I’ve come to know this phenomenon as a “magic song” after a subplot in Terry Pratchett’s young adult novel Nation. In it, a tribe of islanders have a particular ceremonial drink which they brew in gourds. As a crucial step of its preparation, after adding ingredients the islanders sing a very specific song. This song apparently transforms the concoction from a deadly poison into to a light aperitif. A scientifically-minded young girl ultimately determines that there is a chemical reaction occurring and that the magic song just happens to last long enough for the change to complete of its own accord.

Even though song isn’t magic and doesn’t do anything but fill time, it still serves as a useful tool. We use these every day. Does taking loads of Echinacea shorten the duration of my cold? Probably not. Does it make me feel like I’m actively involved in my healing? Absolutely: magic song. Does running through all the wifi settings on your laptop really fix the connection, or does it just busy you while the machine sorts itself out? Magic song.

Marketing and advertising teeter dangerously close on the edge of becoming magic songs themselves. When is an increase in sales tied to a big marketing push, and when is it just the consumer base finally catching on? Marketing pioneer John Wanamaker is famously quoted having said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

In the industry, it’s important that we not fill space, looking busy while something happens of its own accord. Advertising needs to serve a specific purpose. It should try to actively solve a problem. That way when it does, the effect is clear. If we aren’t solving a problem, we’re just filling space. And at that point we might as well be singing to gourds.

Seriously.

This is not said with a wink and a nudge to try build up some kind misdirection. Sorry to get your hopes up, but that ground has been thoroughly traversed.

It’s easy to lump this viral dance craze in with earlier Internet memes. Photo fads (think “planking” or “batmanning”) come and go by the month, and even dance videos have been known to go viral. But to dismiss this fad as “one of those Internet things” ignores an interesting evolutionary leap. The Harlem Shake is more sophisticated. Perhaps not in a smoking-jacket-and-monocle sense, but there are definitely layers of complexity not found in earlier crazes.

Take a look at some of the components involved: video editing, costumes, multiple participants. There’s even a healthy dose of irony built into the premise. The cost of entry to this cultural phenomenon is higher than typical crazes. Putting one of these videos together requires planning, organization, and some small understanding of dramatic structure.

The first thing that sets The Harlem Shake apart from any number of Internet fads is that it comes in two parts. There is a setup and a payoff; it’s not simply 30 seconds of people going crazy. What makes the videos work is a mundane opening that wouldn’t lead you to expect a wild party. Video makers quickly figured this out: the greater the disconnect, the greater the impact.

What further distinguishes these videos from “Numa Numa,” for instance, is the sheer number of participants in each execution. You may have heard Internet memes described as “in-jokes for people with no friends.” Most consist largely of images or videos that could be completed independently, whether a posed photo or a video mash-up of Yoda dancing to Moldovan pop music. These contribute to the cultural perception that the Internet is made up of ostracized, anti-social weirdos: presumably single people, alone, in their parent’s basements, killing time between World of Warcraft raids (see again, Numa Numa).

The Harlem Shake doesn’t fit that mold. These videos tend to feature anywhere from five to twenty apparently professional people with a certain amount of creativity—not to mention access to costumes. Are they weirdos? Sure. But certainly a different breed than the prevailing notion would have you believe netizens to be.

Depending on who you ask, the Internet is either a subculture or a metaculture. Either way, it’s the single most complete record of human interaction ever created. Before you sneer and dismiss whatever becomes widespread and popular online, take a moment to take stock. You may be witnessing a shift in the zeitgeist.

These are the two components that come together to create nearly every piece of advertising, collateral, or media communication. These are the two halves joined together to create the whole. But would it blow your mind if I told you there was a third half? Well get those brain-tissues ready because I’m about to rock your world … all the way back to the 1960’s.

What our industry now refers to as The Creative Revolution (but surely at the time they simply chalked up to, “Let’s do the best work we can,” with little respect to how things had always been done) was sparked amid a time of massive cultural upheaval in American history.

One of the ignition points in advertising came when Bill Bernbach began pairing off the art directors with copywriters in his agency. A strange thing happened. When the writer and designer started working together, so did the writing and design. Ads started becoming more than relevant copy on top of a pretty picture. All of a sudden, 1+1 could equal 3.

This was the beginning of concept in advertising, raising the bar from informing to engaging the consumer. Long before interactive apps and responsive micro sites, advertising began creating a dialogue with consumers by simply engaging them on an intellectual level.

Fast forward fifty-odd years past Viet Nam, disco, and MySpace and peek inside our very own Houston Chronicle this past Valentine’s Day. Local discount chain 99¢ Only Stores reminded us that you don’t have to be glamorous or big-budget to approach advertising with concept.

Sure the copy is nothing special, and the design leaves a bit to be desired, but this page sets itself apart from the bundle of newspaper ads by having a concept. It’s framed with an additional layer above simple products/price regurgitation. “Well sell lots of things,” the ad tells you. “Some of them would make good Valentine’s Day gifts, and some of them wouldn’t.” It’s cute, it’s a little tongue-in-cheek, and that extra layer helps it stick in your mind.

All too often we think that to engage in real conceptual advertising, we have to land the sexy accounts or funnel massive amounts of resources into a project, but that isn’t the case. Ideas don’t have to be expensive. Big ideas don’t even have to be even rare if you build their development into your regular conversation and procedure. Sometimes all it takes is a 99¢ can of chili.

“Properly practiced creativity can make one ad do the work of ten.”- William Bernbach

Best Office: Pictured is the office of our favorite Chief Financial Officer, John Sexton. To be fair, his Secret Santa had a bit more square footage to work with than most, but we still think they went above and beyond.

Runner-Up for Best Office: Old McWolfson (AKA Steven Wolfson, Senior Production Designer) has amassed quite a menagerie of animals on his desk over the past two weeks. We’re all eagerly anticipating the next addition to his farm!

Grossest Appreciation Email: One fateful day, Ben Godfrey received some summer sausage. This was the result.

Cheeriest Desk Buddy: Our Director of Marketing, Whitney Lehmann, suspects her Secret Santa must know her exceptionally well: a gift certificate to her favorite restaurant was attached to an actual Santa piñata (that has also started helping her field calls). Unfortunately, the Adceterans won’t get to take a whack at him any time soon; regardless of his contents, Whitney plans on keeping him around as a long-term decoration.

Wittiest Writer: Renee, our studio manager, has been receiving poems of Shakespearian quality almost every single day since Secret Santa has begun. We’ve selected some of our favorite excerpts below:

• “A short message today for you to read, I decided that you needed some feed.”
• “I know that it’s tough being on a new floor, and sometimes those AEs can really be a bore. Sometimes they yell and sometimes they shout, and sometimes those AEs just walk around and pout.”
• “No naughty gifts this year, I don’t want to tease, not even a pair of pink zebra panties.”

From our dysfunctional family to yours – happy holidays!

It’s that time of year again. Time to loosen your belt and hide your rapidly expanding stomach under a bulky sweatshirt. Yes, the annual Adcetera Thanksgiving Tailgate was this past Friday, and everyone brought their butter- and bacon-filled A-game. I even saw one plate loaded up with four slices of cheesecake (not to name names, but it was mine).

After several hours of a feeding frenzy that left only a flurry of crumbs in its wake, it was time to sit back, relax and take painful labored breaths while we waited for the main event. The most exciting part of the Thanksgiving feast … the moment that I’ve spent months preparing for … : drawing names for Secret Santa.

While some people might think of this as just another office tradition, they would be wrong. I’m not in this just to participate. Like most things that aren’t organized sports, I am dead-set on being crowned World’s Most Incredible Secret Santa, and I’ve been preparing for months. No exaggeration.

Made an off-hand comment about loving salted caramel? Got it. Casually mentioned that footrest you’ve been meaning to buy for your desk? Memorized. “Oh, I love dog sweaters,” you told your coworker over by the coffee machine, as I lurked nearby, taking copious notes.

While this may seem like borderline stalker behavior, I just wanted to make sure that my newbie status wouldn’t interfere with my delivering the most impressively thoughtful gift. Unfortunately, now there’s roughly 66-people’s worth of information going to waste. And so, I offer my services to my coworkers.

If I charged someone else with the responsibility of remembering whose favorite candy is a Butterfinger or who loves Pantone coffee mugs, just imagine the kind of information I could retain. Who knows, maybe I could finally memorize ALL of the dialogue from Anchorman, instead of the paltry 80% I currently have. Or perhaps I could remember my bank account’s password, but I don’t want to aim too high here.

Before anyone accuses me of being a snake in the grass, let me be clear: I have no interest in revealing anyone’s identity. Really, I’d just like the brain space back.

Stay tuned for updates on the Secret Santa throwdown and other holiday shenanigans. Knowing us, I expect some ninja-caliber present delivery moves and CIA-status spy tactics.

Hewlett-Packard is a world leader in personal computers, among many other information technology products. Their rigorous design and testing process enables them to produce quality notebook and desktop PCs that outlast and outperform most of their competitors. This compelling quality story plays a key role in their value proposition for enterprise customers. Focusing on features rather than the products alone, Adcetera created this high-end brochure to explain the significant HP advantage to volume customers.

Hay Merchant Branding
When a trendy craft beer bar made its home in Houston’s rapidly growing Lower Westheimer, Adcetera was there to craft its distinctive brand, including logo and Web presence.

When creating the logo, we took a look at a 1925 insurance map of Houston, and were struck by its old-fashioned typeface. Taking our cues from that, we balanced the inherent control of our type execution with the wildness of the wheat stalks bursting from behind it. Suggestive of the possibility Houston embodied during the age when Westheimer was plying his trade, the logo says “good times” in a timeless, yet modernized way.

The website reflects this ode to good times, better beer, and an appreciation of old-fashioned barley and hops through design elements such as a parchment-style background and vintage fonts.

Underbelly Branding
From acclaimed chef Chris Shepherd, the new restaurant Underbelly in Houston’s Lower Westheimer set out to tell the story of Houston food. Along the way, they picked up Adcetera to help them understand their own story.

The logo expresses both the personal nature of the fare at Underbelly and the mixture of aesthetics it represents—taking elements from both modern design and times past. The restaurant’s name appears in a typewriter-inspired font with a period at the end, visually positioning Underbelly as “the last word” in Houston food. The star is a subtle, updated nod to Texas heritage, and is formed from the chef’s own knives. This gives the logo a slight edge and another layer that isn’t visible upon first glance. The colors are rich, earthy, and evocative of the old south.

The website continued this design story with rich tones of browns and orange, subtle reversed-out lines, and typewriter-esque font.

Valerus Shale Yearbook Full-Page Ad
Adcetera designed this full-page ad to run in the 2012 edition of Hart Energy’s Shale Yearbook, also known as the North American Unconventional Yearbook, a reference guide to the top “unconventional” oil and gas shale plays in the U.S. and Canada. The Valerus ad was the first prominent introduction of their new brand to an international audience.

Valerus Project Profiles
The most effective demonstration of any company’s ability to deliver on their promises is an example of a similar project, completed successfully on schedule and on budget. Adcetera worked with Valerus to create a series of profiles of their most successful projects as a showcase of their extensive capabilities in compression, production, processing and treating, not to mention integrated oilfield services. These profiles were executed as part of the company’s new website as well as in print form for download and distribution to prospective customers.

Valerus Hart Energy Ad
This full-page ad ran in a number of oil and gas industry publications, beginning with Hart Energy.

Valerus Marcellus Regional Insert
Designed for use in regional conferences and conventions, this two-sided program insert provides general information about Valerus and their benefit offerings that can be tailored to specific audiences. Versions were developed for the Marcellus Midstream Conference in Pittsburgh; the Valerus service center in Bridgman, Michigan; the Developing Unconventional Oil (DUO) conference in Denver; and a comprehensive sheet for general use.

Newfield Trade Show Panel Designs
Newfield Exploration has been an established player in North America’s energy industry for more than 20 years. They first approached Adcetera about designing a new backwall panel for use at career fairs and trade shows. We designed this panel to reach out to potential employees, offering a glimpse at what Newfield stands for, and who they are.

Newfield Campus Recruiting Brochure
Following the success of the trade show panel, Newfield asked us to design a recruiting brochure, outlining their company’s history, operations, values, and benefits for potential employees. We presented two different concepts for the brochure. Newfield chose both. This version is the one they selected for use on college campuses, appealing to recent graduates. The second concept was chosen for more experienced industry professionals.

Newfield Experienced Recruiting Brochure
The second Newfield recruiting brochure is intended for experienced oil and gas professionals who are looking for new career opportunities.

Newfield Campus Recruiting Ad
This photography-driven, full-page ad was designed to support Newfield’s campus recruiting efforts. A scannable QR code directs student smartphones to the Newfield career site.