Wolfgang Puck Lands Appearance on Good Day L.A.

We here at Johnson Gray Advertising have been hired by Wolfgang Puck to promote their Bistro and Express restaurants.  This five-star foodie journey will begin with overseeing their public relations efforts, web development and social marketing presence.  JGA has already served up this appearance on Good Day L.A., the top-rated morning show on FOX as a kick off to celebrating the start of Oscar weekend:

To watch the full segment you can check out the CitySearch: Oscar Round Up video with CitySearch’s very own Mar Yvette.  We would like to extend a special thanks to her and Chef Karl for doing a fantastic job sharing Wolfgang Puck Bistro with Good Day L.A..

Kudos to our promotional experts Randy Lopez and Marcie Perez for doing a fabulous job, as always!

Visit our Flickr page and YouTube channel to check out the rest of the behind the scenes photos and videos.

Permalink   |  

Dogs Love Wagg Ads

Scented advertising takes a new leap in central London last week.  Wagg Foods and its scientists developed 15 dog-luring fragrances to create a scent that reportedly drives dogs wild.  They have clearly learned from those who have come before them…  In 2001 a PR agency, the Red Consultancy, developed the idea to place ads for Animal Planet that were soaked in canine urine and placed in London.  The soaked ads were at snout-level for the pups, and a clean ad was placed at eye-level for the pet owners driving them to vote on the TV channel’s new pet awards project.  Later in 2005 Leo Burnett placed ads for Affinity Petcare in Germany that tried to lure dogs to their ads by having actual food behind the hole-punched ads for dogs to sniff.  And now in London they’ve combined these past experiences and science to create the same large buzz factor with their scientifically contrived fragrances.

Permalink   |  

Toyota is Everywhere

With all the negativity surrounding Toyota and their recalls, their advertising efforts have not slowed down their pace in the slightest.  Combining their Restore ads with their The Sienna Family campaign, they seem to be reaching in all directions to help restore faith in the Toyota name.  While its been said that their advertising agency has strongly recommend against the advertising push, others aren’t surprised in the slightest by their decision.  Reacting to the recalls, Toyota released their restoration campaign that not only reflects their sincerest apologies for their mistakes, but touches on what they’re doing to change them, and of course Moving Forward.  Then in recent months, they seem to be trying to pull some comedy and laughter out of the ashes with their The Sienna Family campaign featuring hip quirky parents with two kids and their swagger wagon. 

Is the campaign doing any good?  Quite a few are saying, absolutely not.  What do you think?  Is the comedy relief really bringing Toyota any relief to their recalls with the Sienna or any other vehicle?  Are these commercials, or any of the other YouTube videos changing your perspective of Toyota and helping you forget?

Permalink   |  

Randy Lopez to be Keynote at RAM’s 16th Annual Leadership Conference

Our very own branding expert Randy Lopez will be attending RAM’s 16th Annual Leadership Conference this year in New Orleans (home of this year’s Super Bowl champs) as their keynote speaker.  This year those in attendance will be learning about branding, the power of cult branding, and word of mouth marketing.  The conference will also cover specifically RAM International’s branding expectations which aims to help fellow owners increase both attendance and sales throughout their 2010 year.  At the event they will also be celebrating RAM International’s 39th Anniversary! 
Happy Anniversary RAM International!  And Randy, have a great time in New Orleans.

Permalink   |  

JGA Creates Green Icons for Green Client

And no, I’m not just talking about the color choice - I’m speaking more about the going green concept behind these new icons, and the client we created them for, The Linc Group.  The Linc Group is a prestigious environmentally friendly company that has been providing green solutions to thousands of commercial, government and residential clients worldwide.  Thanks to all the great programs they have to offer, commercial clients can obtain certification with LEED and ENERGY STAR, and residential clients have the chance to lower their energy usage and utility bills.  This way everyone has a chance to minimize their carbon footprint and make the world a greener place to be.

Permalink   |  

Coca-Cola Spreads Happiness Far & Wide

Coca-Cola has been generating huge raves over their Happiness Factory campaign they’ve been implementing worldwide.  Especially their creative ambient stunts that are generating viral waves in the blog and YouTube world.  Here, Coke invites college students to experience the Happiness Factory first hand with The Happiness Machine.  This video shows random students going to buy a Coke and they magically end up with not just one, but ten!  And the magic continues when they get a pizza, a twenty-foot sub or even some bright sunflower bouquets.  This over-the-top creative ambient ad turned itself into a viral video spreading further happiness and amusement - which lands dead on with the overall campaign strategy, theme and tone.  While some people are negatively commenting that the vending machine stunt has been used in the past for other campaigns - the fact is that most, if not all, ideas are created off of an already-seen-before platform and transformed into something original.  And here, Coke’s execution takes the cake and goes far beyond the basics to create something truly unique.  Well deserved kudos to Coke.

Permalink   |  

2010 Winter Olympics Artistic Posters

Check out this year’s Winter Olympic posters created by Canadian design studio, Vanoc:

Permalink   |  

AOK Healthy Health Insurance

I Believe in Advertising recently featured an extremely creative brand promotion done by German advertising agency, Serviceplan.  The agency was faced with a brief to come up with a calendar that will leave a long-lasting impression of the AOK insurance provider name - as not just a great health insurance, but a healthy health insurance provider.  This extremely creative calendar is what the agency came up with based on the ever so famous saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” 

Each month the calendar begins with 31, 30 or 28 apples which are held in a tube made out of UVA & UVB resistant Plexiglas.  Every day an apple is removed and eaten, boosting the person’s health - and revealing today’s date.  Every month the tube is refilled and the calendar behind the tube is replaced, making it functional all year round.  The calendars currently hang in AOK branch offices, and so far have attracted a ton of positive reactions.  And I agree with the consensus - great idea, extremely creative, right on strategy, leaves a long-lasting impression, something everyone will remember.

Permalink   |