Let’s Get Dirty: The 2009 Oneupweb Rebrand Process (Week 4)

Welcome to the “Oh shite!” week of our official Oneupweb rebrand. The deadline has been set, a launch date is in sight and our entire marketing team is living on extra-strong coffee, chocolate and a variety of sweets (except that one person, who eats carrots. Whatever.)

Late last week our final website copy received a few more edits, with some red pen “rewrites” on two or three pages. No big deal, except our copywriter flew home to Florida on Friday. He had to get back to go to some Gasparilla Pirate Fest, which is exactly what it sounds like. People dress up like pirates, enjoy some alcoholic beverages and have a whooping good time. (I offered to let him take our “evil” office bird, Skippy, but that was a no go. It runs and pecks at me. Really.) I think he pulled out his magic pen and got most of the copy rewritten, because he rocks. But being left without our copywriter the week before we launch our new website is just a tad nerve racking, matey.

And speaking of nerve racking, our four designers are in super-charged, high-gear, go-go-go mode. There are videos to shoot, crazy photos to pull, code left to write, some type of flash animation to apply on virtually every page, etc. I think this website is the largest, all-encompassing project our marketing team has faced yet. But fear not, ye’ of little faith. The coffee be strong, the company be good and there be no plank walkin’ in sight. In non-pirate lingo, I’m proud of the way our team is pulling together to get everything done right.

However, one thing I was a bit shocked about is the lack of appreciation for great TV some people exhibit. I suggested using a pop-up of Bret Michaels and his girls from Rock of Love, and a few people on the team didn’t even know what I was talking about.

Seriously? I thought everyone watched those marathons on Sunday afternoon. (Addiction to bad TV=reason why I cancelled cable.) Moving on…

Spoiler Alert: Miley Cyrus and a Reese’s-Pieces-eating-alien made it in.

I did get a chance to show off my amazing talent for remembering small details when we were discussing what can only be described as the “Harry Potter moving pictures effect“. We were debating whether or not the newspaper pictures in Harry Potter exhibited slight movement, or were more of a video with no sound. I explained that when Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban, the Daily Prophet printed a story about it that included a video of Sirius, maniacal looking, laughing and moving his head. And I promptly followed the explanation with “Oh man. I’m such a nerd!” (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince launches July 17. Our website launches next Monday. We win!)

I almost forgot to mention that we have a new ad concept. I can’t tell you what it is, because that would spoil it, but I can tell you that I laughed and then went “oh, that makes sense.” It’s exactly the kind of reaction we’re hoping for. And who doesn’t love Vegas, General Tso’s chicken and streakers?

I looked into my crystal ball, whipped it at the clock (best Superbowl ad of 2009!) and foresaw a few late nights in our future. But as long as we have ‘80s pop music, plenty of caffeine and barbecue chicken pizza, no one will mind. The end is in sight. And it’s a great feeling knowing you are about to accomplish something big.