💩’s about to get real.
Economists worldwide are predicting you’d better become a hella good advertiser in 2023 if you plan to be relevant post-apocalyptic recession.
Can we talk? OK, I’ll do the talking and you should listen.
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So There I Was Drinking Beer And Window-Shopping… For Prostitutes.
Amsterdam has a very unique vibe, one that borders on bohemian and refined depending on the part of the city you find yourself strolling through. But the Red Light District is its own unique beast. A reasonably small section of Amsterdam along the canal banks of the city center. It feels like a college town loaded with pubs, prostitutes, and passersby.
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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.
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There’s nothing worse than getting a cold email, right? Agreed, if the email is shit, useless, feels spammy, or has zero value. But if it delivers something… It’s AMAZEBALLS! 🤩
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When my head hits the pillow at the end of a long day, nothing is more frustrating for me than finding that sweet spot: the pillow area where my head sinks in effortlessly and my neck is cradled in supreme comfort.
Sleep, like working out, is one of the most important physical activities we can participate in.
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During 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.
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When the first snowflake falls, we tend to stick out our tongues to get a taste of winter. Well, our tongues are out, but we’re not enjoying this chilling experience. Gas prices are skyrocketing to eye-popping 👀 rates, supply chains continue to break, grocery shelves are a bit naked, and what remains on the shelf is getting close to needing a second mortgage to buy… holy shit, the sky is falling.
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Since 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.
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Remember 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….
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Let’s face it — writing is hard. Sometimes even for professional copywriters like us! You know what makes it easier? Wine. Well, that and a few online tools that ANYONE can use to help them writer gooder! We mean better. The best part? All three of these tools are F-R-E-E! So go on, pour yourself a glass of red, pop open the computer, and check out these tools. Your writing will flow out as smooth and silky as that Cab you just uncorked...
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People often ask me what is the value of writing a blog? What's its purpose? Why should I even invest the time to write a blog? Well, here’s why (and it has to do with sales…)
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What job do people hire you to do for them? In his book, "How Will You Measure Your Life?" Clayton Christensen shares a great story of how his team did a research study for a fast-food company. The fast-food company discovered their best-selling product in the morning was a milkshake — yes, a milkshake in the morning. The company wanted to survey its customers so they could make the milkshake even better. They spent years messing with the flavor and the thickness to make it even better and got nothing for all their time and effort. It didn't change sales a bit. So the fast-food company hired Clayton to get some better answers.
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Where are all my creatives at?? You ever make the most AMAZING-BEST EVER-LIFE CHANGING-INCREDIBLE piece of art (writing, photography, video, content…etc)… one you LOVE and think your audience will go absolutely bonkers for… “this will be the one that makes you go viral for sure!”… and then… It tanks.
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Outfits, 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 !
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I 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.
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Sorry, we just came right out and said it. YOUR AD SUCKS. We’re known for being straight shooters… so why change that now? Listen… it’s not personal. (We promise.) That’s thing about creative work… it can be REALLY easy to get attached to your work, especially when you’ve spent so much time and energy on it. But sometimes… well, sometimes our work falls flat. And there’s no easier place to see that than in our ADS. Engagement, views, click-throughs…. your ad will show you exactly how well it’s performing — or not. There’s a number of reasons why your ad might suck, but we’ll show you exactly how to fix it.
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Did 2021 Suck For You?
For some of you, 2021 was a banner year, others experienced a typical year, then there are those, like me, who had a horrific year. This blog is meant for you. If your 2021 wasn’t what you’d hoped it would be, I want you to know something… YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
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So, you’ve got some social media ads that are performing well for you. People are watching/reading/clicking, they are heading to your website, they are even adding to cart. But then what? You know they are ready to buy… so how can you take advantage of this moment and get them to buy MORE? Savvy marketers and business analysts look at a LOT of different metrics through out the year — but AOV (or Average Order Value) gets hyper focused on when the end of the quarter draws near. With increased traffic to most eComm sites from the months of October to January, there are a few tricks to capitalizing on customers that are ready to spend money on your site.
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You don't need a Hollywood budget to make a blockbuster ad. Many years ago I was working with my now business partner, Brandon, in one of his other businesses, Data Doctors, a computer repair and data recovery business with a national footprint in the United States. The challenge they were having — and quite honestly all businesses have — is building their brand, their market share, and of course, increasing their customer base. At the time, they started expanding their service offerings from computer repair and data recovery to smartphone repair. So, we decided to create an ad. But I thought, rather than creating a boring 30 second ad, why not get a little more creative? Think out of the box and do something that not only advertises the service, but does so in a creative, fun, and memorable way…
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