Category: Media

Portland Small Business Advertising Seminar

Just a reminder for those in the Portland area — the Portland Business Alliance Cornerstones for Success event is this coming Thursday, August 7 from 4-6pm. It’s at the Portland Business Alliance, 200 SW Market Street.  You can find out more, and register online, here.

Once a month, the Portland Business Alliance puts on an educational forum for small and medium-sized businesses called Cornerstones for Success. The topics change each month, but each one is chosen for its relevance to the challenges faced by local merchants.

On Thursday, August 7, the subject is “Advertising Avenues”. I’ll be on the panel along with Craig Brown of KGW-TV and Brian Johnson of The Oregonian. We’ll be talking about how a business with a finite budget — like yours — can effectively deliver a persuasive message to the people who could become your customers.

It takes place from 4-6pm at the Portland Business Alliance, 200 SW Market Street. You can find out more, and register online, here.

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Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of my white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call me at 503-323-6553.

Advertise with Smell-o-Vision!

Actually, the product (not actually called “Smell-o-Vision”, I’m sorry to say) isn’t available in the States yet. But here’s the deal, according to BusinessWeek

Cinescent, based in the German city of Hanover, has designed a machine that pumps a barely detectable aroma through a movie house’s air conditioning system to accompany on-screen ads. In early tests, a German theater ran two ads for the Nivea Sun lotion line, one accompanied by the faint smell of the product and a phrase—“the Scent of Summer”—splashed across the screen. The aromatic ad, produced for an extra $15,000, boosted consumer recall by 37% and raised ad impact (gauged over a few weeks) by more than 500%, says Cinescent.:

The company’s operating in Germany and The Netherlands now, and expects to be in Great Britain by fall. How long before they waft across our shores? So far, no plans have been announced.

Will American audiences put up with this? I’m going with “yes, eventually”. I’m old enough to remember when movie-goers would boo and hiss (yes, really hiss!) at on-screen commercials — now we have “The 20” and it’s considered part of the experience.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of my white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call me at 503-323-6553.

Phil Bernstein Live! at the Portland Business Alliance

Once a month, the Portland Business Alliance puts on an educational forum for small and medium-sized businesses called Cornerstones for Success. The topics change each month, but each one is chosen for its relevance to the challenges faced by local merchants.

On Thursday, August 7, the subject is “Advertising Avenues”. I’ll be on the panel along with Craig Brown of KGW-TV and Brian Johnson of The Oregonian. We’ll be talking about how a business with a finite budget — like yours — can effectively deliver a persuasive message to the people who could become your customers.

It takes place from 4-6pm at the Portland Business Alliance, 200 SW Market Street. You can find out more, and register online, here.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of my white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call me at 503-323-6553.

How a Committee Can Screw Up a Simple Message

UPDATE 7/31/08  Apparently Youtube took the video down. Here’s another link:

 

I suspect everyone who’s ever worked in advertising has dealt with at least one client like this:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU9YeOQm3Y0]

Thanks to Seth Godin for the alert.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of my white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call me at 503-323-6553.

Even More Airline Advertising

A quick follow-up to Wednesday’s post on airline ads. What the heck, why not just paint the whole airplane?

On Ideoblog, Larry Ribstein’s posted a picture of a plane he rode, emblazoned with the Highland Park distillery logo. Apparently, if you ask they’ll give you a small bottle of whiskey.Here’s hoping the pilot wasn’t partaking…

___________________________________________________________________________________

Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of my white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call me at 503-323-6553.