Why You Should Never Piss Off Your Graphic Designer

It's is hard for people to communicate what they need - no matter what area of life you're in.  I find this happens frequently in the ad agency setting where Account Executives need to make their voices heard to their Graphic Design department. In turn the Graphic Design department also has to ensure that the Account Executives understand that design is an art.

I've recently come across several examples of when that communication has fallen apart and would like to share them.



Look closely and you will see a dog with a human penis. Not something that should have gone out in Ikea's catalog.


This is a more recent example of an altered ad that went out in a catalog and was posted online. Look closely in the background - yep - that is a naked man behind those children in their fashionable French designs.

The moral of this story is not to piss off your designers to the extent that they will embarrass your company for years to come with oddly altered photos that are intended for catalogs. Obviously the final edits didn't catch these photos, so you may want to make sure your editors are getting a nice Christmas bonus too.

Have more examples? Post them below!

Xente Media on Google+

We made it!  We've joined a new social media network, one that promises big things. We've been very busy lately, including many trips to conferences, meetings and client proposals.
We've been happy using Facebook and Twitter to connect with you, but we've always wanted a little more.  We wanted a real conversation with you. A fresh start to connecting with our favorite people.


We want a better way for you to connect with us as well. We want you to ask us questions about advertising. To tell us your side of the story, so we can help you find a solution. Even if you don't spend money with us, we want to help.

So join us on Google+ and join us in a new world of technology.

Nothing Good Can Come From Pepsi's New Sizes

I was outraged the other day when I saw the following display by Pepsi.  That's right, they decided to start 

selling 1.5-Liter bottles of soda for $1.00. I know it's a rarity these days to find an entire 2-Liter bottle for $1.00, but I can I am sure you will have an even tougher time finding a sale for Pepsi products at lower prices. This whole campaign makes me angry for a few reasons.

The first being that it insults consumer intelligence. You can buy a 2-Liter for $1.25 or a 1.5-Liter for $1.00. It's not a big price difference and yet, after selling millions, it is. Of course we all know that the next step will be doing away with 2-Liters all together and suddenly a 1.5-Liter will be the same price as a 2-Liter. 

Of course, Pepsi may try to explain this away as an attempt to convince consumers to drink less soda. It is after all, so terribly bad for you. The problem I see with this, is that the new design that comes with the new size looks an awful lot like a bottle you'd just pick up and drink out of. It's slim, easy to hold and not too big. It just looks like an over-sized 24oz. plastic bottle, so I doubt anyone is going to consider drinking less soda over this new size. So what is Pepsi's motivation behind bringing out a new size soda bottle?
According to this blog about the new sizes offered by Pepsi (and Coke) the idea is to allow those who are strapped for cash more options to purchase their beverages.
 
I'll leave the comments about that up to you!

Why Pandora Shouldn't Worry About Spotify... Yet

Image courtesy of epicinfo.net.

As a frequent user of Pandora, I was excited to find an invitation to the new music service - Spotify. I started using Spotify earlier this week and found it to be a great mesh of iTunes and Pandora. I could find music and build lists similar to what I would do in iTunes or in the now defunct Winamp, but I didn't have to pay for a song just because I wanted to listen to it once.

I started off playing the suggested "USA" Spotify playlist. While most of the songs played, I had a few problems with songs that simply wouldn't load and wouldn't play, so I skipped over them. In addition, I then also had to go find new music. I was determined to stick with Spotify despite these small problems, until I added one whole album and only two of the songs in the list would play. I know of at least one other person who had this problem, so we'll see if it continues.

Beyond that, I thought Spotify had some great potential, once I took the time to build out an excellent playlist or the service becomes popular enough that I can just steal someone else's playlist. Until one or the other occurs, I've happily gone back to Pandora. Yes, Pandora, with it's sometimes crappy, but continually playing music, and it's creative advertising.

Spotify also has a problem in it's advertising model. I know it's early, but I spent two days looking at the same ad and I feel bad that my accidental click on the ad may have led someone to believe I cared about obtaining a kit used to roll ... well, legally it would be used for cigarettes.

So, while Spotify invites "are like gold," as the site claims, they still have some bugs to work out and the service is much more time consuming than the easy going Pandora. And still, while few people are a fan of ads, Pandora has done something special with their integration of their ads. Pandora's core audience, those busy professionals who don't have time to amass large playlists, will still be using Pandora.  Spotify will simply appeal to a younger audience, all of whom seem to have more time on their hands and a library-like index of music to pull from their heads. 

Foursquare Usage in Finger Lakes Wine Country

Recently we traveled to the Finger Lakes Wine Country for a weekend of wine tasting, car racing, and relaxing.  Of course during this time we checked in where we stopped using Foursquare and Facebook Places.  I really shouldn't of been to surprised to see that many of the wineries that I remembered from wine books and a from a previous visit were offering Foursquare specials.  The winery I remember most from this was Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards and their sangria wine slushies.  The prize for checkin, a sticker from the winery with purchase of a bottle of wine.  Great promotion Hazlitt, not only do you encourage people to checkin and buy, you give them a sticker to advertise your winery for you even more.  Other wineries offered free wine tasting with checkin, a free bowl of soup, or a $1 off a bottle of wine.  Great incentives for patrons of your business to advertise for you.

But quick suggestion with running FourSquare specials, also run the same special through other sites like Facebook Places.

Simple way to Improve Local Search Engine Optimization

Many people ask us how can they improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization) without spending a lot of money and time.  Our most common answer to this problem is to create a Google Places Account for your business, but why stop at just Google, set up accounts on Yahoo! Local and Bing Business Portal. 

With a proper listing on these sites you will be able to improve local traffic to your website to gain business.  For most businesses doing this and following a few basic SEO strategies will help them become industry leaders in their local market.