TCC Insights

Giving Buffalo a Real Brand

 

 By: Joe Sweeney, Associate Creative Director

Yesterday, Visit Buffalo Niagara (formerly the Buffalo Niagara Convention and Visitors Bureau) unveiled a new brand for our city, during a classy, no-frills presentation at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center. Anchored by the tagline “Buffalo. For Real,” this campaign attempts to encapsulate the spirit of the Queen City, in a bid to attract “cultural tourists” (aka history buffs, art geeks, architecture dweebs, etc.).

Farewell, Flip (May 1, 2006 - April 12, 2011)

By Joe Russell, Account Coordinator

“A moment lasts all of a second, but the memory lives on forever.”

These words are the essence that embodied all that Flip stood for. He was truly a lover of life; wanting nothing more than to put a smile on everyone’s face. While his life was short, he influenced many. Today we reflect on the life of our dear friend, Flip.

Born in 2006, it was clear from the beginning that Flip would change the world in his own way. In 2009, he left his humble beginnings at Pure Digital Technologies and joined Cisco. It was here where Flip would shine; becoming the #1 selling point-and-shoot camcorder in the US. It is also here where he, while seemingly at the pinnacle of his stardom, would experience a tragic and startling death.

Hi I’m Joe, I’m an advertising intern by day and a wild man by night.

By Joe Russell, Advertising Intern

I joined Twitter a couple of months ago so that I could follow T.O. here in his new home of Buffalo. While I continue to learn about Twitter’s use as an effective marketing/PR tool (very interesting), I’ve learned that it is also a great way to stay on top of my 1980’s video montages. Through Kristen Bell (Couples Retreat, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), I got the inside scoop on a video that has changed my life. It is incredible.

Check it out:

Dating Montage
by smithy00101

After regaining my senses, I did a quick Google search because I needed to learn more. Apparently fed up with karaoke dates and the local bar scene, some singles (i.e. the dozen or so guys in this video) in 1987 decided to try this new video dating service, Video Mate. Groups of single men and women would gather in a room (on separate days, as to eliminate an awkward post-viewing face-to-face meet) and watch 45-60 second video profiles of potential dates.

I was barely a year old in 1987, but I’m pretty sure mustaches had been out of style for at least 5 years by then. Couple this with the fact that the video features a Viking, an awfully spray-tanned man with “incredibly blue eyes”, and a poetic “body designer” and I think it can be safe to assume that red-sweater guy didn’t find anyone to join him on his playground.

This video is a reminder of how far dating services have come. Thanks to the selectivity of online services like EHarmony and Match.com, hopeful singles no longer need to sit through something like this ever again. Dating services have been brutal since The Dating Game made its debut in 1965 (Love Connection, speed dating, Rock of Love with Bret Michaels) but continue to change and improve with technology.

Many services are now going to mobile and I predict the same for the dating scene. Mobile will combine the face-time of video, the selectivity of online dating, and the volume of speed dating into one convenient service that is immediate and interactive. Singles will be able to use their mobile device to sort through various 10-15 second clips of potential dates found by searching tags. Let’s hope mullets aren’t a popular search term…

UPDATE:
I just watched the video again; I think I saw Paul Rudd’s Brian Fantana, Seth Green, and my dad.

Bursting Falcon’s Balloon Bubble

By Kate Torok, Account Manager

According to Wikipedia, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause.

To Richard Heene, it’s a planned event that puts your own kids into potential danger, designed to attract the attention of media across the country and executed just right to spend thousands of dollars on emergency services.

Instant Fame

By Brittany Frey, Assistant Account Manager

Friday morning when I was watching Good Morning America, I saw the best YouTube clip that I have ever seen in my life! When I got to work my friend had emailed me the link to the actual YouTube video and for the next eight hours almost every single co-worker of mine had sat in my cubicle to watch the infamous JK Wedding.

(Embedding on the original video has been disabled; this version was uploaded by another YouTube user).