Confessions of an Ad Agency: Chris Hanson

July 27, 2010 in Advertising, Des Moines, Iowa, Lessing-Flynn, That's Kinda Cool, The Lessing-Flynn Intern
Tags: ad agency, Andrew B. Clark, Betty DRaper, blueduder, Chris Hanson, Chris Juhl, claire celsi, Des Moines, Ellen Held, IA, IA Ad Agency, Lessing-Flynn, reverendawesome

Ok, here it is! The first of many posts: Confessions of an Ad Agency – Volume One. Chris Hanson, Art Director, bears it all while answering your questions. Ok… not really, but he is giving us the inside scoop on his thoughts. See what this Lessing-Flynn native has to say. A quick thank you and [...]

How would you like your steak?

July 26, 2010 in Advertising, blogging, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Online Marketing, ROI, SEO, Smart Phones, Social Media, Traditional Media
Tags: A1 Sauce, Advertising, broadcast, claire celsi, Dell, Des Moines, direct mail, Django, email, facebook, josh fleming, Marketing, marketing ROI, outdoor, rss, steak, twitter, Valassis, youtube

“How would you like your steak cooked?” You’ve heard this question, right? Whether it’s at Django or at your friend’s back yard cook out. Your answer is unique. There are many choices on how you have your steak prepared. Raw, bloody as hell, seared, rare, medium rare, medium, medium well done, well done and overcooked. Consumers [...]

A Challenge to Des Moines’ Bloggers

May 13, 2010 in Des Moines, Iowa, Lessing-Flynn, Social Media, Social Media Capital of the World
Tags: admavericks, blog, blogging, blogging community, challenge, claire celsi, Des Moines, Jerry McGuire, Jerry McGuire mission statement, josh fleming, Lessing-Flynn, paris hilton, Silicon Prairie News, Social Media Capital of the World

NOTE: I apologize in advance to clients and non-bloggers for this post. While we try to keep in mind the perspectives of all of the audiences that visit our blog we know this post is pretty targeted to the blogging community in Des Moines. But, we do think there is value to be gained in [...]

Buck’s Take: Social Media ROI

May 11, 2010 in Cartoons by Buck Jones, ROI, Social Media
Tags: Ad Mavericks, Buck Jones, claire celsi, public relations princess, ROI, Social Media, Social Media Cartoon, social media ROI, toon

Buck Jones, award-winning illustrator, cartoonist and all around funny guy has been considered one of the best in the business since 1985.  On Tuesdays, he puts on his flight suit and joins the Ad Mavericks for a brief flyover on marketing and social media topics. Connect with Buck! Online Portfolio Pet Cartoons Web site Twitter [...]

National Blog Post Recycling Day: Midwest Bloggers

April 22, 2010 in Des Moines, Iowa, Social Media
Tags: BitMethod, claire celsi, Dan Johnson, Dan Johnson Posterous, daniel shipton, Des Moines, Des Moines Is Not Boring, digital recycling, DM Evolve, DM Juice, earth day, giraffe creative, Iowa, iPad, iPhone, jon mcdonald, jon thompson, justin brady, Katie Ketelsen, leadership, Mike Wagner, national blog post recycling day, NBPRD, Nerdy Thirty, Pete Jones, public relations princess, Romelle Slaughter II, Silicon Prairie News, smart phone, test of time design, The Garden Grunt, twitter, Wendy Townley, White Rabbit Group

In order to do our part for Earth Day, we announced on Monday that we are starting a new national celebration in conjunction with Earth Day called “National Blog Post Recycling Day.” Other than the sentences you are reading now, we will be posting no “new” content on our blog. Grab your lap top, your smart [...]

Be Memorable

March 25, 2010 in Des Moines, Iowa, Public Relations, Self Promotion, Social Media, Social Media Capital of the World
Tags: 80-35, Andy Brudtkuhl, claire celsi, Crush it, Dallas Moore, Des Moines, Des Moines Music Coalition, foursquare, gary vaynerchuck, Jill Haverkamp, john pemble, Lessing-Flynn, mars cafe, Michael Libbie, Mr. Dallas J. Moore, onpitch, Paul Lessing, top gun

I stumbled into the aviators. I mean, when we photoshopped the Top Gun original photo, I agreed to be Goose (you know, the one who dies) because taking the role of Maverick, the main character, well, that’s not my style. I’m a little out there but try to stay somewhat humble. Plus, a Flynn has [...]

Ex-Presidents and Social Media

February 15, 2010 in Social Media, That's Kinda Cool
Tags: Al Gore, claire celsi, crayolablogging, Dwight Eisenhower, ex presidents, ferris bueller, George Bush Sr., George W. Bush, george washington, Grover Cleveland, Harry S. Truman, honest abe, I cannot tell a lie, I like Ike, JFK, Jimmy Carter, josh fleming, Millard Fillmore, point break, presidents day, ronald reagan, Social Media, tom flynn, Twitter Handle

Happy Presidents Day … which, unless you work for the state or for a bank, means very little. My apologies for the Point Break “Ex Presidents” reference, but thought a post about ex-presidents and social media might be fun. Yes, we went there. I was talking with fellow Ad Maverick (@tomflynn3) about which former presidents [...]

Iowa Lottery – Social Media Heroes

January 18, 2010 in Commenter of the Year, Creative and Design, Des Moines, Iowa, Public Relations, Social Media, Social Media Capital of the World
Tags: blog, claire celsi, facebook, government marketing, government social media, Iowa lottery, lottery marketing, Mary Neubauer, social media plan, twitter, youtube

Can you name one government agency in the state, scratch that*, the world, that handles issues with open and truthfulness like the Iowa Lottery? Check out this blog post where they talk openly about offsets. Offsets is the process in which a lottery winner who owes the state money has their winnings deducted prior to being [...]

Commenter of the Year Announced

December 29, 2009 in Commenter of the Year, Des Moines, Iowa, Lessing-Flynn, Social Media
Tags: Amy Dix, Boesen the Florist, claire celsi, Des Moines, des moines derby dames, desmoinesisnotboring.com, DM Evolve, Housewife Hacks, Iowa, iowa blog contest, jon thompson, justin brady, kayne west, kip dynamite, mark van balle, michael irvin hall of fame, miss america, Pete Jones, public relations princess, rightstuf, roxi copland, test of time design, timberpine

A few weeks back we announced the 2009 AdMavericks commenter of the year contest. The response was just what we hoped for – tons of comments on our blog. Congrats to all the nominees, and keep up the comments as we’ll do this again in 2010. The video tells the whole story. Enjoy! P.S. I [...]

Worst of the Week: Media Two Point Oh

October 30, 2009 in Lessing-Flynn, Social Media, That's Kinda Cool, Worst of the Week
Tags: 80/35, Alexander Grgurich, Andy Brudtkuhl, Ashton, Ben Stone, bit method, Boesen the Florist, Brett Trout, Cat Rocketship, claire celsi, Demi, Des Moines, drake university, fuel lines, highlight midwest, hyvee, Iowa, Iowa lottery, Isaiah McGee, Kum & Go, Lessing-Flynn, mars cafe, Media Two Point Oh, michael gass, olde main, Rob Jensen, smarty pig, Social Media, technology association of Iowa, The Brand Chef, top gun, twitter, world's largest cheeto

No social media in Iowa?  That’s what our newfound friends and rivals – MediaTwoPointOh in North Carolina – say in one of their latest blog postings: “They’re in Iowa … There’s no social media in Iowa yet – is there?” and … “Seriously people – they’re in Iowa.  Everyone in New York knows you need [...]