Red Tornado Communication

04/14/2023

One of my favorites

"Music video by Eddie Money;Eddie Money with Ronnie Spector performing Take Me Home Tonight/Be My Baby. (C) 1985 Sony Music Entertainment"

08/10/2022

“When do we get to the marketing part?”

It was early in the development of a new product, and someone asked this question.

I’m not sure the word “marketing” means what you think it means.

Later, we will get to the promotion and advertising part.

But right now, this is marketing. All of it.

The product. The warranty. The team. The color choices. The pricing. The way it feels in your hand. The urgency we have to tell our friends…

If you wait until you’re done before you do the marketing, you’ve waited far too long. -- Seth Godin

07/12/2022

I wouldn't have the clients I do if I'd worked in one place my whole career.

Conventional wisdom 30 years ago was to go to school or learn a trade, get a good job and stay there long enough to earn a gold watch (or whatever) after 30 years. UGH. BORING!!! Today, Baby Boomer…

06/21/2022

I'm so excited to FINALLY have my website live (delays ALL on me!)! Thank you to Maria and Brendan at Black & Teal Concepts in Shinnston, WV, for their awesome work and hand-holding through the project. Check it out!

Brave Enough to Suck at Something New June 21, 2022June 21, 2022 / annettegallagher / Leave a comment I love Ann Handley’s newsletters! Always thought-provoking and inspirational. This one especially resonated with me. As creative and gifted kids, we sometimes get the message that we shouldn’t ...

06/05/2022

If there's a book you want to read and can't find it, write it!

02/22/2022

5. The Spotlight: Hans Dorsinville, chief creative officer, Beauty@Gotham

“You can’t be what you can’t see.” Hans Dorsinville has turned to this quote from Marian Wright Edelman to help the public see more: more people of color in industry leadership, more pathways to success for Black creatives, more inclusive brand messaging.

The sentiment famously came to light with his Lane Bryant campaigns, and . By subverting the Victoria’s Secret Angels to reveal the limits of what the advertising and fashion industries have traditionally defined as “sexy,” he showed the 68 percent of American women who wear clothing size 14 and larger that plus-size and beauty go hand in hand.

Currently the chief creative officer for Beauty@Gotham, Dorsinville has made appearances on AdWeek’s Creative 100 and “18 Top Creative Leaders Whose Ads Are Breaking Through Into Culture,” and he has freely discussed how his experiences as an openly gay Black man have shaped his perspective within our industry.

If marketing reflects and shapes culture, Black Americans have been world-class marketers even when they’re not in the room. (Looking for a cool catchphrase, copywriters? Just appropriate Black culture! It’s lit!)

09/15/2021

Excellent advice for all my fellow creatives!

Overcome writer’s block or generate better ideas with these seven techniques – Content Marketing Institute

09/08/2021

Creativity matters!

09/06/2021

>>Creativity and leadership

They’re related.

Management isn’t. Management uses power and authority to get people to do tasks you know can be done. Management is needed, but management is insufficient.

Leadership is voluntary. It’s voluntary to lead and it’s voluntary to follow. If you’re insisting, then you’re managing…

And creativity is the magical human act of doing something that might not work. If you know it’s going to work–then it’s management.

08/30/2021

Bestselling author and creative writing instructor Chris Mooney shares his five rules for writing successful stories that they don't often teach in MFA programs.

08/18/2021

"As an agency owner, it sounds undeniably self-serving to say it, but genuinely good, effective creative – be it an email, a landing page, or a simple Facebook ad – is not easy. Good demand gen creative in particular, where success is always measurable, requires adherence to a set of core principles that revolve around message, offer, visual hierarchy, etc. Can your average product manager or junior marketing associate write an email? Almost certainly, yes. Can he or she write an effective demand gen email? The evidence suggests: no.

Changing the current state of affairs not only requires increasing the dialogue about good and bad creative, but also that B2B marketers elevate the role that creative plays in the planning, design and ex*****on of campaigns. It requires that marketing decision-makers demand that campaign creative receive the same investment as say, data – and that it not be simply handed off to the nearest colleague who can string 100 words together.

Creative is important. It’s time more people talked about it." - Howard Sewell

B2B Marketing is so technology-driven that creative is almost an afterthought. What does it take to get more people talking about B2B creative?