Cal McAllister

27 March 2014

‘One Ad to Rule Them All’ is a witty Tumblr blog started by advertising student Valerio Amaro, in which it imagines English writer J.R.R Tolkien working in the advertising industry. 

The blog takes famous quotes from Tolkien’s books—such as ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’—and pairs them with unlikely brands, using the quotes as slogans. 

Cal McAllister

27 March 2014

‘One Ad to Rule Them All’ is a witty Tumblr blog started by advertising student Valerio Amaro, in which it imagines English writer J.R.R Tolkien working in the advertising industry. 

The blog takes famous quotes from Tolkien’s books—such as ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’—and pairs them with unlikely brands, using the quotes as slogans. 

Cal McAllister

27 March 2014

‘One Ad to Rule Them All’ is a witty Tumblr blog started by advertising student Valerio Amaro, in which it imagines English writer J.R.R Tolkien working in the advertising industry. 

The blog takes famous quotes from Tolkien’s books—such as ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’—and pairs them with unlikely brands, using the quotes as slogans. 

Cal McAllister

16 November 2013

We’re in an era where a majority of brands want to be disruptive. This happened for a lot of reasons.
 

Some people are bored with their marketing, or even their products, and want to get attention. Some recognize the competition is playing it safe, and see an opportunity to be effectively unexpected. Some people are desperate, and need to swing for the fences. All are valid business reasons to take a risk. And in each case, they could be Harvard-Business-Review-Magazine-case-study successful. We tend to get our fair share of calls from potential clients because, well, with a name like Wexley School for Girls we sort of start with the unexpected. But is doing something unexpected even going to work? That remains to be seen. Hindsight is a fantastic tool here. 
 

A little company called Red Bull launched their product by littering the floors of raves with crushed, empty cans of the stuff, leaving the impression that other attendees must be drinking it. Shoe-string budget, legendary results. Still today, Red Bull is held up as a pioneer for unexpected marketing, to the extent it is now expected from them. (Not without controversy. Nine extreme sport athletes have died during or in training for Red Bull marketing events.)
 

Let’s look at a couple more stories. Honest Tea ran a nice little experiment in 12 U.S. cities, stocking unattended pop-up stores with product and presenting an “Honest Tea” test. They sold bottles on the honor system for a dollar and hidden cameras documented whether or not people paid. Somewhat unexpectedly, the vast majority of cities happen to be loaded with honest people. Only Los Angeles (88 percent) and New York (86 percent) paid below a 90 percent rate. Chicago was tops at 99 percent, and Seattle came in at 97 percent.
 

Wexley has created some good stories over our 10 year history. We dropped hundreds of handwritten love letters from Microsoft to loyal Mac users at the first MacWorld fan conference where Apple decided not to have a presence. Left in unaddressed envelopes on lunch tables and in common areas, the love notes said Microsoft Office would never abandon Mac fans. It made The New York Times. 
 

The Seattle Sounders Football Club probably thought we weren’t totally clear on the assignment when we told them instead of selling scarves, we actually wanted to give 10,000 away. We hung them from trees and street lights and bus stops all over the city. But the act started a tradition, and turned into “Scarves Up.” If you’ve ever been to a Sounders game, you sorta feel naked without one. It’s become their calling card and they’ve sold hundreds of thousands of scarves since. 
 

Obviously, there are also failures. But the big perception that needs to be debunked is that nontraditional marketing is fundamentally risky. It is not. Unexpected executions can be just as “safe” as their traditional counterparts. For us, the key is simple: Worry about what you can control.
 

Why? There are variables you cannot control that might make nontraditional a non-starter. Weather will be an issue, fantastic or disastrous. Cops have a way of not liking things that are illegal. Sometimes when something hasn’t been done before, you’ll hear it cannot be. 
 

But exponential success happens when you focus on controls. Control the consumer experience. How people see the brand. Where people see the brand. The reaction when people see the brand. Worry about those. 
 

Most importantly, the thing to control when doing something unexpected is expectations. Be realistic. What is the anticipated return on investment? What promises are being made? Is it even possible to get 1,000 people to engage when the venue holds 500? Creativity is designed to leave no stone unturned. But it will only be the hero if expectations are not only defined, but possible. 
 

Look for opportunities to be disruptive. Be smart and thoughtful in the space. Know what success looks like before you start. And finally, commit to giving it a fair chance.