You didn’t ask but I’ll tell you anyway. I came home and nobody was around so I decided I’d have a little chocolate milk. So over to the fridge for the milk and some (well the way I make it, a lot of) Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup.

And then I start singing the Hershey’s jingle that I have not heard in a billion years but up it popped out of my one good brain cell. No I didn’t recording this particular jingle session. I wouldn’t do that to you.

However, being the age of the internet I decide I should go look for the spot and darned if I didn’t find it. So as far as you know, this is what I sounded like when I was singing the Hershey’s jingle.

But then there was something on You Tube about Carrie Underwood and Hershey. Turns out she has an advertising agreement with them and did spots promoting a bunch of their candy brands and a t-shirt giveaway.

I won’t editorialize on how brilliant it was to tie in a young but widely respected American country singer to revive old jingles and who looks Great (note the capital G) in t-shirts but I’ll let you judge for yourself as I have to go out and buy some chocolate bars.

Tags: advertising, commercials, internet, marketing, peter o'connell, silliness, tv by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Tom Asacker has a sharp eye for branding and he brilliantly points out in this post how dangerous the competitive paradigm for business can be.

Endlessly comparing your brand, your operation, your mode of doing business to your competitors leads you ultimately to focus on the wrong things.

The concept is an easy one and not original (certainly not new to this blog) but its one that I think continually gets overlooked by businesses every day. What about you? Be honest. You don’t have to tell anyone but please be honest with yourself.

Be aware, yes, but don’t even be in the neighborhood of obsessed.

Tags: advertising, commentary, marketing by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Want to know the name of the female voice over talent whose voice has been used to attack Obama in McCain commercials?

Her name is Joan. The rest is on a need to know basis.

Tags: advertising, announcers, commentary, commercials, radio, voice actors, voice casting, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
2 Comments »

I don’t know Chris Brogan that well having met only briefly a couple of times (and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t remember me…lucky devil) but there is no doubt about his commitment to social media and its community.

To that end he has published a list of free internet publications (e-books) regarding social media. I know that in the voice over, marketing and advertising worlds (which, as we always note, collide here at voxmarketising) there are still more than a few souls who feel left by the side of the road on the social media speed racer.

Most of them will never even see this blog as they think blog is something that’s cured with a shot of penicillin.

And maybe it is.

But if you can’t get down to the free clinic this weekend, click on a few of these links then tell us which ones you felt were most helpful to you and why.

Thanks for reading.

If you really like this post (of course we hope you do), please feel free to bookmark and or promote it by clicking the buttons below on your preferred services.

Tags: advertising, blogs, commentary, internet, marketing, podcampboston, social media, social networking by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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“Ah, O’Connell me boy” you say (because you enjoy pretending your good at an Irish brogue when you’re not) “I think you’ve gone from Looney Tunes to Looney Bin.”

That’s true but it has nothing to do with my post.

See, John McCain, he of Republican presidential nominee fame, created an ad about the celebrity of Barack Obama, he of Democratic presidential nominee fame. This is the ad:

As you’ll note, one Paris Hilton, she of multiple sex tape fame and being rich (not necessarily in that order), was featured in the McCain ad…unbeknowst to her.

Our Paris didn’t like it. Somehow she teamed up with comedians at Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and Chris Henchy’s Website “Funny or Die,” to create a brilliant, funny response shown here:

OK, you may mark your calendars with what I am about to say: Paris Hilton has impressed me with this presentation. She totally aced the subtle comedic performance.

I am not a fan of either McCain or Obama so if Paris is the only other choice, then I shall vote for her. At least she wears her vapidity on her sleeve.

Thanks for reading.

If you really like this post (of course we hope you do), please feel free to bookmark and or promote it by clicking the buttons below on your preferred services.

Tags: advertising, commentary, marketing, silliness by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Please take a moment and double click on the graphic attached to this post.

Enjoy the imagery, the creativity and the artistry of something well designed.

Then answer this question: is it a great ad?

When I first saw this on the Graphic Design and Web Design Blog I was really blown away b y the design. Simple, artistic and tells a great story. Brilliant, I thought.

But then I realized that I had seen the graphic by itself, alone, on a blog. Not in a magazine or a newspaper surrounded by lots of other ads in the way most ads (save for full page ads) are viewed. In the same we all either view – or ignore – ads on a regular basis.

Can this ad stand out in the competition? If not, can it still be a great ad?

What do you think? I’d really like to know.

Tags: advertising, commentary by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
2 Comments »