Thursday, July 26, 2007

Can you see financing eyeglasses?

Today's mail brought an offer to finance my next pair of eyeglasses at Lenscrafters: "Stop in today to view the latest trends in eyewear, and take up to 6 months to pay."

Take a look at the separate financing page on Lenscrafters' web site. Yikes! I need a super-strong pair of glasses just to read all the fine print. Sure wouldn't want any fancy new eyeglasses to get repossessed (or even possessed).

Monday, July 16, 2007

Nikon: Watch and learn

Photos and videos to show how to use a digital camera? Yes, Nikon cleverly markets its compact D40 digital SLR with a number of interesting, informative visual promotions.
  • It recently used camera sized/shaped ads stitched into magazines (such as Budget Travel) to show the actual size of the camera. The ads open to reveal body copy about how the 200 residents of Georgetown, SC used D40s to take photos (and include the URL to see the results).
  • The main D40 microsite offers a useful Digitutor video with tips on how to take digital photos of pets, etc. (see bottom right of site).
Seeing is believing--Nikon knows that a picture is worth a thousand ... you know. I like how it's marketing the D40. 'Nuff said.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Celebrity steel?

Time was, Nucor was the "rock star" of the steel business because of its innovations, both in management and in manufacturing. Yesterday's New York Times carried one of its recent series of corporate image ads, also posted on Nucor's Web site. The ads are attractive and engaging--they really do tell what Nucor calls "Our Stories."

Two suggestions: In the print ad, the body copy is small, center-justified, and white on a dark green background. It's almost impossible to read in the half-page Times ad. So my first suggestion is, choose substance over style and make absolutely sure the all-important text is actually readable.

My second suggestion is to position the Nucor brand more prominently. In this ad, it's buried at bottom left and is too subtle, IMHO. Suppose a reader wants to find out more (or invest in the stock)? Always make it easy to figure out who the ad is about. The company's URL is included at the bottom of the body copy but is too faint to be of much use.