Am I Really an Advertising Nerd?

#1 - At my job (an advertising/marketing/design firm), I work on email marketing trends and best practices (among other things).  I received an email from Crate & Barrel (I now actually read many of the emails I get from large retailers to see what their strategies are).  I was so impressed with the opt-in copy that I wanted to click through and opt-in again. I even posted it at work so everyone else could see how clever it was. You couldn't read the fine print if I put a screen shot of the email, but the opt-in message says, 

"Did someone forward you this message? Skip the grapevine. Opt in 

to receive Crate and Barrel email. Click here to hear it first."

This may not sound all that amazing to you, but, believe me -- this is the most creative opt-in message I have ever seen, and I've been paying attention.

#2 - Last week for work I had to go to a client's office to sit in on some interviews.  Everyone that came in had these neat-o notebooks (I take a lot of notes, and I'm really into cool paper, stationery, and notebooks/journals).  So today I did some digging and found the maker of these "Black n' Reds." After exploring the website, I was utterly impressed. Not only are the notebooks they make really cool, but they actually only make and only sell notebooks. It was refreshing to see a company that is so focused. These days it's practically impossible to find a company that isn't trying to be everything to everyone. This brand knows its niche!

#3 - Tonight I had the TV on (Duffy is traveling for work and it's just too quiet without him - plus, game 6 is on!) while I was taking care of some stuff on the internet (talk about textbook media consumption).  I saw a commercial for Jenny Craig on tv (the one with Queen Latifa in a boxing gym). Right when the commercial ended, I clicked thru my email and the new page had a Jenny Craig banner ad featuring Queen Latifa. I don't know if this has ever happened to anyone before in the history of the world, but to me, it was amazing! A media planner's dream come true.  When planning advertising campaigns the ideal is to reach the same audience in many different media to create a memorable message.  Call me a skeptic, but I never thought it could ever work as well as it did tonight.  (I'm still a skeptic - I don't think it will ever happen again)

After #3 and the ensuing thoughts, I had to pause and ask myself, "Am I really an advertising nerd?" 

Yes, yes you are.

It's a bird... It's a plane... No, it's Tessa's blog???

Yes, after months of saying I would start a blog, I am actually posting my first entry.  I've been a little anxious (not to be mistaken for eager) about my first post.  I felt like it needed to be a perfectly witty and well-written introduction about me.  I have since realized that if I did write a wonderful "first post," each post to follow would just be a let down.  Hence, my first post will be relatively boring and about not much of anything really at all.  also full of run-ons and fragments, and poor grammar.  That way, the posts will only get better! 

I'm predicting that this blog will deal mostly with my life (currently located just outside of Cincinnati in Northern Kentucky).  So I will start painting the canvas of my life with a picture of our home.  We have lived in it for exactly 6 months. 

Harper... our puppy!!!

So I've been postponing posting a blog about Harper because I was slightly afraid that I would snowball into that person who doesn't have kids and blogs about her dog like it's her first born. Anyway, I think I have a little more self control than that (and obviously I'm not going to start blogging daily -or even weekly- any time soon), so I've decided to share Harper with the world (at least for today).

We got Harper (our 9 month old golden retriever) last March. We had a snowstorm the weekend we got him, which meant lots of playtime outside in the snow. He LOVED playing in the snow, and we got to introduce him to our neighborhood, which he also loved.

When we got Harper we were prepared for him with everything from doggy bowls, blankets, bones and chew toys, puppy books, a kennel, and even an invisible fence (the safest way to contain man's best friend). See how Harper matches the sign?

After experiencing all of the new and exciting things that Hebron Gardens has to offer on a snowy day, he was zonked! And this is when we knew, Harper loves to sleep (a lot like me!).

He has done so much growing in his first 9 months (and we just had to take pictures to document it, right?). I will share more with the world soon! - Here is a preview of how big he's gotten... I told you he loves to sleep!