A couple Z2 staffers had the opportunity to spend time at the impressive World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas earlier this week with one of our newer clients, Putzmeister America… and it was a blast.

Over the past few months, we have worked on many projects for the show, including the booth itself, brochures, product videos, press kits, sales sheets, and much more. It was great to see it all come together, and to help Putzmeister stand out at the event. A special thanks to the Z2 staff for the hard work that went into the show, and to our client for a valuable new partnership.

By now, you’ve probably at least seen the new Facebook Timeline layout. (Maybe you even recall getting a sneak preview of it a few months back in a blog post by Pete.) I recently switched over to the new layout myself. Personally, I find it a little less user-friendly, but maybe that’s because I’m still getting used to it.

To my point… I just came across the first example I’ve seen of a business/organization using Facebook Timeline for marketing purposes. The Israel Anti-Drug Authority created a fictional profile of a guy that depicts what a year of his life would look like while using drug, versus a year of clean living. That was the concept at least, however, it really only goes back to Dec. 1, 2011. Although the execution fell flat, especially on the druggie side, which turned out a little cliché, the idea behind using the timeline in this way is creative.

This got me thinking about the potential uses for Facebook Timeline in terms of marketing and branding. The platform would be great for showing a company’s history, product innovations, major events, etc. Although Facebook has not revealed details on Timeline for brands just yet, I’m guessing it will follow this initial rollout for individuals. In the meantime, it’s exciting to imagine the possibilities.

Here’s a great blog post for creatives about the “you’ll get great exposure” line. We’ve all been handed this line. Someone wants you to work for cheap, or for free, and explains that the exposure you get from the project will make up for the lack of money.

This is the important bit:

You cannot eat exposure, nor pay your rent with it, nor buy health insurance with it, nor put it in an exposure bank for a rainy day. You need money for all of that. That is the trade – you trade your time and work for the client’s money. You both need something from the other. Exposure can be a byproduct of this transaction, but it should NEVER be the basis for it.

As always, you can choose who you work for, and how much you charge them (or don’t charge them) but getting paid in “exposure” will only get you so far. If you want to do work for exposure, it should be on your own terms.

(And that illustration above? It was done by Scott Benson, the (awesome) artist who wrote the post, and deserves all the exposure he’ll get from this post. :)

Hat tip to Paul for this one.

Above is an ad for Molson that ran in Cosmo magazine… obviously targeted towards women.

And below is an ad for Molson that ran in Playboy magazine, obviously targeted towards men.

There’s nothing wrong with running multiple ads geared towards different audiences, but the ad for men explains how the ad for women was “scientifically formulated to enhance their perception of men who drink Molson.”

At one level, it’s amusing, especially if you work in the advertising or marketing industry…

But on another level, it’s a little disturbing and insulting, to both men and women.

What I find interesting is that this campaign ran about 8 years ago. That’s not too long ago, but I wondered how many people would have seen an article on the web about such a campaign 8 years ago versus today.

And even more interesting is the divergence of comments on the piece.

While there I noticed a few examples of advertising that didn’t quite hit the mark. The photo below is of a Burger King billboard. Although it has the correct BK logo in the lower, left-hand corner, the main copy on the sign reads, “Burger Ring.” There were dozens of these signs lining the highway.

The first example could have just been a proofing error, but this next one was definitely intentional. Walking around Old San Juan we came across a jewelry store whose sign boasted “Pre-Owned Stale Jewelry.” Not quite sure what they were trying to portray through that choice of words.

Here are a couple more shots from my trip, just for fun.

Fort in Old San Juan.

Snorkeling stop.

View from the rainforest.