If you remember anything at all, I’m betting it was a story.  No big surprise.  Stories are more entertaining, informative and memorable than facts, figures and philosophical diatribes.  Anybody that’s had any training in public speaking knows that.  Just ask any Toastmasters Club honcho.  Or, take a Dale Carnegie course.

In his book, What’s Your Point, Bob Boylan, author and consultant in the field of effective presentations, urges presenters to, “Tell stories.  They grab the audience.  You will be real when you tell your own stories.  They build on the feeling of ‘trust me.’  People love to hear stories, especially personal ones, and your familiarity with the story makes the words come more easily and believably.”

In advertising, I believe stories are critical to snagging and holding attention – whether we’re dealing with a YouTube video or a primetime television spot.  They are imperative when developing and strengthening brand awareness and preference.

The TV spot hailed as the best of the past century, Apple’s “1984,” told a riveting story, as do many of the most memorable Super Bowl spots over the years.  Remember the classic “Mean Joe Green” Coke spot from 1980? I still do, and I have a spotty memory.  Remember the pint-sized Darth Vader VW spot last year?

I believe the value of today’s highfalutin’ technology will be greatly minimized unless we learn how to apply the time-proven art of storytelling to it.  But it’s not an easy task in this time-crunched, media-overloaded society.

That fact is reflected in this comment by James Clunie, a judge for the prestigious 2011 Communication Arts Advertising Annual.  He is quoted in the Editor’s Column of that issue as saying, “I’m always surprised at how much time people expect you to engage with their brand.  I don’t have time up upload a picture of my face to a Web site so I can see what I look like sitting behind the wheel of a Jetta or on an American Standard toilet or whatever.”

Randal Rothenburg, president/CEO of the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau), noted in a recent Advertising Age article, “New technology does not change the human desire for sense-making narrative or the need for us to understand the world through tales well told.  But the technology does change how we learn stories, how we tell stories, and who hears them.”

“We are concerned our industry is more concentrated on counting likes and clickthroughs than forming deep relationships with people, and that subsequently consumer interaction with brands is largely limited to likes, short comments, and critiques.  From this angle, interactive media is in its infancy.”

That relates directly to Richter7’s foundational belief that human beings are big bundles of feelings, and that emotional impulses drive behavior, brand relationships and product loyalty.

It’s up to us to figure out how to be better at storytelling within these technological confines.  What is clear is this — if you tell a story well, it will get passed on, and commented on positively, via multiple technological tools (think Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) at a speed and depth like never before.  And that’s the best kind of advertising — because it’s free.

Richter7 was lucky enough to take home more awards than any other agency this year (for the 9th time in 10 years!) From a total of 132 awards distributed, we were awarded 39, including 14 gold, 25 silver and one judges’ choice award for our Apple Beer campaign.

As one of our fearless leaders, Dave Newbold, puts it, “The awards are a bonus for doing our job right in the first place – that is, to sell our clients’ products and services.”

A big congrats to all of the Richter7 team members involved in creating this year’s winning campaigns. You inspire us each day! Can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year’s ADDY’s.

The office came to life as associates shouted their opinions on spots regarding Doritos, Pepsi, VW and even Best Buy’s use of Justin Bieber. With people working from all departments of a full-service agency, what was valued and humorous varied on multiple levels. It was a fun dynamic.

Social Media continues to play a larger role as this year’s Ad Bowl was discussed and debated on Twitter by following the hashtag #R7AdBowl. Winners were also announced on www.facebook.com/richter7, and www.twitter.com/richter7.

And finally, here is the list of winners and losers from Ad Bowl XVI:

• Most Valuable Ad Award – Volkswagen – The Force
• Best Low Budget Award – Doritos – Best Part
• Celebrity Sack Award – Best Buy – Bieber / Ozzy
• Championship Chuckle Award – Bridgestone – Reply All
• Illegal Use of $$$$ Award – Coca Cola – Siege
• Creative Fumble Award – Bud Light – Dogs
• Should Have Punted Award – GoDaddy – The Contract

He said things like, “If you have something pertinent to say, you neither have to say it to very many people–only to those you think will be interested–nor do you have to say it very often. How many times do you have to be told that your house is on fire?”

And, “Our first duty is not to the old sales curve, it is to the audience.”

And, “I like outdoor advertising. I just think it has no right to be outdoors.”

And one of my favorites, “The real fact of the matter is that nobody reads ads. People read what interests them, and sometimes it’s an ad.”

He talked about creating “conversations” with consumers almost 50 years before social media was invented.

He convinced a gas station chain to promote an imaginary pink additive in their air pumps and stodgy Scientific American magazine to sponsor a paper airplane contest.

Howard Luck Gossage was an advertising visionary who would have been a lot more famous if he’d taken a more traditional path. And just think how much better the business would be if there were a lot more like him today.

“Based on a 100-year-old German recipe, Apple Beer was first bottled in the United States in the 1960s. Although the unique soft drink has grown a loyal following over the years, many people still have the misconception that it’s some kind of apple-flavored beer. These point-of-purchase postings were designed, by Salt Lake City-based Richter7, to clear up the confusion while tying in to the heritage of the locally-bottled beverage.”

Here’s the team who worked on it: Ryan Anderson, art director/digital retoucher; Gary Sume, writer; Ryan Anderson/Gary Sume, creative directors; Dave Newbold, executive creative director; stock, photographer; Cynthia Griffin, production manager.

Image courtesy of www.commarts.com

In a July 12, 2010, ADWEEK article about the internationally prestigious Cannes awards festival, writer Noreen O’Leary reported the following:

“Mark Tutssel, Leo Burnett’s global CCO and a Cannes judge, said that despite the occasional exception, Cannes winners tend to be solid business successes.  In previous years, Burnett has conducted surveys tracking award-winning ads with business performance.  In the most recent survey, Burnett found an 86 percent correlation between award-winning work and effectiveness, up from 78 percent in 1997, the first year of the study.

Now for a specific example.

The Old Spice campaign featuring the buff, bare-chested Old Spice guy in the shower has certainly garnered attention (and won every major ad award), but has it sold product?

Here’s what Eleftheria Parpis reported in the July 26, 2010 issue of ADWEEK.

According to Nielsen data provided by Old Spice, overall sales for Old Spice bodywash products are up 11 percent in the last 12 months; up 27 percent in the last six months; up 55 percent in the last three months; and in the last month, with two new TV spots and the online response videos, up a whopping 107 percent.

“Our business is on fire,” says James Moorhead, brand manager of Old Spice.  “We’ve seen strong results over all of our portfolio.   That is the reward for the great work. The “Smell like a man, man” campaign, which by mid-July had become a pop-culture sensation, with videos from the series accounting for eight of the top 11 most popular videos on YouTube, went on to win a Grand Prix at Cannes.

The winning ad campaigns consist of print and TV for Utah’s Hogle Zoo, point-of-purchase print ads for Wood Revival Desk Co. and print posters for the Utah Healthy Marriage Initiative.

With over 60,000 entries annually, the ADDY Awards are the world’s largest and arguably most difficult advertising competition. Concurrently across the country, local entrants vie for recognition as the very best in their markets. Local winners compete against other winners in one of 14 district competitions. District winners are then forwarded to the national ADDY Awards competition.

Have you seen any of our winning ads on TV or in print? If so, what are your thoughts?

CREDITS:

Utah’s Hogle Zoo

• Gary Sume, Copywriter/Creative Director
• Ryan Anderson, Art Director/Creative Director
• Dave Newbold, Executive Creative Director
• Tal Harry, Account Supervisor
• Jared Lewis, Account Manager
• Cynthia Griffin, Production Manager
• “Bunny” Poster – Chad Hurst, Photographer
• “Madagascar” TV/Animation – Michael Slack, Illustrator; Kristen Lapour, Animator

Wood Revival Desk Co.

• Gary Sume, Copywriter/Creative Director
• Ryan Anderson, Art Director/Creative Director
• Dave Newbold, Executive Creative Director
• Teri Gibson, Account Manager
• Cynthia Griffin, Production Manager
• Chad Hurst, Photographer

Utah Healthy Marriage Initiative

• Gary Sume, Copywriter/Creative Director
• Ryan Anderson , Art Director/Creative Director
• Dave Newbold, Executive Creative Director
• Tal Harry , Account Supervisor
• Cynthia Griffin, Production Manager
• Marcia Winn, Account Manager

1. Like a swarm of killer bees, this South African instrument – previously unknown to many – dominated the news, our ears and was a popular Twitter hashtag. Articles even popped up on how to remove the Vuvuzela sound from your audio by muting certain frequencies on your equalizer – http://bit.ly/bviXut – and Twitter’s fail whale was a semi-constant.

2. Meanwhile, Mr. Jobs’ latest creation is estimated to have sold 1.5 million on its first day, according to Oppenheimer’s Yair Reiner. http://bit.ly/crMoFi

3. However, complaints are already starting to pop up – especially regarding yellow distortions on screen and poor reception. From a PR perspective, it seems that Steve Jobs may need a bit of media training after responding to a customer’s email regarding reception issues by saying “Just don’t hold it that way.” Should he have responded the way he did? Apple is seen as a worldwide innovator and yet their solution to the problem is somewhat pathetic…http://bit.ly/91jI22

4. Lastly, (in non-World Cup and iPhone news) a recent marketing research study reveals a few things about online advertisements that might not come as a huge surprise. Content being “targeted” in any intelligent manner gets a much higher response rate. Likewise, obtrusive ads that do crazy things such as make noise, play music, or roll over the page on a  mouse-over are also extremely effective. However, when an ad was both targeted and obtrusive… people get a bit creeped out and the ads effectiveness falls pretty dramatically. Why? Apparently it begins to call too much attention to the fact that big brother is watching. How do you feel about these types of ads? http://bit.ly/czKpsC

Here’s the answer.  Yes, it does have something to do with the Richter scale.  Richter7 is a metaphor for moving and shaking, for breaking down the barriers to effective communication and successful branding.

The name connotes a determination to create messages with enough magnitude to move the proverbial needle.

We intend to awaken the target audience, mentally and emotionally, with messages that shake their media-dulled senses and disrupt normal thought patterns – yet, resonate amiably in their soul.  As a consequence, they will be persuaded to favor and purchase our clients’ products and services.

Plain-Jane, parity advertising won’t get that job done.

A respected marketing man once said, “Creativity is the last remaining legal means you have to gain an unfair advantage over your competition.”   Amen.

To that end, clients should demand (and this often requires considerable bravery) daring, distinctive advertising that can separate their product or service from the pack – that can differentiate, build and solidify their position in the consumer’s mind – and do it with enough charisma, charm or edge to leave people leaning forward, thinking, smiling and believing.

When people feel kindly about a product and feel an affinity toward a brand, that product or service preempts the appeal of the entire category.  It jumps to the front of that imaginary line of competitors in the consumer’s mind.

We believe effectiveness and creativity are inseparably linked.  As a national study published in ADWEEK declared, “Award-winning advertising is four to five times more likely to reach client goals than non-award winning work.”

Gary Goldsmith, chairman of Goldsmith/Jeffrey, New York City, said, “More and more clients are realizing creative ads work better, are more memorable and make their point more effectively in the marketplace. You can run a good creative ad fewer times.  People can remember it after seeing it three times rather than 30 times.”

Disruptive creativity, based on sound strategy, counts – big-time.  Because that’s how you connect with consumers.

And there you have the long-winded answer to why we call ourselves Richter7.

After a successful run at the local ADDY awards, we’ve gone on to bigger and better things at the district-level competition. Congrats to the Richter7 creative team!

See the following press release for more details.

Salt Lake City—Richter7 dominated this year’s five-state ADDY awards competition, winning 22 awards. The next highest Utah advertising agency won three awards. From 133 total entrants, Richter7 won seven gold and 15 silver and for its Hogle Zoo, Utah Healthy Marriage Initiative, 360 Electrical and Wood Revival advertising campaigns.

“Winning awards at this level speaks volumes about effectiveness and creativity for wide range of clients,” said Dave Newbold, Richter7 president and executive creative director. “We’ve always considered awards as just a bonus for doing the job right, which is to sell clients’ products and services.”

The American Advertising Federation’s District 12 includes advertising agencies in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming. The winning campaigns will now advance to its national conference, where winners will be announced June 12 in Orlando.

With more than 60,000 entries annually, the ADDY Awards are the world’s largest and arguably toughest advertising competition. Concurrently across the country, local entrants vie for recognition as the very best in their markets. Local winners compete against other winners in one of 14 district competitions. District winners are then judged at the national ADDY Awards competition.

“Studies show award-winning advertising is five times more likely to accomplish sales goals,” said Newbold. “That tells us there is a very clear correlation between ads that win awards and those that effectively sell products and services.”

Established in 1971, Richter7 has been named Utah’s “Best of State” advertising agency for the past six years and is consistently recognized for effective advertising, public relations, online interactive and design for local, regional and national clients.

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Richter7 Names New Social Media Manager

Evin Catlett has been named to lead all client and agency social media initiatives. A New York City transplant hired in 2009, Evin works with clients such as USANA, Utah Healthy Marriage Initiative, Ultradent and Dairy Farmers of Utah.

“In this new role, Evin will oversee all agency and client social media endeavors, growing the digital facets of each client’s business,” said Tim Brown, Richter7 partner. “Her persistence, expertise and dedication to client success have led to her promotion as social media manager.”

A Brief Highlight on New PM, Steve Nielsen

Steve comes to Richter7 with 12 years of experience developing websites, applications, email campaigns, and providing metrics and reporting strategies for a variety of media. His primary focus will be on clients such as Zions Bank, Park City Chamber and ResMed.