If someone asked you to wear a heavy, clunky necklace attached to wires that connect to electrodes all over your chest, we doubt your answer would be “Sure!” Same goes for every heart patient whose doctor prescribes them a Holter monitor. The device looks like something out of a bad sci-fi movie. It’s no shocker it was invented in 1949.

Problem is, too many medical devices are designed purely from a physician or engineer’s point of view, which blindly brushes aside the most important audience of all: the patient. Like any sensible group of human beings, Corventis had an inkling there was a smarter way to monitor heart conditions besides a big bulky mess of wires. Continue reading →

Whether they’re delivering healthy babies, or making sick children strong again, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford is darn good at what it does. Ironically, after becoming the go-to name in Silicon Valley for treating the most complex pediatric cases, people thought of delivering at Packard specifically for high-risk or special-needs pregnancies. But that’s cray-cray. First off, how your pregnancy goes is about as predictable as Colin Farrell in a singlet. So, isn’t it a good thing if your hospital is prepared for any circumstance – even if your pregnancy ends up going as smooth as Larry David’s head?

Second, while other hospitals make you comfortable and give you fuzzy slippers on The Big Day, Packard cares for you throughout your entire pregnancy, and beyond. They don’t just deliver your baby, they build a long-term partnership with you. After your little un’s out in the world, s/he can get spectacular pediatric care from Packard, too. And with Stanford University medical school being one of the top-ranked in the country, it’s awfully nice to know you’re in the hands of the best of the best.

What we mean is, delivering at Packard gives your lil’ one the strongest start possible. That became the anthem of our campaign, and we blanketed the San Francisco Peninsula with it.

You know what’s cute? Baby fists making hand gestures. You know what’s not cute? Getting a baby to make those gestures in a photo shoot. 

Who says infants can’t double-fist?

Targeting pregnant or soon-to-be-preggers women presented an interesting challenge. (Hell, even some pregnant women don’t know they’re pregnant.) But thanks to our media team wrangling technology in the cleverest of ways, the ads are being served to Silicon Valley women visiting top pregnancy websites. Because if you live in Menlo Park and are reading about the Creighton Fertility System, you’re almost definitely our audience. (Or you’re a copywriter doing research who’s about to get bludgeoned over the head with retargeting ads. Le sigh.)

We’re talking thousands of websites, and 80 million impressions. Basically, if you’re in Silicon Valley and pregnant, or thinking about getting knocked up, there’s no way you’re not seeing these ads. We even did ads in Spanish. Top that, huevones.

The campaign is running through August. High-five our little/alarmingly large guy if you see him around.

If there’s one thing we’ve always preached on the mighty Mortarblog, it’s this: Be brave. Be honest. Be nice. (OK, that’s three things. We’re bad at rules. You should know that by now. Hush.) And we dearly love to point out examples of these qualities. So allow us to stand up and applaud the stones on Mazda’s brand team – it takes a ton-and-a-half of those to hand the keys to your brand to Sir-Doctor Stephen T. Colbert, DFA.  “Did he just call it an Oldsmoblile? Did he just say “Mazda, It’s What’s For Dinner?” But that doesn’t follow the Brand Guidelines!”

You’re right, Imaginary Brand Manager’s Brain, it doesn’t. But – hey, put that tequila down – your customers don’t follow them, either. Because your customers are people. And they love it when you treat them like people.

Observe:

Continue reading →

Okay, by now we’ve all had this message beaten into our brains: A lot of women have self-image issues. But the folks at Ogilvy Brazil finally figured out a brilliant way to prove it: Hire a criminal sketch artist to first draw women as they describe themselves, then as other women describe them. The differences are astounding.

Continue reading →