Ah, Thanksgiving. Delicious food, great friends and family, lots of football and a few too many hangovers. It's a great day of celebration and relaxation. As long as we can get through the inundating Black Friday ads.
After getting punished with political ads left and right, quite literally, we're rewarded with a mutiny of holiday ads. Some are hits, many are misses.
On the misses front, what happened to Target this season? The discounter has struck a chord with the younger generation in the past, but it's off-the-wall psycho mom bargain hunter ads have really taken a stride from its traditional ad platforms. A stride that steps in a big pile of dog poo and stinks badly. Ultimately, I see the new Target ads as only confusing the crucial young spending crowd who has an attachment to the Target chain. Thumbs down to the Minneapolis-based retailer.
Looking at Black Friday ads specifically, it's hard to find one that doesn't smell like your uncle Ted who indulged a little too much in the Thanksgiving dinner, paying it forward via gaseous delight. At least Sears and Kohls have managed to keep the ads from having an in your face your missing the greatest thing ever sold feel.
The question we pose to you is: Have companies gone too far to publicize their Black Friday deals?
From Vebe's standpoint, we have now reached a level of consumerism of diminishing returns. Who really wants to get up and wait in line for 4 a.m. deals that usually only reach the first 10 customers in line?
How long will consumers continue to agree to being duped by guerrilla marketing just so the Big Boxes can get you inside the doors? And, at what point, will a store realize that opening at 7 or 8 a.m. will still produce the same sales results for the weekend as opening at a ridiculously early time?
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
We're Back! Improved and Growing.
After a long hiatus from posting updates, Vebe Visual is back at it. And, what a long few months it has been.
Vebe has been in a bit of a transition here the last several months. We have moved our offices from Riverside to Orange County, which positions us closer to key accounts.
Also during that time, the V and B (Vogtman and Burns) of Vebe have merged once again. Chris and Tracy are now married! That's right, the company founders - who coincidentally were dating once Vebe started - got hitched Nov. 6 in St. Cloud, MN.
You might assume two communications professionals set high standards when it comes to wedding invitations, save the dates, wedding programs and the like ... you assume correctly!
It was a wonderful wedding with great programs, awesome name place holders and even the standard slideshow. All of this work was, naturally, done in-house.
Now, believe it or not, Tracy has said she would be willing to add wedding invitations to the lists of products Vebe can handle. So, now we handle them. Got a wedding coming up? Want professionally designed wedding invitations without the stress? Vebe is at your service.
Trust us, it's worth paying somebody to handle them. And, face it, nobody wants to send out those standard unoriginal, non-custom invitations you buy from Michaels.
Vebe has been in a bit of a transition here the last several months. We have moved our offices from Riverside to Orange County, which positions us closer to key accounts.
Also during that time, the V and B (Vogtman and Burns) of Vebe have merged once again. Chris and Tracy are now married! That's right, the company founders - who coincidentally were dating once Vebe started - got hitched Nov. 6 in St. Cloud, MN.
You might assume two communications professionals set high standards when it comes to wedding invitations, save the dates, wedding programs and the like ... you assume correctly!
It was a wonderful wedding with great programs, awesome name place holders and even the standard slideshow. All of this work was, naturally, done in-house.
Now, believe it or not, Tracy has said she would be willing to add wedding invitations to the lists of products Vebe can handle. So, now we handle them. Got a wedding coming up? Want professionally designed wedding invitations without the stress? Vebe is at your service.
Trust us, it's worth paying somebody to handle them. And, face it, nobody wants to send out those standard unoriginal, non-custom invitations you buy from Michaels.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Where Have We Been?
For those of you who are reading this, kudos, you've made it past the longest lapse in post history. It's hard to believe how busy things have gotten for us lately. Tracy has been busy putting in hours on back-to-back weeks making up for our trip back to Minnesota along with wedding planning. I've just been busy putting in hours. 11 hour work days are the norm again.
Unfortunately, 11 hour days sometimes happen on Sundays, as was the case yesterday. Work is work, but when it's work for somebody else on a Sunday, it's tough. I'm getting that bug to really start the Vebe business full-on (instead of part-time) and reap the rewards for a change. I've learned as of late that there are still plenty of people looking for quality work from businesses that care as much about the product as they do.
At KTM, we've tried finding quality vendors and damn near tried to give some people money and they couldn't come through. On the flip side, I know we could give clients the service they deserve at Vebe full time. It's difficult, though, to make that change solely on the faith you have in yourself. It's a scary world out there without a consistent two-week paycheck you can count on.
Unfortunately, 11 hour days sometimes happen on Sundays, as was the case yesterday. Work is work, but when it's work for somebody else on a Sunday, it's tough. I'm getting that bug to really start the Vebe business full-on (instead of part-time) and reap the rewards for a change. I've learned as of late that there are still plenty of people looking for quality work from businesses that care as much about the product as they do.
At KTM, we've tried finding quality vendors and damn near tried to give some people money and they couldn't come through. On the flip side, I know we could give clients the service they deserve at Vebe full time. It's difficult, though, to make that change solely on the faith you have in yourself. It's a scary world out there without a consistent two-week paycheck you can count on.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Earthquake at the Zoo
We've had a good time entertaining the Paske's from Minnesota here in Southern California. We spent the weekend showing them the San Diego area, including La Jolla, the U.S. Midway air craft carrier and Coronado. We even found time to hit up the Gaslamp District for dinner.
We decided to stay in San Diego for the night and scored a "Four Star" hotel for $90 including taxes in the Hyatt Regency via Priceline's "Name Your Price". The "Four Star" was much more like a Three Star but good nonetheless.
On Sunday we made it over to the world-renowned San Diego Zoo. We got there at 10 a.m. and put in some good miles seeing anything and everything the zoo had to offer. For the most part, the animals were sleeping or not that active. Then the 7.2 earthquake struck in Mexicali and shook San Diego considerably.
Needless to say the hippos were really excited. They jumped into the water and starting playing with each other, snapping their humongous jaws. We'll post some pictures here as soon as we get the chance. The earthquake woke most of the animals up from their Easter slumber, but the Kings of the Jungle in that of the lions really didn't seem to care!
Now, we can say the Paskes have experienced most of what SoCal has to offer. They've seen beaches, Hollywood, got stuck in a traffic jam, saw San Diego and the zoo, shook in an earthquake, gone to a winery and today they get to see Downtown Disney, another beach and the Twins vs. Angels season opener 6 rows up from first base. I'd say that it was a very successful 5 days!
We decided to stay in San Diego for the night and scored a "Four Star" hotel for $90 including taxes in the Hyatt Regency via Priceline's "Name Your Price". The "Four Star" was much more like a Three Star but good nonetheless.
On Sunday we made it over to the world-renowned San Diego Zoo. We got there at 10 a.m. and put in some good miles seeing anything and everything the zoo had to offer. For the most part, the animals were sleeping or not that active. Then the 7.2 earthquake struck in Mexicali and shook San Diego considerably.
Needless to say the hippos were really excited. They jumped into the water and starting playing with each other, snapping their humongous jaws. We'll post some pictures here as soon as we get the chance. The earthquake woke most of the animals up from their Easter slumber, but the Kings of the Jungle in that of the lions really didn't seem to care!
Now, we can say the Paskes have experienced most of what SoCal has to offer. They've seen beaches, Hollywood, got stuck in a traffic jam, saw San Diego and the zoo, shook in an earthquake, gone to a winery and today they get to see Downtown Disney, another beach and the Twins vs. Angels season opener 6 rows up from first base. I'd say that it was a very successful 5 days!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Nike: How Quick Are You Going to Get Up?
Nike has done it again. The marketing genius from ad agency Wieden+Kennedy continues to roll out creative ideas that tug at the emotions of athletes. And they've been at it with Nike since 1982. The newest ad "How Quick Are You Going to Get Up?", depicting athletes from most all competitive arenas Nike sells product in, is another notch in the belt for W+K and Nike.
As Nike states on its Facebook page, "The road to greatness is not marked by perfection, but the ability to constantly overcome adversity and failure."
The ad starts with a sprinter lining up at the starting blocks. But this is no ordinary sprinter, he's donning prosthetic racing legs called Blades and he's known as "the fastest thing on no legs". His name is Oscar Pistorius and he's the perfect athlete to draw you in to the commercial.
Add in athletes like Deron Williams (NBA), Sergio Aguero (soccer), Maria Sharapova (tennis), Mike Spinner (BMX star), LaDainian Tomlinson, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson of MMA fame and Livestrong creator Lance Armstrong and one can see how far Nike's brand reaches. W+K has successfully tied all these brands together, an impressive feat.
While the lineup of powerhouse athletes in this commercial is quite astounding, what stands out most is the addition of Nike 6.0 athletes into traditional ad spots. No brand has successfully reached the action sports crowd and tied that with their traditional stick and ball athletes like Nike. Growth of Nike 6.0 (surf, snowboard, BMX, moto, wake and free ski) has been tremendous over the last several years, gaining clout with the action sport masses -- a finicky spending force in the crucial 18-24 demographic. A demographic Vebe Visual has had a strong tie to over the last several years working with KTM and Husaberg.
"It's not how you start, it's how you finish. It's not where you're from, it's where you're at. Everybody gets knocked down, how quick are you going to get up?"
Did Nike miss an opportunity by not having its golf superstar Tiger Woods make an appearance? Considering how well the words in this song fit his personal struggles and toppling of his brand image, I'd say yes.
As Nike states on its Facebook page, "The road to greatness is not marked by perfection, but the ability to constantly overcome adversity and failure."
The ad starts with a sprinter lining up at the starting blocks. But this is no ordinary sprinter, he's donning prosthetic racing legs called Blades and he's known as "the fastest thing on no legs". His name is Oscar Pistorius and he's the perfect athlete to draw you in to the commercial.
Add in athletes like Deron Williams (NBA), Sergio Aguero (soccer), Maria Sharapova (tennis), Mike Spinner (BMX star), LaDainian Tomlinson, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson of MMA fame and Livestrong creator Lance Armstrong and one can see how far Nike's brand reaches. W+K has successfully tied all these brands together, an impressive feat.
While the lineup of powerhouse athletes in this commercial is quite astounding, what stands out most is the addition of Nike 6.0 athletes into traditional ad spots. No brand has successfully reached the action sports crowd and tied that with their traditional stick and ball athletes like Nike. Growth of Nike 6.0 (surf, snowboard, BMX, moto, wake and free ski) has been tremendous over the last several years, gaining clout with the action sport masses -- a finicky spending force in the crucial 18-24 demographic. A demographic Vebe Visual has had a strong tie to over the last several years working with KTM and Husaberg.
"It's not how you start, it's how you finish. It's not where you're from, it's where you're at. Everybody gets knocked down, how quick are you going to get up?"
Did Nike miss an opportunity by not having its golf superstar Tiger Woods make an appearance? Considering how well the words in this song fit his personal struggles and toppling of his brand image, I'd say yes.
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