Stream of Consciousness » advertising agency in alexandria virginia

Kroon Hall at Yale University. An Award-Winner.

truecreek — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:42:23 +0000

I don’t normally comment on architectural design, but Kroon Hall at Yale University is just something special and deserves some thoughts.

A net-zero building, it’s one of the finest pieces of architecture I have seen in the U.S. in a long time. It has solar panels, a geothermal energy system and was manufactured with more recycled materials than I would want to list here. They even use water from a pond to flush toilets. Now that’s design.

Complete article here:

A Great Win for NBC.

truecreek — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:17:01 +0000

I’ve always been a fan of the Olympics, to a point where it’s almost always recommended as a tactic for a client. Especially if there can be promotional tie-ins, merchandising and the like. For NBC to lock up the U.S. television rights is a real coup. It’s become their franchise.

One can only imagine how much cash was floating around that table.

NBC now will have exclusive rights to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the 2018 Winter Games and 2020 Olympics, whose sites have not yet been chosen.

More here.

So Glad To See The U.S. Auto Industry Rolling.

truecreek — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:37:19 +0000

I am so glad to see that the U.S. auto industry has come back. Collectively, the domestic automakers have made some amazing strides in a very short period of time. The culture change alone has been astounding, never mind what they have done on the design and production side of the equation.

The cars being produced by GM, Ford and Chrysler are amongst the very best in the world. As Chrysler says in one of their spots, ‘perhaps we should RAISE our standards and buy American.’ Or something like that. I wholeheartedly agree.

For the entire article, click.

Going To Be A Huge Summer At The Movies.

truecreek — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:59:13 +0000

Looks like we’re really setting up for a nice summer at the movies. If you haven’t placed your schedules yet, it’s time to move forward. Summer is a tough time to reach your audience with your message. But it looks like they will be in the theaters!

Read it all here:

StratCom International. New Client. New 4/C Art.

truecreek — Fri, 13 May 2011 18:15:31 +0000

This Might Really Be A Game Changer.

truecreek — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:48:03 +0000

From AP in today’s USAToday. Could really be a game changer when it comes to how we market food to our kids. Several agencies have introduced new guidelines. The story here.

COM BELT 4/C BUSINESS PRINT

truecreek — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 19:27:11 +0000

Spurlock’s Newest: “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold”

truecreek — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:12:50 +0000

Spurlock has done it again with “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.”

As he did in “Super Size Me,” Spurlock pulls you through the story, working hard to educate you on the nuances, verbiage and acronyms that are a critical part of the storyline. In this case, he’ decides to make a movie about product placement, financing it through product placement. It’s just a hoot.

He gradually becomes a learned student of the process. He makes one presentation after another to agencies and their clients, changing and adapting his pitch along the way. Finally, when he’s asked by one prospect “how much?’, he seems a bit taken aback at first. Then he calmly spits out a fair, but low, number.

Many of the marketers he presented to seem to have been taken aback by his unpretentious nature in the meetings. It’s was like like they were listening to their crazy brother or sister at the dinner table. You know what they are saying sounds weird, but than again….

You know he’s not trying to, but he makes more than a few of the marketers look pretty stupid in the process. And I think that is one of the things I find most interesting about Spurlock; it’s his unpretentious nature. You just feel for the guy and know that he’s just trying to make things happen. So what if he steps in it once in a while?

In one scene in the movie, he gets in the elevator after having pitched four or five great ideas to POM, only to be told that they would prefer another direction. Of course, it’s the one that they have been thinking about since he last presented to them. His stuff didn’t have a chance. How many times have we all been there?

This article from Ad Age speaks to the success Spurlock is having selling the movie. But his success doesn’t surprise me. He’s a great salesman. Perhaps he could offer versions of the movie as he adds more and more sponsors. That’s how the industry would do it, right?

It’s a Media Thing.

truecreek — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 01:06:29 +0000

A successful media plan becomes the pathway through consumers’ protective radar with the ultimate goal of influencing their behavior. We produce plans that will capture the imagination of the consumer with a full spectrum of creative, well-researched solutions.

We are strategic media thinkers, creating media plans that dramatically optimize communication.

We specialize in maximizing the yield on your media investment. We utilize the most current and sophisticated planning/buying research materials, including geographic and psychographic market information as well as quantitative and qualitative measurement tools.

If you are looking for innovative planning, placement and reconciliation, give us a call today at 703-256-2913, or ping us at joseph@truecreek.com.

Is Film Dead?

truecreek — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:57:59 +0000

I’m working on a new project right now with one of my favorite directors. He’s recommending we shoot this series of commercials with the new ALEXA, from ARRI.

He’s all pumped up about the extraordinary 35 format film-style digital camera system. He insists it’s just perfect for what we’re looking to do.

The camera will give us outstanding image quality with the organic look and feel of film, but what happens afterward is what is juicing him so much.

We’ll shoot with the HD on-board recording and after our shoot, we’re just going to pull out the large card we’ve recorded on and move the files right over to the Mac to edit, saving a tremendous amount of time and money in the process.

It does beg the question. Is film dead?

More here:

The Summer Movie Season is Almost Here.

truecreek — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:42:25 +0000

My clients are well aware of my affinity for cinema advertising. I just love the tactic. With cinema, you have a captive audience that considers movie advertising a part of the experience. The demos are great and your message is not lost in the clutter we see every day in other forms of media.

We’re closing in on a great summer movie season, with dozens of potential hits coming your way to the big screen, like . This is going to be one of the big hitters, I think. Captain America, another great Marvel story.

Next Stage. 4/C Print for Comcast.

truecreek — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:24:31 +0000