Why Advertising Instead of Labs?
This September, Blastoff Labs™ will become Blastoff Advertising, Inc.™. Our Nevada corporation remains the parent entity, while the assets and daily operations move into a newly formed Texas corporation.
But this shift isn’t just a technical or structural change—it’s about identity.
From the beginning, we weren’t drawn to “tech” for its own sake. What fascinated us was the craft and psychology of advertising: how ideas, words, and images can influence decisions and shape behavior. Blastoff Labs was built on that curiosity. Blastoff Advertising is where it’s taking us next.
Where It All Began
Decades ago, Steve wandered into a night course at Monmouth Community College: Introduction to Advertising. The guest instructor—a sharp, passionate executive from International Flavors & Fragrances—wasn’t just teaching tactics. He introduced advertising as a discipline: theory, psychology, and real-world case studies that revealed a larger world of influence.
He handed out copies of Advertising Age, challenged students to study persuasion, and demonstrated how campaigns succeed—or fail—based on influence, not gimmicks. His name is long forgotten, but the spark he lit remains.
That spark was fanned later by Perry Marshall, one of the early interpreters of Google Ads. In his talks and writing, he often cited Claude Hopkins’ 1938 classic The Science of Advertising. Hopkins argued that while media changes, the fundamentals don’t. Google Ads didn’t invent advertising—it digitized direct response marketing, a tradition stretching back to print and yellow pages.
From Search to Advertising
At Blastoff, we’ve built deep expertise in search and shopping ads. However, the real power of digital platforms extends beyond just search. Display and YouTube aren’t “broken formats.” They work when you approach them with the same mindset as classic advertising: shaping preferences, planting ideas, and guiding people long before they type a search query.
That’s not technology. That’s advertising.
Why the Change
Since 2015, Blastoff Advertising has evolved from a technically focused search ad focused shop into a full-spectrum digital advertising business.
What excites us now isn’t dashboards or bid strategies alone. It’s the challenge of persuasion. The art of influence. The craft of making advertising that moves people.
That’s why we’re changing our name. We’re not just search marketers. We’re advertisers.
And yes, we’d still rather have lunch with Don Draper than a Silicon Valley founder.
Because what we love—and what we do at Blastoff Advertising—is advertising.
Practical Details
- US trademark extension
- Website transition
- Email transition
- What becomes of Blastoff Labs?
