Can Emojis Save the Most Hated Blog of All Time?
In the legacy of the Nebo blog, there is one post so widely reviled, so deeply loathed, that we dare not speak its name. We refer to it only as: “The Pokemon Post.”
Within moments of its publication, our Facebook was flooded with angry comments — comments that had nothing to do with the post itself. It was clear that while many had commented, none had read.
Why is this post so criminally vile? It must be because people hate words. If only we could do away with reading, perhaps the masses would love us once again.
And so we set out on a mighty mission. A battle to overcome humanity's hatred of words, to save the reputation of the Nebo blog, and perhaps even to revive a once-beloved AR craze.
Here it is again — no reading required. (But if you're into that sort of thing, here's a sentence-by-sentence translation of our all-emoji post.)
Why We Shave Our Legs: From Sex to Sexism
Many great things have come from the minds of advertisers. Father’s Day. The Egg McMuffin. Countless turns of phrase: “Always the bridesmaid, never the bride”; “When you got it, flaunt it”. Unfortunately, a lot of terrible things have come from advertisers too. Bic for Her pens. Dr. Pepper 10. Low-cal beer in special slim cans — designed for the dainty grip of the weaker sex, of course.
When it comes to sexist marketing ploys, our industry is historically guilty for creating some of the dumbest shit on Earth.
So, the question was asked the other day: did we make shaving a thing for women?
Why Having Fun is Serious Business for Marketers
I count my blessings every day that I work somewhere that values fun. Here at Nebo, we’ve got a Ping-Pong table, a championship-winning kickball team, Beer Fridays and Slack channels that range from The Bachelor to Soylent (though no one is in the Soylent channel, so maybe it's not that fun after all).
Nebo has more “distractions” than anywhere I’ve ever worked. But it’s also the most productive and efficient place I’ve ever worked. We work hard here at Nebo to make cool shit and make it right — and having fun plays a crucial role. According to Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play, “when employees have the opportunity to play, they actually increase their productivity, engagement and morale.” It’s been proven that employees who report having more fun at work are more engaged, have higher attendance and are less likely to take sick days.
But having fun goes beyond the candy drawer and the office dogs. To be successful marketers and advertisers, it needs to emanate from our work.
Here’s why having fun is the most powerful tool an agency can have.
How to Be Type-A Organized For Creatives
Confession: I was a terrible college student. I was always five minutes late to class, asking for extensions on my papers, reading the wrong assignment and forgetting appointments with my professors. Yet somehow, I went on to get both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and all was Gucci.
How did I not flunk out? Because for every appointment I blew off or essay I forgot to write, someone always loaned me a convenient excuse:
“Oh, she’s just being a writer.”
Both of my degrees are in creative writing. If a med student pulled the same stunts, they’d be flunked in no time. But when you write short stories about zombies for a degree, people don’t hold you to higher standards.
That’s because we love to romanticize the mad creative genius. With headlines touting that forgetfulness is a sign of intelligence and being disorganized makes you smarter, it’s easy to see why.