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Bumper to bumper

With this being an election year, I have to brace myself for the inevitable bombardment of political ads.  Soon every television station, newspaper, billboard, and politically conscious college kid will be telling me who to endorse.  It’s just so tiring.

But of all the terrible, mean-spirited messages and images that come with elections, nothing gets under my skin like bumper stickers.  Now, you might think that bumper stickers are an irrational and insignificant thing to be annoyed by and you’d be right.  But they still drive me crazy and with any hope you’ll feel the same after this post.

To me, bumper stickers are tattoos for cars and much like tattoos, bumper stickers are much easier to put on then they are to take off.  (I don’t care if they say easy removal; you’ll never full get that sticker off your car.)  Since that level of commitment worries me, I think the only good tattoos and bumper stickers stand the test of time.

When I see someone who made the decision to apply a political bumper sticker to their car , it’s like they are telling me, “I make bad choices.”  Whether I agree with their endorsement or not, I’ll never agree with them choosing to adorn their vehicle with something so trendy and fleeting.  Even if your candidate wins, you still lose! You’re stuck with that bumper sticker for the long haul.

So before you vandalize your bumper with a sticker, I encourage you to stop and think, for my sake and your cars! Remember, a hot coed with a lower back tattoo turns into a middle-aged mom with lower back tattoo.  So too will your bumper sticker be a dated reminder of past decisions, whether it’s “Obama 08,” “McCain Palin,” “W ’04,”  or the sad “Gore/Liebermann” I saw the other day.

5-Hour Energy commercials

I’m stunned by the poor quality of the 5-Hour Energy commercials I see on TV. If you’re not familiar with the product, it’s a little bottle of liquid that contains as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.

The production value of these spots reminds me of a high school A/V club. It’s almost like the video team tried to make the commercials bad, but I doubt that’s the case.

Check out this commercial. Poor lighting, bad actors and ugly graphics come to mind for me.

Yet, the product sells, so the spots must be resonating with the intended audience. Maybe people are so groggy that they don’t care?

How AEC Marketers Can Use Pinterest

pinterestPinterest is one of the fastest growing social media sites. In January 2012, Pinterest became the fastest site in history to break through the 10 million unique visitor mark. The following month it broke into the top 30 websites in the country.

An increasing number of companies are turning to Pinterest to engage with their fans and ultimately drive traffic to their sites. Pinterest allows companies to create a visual representation of their brand by “pinning” content from around the web while integrating pins of their own products as well.

So how can AEC marketers use Pinterest? Here are some of the tips we came up with:

  • Pin photos of your firm’s buildings, designs, projects, etc.
  • Make sure to balance your firm’s photos with photos from other websites and blogs. Your pinboards are not supposed to be used solely for self-promotion.
  • If your company has a blog, make sure to pin any relevant images from the blog onto your pinboards. When users click on these images, they’ll be redirected straight to your blog.
  • Create other pinboards to keep track of inspirational photos, products you use and like, products you’d like to check out, materials, etc.
  • Add a full description of your company to the top of your page and include links to your other social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
  • Most importantly, make your pinboards fun and visually appealing!

Rowland Broughton-Architecture in Aspen, Colo., has a great Pinterest account to check out: http://pinterest.com/rowlandb/. Notice the ample categories, the stunning, high-quality photos and the lack of (obvious) self-promotion.

For a good example of what NOT to do, take a look at Hammers Construction’s account: http://pinterest.com/tuknov/hammers-construction/. Notice how the company has only pinned photos of buildings it has made without integrating any outside media sources into its site, plus it didn’t categorize the photos.

For AEC marketers, Pinterest also has the opportunity to change the way you exchange ideas with your clients. The site is rumored to be adding private pinboards that are not available for the public to see in the very near future. This will allow you and your client to create private pinboards to exchange ideas and inspiration for current projects.

With a little bit of creativity and planning, Pinterest can be a great tool for promoting your company. Get out there and start pinning!

— This post was also published on the SMPS Wisconsin website.