Restaurant Wants to Be the Worst Rated on Yelp

Advertising that Works!

No one would ever think that in advertising you would want the worst ratings possible. Well, this was not the case for Botto Bistro, a little Italian restaurant in San Francisco owned by David Cerretini.

How did he end up deciding to try and get the worst reviews on Yelp? It all started when Yelp “blackmailed” him. Yelp wanted Cerretini to advertise and he paid $270 for six months. After that he quit advertising at which point one of the good reviews for his business vanished from his Yelp page. Technically, Yelp can legally remove reviews. Then, Cerretini did something out of the ordinary and actually quite brilliant. He aimed to get a 1-star review on Yelp and on a blackboard in the restaurant it lists the business’ various offenses. These range from how much they charge for marinara to “$4 if you want some to smell.” Also, if you give his business a 1-star rating he will turn around and give you 25% off a pizza.

The owner claims that he is “attracting higher-paying customers who are quite loyal.” And these customers are quite the characters! We whole-heartedly agree that, even though Cerretini went off the beaten path of what most businesses aim for, this is Advertising that Works!

One-Hit Wonder Day

Celebrate the Day

Some artists only get that “five minutes of fame” and today is a day to celebrate those artists who gave us an amazing one-hit wonder. This holiday was established back in 1990 by a journalist named Steve Rosen. Below is a list of some one hit wonders that we still (hopefully) find catchy even now! What’s your favorite one-hit wonder?

1. 8675309 by Tommy Tutone
2. My Sharona by The Knack
3. Mambo #5
4. Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas
5. Mickey by Toni Basil
6. Come on Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners
7. I’m Gonna Be (500) Miles by The Proclaimers
8. Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant
9. Who Let the Dogs Out by the Baha Men
10. I’m Too Sexy by Right Said Fred

Above: Kevin Rowland with Dexys Midnight Runners in 1982. Photo credit Rex Features.

Creative Revolution of Advertising in the 1960s

Business Tips and Trends

The 1960s is the cornerstone of what has helped to define modern day advertising. This decade is the creative revolution marked by the “madmen” of advertising and their use of “self-deprecating humor, irreverence and irony to appeal to young consumers.” One great example is Volkswagen’s ad that zeroed in on the tiny bug’s “liabilities” and calling it things such as a “lemon.” Marketing efforts began to focus more on brands and their personality during this time as well. Other trends were the U.S. Census offering segmented data or demographics and psychographics to help the advertising industry target its consumers.

Graphically speaking, advertisers also began to focus more on color, large images and minimal type. This created a very “dramatic effect” in visual communication to consumers. Per what is mentioned above, Volkswagen nailed this.

Other notable changes in advertising and commerce during the 1960s:

• Advertisers no longer have the complete control over how their ads fit into the TV programming network
• Magazines remained the dominant medium for advertising
• Large supermarket chains supersede independent supermarkets
• Ad agencies operations grew as did how they dealt with clients
• Toward the end of the 1960s clients demanded that the costs for advertising
  be justified
• Market research became a priority

Other fun facts:

• Big names in advertising were William Bernbach and Helmut Krone
• Top agency of 1960 was J. Walter Thompson Co. ($370 million)
• Top advertiser of 1960 was General Motors Corp. ($168.5 million)
• Total U.S. ad spending in 1960 was $12.0 billion

Photo from the Writing for Designers.

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine

Advertising that Works!

It’s the 50^th anniversary of Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine and they have some fun, creative outdoor billboards that were created by the advertising agency, Extra Credit Projects. These boards were put up all through out the state, right before the college season started. Three-dimensional billboards are all the latest rave because they get attention. They literally stand out! We like that there are few words to read and how the 5-0 stands out to know immediately what they are advertising. Don’t you?

Photo credit from AdsoftheWorld.com

National Cheeseburger Day

Celebrate the Day

Yes! It’s National Cheeseburger Day! What’s better than a hamburger topped with cheese? Two hamburgers topped with cheese! The history of cheeseburgers may be false but the story goes that in 1926 a homeless man walked into “The Rite Spot”—a sandwich shop in Pasadena, California—and asked to put a slice of cheese on top of his hamburger order. Lionel Sternberger, chef and 16 year-old son to the owner of restaurant, dropped a slab of American cheese on a sizzling hamburger and the cheeseburger was born. Other restaurants claim to have invented the cheeseburger. In 1935, a trademark for the name “cheeseburger” was awarded to Louis Ballast of the Humpty Dumpty Drive-In in Denver, Colorado but according to Steak’n Shake archives, the restaurant’s founder, Gus Belt, applied for the trademark on the word in the early 1930s. We honestly don’t care who invented the cheeseburger but are very glad someone did!

Photo from the commons.wikipedia.org

A Quick History of Typefaces and Font Families

Business Tips and Trends

The term typeface is frequently confused with the term font. The term ‘typeface’ refers to a particular style of type usually in one style and size. A ‘font’ is usually a family of one typeface as that includes various styles, such as roman or italic, bold or semibold. Type foundries have cast fonts in lead alloys from the 1450s. In the 19^th century some large fonts were cast in wood. In the 1890s the mechanization of typesetting allowed automatic casting of fonts on the fly as lines of type in the size and length needed. This was known as continuous casting and remained widespread until the 1970s, when the Linotype machine was invented. During a brief period between 1950 and 1990, photographic technology, known as phototypesetting, was used to produce various fonts and sizes. Digital type became the dominant form of type in the late 1980s and early 90s when the computer was invented.

The first typeface was designed by Johann Gutenberg, in 1439, for his movable type press. Books were all hand-lettered at the time and the German inventor wanted to create a faster way to produce books. As more printing shops opened, more thought was put into creating typefaces and lettering styles to use as models for typefaces. And voila… The art of typographic design began! Twenty years later, Nicholas Jenson designed the first true Roman typeface around 1460, which was used for books printed in Italy. This was a thinner typeface compared to Gutenberg’s heavy “blackletter” type. In the early 1500s the first italic typeface was developed by Aldus Manutius and Francesco Griffo, which was meant to mimic cursive writing. In the mid 1700s, Pierre Fournier le Jeune—a French printer and typographer—standardized the system of measuring typefaces. It was referred to as the Pica system of measurement and became widely used in England and America. Type sizes were measured in points and to this day we still use this measurement system.

Do you know how many fonts exist today? I was trying to figure that out and saw that MyFonts.com offers about 52,000 and another had almost 10,000, and someone else stated there were 150,000 so the world of typefaces and fonts has really grown! We recommend using no more than 3 fonts in one advertisement and if you need help choosing which three, please call the Cheeps at 888.22CHEEP!

Photo from the commons.wikipedia.org

Subaru Legacy’s Junior Driver Commercial

Advertising that Works!

Every time this commercial airs I have to laugh. Subaru’s Legacy commercial has a 5-year-old boy driving around the yard with his blue Power Wheels toy car when his dad comes home and asks, “Hey pal, you ready?” The father holds out the keys to the car and all of a sudden you see what the boy imagines when driving his dad’s car. He is not a happy camper as he has to get gas, gets a parking ticket from the meter maid, gets caught in the rain, a bag of groceries bottoms-out right when he gets close to the car, etc. His attitude and facial expressions will crack you up, too. For this reason, we are calling this an Advertising that Works! Thanks Subaru!

September 11th

Remembering the Day

Okay, we are not exactly celebrating this day (September 11^th) but simply remembering the tragedy that happened 13 years ago, in 2001, when the Twin Towers were attacked at the World Trade Center, killing nearly 3,000 people. Who could forget?

Recently, my family went to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. The memorial is beautiful and very peaceful. There are two reflecting pools that are nearly an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in North America. The twin pools sit where the Twin Towers once stood. The names of every person who died in the 2001 attacks (and the 1993 WTC bombing) are etched in bronze panels edging the Memorial pools. At night the two pools have beams of light that illuminate the skyline.

The Museum was not as peaceful. In fact, it was devastating and sad to see the photographs, hear the videos and view burnt and damaged belongings to those who have perished. The one good thing that seemed to come out of this horrible day was the way America has come together to love, honor, and respect their country like never before. Firefighters, police, military, and response teams have become our superheroes and get the respect they deserve from their courage and brave acts they do on a daily basis. We now see people donating food, giving blood, flying flags and being truly proud of our wonderful country. This is what we celebrate… the hope.

“September 11th is no longer just about mourning, but about community, giving back, and hope,” via +Forbes.

How To Write An Effective Headline

Business Tips and Trends 

Headlines are critical for your copy’s success. Advertising guru, David Ogilvy, once stated that five times as many people read the headline than they do the body copy. Twitter or Facebook posts have less copy and are more like a headline, so it’s important to know how to write an effective headline. Experts say the ultimate headline contains a keyword like content marketing specifically if it’s going online on a website or social media. Your headline should be effective enough for people to read the entire body copy. David Ogilvy, also stated that the headline should carry 90% of the advertising dollar. Besides the keyword in a headline, other formulas to gain attention could be:

• Focus on Benefits. Don’t keep your audience guessing, as to how your product or service will improve their lives.
• News Headlines. Start the headline with words like, “Introducing,” “At Last,” and “Announcing!”
• Use a Number within the Headline. For some reason, appointing a number gets people to pay attention.
• Ask a Question. Asking a question engages the audience and gets them interested.
• Keep the Headline Short. Experts say seven words or less does the trick.
• Use the Element of Surprise. Negative headlines, such as “What We Can’t Do For You,” can catch your audience off guard but don’t forget to turn it around and be positive and upbeat.
• Be Precise. Don’t write a headline that has nothing to do with the body copy.
• Target Your Exact Audience. If you pinpoint your audience, you will come across as an expert, if you don’t you’ll come across as vague.

Lenka Istvanova of Koozai Marketing developed a headline formula based on her analysis of best practices for headlines that get clicks. The formula goes like this:

Numbers + Adjective + Target Keyword + Rationale + Promise = The Ultimate Headline

From the standpoint of a graphic designer, headlines should NOT be in all caps. It should be in a simple type font as to be legible. Headlines should be bolder and larger than the body text or at least stand out more.

We’ll leave you with this recent headline that got attention… “Actress Betty White, 92, Dyes Peacefully in Her Los Angeles Home.” I, myself, quickly clicked on the link to that article as I think she is a national treasure. White is alive and well, and the article was simply about her life these days. The headline refers to the fact that she dyes her own hair in her own home. LOL!

Rothammer Beer Campaign: “When Love is Born, A Friend Dies”

Advertising that Works!

Per AdWeek, here is one of the best print ad campaigns of 2013-2014. Rothhammer decided to have a series of “guy-friendly” beer ads showing a bunch of a guy’s buddies mourning him because he’s fallen in love and has less time to go drinking with them.

The agency, Prolam Y&R, in Santiago, Chile has successfully created a campaign that is both whimsical, funny, and is definitely geared toward “dudes” and male camaraderie.