Advertising Archives - Bob Cargill

02Feb 2025 by Bob Cargill

The World Revolves Around You – Yes, You!

Advertising, Branding, Inspiration, Marketing, Motivation

I couldn't help but be incredibly intrigued by an ad on TV I saw recently that boldly declared, "The world revolves around you." This ad caught my undivided attention because, growing up, when I was just a kid, I heard something very different: "The world doesn’t revolve around you." Those words that I heard when I was knee high to a grasshopper left a mark - they made me feel small, unimportant, insignificant and disconnected. But these words? This ad? It offers something powerful - a message that speaks to the heart. It reminds us that feeling valued can change everything in our lives. In marketing, in advertising, on social media, in life itself, the greatest gift you can give someone is the belief that they really matter, that they’re…

06Jan 2025 by Bob Cargill

The Audiobook Version of the Book about My Career

Advertising, Branding, Business, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Social Media

In June of 2022, I published my professional autobiography, 20 Jobs, 20 Lessons - a Long, Strange Career in Marketing, from Junk Mail to Social Media. In January of 2025, I'm publishing the audiobook version of this book, recorded by my professional voice clone created by ElevenLabs. I can't tell you how excited I am to put this audiobook out there, which ironically, goes a long way towards reinforcing my point about Lesson 12 in my book, "Embrace Technology Now." When I spent about two years or so writing this book, I never could have imagined I would be able to create a recorded version of it in only about two weeks. But thanks to advances in #AI, specifically ElevenLabs' founding in 2022, here I am able to drop an…

19Dec 2024 by Bob Cargill

Everybody is Putting on a Show Nowadays

Advertising, Content, Marketing, Music, Social Media

Can you believe it? That's an actual headline on musicradar.com on November 14, 2024. And I've seen that same story elsewhere, too. It's making the rounds because it's a very big deal, it's a very significant milestone, a watershed moment. Now, what does that have to do with marketing, advertising, social media and content creation? Plenty. Let me explain. So, for musicians, recording and sharing music is easier. They can put out more of it less expensively, and that's what they're doing. There's a ton of music out there. A surfeit (as opposed to a dearth) of music is out there. But the same goes with content in general. So, marketers, advertisers, social media people, business people in general, we can take advantage of that fact by creating more of…

19Nov 2024 by Bob Cargill

Does Your Business Have Its Own Selfie Station?

Advertising, Boston, Branding, Business, Marketing, Selfies, Social Media

You might call it a chair. Or a bench. In 2024, when it's right in front of a store, I would call it a selfie station. I would call it brilliant. I would call it an opportunity for this store, Rustic Marlin, to attract more prospective customers into their store and perhaps increase their sales. It's a great idea. Especially with all the stickers, in this case, emblazoned on it that say, #Boston. It's something a lot of different brands and businesses could take advantage of themselves. Think about it. This bench is located in a crowded tourist destination in Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Lots of people are walking by on a regular basis. They might want to sit down and relax. They might need to take a break for a…

13Aug 2024 by Bob Cargill

A Great Sign for Lyrik Back Bay in Boston

Advertising, Boston, Branding, Business, Marketing

I have no idea how many new commercial developments are built in Boston every year, and I hardly know the names of any of them, but I know quite a bit about this big, new office, hotel and retail development. Lyrik Back Bay. Sure, it's situated on Massachusetts Avenue between Boylston and Newbury Streets over the Mass Pike in the Back Bay neighborhood, so it's hard to ignore. But it's some of the street-level signage that really caught my eye, not necessarily the unique location punctuated by two tall buildings that will house a citizenM hotel, the LEGO Group's new US headquarters and CarGurus. Seeing a line - er, a lyric, I should say - from the Led Zeppelin classic, Stairway to Heaven, especially caught my attention, admittedly because I'm…

07Aug 2024 by Bob Cargill

Nike’s Great, New Ad, “Winning Isn’t for Everyone”

Advertising, Branding, Marketing

Am I a bad person? That's the question that Willem Dafoe, as narrator, asks in the great, new Nike ad entitled, "Winning Isn't for Everyone." Am I a bad person? In this ad, he's asking that question on behalf of a team of superstar athletes, incredible, iconic personal brands in the world of sports like LeBron James, Serena Williams and others. This is a great ad because of its storytelling and filmmaking, because it is both inspirational and motivational. This ad is an example, if you ask me, of advertising without advertising, of commanding your attention before you even realize it's all about Nike, not the athletes. "Winning Isn't for Everyone," of course, but it is for those who are willing and able to make that commitment to excellence. And…

24Apr 2024 by Bob Cargill

WHOOP, There It Is

Advertising, Boston, Marketing

Make people aware of what you have to offer. That's of the utmost importance in advertising. If nobody knows about you, nobody is going to do business with you. You have to call attention to yourself. You have to build an audience for your products and services. You have to get the word out. Your brand name can help do that alone. WHOOP, "the human performance company," certainly stands out. To say it's a catchy name for a company would be an understatement. Locational excellence can be a competitive advantage in business as well. WHOOP's 121,000 square-foot office space in Boston's Kenmore Square is certainly conspicuous in its presence, especially with the huge sign on top of it and the spectacular promotional banner I saw across the front of the…

13Jan 2023 by Bob Cargill

Social Media, Samuel Adams and More

Advertising, Marketing, Podcast, Social Media

In this episode of my podcast, which celebrates its five-year anniversary next month, I talk about a number of topics. I start off by talking about how I'll be running the Boston Marathon again this year, the 15th time I have run this historic race for a charitable cause. I then share my feelings about how much I love teaching, something I've been doing a lot of at this new stage in my career, and being involved as a member of the leadership team - as president - of the American Marketing Association's Boston chapter. I talk about my new book, Twenty Jobs, Twenty Lessons - a Long, Strange Career in Marketing, from Junk Mail to Social Media. I go on about the importance of knowing how to use social…

03Nov 2022 by Bob Cargill

Treating Your Customers to Something Free

Advertising, Boston, Business, Marketing, Public Relations, Restaurants

Boloco, a chain of restaurants founded in Boston, offered free small bowls to its customers in three of its locations in the area the other day. I saw the long line of people waiting to take advantage of this ridiculously awesome offer in front of its Longwood Avenue store. Good for those happy customers, getting such a great deal on such great food. And good for Boloco, too, for being so kind and generous to those folks. From a marketing perspective, why would Boloco do such a crazy thing? There are plenty of reasons, actually. Besides just being a nice thing to do for others, in doing so, the business may see a lot of those seeking freebies buying additional menu items at the same time. They may have the…