A few weeks ago, transplant landed a logo assignment, which is always a great opportunity to get in on the ground level of a new business and lay some graphic groundwork. Just yesterday we presented three options. This morning, we received feedback from one of the investors. It’s the kind of feedback that keeps us in business, always striving to create better work: OMG – i love them (WE love them) how can we choose?  give us til tomorrow or something….LOVE LOVE LOVE the first and third most of all!!!!!! thank you  ;o)d 

Every time the Olympics end, we expect to see gold medalists pumping their fists on the front of a Wheaties box. This season, Michael Phelps will not be part of the General Mills tradition. Why? Kellogg’s beat them to the punch. They signed Phelps to a contract that included post-Olympic opportunities, thereby thwarting any chance General Mills had of signing the Zeus-like Olympian.  It doesn’t take a lot of thinking — it takes complete immersion in what you do, and in what the competition is doing, has done, and will very likely do. Personally, I couldn’t care less who signed whom, I simply applaud the thinking behind it all. That’s what makes the difference between the regular companies, and the ones who strive to be beyond regular. Kudos, Kellogg’s.

My aunt just sent me an invitation to check out her page on facebook. I won’t mention her age because she’d kick my ass, but I will say that I’m 38. So, the fact that I have chosen not to “facebook” either makes me a dinosaur, or so cool that I can’t even connect with people who think like me. I’ll probably give in to the pressures of social marketing soon, but I will NEVER EVER EVER watch James Cameron’s Titanic.

This morning, I received a post from Seth Godin’s blog. As a marketer who believes in truth over hyperbole, and brevity over verbosity, I offer the first and last portions because it succinctly describes what we as marketers should be doing (if we’re not doing it already):

Every person in the market has a worldview when it comes to what you’re selling. It might be, “I don’t care about that,” or it might be, “all big companies are evil” or it might be, “I love new stuff.” When your story aligns with my worldview, we have something to discuss. When it doesn’t, you’re likely to be invisible… Start with the truth. Identify the worldview of the people you need to reach. Describe the truth through their worldview. That’s your story. When you overreach, you always fail. Not today, but sooner or later, the truth wins out. Negative or positive, the challenge isn’t just to tell the truth. It’s to tell truth that resonates.

Although I haven’t yet decided which poster will replace it, my Spitz poster is coming down from my bedroom wall. Only fair. Sorry Mark. I will never forget your mustache. Congratulations, Mr. Phelps. 

Isn’t it time the Cavemen were put to rest? Shouldn’t they have just disappeared into the ether when the ABC sitcom of the same name did? Come on, Martin Agency. This is reminiscent of weekend at Bernie’s but you’re making us — the TV audience — lug two dead bodies around instead of just one. Although I despise the Geico gecko, his existence is far more justifiable than Gustav and Remi’s (or whatever their names are).

May one of your creative teams breathe advertising life into a mastodon whose raison d’etre is to hunt down, step on, and fossilize each one of your beloved neanderthals. (I will, however, settle for a good ol’ fashioned impaling.)