Toys R Us - Sale of the year.

It is true that automation is a necessary tool of modern business especially one as large as Toys R Us. One is left wondering however, if there is absolutely no factor of human judgment left at some point of the marketing process? After all, some employee actually had to go and physically put that sign up.

Home Theatres of the 50's

Who would have though?

Obviously the technique itself does not transcend time, space or any other dimension. But the positioning and the ambitions of this ad have not only survived but are alive and well this very day. I knew Motorola was an innovator when half the world bought a RAZR but this is just plain COOL!

55 years later and we are still hunting for that perfect home theatre solution, and all along it was always there for the taking. I wonder if some museum somewhere actually has one of these dusting around somewhere?

This is just another example of how companies drop and abandon product lines and how sometimes it's just about being in the right place at the right time.

If only Motorola started doing this 40 years later instead of 1952. I think they would have been a great competitor to Sony, Samsung and the other power houses.

One of the only creative ways to use celebrities.

At times I find myself wondering about the weirdest statistics. One of them is what on average is the proportion of income that celebrities generate from endorsements? 50%, 20% or maybe 90%? After all how talented can you be say...... Jessica Simpson?

Nevertheless, companies splash millions on endorsements and so forth. Millions which can be spent alternatively and I assure you much more effectively.

Dell has entered this very game during this holiday season and turned the whole environment upside down. Before reading further you should check out www.yoursishere.com where start power finally pulls some weight.

The best ideas are always the simplest ones. They didn't really do much differently except of course turned the stars into spokespeople not of the company but of someone you know. This way instead of an empty sales pitch on behalf some evil conglomerate, you received a personalized plea by a star on behalf of someone you know and probably love. Not to mention, since the beggar gets to choose the celeb, they probably end up choosing the one you like the most. This way the message is always right, instead of showing Michael Jackson on TV to stay at home moms who worry about their children as it is. Dell gets to put the right face each and every single time.

If all the above wasn't enough, consider again the costs of viral marketing such as this one. The price of running this campaign is probably less than what Dell pays for the Google sandbox in one day.

Great Job! Maybe after all there will be some universal benefit to celebrities.

The best location to see advertising creativity.

I've had the pleasure of taking a subway trip downtown this morning and when I say pleasure I really do mean it. This is because despite the lack of seating space and gloomy faces of some of the riders, I found myself in an advertisers candy-shop. People in advertising are like philosophers, we feed of one another constantly perfecting and reshaping things that others before us have done. That of course isn't to say that we're not an original bunch, not at all. We just like to see and take apart in our minds what others like us have done.

Normally I commute to work by streetcar and it never occurred to me that the level on which advertisers invest into subway ads is so much greater than they do for streetcars. Of course there are some clear factors, like the fact that you'd rather stare out of a window than at an ad, but when former is not available you'll prefer the latter over staring into an old womans face for 20 minutes, or worse. Secondly the space allowed is far greater, inner and outer cart walls and not to mention the actual station, St. George, Union and Bloor are constantly wrapped up from head to toe as if they were a pair of socks for the holidays and good for them.

I loved it and I think I'm going to invest the extra time each week and take a ride on the most up to date exhibition of top class advertising. Forget about searching the web and spending countless hours in pursuit of something stimulating. One TTC token gives you all the creative you need!