Category: Levity

MENU

Five Tips to Make an Impression on Phone Interviews

Needless to say, COVID-19 has changed the way people live, work and play. The broadcast media industry is no exception with radio presenters and journalists now conducting live profile interviews over the phone. How can we as communications consultants help our clients adjust to this new normal and maximize interviews over the phone? These five …more

Not Exactly Conventional Sponsored Content

What is the longest-running sponsored content (sales promotion) in the history of marketing? I’ll give you a hint. The Jewish holiday of Passover kicked off last night. And the answer is … Maxwell House which has produced the Haggadah — the text that walks everyone through the Passover story and Seder ceremony — for roughly …more

Don’t Confuse Real-Time Marketing with Improv Marketing

What do you remember about the 2013 Super Bowl? Unless you’re a fan of the Baltimore Ravens or the San Francisco 49ers, your overriding memory is the blackout, when someone pulled the plug at the Superdome for 34 minutes. And if you work under the marketing umbrella, you admired the nimbleness of Oreo Cookie to …more

Interviewing Dead Celebrity Lifts Video Out of the Sea of Sameness

How do you interview a celebrity who has passed away? The San Francisco Giants and star pitcher in his day Tim Lincecum shows the way. I’ve always admired the marketing efforts from the San Francisco Giants acknowledging that some might miss the mark. If you live in the Bay Area and follow the Giants, you’ll …more

The Wonders of the “Word Visual” and a Thanksgiving Story

I first touted the virtues of the “word visual” in 2014. For those not familiar with this technique, the idea is to use the words (or typography) to drive the action while minimizing the need for design expertise. The image above borrowing the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld falls in the “word visual” category. Most “word …more

Law Enforcement Agencies Bring Levity to Their Storytelling

I believe levity is the killer app in business storytelling. Levity lifts the narrative, especially in the B2B tech world where inserting an action verb is considered a win. For the B2B tech companies who say this is too hard, too risky, check out the use of levity by law enforcement agencies, starting with last …more

Living with Language (and Obscure Words)

One’s use of language can change EVERYTHING. Words matter. Which means your choice of words matters. As Exhibit A, consider the seemingly innocuous email wherein the recipient misinterprets guidance as criticism. Capitalizing on the radio voice of Matt Burrows, a member of our Silicon Valley team, we put together an animated video designed to amuse …more

A Stately Trump?, Journalist Office Hours, and a TikTok Mug

The Grab Bag post returns for a second 2019 installment. Again, the story lines in these posts can’t quite shape stand-alone posts. Yet, I hate to see a shard of a story go to waste. .   TIME Cover Photo Depicts a Stately President Trump Take a gander at the cover of TIME Magazine August …more

Broken Links That Tell a Story, Pasta Art and Mrs. Maisel as Sponsored Content

Here’s my second grab bag post of 2018, capturing vignettes that caught my attention, but don’t lend themselves to stand-alone posts.   Broken Links, an Opportunity Most companies treat broken links as a functional challenge. The person has clicked to a wrong place (page doesn’t exist), bringing a 404 page to navigate the person back …more