Swiffer Pushes Their Duster Across Social Media

Screen shots taken from Swiffer's Facebook page

When you have a brand, push it. 

That's what Swiffer did after it released it's Swiffer Wet Jet Mop in 2001. Swiffer has been successful in providing an alternative to the old mop and bucket approach to cleaning floors. You can press the trigger to release soap for your floor, mop over it until it's clean then move on. The mop heads are disposable. When they are dirty, peel off and replace a new one.  The cleaning solutions fit snugly in place to give a constant supply of soap. 

With this innovation, Swiffer built upon their brand. They began offering Swiffer Sweepers (a dry mop that attracts dust and hair) and Swiffer Dusters for furniture, along with an extension arm for hard to reach places. 

 I've been mopping my floors with Swiffer since they first hit the marketplace. It's only natural that Swiffer has extended it's product line to all things cleaning. I'm sure some of the product varieties will be around longer than others. What doesn't work, goes away to replaced by something more useful.

My version of the Swiffer pitch frames, mocked-up with UI elements

In this playful Social Media spot for Swiffer Dusters, the Swiffer is cheerfully dusting along in those hard to reach places, while undaunted by the perpetual mantelpiece it is eager to clean. The surf-type guitar music evokes a hip, emerging culture where cleaning your house can be effortless. The superimposed titles keep the viewer  immersed in this playful spot. 

It was a fairly straightforward job to storyboard. A key goal was showing the Swiffer extension handle allowing the dust pad to reach hard-to-clean places.  Once we figured out the sequence and arranged each item to provide visual variety, it was basically a product demonstration.

Building a brand takes intention and constant evaluation of results. Be persistent. Without that effort to expand and improve, your brand might get left in the dust. 

View the broadcast Swiffer ad here:

https://www.facebook.com/swiffer/videos/10155618290938431/

The House of Dark Shadows with a View

The second watercolor study at Lyndhurst

I recently seized the last days of summer by taking my watercolor set to Lyndhurst mansion in Tarrytown, NY. The gothic mansion and it's property was last owned by railroad tycoon Jay Gould, and passed to his family until it was entrusted to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1961.

Historic trees flank the pathway
to the Lyndhurst mansion

Railroad tycoon Jay Gould was the
third owner of this Gothic skyline.

Older folks might recognize the mansions gables from two Dark Shadows movies from the early 1970's. I skipped the inside tour, avoiding the ghost of Barnabus Collins. Instead I hiked the property looking for good spots to paint.

I started small to warm up,
but for me working big is
more rewarding with watercolor.

I discovered a breathtaking landscape replete with beautiful apple orchards, a rose garden, a conservatory, a carriage house and a 2-lane bowling alley (it's a little known fact that railroad tycoons AND vampires like to hit the tenpins).

Serene and beautiful settings in every direction

The grounds are accessible and free to the public, but there is a $5.00 parking fee. For me, it was worthwhile for a few hours of painting. Working on location on palatial properties like this is stimulating, where the beautiful surroundings influence me to higher aspirations and promising results.

Bowling alley gets its own building near the Hudson

Please don't pick the apples

Lyndhurst has a web site which you can review here: http://lyndhurst.org/. If you get a chance to visit, you might spot me in front of a tree or near the river with my brushes. I will definitely return to see the Halloween and Christmas themed events.