That's right. Screw it.

I love Harley Davidson. And not just because most owners seem to be middle-aged, grey-haired, bearded guys like me.

No. It's because of this ad. (Click the ad to enlarge it and make it easier to read.)

"So screw it, let's ride." What a perfectly wonderful way to look at whatever you want to call these times we're in. Here at N+H central, we happen to believe that tough economic times are an opportunity. (See previous post here.) But not if you bury your head in the sand and wait for things to turn around all by their own self.

And it gets better. The call to action ("Agree? Then visit . . ." ) drives you to a dedicated Harley page that lets you make your own statement and tells them exactly who responded to the ad. Smart people.

I found the ad in this week's Ad Age in an article about how some advertisers are "hammering away too much on the negatives in their marketing these days". Harley has a different take on it. They believe that their customers are "a little rebellious and resilient when they're told things aren't good" says their chief marketing officer.

It's a good article.

But it's a great ad.

We're within two points! Don't tell!

‘Splain something to me.

What’s with the “best kept secret”? Why is that a good thing? I see and hear that now and again, usually in an ad for some local business. Like it’s a positive thing.

Maybe I’m just a dope, but it doesn’t seem to me that claiming to be the “best kept secret in town” means anything except that, well, you’re good at keeping yourself a secret. Which is an odd way to distinguish yourself. It always sounds to me like “Nobody knows we exist! "

I also don’t understand why play-by-play guys at ball games refer to one team as being “within” x-number of points. If the score is 82-80, the announcer will almost always say the team with 80 points has to “pulled within two points”. Within two points of what? Being one point down?

Or maybe it's within two points of being the best kept secret in town.

This was very cool

Jerry Hofstetter, a "Swiss lighting artist" bathed the Washington National Cathedral in lights for three nights running last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We went by about 11 on the last night.

Sorry for the iffy quality of the pictures, but I was balancing the camera on a steel fence to allow for the 1.5-second exposure while some dopey kid jumped on and off the fence repeatedly.

Anyway, it was great to see. Read more about it here. Better pictures there too. They did it in celebration of the Cathedral's centennial.

And no, this doesn't have much to do with advertising. But it has everything to do with a) something I liked and 2) the need to get a blog post up soon.

Bidness trip

I make it a point not to be offended when people ask us how we managed to get a client in Key West. I'd like to think it's a combination of talent, good work, quick wit, a firm handshake and a charming personality.

And that's just Karen.

In any case, we'll be with our client all next week, so the blog is going to have to wait. I'm sure you'll all muddle through somehow.

But maybe there's a better one

This actually ran on a web site somewhere.

Just off the top of my head, I'd say that the positioning of the South Africa tourism ("It's possible") ad and the story about the guy who was killed by a shark is, gee, I don't know, what's the word . . . "unfortunate"?

(Found this on Adrants today.)

Gimme one of those No-Name condos.

This is definitely not a good time to be selling condominiums.

At least not in Washington. But with a little foresight, many of the developers suffering out there right could have been doing better. All they had to do was develop their brand and use it.

Regardless of who’s doing the building or who’s doing the selling, as far as marketing is concerned, most condominium projects start at ground zero and go from there. Over and over. They start from scratch every time with nothing to commend the project except whatever totally unique brochures, advertising or promotions are done for that project. Each one has its own web site logo, signage ― even stationery.

There is no awareness for the developer, no brand equity, no nothing. To me, this is a whole lot of wasted effort and money, and completely disregards the relevance of who built the place. Most of the time, the only association with the developer is a logo at the bottom of the ad. And that logo usually is no larger than the “sales by” logo. Like that’s important.

I know of one developer who doesn’t even identify itself as the builder or developer. It’s just “Sales by XYZ”.

I think this is silly. Here are a few reasons why:

• Strong brands allow for premium pricing over competitive products.

• Strong brands give you protection against price wars.

• Strong brands allow for greater new product success (as in new projects) because of the implied endorsement.

That’s for starters.

Seems to me that if you develop your brand as a quality developer of desirable condominiums and your target knows what you do and what you stand for, the sell for each of your projects gets a real running start, and you've got an edge over the competition.

The point is, condominium developers should lead with themselves first and the project second ― as in “you can believe in this project because you can believe in us, so whatever we do carries the quality that our brand is known for” ― then maybe they wouldn’t be reduced to running price-slashing ads now. When Nordstrom has a sale do they come across as desperate? If you believe in the Toyota brand doesn’t that belief extend to all of their models? If you like Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, aren’t you pre-disposed to try a new flavor they introduce? A brand is a powerful ― income-producing ― asset. But only if you develop it and use it.

It’s ironic that one of the most expensive purchases of your life isn’t built around a brand promise. You sure as hell know the brand of a car you buy. Or the coffee. Even toothpaste.

Of course, it’s not too late. Unfortunately things aren’t going to change in the next week or so.

It’s going to be a long hard summer in developer-world. A bit of brand development can make it easier, I’ll bet.

A New Year's Resolution justified

I knew that resolving to read Seth Godin's blog every day was worth something. This is what it was worth today.

What he says about unfocused traffic coming to your web site is great. It's something we've said before, but I like the way he says it better.

I love the term "unfocused intent".