October 16, 2004 by Shawn Hartley | Permalink | 0 Comments

Announcing the launch of AdPulp.com. A blog dedicated to covering the ad industry, in our own inimitable style, of course.

October 16, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Digitas just completed the first acquisition in its 24-year history, the $160 million stock-for-stock purchase of Modem Media.

Starting with the open of the market on Monday, the combined company will be listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol DTAS, and Modem shares (MMPT) will cease to be traded.

October 16, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

While Dr. Phil is busy selling parents on the values of discipline for their children, Dr. Angus has unleashed a new diet on the American public. This diet advocates eating burgers made of angus beef, or steak burgers you might refer to them as. Pull up to any BK in the nation and get your steak on today. Doctor ordered. He even has a book out.

The book is also available in PDF form or for online viewing at the Angus Diet web site. Coffee table editions are available for the collector.

October 16, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

I've recently come upon three new sites that deserve some props.

1) Viral + Buzz Marketing Association, a European-based site concerned, as I am, with bringing customers' voices into the marketing mix.

2) Change This, a well designed place to publish one's manifesto (provided the proposal receives support from the site's users). You can visit my "New Tactics | New Tools" proposal now and vote for the piece, should you find it sufficiently intriguing.

Print My Blog, an Oregon outfit offering bloggers the chance to wrap their digital work in traditional clothing.

October 16, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Howard Gossage was an inspiring man. A rogue gentleman who plied his trade in the city by the Bay. An academic who taught advertising at Penn State and wrote eloquently about the business. A man who saw himself as a critic and reformer. A man of the people. A man with big ideas for the brands is his charge. He had an agency in a restored firehouse, with characters like Marshall McCluhan and Tom Wolfe dropping by for an afternoon chat and tea. He was also a man of outrageous, but dead-on statements, like this one:

"Is advertising worth saving? From an economic point of view I don't think that most of it is. From an aesthetic point of view I'm damn sure it's not; it's thoughtless, boring, and there is simply too much of it." _HG

October 16, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Euro RSCG has been in the news this week. The New York office is struggling to hold the Intel account, reportedly worth a cool 300 mil. Out west, creative hot shop, Black Rocket which sold an 80 percent interest to the Parisians a few years ago say they now want their shop back. But Havas rightly has some desire to hold on to this entity. Not pretty.

In Chicago the shop has been beaten down with client departures. But last summer some hope--Steffan Postaer was announced as President and Chief Creative Officer. Mr. Postaer who took the helm after Labor Day this year is the man behind the famed Altoids work, which surely supplants the Absolut campaign as the new iconic king of the culture. He also ran LB Works before it was shuttered last winter by Leo Burnett higher ups. Now this native Chicagoan and member of a famous ad family--his mother, father and brother are all prominent ad folk--has the chance to make his mark in this city, and in the ad business, in a much bigger way. This is Steffan's chance to create a more pronounced footprint than any one campaign, even one as good as Altoids, can provide. And this rescue by the Ad Superman could not come at a better time (if it is to come) since the parent company needs some wins.

October 16, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

"Politicians can't be overexposed. Since they can have a life and death effect on us, no one gets tired of them. This is not, 'Am I going to get tired of Bruce Willis?' We're stuck with them. Given how much power they have, eight months of campaigning is a drop. They are the only people selling a product you can't return. You're buying a president for four years." -Jerry Della Femina

Candidates today, particularly at the national level, are in many ways treated as a product, not as a man. For certain, they are packaged in a way meant to attract buyers. They are often promoted in much the same way as everyday packaged goods. But most of the ads for these men bite. Which is too bad. With the kind of budgets these campaigns come armed with, they could easily have the very best brand advertising minds working on their business. The Army has Leo Burnett, and their "Army of One" thinking. I contend that Kerry and Bush could be made more appealing, at least on TV and in print, with the help of Arnold, Martin, Goodby, Fallon, Wieden and the like.

October 17, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 3 Comments

Here we are on night one, and we can already report a reader. Thanks to Steve Rubel, "Mr. Micropersuasion," for dropping by and for linking to us.

October 17, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 4 Comments

It should come as no surprise that a lifestyle magazine would fall in love with advertising, and those who make it and place it. In their annual run down of the best places to work (available on news stands now), Chicago Magazine, gives first place to DDB; FCB comes in at #11; Draft is #17 and BBDO gets an honorable mention. The total field covers but 25 firms, so percentage wise advertising agencies rank incredibly high.

October 17, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

AdPulp has been live for a day now, and already two top influencers have dropped by to comment. Steve Hall of Adrants and Steve Rubel of Micropersuasion. This is the "internet speed" I've been hearing so much about, but not experiencing in previous blogger incarnations.

The answer is a tight focus. By concerning ourselves with one topic—and advertising is a rich topic—one's blog, or media property, makes instant sense to the audience it courts. Everyone's speaking the same language. Hopefully, if the new kids are any good, they have new and different things to say in that same language, so they can help enrich the conversation.

October 17, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

"Business is a numbers game and we should never forget it. A Mitsubishi and a BMW both weigh about 4,000 pounds. The BMW costs twice as much. Those are numbers. How many people get MBAs in order to be able to afford a Mitsubishi? Branding is not a numbers game and we shouldn’t forget that, either. As Winston Churchill once said, 'People will give you a lot of good reasons why they do something, then there’s the real reason.' Branding is about finding and appealing to the real reason." -Steve Laughlin of Laughlin Constable

There has been plenty of talk about where "the business" is headed. Is TiVo destroying the 30-second spot, once and for all? People want to know. If you listen to Steve Laughlin, and I do, the ad business has more meaning today than in any time in history. With more brands and more media channels, it's essential for brands to make a real investment in their image and in their story. To neglect this type of brand building in a saturated market is to blend in, and blending in is a lose-lose proposition for a brand.

October 17, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Rarely are rejection notices considered a marketing opportunity. But everything is marketing when it involves your brand. For instance, these notices often arrive on letterhead, with a big fat logo prominently displayed. That's a marketing opportunity.

The other day, I got such a notice from High Country News, where I had applied to be News Editor. This letter thoughtfully detailed the search process, thanked all the participants and made mention of the person who got the job and the reasons why. Here's a niche media brand willing to share. I like people who want to share with me. Thus, the HCN rejection letter achieved the unthinkable—it brought me even closer to the HCN brand.

October 18, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Is advertising art? This question has been there from the beginning. For sure, most advertising has been rendered so poorly, the claims that it might be an art form seem ludicrous. Yet, there are reasons to believe ads do constitute an art form. For one, if anyone could do it, the writers and art directors responsible for making ads would be put out to pasture. Creative endeavors require a leap of faith, no matter how much science must be infused into the work. These leaps of faith are taken by artists first, and then by a few brave suits who decide to follow.

Speaking of leaps of faith, I love to ponder the exaggerated claims typical of early 20th century advertising. Here Jantzen claims they invented the sport of swimming.

October 18, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Adweek's Joan Voight published an article today about the importance setting has on an agency. Naturally, she leads with Mike Shine, since Butler Shine and Stern occupy offices in Sausalito—one of the most romantic and inspiring communities in America. She also touches on the movie set qualities and rush of energy available in Manhattan, the ease of Minneapolis and the access to nature in Salt Lake City.

I left my relatively cush job in suburban Denver over a year ago to move to Chicago. Prior to my arrival here, I'd heard rumblings that Chicago was not a creative's city. That it is an account driven, suit wearing kind of place. There's clearly some truth in that. One reason for it may be the environment itself. Almost all agencies here are located in high-rise buildings. While the interior of some, notably Zipatoni and Upshot, are indeed stellar, the larger context is overwhelmingly corporate.

Yet, Chicago is a city with an abundance of warehouses ripe for remodel. Not surprisingly, Hadrian's Wall, which has been doing its part to lend the city a creative reputation, has found such a home near North and Clyborne, nowhere near Michigan and Wacker. Thinking different, it appears, extends beyond the ad to architecture and urban planning.

October 18, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Sun Times advertising columnist, Lewis Lazare, just phoned to ask me several questions about AdPulp, blogs, my industry experience and whether I wouldn't prefer to be writing the great American novel. Look for his write up next week. It will be interesting to see how he breaks it down. He can be a tough critic, so I'm not exactly expecting a fluff piece.

October 18, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

The future just arrived. Welcome to it. AdAge editor, Scott Donaton writing today about how consumers now hold all the cards, not marketers, said, "Make no mistake, it's nothing short of a revolution. Those who don't embrace it -- and resistance to change remains disappointingly strong -- will be crushed by it."

Scott Donaton, editor of AdAge

Further insights from Donaton's article:

Larry Light, global chief marketing officer at McDonald's, declared the death of the broadcast-centric ad model: "Mass marketing today is a mass mistake." McDonald's used to spend two-thirds of its ad budget on network prime time; that figure is now down to less than one-third.

General Motors' Roger Adams, noting the automaker's experimentation with less-intrusive forms of marketing, said, "The consumer wants to be in control, and we want to put them in control." Echoed Saatchi & Saatchi chief Kevin Roberts, "The consumer now has absolute power. It is not your goddamn brand," he told marketers.

--

These sentiments from the big guys echo the wisdom of characters from the fringe, San Francisco brand consultancy, Plan B, in particular. But it matters little who came up with the revelations. Those in the know will benefit, whether they are credited as primary drivers, or not.

October 19, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

In four Monterrey, Mexico churches, Israeli-made cell phone jammers the size of paperbacks have been tucked unobtrusively among paintings of the Madonna and statues of the saints.

AdBusters seeks to "jam" our pervasive media culture, TiVo helps content hungry viewers jam commercials and now we have priests in Mexico jamming cell phone usage. I applaud the holy men and their quest for sanctity.

October 19, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer ads that dramatize the product benefit. Apparently, Outback Steakhouse knows nothing about this time-honored approach. One of their current efforts features three hunks that come to the table to serve three adoring, but rather shy, ladies. No mention of the food at all.

What happens when a lonely lady decides to dine at Outback, only to find her server is nasty, or of the same sex? She could then rightly claim Outback seduced her with false advertising.

October 19, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Clairol's Herbal Essences, when applied, no longer produces orgasms. The beauty product does lead Jadyn Maria to sing, however.

Too bad. Any old shampoo can lead one to sing in the shower.

October 19, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Blogs are being discussed just about everywhere in mainstream media today. CNBC and other news programs have even begun to feature bloggers like Ana Marie Cox, a.k.a. Wonkette, as talking heads. Now wiki is having its day in the sun. Business Week and Red Herring recently ran articles on this open source publishing technology.

While speaking yesterday with Sun Times advertising columnist, Lewis Lazare, I mentioned my efforts to bring the power of wiki (and other Conversational Media tools) to branded communications. I'm not sure how well I described wiki's potential upsides, but tech startup Jotspot does a wonderful job of outlining the many uses.

October 19, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

"A product is an artifact of a truth of a promise. A brand is a promise. The promise of Gateway is to be the wagon-master across the silicon prairie. It was more interesting to me that Gateway opened stores than Barnes & Noble went dot-com. It doesn't matter whether Gateway sells anything in its stores because retailing is the retelling of the tale. So you open stores to tell the story of being the wagon-master. You’re on a perilous journey and Gateway can help you get there. When you apply the wagon-master metaphor, you realize that inventors invent, and pioneers discover, and wagon-masters commercialize inventions or discoveries. So we decided, why would you have an R&D department if all you do is commercialize other people’s discoveries? So guess what Gateway did? They chucked their R&D department, and put $95 million to the bottom line. And I knew it was a success when -- five months later -- Dell did the same thing." -Watts Wacker

October 19, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Starbucks Gossip is an interesting new site from Jim Romenesko, veteran journalist, editor and pioneering blogger. With his work for Poynter and his Obscure Store blog, you'd think this uberblogger would have no time for keeping tabs on the coffee behemoth. But no. He does have time, and Starbucks haters everywhere are grateful.

October 19, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 2 Comments

More marketers today are empowering brand evangelists, or in simpler terms, a company's best customers. There are several new ways to go about this, then there's the old school way, patented by recreational clothing manufacturer, Patagonia.

Patagonia is led by one of our time's true corporate visionaries—climber, kayaker, surfer and fly-fishing enthusiast, Yvon Chouinard. Yvon understood instinctively (and early on) that his customers were also his product testers—real people out in the wilds putting Patagonia's best efforts to the ultimate test. He also grasped that these same people were better than any models he could ever hire. And to take it even further, he understood they were also better than any photographer he could hire. From the beginning, the Patagonia catalog has relied on Patagoniacs to send in photos of their most active friends doing fun things in remote settings. Whether or not they happened to be wearing Patagonia gear at the time has always been secondary to the pursuit at hand.

To summarize, Patagonia has saved millions on photo shoots and product testing. But much more important than any amount of dollars saved is the relationship this Ventura-based firm has with its customers. You cannot put a price on that kind of commitment.

October 20, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

In Green Bay, Wisconsin a city known for takes downs (on the grid iron), comes Dana VanDen Heuvel, a marketing consultant who has put together a great look at what traditional P.R. offers versus blogs. It's a game-winning open field tackle for the blogs.

October 20, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

"Most copywriters are uninspired hacks with only a small bag of smartass tricks separating themselves and oblivion. Very few of them bring any seriously original thinking to their client�s problems. And very few clients ask copywriters for serious thinking as a result. They ask other people instead." -Hugh Macleod of Gaping Void

Hugh's words are often provoking. A sure sign of a good writer. Brand managers ought to ask a guy like this what they might do to improve their marketing efforts, because a writer is exactly the person able to tell the brand's story.

Advertising has been a visual medium, ever since Bernbach's "Think Small," the hallmark campaign of the Creative Revolution. But now, with the rise of blogs, writers will be needed to engage customers in one-on-one conversations. Traditional advertising is impersonal. It's a brand speaking to everyone. What leading brands need to do, and in some cases are about to do (in this writer's opinion) is employ individual voices—�customers, associates, agency staff, freelance writers and consultants�—to carry on a daily conversation with their customers.

October 20, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Vaughn Whelan & Partners Advertising Inc., a 12-person Toronto firm wanted to pitch the Molson and Coors account (the two brewers are merging), but they were not invited to the party. So, the agency came up with a guerilla approach. VW&P created a bootleg TV spot and paid to run it on Canadian television, and also in Vermont.

You have to admire the initiative here, but this move has some major problems in my book. If I'm the client and I'm spending millions of dollars to create a brand image and someone I don't even know makes a spot for my product and runs it on TV, the spot better be brilliant. This spot is far from it. For one, it creates confusion in the marketplace. TV viewers who saw this spot when it ran had no idea whatsoever that it was a self-promo piece for the agency. The agency is never named, nor is their intent revealed. It's simply a shoddy, low budget spot for Molson Canadian.

Misleading the beer drinking public to think, "Oh here's a new, not very good, pitch from Molson" serves no one. The brewer loses. The public loses. And the agency loses.

Late Breaking Update: Vaughn Whelan—clearly, a smart, well spoken and sharply dressed man—appeared on Canadian news program, Report On Business, to explain his version of events surrounding this media stunt, which he readily admits it was. He said Molson is none too pleased and that the brewer asked him to remove the streaming media version of the commercial from his agency's web site. Whelan added he's so far received positive reinforcement from all corners of the world, and three calls from prospective clients who like his initiative.

October 20, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Corporate blogs are proliferating, according to the founder of Technorati.

There are significant numbers of individual bloggers at Microsoft and Sun Microsystems, but their blogs are personal, not official. For a closer look at how a blog fits into a firm's marketing strategy, take a look at Stonyfield Farms, a New Hampshire-based organic dairy with a great story to tell, and four blogs with which to tell it.

October 20, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Huskerpedia, a site that follows Nebraska athletics from "deep behind enemy lines in Jefferson County, CO" offers Husker football fans brand supremacy in this merchandising opportunity:

October 20, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

An empowered organization is one where the CEO enables her managers and staff. An empowered communications strategy is one where the marketer enables the customer. This is good enabling, not the A.A. kind.

...for the chart lover within.

October 20, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

For more iconic brand mascots see TV Acres.

October 21, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Well known author and blogger, Doc Searls quoted us yesterday in a piece about how branding is dead. We are flattered and honored.

Doc points to the fourth chapter of The Cluetrain Manifesto and asks rhetorically, "Sound familiar?" The title of the chapter is "Markets Are Conversations," and without a doubt much of what we're working on is the application of the ideals, set down by Searls, Weinberger, and company.

October 21, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

A close reader questions whether advertising icons are as GRRR-E-A-T as they once were. I say, how can you argue with this dear reader. This man cried a tear for America.

October 21, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

The AFL-CIO and seniors groups in California have banded together and filed a false advertising lawsuit against the little purple pill's manufacturer, AstraZeneca.

According to AdWeek, the suit alleges that the drug company sought to preserve market share and profits as the patent on Prilosec was set to expire by scheming to convince consumers that its new drug, Nexium, was significantly better than Prilosec. Prilosec, a competing purple pill is now available over the counter and is marketed by Procter & Gamble.

OTC baby. Power to the people!

October 21, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

The Commodore, a.k.a., J. Walter Thompson, late 19th cent.

JWT likes to hang The Commodore's image in its offices around the globe. Which makes me wonder how odd Jeff Goodby, for instance, might appear to future observers. Better yet, what will anthropologists make of Lew Clow's refusal to wear shoes?

October 21, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Paul Hamm gets to keep his gold medal, an Olympic panel ruled today. But seeing Hamm speak on TV is a real buzz kill. Someone get this man a handler.

You don't stand there in front of the world and say, "I knew it was mine all along. I'm glad the judges finally agreed. Now I can put this all behind me." Dude.

Say, "I leave it all on the mat every single day and that's the only thing I care about." We're talking Wheaties box here.

October 21, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Marketers of the art form known as poetry have resorted to the retail art of gumball machines, in order to capture market share for well placed meaning in words. Gots to give it up to 'em. This is a great distribution method. A quarter for your thoughts.

Hey, let's invent one for the ad biz. Who wants to partner with us on this?

October 21, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

It's official. Coke takes over parts of the brain Pepsi can't reach.

According to UK Independent's Science Editor, the mind-altering power of advertising has been demonstrated in a remarkable study of the way in which brand recognition affects the workings of the human brain. A well-known label is so influential, say researchers, that it can alter consumers' perception of the product's taste. The experiment, a laboratory-controlled version of the famous Pepsi Challenge, revealed that flavour seems to be the last thing that consumers rely on in their preference for Pepsi or Coca-Cola.

The above paragraph is best absorbed with the theme-track from The Twilight Zone playing under.

October 21, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

from Adweek: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners has rehired copywriter John Matejczyk, who spent the last 15 months heading up the Citibank "Identity theft" campaign at Fallon. Goodby partner and creative director Steve Simpson called Matejcyzk an "amazing talent."

While there could be a dozens good reasons for this, I'm guessing he needed a new pair of Sorel's, and when confronted with that North County necessity, decided to move back to San Francisco instead.

October 21, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Word-of-mouth has always been the ultimate approach. Now, there's an industry group dedicated to promoting its use. A core goal of WOMMA is to help grow the acceptance and legitimacy of word-of-mouth as part of the broader marketing mix.

October 22, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research offers a cool-eyed assessment of some possible pitfalls for corporate blogs and also for individuals who talk about work on their personal blogs.

October 22, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Microsoft's cheif blog evangelist chimes in:

Are you afraid to blog?

Corporate Fear.

Fear of being different. Fear of telling your boss your ideas. Fear of speaking up in meetings. Fear of going up to someone you don't know and introducing yourself. Fear of doing something that might destroy your career.

Fear of weblogging.

It's time we get over our fears.

I meet a lot of people around the industry. Almost everytime I meet someone, I ask them "do you have a weblog?" That's my way of saying "I like you and want to hear more of your ideas." Even deeper: I want a permanent relationship with you (and not of the sexual kind, either).

I've asked this question of people at Apple. Google. IBM. eBay. Real Networks. Cisco. Intel. HP. Amazon. And, yes, here at Microsoft.

Too often the answer is "I couldn't do that."

"Why not?" I ask.

"Because I might get fired," is often the answer. I hate that answer. It's an example of corporate fear. An artifact of a management system that doesn't empower its employees to act on behalf of customers.

I find this fear disturbing. Imagine being a flight attendant with this kind of fear. "Sorry, I can't talk to the passengers in this plane today cause I might get fired."

The Scobleizer's official disclaimer: Robert Scoble works at Microsoft (title: technical evangelist). Everything here, though, is his personal opinion and is not read or approved before it is posted. No warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions or anything else offered here.

October 22, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

It's good to be reminded now and again that the designer working on your annual report is actually an artist. This painting is new work from Jill Rizzo, an award-winning graphic designer at David Day + Associates.

October 22, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

from Business Week: Anyone in a company or department can post material on these wikis, and anyone else, subject to approval by the creator, can edit or add to them. They've become a cheaper, more flexible collaboration alternative to both overtaxed e-mail and complex groupware such as IBM's Lotus Notes.

Essentially, Ross Mayfield's Socialtext wiki software allows everybody in a group or even a whole company to literally stay on the same page -- that is, on their shared Web pages. That speeds up everything that involves coordination, helping to cut costs.

Mayfield, a tall, gangly Palo Alto native, stumbled onto wikis via an unlikely route. He landed in Eastern Europe in 1995 as a $300-a-month special adviser to Lennart Meri, Estonia's first post-Soviet President. He wrote some of Meri's speeches and ultimately developed a Web site for the President's office, where he caught the Internet bug. "I realized I could have a greater impact being an Internet entrepreneur than as a bureaucrat," he says.

October 22, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

TV-B-Gone is a new key chain fob that shuts off most televisions. After posting the product on the firm's web site earlier this week the entire stock sold out in two days. They're working on getting more TV-B-Gone's made and delivered as soon as possible.

You know one could truly wreak havoc with this device at any sports bar USA, say Sunday around 1:00 pm. One could also get one's butt kicked. Don't wave the thing around, is my advice.

October 22, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

from Inc.: But here's the thing about the guerrilla information war that Kalle Lasn and his rotating crew of two dozen or so employees at Adbusters were fighting: "We were losing," he admits. While the Adbusters Media Foundation has built enough of an audience to keep it out of the red -- the magazine sells for $7.95 an issue and has international circulation of 120,000, according to Lasn -- it has had little success getting its incendiary anti-ads into any mainstream venue. So rather than just attack Nike -- although, as we'll see, that's still his obsession -- Adbusters would produce a rival shoe of its own, with environmentally friendly materials and ethical labor. Like many a brand before it, Blackspot would be designed to stand for big ideas: in this case, socially minded entrepreneurialism and grass-roots capitalism. "And, of course, coming up with an antilogo ," Lasn proclaims, sounding excited, as he often does, "we're moving from whining into action."

Here's my translation, "Buy my shoes brother. They're totally organic. Every step you take will be another step forward for the earth and its people."

October 24, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Netfilx is a great service. It's also an important one, due to its disruptive impact on an entire category. People talk about TiVo changing the ad biz. A better bet is that the Netfilx's mail-based model will take out the Blockbuster retail model altogether. No late fees—ever—is a big idea. A category killer.

Netflix is also a company that listens to its customers and responds in real ways. Here's the latest customer communication from them:

Over the last five years, we've grown the Netflix community to over 2.2 million satisfied members. We appreciate your business, and our goal has always been to provide you great service.

Since our price increase in June, some of our members have expressed concerns about the new pricing. We've listened to this feedback and are pleased to inform you that we're lowering the price of your Netflix 3-at-a-time program from $21.99 per month to 17.99 per month.

You don't need to do anything. Your membership will automatically move to the lower 17.99 price. The lower price will appear on your next bill on or after November 1, 2004. You will still get the same great service and convenience, but now you will pay less for it. So please sit back, relax and enjoy your movies!

-Your Friends at Netflix

October 25, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Job seeker asks for whom the blog scrolls

BY LEWIS LAZARE SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

What do you do while you're searching for an advertising job in a market where jobs are tough to come by?

If you like to write and have a yen to serve up your observations on the industry, you start an advertising blog. About 10 days ago, that's exactly what David Burn, 39, did when he launched www.AdPulp.com from an apartment on the city's Northwest Side.

The uneven collection of postings so far include an item about Euro RSCG's new chief creative officer Steffan Postaer, with whom Burn has traded e-mails discussing interactive advertising, as well as job possibilities at Euro RSCG, which Postaer is trying to rebuild as a creative powerhouse. Not surprisingly, Burn seems to be sucking up to Postaer when he suggests in his blog that the ad exec now has a chance to make his mark in the city in a much bigger way than he did when previously employed at the shuttered LB Works and its parent Leo Burnett.

But Burn also displays some healthy skepticism in an entry about a recent Chicago magazine article on the 25 best places to work. He points out that three ad agencies -- DDB, Foote Cone & Belding and Draft -- all made the list, while BBDO scored an honorable mention. Burn also suggested it made sense for a magazine that solicits advertising to make nice with ad agencies.

Because we happened to call to find out what he was up to, we were turned into a posting in which Burn mused about what we'd make of his new project so far. Well, Burn still has a ways to go to make his online effort as juicy and opinionated as it needs to be to draw readers regularly.

Having arrived here a year ago to be with his girlfriend and following stints in the ad business in Denver, Omaha and Salt Lake City (where he fell into the business as a copywriter at a technology agency called BOWG), Burn is still trying to figure out the local advertising community and what aspects of it might make the best fodder for his blog.

If nothing else, Burn has discovered it's not easy finding full-time work in advertising here. But while he's looking, he hopes to turn AdPulp.com into a money-making business.

--

This story was also picked up by Red Streak, but with a different header.

October 25, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Crain's Chicago Business reports that Rick Bayless likes to eat at Logan Square's Lula Cafe when he's not nibbling from the grill at Frontera.

With two booming Chicago restaurants, a TV show, books and a Frontera product line, Rick Bayless is a chef and a brand. You could even say he's the Oprah of Mexican food. So, when he kindly endorses someone's restaurant, it's word-of-mouth advertising that cannot be topped.

October 25, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Clyde Hogg, of Norfolk, VA, a Sun Times reader and a former award-winning staffer at a number of name brand agencies advises AdPulp to, "Name names, and let those in charge be held accountable. Of course, it might preclude you ever from working in the "biz" in Chicago, but from my experience, other than the money, unless you're into corporate politics you aren't missing anything."

Here's more Hoggian angst:

"I was not into politics, which, to many at these larger agencies, is the very lifeblood of the business, and the way they got to the top. It certainly wasn't the product they created. As a result, too often I watched people who couldn't do the work rise to the top and achieve the position of being able to tell those who could do the work how to do it. The Peter Principle at its finest.
 
The end result is that, today, advertising has evolved into an industry led by people who, by and large, can't do the work. Or train people to do the work, or how to think, or utilize the brains of those they hire. Or do work that is startling, innovative, intelligent, creative or breakthrough. This leads to the generation of inanity and ineffectiveness and sophomoric humor that currently passes for advertising, with intelligence and connecting with an audience a thing of the past. It also makes advertising far more expensive and less quantifying, for results are elusive to say the least.
 
Unless fart jokes are considered an intelligent way to connect with an audience. Who knows? Maybe that IS the way to connect with 24-year olds.
 
If that's the case, a breakthrough creative plan might be to print ads on whoopie cushions and pass them out in bars.

No charge for that idea.
 
mumble, mumble..."

October 25, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

If there's anyone left wondering what the gold band that John Kerry wears on his wrist is about, it's about curing cancer. The bracelets, or bands, are available from the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Here's a case where viral and buzz marketing, word-of-mouth advertising and traditional media all work together flawlessly.

October 25, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Why would Philadelphia's Metrocorp—publisher of Home & Garden, Philadelphia Magazine and Elegant Wedding—want to acquire Boston's Weekly Dig, an alternative newspaper with 30,000 readers?

The Dig's readers are 18 to 34. That's Y.

October 25, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Business Week is reporting on Old Spice's attempt to sell the old brand to a new breed. Maybe this P&G brand ought to run ads on pizza boxes. In another story from Business Week, the venerable business mag describes the allure of the new cardboard medium:

"...with pizza, 'everybody is happy to see it.' Indeed, Americans eat more than 100 acres of pizza a day, according to the Web site Pizzaware.com, which has prepared a fact sheet on the ubiquitous pie. Plus, pizza is a favorite with the demographic long coveted by advertisers, the 18- to 34-year-olds. A large box is typically viewed by three to four people at a time. And particularly at bachelor households, pizza boxes tend to stick around for weeks."

October 25, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Iron City, in conjunction with Alcoa, is making their beer available in aluminum bottles. The idea is that aluminum bottles will keep beer colder for as much as 50 minutes longer than a glass bottle, according to Alcoa. The bottles are also lighter, resealable and unbreakable. Alcoa suggests the innovation--which is already used for beer in Japan--is in line with early reforms like the pull-top aluminum can, which they say they introduced, also with Pittsburgh Brewing, in 1962.

October 25, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Screenwriter and film director, Scott Hicks, was tapped to direct a series of ten new spots for Chicago-based Hyatt. Hicks is best known for his work on the 1999 film, Snow Falling On Cedars. The commercials were produced through Hyatt's agency, Cramer-Krasselt, the independent shop with offices in Chicago, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Orlando and New York.

October 26, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Taco Bell is thinking outside the bun again. Two years ago, the nation's flagship Mexican QSR placed a 12' x 12' floating target in the South Pacific, promising a free taco to all Americans if Russia's Mir satellite hit it upon reentering our atmosphere. Didn't happen. Fast forward to tonight and Game 3 of the World Series in St. Louis. The free taco target now resides in St. Louis' home run alley. If any player for the Red Sox or Cardinals launch a long ball that connects with the target, millions of hungry Americans will eat for free. Simple. Cost-effective. And more powerful than any thirty-second spot could slam home.

Thanks to Jay Roth for help with this entry.

October 26, 2004 by Shawn Hartley | Permalink | 1 Comments

Last week, Sun Microsystems put their ad account in review as a creative consolidation move. The current agency of record is Arnell Group (Omnicom) of New York. Interestingly, only shops with offices in the Bay Area are being invited to the table, likely dropping the incumbent from the pitch altogether. See Ad Age (reg. req.) for more details.

Granted, the majority of Sun's marketing staffers are in the Bay Area, but does the agency shift from New York to NorCal signify upcoming changes to the rest of the advertising landscape?

What do our readers have to say? Sound off in the comments.

October 26, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 3 Comments

"Blogging is not about starring in a conversation, it's about having a conversation with stars!" -Steve Rubel of Micro Persuasion

When speaking with Lewis Lazare of the Sun Times last week, he called AdPulp a gossip site. He also wanted to know why we chose the word, "Pulp" and if you read his piece on us, he clearly would like to see more lurid content in these pages. I suspect there will be some juicy details from time to time. But we're actually much more interested in facilitating an industry conversation.

To further that end, we are looking for contributing writers interested in, and capable of, holding conversations with the stars and would-be stars in and around the ad world. It would help if you've had some blogging experience, but your thirst for sharing the best ideas is even more essential. Send us your URL or some relevant writing examples if you're interested.

October 26, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Intersticials are the flash-based commercials that keep you from the page you actually want to view until the intrusive messaging plays out. Here's the root of the now widely used industryism:

interstice \in-TUR-stus\, noun;
plural interstices \in-TUR-stuh-seez; -suz\:
1. A space between things or parts, especially a space between things closely set; a narrow chink; a crack; a crevice; an interval.
2. An interval of time.

Why would you ever choose to have interactive media go against its nature and become instrusive media? Pop ups, spam and intersticials are annoying and totally contrary to the user experience online. Online, the user has control. When you mess with that, you're risking your firm's reputation.

October 26, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

One of my favorite pastimes is railing against elitism, wherever I happen to find it. The ad industry is bloated with it. TV is better than print is better than direct is better than promotions. New York is better than Chicago and L.A., but Minneapolis, Boston and San Francisco are where it's at. Unless you work in Richmond, Portland or Austin.

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Bend, Oregon and meeting with the owner of Ralston360, Kevin Archer. Kevin, an art director by trade, fled his native San Francisco ten years or more ago. With a growing family and business in Bend--a beautiful community in central Oregon, nestled against the east side of the Cascades--there's no reason to look back.

Bend is also home to The Mandala Agency and tbd advertising, where there are "no preconceived ideas." Uh huh.

October 26, 2004 by Shawn Hartley | Permalink | 0 Comments

Apple, which enjoys an 80%+ share of the digital player market, today announced the next stage in their co-marketing relationship with uber-band, U2, the iPod U2 Special Edition.

Just a couple of short years ago Moby was criticized and branded a sell-out for licensing the commercial rights to the individual tracks on his album Play, a move that was designed to maximize the exposure of an album that pretty much ignored by radio and MTV. Today, whether right or wrong, it has become the norm in popular music.

U2, the rock band of the last 25 years, has continually managed to reinvent and redefine their music enough to appeal to the hardcore fan, yet still manage to attract new fans with every release. U2, and especially front man Bono, are masters of the music marketing game. Apple has long been the 'luxury brand' of the computer world and the iPod is the gold standard for digital music, or as Apple likes to say, "The digital lifestyle." Together, the two are making more waves in markets they already dominate.

October 26, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

McDonald's, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based fast food purveyor has moved its Oven Selects business from roster shop Leo Burnett, back to DDB Chicago. DDB is also a roster shop and the former agency on the account. The Oven Selects line includes Crispy Buffalo Chicken, Beef 'n' Provolone, Leaning Tower Italian, two New York Reubens -- one with turkey, one with corned beef -- and the turkey sandwich with bacon, lettuce and tomato. According to Bloomberg, the six sandwiches culminate 15 years of trial and error including a mid-1990s test of McStuffin's, which were too expensive to make for what customers were willing to pay.

October 26, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

“The social equation will become more significant than the legal one. Copyright, intellectual property and power will eventually become subservient to the social exchange that will exist between artists and their audience, between any buyer and their supplier.” -The Tarlows in Digital Aboriginal

My monthly hard copy of Wired came in the mail yesterday. The inside front cover spread is brought to readers by Wired and Larry Lessig's Creative Commons. A compact disc of free music is attached, and the musicians involved encourage users to { -Rip. Sample. Mash. Share. } That is, they want to be heard and they are willing to give their work away for free in order to be heard.

The ad has a real Howard Gossage feel to it. It's traditional media encouraging interactivity, with the ad itself and also with peers, family and friends.

October 27, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

On Sept. 13, WPP announced it would buy Grey for $1,005 a share or $1.52 billion. According to AdAge, Grey Global Group will now pay its chairman-CEO, Ed Meyer, as much as $87 million cash when WPP Group buys Grey. And Mr. Meyer gets to keep his job. The cash payments don't include Mr. Meyer's Grey stock and stock options, worth about $351 million based on this morning's valuation.

That's $438 million for the pinstriped guy in the corner suite. I've always held that advertising is a great place to learn the art of the deal—a skill which can later be applied in Hollywood, for instance, or on Wall Street.

October 27, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Madison Avenue ponders the potential of web logs says Times.

The lead: "WEB logs have had an astonishing season this year, enough to freckle the faces of bloggers who do not, as a rule, get much time outdoors. Although political blogs have received the most attention, advertising agencies and communications professionals are using blogs to create discussion about ideas within their industries."

Nat Ives, the journalist who writes about blogs, must ride his bike to work, or something.

October 27, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

The NY Times reports today that Karen C. Francis, with Harvard MBA and 20 years of client-side service, will be named Publicis & Hal Riney's chief executive.

from the article: The migration of brand marketers to agency executive suites, once rare, is becoming less so as agencies seek to remake their business models to meet the challenges from clients anxious to find nontraditional approaches for reaching consumers.

"I've always looked at marketing with the consumer at the center," Ms. Francis said in a telephone interview on Friday, "how all the experiences a consumer has with a company affects the consumer's decision to spend his or her hard-earned money.

October 27, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

from Crain's Chicago Business: ATA Airlines has agreed to turn over its Midway Airport operations to Air Tran Airways Inc. for $87.5 million as part of its restructuring and filing for Bankruptcy Court protection Tuesday.

Subject to approval by the city of Chicago and the Bankruptcy Court, AirTran will assume ATA's flight operations, gate leases and routes at Midway, as well as arrival and departure slots at New York's LaGuardia Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the Indianapolis-based carrier announced.

AirTran it is, then.

October 27, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Kicking anvils and hiring "yes" men. They have more in common than you think. Both are unproductive. Both lead to regret. And both are completely avoidable.

At Hanna, we try to say "Yes" as much as possible.
Unfortunately, it usually comes out sounding like "Why?"
"Why make a claim your competitor could easily make?"
"Why not ask the customer's opinion?"
"Why ignore the truth of your product?"

It's enough to drive a bad client to drink. Or at least to go kick a few anvils.

October 27, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Jim Kirk, The Trib's media and advertising reporter, reports that there's a new ad agency holding company in town. Goes by the name of Tungsten Group. Run by some heavy weights. Notably, Tom McConnaughy, who sold his interest in McConnaughy Stein Schmidt Brown to Euro RSCG Partners several years ago. The "M in MSSB" joins former Leap Group executives Fred Smith and George Gier. First purchase, Grant Jacoby, a 60-year old Chicago business-to-business shop.

Jim Kirk

October 27, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Spirits distributor, Diageo, is rumored to be moving its marketing services account away from Chicago agency, Upshot.

Arc Worldwide, the agency formerly known as Frankel, also works on the Diageo business. It is not known at this time if the move will benefit Arc in any way.

Captain Morgan

October 27, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

from The Onion: BERKELEY, CA—A study released Monday by the University of California-Berkeley shows that 100 percent of Americans fail to disclose the full truth about what they think and do in private.

"While startling and often embarrassing revelations about the private lives of politicians, pro athletes, and celebrities surface on a routine basis, our research indicates that Americans out of the public eye also have a lot to hide," said Berkeley sociology professor Dr. Mia L. Greene, who headed the 10-year study. "Surprisingly, famous people aren't the only ones participating in shady business dealings, substance abuse, and peculiar sexual activities."

As well as keeping the kinds of secrets that, if kept by famous people, become tabloid fodder, average Americans engage in strange and obsessive behavior that, if revealed, would humiliate them.

October 28, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

from today's NY Times: Internet writers say they have been empowered by the Web to begin serving as a long-needed real-time check on mainstream outlets and reporters who they say wield too much power, sometimes irresponsibly and often with hidden partisan motives.

"The traditional players, including the press, have lost some of the control or exclusive control they used to have," said Jay Rosen, chairman of the journalism department at New York University, who keeps his own Web log, or blog.

But, he added, "I think there's a campaign under way to totally politicize journalism and totally politicize press criticism."

"It's really an attack not just on the liberal media or press bias, it's an attack on professionalism itself, on the idea that there could be disinterested reporters," he said.

October 28, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Ames Scullin O'Haire in Atlanta wants a new copywriter. But not an angry, misunderstood genius. According to their Talent Zoo classified ad, "We don't tolerate prima donnas or asses. In fact, we despise them and toss them overboard--we're on the 24th floor."

Tough crowd. But here's my question. Do you think angry, misunderstood geniuses, prima donnas or asses ever see themselves as such?

October 28, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 6 Comments

I'm fascinated by the strangest of ad creatures. Therefore, when Jay Roth--an ad creature in his own right--wants us to know more about 86 the Onions in Venice, CA (a strange enough place for these purposes) I'm inclined to give him a listen.

Something doesn't stink in Venice Beach by Jay Roth

Ever hear about 86 The Onions? The self-described youth and entertainment brand communications collective is redescribing advertising as we know it.

Orchestrated by former Pyro creative hotshot, Chad Rea crossed the Atlantic to work at Eurohotshops, eventually returning to California (arguably a foreign country in itself) to open this agency.

Their website has Monty Python written all over it. Their underground newsletter Bionic Arm is revolutionary and eclectic in its art-sponsored branding. They're even attracting clients like Sobe Beverages for a Summer 2005 promo program. Yummy stuff.

October 28, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Ad Age is reporting on how brands are inreasingly ponying up to the tailgate, seeing this once sacred space as the marketing opportunity it clearly is. It must work, as I'm presently captivated by this unit from Hammacher Schlemmer, a $2,199.95 tailgate set that attaches to a trailer hitch. It includes a waterproof CD music system and 15-foot flagpole as well as a stainless-steel grill and cooler.

Now your team can lose, but you won't care!

October 28, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

from Crain's Chicago Business (subscription required): Lake Forest-based Brunswick Corp., the world's largest maker of pleasure boats, on Thursday said its third-quarter earnings almost doubled as it introduced new products, boosted sales and controlled costs. Net income increased to $72.9 million, or 75 cents a share, from $37.9 million, or 41 cents, a year ago.

The Boat Group makes Sea Ray, Bayliner, Maxum, Hatteras, Meridian and Sealine pleasure boats from 16 to 100 feet; Baja high-performance boats from 20 to 44 feet; Boston Whaler and Trophy offshore fishing boats from 13 to 32 feet; and Crestliner, Lowe, Lund and Princecraft fishing, deck and pontoon boats from 10 to 26 feet.

Is it just me or are Americans having fun again?

October 28, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 3 Comments

"I've done my best to live the right way
I get up every morning and go to work each day
But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold
Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to explode

I believe in a promised land..." -Bruce Springsteen

MSNBC just went live with The Boss performing "Promised Land," solo-acoustic in front of the Capitol Building in Madison, WI as part of a John Kerry rally. The Boss sounded a lot like Woody Guthrie.

Politics is brand theatre.

October 28, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

from Wired: Internet users are doing far fewer searches for sex and pornography and more for e-commerce and business than they were seven years ago, University of Pittsburgh and Penn State researchers say in a new book.

"Twenty percent of all searching was sex-related back in 1997; now it's about 5 percent," said Amanda Spink, the University of Pittsburgh professor who co-authored Web Search: Public Searching of the Web with Penn State professor Bernard J. Jansen.

October 28, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

A.P. reports today that CNN will shut down its struggling CNNfn financial news network in mid-December, giving up its attempt to compete with CNBC after nine years.

A handful of programs will be shifted to the main network.

Lou Dobbs, a former CNNfn star.

Besides CNBC, CNNfn has also competed with Bloomberg TV, which airs some of its financial news on the USA network in the morning hours.

CNNfn is part of Time Warner Inc., while CNBC is owned by General Electric Co.

October 28, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 2 Comments

The BBC reports that Delta Airlines suspended, Ellen Simonetti, a flight attendant for innapropriate photos posted to her personal blog, Queen of Sky.

When writing on her blog, Simonetti ensured she made no mention of which airline she worked for, and created fictional names for cities and companies. The airline's name was changed to Anonymous Airline and the city in which she was based was called Quirksville.

A large part of the blog contained fictional stories because Queen of the Sky developed over the months as a character in her own right, according to Ms. Simonetti.

"They did not tell me which pictures they had a problem with. I am just assuming it was the one of me posing on seats where my skirt rode up," she said.

October 29, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

USA Today reports that Southwest Airlines sees ATA's loss as their gain. AdPulp reported earlier in the week that AirTran would assume ATA's gates at Midway for 87.5 million, subject to approval. Now the city of Chicago, says the gates are not ATA's to sell, but the city's.

Southwest, the nation's fourth biggest carrier is already number one at Midway, with 19 gates and 45% of passenger traffic.

As the city managers decide which airline is fairest, I suspect Herb Kelleher, Southwest's CEO, has a reserve of fine Cuban cigars ready for just these sort of occasions. Hey, it's about the love. It's right there in the logo, or lovemark, some migth call it.

October 29, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Business Week reports that Microsoft is battling for market share in many European cities, where government and business buyers are increasingly opting for the Linux operating system.

from the article: "There's a cultural element, too. Europeans have an affinity for Linux because it was created by a Finn, Linus Torvalds. And the communitarian culture of the open-source movement strikes a chord with the political Left. "There's an attraction to a business model that is closer to utopian socialism," says François Bancilhon, chief executive of Paris-based Linux software maker Mandrakesoft (MDKFF), which sells and supports Linux software."

October 29, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

As part of my daily media intake, I include a healthy serving of Lagniappe Jazz into the mix. "Lagniappe" roughly translates to hospitality, Nawlins style, or a relaxed way of life.

In a far from relaxed mode, the Recording Industry Association of America threatens the ability of small independent webcasters to provide the type of niche programming that makes internet radio special.

October 29, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Lewis Lazare in today's Sun Times: What's most depressing about this new Hyatt campaign, called "Spliced," is that its creators have completely forgotten -- or else totally ignored -- the cardinal rule of truly great and memorable advertising: Tell a good and relevant story, and tell it extraordinarily well.

That is certainly NOT what the Hyatt spots -- at least the ones we saw -- do. As the campaign title implies, each spot comprises a fleeting series of snippets of stuff all spliced together to create a 30 second jumble that is utterly confusing.

One commercial concludes with the line "this is not your typical hotel story," and in one sorry sense, that line is exactly right. The commercial is not a typical hotel story at all.

It's no story. The work is just a maddening muddle of ho-hum visuals that convey not one iota of comprehendable information about the "Hyatt touch."

Hotels, even Hyatts, can indeed be fun, beautiful, even sexy places to hang one's hat for a few days. But you'd never know that from "Spliced."

Lew's view: D

October 29, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

from Wired: Google has bought digital mapmaker Keyhole, extending the search engine leader's bid to fend off rivals with a toolbox that can catalog almost anything in the world.

Keyhole uses 3-D technology to provide faraway or close-up views of a region, neighborhood or specific address. The images, which will be available through Google (GOOG), rely on shots taken from satellites and airplanes and can be tilted into different positions.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Although the company isn't well-known, Keyhole's technology received widespread attention during the early days of the Iraq war when CNN used the 3-D maps to zero in on battlefronts.

October 29, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

from Adweek: After winning Subaru early this month, DDB's Lee Garfinkel sat in his Madison Avenue office-bare white walls, an acoustic guitar sitting nearby-and contemplated the significance of the victory. The big picture was obvious: It meant a return to the automobile category for the agency that changed the ad business with its Volkswagen work in the 1960s. But Garfinkel, who began his career on Subaru as a young copywriter in the '80s, briefly allowed himself to consider what it meant on a personal level, too. When Subaru vp of marketing Rick Crosson called, "he said the nicest thing," Garfinkel recalls. "He said, 'Welcome back to Subaru.' That really touched me. I got choked up at that point."

We need to do more human interest stories.

October 29, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

If you work in branded communications today, Naomi Klein has your number. She's sort of like Rachel Carson, but the pollution she fights against is brand proliferation.

Here's her bio on The Nation, where she publishes regularly: Born in Montreal in 1970, Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist and author of the international best-seller No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. Translated into twenty-five languages, No Logo was called by the New York Times "a movement bible." In 2000, the Guardian newspaper short-listed it for their First Book Award, and in 2001 No Logo won the Canadian National Business Book Award and the French Prix Mediations. Naomi Klein's articles have appeared in numerous publications, including The Nation, The New Statesman, Newsweek International, the New York Times, the Village Voice and Ms. magazine. She writes an internationally syndicated column for The Globe and Mail in Canada and The Guardian in Britain. A collection of her work, titled Fences and Windows: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate, was published in October 2002. For the past six years, Klein has traveled throughout North America, Asia, Latin America and Europe, tracking the rise of anticorporate activism. She is a frequent media commentator and university guest lecturer. In the fall of 2002, Klein was a Miliband Fellow at the London School of Economics.

October 29, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

MISSION STATEMENT

Heeb is the roiling product of so many drunken postmillennial nights on the mean streets of the Lower East Side. It is an ambitious antitrust investigation into the monopoly on God. It is a sweaty prizefight between hip hop and sushi in this corner and klezmer and kugel in the other. It is the bastard love child of Emma Goldman and Lenny Bruce. It is a plague on modern-day pharaohs replete with miraculous jailbreaks and a nice little riot or two. It is a Carnival cruise to the Garden of Eden with all-you-can-eat cheesecake and Parliament as the house band. Hallelujah.

October 29, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Outdoor for Wahoo's Fish Tacos by tda in Boulder

October 31, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Big Idea, "Your connection to the communications arts," is a trade magazine established in 1993 to "help creative advertising and corporate in-house professionals [creatives] excel in the business by providing industry insight, supplier information and networking opportunities."

On Friday, I was contacted by a reporter for Big Idea and asked several questions about AdPulp. I look forward to her write up. Big Idea is distributed in Detroit, Minneapolis and Chicago.

October 31, 2004 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Tawfik Mathlouthi is the French entrepreneur behind Mecca Cola, a new soft drink designed to cash in on anti-American sentiment around the world.

He hopes to make Mecca Cola the soft drink of choice for Muslims everywhere and thus push out that icon of American capitalism Coca-Cola.

It is all about combating "America's imperialism and Zionism by providing a substitute for American goods and increasing the blockade of countries boycotting American goods," Mr Mathlouthi told BBC News Online.

It is not the first time Coca-Cola has been the target of a "buy Muslim" challenge. Zamzam Cola, an Iranian drink named after a holy spring in Mecca, has won an enthusiastic reception in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.