These ads were kind of mish moshed…some of them went in succession and the Hip-is-hot guy ran for 3 weeks to introduce menswear. The next leg of Jen’s campaign is going to be geared toward holiday sales and getting prepared for her custom bridal season which I am happy to announce is shaping up wonderfully. Thanks again for the feedback.

I guess we could start a discussion on the forum where we could submit our website, hang tags, etc. for critique. I’m sure Andrea did learn a lot from this. The comments were all specific and professional. I thought maybe more of us could get critqued?

I think you did a great job on all the ads. Now that you divulged where you ran them it makes a bit more sense.
My thoughts were that all 4 ads were very presentable, although the ads with the photography
had more of an impact for me.

All of your ads in my opinion conjured up curiosity as to what an eco-boutique is. Is that not an important function of any advertising campaign ?

I suppose success is measured by sales results. An increase in business of 2/3rds is amazing, in a span of 5 weeks, no less.

What type of follow up campaign is planned to sustain these results ?

The first ad appeals to me visually, but doesn’t tell me much. The second one does nothing for me. I actually like the third one because it acknowledges that hemp has traditionally been granola, but there are people actively trying to get away from that. I appreciate that. I like the last one for the same reason.

The last two highlight a difficulty that we deal with in our marketing/branding strategy. We use sustainable fibers and fair trade practices. However, we also produce very high quality products. We want people to buy our products because they’re the best designs and quality. And oh, by the way, you can feel good about the purchase on all of these other levels, too. If we’re too overt about the sustainability aspect, we’re going to limit ourselves to the granola niche. If people feel they’re paying a higher price for brand name/quality/design, that’s one thing. But if they feel they’re paying that price for sustainability only, we lose a big part of the market.

We have been modeling ourselves after Patagonia, in this respect. The very best products in their category – and oh, by the way . . .

It always help me to actually put my thoughts about an ad into words. Which is why my friends always turn off the tv when the commercials come on!

I like the simplicity and elegance of the first ad (creating a mood of who the customer would want to be) and I think it works well with the image in the last ad. The detail in the last ad make it a good conclusion to a series. The other two don’t seem to fit the series, the second ad being a bit cluttered and not monochromatic like the others. And the men’s one, I agree with Carissa that there seems to be too many themes.

I am however very glad that it worked so well for Jennifer! And thank you so much for this series. I find it much easier to break down the whole overwhelming marketing task now!

And I think this shows up

Thanks for all your feedback and I hope this post has helped you guys think more critically about what you see/experience!

2nd Ad – Nice concept with the “flow of thoughts” (need a better word) text, but the background is too busy and again, the text is read as “texture”. I think this would work better if:

- the background became more faded/low contrast in order to *better* contrast with the text
- the “flow of thought” text became a background element and some more direct primary text (in cleaner lettering) was added as an overlay or to the right of the “flow of thought” lettering. In other words, plain text that states what the shop offers *you*, and the extra lettering is background information about this person who is thrilled about this shop

Ad #3: No real opinion since I’m not keen on what pulls men into menswear shops. It seems a little bland and typical “small boutique puts out an ad” to me, but I’m not necessarily the best person to ask.

Ad #4: A little bland maybe, but it gets across the point that this is a clothing store, it focuses on natural-fiber fabrics, and it’s ecologically aware. I think the other ads might be spicier, but this one does convey who you are and what you sell, which is hugely important!

Oh – and I like the placement of the address & telephone # on the ads – it’s not obtrusive but it’s easy to find.

This really has been a fun exercise, I have been giggling reading some of the posts, particularly regarding the ad with Mr. Hip-Got-Hot. I hope Andrea’s friend takes no offense at our reactions – it has been well intentioned and good fun and helpful for those of us who will be in that situation soon.

by the way….I thought that plant looked familiar!

My goofy side just wants to put conversation bubbles above the guy’s head with things he might be saying/thinking….and none of them are repeatable here.