Who is the modern American Santa Claus? Has he had an influence on marketing? Whether or not you believe he has, one thing is for sure: Santa Claus has become a popular mass media figure and his image is replete in department stores, shopping malls, and decorations throughout the world each December. Santa Claus, or … Continued
Sure, we love drinking craft brews, but can marketers like us learn from how breweries market in a down economy? You bet, I connected with four pros and gleaned marketing tips we can all put to work. The Road to 2020 The craft beer industry was a thing of beauty for many years: outrageous growth, … Continued
While it’s never guaranteed that the actual football game will be entertaining, for close to 40 years Americans have been depending on Super Bowl ads to make them laugh, cry and feel inspired. In fact, we shared the history of Super Bowl advertisements in a blog post last year, check it out here. We’re doing … Continued
Oh, the holidays! The time of year that curated gift guides fill up our inboxes and newsfeeds. Duft Watterson estimates that 2,543,749* holiday gift lists will be published for the 2019 holiday season. On the one hand, we thought we should skip doing our own since there are so many. On the other hand, we … Continued
It’s the spookiest time of the year, which means that it’s time to talk about the spookiest typeface of them all; Trajan. While this typeface doesn’t have an origin story linking it to the macabre, it certainly has made a name for itself: Horror movie posters, and a lot of them. A quick history Trajan … Continued
Graphic designer by day, gamer by night. Those who know me know I love to play a good (and addictive) video game. And the more action the better. Thanks to technology, video games have come a long way — from the days of Pong and Pac-man to today’s insanely realistic graphics, to open worlds. But … Continued
Creative ideas in marketing often come from unexpected places. If your job is dependent on thinking outside the box, there’s nothing more frustrating than the lackluster feeling of being uninspired by your surroundings. It’s easy to feel like you need to go experience something exciting to get your creative juices flowing, like booking a ticket … Continued
Three of our team members recently attended the HOW Design Live conference in Chicago. Presenters included Debbie Millman, Timothy Goodman, Chip Kidd, Elizabeth Gilbert, Lisa Congdon and Beth Comstock, among others. We learned much about our craft, creativity and honing our skills. Topics covered everything from purpose marketing and communicating our best ideas to how … Continued
Dad jeans, dad jokes, dad bods. Dad advice? Call it what you want. Words of wisdom, life lessons, their two cents. We prefer to lovingly refer to these little nuggets of advice as “dad sayings.” We find it funny how many of the dad sayings that used to make us cringe now make more sense … Continued
Imagine walking into the office of a potential client with a business pitch that’s already been rejected. Scary, right? But, based on your reputation, you managed to keep the meeting, even though you were told there’s no chance of doing business together. Who knows, maybe you can show them you have something unique to sell … Continued
Every now and then, Charlie (a goofy, long-legged, un-coordinated, 9-month old German Wirehair) makes an appearance in the office. While he doesn’t get points for being the most mellow dog in town, he does typically bring a smile to everyone’s face with his shenanigans and happy-go-lucky swagger. At DW, we encourage our employees to bring … Continued
There are few things in life we appreciate more than our mothers. They’re warm, caring, insightful and have a unique perspective that only mothers do. And for the undeniable impression they make on our lives, just one day to recognize them does not seem like enough. Nonetheless, we’re fans of our moms and even bigger … Continued
We love Earth Month at Duft Watterson. So much so that while we were still putting away our green St. Patrick’s Day hats, we gathered over our favorite breakfast food, (organic sustainably sourced) waffles, to talk about DW’s involvement this year. With important issues like plastic refuse in our oceans, greenhouse gases and deforestation, it … Continued
Every holiday, we love seeing the classic ads make their rounds in the media. The Coca-Cola Santa. The M&M’s running into Santa. The snowman being warmed by a bowl of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. They bring back memories of nostalgia. Here are some of our favorite present day winter and holiday ads. John Lewis’ The … Continued
What can we say? The man has a great brand team.
If you’re anything like me, you’re reading this with – at best – three weeks until your December holiday of choice. Doing gift shopping over Black Friday weekend? Overrated. Thankfully, you think, Amazon is in your corner. After all, those Slang flashcards would be a hit. What’s more entertaining than hearing your mother-in-law describe the … Continued
Creatives love open space. At Duft Watterson, we built it into our new office, with large windows that overlook the Basque block of downtown Boise. Space inspires us while we’re chasing big ideas. For clients, that translates into better ideas and stronger strategies. It’s a common theme in agencies today; to have an open office … Continued
Books provide different perspectives and take us to new worlds. They give a voice to the voiceless. Books help connect us to people from all walks of life. If you read a new book every two weeks, you would read about 25 books a year. Bill Gates claims to read a new book every week … Continued
Is there anything more American than Smirnoff ICE Red, White and Blue – Limited Edition – Blue Raspberry, Cherry and Citrus adult beverage? I know, there’s a lot that’s wrong with that statement. But a week out from America’s birthday I am, for the first time, considering cracking open a bottle of the blue saccharin … Continued
Here at DW, we’re surrounded by dads whether they’re our own or a fellow teammate. With Father’s Day around the corner, we’re taking a moment to share our favorite dad ads. We’re almost 20 years into the 21st century and I’m still caught off guard when I see an ad celebrating fathers. A month or … Continued
I recently had the pleasure of judging the North American Effie Awards with a lot of great people from both the agency side and from some of America’s marquee brands. The Effies are unique because awards aren’t handed out just for excellent creative. The campaigns are judged by the thinking behind the creative: how well … Continued
I tend to find inspiration in unusual places. For instance, Jack White once inspired me to give up my cell phone for a day. I discovered sage work-life balance advice from Ferris Bueller, shared PR advice I learned from Mr. T, and I once doled out user-generated content lessons I learned from Dick Cheney. Today I am wondering if Frank … Continued
We’re supposed to admit when we fail, right? And we’re supposed to learn something when we fail, right? This past weekend, when my Father In-law (FIL) asked about what I do for a living, I opened my mouth, started talking, and realized I might need some time to think. I felt as though I needed … Continued