Things WE DO and Things we DO TOO MUCH

Things WE DO: We love video ads!

A new study from comScore finds that consumers watched 11 billion online video ads in October. According to the study, 183 million U.S. Internet users watched web-based videos in October. ComScore says that those viewers saw over 37 billion online content videos for the month.

Over 88 percent of web users watched at least one online video last month. The average online video was just over six minutes in length. While the average online video ad watched by web users was just under half a minute long

In the things WE DO TOO MUCH category, leading the list in my mind is:

Logging in, creating passwords, resetting passwords.

If I only had a nickel for all the times I  have logged in, set passwords, typed my email address, entered my user name. Geeze.

It is a function of accessing so many platforms. Even with cool tools like HootSuite that makes it a snap to manage multiple accounts, I’m still logging into my bank, giving email addresses for coupons and interacting in dozens of ways that require authentication.

Recently, passwords have gotten even more restrictive with specific caps, symbols and length rules. Hey, I’m all for a more secure website, don’t get me wrong. Companies are requiring more frequent changes in passwords…which seems mundane yet challenges my memory patterns. A cap here, adding new numbers there and I can launch myself into “password recovery hell” via questions, texts or emails with temporary passwords.

With all that said, I am grateful for this year – my cool company and job, my awesome son and a season sans a hurricane (sorry New Jersey and New York).  This isn’t a gripe. More of a cultural observation. Validate me (log in, password) and I can access the world (Welcome Margie!). That’s a good trade-off.

Now, get back to work…Christmas is coming.

Margie

Behind the Scenes at the 2012 National Addy Awards

They have a saying in Austin, Texas – Keep Austin Weird. Well, Austin, we did our best, thank you very much.

At this year’s American Advertising Federation’s National Addy Awards, MWB took home three Gold Addys and one Silver Addy for our Shack Up Inn poster campaign. Now, at face value, that might not strike you as weirdness, but allow me to describe the scene: It’s Marc Leffler and me in a fancy ballroom at the Austin Hilton – lights, cameras and everything. The audience is filled with the people behind some of advertising’s biggest campaigns – and us. One more thing: Marc is holding a cut-out picture of Keith Fraser’s face mounted on a stick. (See the picture above.) Keith Fraser is MWB’s associate creative director and designer of the Shack Up posters.

After a few welcoming announcements, the show begins with video of the Gold Addy winners: Leo Burnett for their brilliant Mayhem campaign for Allstate Insurance. The much-loved Superbowl commercial, “The Force”, with the mini Darth Vader, that Deutsch created for Volkswagen. A multimedia campaign for Nike, featuring the cast of Back to the Future, that raised $9 million for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Wieden+Kennedy’s fantastic “Imported from Detroit” campaign for Chrysler. Sony Playstation. McDonald’s. Snickers. Coca-Cola. HBO. Intel. And then… The Shack Up Inn posters from Maris, West & Baker. A low-budget poster campaign among million-dollar multimedia spectacles from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. All for a Clarksdale B&B (breakfast and beer) where you can spend the night in a renovated sharecropper shack.

I heard some applause and a few whistles as we walked up to accept the Addys. Of course, the cheers quickly turned to laughter once Marc held up Keith-on-a-Stick. Here’s the full story: Keith designed the posters. Marc and I were the writers. But, unfortunately, Keith couldn’t come to the Addys due to an important Newk’s photo shoot. Marc, who has probably the biggest heart in Mississippi advertising, didn’t want Keith to be left out. So he brought a picture of Keith’s face on a stick. And Keith, as usual, stole the show even though he wasn’t actually there. We might have to start bringing Keith-on-a-Stick to client meetings. Watch out “Real Keith.”

All in all, it was an incredible experience to see our work honored among some of the best advertising campaigns on the planet. But don’t worry about us getting big egos. It was back to the real world on Thursday to roll up the sleeves and get to work. In advertising, you’re only as good as your last campaign. What really matters most is doing the best you can for the clients you’re lucky enough to have.

The AAF posted a page with the National Addy Gold winners. Here’s to the winners, the South and the Shack Up Inn!

Maris, West & Baker Wins at Jackson Addys

Maris, West & Baker had a strong showing at the American Advertising Federation of Jackson’s 2012 Addy Awards. We won 6 gold Addys, honoring work for the Mississippi State Department of Health, Cadence Bank and the Mississippi Children’s Museum. The agency also received 20 silver Addys.

MWB won two of the evening’s best of show awards. The first was Best of Show – Public Service for the agency’s flu prevention campaign for the Mississippi State Department of Health. The second was the Graphic Designer of the Year award, presented to Keith Fraser for his work on the Shack Up Inn poster campaign.