CLIENT NEWS Sacramento Marketing Firm Turns 18 … Blows Savings on Lottery Tickets. David Ligon, Creative Principal, Sacramento June 10, 2019 Yep, Ligon Media is 18 years young. We can now vote! As with any anniversary (or birthday, depending on how you want to view it), it’s a time to get sappy and say thank you to all of those who have helped us grow through the years. That means clients, friends, family, and colleagues. I can still remember my very first client pitch. I was at a nightclub and had just lost my job at the dot com company. It was Memorial Day weekend and I was chatting with Margaret Fortune, a friend who I sorta knew (I was very good friends with her boyfriend) and she was asking me the kinds of things I did (I had just decided to go out on my own, since I had lost my job on that Friday (the day before)). She was looking for an agency to help her with her nonprofit. And everything she asked me if I could do, I said yes to. I had come from a large advertising and public relations agency prior to joining the dot com, and even if I had never personally done it, I had seen it done and was confident I could do anything that was thrown my way. We agreed to meet the following week without the Vodka Collins. And a couple days later, prior to meeting with her, my phone rang and a colleague of mine (shout out to Nancy Mallory) called to tell me she had spoken to...
DIARY OF AN ADMAN MLK Celebration Dinner Remembrances David Ligon, Creative Principal, Sacramento January 19, 2019 One of my favorite projects I have ever worked on was for the Martin Luther King Celebration Dinner in Sacramento. With the help of local actors, and admirers of Dr. King, we created PSAs for the event for several years, Below was the last one we did in 2013. We also created an ad for the program for each of those years. In the top ad, we recreated MLK’s photo just using the word Dream. The second ad, we wanted to show that life is more fun when we all play together. And the bottom ad, before we re-branded as Ligon Media, we just had a simple message: Dream. On this MLK Day, we hope you all take the time to help make the world a better place. Contact Us If you like, share. If you don’t like, don’t share. And if you’re indifferent, then share or don’t share,...
DIARY OF AN ADMAN “Game of Thrones” Fan … I Am David Ligon, Creative Principal, Sacramento November 23, 2016 I admit it. I love Game of Thrones. Not just the HBO series, but the novels too. I’ve seen every show multiple times and read all the books (although I’ve only read them once … they are really long). I’m not a fantasy junkie, I’ve hardly read any other fantasy genre books or watched those types of TV shows. But there’s something about George R.R. Martin’s world that I find pleasing. The majesty, the intrigue, the drama, the humor, and the world he created out of nothing but a little medieval lore and history. He didn’t just create a phenomenon, he created a way of life for millions of people. Like J.K. Rowling, he has me dreaming that maybe someday I can create something that will inspire novelties and merchandise and board games. Give me a Game of Thrones gift, and I’m a happy man. (unless it’s something for Daenarys … she’s not my size). I’ve spent my life creating stuff. From advertising to news to videos to photos to films. And then there was the art classes I took in high school. They were easy A’s, because the teacher gave a lot of extra credit. (I couldn’t draw or paint worth a lick, but I could draw and paint a lot). “…maybe someday I can create something that will inspire novelties and merchandise and board games. ” But obviously I haven’t come up with the action figure idea … or even the t-shirt one. (wait, do shirts I create...
DIARY OF AN ADMAN Video Size Differences – 480p, 720p & 1080p David Ligon, Creative Principal, Sacramento September 09, 2016 Sometimes I talk to my clients about footage and video size differences, such as Standard Definition, 720p and 1080p (we often don’t get into the 4K discussion, but that’s coming). Usually this is because they have footage they want to incorporate into something Ligon Media is shooting. A lot of times this is old footage and I need to explain to them the difference in video sizes. For those of you not aware what these sizes are, I put together this little graphic to illustrate the size difference in the 3 most common formats. I typically shoot video in 1080p (which is Blu Ray quality) and will either output the video to 1080p or 720p (which is what HD television is mostly broadcast in). I find both of these formats are good for the internet and modern projectors. Standard definition is what our old, non-flat screen TVs broadcast in and is much smaller and not nearly as sharp. So when we receive footage that is in Standard definition it will take up only a fraction of the screen. 1080p = 1920 pixels (wide) by 1080 pixels (high) 720p = 1280 pixels (wide) by 720 pixels (high) Standard Def = 720 pixels (wide) by 480 pixels (high) “Standard definition is what our old, non-flat screen TVs broadcast in and is much smaller and not nearly as sharp. ” If I’m doing a video that is 1080p and the client gives me old footage that is smaller, then I have to...
CLIENT NEWS 15 Years Being Creative for Ligon Media David Ligon, Creative Principal, Sacramento June 06, 2016 Ligon Media turned fifteen on June 01, 2016. We have lots of folks to thank, especially our terrific clients. We started off as creative d ADVERTISING, but then a started doing a lot of work in public relations so decided to change our name to David Ligon Advertising & Public Relations and then noticed we had a fair amount of video, website and photography work, so changed our name to Ligon Media. Which it remains. Since we started primarily as an advertising agency, I wanted to share a little advertising insight about a few of our favorite projects. Ad for Formaggio Ristorante to promote wines and poolside dining. When Ettore’s Restuarant and European Bakery was a client, its general manager called to tell me they’d need a marketing piece on the newly acquired chocolate fountain soon. (At the time, chocolate fountains were brand new). He didn’t know when, just wanted to give me a heads up. So for two weeks I thought about chocolate fountains while I puttered around. And I had some great concepts. My favorite was around the idea that gluttony was good. So when the GM called and told me he needed something for an event they were doing at the Crocker Art Museum in a few days (I had to have it done the next day for printing), I said no problem. I already had the idea. So I sat at my computer, all set to create my gluttony ad and then I typed the following words: “It’s not a party until someone goes...
DIARY OF AN ADMAN The Creative Process David Ligon, Creative Principal, Sacramento February 27, 2015 So here’s the creative process of how I go about putting together a commercial. Let’s pretend I’ve already been hired by the client and have already gone over the goals and objectives, as well as analyzed their audience demographics and reviewed what the competition is doing. Also, I’ve already done all those things that bring out the best in creativity— you know, shower, go for a walk, vacuum, take a nap, everything but actually sit at a computer and try and force myself to come up with something. Because quite frankly, that rarely works. (see our immutable laws of business). The very first thing I do is come up with a concept. Not the commercial. Not the script. But the very premise of the commercial. Because as most creative folks will tell you— concept drives creative. You come up with a strong idea first, then the rest writes itself… or something like that. “Also, I’ve already done all those things that bring out the best in creativity— you know, shower, go for a walk, vacuum, take a nap, everything but actually sit at a computer and try and force myself to come up with something.” So after several creative concepts are thought out, I’ll start working on scripts. Depending on the client and the budget I’ll write anywhere from 1 to 5 scripts usually. Not all of them will be fully formed. Not all of them will be exactly 30 seconds. But I’ll have enough to know which ones show promise. I’ll do this for each concept....
