Cell hell

Getting nervous about all the emails warning that your cell phone is about to be inundated with telemarketer calls? Who wouldn’t be? Those missives are written with an “end of the world as we know it” tone that would scare the incisors off of Count Dracula.

The reality is that there’s no D-Day for cell numbers. According to this posting by the FTC, cell phone numbers are not being released to telemarketers. There is no now-or-never deadline to register your cell number with the Do Not Call database (of which there is only one, by the way, contrary to the plethora of numbers being emailed around). And there’s no reason to fear autodialers will start cranking out your cell number since that’s just plain illegal.

As for that pesky “Wireless 411” directory we’ve heard rumors of.... Yes, it might happen someday, but it will be an opt-in program; if you don’t opt in, your cell won’t be listed. The FTC has made that abundantly clear to cell providers and telemarketing firms.

Regardless, you can register both your home and cell numbers on the official FCC Do Not Call list. The registrations last until the numbers are either disconnected or reassigned...or a couple of other odd situations regarding changed calling plans. Check out this link on the FTC site for specifics...and rumor busting.

Politics aside...

Those of you who know me personally know where I stand politically.

Those of you who know me through this blog or my G&D columns most likely don’t (at least that’s the plan since the last thing I want is to turn this blog into a torch run).

Regardless of what your views are, check out a blog I tripped over this morning, written by Luke Russert, son of my recently departed hero, Tim Russert. His style is fresh, sincere, and full of the enthusiasm we all held in our twenties...and still should long after that. As a correspondent for NBC and XM Radio, he reports on the campaign trail through the eyes of a youthful, engaged, interested American guy who says it like it is. The prose slip comfortably from eloquent historical quotes to straight forward cut-the-cr** realities often shared with friends and neighbors.

This guy can write, but more than that, he gets it. He‘s smart without being a dweeb, he’s clever without being annoying, and he’s got the bullseye insight his father demonstrated with such ease during the golden years of Meet the Press.

Take a peek, then bookmark him. You’ll be glad you did.

And to play off his most impassioned plea: Get out there and vote, folks. You have absolutely no excuse not to.

Photo credit: J. Scott Applewhite for Associated Press

To CS or not to CS?

Several of you in the stationery world are using Adobe’s Creative Suite, typically either CS2 or CS3. Much to our collective consternation, Adobe has sped up the development cycle, already announcing CS4-—a scant 18 months after its predecessor. At several hundred dollars a pop, that’s a bit quick for stores on a budget.

To upgrade or not to upgrade...that is the question. In the past, my experience has been that to successfully jump from an older generation of software to the next, one has to ”step up” through each incremental stage (ie, moving from version A to version C required also buying version B, which can be pretty darn pricey). This time, thankfully, you can leapfrog over CS3 and jump straight from 2 to 4, which is what I’m opting to do. In fact, Adobe’s feeling particularly Santa-like these days, also allowing the original CS crowd to catapult all the way from chapter one to chapter four without paying the piper. Sweet.

Thankfully, they’re offering a pre-release discount for upgrades, whacking $200 off the price. Just visit their site then scroll down and click on the “Upgrade Eligibility” link to verify your dusty copy of software can be whipped into shape for $599 instead of the $799 full price tag. The “pre-release” moniker has me a bit stumped, though, since all the press I’ve found says the release is coming any day; this preemie offer runs through February 2009.

Also...do some trolling online and you just might find additional savings. I managed to locate a promo link that ran me through the Adobe store, but sliced yet another $89.85 off. If you’re interested in the same, drop me an email (on the right). I’ll shoot you the link.

At the end of the day, is it worth it? Can $600 be justified so soon? You bet. The changes made to InDesign alone get my vote. For the skinny on those, visit JimD’s rundown on CreativeBits.org. He’s been playing with a beta copy for a while, and has a pretty good nuts and bolts review of that part of the CS4 package.

Now, if only I could find a way to explain to the FedEx guy why I’m bobbing up and down like an over-excited puppy every time I hear his truck rumble up the street....

Gimme my CS4. I’m ready to roll.

Off the grid

Yes, I’m still out here in the world. Actually, “out here in the world” is why it’s been quiet on the blog front lately-—the past three weeks have basically been spent in seat 2A, 35,000 feet in the air, racing from point A to point B. It’s all been good...just not conducive to regular blogging.

This week, I’m back in the office, with a couple of deadlines looming. Promise to get back in the saddle as fast as possible so you aren’t left dangling any longer.

Doors

This one’s not going to make sense to anyone but Melissa, who’s having trouble with attachments....

Bear with us, folks; a little online consult session is underway.

Waaaaaay out of the box marketing

Sorry to have been silent for so long; I returned home from a consulting trip sick as a dog (killed one week in its entirety) then took off for several days in Kentucky. Now that I’m home, a little “blog catch up” is in order, starting with the single most out of the box marketing campaign on earth.

A retail operation specializing in home medical equipment, scooters, lift chairs, and the like is probably not someone that comes to mind when thinking about creative advertising. They cater to primarily to seniors with limited mobility or other health concerns, after all. Should equate to your typical ho-hum, kinda-sad-kinda-drab television spots tucked into late night programming, between ads for Golden Oldies CD sets and some type of miracle towels.

Well, folks, someone at Freedom Medical forgot to read that memo.

I just watched a mid-Saturday morning, 30-second spot featuring very fit, very spry 80-somethings horsing around with oxygen masks, pretending to tee off with canes, and holding races in lift chairs, scooters, and wheel chairs (the latter two dodging floor display units along the way). Honest to goodness, these stores look like great places to hang out, with seniors who’d liven up any backyard barbecue. I actually rewound the TiVo to watch it again, the thing was so funny. Not goofball funny, but sincerely entertaining.

The whole point is that sometimes, you need to look twice at who your customers are, then figure out who they want to be...how they see themselves in their mind’s eye. Freedom’s tag line, “You’re Only as Old as You Feel” couldn’t be more perfect, exemplified by the clever visuals and upbeat music. By marketing the stores as happy places where customers can hang out with their vibrant peers, laughing and having a good time, they’ve taken the sting out of aging. At least out of this part of the process.

I’ll contact Freedom Medical about getting permission to post the spot here.

For a little 3-store business based in St. Cloud, Minnesota, they’ve sure blown the curve. This is the kind of stuff that ought to be in a Harvard case study. Brilliant.