Listening is the new black

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Peppercomm_Fashion_12x18[2]As Repman readers know, I’m not wild about most advertising, especially the generic kind.
I also do my best not to trumpet Peppercomm’s successes in my blog.

But, I’m making an exception with today’s column. That’s because Matt Lester, and his creative team, have captured the essence of our 19-year-old business in a smart, strategic new print advertising campaign I feel compelled to share.

Here are some reasons why I like ‘Listening is the new black’:
–    It’s completely different than what the majority of our competitors would say or do.
–    It reinforces our core competency of listening to clients and their various audiences first, last and always.
–    It’s clever and memorable. (I think.)

FYI, we’re placing this particular ad in the fashion section of one of our industry’s leading trade publications (so, we’re assured we’re reaching the right audience in the right way). That, to me, is smart advertising.

But, I’m curious to know what you, the reader, think of the print ad. Does it break through in your mind? Does it convey what differentiates us from competitors? And, if you were a prospective client, would it make you pick up the phone and call us?

I’m all ears because, just like my late dog Pepper, I’m a pretty good listener.

9 thoughts on “Listening is the new black”

  2. Very kind of you to say all those nice things, Carmen. I’ll be sure to forward your comments. Btw, I LOVE “A dog for all season” and may steal it from you.

  4. Spot on (see what I did there?)

    It is what you do, with me, my team and my colleagues/customers. It hints at the depth of your team, but does not quite do it justice. Behind that one listening dog is a pack of listeners who roam far and wide to find the right solution. I’m a big fan of triptych campaigns with a fourth that brings it all together (preferably with a tongue-in-cheek funny as the payoff), so if I could, I would put Pepper in a slightly different outfit, maybe more formal and talk about the deeper disciplines (that 3-d model of a website, which was cool), then one at the beach on lifestyles adverts and listening out in the real world, etc. then maybe parachute/skydiving that talks about you taking risks so we don’t have to, then really you would have a dog for all seasons with a fourth one. Just a thought.

  6. I like it. As you say, it’s well targeted to the fashion industry so it’ll catch the eye and stand out. The message is very spot on for what Pepper does, what the approach and philosophy is, a good WYSIWYG style — that’s very me. Now for the contrarian side of me, two nits to pick: 1) as a designer, I’d have gone less reverse type or selected a different font for more readable body copy and 2) while good, that copy is all “you and we” not much “them.” I’ve got the same issue on my own website, I need to change it and write the WIIFM for the reader. FWIW.

  8. Interestingly, Donna, quite a few law firms do employ PR agencies. We’ve represented our share over the years. Some have been great. Others were real dogs.

  9. I like it, but did you have to mention “ticks” with a dog on the cover! Haha. I’m kidding of course. Obviously working in law, we have no PR in place!