I love extreme advertising and it’s my duty to point out the good ones every now and then so I invite you to watch this short 31 second commercial by Reebok. I actually watched this on TV before I found it on YouTube so I know it’s getting air time.

Before you watch the commercial let me point something out. In the first 24 seconds (the part with the model) you actually only see the product (EasyTone sneakers) for about one second. Reebok knows what product to focus on and it’s not the sneakers. It’s not even the legs.

Having only a man’s perspective, if even just one man’s, I wonder what woman think of the ad. Here’s what my friend Sheryl Loch had to say about it, “I saw that commercial last night & wondered if they could help me. Do you think I could sleep in those shoes & wake with a firm butt?” That just goes to show you, men and woman sometimes think along the same lines lol

I don’t know how effective Reebok’s EasyTone shoe commercials are but I like them. They will no doubt offend a few people but that’s ok as long as the message makes it’s mark. What is the message? That’s easy, “Better legs and a better butt with every step“. Wasn’t you paying attention

I’m not going to rehash all the news today about the guidelines released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). If you’ve been asleep and missed it see ‘Potential FTC Fines Raise Big Blogging Questions‘.

Most of what I’ve read today is a lot of strong concerns and objections on the matter. When it comes to the Government we tend to immediately distrust the decisions and I’m no exception. But I would like to explain why I feel hopeful when it comes to online marketing.

If the internet’s overall reputation regarding advertising is cleaned up and consumer confidence improves we all win. If old Uncle Ed decides to trust the net enough now to buy a few Christmas presents online this year every online business gets a little boost in credibility.

It’s not only the scammers that have been hurting the net and internet marketing in general. It’s all of the marketers that push products based on the profit margin and/or affiliate commission rather than the actual value it provides the customer. You see these guys blasting emails every single day offering something different with each mailing. It would be great if some of this disappears. All they have to do at this point is disclose the fact they profit from the sale. Wouldn’t it be nice if they had to actually believe in and use every product promoted? Yes, I’m a marketer and it sounds like I’m against marketing but it’s just the opposite. I love this industry and would love to see it cleaned up. I posted a little on the matter about two weeks ago ‘Brian D. Hawkins – A Name You Can Trust‘.

I usually keep opinion based posts for my personal blog but decided to share this one with my marketing and blogging friends. Speaking of friends, stop by ExtremeJohn.com and read his opinion on the subject. He hits the nail right on the head – ‘Bullshit Review Bloggers Time to Get Honest‘.

Guestpost by Michael Baker

When you offer a product or service, success or failure will often be based on the quality of the advertising campaign. This means the ad campaign must be innovative and eye-catching as well as cost-effective. Most people understand the former two points, but it is the latter point that is crucially important. Simply put, you cannot spend more on an advertising campaign than what you reap in sales or your ad campaign will be a self-defeating one. The low associated cost is a major reason why pay per click advertising is so popular. It is inexpensive and generally delivers huge results as most Pay-Per-Click (PPC) tracking programs will show. But, not all PPC marketing campaigns are equal. That is why it is important to point out a few helpful tips regarding the proper way to market a product or service via PPC ads.

Patience is always helpful when taking part in a Pay Per Click marketing campaign. It is best to avoid the novice mistake of assuming that simply placing PPC ads on the internet will lead to huge profits overnight. Often, successful campaigns are achieved over an extended period of time. PPC marketing works but it is not (usually) a quick path to getting rich. Simply follow your ad tracker and look for progress. Even if progress is occurring slowly, as long as it is happening you are on a good path.

You will not want to continue with a particular marketing campaign if it is not delivering noticeable results. If a great deal of time has gone by and the sales figures reflected in ad tracking are not impressive, then you should take steps to modify the campaign. Changing the keywords could be one example or completely re-writing the ads could be another.

If you are experiencing a great deal of click-throughs and no one is making a purchase, altering your website might be wise. Never lose site of the fact PPC ads are designed to draw people to a website. It is on the website that the final decision to make a purchase is made. A great PPC ad that leads to a poorly composed website will not deliver much in terms of benefits. So, never lose sight of maintaining a quality website to support a PPC campaign.

The advertising copy in the PPC ads needs to be compelling and direct. With Pay Per Click ads, you will only have a few short sentences to catch the reader’s eyes and convince them to click through to your site. As such, professional quality copywriting is a must when launching a PPC marketing campaign. Similarly, the right keywords must be selected when composing the PPC ad copy. Without the right keywords, the ability to connect the ad with those exploring the search engines will prove elusive. When you do add quality keywords, you will probably notice an uptick in the conversion stats on your ad tracker. Clearly, this would be good news.

Those that may have difficulties composing such text on their own should consult the professional services of a PPC consulting company. Such professionals can certainly help craft your ads in such a way they deliver results.

Yes, success with PPC marketing is possible provided you understand a few basic components of what is a good PPC marketing campaign. Once you understand these components, the success you achieve will be greater than you originally thought possible.

The World’s Largest Tire was transported by train over 40 years ago where it sill stands in Allen Park, Michigan. Locals know the huge artifact from the 1964 New York World’s Fair as symbol of Detroit’s once booming automotive industry. The tire can be seen when driving to Detroit from Detroit Metro Airport.

Like advertising in disguise, few would consider it an 80-foot advertisement for Uniroyal. If it was decided that every roadside billboard was to be removed for a better image most would agree without any thought. If someone decided to remove the big tire there would no doubt be protesting throughout Michigan and beyond.

This 86-foot giant tire, four times that of a standard billboard, has withstood the test of time and shows with some creativity extreme adverting can be much more than effective and excepted – it can become a landmark.

There’s been a lot of marketing buzz about the recent massive Snickers campaign using distinctive made-up words without any actual mention of the brand itself. Snickers, owned by Mars, Inc., has billboards, bus & taxi ads along with broadcast commercials relying on font and color recognition to promote their brand.

There are many blog posts about the campaign, both good and bad. Personally, I’m impressed. My first thoughts are the actual strategy behind the campaign must be to reinforce the brand. This is obvious since anyone not already familiar with the candy bar would have no idea what they were looking at. Words like Nougatocity and Peanutopolis would be confusing to those that don’t recognize the brand’s distinctive, yet very plain, image.

What impressed me, even though they’ve had millions of dollars and years to do it, is how successful the Snicker’s branding actually is. Just the simple font and colors are enough to generate instant recognition for millions of people. Well, that and I like the candy bar

I just ran across this YouTube video that I originally blogged about on another site last year. It’s two years old and I’m still just blown away when I watch it. Derren Brown takes two guys who work in the advertising industry and tests their influences from Subliminal Advertising. If you are not familiar with Derren Brown he’s truly an amazing and interesting person. You can find many hours of him on YouTube. I thought I’d share this Subliminal Advertising video with you. Get ready to be impressed…

Here’s another one if you still have some free time. Be careful, this stuff can be addicting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbxV8vtm85s