MortarBlog

We Did Not Wake Up Wanting To Buy A Used Mobile Home.

But now, we kinda do.

All kidding aside, (Well, not all kidding,) we loves us an honest approach.

Also, random whipcracks. Well done!

In Which Chris Does Not Feel The Love.

Chris says: "Feels like another case of someone at Microsoft saying, "Let's make some ads that feel as cool as the Mac ads. But don't make it feel like a Mac ad.""

We say: "Hey! We've totally been to that Duane Reade."

We also say: "So, when Windows 7 turns out to be as craptastic as Vista, we blame that bald dude?"

More proof animals can sell

If you're wrestling with whether to follow the lead of Geico's Gekko, Aflac's Duck or The Jolly Green Giant, Cadbury's have a lesson for you. Remember that spot we posted back in 2007 with the drumming Gorilla? well according to an official spokesperson that ad alone helped drive a 10% increase in Cadbury's sales. Quote: 

"....It's a phenomenal amount.

Ad-man Ben Walker says the commercial also changed advertising by opening companies up to more exciting ideas. He sat on a jury that voted it one of the best ads of the year.

From then on, the question in corporate boardrooms has been...

WALKER: What's the next Gorilla, we want the next one of those, yeah."

NPR continues:

"None of the ads have run in the U.S., but Cadbury's Tony Bilsborough says they've received millions of hits on You Tube, and inspired dozens of homemade spoofs from all over the world.

BILSBOROUGH: The advertising itself has actually made Cadbury -- the brand -- cool again.

And cool is something Kraft will probably have to pay extra for."

Food for thought. Full story here.

Renata's Dog Has An Alibi.

And to think we went all day without being those lame Californians who freak out at the first sign of rain.

It appears, however, that we've sprung a leak.

On the bright side, Sienna is not at fault. This time. 

MOLLY: "Look up, genius." 

HUGH: "Not without a brief."

Don't y'all fret none. Big ideas are waterproof.

How Change Happens.

Marin Community Foundation's website before:

And today - Marin Community Foundation's website with the Power Of Mortar:

Not to toot our own horn, but...it looks a little better. Go check it out. Did you know MCF just gave $35 million to Marin County schools? It's true. You can look it up. And if you go to school in Marin, you can look it up with your new tutor, or during your new after-school program...

We Grow Weary Of Your Sexually Suggestive Dancing - Bring Us Our Ranch Dressing Hose!

Far be it from us to criticize the great Hugh Hefner (blessings and peace be upon him,) but the cover girl for Playboy's November 2009 issue is rumored to be...Marge Simpson?! Well, we suppose it does get folks talking about Playboy, which is always a good thing. For Playboy.

Plus, it gives us an excuse to post random Simpsons quotes:

MARGE: Do you want your son to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or a sleazy male stripper?

HOMER: Can't he be both, like the late Earl Warren?

MARGE: Earl Warren wasn't a stripper!

HOMER: Now who's being naïve?!

You tell her, Homey.

Somewhat Hilarious Results.

One day a while back, digital marketing innovator Eyeblaster looked around and noticed - "Hey! Digital media sucks! You spend all your time running reports that don’t work, and no time on strategy!"
 So they built a product called MediaMind that fixes all that.
Then, they had us make them a couple of videos about MediaMind.
Then, they put the videos up on a pretty cool aggregator site - digitalshouldbesimple.com
The critics are somewhat amused.
“A frustrated user then airs her grievances with somewhat hilarious results.”

 If you’re in digital media, definitely check it out. Even if you’re not, go watch the videos. You’ll recognize a few Mortar folks in there - and perhaps learn to fear Alice as much as we do.

Robot Fabrication by Art Wilinski
Field and Post-Production by Upper Diamond.

Think Different. Please Hurry.

"Looks like we're on pace for a twenty percent uptick in squiggly lines, hon."

Check out this gallery of Apple ads from 1977 to the present. At first, it's good, campy fun. Then, it turns into a house of horrors. You can actually tell from the ads precisely when Steve Jobs was run off the reservation, and when he returned. (That co-op ad with Quark? Eeesh.)
Taken together, the collection echoes a theme we always hammer on here - your audience controls the conversation, not you. The lecture-y, long-copy* ads make you want to claw your own eyes out. The ads that hint at what you could do if you had a Mac do not. In fact, they're still insanely great.

There's a cool exhibit of the technology itself as well.

*Long-copy ads are not automatically bad. But when they are.../shudder.

Making The Logo Bigger.

"Logorama", le film dont les héros sont des logos
by lemondefr

>
This is the trailer for Logorama - "17 minutes of Hollywood blockbuster action, rife with car chases, natural disasters, and hostage-taking, but created entirely out of real world logotypes and brand characters. In it, you'll see the Michelin Man, the Haribo kid, Bob's Big Boy, Mr. Pringle and Ronald McDonald, but in some very unfamiliar roles playing the classic movie archetypes of good guys, bad guys and foils."

We certainly do assign personalities to brands - it should be interesting to see the filmmakers' interpretations of each one. For example - we can see Ronald McDonald being evil, if only because he's a clown. But the Michelin Man is the good guy? We would've gone with Mr. Peanut.

Naturally, this - like all great ideas - has been done before by The Simpsons.   Via Creativity.

Revenge is so passé. Frenemies for Life is the Reno way.

So what do you do when a hilarious comedian mocks you relentlessly, making you the butt of a joke on a national stage for, oh I don't know, say...6 years?

Given some variable demographics, you might:

1) Throw a rock

2) Start a band

3) Sob uncontrollably

4) Post some nasty Facebook photos

5) Make a voodoo doll

-or-

6) Do what Reno did. Go renegade with a reverse psychology smack-down and launch a national PR campaign to celebrate them...but not without being a little cheeky.

A couple weeks back when the network-who-could-not-be-named announced they were ditching Reno 911!, the RSCVA sprung into action with a Save Reno 911! viral campaign which has resulted in some great buzz. 

Contrary to logic but embracing all irony, not only do they want to show to survive and thrive, but this time with a catch: FILM IN RENO. Duh. Last time we checked the Sierra's didn't have palm trees.

And its at benchmark status folks:

1,220 petition signers on the website
1,293 fans on Facebook
267 followers on Twitter

...and counting. Check out this USA Today article that is right on the money. And stay tuned for more from the Save Reno 911! coalition. This ain't over 'till we get some Dangle action up there.