Dave gets up and down in his explanation of the process behind making this month's video. If you wait until the very end you can even hear as he takes and makes the greatest golf shot in the history of mankind. To see the original video click here.

In the spirit of practicing what you preach (in terms of BEING the message, not advertising AROUND it), we've taken on a project called Take A Stand TV, which profiles the role individual contributors play in large issues relevant to our times. These individuals may not have their faces on Mt. Rushmore, but the work they do makes a BIG difference in many people's daily lives.

Our first episode (shown below), features Paul Figueroa, an anti-violence and conflict prevention specialist. Paul goes to schools, community organizations, corporations and other professional associations, teaching them how to handle tough situations at home and at work.

Paul is himself the product of an abusive upbringing, yet he decided at a young age that he had the power to affect the trajectory of his life by sticking to his beliefs. This approach, along with some other outside factors (Paul is a retired police officer) are what allowed Paul to "Take A Stand" during the key "choice-points" of his early years.

But enough from me, please watch Episode 1 of Take A Stand TV. If you want to learn more, go to www.takeastandtv.com (it's a temp blog. the actual site is under construction and will have some AMAZING features when we roll it out).

oh yeah, just in case you don't make it to the end credits ... I'm an executive producer, dave shot the interview and recorded sound, and RedGrey handled overall production and direction of the piece, with valuable input coming from co-producers Val Mohney and (host) Joel Meyers along the way.

Cool stuff!

Mad props to one of our readers (who didn't leave his/her name), who found the "Look Me in the Eye" Jordan vid on YouTube and passed it on. you will be receiving your fake iPhone tomorrow afternoon at approximately a quarter to never.

Here's the goods:



For a breakdown of each line of this commercial, please see "I Will Become What I Know I Am" blog entry below.

For the competitive types, or those currently taking a risk of some sort or another, this ad will resonate particularly well with YOU. I encourage you all to read it for a boost.

Party on.

Here's a great ad i saw the other day while watching Lebowski on hulu.com:



Had to drop a shout-out for it because i have yet to see a 15-second pre- or post-roll online video ad that didn't make me want to gravity test my computer. This little gem caught my eye.

Appealing to people online is a whole other ball game than doing it on television. It's a different aged audience, with different habits, different interests, and different expectations.

Just because people who watch online video tend to exercise a reduced attention span (sometimes, but not always), doesn't mean advertisers should attempt to say more, faster, in less time.

So, advertisers, take one thought, one aspect of your client's product, and highlight it. Don't be afraid to dive deeper into more focused issues, and to show them in clever ways.

General rules of thumb:

1) Sharing one benefit or aspect of a product/service at a time is enough, and
2) Never assume that your audience's interests are baser than your own.

This Reese's ad is a great example of that. it's 15 seconds long and one sentence. The music is a playfully cool riff off the New Order song "Bizarre Love Triangle," and the mood of the spot sums up what it's like to eat candy: so good (for your tastebuds), yet so bad (for your wasteline).

Gotta love it.

I've had several people write to ask if i can fix the link to the Michael Jordan commercial i wrote about in the "I Will Become What I Know I Am" blog entry (see below). Unfortunately, the link went dead, like, a week after i made the post, and i haven't been able to find it anywhere else on the net. however, if someone would be kind enough to send me a link where they can view the commercial online, i'll repay you with a free iPhone 2.0.

(ok, i won't do anything of the sort. but send me a link anyway ... pretty please.)

It's a fact in editing that if one tries to do too much in a single sitting, one's time and sanity eventually become lost.

During one such "lighter moment," Dave Hayes decided to tell the "Behind the Scenes" story of the HouseWares branding campaign through the eyes of ... a British action figurine.

Listen, it's not that we don't take our work very seriously ... we really do ... by the way, I typed this blog entry with a pair of popsicle sticks just to see if I could ... and I nailed it ...

Seriously, though. Check it out. And "Cheerio!" yellow spandex-wearing dude!

(Updated: 6/3/08)

Couple days ago before the NBA All-Star Game I saw the best ad I've seen in a LONG time. you can check it below:



So far I've watched it close to 50 times, and each time it gives me goose bumps.

Here's why it kicks ass ...

"It's OK if you're scared. So am I. But we're scared for different reasons." Michael Jordan's voice totally rocks. Plus, great hook. How many times has MJ personally challenged YOU ... AND admitted he was scared? I mean, in terms of legacy, this guy eats Kobe Bryants for lunch.

"I'm scared of what I won't become. And you're scared of what I could become." Oh boy. First he challenges us, then he makes a profound statement on dat ass: we all strive for greatness while simultaneously preventing others from achieving it. Powerful words from a guy who often won the scoring title and defensive player of the year awards at the same time.

"Look at me. I won't let myself end where I started. I won't let myself finish where I began." This is all about sheer will. Legends don't quit after their first attempt ends in failure.

"I know what is within me, even if you can't see it yet." To me this is where the ad goes from good to brilliant. The sales pitch implants itself into the audience's subconscious by acknowledging that we all believe we're special, even when others don't. This totally RESONATES with athletes and anyone who's ever taken a risk. Nobody takes a shot in basketball or a risk in life with the belief that they will lose. When the world doubts your ability, and there's no shortage of people who will tell you it can't be done, all you can really do is cling to your inner confidence.

And then it ends with the key part: "I have something more important than courage. I have patience." In the competitive world in which we live, too often people don't realize what role work plays as a component to success. we're sort of raised to think, "Well, Michael Jordan was born that way." Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He worked his butt off. The point is, there's a fine line between having the guts to try and the patience to fail until you succeed.

"I will become what I know I am." Defiant. Powerful. Enduring. If you're a high school athlete, this just told you to have faith in your dreams and abilities, despite the fact that others see a different potential, or no potential at all.

Ok, the truth is I like this commercial because of how it resonates with ME right now. It's profound: when you take a risk in life, it's really easy -- seductive, almost -- to get discouraged by what competitors are doing or saying, and lose site of why you took that risk in the first place: because you knew the ability was in you, even if others couldn't see it yet.

Amen, brother.

Interesting article in the WSJ journal today about online video viewing patterns btwn men and women.

Don't read it. I'll sum up the results for you right here: women like to watch Oprah/US Magazine stuff and men like to watch YouTube. Online. By really, really big margins. Truly a ground-breaking study.

But this part was interesting:


"Viewership patterns", "advertise" and "content." What does all this mean when it comes to online vids? it means marketers want to hack up the stuff we watch online with recycled TV commercials.

"No," Jeremy says. "This presents a problem." I would like to recommend a study and propose the results at the same time. Here it is: Web Video is Different than Television (said 100% of those polled).

Online video shouldn't be thought of as something you have to advertise OVER or AROUND to reach people and make more money. Online video is something you CREATE to accomplish that.

Tell a story. entertain. Make an audience appreciate and care about your product, service or cause, and they'll invest in it to the point where they actually care about your success (see Apple). who woulnd't want customers like that?

Marketers, stop thinking "old." Don't associate with the message. BE the message. YouTube's getting lame, anyway.

if they stop and learn their clients' businesses, marketers know what types of content attract the right people. so get segregated. Define your business' target audience and give them what they want.

This is a "behind the scenes" look at a webvid we did for Edmonds HouseWares (the actual webvid can be seen here). It is part of an online re-branding campaign that includes a new look website, a host of HouseWares online videos, and several 30-second ad spots -- all rolling out over the next few weeks. Check out HouseWaresEdmonds.com now, and then again around the first week of Feb, for a before and after example of what RedGrey's web design and video production can add to your online presence.

Cheers!