Oh my goodness. What a twist, what a change of heart, what a positive message after all! I truly hope that you were able to experience this commercial, a true-meaning-of-Christmas gift from Apple. A teenager, seemingly glued to his phone, seemingly bored out of his mind by this family Christmas gathering, is in fact creating a...

  If you’ve watched any television this holiday season, you’ve been subjected to this commercial, or some version of it. And odds are, you’ve cringed. Social media is atwitter (get it?) with “I’ll never buy a Honda” and “Honda, these are the most annoying commercials ever” and “I was thinking about buying a Honda but that...

A few months ago, I was in the grocery store, considering which hot chocolate flavoring to purchase. Usually, I’m a Hersey’s syrup kind of gal, but for some reason, I was in the coffee and tea aisle, with Nestle’s Quik in one hand and Ovaltine in the other, reading the labels for sugar, sodium and...

Ed Ritzema was really bummed about the lack of response in his direct mail efforts. He spent alot of money, mailed to alot of people and just didn’t see the return on his investment. He is passionate about saving ash trees from the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), now gaining ground faster and faster in the...

You don’t have to start all over again to start all over again. Dr. Kidanu Birhanu is a physician with decades of experience, with multiple fellowships, certificates and recognitions achieved (including one of USA Today’s Top Doctors in 2011). In shifting his practice to concentrate on weight loss, anti-aging and sexual health in both women...

  “I just wanted to send you a quick note to say thank you for helping make our 2013 tax season a success. I was hesitant to implement another postcard campaign because I attempted one in 2010 which was not very successful. I did not like the postcard the company created…it was a little cheesy...

Some people dream of flying. Some dream of the Blackhawks winning another Stanley Cup. Some people dream of going to work in their underwear. John Poulos dreamt of owning his own restaurant. A friendly little place, serving delicious hot sandwiches, ice cold soft drinks and, of course, Chicago-style hot dogs. John had the location, he had...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCYwAOCLiTA   The other day, my husband, relaxing after a hard day’s work with his newspaper and pipe, pulled me out of the kitchen where I was preparing his meat and potatoes while wearing a dress, high heels and a string of pearls and asked me to watch a commercial. (Can you find all that’s...

As my advertising hero Don Draper likes to ask, “What’s the benefit?” In my own marketing philosophy, I always add, “What makes the product unique?” Sometimes, in marketing a town or a region to attract tourism dollars (“heads in beds” or “feets in sheets”), the tendency is to emphasize benefits that are very commonplace. You see hundreds of the...

Waaaayyy back in 2009, we designed a (beautiful and effective) logo, business card, brochure and bio card for Dr. Gregory Primus, who was founding Chicago Center for Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery in Tinley Park. Logo design is always an interesting journey and Dr. Primus was so smart about it, we actually wrote an article...