Here’s an email I’d like to pass along, from Erica Monteith, sister of my office mate Ian.

We spend a lot of time worrying about business issues that seem overwhelming. Once in a while reality intrudes with a gentle tap on the shoulder. To better appreciate your circumstances and blessings, read this:

Hello Friends and Family

As you all know I am finally finishing up my long two years of service down here in the Dominican Republic.  I have been here since Sept. 13, 2007, doing projects such as an accounting class, starting a small business, and numerous classes and groups for the youth in my area to name a few; my official end date is Nov. 20, 2009, but I have decided to extend my service for three additional months to  wrap up what I consider one of my most important project.  There are many things that we all take for granted and certainly things I have come to appreciate with respect to basic human needs. While lacking many things we might all consider ‘basic’ numerous families in my town have no bathroom, not just no bathroom in the house but no bathroom period.

The project that I propose is to build 20 latrines (out-houses) which would provide more than 100 people a safe, sanitary and environmentally responsible place to take care of  business. I have spent a great deal of time planning and organizing this complex and much needed project and all I am waiting for is some financial help. As you all know I’m pretty stubborn and don’t normally ask for help (even when I need it), and I am even  more apprehensive about asking for money; but this is a project I believe in and I do desperately need your help. To finish this project I need to raise about $4,000 and I’m asking for any amount of help you would be willing to give. Not only would you be helping me and the people in my village, but you can also write it off on your taxes! If you would like to donate you can do so at this website (as well as check my progress):

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=517-335

I would really appreciate any help you can give and would be forever in your debt. If you can help I would love to send you pictures of the finished product and the families.  Thank you so very much for your help!

Erica

If you have any questions you can call my wonderful mother Gina (703)-969-0262 or me down here in the DR at 001+809-723-9813 (you will need a calling card but I will be happy to answer any questions you might have)

I will send pictures this week
Thank you!

Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer are one of the year’s big marketing success stories. An expansion team, they’ve sold every available seat and then some; they sold a huge number of season tickets; they’ve become the hot ticket in Seattle. They’ve created a compelling atmosphere inside the stadium. Paying special attention to the on-the-field product, they’ve made the playoffs and may well set even more records.

Yet Major League Soccer hasn’t enjoyed the same success everywhere.

The league has lost significant attendance in some markets, beyond what you might expect from the economic downturn. They’ve experimented with marketing plans that focus on youth soccer players, on Latinos and on young adults, with spotty results. And some of the product is, frankly, disappointing.

What type of marketing effort should the league make in this day and age?

Even with tens of millions of people who play and love soccer in the US, marketing a professional soccer league a big problem. Product quality is an issue. MLS must compete with readily available competition via television from Europe, South America and Mexico. The US soccer market is incredibly diverse and there’s no easy way to reach all the segments.

I chanced upon a compelling take on MLS’ challenges and a possible solution at USSoccerPlayers.com, the official site of the US National Soccer Team Players Association. These people have the most at stake – they’re the ones who play soccer for a living. See the commentary by L. E. Eisenmenger of Examiner.com here.

Eisenmenger suggests marketing to adults via transparency; that is, removing the mysteries of business machinations from the fans (much as the Sounders have done), using social media and other techniques to attract folks from all segments of the US soccer spectrum. Eisenmenger says ignore the templates of established US pro sports leagues, and build a unique brand from the ground up.

It’s a lot different course than what anyone would have suggested a few years ago. And yet, with the new and growing power of social media, Eisenmenger makes a compelling argument. If you’re a soccer fan, or even just a marketing fan, I think you’ll enjoy her take.

The words of David Kennedy, co-founder of Wieden + Kennedy: We’re really not in the business of making ads. Our job is to make a connection.

Sometimes you can tell if ads or other marketing efforts connect just by looking.

More often, all you can tell is the quality of the design and writing. Yet well-written, well-designed work often misses the mark.

So for each sample here, I’ve given some context.

To view the work, click the images above or the links on the left.

For updates on Twitter,  follow at: @barrettrossie

From the Drudge Report today: Bank of America posts $2.24 billion in losses on home loan defaults.

Maybe their borrowers defaulted because they took BofA’s advice, and bought pizza to make dough?

That’s a pretty cute headline I saw in the lobby at my local Bank of America the other day. “Buy Pizza, Get Dough.” Get it? Don’t worry, not many other people do, either.

Tabletop poster with flier, at a Bank of America branch

It made me think of some less cute headlines that have been in the news lately:

• BofA to Get $20B More From TARP, Plus Backstop on $118B
• TARP Will Likely Be A Money Loser For Taxpayers: Fortune
• Bank of America Gives Bailout Money to ACORN
• CEO Lewis Under Fire As Bank of America Probe Grows Personal

Is it too much to ask BofA to be less jovial about their schemes to stockpile more of our money — especially when they’re back-dooring fee increases on things like safe-deposit boxes and giving Merrill Lynch executives huge bonuses?

A few BofA headlines I’d like to see…

• “We got $138 billion in bailout funds. You get .05% interest on your savings.”
• “We used your bailout ‘dough’ to buy Merrill Lynch!”
• “Home loans now available for just a silly little percentage point above the national average!”
• “Talk with one of our ‘vice-presidents‘ today — none of whom makes 1/100th of what our CEO makes!”
• “Use your BofA debit card to buy more pizza — we’ll reward you with peanuts!”
• “For just $15 a month, we’ll let you bank here!”
• “According to RateItAll.com, we satisfy 3 out of 10 customers!”
• “We handle deposits — but not complaints!”
• “May as well read some of our promotional material. You’ll be waiting in line for quite a while.

Maybe you can recommend a line or two?

Richards, founder of The Richards Group, says his agency is a better, happier place for long ago adopting a policy of not defending existing accounts in agency reviews, according to this article in Ad Age.

(His rationale for that policy, in the linked article, is classic.)

Yet, Richards will make exceptions, as he did in the case of Home Depot last year. His shop bucked the low odds of most defensive reviews (some say a low as 5% success rate) and held onto the $600 million account. He offers great rationale for making the exception with Home Depot. And he didn’t mention the 600 million most obvious reasons even once.

The Martin Agency recently tried to defend its UPS account, then withdrew as success appeared unlikely. Were the defense, and the withdrawal, the right decisions? Not knowing the inside scoop, I think so. UPS had decided to globalize its advertising efforts. So it was fundamentally a new account. A win would have given Martin a tremendous showcase for managing a global ad campaign. With a reward like that, it’s difficult to resist – especially since the success of the nine-year relationship  didn’t seem to be the issue.

On the other hand, when Crispin Porter + Bogusky was asked to defend its VW account last month, it declined. According to Ad Age, CPB said: “As a rule, we do not participate in reviews for our current accounts, and this will not be an exception.”

Interesting stuff. I wonder  whether the approaches of these great agencies offer any guidance for the vast majority of  small, less prominent agencies when they deal with the same issue.

Two Western-flavored TV commercials for two western-flavored hamburgers.

One from Burger King, the other from Jack in the Box.

Your thoughts?

Hootie sings of burgers

Jack sings of burgers

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know they’re built for different purposes. But which do you prefer: The Wieden+Kennedy official site, or the blog from the Portland office?  And why?

Personally, I like the blog infinitely more. My guess is that the fancy corporate site has outworn its welcome. The days when figuring out what a website is supposed to do, what it’s supposed to represent and how it’s supposed to work are long gone.

What do you think?

This post by Sean X Cummings covers a favorite topic: the evolution of the ad agency business. There’s plenty to agree and disagree with in Sean’s post. If you’re currently with an agency, or own one, maybe you’ll agree with the post, and at the same time think: He’s talking about OTHER agencies… We’re different.

The fact is, agencies must constantly reinvent themselves. They’ve been doing so ever since computers started showing up on the desktop.

At the same time, agency clients must constantly evolve the way they connect with their own customers. Cummings argues that more than ever, most of the important work of marketing must be managed and generated from within the client, not from external sources.

Yet obviously, there’s still a big role for certain kinds of agencies — for certain kinds of clients.

Give it a read, and think where you fit in, either as an agency or a client. And don’t miss the comments below the post.

Just a reminder of what a tough industry this is: Last week, The Martin Agency withdrew from its bid to retain UPS as a client — a client for which it has created stellar and effective work.

UPS had put the account up for review a few months back because they wanted to globalize their efforts. (At least, that’s what I was told by a Martin executive. There’s always more to the story. I’ll try to get some of the inside scoop soon.)

Martin had held the account for nine years and had been leading some of UPS’s international creative efforts under the direction of Mike Hughes.

In some ways, UPS was Martin’s breakthrough account, even though they had won Geico five years earlier. Martin’s work for UPS was far different than anything the agency had ever done before. “What Can Brown Do For You?” seemed like a real stretch for a creative team that seemed geared to the Creative Arts Magazine crowd.

As a one-time Martin writer, looking in from the outside – I thought Martin’s work for UPS was a big step forward. It proved that they could execute big-time campaigns in a way that eluded other creative boutiques. Thanks to the success of UPS and Geico, it’s been years since you could call Martin a boutique.

UPS was a great challenge and a great accomplishment. The Martin team was working in the shadow of one the all-time great ad campaigns from Fedex. Yet UPS and Martin managed to leave Fedex in their rear view mirror. Not by imitating them, but by going in entirely new directions.

If it’s not a case study in marketing classes, it ought to be.

* * *

Before you feel too sorry for Martin, they picked up Expedia and Sun Life Financial within a span of 10 days this month. When you look at what Martin has done for Geico, WalMart and UPS, they deserve the good news.