We are not looking for good. We’re looking for great! We’re not looking for someone to fill a job, we’re looking for someone who wants to be a part of an amazing growing team who is eager and excited to contribute to the overall growth and success of our clients and our business. Are you that person? Then check out our job posting.
Merlot Marketing wins five Crystal awards for excellence in marketing communications. The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) honored Merlot for the following work:
Client: Bug Realty
Title: BUG! Realty Photography
Category: Photography/illustration
Client: BUG! Realty
Title: BUG! Realty Promotional Materials
Category: Promotional Materials
Client: Everpure
Title: Everpure Water Bottle
Category: Promotional Materials
Client: Everpure
Title: Everpure Ad
Category: Magazine Ad
Kudos to the Merlot team!
Merlot Marketing walked away from the CAPPIE Awards Show with two GOLD and four SILVER CAPPIE awards including:
GOLD CAPPIE AWARDS
Client: Walker Zanger
Title: “All-Over Pattern Micro-Trend Finally Come to Tile”
Category: Writing; Feature Writing
Walker Zanger’s Contessa Collection
Client: Merlot Marketing
Title: Merlot Holiday Card
Category: Self Promotion
Merlot Marketing's Holiday Survival Guide
Check it out for yourself: Click here
SILVER CAPPIE AWARDS
Client: Merlot Marketing
Title: The Water Cooler ‘Merlog’
Category: New Media; Blog
What will find? What else? Water Cooler talk...
Client: Everpure
Title: Everpure Aqua Party 2008
Category: Special Event/Media Event
Client: Everpure
Title: Everpure Water Bottle Display
Category: Promotional Device
Client: Everpure
Title: Everpure Exubera Brochure
Category: Brochure
Mistake proves propitious for Merlot Marketing. Initially awarded three silver and three gold Addy’s for design, photography, promotions and self promotion, we later found out that one of our ‘silvers’ was actually a gold and we had won another silver they forgot to include in the program or announce during the event. In any case, we’re pretty excited, especially for our clients who we owe great thanks for giving us the opportunity to work on their business. Here’s a listing of our awards:
GOLD:
Merlot Marketing Christmas Card (a green approach to Christmas)
Everpure Water Bottle Display
Statistics showcase the need for water filtration!
Susan G. Komen Poster
Everpure Exubera Brochure
SILVER:
Everpure Aqua Party
Bug! Realty Photography
Bug! Real Estate Photo Shoot in San Francisco
Thermique Photography
Photo for an ad campaign
At this year’s Addy Awards show, Merlot Marketing brought home six Addys: three gold and three silver awards. However, most exciting was Merlot Marketing’s own, Brenda Granucci, being awarded the AAF’s Media Person of the Year!
I am so incredibly proud of the Merlot team for these honors. It takes hardwork, passion and creativity to win – all of which exemplifies this team. Here are just a few of them…
This is only a portion of the team, but all deserve a congratulations. And Robert, I won't even ask what you're doing...
After researching, planning and placing millions in media on behalf of our clients, I nominated Brenda for Media Person of the Year – and she won! The award is well-deserved because her passion and enthusiasm for our clients’ business is second to none. She has negotiated literally millions in savings for our clients and has great relationships with the media. What can I say? It’s a well-deserved award… CONGRATULATIONS!
Brenda accepting her award!
Here are a few more images from the evening:
LtoR: Debi Hammond, President/CEO; Brenda Granucci, Account Supervisor (Media Person of the Year!)
LtoR: Julie, PR AE & Brad Dore, AE
So which Super Bowl ad was your favorite? (If you ‘tweet,’ check this out: Super Bowl Map)
I don’t know about you, but my Super Bowl has nothing to do with grown men running around a field trying to catch a leather-wrapped ball. The ’Big Game’ for me is the commercials! I love them. All of them. Even the bad ones (they give us agency folks an incredible laugh while we wonder what agency talked their client into wasting $3M of hard earned cash on either an ineffective or unmemorable ad).
So, although I did get a chuckle out of quite a few of the ads, none really moved me to truly laugh, cry or to go out and buy… Here are my sort-of-close-to-the-top picks for overall effectiveness based on the ‘M’ factor:
Was it Memorable? Did it Move viewers to take action or Move brand awareness? And lastly, was it Meaningful to the brand? Here are my picks for the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY (and I’d love to hear yours):
THE GOOD
Bridgestone: Although not as good as last year’s (click on screaming squirrel below), I thought the “Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head” ad was cute, clever and original (which seemed to be lost on most advertisers this year). I think every couple could relate to the dialog and the ad tied back to the product by having them in a sports car navigating sharp corners with ease. Didn’t have me doubled over in laughter, but a solid performance. Ditto for their “Space Travelers” ad.
Budweiser: Gave us what we expect and enjoy. A nostalgic, feel-good campaign that reminds us that Budweiser is truly a part of the American fabric; yes, like apple pie and baseball. And although I didn’t shed a tear, “Daisy the Circus” horse did tug on my heart strings, a little. Bud Light came through on its first ad (the guy who gets thrown out of the conference room window) but faltered after that.
THE BAD
GoDaddy: When GoDaddy launched at the Super Bowl in 2005, its brand went from unknown to nationally known over night. It was a brilliant marketing strategy and its efforts paid off in both Web traffic and marketshare. However, four years later, the creative concept has been played. It’s old. It’s tired. And it’s no longer original. The addition of celebrity Danica Patrick probably added more to the cost than marketshare.
Cheetos: I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to laugh or grab my child and run. Chester was creepy, really creepy, “yeeaaassss…” Nothing about that commercial made me we want to eat Cheetos. It was dark and simply not that funny. The overall message: if you do buy Cheetos, just remember it makes great bird food, just lookout for the ‘droppings.’
CareerBuilder: There are no words…
THE UGLY
Jack In The box: Nothing about the cracked Jack head made me want to run over to JIB and get a burger dripping with ketchup. Yeah, didn’t get it. I figured I’d get it after the big payoff from the next commercial. But the next commercial never came. So I decided to do what they asked me to: I want to ‘hangintherejack.com’ to get the big laugh. Well, again, it wasn’t funny. So then I thought I’d follow his Twitter to get the real scoop. Nope, that wasn’t very funny or interesting either. I liked the attempt at the social media tie-in, but next time, give me something worth following.
Hyundai: Paid $3M to tell viewers their name is pronounced ‘hun-day’ like ‘Sunday,’ and yet, no matter how I pronounce it, I’m still not buying their car. To there credit, though, I did find their financing message interesting and of course timely.
Doritos: I know this was ranked number one by USA Today, but really? The guy gets hit in the #%$’s and we all laugh like we’ve never seen that before? Granted, I did chuckle, but from a strategic marketing standpoint, the ad lacked creativity and originality. So was it good? It was okay. Was it great? No.
To view all of the ads, visit Hulu.
For live commentary, click ?cid=6, then type in Merlot Marketing in the Search box.
Merlot Marketing tapped by #1 rated morning show to critique Super Bowl ads.
Do you blog? Tweet? Write on “walls?” Are you “linked in,” so to speak? Web 2.0 (or the wild wild Web as I like to call it) is not only here, it’s here to stay. And what about social media? Well, it isn’t so ‘social’ anymore. It’s business. Big business.
For the rest of the article check out the San Francisco Business Times or the Sacramento Business Journal. Enjoy!
Merlot Marketing was once again named one of the Fastest-growing Companies by the Sacramento Business Journal. Enjoying its fourth year in a row on the list, Merlot Marketing joined only four other advertising/PR firms that made the list this year. Most of the top 10 companies on the list included solar companies and IT firms – definitely a sign of the times. Thanks to our clients and our incredible team for helping us achieve our continued growth and success!
I had the pleasure of doing a Web 2.0 presentation for the board members of CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) yesterday. Given the interest in the subject matter and their desire to learn more, I will be addressing the subject in a six-part blog series. So come back again… you just might find yourself blogging or sending out a ‘tweet!’
As a columist for the Sacramento Business Journal, here is my latest article: You might be your firm’s best marketer. Enjoy!
