Benedict Advertising - Business Building Solutions

Well, another year is soon to be behind us and as we look back at the year in review we realize that it has been an eventful year.

Between the highs and lows, it’s been a productive year. We’ve landed new clients, parted ways with others, renovated the office, thrown some great parties and celebrated each other’s birthdays, milestones and anniversaries. It was a great year full of laughter, encouragement and hard work.

So, what’s in store for 2008?

Endless possibilities…

Happy New Year! May it be wonderful and prosperous.

From,
Benedict Advertising

(A Visit from Saint Nicholas IN THE ERNEST HEMINGWAY MANNER originally appeared in The New Yorker, December 24, 1927. We hope you enjoy it.)

Written by James Thurber
It was the night before Christmas. The house was very quiet. No creatures were stirring in the house. There weren’t even any mice stirring. The stockings had been hung carefully by the chimney. The children hoped that Saint Nicholas would come and fill them.

The children were in their beds. Their beds were in the room next to ours. Mamma and I were in our beds. Mamma wore a kerchief. I had my cap on. I could hear the children moving. We didn’t move. We wanted the children to think we were asleep.

“Father,” the children said.

There was no answer. He’s there, all right, they thought.

“Father,” they said, and banged on their beds.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“We have visions of sugarplums,” the children said.

“Go to sleep,” said mamma.

“We can’t sleep,” said the children. They stopped talking, but I could hear them moving. They made sounds.

“Can you sleep?” asked the children.

“No,” I said.

“You ought to sleep.”

“I know. I ought to sleep.”

“Can we have some sugarplums?”

“You can’t have any sugarplums,” said mamma.

“We just asked you.”

There was a long silence. I could hear the children moving again.

“Is Saint Nicholas asleep?” asked the children.

“No,” mamma said. “Be quiet.”

“What the hell would he be asleep tonight for?” I asked.

“He might be,” the children said.

“He isn’t,” I said.

“Let’s try to sleep,” said mamma.

The house became quiet once more. I could hear the rustling noises the children made when they moved in their beds.

Out on the lawn a clatter arose. I got out of bed and went to the window. I opened the shutters; then I threw up the sash. The moon shone on the snow. The moon gave the lustre of mid-day to objects in the snow. There was a miniature sleigh in the snow, and eight tiny reindeer. A little man was driving them. He was lively and quick. He whistled and shouted at the reindeer and called them by their names. Their names were Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen.

He told them to dash away to the top of the porch, and then he told them to dash away to the top of the wall. They did. The sleigh was full of toys.

“Who is it?” mamma asked.

“Some guy,” I said. “A little guy.”

I pulled my head in out of the window and listened. I heard the reindeer on the roof. I could hear their hoofs pawing and prancing on the roof.

“Shut the window,” said mamma.

I stood still and listened.

“What do you hear?”

“Reindeer,” I said. I shut the window and walked about. It was cold. Mamma sat up in the bed and looked at me.

“How would they get on the roof?” mamma asked.

“They fly.”

“Get into bed. You’ll catch cold.”

Mamma lay down in bed. I didn’t get into bed. I kept walking around.

“What do you mean, they fly?” asked mamma.

“Just fly is all.”

Mamma turned away toward the wall. She didn’t say anything.

I went out into the room where the chimney was. The little man came down the chimney and stepped into the room. He was dressed all in fur. His clothes were covered with ashes and soot from the chimney. On his back was a pack like a peddler’s pack. There were toys in it. His cheeks and nose were red and he had dimples. His eyes twinkled. His mouth was little, like a bow, and his beard was very white. Between his teeth was a stumpy pipe. The smoke from the pipe encircled his head in a wreath. He laughed and his belly shook. It shook like a bowl of red jelly. I laughed. He winked his eye, then he gave a twist to his head. He didn’t say anything.

He turned to the chimney and filled the stockings and turned away from the chimney. Laying his finger aside his nose, he gave a nod. Then he went up the chimney. I went to the chimney and looked up. I saw him get into his sleigh. He whistled at his team and the team flew away. The team flew as lightly as thistledown. The driver called out, “Merry Christmas and good night.” I went back to bed.

“What was it?” asked mamma. “Saint Nicholas?” She smiled.

“Yeah,” I said.

She sighed and turned in the bed.

“I saw him,” I said.

“Sure.”

“I did see him.”

“Sure you saw him.” She turned farther toward the wall.

“Father,” said the children.

“There you go,” mamma said. “You and your flying reindeer.”

“Go to sleep,” I said.

“Can we see Saint Nicholas when he comes?” the children asked.

“You got to be asleep,” I said. “You got to be asleep when he comes. You can’t see him unless you’re unconscious.”

“Father knows,” mamma said.

I pulled the covers over my mouth. It was warm under the covers. As I went to sleep I wondered if mamma was right.

As I was reading the Small Agency Diaries, I came across this contest entry that I found amusing. It was written by Steve LaMonica, Senior VP of Berber Silverstein Group in Miami. His topic was “Can the Corporate Speak.” Enjoy.

Subject: I’m glad you extended the contest as I was out of pocket.
I wanted to helicopter up with my embarrassment of riches hoping this will move the needle and give you the most bang for your buck. To capture the mindshare of your demo and be your true marketing partner with an intrusive, breakthrough full court press, we should cherry pick the low-hanging fruit.

We’ll do the heavy lifting up front because this will only be news once. First we’ll drill down to your year-over-year objectives and focus on the aspirationally chic D.I.N.K.S. The RFP/RFI/RFQ/ ITN isn’t a problem, it’s an opportunity to make dollars work harder because it’s an investment, not an expense.

Our response will be ownable, accountable, have a long shelf life with value added and the nuts and bolts will change the landscape and level the playing field. Down the road we’ll push the envelope with award winning non traditional guerilla media, page stealers, and a liberal use of white space. The push will be a front-loaded, server crashing effort with depth and breadth to saturate to the point where viral word of mouth will work even when you’re not on the air.

We’ll burn midnight oil to change the mindset, up the conversion rate. We’ll do lunch and your money’s no good near me.

by Alicia Fisher

One pound of shark fin retails at around $400 in American currency. Because of this high value, shark fin soup is a delicacy and sign of wealth throughout Asian and other eastern countries, with a single bowl costing over $150.

Sounds outrageous for a bowl of soup right? Shark fins are so valuable because sharks are becoming endangered. Shark finning is a multi-billion dollar industry that is estimated at killing over 100 million sharks annually - just for their fins.

So you’re thinking, “So what? Sharks are blood thirsty, man-eating, underwater monsters. Why should I care if they are being killed for soup?”

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a special screening of a film that is dedicated to educating the public on how the shark finning industry has endangered an entire species of sharks and disrupted a valuable ecosystem that makes up 70% of our earth. Sharkwater, released November of 2007, is a documentary following shark enthusiast, Rob Stewart (super conservationist hottie), in his fight to protect these animals from extinction.

This film takes the viewer all over the world on a courageous adventure. You’ll meet a revolutionary conservationist, Paul Watson who has long been engaged in the fight against shark finning through his organization - Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Throughout Sharkwater Stewart and Watson battle pirate shark finning ships, get chased by Guatemalan gun boats, endure an arrest by the Costa Rican police, get sentenced by corrupt court systems fighting on the side of shark finning, escape a shark fin mafia from East Asia and much more.

Sharkwater is graphic and disturbing, but it reveals the truth behind the devastating effects of this murderous industry.
Sharks are caught using a long line. This is miles and miles of fishing line with thousands of hooks on it, pulled behind a boat catching anything in it’s path. Not only are sharks caught, but endangered sea turtles and other marine life which are reeled in and left to die. The sharks that are caught are brought on board, have their fins cut off and are then tossed back into the water. Without fins, the sharks can’t swim and are left to helplessly drift to the bottom of the ocean. Now, the once predator becomes prey as the finless sharks are eaten alive by other fish. And it’s not just one shark, it’s thousands at a time.

So why should you care about sharks? They are a very critical part of marine ecosystems which is an important resource to mankind. Sharks are at the top of the food chain in our waters and without them, their prey will reproduce exponentially crowding the waters of what was once a controlled species. Certain types of species that sharks eat feed on phytoplankton that turn carbon dioxide in the sea into 70% of the oxygen humans breathe. If shark aren’t there to eat the fish and fish populations that feed on phytoplankton reproduce at rapid rates and overpopulate, there will be less oxygen produced.

As for the reputation sharks get from films such as Jaws (great movie by the way), which display these creatures as large, murderous people eaters… It’s way off. How many people do sharks kill a year? I’ll give you a hint… There’s more fatal soda machine accidents than deadly shark attacks.

Answer: 5 people

Sharkwater is an eye opening documentary that has touched me very personally. At Benedict Advertising, two of my clients, Guy Harvey and Aquatic Release Conservation, are involved heavily in the support and conservation of fisheries and fish stocks around the world. The Guy Harvey Research Institute funds certain projects that assist in the research of sharks and how to increase their survivability rate in the ocean.

Although the advertising industry is all about marketing a brand and pushing sales of a product, I’ve now realized that the work I do everyday means something bigger. I’m contributing to a greater conservation effort that may one day make this world a better place for younger generations to come.

To learn more about sharks, shark finning devastation, and how you can help put a stop to this atrocious act of human greed visit www.sharkwater.com

by Donna Cooper, Jr. Copywriter

There is nothing wrong with being small. My mom always told me that great things come in small packages. Diamonds and Jewelry comes in a little black (or blue) box, right? So, why does an agency have to be wrapped up in a huge package in order to handle a larger client’s business? The truth is they don’t. It’s a common misconception that small means inadequate. But, that is all it is—a misconception.

As I wrote in a previous blog, about David and Goliath, I still firmly believe that the only thing holding the smaller shops down when competing with larger ones is the perceptions held by the prospective clients. I’ve been party to several new business pitches where we were up against larger agencies, which to an outsider seemed more successful. However, seeing what they offered and doing some research on the competition we knew that we were equally yoked, to the point that we almost always ended up in the top 5 agencies competing for the client.

The only noticeable difference between our shop and the other guys was the number of employees. However, the advantages of a smaller shop are many. By nature, we are more nimble and able to maneuver more effectively than the larger, clumsier companies. Agility is not the only advantage. With a larger shop, comes a larger client list where each client gets less attention. At smaller agencies, like ours, we practice a “no client left behind” policy and we are able to devote the maximum amount of time to meet each of our clients’ specific needs, regardless of whether they are a smaller client, our biggest client or a pro bono client.

As Mark Twain once said, “many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.” And the right kind of advertising doesn’t have to be from the large multi-billion dollar shops.

by Donna Cooper, Jr. Copywriter
I met my boyfriend’s parents for the first time over the past week, while we were moving into our new house. Normally, you might think this isn’t a huge deal, but let me just fill you in on an important piece of this story: They’re Chinese. Not Chinese Americans—Chinese. I’ve been surrounded by all things Chinese for the last 5 days and have experienced authentic traditions and cuisines brought from their homeland via New York’s Chinatown. While I had no clue what they were saying, it was easy to tell that their culture and traditions were very important to them.

That got me to thinking. How do you overcome such communication barriers and still be mindful of other cultures and traditions in advertising? Well, in my case it comes down to learning to speak their language and asking lots of questions about what is acceptable and not acceptable in their culture. As for advertising—it comes down to research…and breaking down the language barrier by finding a good translator.

For example, we have a few subway markets where Spanish is commonly spoken and at times we have to be careful how we say things and what we say because sometimes things get lost in translation or may mean on thing in English, but means something completely different (and in some cases is translated into something offensive) in another language.

Many mistakes have been made in the advertising world when it comes to translating their campaigns into different languages. While they are quite humorous to some people, others (especially those to whom the translation is directed) it can be embarrassing and offensive. Take Coca-cola for example: When they first began to market their brand in China, they ran into some problems with finding words that sounded similar to Coke. Some of their earlier attempts literally translated into “Bite the Wax Tadpole.” Finally, after holding a contest they settled on the tag line, “Happiness in the Mouth.” Another example is the “Got Milk” campaign. The Spanish version is “¿Tienes leche?” but it translates to, “are you lactating?” Clearly not what they had intended.

So, when dealing with different cultures and languages it’s best to do your homework before hand and make sure nothing gets lost in translation.

I was sitting in a lobby yesterday with a few people I know. The conversation volleyed back and forth regarding our reason for being there and random chatter about life in general. Having lived in the area for quite some time, it’s hard to run into people you don’t know. With that being said, the conversation turned toward my friend’s mother telling her brother about how this woman at my friend’s son’s school was going on and on about her husbands dream job at a local pest control company. She said he goes in every month to see if there is a position available. After a few moments, the woman tells my friend in an off-handed sort of manner that if she ever has a pest control problem that she should call this company. She went on to say that they were the nicest people and they do such a great job. My friend then humbly revealed to the woman that the man who owned the company was her uncle. The woman was amazed at the coincidence, never the less. What are the odds that her comments would ever reach the owner’s ears?

It has always been said that “word of mouth” is the best form of advertising and here was a perfect example. This woman who didn’t know my friend from the next mom waiting for her child, just happened to recommend the pest control company her uncle also happens to own. It just goes to show that the old saying is still true today.