Marketing Monday: BOO!

Happy Halloween!

If you're at all familiar with The Ellen Show, you likely know about her penchant for scaring her guests. Occasionally a video will provide a particularly satisfying response and and make the rounds online (my perennial favorite is Taylor Swift in the bathroom). It's the kind of brand-building, go-to schtick that works perfectly: it's silly, fun, and disarms guests. It's an easy way for an audience to feel connected with celebrity guests–we all understand being startled! I personally hate being scared, but I do find this mostly charming. It's not terribly controversial. It's a little mean, but it's also in good fun and generally goes over well: getting scared by Ellen seems to be a badge of honor. And the reactions rarely disappoint. Today, on the spookiest day of the year, let's take a look at some of Ellen's best Boos.

Wishing you a fun, safe, creative, happy, candy-filled Halloween with the exact level of scariness that suits you. And if you don't want your Milky Ways, pass 'em over to me.

Marketing Monday: Catch 'em Off Guard

It's not exactly a secret that the best marketing is effective. And maybe the second-best marketing is effective because it is memorable. I'm sure there is some science or reference articles or extra-long think pieces I could link to to prove this thesis, but it's Monday of a hectic week and so I'm going to own that that sounds good to me right now and it fits in with my point today: this bear is owning it. 

This bear. This bear, man. Pop-ups are annoying. This bear is owning it! AND he's being charming about it, which is what made me stop, look twice, laugh, show my husband, screenshot it, and post about it here two days later. 

Look! Look at him!

Smug little fella.

Smug little fella.

Full disclosure: It didn't make me fork over my email address (rarely does anything make me do that, in fairness), but it did endear me to the brand and branding and ensured that I would be back. And that I will probably sign up for that discount when I'm ready to buy something.

PS - My 2016 Gift Guide goes live one week from tomorrow! I'm featuring some Emily McDowell products this year, and trust me when I saw you want to check out her stuff.