”. It seemed the writer did like what they do with their logo although there were a lot of words like “gauche”, “childlike”, “corny” describing various expressions of it.

The thing that's kind of numbing about Facebook is the number of messages suggesting "I'm going to the refrigerator now." "I'm looking at my cat."  "I'm thinking of going to a movie. hmmmm." It's like your dog has begun talking and you've suddenly learned he's dull. Geez. Disappointing. Friends have an obligation to be perky. Fun. Tell me something new. Show up interesting or stay home.

"If the client won't buy good work--try great."

Bill Bernbach, the legendary  and inspiring founder of Doyle Dane Bernbach, started the creative revolution that changed how people did advertising. He was smart, ethical, funny, thoughtful, insightful and quotable. Infinitely quotable. Really. You have to wonder who followed him around and took down all the terse eloquence left in his wake. It’s dandy somebody did because his words still work. And keep in mind they were said starting in the ‘50s.

Try this:
“You cannot sell (to) a man who isn’t listening.”

Now, there’s a lot written about the current creative revolution: Social Media. Social Media provides interesting new, creative opportunities for talking to people. Social Media is very one-on-one. Very personal. Very instantaneous. Also very congested. How do you get someone to listen? Same way as always. Be interesting to them. I’ll guess you’re getting a lot of messages that you can’t delete fast enough because the sender isn’t talking to you. It’s artless. It’s like they think if they just lay all the merchandise on the sidewalk, the world will flock to them. When I’m doing the searching, I go past what seems to be nothing special to find something exceptional. Something that calls out to me for some reason.

“There is practically nothing that is not capable of boring us.”

Oh boy. Dullness. Yada, Yada. Blah, blah. Everything I always wanted to tell you about me and then my hat and then more about ME. Plus, there’s just so much of everything out there. And between my ADD and the volume of stuff people are vying to get me to read, I’m overwhelmed.  It’s like being in a constant ad blizzard.

“Adapt your techniques to an idea, not an idea to your techniques.”

It’s how you cut through any medium. Think about your products and/or services. What is unique to them will start pointing the way to interesting, fresh, creative ways—ideas, IDEAS!!-- to develop a deeper, two-way relationship with your audience. And maybe de-mystify some of how Social Media and any media can work harder for you.

“The magic is in the product.”

Yes. It is. Let’s take a look at some of the interesting opportunities that new (and old) media might have to make your magic interesting to more people. Contact us.

Recently, there has been talk that General Motors is going to change the background color on its logo from blue (would the legions of art directors who were tortured over the years to not offend trade dress in any way like to honk now? Or sing out the PMS number?) to green to signify the new company focus on greener vehicles.

Hmmm. That’s something one could argue for either way.  

This past Friday night I was at the rehearsal dinner for a young couple to be married the next day. The party was in the groom’s parents’ lovely home. It was all pretty snazzy. The 45 or 50 guests were gussied up, tan, fit, multi-generational and probably mostly WASP. The menu was authentic Italian cuisine. There was staff. The over-the-top flowers were plentiful and stunningly arranged. A rented bartender served cocktails and champagne for the father’s welcoming toast to the guests and the young couple.

There are many examples.

Text messages brought down the corrupt mayor of Detroit and his Chief of Staff/girl friend.

Cell phone photos of Michael Phelps with a bong tarnished his medals.

You know you’re not supposed to open the door to strangers. You know it’s a dangerous world out there where there are bad things going on. Deviants, pervs, smarmy, sicko guys with insinuating voices and lame stories just wanting you to let your guard down and invite them into your house. They prey on your best qualities to be kind, helpful. Oh? Car trouble? Oh.