I sat in the conference room with no idea who the client was, what they did, or why it was necessary to pull me in on a first meeting with them.
The sales rep, Steve, and I had a long relationship and we had built a relationship of mutual respect and trust, so if he asked me to be in a meeting he knew I wouldn’t say no.
Holy crap! Where was AI 40 years ago when I started in the advertising industry? Imagine the speed of creation if tools, like we have today, were available back then. Before AI came along, creative ideation was done in a group setting or brainstorming, or my favorite, finding inspiration around me and letting my brain get lost in a song while dreaming up new ideas.
Read MoreLadies, Gentlemen, and Non-Binary humans, it's time to get inspired! As the living dead, we know life can be a drag sometimes, that's why we've got you covered with a heaping serving of creative, brainy goodness.
This week's Swipe This has 5 ads (plus a bonus series) that will tickle your creative bone and leave you feeling inspired. Pay special attention to Rivian, it’s a print ad.
We all need a bit of inspiration every once in a while, don't we?
If you're looking for something to get your creative juices flowing, this week's Swipe This has you covered with 5 ads that have simple, clever, and unique messages. We don't think any one type of aesthetic or tone is better than another; instead, we think it's important for every ad to have a flavor that appeals to its target audience.
So if you're looking for an injection of creative energy, check out this week's Swipe This and get ready to experience some flavorful ads!
I never intended to start a consulting business. Like Ad Zombies, it was an unintentional development.
In the years since I founded Ad Zombies, I’ve been approached by business owners who have quietly watched me grow and scale my business. They would call and ask to “pick my brain” on this or that. Eventually, I agreed to work with a few, then a few more, and, well… reread the first sentence.
We all need some creative inspiration now and then, right? This week’s Swipe This features 5 ads to help get your juices flowing.
We like ads with simple, clever, and unique messages. We don’t believe in good taste, bad taste, or no taste. We believe all ads should have their own flavor, a taste that appeals to a specific audience.
Ever sit in a room and try to come up with new ideas?
I do this all the time. I have these mini-innovation sessions with myself.
Occasionally, I do it in the lobby of a bougie hotel; more often, it’s on a plane… but most of the time, it happens in the shower. Hot water seems to make the creative flow better.
Read MoreDuring the last presidential campaign, my Ad Zombies team was privileged to work with one of the candidates. We took on this task because we chose to, we liked the message, the tone, and the person. Though they didn’t make the final cut, we did our best to deliver a strong message of what this candidate intended to do for our country.
Read MoreSince AI learns as it goes, it should deliver copy equal to or better than human copy, right? I decided to put my thoughts to the test and set up a few campaigns to test human copywriting against AI copywriting.
While there are a number of AI tools available, I had to pick one, so I chose one of the top 3.
Read MoreRemember the good old days? You’d fire up an ad campaign on your preferred platform and soon you’d be tracking views, sequencing ads, and moving people into your sales pipeline. No, not those good old days….
Read MoreOutfits, decorations, presents, celebrations, oh my! 😱
The holiday season is one of the busiest times for Ad Zombies. Between October and January, we are busy writing ALL THE THINGS from spooky Halloween sales and Black Friday blowouts, to last minute Christmas gifts and New Year resolutions. We collected some of our favorite holiday orders from the last few months to show you how much fun writing to theme can be! Check out our featured ads Holiday Edition !
Read MoreI really don’t care what people think of my ads.
I don’t care if people like them, hate them, skip them, report them, curse them, block them… people react to my ads EXACTLY how I want them to react. To be honest, I’ve always prided myself on being a rebel, going against the grain, and sometimes, —ok MANY times — offending people with my ads. Guess what… I LIKE IT! You may think that offending someone is bad, but is it?
Yes, I said it. Marketers are a bunch of whiny bitches. For the last decade+, marketers (myself included) have had it too good. All over the world, we’ve gotten super comfortable with the fact that every single click, every set of eyeballs, every time someone looked at an ad — was trackable, and would, therefore, have the ability to report the success of a campaign. Fast forward to now. Social media companies are under scrutiny by authorities worldwide. Privacy concerns abound, and now the ability to target and track those clicks has become harder. So, marketers have become a bit whiny. Actually, most of them are a bunch of whiny bitches. I came up in the radio business. Back when I was head of creative for a large broadcast company, we didn't have the ability to track the effectiveness of an ad.
Read MoreAdvertising can be such an emotional roller coaster. Lately, I’ve been seeing lots of business owners, marketers, and advertisers complaining about the HORRIFIC results they’ve been getting on Facebook. I read this morning about how a marketer (who many of us know) has seen ROAS drop to a .8 in campaigns that used to perform in double digits. I have also seen this performance slip -- this Facebook ad crash -- others are talking about. But I am not as panicked as many others are. Here’s why…
Read MoreCopywriting is more than just sitting down, cranking out 500 words, hitting spellcheck, and calling it a day. A copywriter has to become an expert on a brand in just a few minutes! They have to . . .
Copywriting is more than just sitting down, cranking out 500 words, hitting spellcheck, and calling it a day. A copywriter has to become an expert on a brand in just a few minutes! They have to . . .
And you thought advertising on Facebook was hard…
On Thursday, July 1, 2021, Pinterest announced that they updated their ad policies to prohibit ALL ads with weight loss language and imagery, becoming the first and only major social platform to prohibit ALL weight loss ads. The policy prohibits…
Read MoreSo you want to write better copy . . . ? You’ve come to the write place 😉 (Sorry, couldn’t help myself . . . the best part about being a writer is a license to throw out dad jokes and bad puns whenever I d*mn well please.) Whether you are a copywriter, a small business owner, or you just wanna be a better writer in general, learning to write more ENGAGING copy can seem easier said than done. Here’s some tried and true tips to get started . . .
Read MoreAn ad that was produced by Google in house, to me is one of the most brilliant ads you will see over the next five years. Like literally the most brilliant ad, and this is why I believe all business owners, small business owners, myself included, need to handle their production, their creative in house. Meaning you're producing your Super Bowl ad.
Read MorePlanters, perhaps the most well known nut company in America, maybe the world, is 100% NUTS! No, I am not talking about the snack that millions eat daily, I am referring to their crazy idea of changing their brand’s visual identity.
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