DQ Something Different

During a night of TV watching, I noticed that I can't help but laugh out loud every time I see Dairy Queen commercials. The creative agency of True Grey, a division of Grey Worldwide/NY, behind the hilarious commercials uses simple, yet exaggerated situations to advertise Dairy Queen's food products, and after thinking back about all their advertisements, I think I may have finally found the formula for almost any successful commercial:

1. Have adult males scream - Sure, women scream, but it's a heck of a lot more hilarious when you see grown men screaming like little schoolgirls.
2. Have parents get physically abused by their kids - Even after enduring all the physical pain (such as headbutts, groin kicking, basketballs to the face), the parents still love their kids. Heck, they even take them out for ice cream.
3. Use average people in situations going from normal to absurd - Man gets ice cream. Baby wants ice cream. Hilarious antics ensue.

Now I haven't been to Dairy Queen in a year, but I still remember their TV ads. Does that mean their ads were a success? Hmm...

I'm Going to Disneyland

I remember going to Disneyland when I was only knee-high. All the exhilirating rides and seeing all the fabled Disney characters had my face beaming with a smile for weeks. Most of the theme park is about the same today, except that 3-D Michael Jackson film seems a bit scarier when his hand comes reaching out at you (I have no idea if that's still there). But you'll notice, that the Magic Kingdom isn't creating this magical kingdom because the water's drugged, but because the employees create the atmosphere.

It's amazing what you can do to improve customer relations just by choosing the right employees, having a positive attitude, and taking that extra initiative to be patient and understand the customer as a unique individual.

Disney has certainly gone out of it's way to make sure Disney Hong Kong employees are properly trained to convey "the magic" to all it's guests. I'm hoping I'll be one of those guests next year and personally experience "the magic" again. Wonder if Mickey speaks Chinese? Until then, I'll be accruing my vacation time.

Got the Flu?

"Viral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence."

-Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, E-Commerce Consultant

Flash games or short films? I've got to put my vote in for the short films rather than the online flash games, because:

1. If I like the game and want to forward it on to friends, I'll just copy and paste the link to the game, rather than fill out some form to forward the site on to friends.
2. Continuing episodes keep me coming backing and checking for new material. (Such as the successful BMW Films campaign with Clive Owen)
3. Viral marketing games tend to be variations of the same old games.
4. I've always wanted to make a film of some sort :P (My first attempt a few years back was quite terrible and ultimately never went anywhere).

Wonder if I can make a hybrid of the two? Throw in a contest too, and see what kind of monster pops out. RAWR.

Engineer in Disguise

It's interesting what direction life leads you in sometimes. Despite being schooled and trained in the ancient deadly art of Computer Engineering, I'm on the marketing team of Replicon. So far, working for them has been a complete blast and I can only expect it to get better!

Our marketing clan is pretty well rounded:
PK - Zen master and team leader
DK - The smooth talking deal-maker and motivator
CB - Our level-headed team voice
GM - The data mining tank
TN - Young learning grasshopper
and of course me - the technology ninja.

With our powers combined, our success can only be ... unfathomable