My wife’s family lives in rural Iowa, and for many essential items Wal-Mart is the only option. And so it passed that my wife, sister-in-law and I set out for food staples, grab bag gifts for an upcoming Yankee Swap, and miscellenous gift items. For part of the visit I was left to my own devices and wandered the aisles. Because I am insane and think of such things, I took in the modern facelift of the new Wal-Mart logo along with other in-store promotionals proclaiming the giant retailer’s slogan — Save money. Live better.

Say what you will about it — it’s basic, it’s dirivitive on Target’s “Expect More. Pay Less.” — but I think this slogan ultimately meets it’s needs and is relevant now more than ever. I found myself reading it aisle after aisle, end-cap after end-cap and thinking — “That IS what I want.” And right now that’s what we all want.

Don’t get me wrong. I think the company and the way it operates are often times reprehensible and I don’t think that a slogan that happens to be more topical now can somehow reverse or offset that. What I do think is that right now, Wal-Mart is doing an OK job of talking to a lot of people.

(Just to be sure to get one quick dig in — the photo I took above slays me. Now you can add a small, quaint Wal-Mart to your picturesque holiday village. The irony of course is that once you put the Wal-Mart out you’d have to remvoe the small town drug store and toy shop from your quaint main street …)

Because believe me, the clutter is coming. Especially if you live in an early battle ground state such as Iowa or New Hamshire (plus the clutters earlier than it has been in past year). I have no intentions of making this a poliical blog but I had to post Bill Richardson’s recent “Job Interview” campaign ads because they’re a perfect example of defying the convention in a particular market.

Political advertising, despite all of the money thrown at it, its influence, and its lack of regulation, is surprisingly uncreative. Every season Ad Age has a story after story on which agency is taking sides yet pays almost no attention to the fact that despite the involvement of industry’s best creative minds, the same head and shoulders, baby-hugging, family-man, chore coat-wearing drivel is produced and takes up (too much) good air space.

Richardson has done one thing that none of the other candidates’ advertising has yet – he got my attention.

Advertising 101 – you have to get people’s attention so that they’ll listen to you and (hopefully) have the desire to take action.

Again, this isn’t a Richardson endorsement. It’s an endorsement of creativity and telling stories. And it’s not just a political message either. Think you’re in a buttoned-down industry or space that can’t do creative and engaging messaging? Do you or your peers say “we’re not Apple or Nike, we’re just in the [INSERT YOUR INDUSTRY HERE] business.” Actually, you need to totally flip your perspective if that’s the case. Be like Bill. If everything else in your industry is business as usual then they are just waiting for you to jump to the head of the pack with a clutter-cutting message.

Forgive the lack of posting. Just digging out from a winter storm.

Anyhow, if you’re a movie lover and you hunkered down last night to watch the Oscars like I did, I’m sure you had a chance to catch Apple’s new anticipation-building iPhone ad. This 30-second spot is a perfect example of the laws of context and relevancy of message. On its own it’s a cute commercial but fairly unremarkable. If you look at it in the context of the Academy Awards – when everyone’s huddled around fetting the legacy of cinema – it sparkles and adds another heart-warming montage to the evening (thankfully short and sweet — hint, hint Academy).