Out-of-work Copywriter Reinvents the Blog

After Erik Proulx was laid off from Arnold, Boston, he needed a place to vent about his continuing employment woes.

He turned to a blog and soon came up with the idea to transform it into a place where unemployed advertising professionals could link up with agencies that were looking for new employees.

Although the site, Please Feed the Animals, is still currently a blog, Proulx plans to launch it into the networking site by mid-April. It will be free to join and free for agencies to search.

Signed on to help out is web developer Skookum. They will be doing about $30,000-$40,000 worth of work pro bono.

For the full story, go to http://adage.com/talentworks/article?article_id=134693

Minneapolis Police to Run Campaign to Change Image

The police force of Minneapolis wanted to improve their image in the community and increase their minority recruitment to better reflect that neighborhood.

They turned to local firm Kazoo Branding to help them make the modifications.

These changes included a new slogan, "To protect with courage, to serve with compassion," and the tagline "Be looked up to." These were put on recruiting posters and supplied at local universities, colleges, job fairs, churches, etc. to increase recruitment.

They also changed the design of the patrol cars to a more traditional look and included the slogan on them.

Ultimately, the campaign was very successful because this year's recruiting class was 50% minority, which is the highest rate in department history.

For the full story, go to http://adage.com/article?article_id=134748

Music Branding is Taking Over

This article discusses the history of music branding and how pervasive it has become in today's society.

Technology is constantly changing the role music plays in the branding process. With each new invention, music becomes more and more invasive in consumers' lives.

One example the article discusses is the new National Guard campaign that uses Kid Rock's performance of his song "Warrior" to appeal to the young adult demographic.

The article says that music is such a good branding tactic because it can appeal to people's emotions, which ultimately leads to purchases. It can also be targeted at a very specific demographic.

For the full story, go to http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=134684