`Toon It UpTired of the same old ad? Draw on cartoons to add some character.

When the time came for Erik Sundquist, a second-generationcustom-home builder in Redwood City, California, to take over thecompany reins from his father, he took a hard look at thefirm's advertising--and decided it was time for a newgeneration of ads. He couldn't be more right. The current ad isa good start on a Sundquist family coat-of-arms, but it'smissing the salesmanship that elevates it to an effective piece ofadvertising.

So what to do? How do you take a small-space ad and make it ahead-turner for a home builder? And to make the project even morechallenging, how can we give it enough noise for its firstappearance: the game-day program for a Stanford University footballgame, a medium that converts from advertising vehicle to impromptumegaphone within 30 minutes of being purchased?

My idea is to appeal to the short attention span of thespectator (as well as any periodical reader) with cartooncharacters conversing on the subject at hand. It's a respitefrom traditional advertising formats and therefore draws attention.Once pulled in, the reader continues into the short body copy thatoffers some elaboration.