Here at Mortar, we like to think of ourselves as do-gooders. Ryan plastered a cityscape to his cube wall and houses enough plants in his 8×8 foot cubicle to make the whole office feel like a tropical rain forest – just to make us feel good. We’ve worked with clients who generate water from air (totally nifty) and who are so serious about sustainability that the first thing they do when you arrive at their resort is plant a tree to offset the carbon footprint of the drive from the airport. Our direct mail goes out on recycled paper. We even have a cardboard box labeled with a blue rectangle that our empty beer bottles call home. (That thing gets a pretty good workout, believe-you-us.)

So, continuing in the tradition of being generally good people, we’re contributing to Blog Action Day. Spread the love.

…but the new Mortar ads for “Get In, Get Better, Get Going,” the groundbreaking St. Mary’s Medical Center campaign, are.

The work uses unexpected humor to promote the accessibility of St. Mary’s facilities and top-notch medical staff to busy San Franciscans. To see more of the work in question, click here.

Twenty-six seconds before you see anything more than a tiny URL.
An incredible twenty-seven seconds before you see a logo.

No voiceover. No hard-sell.

Just some music and some Erin.

This, my friends, is what a well-built brand earns you:

• You don’t need to shout your name, because consistent, engaging creative and smart media buying have ensured that everyone already knows who you are.
• You don’t need to slap the sell in your audience’s face because everyone already knows what you do.
• You can just breathe easy, and give your audience a little something extra to…like about you.

It takes work. It takes belief.  But, if you can see the proverbial forest for the proverbial trees, the payoff for building a brand the right way makes great business sense.

Bravo.

P.S. To be fair, the GEICO cavemen did this pretty well too, before they overplayed their furry hand.

It’s that simple. Excellent spoof on A few good men. Thanks Mark Hornung.