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For me, it's been a great summer of family trips, beaches, golfing, and fishing (the latter two with mixed results). Unfortunately, the sun is setting earlier and earlier every less-balmy night. The kids are back to school. Yes, summer is winding down, but things at Captivation Capital are heating up! Frankly, this would be an opportune time to contact me regarding your advertising or marketing project, before the workload-o-meter spikes from "busy" to "ridiculously swamped." Here's a sampling of the delicious projects filling my plate at the moment: Trade show booth graphics for an international company in the die casting industry Renaming and rebranding for a West Michigan firm Direct mail campaign, poster series and high-end PowerPoint for a billion-dollar-plus company Complete brand refresh, including collateral and web, for a longstanding client As I've been sharing in this blog over the past couple months, Captivation Capital is the place to bring your marketing plan to life with strategic, award-winning creativity. I'm not here to tinker with, retool, or otherwise rearrange your marketing plan. You've worked hard, applying your sales and marketing expertise, to build a plan that will reach the right targets with the right tactics. Captivation Capital gets that. I thrive when collaborating with marketing directors and managers who have a laser focus on the strategy and implementation of the plan, while I, in turn, work with them to, well, captivate their potential customers with concepts, writing, design, video, and digital that makes an impact while never straying from the core strategy. Give me a call. Can't wait to hear your marketing challenges! #advertising #advertisingagency #creativity #creativedirector #hollandmi #hollandmiadvertisingagency #michiganadvertisingagency #adagency #adagencies #advertisingagencies #copywriting #copywriter #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #magazinedesign #magazineredesign #photoshop #photomanipulation #summer #marketingplan

If you're a marketing director at a company of any size, you know how to piece together one mean marketing plan. It has the reach to cover every aspect of your company's marketing goals, the legs to carry you through all the ups and downs of the coming fiscal year, and the brains to strategically deliver messaging to every key target. In short, all of the parts are stitched together masterfully. But there's a critical missing ingredient: Juice. Mojo. Power. A 1.21 gigawatt surge of energy that will electrify your prospects into action. You've got to bring it to life. That's where Captivation Capital comes in. See, we know you have the mechanics of reaching your target audience down to a science. And we're not here to dismantle the good thing you've built (though we can offer strategic help if requested). But when it's time to make that plan sing and dance with creative words and imagery, Captivation Capital is the place to call. Beware the firm that tries to shoehorn its own pet strategies into the mix, or even hijack your plan completely. You and your team are the ones who've slogged it out in the trenches of your industry. Your knowledge is comprehensive, honed by experience and borderline instinctual. We at Captivation Capital are here to turn that knowledge into persuasion...dynamic, electrifying persuasion. You might even call it captivating. Take a few minutes to check out our site. We've helped countless companies with ultra creative work that exceeded their expectations and generated results. Then give us a call. We'll turn that marketing plan of yours into a real monster. #advertising #advertisingagency #creativity #creativedirector #hollandmi #hollandmiadvertisingagency #michiganadvertisingagency #adagency #adagencies #advertisingagencies #copywriting #copywriter #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #magazinedesign #magazineredesign #photoshop #photomanipulation #illustration #adspending #marketingjargon #businessjargon #businessbuzzwords

When it comes to generating advertising creative, I've always been a "show don't tell" person. No need to research and focus group a concept to death: if it works, it works. If you're trying to connect with your target audience at a "gut" level, then trust your own gut. Launch an ad campaign that hasn't had every edge buffed dull and harmless by too many folks armed with the sandpaper of "prudent marketing practices." I'm no Steve Jobs acolyte, but I do admire his supposed aversion to market testing before launching products or marketing campaigns. My guess is, he didn't think much about targeting groups or demographics, but instead focused keenly on humans: not only what they wanted, but what they would want. Yes, Jobs had a unique knack for pinpointing people's future gadget-centric desires, however, we can all draw on his secret weapon for tapping deeply into human nature, namely...that we're humans, too. So, consider partnering with an advertising firm helmed by a fellow human that creates for humans. It may not sound like much of a demographically-segmented analytics-tested marketing strategy, and that's because it's not. You're welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me, my nose tells me another fresh batch of delicious ad creative is ready. I love the smell of fresh-baked strategy in the morning. Reach me at 616-355-2530. Thanks, Pete #advertising #advertisingagency #creativity #creativedirector #hollandmi #hollandmiadvertisingagency #michiganadvertisingagency #adagency #adagencies #advertisingagencies #copywriting #copywriter #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #magazinedesign #magazineredesign #photoshop #photomanipulation #illustration #adspending #marketingjargon #businessjargon #businessbuzzwords

Funny. The last heading from my last blog post was "You Don't Need a Big Agency to Get Big Ideas." Since that proclamation, I have been developing big ideas for a very big company. It's a privately-held company with revenues well above $1 billion, and it and little ol' me have been getting along quite well. Ideas brought us together, or, more accurately: Captivation Capital® did. Said large company understood that great ideas aren't exclusive to great big agencies. They stepped out of their comfort zone a little and give a little agency a look. You can do the same with a call to Captivation Capital at 616-355-2530. #advertising #advertisingagency #creativity #creativedirector #hollandmi #hollandmiadvertisingagency #michiganadvertisingagency #adagency #adagencies #advertisingagencies #copywriting #copywriter #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #magazinedesign #magazineredesign #photoshop #photomanipulation #illustration #adspending #marketingjargon #businessjargon #businessbuzzwords

Big Game Flashback Of all the ads from the past Biggest Professional Football Game in February that Shall Remian Nameless, one ad stood out to me. Nagged me, really. The Jeep ad that finishes with the tagline, "4x4ever." Where had I heard that before? Then it recently dawned on me: I heard it in my own brain...two years before the Jeep ad aired. You Don't Need a Big Agency to Get Big Ideas A couple of years ago, an outdoor furniture manufacturing company asked us to develop creative concepts for marketing their furniture, which is built with "lumber" made from 100% recycled plastic. This furniture is virtually indestructible. It never fades, cracks, or peels, and comes with a 35 year warranty. As is our practice, we created, what in technical advertising terms is known as, a buttload of ideas. Or, as well call it, Captivation Capital™. One of those concepts is pictured above. The proposed tabletop display had a sample of the actual plastic lumber hanging from a loop. The headline, "It's a 2x4-Ever," was positioned so that the "Ever" was covered by the lumber, drawing the shopper in to grab the lumber and reveal the headline payoff. Obviously, we aren't implying that Jeep or Jeep's agency copied our idea. It merely points out that great ideas aren't exclusive to great big agencies. So, step out from your comfort zone a little and give a little agency a look. Call Captivation Capital at 616-355-2530, and get us going on some surprisingly super ideas today. #advertising #advertisingagency #creativity #creativedirector #hollandmi #hollandmiadvertisingagency #michiganadvertisingagency #adagency #adagencies #advertisingagencies #copywriting #copywriter #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #magazinedesign #magazineredesign #photoshop #photomanipulation #illustration #adspending #marketingjargon #businessjargon #businessbuzzwords #jeep #nationaladvertising #tvcommerical #tvadvertising #tvspot #tv #television #auto #automotive #4x4 #suv

Imagine your accountant on vacation. He or, let's say she, is toasting in the sun on some remote tropical beach with a ridiculous umbrella-ed drink in one hand and People magazine in the other. Suddenly, the nimble number cruncher springs from her comfortable Adirondack and begins scrawling something in the sand with the broken end of a palm frond. Hours later, she's filled the beach with yards and yards of hand-written...spreadsheets. That's us. Even when we aren't working for our awesome clients, we're thinking and doing advertising. Case in point: the ad series we created for ourselves. As all effective advertising should do, the ads speak for themselves. See them in our WORK section, then please give us a call at 616-355-2530 to find out how your company can advertise to humans, instead of simply following marketing mechanics. #advertising #advertisingagency #creativity #creativedirector #hollandmi #hollandmiadvertisingagency #michiganadvertisingagency #adagency #adagencies #advertisingagencies #copywriting #copywriter #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #magazinedesign #magazineredesign #photoshop #photomanipulation #illustration

As the avid follower of this blog that you are, you've no doubt noted that there were no posts for February. That's because we were busy proving that Captivation Capital™ can be applied to any medium. Captivation Capital, as you may already know, is a category of business capital invented, championed, and skillfully produced by (whom else?) Captivation Capital, Inc. We create captivating content for a wide variety of advertising and marketing media, from outdoor advertising, to direct mail, to video, to print of all kinds. FABULOUS FEBRUARY Well, over this past month, we worked very hard to put Captivation Capital on the stage. Among other tasks, we tackled two presentation projects last month: One for a large corporation, the other for a smaller company; one presentation was delivered in front of a crowd of hundreds, one was designed to be presented to small groups or even one-on-one. Both presentations were created in, drumroll please: POWERPOINT! POWERFUL POWERPOINT Now, before you conjure up images of clicking through ho-hum slides with canned business photos, both of our clients challenged us to create presentations that would really grip their audiences and elicit responses, action, sales. In other words, they were both asking to infuse their presentations with Captivation Capital. Needless to say, we pushed PowerPoint to its limits—squeezed out every drop it could give us—until we had, for the large corporation client, a persuasive, engaging, downright funny visual presentation that kept the crowd tuned in to the speech without ever upstaging the speaker. For the PowerPoint geared toward smaller audiences, we exploited PowerPoint's video capability to its maximum. Every product featured was introduced by it's own introductory video (largely shot and edited by us), while every feature page was accompanied by a subtle but visually appealing video backdrop. Plus, the presentation was built to be run from a central, clickable menu, allowing the presenter to jump easily and nonlinearly from one product to another. This presentation generated plenty of interest at the national trade show where it was being shown. One key potential customer who saw it said it was the best he'd seen at the show. HAVE A PRESENTATION ON YOUR PLATE? Is your next presentation presenting a challenge to you and and your team? Have you explored all the hidden power that PowerPoint—yes, PowerPoint—possesses? Captivation Capital, Inc. would love to help guide you. One of the added beauties of working in PowerPoint is its collaboration capabilities. Mac or PC, PowerPoint files are fully compatible and transferable, so, for instance, you and your team could layout a basic framework, then we at Captivation Capital can apply our spot-on creativity, then changes can be made back and forth by both parties until perfection is achieved! Contact Pete at 616-355-2530 to learn more. #advertising #advertisingagency #creativity #creativedirector #hollandmi #hollandmiadvertisingagency #michiganadvertisingagency #adagency #adagencies #advertisingagencies #copywriting #copywriter #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #magazinedesign #magazineredesign #photoshop #photomanipulation #illustration #adspending #powerpoint #presentation

Here's an ad we designed recently that we're rather proud of. Technically, this is a trade ad. But, really it's simply an ad. An ad designed to interest humans who are likely to be in the market for a new concrete block and paver making machine, but humans, nonetheless. And as humans, we concluded that said audience of humans would respond to captivating design and language with enthusiasm and curiosity, whether they were shopping for, in this case, industrial machinery or, in some other case...a dandy pair of argyle socks. A key mission here at Captivation Capital is to cut through (rise above, obliterate) any overemphasis on marketing theory, endless research, or even the type of delivery media as the factors for an ad's or campaign's success. Are you moving humans? That's the essential question. Persuading humans to buy what you're offering is a matter of flat out changing behavior. That takes genuine creativity, not simply following the latest sure-fire, five-step marketing method. Ehem. Well, while we climb down off our soapbox, feel free to call 616-355-2530 to find out more. #advertising #advertisingagency #creativity #creativedirector #hollandmi #hollandmiadvertisingagency #michiganadvertisingagency #adagency #adagencies #advertisingagencies #copywriting #copywriter #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #magazinedesign #magazineredesign #photoshop #photomanipulation #illustration

The billboard series pictured above is now brightening the bleak winter skies throughout Holland, Michigan. We created it for Holland Christian Schools, an innovative K-12 school that takes learning to new heights. For decades, HCS has been at the forefront of educational theory and practices. Captivation Capital, Inc. developed a billboard campaign that translated that pioneering spirit into the inspiring graphics and copy, shown above. What's your industry? Our chief product, Captivation Capital, knows no limitations. Any company or organization selling or offering anything can nail their marketing objectives, backed by the captivating creativity you can only find at Captivation Capital, Inc. Call 616-355-2530 to get started. We're down-to-earth people with stratospheric ideas. We promise we'll make it a short, no-nonsense conversation. We'd rather let our ideas (AKA: Captivation Capital) do the talking. #advertising #advertisingagency #creativity #creativedirector #hollandmi #hollandmiadvertisingagency #michiganadvertisingagency #adagency #adagencies #advertisingagencies #copywriting #copywriter #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #magazinedesign #magazineredesign #photoshop #photomanipulation #illustration

The Story If you haven't heard the story, it goes something like this: Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. OK, I'm guessing you knew that part. However, it took him hundreds of attempts to land on the right combination of materials and fabrication to finally arrive at a practical, working lightbulb. The number tossed around was a nice round 1,000. The 1,000th try was the winner. After unveiling his invention, he was asked by a reporter how it felt to fail 999 times before reaching that eureka moment. Edison snapped back with something like: "I didn't fail 999 times. I discovered 999 ways not to invent the lightbulb." That Tom. He was a sharp one. Good Ideas are the Enemy of Great Ones Most use this little Edison anecdote as a springboard to talk about determination and perseverance. Good stuff, but I'm going to take it a different way. Couldn't we say that Edison had 999 ideas for a lightbulb before Idea Number 1,000 sealed the deal? What if he'd stopped generating ideas at No. 999? Maybe Light Bulb No. 999 was "good enough." Maybe No. 437 lit up fine, but only for a few minutes. Maybe No. 138 glowed like gangbusters but was the size of a tractor tire. The point is, ol' Tommy Boy could have settled for any of the ho-hum ideas along the way and moved on to inventing something else. But he didn't. He waited for "it." Is Your Team Idea-ed Out? Bring Us In. If you are developing advertising for your product or service, it's easy to run with the perceived "best" from a handful of ideas to keep a project moving ahead and costs under control. But what are the real costs? Maybe another handful of ideas would have revealed not "a" concept, but "the" concept. The concept that will really move people. At Captivation Capital, Inc., we believe that for every brand, every product, every ad-related initiative there's that eureka concept, tagline, character, headline, campaign theme that will go well beyond simply filling ad space, but deeply connect with the intended audience. In fact, we believe that multiple lightbulb-worthy concepts can be generated. Why? Because we do it all the time. It's a bundle of objective-nailing, audience-enthralling ideas we call Captivation Capital®. We think you owe it to your next project, product launch, ad campaign to invest in some. Don't stop at idea 999, or 99, or nine, for that matter. Give Captivation Capital a call at 616-355-2530, and let's light up your next big advertising project. #advertising #advertisingagency #creativity #creativedirector #hollandmi #hollandmiadvertisingagency #michiganadvertisingagency #adagency #adagencies #advertisingagencies #copywriting #copywriter #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #magazinedesign #magazineredesign #photoshop #photomanipulation #illustration #adspending #marketingjargon #businessjargon #businessbuzzwords

You'll never see these guys around the Captivation Capital watercooler. We've never employed them; never will. Mumbo jumbo, business buzzwords, marketing jargon: Why are we so vehement in our opposition to all of these? Are we just blatantly anti-speaking? No. Not quite. We are, however, opposed to over analysis. Endless meetings, over-detailed questionnaires, surveys, focus groups, action plans, processes, and double-secret sure-fire twelve-step methods may be the approach of other advertising firms, but not ours. So how do we do what we do? Voodoo? No. We have a short meeting and you talk about what you want to communicate to whom. We ask a few questions. Then you leave. We work up a simple proposal. You agree to it. And, soon, we generate strategically on-point, creative advertising that captivates the snot out of you and your target audience. We're no StarWarians around here, but Yoda's immortal quote fits so well in this instance: "Do. Or do not. There is no try." We at Captivation Capital just do. All the extra process mumbo jumbo is just a lot of trying in our eyes—trying to impress, to systematize, to make creative thought somehow more "worthy" (read: "expensive"). We understand how adding these extra layers of verbosity can comfort, in a way. But to us, it's a skyscraper of scaffolding built to aid the cracking of a single peanut. Superfluous. If this straightforward approach sounds refreshing (and, frankly, cost-effective), give Captivation Capital a call at 616-355-2530. #advertising #advertisingagency #creativity #creativedirector #hollandmi #hollandmiadvertisingagency #michiganadvertisingagency #adagency #adagencies #advertisingagencies #copywriting #copywriter #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #magazinedesign #magazineredesign #photoshop #photomanipulation #illustration #adspending #marketingjargon #businessjargon #businessbuzzwords

For an introduction to Buzzword Blowout™ please read here. GROWTH HACK? The images it conjures are reason alone to send this one to the "Smithereen Machine" (AKA: the Buzzword Blowout Blasting Block). This rather recent entry into the buzzword lexicon was brought to our attention by the following tweet by Michael J. Schiemer: https://twitter.com/MikeSchiemer/status/671286706121887744 ...which brought us to this insightful page on his Frugal Business website: http://www.myfrugalbusiness.com/2015/08/most-annoying-social-media-profile-buzzwords.html Follow the link. We'll let him break it down for you. Then, of course, we'll REALLY break it down for you...into a billion smoldering pieces. To see this and other buzzwords meet their deserved fate, visit buzzwordblowout.com. Plus, YOU can even suggest the buzzword that has rolled your eyeballs one (thousand) too many times. Send it in and we'll send it to oblivion on the Buzzword Blowout Blasting Block! ​ #marketing #advertisingagency #BuzzwordBlowout #explosion #specialsauce #buzzwords #businessbuzzwords #video #videoediting #motion #animation #videocreation #humor #business #businesshumor #businessjoke