2008

Give Your Brand a Full Spa Treatment. Good Words. And Great Names. Green Lipstick and the Environmental Pig. How it Feels to Live in a 650-year-old Wooden Home. The Key to a More Productive Workflow. Marketing that Makes a Sustainable Difference. New Year’s Resolutions for Your Marketing and Branding Efforts. Out to Lunch: A Video Postcard. Sweet Successes. What We’re (Re) Reading

2007

2007. The Perfect Time for a Road Trip Alcoa CSI “Uncorks” a New DVD to Introduce its Unique Wine Seal. Cook for the Cure 2006: Record-Setting Sauces Cook for the Cure—Spoil Your Dinner! Green What? Integrate, Segregate, Reformulate? Measuring the Effectiveness of PR: Thinking Beyond the “Thud Factor” Miller Brooks Builds with Habitat for Humanity. Online Media Measurement See What’s New at Miller Brooks! The Shock of the New. What is a Brand Touchpoint? What We’re Reading: Made To Stick Word of Mouth Marketing

2006

Brand Washing. Branding in the Blogosphere. Cook for the Cure: A Souper Time Cook for the Cure Invite How Does Your Brand Speak to Multiple B2B Audiences? June Blitz: Largest in Habitat History Making the Most of Your Online Advertising New Look, Easy New Access. New Year's Resolutions for Your Marketing and Branding Efforts. Peter Drucker: Thoughts on Business from "the Man Who Invented Management." Trade Shows. Afterthought or Forethought? Why Marketing Matters

2005

Are Employees Speaking Your Brand Language? Conducting a Brand Audit: An Energizing Experience. How to Justify Your B2B Budget. How to Watch TV for Your Brand. You Can Learn a Lot. Less is More: Refining Your Brand's Print Materials. Patience. Is it the Missing Ingredient in Marketing Innovative New Products? Personal Accountability in Branding. Taking a Cue from Reality TV: Is It Time to Pimp Your Brand? The Sound of Branding. Triangulation: Three Views into Your Brand. Value Proposition. Positioning Statement. Are They Really Different? What's an Elevator Pitch?

2004

Are You Over-Hyping your Brand? Brand Understanding: Developing a Great Positioning Statement. Brand Warfare: 10 Rules For Building The Killer Brand. Good News/Bad News: Your Brand Made Headlines. How to Recover from Bad Press. Marketing B2B, Products vs. Services: Is There a Difference? Media Management: The Value It Brings to a Brand. Measuring Marketing ROI: Holy Grail or Myth? Mosaic Branding: A Way of Thought? The Right Media To Drive Your Brand. The Value Of Market Research For B2B Brands. Trade Show PR: Remain True to the Brand. Writing a Marketing Plan: Taking the Hassle Out and Putting the Value In.

2003

Brainstorming: How To Get The Most From Your Ideation Sessions. Brand Crisis? What Crisis? Brand Messaging: Why You Need It, And How To Develop It. How Do Customers Touch Your Brand? Understanding What's Important Can Make All the Difference. How To Get Your Brand Into Show Business. Is Your Brand a Product, Organization, Person, or Symbol? Keeping Your Brand Look and Message Consistent. Project Management: Working Behind The Scenes To Synchronize Your Brand. Putting The Web To Work For Your Brand. The Art Of Innovation: What Every Brand Can Learn From Inspired Product Design. When Do You Need Another Brand? Who Cares About Paper?

2002

A Brand's Functional Benefits vs. Emotional Benefits. An Electronic Brochure? What Is It and When Is It Needed? Collaborative Branding: When Agencies and Other Suppliers Work Together, Brands are the Big Winners. Creating A Direct Response Campaign? Think Like a Fisherman. Expand Your Brand: How to Make Your Brand Speak to Media and Analysts. How Long Should It Take to Produce a Brochure, a Website, an Ad? The Purpose Of A Corporate Brochure. The Softer Side Of Branding: Understanding the Nuances of Brand Personalities. What Color Is Your Brand? What's The Personality Of Your Brand? Try This Simple Brand Association Exercise. What Is The Value Of Your Brand? When Does A Brand Need A Logo?

2001

All Aboard: How to Get a Greater Return from Your Direct Mail. Brands, Channels, and Customers. Building Your Brand in a Tough Economy? Give Your Brand A Spring Cleaning. Is Your Brand Ready for the Internet? Get a Clue from the Cluetrain. It's A Brand New Day. Branding with Strategic Public Awareness. Justify Your Marketing Budget. Lights, Camera, Action! Tips for Launching Your Brand on TV. Photography: To Stock or Not to Stock? Is This Really a Question? SIC vs. NAICS: Understanding the Difference. What Business Are You In? What's an Elevator Pitch? Wolverine: Building A Brand That Works.

2000

Bingo Cards: Are They Dead? Creating a Harmonious e-Brand. e-Branding: How To Embrace It. e-branding: Sometimes Simpler Is Better. How to Strengthen Your Lead Management Process. Maintaining Your Brand's Image. Making Taglines Work. Managing Visual Assets In A Digital World. Mapping Your Web Site. Messaging: The Foundation for Good Communication. Miller Brooks: Growing with the Changing Times. Naming: Will It Play Around the World? Project Management: Necessary Evil or Strategic Advantage? Top 10 Steps to Taking a Brand Overseas. Why Every Brand Needs a Brand Architecture.

What We’re (Re) Reading:
Hey Whipple, Squeeze This.
A Guide to Creating Great Advertising. By Luke Sullivan
Book Review by Mark Willis, MB Writer 2008 Qtr 3

What We’re (Re) Reading.

What We’re (Re) Reading:
Hey Whipple, Squeeze This.
A Guide to Creating Great Advertising. By Luke Sullivan
Book Review by Mark Willis, MB Writer

This book review is 10 years late.

No apologies necessary, however. Though first published nearly a decade ago, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This is more timely than ever—especially with its recent third edition release. If you’ve never read it, now’s the perfect time to join the party. And even if you have, the book is refreshed with new examples from current campaigns, plus it now includes coverage of new media and direct TV.

First to the title. If it’s sending any signals you’ve encountered a work that’s a bit far a-field of the standard, straight-laced business tome, you’re already picking up on its charms. Written by a veteran and oft-awarded copywriter, Hey Whipple is an insider’s view on how to stand out in the colorful world of ad land. Sullivan’s wit, war stories and good-natured irreverence have made the volume a bookshelf staple in agencies large and small, if not many-a creative directors’ must-read.

But, that doesn’t mean you have to be an agency denizen to enjoy it. Or to learn a lot from it. If you work for an agency, with an agency, care about brands—or are in any way at all engaged with helping a company, organization, product or service cut through the marketing clutter—read pages 1 through 303. And even read the picture captions. They’re entertaining, too.

Be warned. Hey Whipple is alive with, well—opinions. Opinions on: creativity, creatives, account people, clients, strategy, research, focus groups, writing, art direction, good ads, bad ads, billboards, TV commercials, radio spots, industry awards, what kills good work, what sells good work, why the best work is the best work, requests to make the logo bigger…it’s all there. To be fair, all parties and subjects are examined under the same brutally honest light. That’s to say the criticism and advice are aimed throughout with equal intensity. All the while, razor-edged humor serves to display the author’s obvious zeal for effective, creative and professionally self-respecting communication.

Opinions and irreverence aside, the book is a primer on the fundamentals. In a day and age of new media hype, holistic campaigns and integrated marketing efforts, Hey Whipple takes its stand with what has always remained the hallmarks of producing excellent work. Things like single-focused strategy statements, doing your homework, striving for simplicity, considering the customer’s world, and once you’ve mastered all the rules—breaking them.

Brace yourself. And enjoy the read.

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