Trigger | Vol 1 | Issue 1 | Hello, Aloha, Etc.

Everything is triggered by something. Be it a fleeting thought or a prolific image. A blink, a wink, a breeze, or a tsunami. Insult, injury, inexplicable urge, or perhaps the distinct lack thereof. All triggers. All triggered. Our goal is to be both conscientious and deliberate in what we trigger; things like interest in ideas, products, and services. That's our lot and profession. We can trigger media attention that can then trigger a demand, even genuine affection for a brand. We love to work in all media; often creating triggers that redefine media. We've been doing it, quietly, for a few years under the moniker Think Tank 3. To trigger a glance, an insight, a conversation, a moment or a movement we think, plan, and do whatever it takes; and then a little more. We're distinctly aware that the work we do for clients is not about us, but rather the connection between them and their respective clients. We're hungry to do more of what we do in more ways which is why you're looking at this, the first issue of Trigger.

Comments and Questions to: trigger.editor@thinktank3.com

If you've ever been to Think Tank 3 you know, that we believe all communication to be a hybrid of art and information. You may already know that while the words "advertising agency" might be an easy classification for our company, we refer to ourselves as A Modern Day Think-Shop™. Here are a few examples of our work and a bit of press that we hope will trigger some thought, or perhaps begin a meaningful dialogue.

Please contact Ian Moore with projects and such via ian@thinktank3.com

NOW, THIS IS AN AD.

This is an ad written by Mark Twain for his first talk. He had a budget of $150. Spent $100 to rent the hall. $50 to advertise. For those mathematically challenged, that's a full one third of his entire budget for the talk, which is all he had at the time. This talk had to lead to something.

It's informative, the who, what, where are covered pretty quickly, then comes the reason to believe and finally the time to show up. It's a perfect ad. Superior to most advertising you've had to endure.

Here is a man who knows the value of both advertising and honesty. The books, the brand, the legend, followed. If more marketers subscribed to this level of thought, could deliver on the promise of their product, and spent one third of their budget on advertising, Think Tank 3 would already be the most sought after agency in the world. Salute to Mr. Twain, who didn't write ads like a copywriter, articles like a journalist, and novels like a novelist. He just gave everything a good think, and then wrote. Of course the word "just" doesn't really apply to him.

BLAH, BLAH, BLOG.

THIS IS NOT AN AD: Unsolicited Observations from a restless mind.

TEDDY VEGAS: Random Acts of Commentary from an unrecognized genius.

IN MY OWN DAMN WORDS: Ideas, Solutions, and Musings from an urban legend in the making.

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The new Volkswagen work for the GTI was created by Crispin Porter, the most celebrated agency in the US for the past two, maybe three years. Their work for BMW's Mini made us all smile and matched the personality of the product. Recently, they resigned Mini to take on the much bigger VW account. A gift in a sense, being that the person on the client side responsible for buying into the work they did for Mini is now the person buying the work for VW. Her name is Kerri Martin. We remember being thrilled meeting her a few years ago. She loved her agency and was proud of the work. It made sense that when she took the larger post at VW, she'd turn the account over to Crispin. Repeat patterns of success. That's why VW wanted her, that's why she stuck with Crispin instead of working with Arnold, who was doing great work. That's why Crispin followed her--and the money probably didn't hurt either. It's common sense, right?

So why is the new work for VW's GTI so bad? That's the word on the street. People already didn't like VWs enough to buy them--price and performance being the factors, not the advertising. Now, they don't like what the brand stands for either. Hmmm. How is that possible? Good agency, good client, what went wrong? Well, case in point: past performance is no indication of future performance. Not when you're hiring a financial advisor, and not when you're hiring an ad agency either.

The VW work is irresponsible and only a little out of the ordinary, at best. The FAST mascot-driven work points to funny half-truths about how a juvenile male's mind might work once he's found a car he loves to drive. Still, that part is fine. Old fashioned thinking but fine none the less. Unless you're Crispin Porter, "Agency of the Year". Then there's the celebration of stupid things to do in the rain as a guy screeches away to pick up an order of Tika Masala instead of having it delivered. Ridiculous, on top of irresponsible which isn't surprising. Unless it's from Crispin Porter, "Agency of the Year", and a client in need has come to you for best of breed thinking.

If you're a client looking for an agency, think about this: History and experience and compatibility are important, but they're not everything. An agency or even one person's understanding and level of insights into societal behavior patterns at the precise moment that you're looking for a new campaign might be the key to the right decision. You just have to be open to it.

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In a moment of honesty let's admit that GRAND OPENINGS are often not very grand. Grand is a lot to expect from faux patriotic, cheap plastic, red- white-and-blue bunting no matter how festively it's displayed across the front facade of a shiny new retail establishment.

When something is Grand, like the Grand Canyon, for example, it is magnificent; a word that doesn't really fit in the descriptive language we use to talk about stores. Especially when they're tiny spaces shilling mobile phone service!

We recognize that it's natural to want to celebrate the opening of new retail spaces by inviting people into them. But that still doesn't make the opening Grand. So, for the opening of our own lovely new retail space in the West Village, we've chosen what we believe to be a more honest and accurate term; humble. We have a lot of work to do on the place but soon enough, we'll be having an opening, a very very HUMBLE OPENING.