The Sier strikes. Budda impresario soars to #10 on YouTube.

Yes, that’s Budda’s main man, Scot "Jimmy Page" Sier rocking out on YouTube. He snagged the #10 spot on YouTube’s music channel this week with this "Drum Stick on Guitar" performance. Proving once again that our clients ROCK! (Although I am not at all sure about the hat….?)

The curious can see our work for Scot’s company, Budda, here.

Let the breakthroughs begin: Isilon Systems IPO best since dot com crash.

John Cook at the Seattle Post Intelligencer reports that Isilon’s IPO is the "best performer in years". From his "Venture blog":

"Isilon Systems skyrocketed in its stock
market debut Friday, with shares rising 77 percent in the best opening
performance for a technology IPO in more than six years… Isilon, which raised $108 million in a public offering that industry
watchers described as one of the hottest of the year. The stock closed
at $23.10, giving the money-losing company a market value of $1.4
billion.

"This is the best technology first day pop since 2000 without
question," said Paul Bard, a vice president at Renaissance Capital’s
IPOHome. The previous title holder: Santa Clara, Calif.-based
Transmeta, which had a first day gain of 115 percent in Nov. 2000." More here.

John’s article in the Post continued:

"The 246-person company, which helps customers such as Kodak, MySpace
and NBC manage their digital storage needs, raised $108 million through
the public sale of stock. It initially was looking to pull in about $80
million.

The sharp rise in the stock even surprised some Isilon executives
who had gathered on the New York trading floor of Morgan Stanley, the
company’s principal underwriter. As the "ISLN" ticker symbol flickered
across an electronic monitor, Isilon’s senior director of marketing,
Jay Wampold, said it "caused us to raise some eyebrows." Full article here.

Mortar watchers will note that Mortar launched the new brand for Isilon back in October.

You can see some of the work here (Website). And here (The Almost Awards). Isilon is our first debut on the public markets since we founded Mortar back in 2003.

Psst. Mortar seeks PR maven. Pass it on.

PR Sr. Account Executive/Account Manager (part-time/contract ok)

It’s taken us nearly three years, but we’re now firmly on the map (in new digs on Maiden Lane). We’ve also attracted a great mix of clients who love our blend of brand consulting, PR, integrated marketing, and creative results. 

Now, we need a fiendishly clever Public Relations pro to keep pace with new accounts.

You’ll need 3-5 years experience in technology-based public relations, with at least 1-2 years agency work.  Additional experience B2B or B2C experience is a plus.  You’ll also need a killer book—heavy on media coverage that made a difference, great writing and creative, strategic programs.  Sense of humor g-o-o-d.

Most important is finding a self-starter with the right blend of media and client relations experience and superb organizational and writing skills.  New business development experience is a definite plus.

In addition to the obligatory coffee, skittles and beer, we’re offering something a little different. The chance to help build a new kind of agency. 

Send an email pitch along with your resume. Or call Mark: 415 772 9907 x 112.

Draft slips out of position.

Never one to pass up the chance to sling mud at our much bigger rivals, we’d like to take this chance to remind our readers that yes, it was Draft FCB that ran this delightfully tacky ad to congratulate the winners at Cannes in 2006.

It was Interpublic’s Draft FCB that also lost the $580 million Wal-Mart account last week following the ouster of Wal Mart’s ad chief, Julie Roehm.

Draft was awarded the Beasts of Bentonville’s business in October.

Opportunity knocks at a restroom near you.

Shout out to the Wexley School for Girls. (Yup that’s an agency). Had to post this, seen on a recent visit to Wexley’s site. Click Download picture_22.png

to get the full effect.

Milk promo soaks up the ire of the homeless.

Proving once again that San Francisco is nobody’s bitch, the city’s homeless and diabetics–the chemically challenged"–rose up last week to denounce the latest salvo in Goodby’s "Got Milk" campaign–cookie scented bus shelters.

In what was possibly the most impressive piece of general agency PR ever spawned by a buy of less than $5,000 and no more than 8 hours of daylight, Goodby secured nationwide headlines with its new outdoor program. Prompting a post in even this, the most august of blogs: "Scratch N’Sniff bus shelters".

Mind you, considering it took the good people of our fair city just 24 hours to get the program pulled I am not sure which lobby is the most effective. 

Our hearts go out to the creator, Louis Zafonte of Arcade Marketing, the company behind scent strips. He pretty much watched his entire business implode last week. Rumor has it he’s a little ticked too.
A little birdy tells MortarBlog that Goodby’s PR team went off half-cocked.

There’s an insight here ladies and gentleman: don’t test your wacky ideas in freaky San Francisco. 

Advertising gets harder

Check the double-entendre-laden Reach and Frequency video from Elvis & Bonaparte…
The seventies porn-style video about Tucker Swallow & Rockhard is
full of the usual word play including our fav: the insertion order.
Along with employees Buck Thrustwell, Nikki Swallow, and Candy Canal,
Dan Wieden gets some interesting props in the elevator." – Adrants.

Insights into the modern shopper. We are what we buy.

Today’s shoppers cruise the malls to fulfill one of four basic emotional drivers, says "Trading Up" author Micheal J. Silverstein in his new book "Treasure Hunt. Inside the Mind of the New Consumer".

"Taking care of me" is about buying things that contribute to personal health, wellness, youthfulness and taking time for rest and renewal. Skincare products, fresh foods, spa treatments, holidays, comfy bed lines or a good bottle of wine are great examples. "Taking care of me" is particularly important for working mom’s because they feel stretched to their physical and emotional limits and have very little time for themselves.

"Questing" is about goods and experiences that enable people to challenge themselves and try something new. Examples include cars, travel, exercise equipment, entertainment and collectibles. Life is short, say Questers, and its a big world. Goods and services are part of the fun.

"Connecting" relates to the ability of products to help individuals spend time with the people they love. Say a meal away from home with a loved one, a time-saving appliance, a bottle of wine (again), a kid’s toy, a TV set, and a vacation home all belong in this basket.

"Individual style" is the final driver, and it describes our tendency to express ourselves through our purchases, From Prada to Gucci, Audi to BMW, Apple to Nike, Juicy to Gap, we are what we buy. And we are growing more and more comfortable with conspicuous consumption.

Silverstein’s work is incisive and instructive. He believes that consumers have long had complex and emotional relationships with the things they buy, own and consume.

And he pointedly calls to task marketers who do not take the trouble to really understand why consumers do what they do:

"Most companies pay far too little attention to their consumers and have a superficial understanding of who those consumers are as people and how they actually use the company’s products and services. what they know, or think they know, is usually based on market research data, focus group findings, polling and other traditional methods of gathering information… these methods though invaluable are incomplete… they don’t go deep enough to get at consumers motivations and behaviors. And they are not broad enough to allow companies to see the bigger picture of the entire consumer market and how it is changing."

I suspect that emotional branding, like the other trends that regularly sweep business thought, will one day be discredited and cast aside. But for now pick up Silverstein’s work — he offers an unusually stimulating approach to a subject that has been picked over for centuries. See the book here (Amazon).

Mortar launches MortarPR.com

Hot on the heels of last week’s launch of the Mortar 360 Brand-o-meter comes the new site for Mortar’s PR team.  Click through to learn about the offering that Hugh (our gracious writer) describes as "finding new ways to tell the most important love story of all. Yours." So sweet. And did we mention that PR is very reasonably priced? (Shut it-Ed)

Scratch N’Sniff Bus Shelters

Smell-o-rama fans rejoice: Scratch N’Sniff outdoor is finally here.

Local agency Goodby Silverstein snagged a generous amount of PR for long-time "Got Milk" client, the California Milk Board with five aromatic billboards in San Francisco.

"Vanilla-y,” one woman said as she walked past the shelter. 

"Cherry undertones  –  and waxy,” said another woman standing inside. 

"These don’t smell anything like cookies my mom baked,” said a teenager. 

"It smells like my kid’s lunch pail,” said one man. He walked away before
he could say whether that smell was pleasing or offensive.

Louis Zafonte, vice president of Arcade Marketing, the company that
manufactures the scent strips that are affixed to the bus shelters, speaks like
a mix of preacher, scientist, therapist and businessman when he talks about
scent.

"Scent is a primary driver of memory,” he said. "It can trigger wonderful
memories.” 

The strips, no larger than a typical adult’s hand, have been strategically
placed throughout five bus shelters in the Union Square, Financial District and
Nob Hill neighborhoods. The aroma is expected to last a week or two before it
will have to be replaced. Zafonte said the cost is about $25 per shelter. 

Read the full story on SF Gate here.