Atomic Ideas - Helping You Sell More Stuff!

Atomic Ideas Helps Client bd's Mongolian Grill Throw A Tailgate Party!

Check out Atomic Ideas' latest work for bd's right here. Then head to the location nearest you to try out something totally different at bd's - an awesome burger, Mongo-style!

Through October 30, 2011, bd's will bring the game-day spirit to diners with an appetizing tailgate party unlike any other. The world's number one create your own stir-fry concept is providing fans with new and exciting menu additions, including innovative burger and brat recipes and drink combinations.

 "Football season is all about family, friends and fun," said Denise Head, vice president of marketing at bd's Mongolian Grill. "Adding burgers and brats to our menu creates the ideal tailgate party experience and is exactly what our guests want."

During the football season, diners can create their own tailgate experience with four new Create Your Own Mongo Burger choices. Angus, Turkey, Veggie, and Salmon burgers can all be paired with an array of mouthwatering sauce options. Brats are also available for a limited time. And Mongo lovers can top off their burgers and brats with a variety of vegetable bar offerings from customary onions, tomatoes and bacon to nontraditional items such as pineapple and jalapenos!

We love collaborating with the great team at bd's on exciting events like the Tailgate Party ... and we love the food too! 

 

Atomic Ideas is an idea factory for marketers that need a boost.

We offer businesses strategically sound ideas to accomplish their business objectives, and then we execute them. 

The results are compelling selling conversations that connect companies with their best customers, both internal and external, offline and online....aligned.

When that happens, our clients sell more stuff.

 

 

Appetizing Recent Creative Work for bd's Mongolian Grill from Atomic Ideas.

We love Mongolian stir-fry and we love our client bd's Mongolian Grill. bd's is all about providing a dining experience unlike any other. It's called "Mongo Magic"... an interactive dining experience inspired by Genghis Kahn and his warriors! 

If your concept of stir-fry doesn't go much beyond sweet and sour chicken, you need to check out bd's where Mongo-Fusion rules. Create your own Mongolian-style stir-fry flavor sensation, from Asian to Caribbean to Italian, or your very own “signature” bowl. 

To give you a better idea, here are just a few of the in-store pieces Atomic Ideas created for several recent bd's Mongolian Grill promotions. 

Summer Fiesta!

Appeteasers!

Summer Fiesta is still rocking so if you haven't tried bd's, check it out. Go to their website to find the nearest location, and Go Mongo!

 

Atomic Ideas Helps bd's Mongolian Grill Offer Up Fun, Fresh Food!

Here's some recent design work from Atomic Ideas for bd's Mongolian Grill's current Fun, Fresh, Food promotion... from interior store signage to recipe cards, promo menu and more.

bd’s Fun Fresh Food promotion, provides guests with a “Fun” way to get a “Fresh” start on the New Year with great tasting, healthier ­for ­you “Food”.

If you need some tasty creative, check out our work or give Atomic Ideas a ring. If you want some tasty food, head to your nearest bd's Mongolian Grill for a Fun, Fresh gastronomic experience!

Appetite Appeal -- Would you eat something that looked like crap?

I wouldn't eat something that looked like crap. Either in actual appearance or in a photograph that is trying to entice me to eat it.  And I wouldn't stop and think, "gee, I'm sure the actual food looks better than that crappy photo. I'm sure  the advertiser was just trying to save money on photography."

What started this line of thinking was a stop at my local gas station mini-mart for their surprisingly good 99 cent coffee. But hanging next to the coffee station was a photograph of a "Baffo's Pizza Roll." It should have read "Barf-o's." The photography was that bad. The excrement (only word that does it justice) spilling out of the roll not only did NOT entice me to buy one, it put me off eating anything for a while. I wish I could include the photo here, but they don't have a website and the photo on their facebook page is too small to make heads or tails of (maybe that's what's inside the pizza roll!)

You don't sell steak, you sell the sizzle. When you sell food it is all about appearance, smell, and taste appeal. If your advertising isn't appealing, your sales won't be either!  Often, all people know about you is through your advertising.  So if you're not going to do it right, it's probably better not to do it at all!

In looking for bad food photography I came across this article from CoEd magazine that illustrates my point. http://coedmagazine.com/2009/03/13/the-art-of-bad-restaurant-food-photography/

 

What we have here, is a failure to communicate!

Advertising and marketing in general is getting tougher. Not just because of the increased channels of communication, but in the ever-changing way in which people actually choose to verbalize their thoughts.

 

Hyundai offers iBribe to buy a new Equus

What do you do when you see a brand that is beloved by nearly everyone for it's leading-edge design and cutting-edge coolness factor? Sure, you could try to imitate the design and marketing strategy that made that brand great, or you could just somehow link that product to yours and hope it basks in the glow!

That's what Hyundai did. In an article this morning in the Detroit Free Press Auto Section, Hyundai has announced that they are giving away an iPad to Hyundai Equus buyers when they come back (after a few days living with the car) to learn more about the features and operation of their new Equus. There will even be an Equus App on the iPad to help buyers get the most out of their new car.

Now while I'm all for freebies and gratis iPads, the fact that I have to have to return for a training session for my car and they're giving me an App to aid me thereafter, kind of makes me a-scared. Is this car too complex? I want a car, not life-long recurrent training. To my mind, if it's that difficult to understand, the ergonomics must suck! (Think BMW radio/electronic stacks of a few years ago).

I guess you could argue that Hyundai is just trying to appeal to younger buyers by showing they understand this generation's iPad proclivities, but I think they could have just given the iPad away or announced a "fun/functional" APP instead of linking it to "understanding" the vehicle.

Just one iWriter's iOpinion. What do you think?? Hit the comment button below to let your voice be nerd...er, heard.

 

"If you come to a fork in the road..."

In this hectic, crazy, out-of-control world we live in today, isn’t it great that the World Series is back. Why? Because it’s something we can make sense out of. The timing is good for this age-old tradition of baseball to let us escape from the current irrational world of mud-slinging politics and other mindless stuff. It restores a bit of humanity. Just a bit -

As the 2010 World Series begins, here are some inspirational words from some well-known players, writers and thinkers on our great American pastime. - If we could just get them to help us sell stuff.

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“I called off his players’ names as they came marching up the steps behind him. All nice guys. They’ll finish last. Nice guys finish last.” -Leo Durocher, 1946, casual remark at a practice in the presence of a number of journalists.

“You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six.” -Yogi Berra  

“You don’t save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it might rain.” -Leo Durocher, 1965.

“We made too many wrong mistakes.” -Yogi Berra 

“He could throw a lamb chop past a wolf.”  -Westbrook Pegler, on Lefty Grove, 1894-1969: Baseballs Greatest Quotations, 1991

“The future ain't what it used to be” -Yogi Berra

“I broke in with four hits and the writers promptly decided they had seen the new Ty Cobb. It took me only a few days to correct that impression. -Casey Stengel

“It ain't the heat, it's the humility.” -Yogi Berra 

“He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious.” -Yogi Berra 

 “Ninety feet between bases is perhaps as close as man ever come to perfection.” -Red Smith

“Half the lies they tell about me aren't true.” -Yogi Berra

“I'm glad I don't play anymore. I could never learn all those handshakes” -Phil Rizutto

“In baseball, you don't know nothin'.” -Yogi Berra

“Good pitching always stops good hitting and vice versa.” -Yogi Berra

“It's a mere moment in a man's life between the all-star game and the old-timer's game.” -Vin Scully

"The hardest thing to do in baseball is to hit a round baseball with a round bat, squarely.” -Ted Williams

“So I'm ugly. So what? I never saw anyone hit with his face.” -Yogi Berra

“We was going to get you a birthday cake, but we figured you'd drop it.” -Casey Stengel to Marv Throneberry

“Anyone with talent can play in the Major Leagues; for someone like me to stay around as long as I did, I think that's a much greater achievement.” -Bob Uecker

“Man may penetrate the outer reaches of the universe, he may solve the very secret of eternity itself but for me, the ultimate human experience is to witness the flawless execution of the hit-and-run.” -Branch Rickey

“Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.” -Yogi Berra

“A well-run restaurant is like a winning baseball team. It makes the most of every crew member's talent and takes advantage of every split-second opportunity to speed up service.” -David Ogilvy

“In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept destructive criticism. Without 100 percent dedication, you won't be able to do this.” -Willy Mays

“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” -Yogi Berra

“Aw, who gib a damn.” -Willie “Pops” Stargell responding to an audio engineer’s direction during a radio commercial recording after the 1979 World Series.

“You can observe a lot by just watching.”  -Yogi Berra

With thanks and credit to: BrainyQuote.com, Sports Quotations by Carlo DeVito, and The Oxford Essential Quotations Dictionary

 

Could you just make the logo bigger?

My friend Russ pointed this story out to me last week from Ad Age: apparently The GAP redesigned their logo and slipped it onto their site last week. It seems, the online public noticed it quickly and vigorously voiced their opinion of the change: they hated it. People thought it was uninteresting, average, uninspiring and lacking in any direction. Also, the question of “why?” came up a lot. What was broken that had to be fixed?

Well, since that story broke, The GAP listened and pulled the new logo and returned to the familiar white type in a blue box logo. GAP North American president Marka Hansen admitted, in so many words, they had made a mistake. She also said that they would not evolve a new logo through “crowd sourcing,” – a plan that was initially offered last week to help ease Gap fans’ logo dislike.

How does something like this happen? Why change the company logo that’s been around for over twenty years? They changed it to an upper/lower helvetica bold in black and floated a small gradated blue box to the right, behind part of the p. (see above) On the Gap site last week they said, "We chose this design as it's more contemporary and current. It honors our heritage through the blue box while still taking it forward." Talk about gobbledegook- the little blue box represents heritage? Heritage?

Does The Gap Inc., which is part of Banana Republic and Old Navy, do any market research? Couldn’t they have done a focus group to see if logo change was even warranted? And most importantly, will a new logo help them sell more stuff? 

Tell us what you think?  

Here are a few big companies that have made logo changes over the years, (they’re usually quite gradual).

 

 

 

Atomic Ideas on: The trend toward "off-putting" creative.

What is this trend toward unappealing and often downright annoying advertising? Does it work?

Can we really "annoy" people into buying our products and services? Take the Quizno's 5-4-3 Kittens, which is so annoying that I actually couldn't remember who the spot was for -- I had to look it up! The annoying music combined with bad graphics (they look like dead, stuffed cats) make the spot unbearable. Even if you are riveted to awful spectacles (like a bad traffic accident), and you remember the name and the price message (5-4-3), there is no appetite appeal. Now this may appeal to younger cosumers as it has a somewhat "bad viral video" quality, but are the sales generated by this demographic enough to make up for alienating everyone over 40?  Take a look.

 And take this Skittles spot. A little less annoying, it nonetheless does not garner any points for "appetite appeal."  Again, it is obviously aimed at the younger set, but I can't see many Moms wanting to buy skittles for the kids after seeing it. 

Seems any creative worth his salt can make a product appealing. Why spend hundreds of thousands of dollars producing and airing a spot just to create annoyance or shock value? Consumers may remember the name for a short time, but are left with no enduring reason to prefer the product over a competitor. Once the shock value fades, so does the space that the brand held in the consumer's mind.  What do you think?

Atomic Ideas on: Does good creative have an expiration date?

I showed my reel to a friend the other day and one spot in particular came up that he really thought was   funny, that is until the product (a late '90s car) came on the screen.  After the spot was over, the first comment wasn't how much he had laughed or how much he enjoyed it, it was "Wow, how old is that spot? As if the older product invalidated all the creativity that came before it. Why do we act as if advertising isn't any good if it was produced more than a year ago?  A good idea is a good idea. A relevant joke is still a relevant joke. And if I had just plugged in 2009 vehicle, my friend would have loved the spot. 

 C'mon let's storm the corporate offices of TV Land, Turner Classic Movies, and the History Channel. They're re-running stuff that was made or that depicts things from decades ago!  Damn the Oscars and Emmys these productions have won, full speed ahead!  Likewise, lets burn down every hall of fame, museum and memorial because, by gosh, how old is that stuff???

                                              

Great creative is great creative, regardless of when it was produced. If we discount the creative in advertising because it is more than a couple years then we should discount all the creations of man more than two years old. Which means any kid planning on having his third birthday better watch out. He or she is going to be considered inferior by modern standards.