Model: Abigail Michelle, abigail-michelle.com

Photographer: Jim Jurica, jimjurica.com

Hair and Makeup: Andrea Ryl-kuchar, semprebella.net

You will have to stay tuned to see which one we pick!

Get lit!

- Spotlight Team

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create your own version of the spotlightTM “HELLO my name is” sticker by taking the template above and making it your own.
set your profile picture on facebook, youtube, flickr, twitter etc. to your awesome new sticker and hit us up at mswisher[at]12Vspotlight[dot]com .  our favorite sticker each month will win FREE spotlights and/or accessories http://www.12Vspotlight.com

history of the slapper sticker

“HELLO my name is…” stickers are the ultimate ice-breaker.
they’ve been around for years and are a great way to get around the awkward “sorry, I’ve totally forgotten your name” situation!

shortly after their initial creation, these stickers also became a perfect canvas for graffiti artists to show off their skillz.
do an image search for ‘’HELLO my name is’ and see how others have used these fun stickers in the past.

below are some of what the spotlight team came up with…

Matt “$w1sh” Swisher

Mark “THA MC SEE” Clulow

Fei-Long Tran

Abigail Michelle

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Don't be left in the dark on National Flashlight Day. The basic requirement for this day, is a flashlight and good batteries. Flick the switch, and you can put anything into your spotlight. We'd like to shed a little light on this special day. National Flashlight Day arrives on Winter Solstice, which is the shortest day...and longest night.... of the year. "Watt" that means, is that there's lots and lots of darkness. With all of those dark hours, your flashlight is apt to get a good workout. You never know when you will need a flashlight. National Flashlight Day is a good day to make sure you and your family know where the flashlights are. Test each flashlight, to be sure the batteries are good. When in doubt, replace the batteries with new ones. It is also a good idea to put a flashlight in your car.

get lit,

Swisher

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Get Lit,

Swisher

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Of course, the worst place to drive in the rain is in Los Angeles, because people there act like the rain is the same as some sort of monsoon. I used to have to drive home next to people with their lights and windshield wipers off, going 20 miles an hour on the highway. What do they think the wipers are for, decoration?? Or if they were at a stoplight they wouldn’t move when it turned green, as if the rain is coming down so hard that it’s blinded them to a sign 10 feet away. Seriously???

I wonder if somehow when people get into their cars they lose brain cells. Sorry, that is a bitter thought but it seems to be true. Anyone else got a comment on this phenomenon?

Get Lit,

KT

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Today’s topic is product photography. I am not a photographer – but I know a good hero shot when I see one. I bring this up because I am looking at one of my competitor’s catalogs right now and the images are so tiny I can’t even tell what they’re selling. You know the expression, “A picture’s worth a thousand words”? The images in their catalog are worth about 5 words apiece!

I should probably laugh and rejoice that my competition has such a poor catalog, but I’d rather they did a GREAT job so I could persuade MY company to spend more on marketing!   Honestly though, let’s all learn from their mistakes and discuss some common marketing errors.

Problem #1 – Tiny images
Why bother to spend the money for original photography if your customer can’t even see the details on the product? A good hero shot should be up-close-and-personal, showing the product at its best. If it’s food, it should look mouth-watering and delicious. If it’s a toy, it should look fun and inviting. If it’s technology, it should look modern and full of features. Basically the product should look as sexy as it’s ever going to look! Now a lot of people will say, ‘but the copy explains the features… the copy tells you how great it is…. the copy will make you want to buy this product’ – WRONG! The picture (if it doesn’t sell the product all by itself) should make you want to read the copy, not the other way around. Think of it this way; if you see a shirt in a store that you think is ugly, do you bother to check the price tag?

Problem #2 – Overloaded shots
Just because you have a great kit with lots of pieces doesn’t mean you should just dump them all out on the table and take the picture. If the image just looks like a hodge-podge of junk, no one is going to try to decipher all the components – they’re just going to flip the page. For kit shots, I prefer to keep the pieces in the packaging and put one of each piece in front for display – this let’s the customer see the components without overwhelming them.

Problem #3 – Cluttered Page Layout
I have seen images in catalogs with bursts all around them, proclaiming “best seller!”, “great value!”, “customer favorite!”. Really annoying! I would hope that the product you’re trying to sell me is a great value – what’s the alternative? “Over-priced!”? “Not worth the money!”? Better to show the product itself than waste space with clichés.

Problem #4 – Inappropriate Props
How many times have I seen an otherwise normal product accompanied with a stupid prop? True example – I started working for a place that had imaged all their couches and chairs with throw-pillows and blankets draped over them artistically. The images were lovely. And we spent the rest of the year explaining to customers that the pillows and blankets are not included. And that we don’t actually sell them. My point is, don’t go overboard with props or models, background washes and puppy dogs, etc. etc. It’s overkill, and it’s just giving face time to things you can’t actually make money on!

An experience photographer/designer is worth his or her weight in gold – they can take something completely boring and transform it into the star of the show! Believe me when I say that I’ve had to merchandise some pretty un-glamorous products (titanium steel wave-rings, fishing tackle, meter sticks…. I could go on and on)!

Get Lit,

KT

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This is off the wall, but I had to share this with you all. Below is a description of a TV commercial that I really like versus ones I hate. They’re all advertising the same product, and it’s not one that I would ever buy – so why do I care so much? I guess being in marketing for the past 8 years or so has really made me take notice of the way things are advertised. What can we learn from these ads from a marketing standpoint, and how can we apply them to our own companies’ products?

The product: Just For Men (hair dye)

The good commercial: Ex-athletes Keith Hernandez and Walt Frazier pretend to be sportscasters rating football player Emmitt Smith’s gray hair. He uses the product and then scores a touchdown. Trash-talking dialogue (”Your ’stache is trash! Your beard is weird!”) gives the audience a humorous look at the product and shows that even famous athletes have some insecurities about getting older, but that’s ok.

The bad commercial #1: A man with gray hair is told by his daughter that he will get a promotion at work… if he dyes his hair to look younger. He then gets the job.
The bad commercial #2: A man with gray hair is told by his two young daughters that he will be ‘a nice catch’ for some woman, if he dyes his hair. He then gets a date.

What’s the difference? To the casual observer it seems like the premise is the same – the man looks old (and it’s implied he feels old also) and then uses the hair dye to look younger and then has some sort of success. However – when dealing with a sensitive topic, it’s best to either keep it factual, or make it funny – leaving the sappy rhetoric at the door. Men who might buy this product are probably insulted by the patronizing ‘real life’ scenarios (besides, if he’s interviewing for a VP position, they’d probably WANT someone who looks distinguished rather than young!). I know if I had kids who told me I was too old to get a job or a date I would be really annoyed!

From the marketing side, it’s better to let the customer put himself in Emmitt Smith’s shoes than some random guy who feel insecure about getting older. What’s my point? It’s that those of us in marketing have to know our customers, and if we’re going to sell to their insecurities we should at least entertain them as part of the bargain! Ok, enough of my little rant…. but I can’t be the only one who notices this stuff – what’s your most or least favorite form of advertising?

Get Lit,

KT

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