Adweek reports on a war of words between Arnold and Glenn Sacks, a blogger who thinks Arnold's commercials denigrate men.

Glenn Sacks, on his Web site glennsacks.com, yesterday wrote, "We are asking Volvo not to award the contract to Arnold and instead award it to one of the other agencies, preferably Euro RSCG."

He objects to several of the agency's recent commercials, notably an execution for Fidelity Investments, in which a dad jumps up and down after besting his daughter in a game of Ping-Pong.

Sacks derided as harmful the portrayal of men in general, and fathers in particular, as "stupid" and "insensitive."

While it's true that making men look like doofuses is fairly standard in many ads, it's a trend that comes after decades of commercials that made housewives look in desperate need of the newest household cleanser/detergent/TV dinner.

It's interesting to see an agency formally respond to a blogger's efforts--and Sacks is directly trying to influence Volvo's decision making.

Web Host Industry Review offers a concise look at some possible uses for Twitter, a Web 2.0 darling du jour.

You can use Twitter as a shorthand newsletter. The example that LifeHacker gave was a video store, whose employees can post new movies now available for rental, holiday business hours, limited-time sales promo, etc. Likewise, web hosting providers can keep customers posted on network status ("some DC2 circuits scheduled for maintenance @ 2-3am") or announce new products ("this just in: quad core servers for $199!").

Technorati, CNN, BBC Video and Google News all have Twitter channels, so clearly business is finding the service useful.

Meg Pickard takes a look at how individuals use Twitter.

She says, "different people use it in very different ways."

Her Twittering classes are:

• The Briefers, who provide only bulletins relating to current location or status. Example: Waiting for the bus. Cold.
• The Detailers, who use Twitter to give an insight into what they’re thinking, eating, listening to, looking forward to, planning, and so on. Example: Wondering what to have for tea tonight. Pasta, maybe.
• The Kitchen Sinkers, who use Twitter as a new form of blogging, recording thoughts and links and opinions and ideas, addressed to no-one in particular. Example: Traffic lights broken at the corner of high street. Phoned work and told them I’ll be late. That’s the fourth time this week. Sigh.
• The Pongers, who respond publically to other users whose updates they are receiving via Twitter (so called because they return each IM ping with a pong). Example: @Jim: Hahaha! Yes!

According to Twitter, the service was born as an interesting side project within the offices of Odeo in March of 2006. There's more on the firm's blog.

[UPDATE: Book Two is using Twitter to republish James Joyce’s Ulysses, line by line.]

In the New York Times today, a great example of how faith in your art can pay off, if you're smart, resourceful, and have something people want.

Most first-time novelists only sell a few thousand copies, but Scott Sigler, a San Francisco-based sci-fi writer, has built a sizeable audience for his "steel-tipped boot on your throat, speed-metal fiction” by podcasting from a makeshift studio he set up in his walk-in closet.

After being snubbed by publishers for years, Mr. Sigler began recording his first book, “EarthCore,” in 2005. He offered it as a podcast in 22 episodes (roughly 45 minutes each) that he posted online and sent free to subscribers for downloading. Before long, Mr. Sigler had 5,000 listeners; by the time he finished releasing his second novel, “Ancestor,” last January, he had 30,000, as he does for “The Rookie,” which is playing now.

If you're in a boot-to-the-throat kinda mood today, check out Sigler's offerings.

Senators Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. and John Cornyn, R-Texas, along with 29 sponsors from both sides of the aisle, recently introduced a bill designed to significantly restrict tobacco advertising--particularly to minors--by giving the FDA authority over the product's marketing.

In the House, Reps. Henry Waxman D-Calif., and Tom Davis, R-Va., introduced a similar measure with nearly 100 co-sponsors, and that number is expected to grow.

Ad Age looks at the ad industry's repsonse.

Ad groups are pinning the "unconstitutional" label on Sen. Edward Kennedy's bid to let the Food and Drug Administration regulate tobacco and to impose a decade-old plan that imposes draconian marketing curbs on tobacco advertising.

"While the government has a legitimate interest in fighting the use of tobacco products by minors, the FDA's proposed regulations sweep far too broadly and result in massive censorship of truthful speech aimed at adults," the Association of National Advertisers, the American Advertising Federation and American Association of Advertising Agencies said in the letter.

According to Forbes, Kennedy said, "FDA action can play a major role in breaking the gruesome cycle that seduces millions of teenagers into a lifetime of addiction and premature death."

An earlier Forbes piece from Feb. 19 explains the twisted logic behind Phillip Morris' support for the bill.

Philip Morris USA, a subsidiary of Altria Group and the nation's largest cigarette manufacturer, with a 50.3% market share, roundly supports the bill. The company says FDA regulation would create a national tobacco policy, providing clear standards for the industry.

But just about everyone else in the industry is worried that the bill would diminish tobacco companies' current advertising clout, putting them at a disadvantage compared with Philip Morris, which owns the ubiquitous Marlboro brand.

The thinking is diminished advertising allows Marlboro to "lock in" its market share. In fact, RJ Reynold's has refered to the bill as "The Marlboro Monopoly Act."

[FULL DISCLOSURE: I work on RJR's Camel brand at BFG Communications. Therefore, I have more than a passing interest in this legal development.]

Pamela Grossman at Getty Images reports that the Dove spot depicted above has been banned by the FCC for showing too much skin. However, the ad is airing in Canada, according to Canoe. And on the internets, obviously.

Grossman fights the Feds logic with:

How can it be that Ms. Spears is allowed to gyrate in a bikini top on MTV with a snake whilst singing “I’m a slave for you” to 12 year olds, but 50-something women are not allowed to be shown sans clothes in what I would argue is a completely tasteful, if not downright elegant manner?

How, indeed?

According to this this news story from A.P., Absolut is for sale.

The vodka distilled in the southern Swedish town of Ahus is the world's No. 3 premium spirit and one of the country's most recognizable brands. It's owned by the Swedish government, who will likely make billions on the transaction (while gratifying those Swedes who contend their government needn't be in the spirits business).

The line between advertising and content becomes thinner by the day. Here's today's example from Variety.

Winner for most unusual piece of development this pilot season goes to ABC, which has turned a series of quirky Geico commercials into an actual half-hour comedy project.

"Cavemen" will revolve around three pre-historic men who must battle prejudice as they attempt to live as normal thirtysomethings in modern Atlanta.

Project, from ABC TV Studio, is penned by Joe Lawson, an advertising copywriter who was behind the "Caveman" ads -- as well as other Geico commercials.

Banterist interviewd Lawson in 2005. Here's something he said, "Every once in a while, if you are lucky, you catch the tail of an opportunity and put something on TV that doesn't annoy people, but most of the time 99% of us are producing crap."

[via American Copywriter]

Rob Walker has a good gig. He writes about consumer culture for TNYT Magazine. This week's installment looks at Rosemary Williams, an artist and an assistant professor of new media at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

Williams finds shopping anxiety-laden, which makes her choice to pursue "The Wall of the Mall" an act of bravery as well as an act of art, for she had to make recurrent trips to the Mall of America to create her work.

Her choice to "look critically at the ways in which shopping dominates our mental and physical landscapes" eventually took sculpted form (see photo above). She continues the theme in an audio series available from her site, Rosemary Goes to the Mall. In episode 16, Rosemary discovers the unadulterated joys of pure oxygen at Oxynate, an oxygen bar on the 3rd floor of the Mall. High on oxygen, she then drops $580 on a Magellan Portable Auto Navigation System at Radio Shack.

Good stuff.

According to USA Today, Wal-Mart is giving High-Def Radio a fighting chance.

The world's largest retailer will carry a high-definition car radio from JVC in 1,989 of its stores in 85 markets, priced at about $190.

Being on the shelf at Wal-Mart "underscores that HD Radio is ready for prime time, it's ready for the masses," says Peter Ferrara, CEO of the HD Digital Radio Alliance, a consortium that includes radio broadcasting powers such as Clear Channel and CBS Radio.

Stations in the 85 markets will donate airtime for Wal-Mart-produced ads about the HD Radios. The ads fit into the larger effort to popularize HD Radio. Stations have pledged $250 million in ad time in 2007, an average of 126 ads a week on each of the alliance's 700 stations.

Developed by Ibiquity, digital radio broadcasts provide listeners with radically improved audio quality, reception and new data services. HD Radio is free for consumers. A HD Radio receiver is all that is needed.

Over at The Hot Mic at Radio Talent Zoo, TZ's Bobbin Wages scores an exclusive podcast interview with Peter Krivkovich, CEO of Cramer-Krasselt.

C-K, if you'll recall, decided to tell CareerBuilder.com to take a hike when the client decided it wasn't happy with its agency because its Super Bowl commercial failed to make the Top 10 in this year's USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter.

Krivkovich also talks about agency-client relationships in general. It's an enlightening discussion.

By 2010, Microsoft will shift most of its $1 billion in U.S. ad spend to digital formats, according to senior VP Mich Mathews. Traditional media will play a role, but the goal will be to involve consumers in the brand. From MediaDailyNews:

That [involvement] mantra has become so critical that it's taken into consideration when creating TV spots and other video ads. Providing content that consumers can take ownership of via mashups and other tinkering is key. "It's now a factor in the creative process," Mathews said.

For example, an Xbox spot for the "Gears of War" game featured creative from agency McCann-Erickson that an amateur mish-mashed into his own version, complete with the "Stayin' Alive" track from the Bee Gees. It generated loads of streams on YouTube.

...Mathews said she is so committed to digital dominance--or at least its strong role in an integrated campaign--that she wants her digital marketing team in all planning sessions.

With the recent bi-partisan effort to enact further restrictions on tobacco advertising, I decided to explore the issue further.

Just how much does advertising and marketing need to be regulated?

It doesn’t matter who’s in power in Washington—there are both Democrats and Republicans who want to impose the additional tobacco regulations. It seems we are living in an ever-growing nanny state, and there are other types of advertising in the regulatory crosshairs, most notably fast-food, pharmaceutical, political advertising, and anything that kids could potentially see. That’s just for starters.

Now, I’m no fan of excessive government regulation, and I find it deeply strange to ban advertising of any product that’s perfectly legal to make and sell. But every time the threat of more regulation emerges, the leading trade groups for marketers, manufacturers, and advertisers along with their attendant lobbyists always say, “We don’t need federal regulation. Self-policing is the best way to go.” Bullshit. That’s letting the fox guard the henhouse, and frankly, our industry has never displayed much capacity for trustworthiness.

It's the subject of my new column on Talent Zoo.

I hope you enjoy it. I know these tubes of the Internets reach an audience around the world, but most of what I wrote applies primarily to American advertising and our government's regulatory abilities.

Ad Age explores reactions to the much ballyhooed Red campaign designed to benefit the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The campaign's inherent appeal to conspicuous consumption has spurred a parody by a group of San Francisco designers and artists, who take issue with Bono's rallying cry. "Shopping is not a solution. Buy less. Give more," is the message at buylesscrap.org, which encourages people to give directly to the Global Fund.

Trent Stamp, president of Charity Navigator, which rates the spending practices of 5,000 nonprofits, expressed concern that the campaign "gives young people an excuse to feel good about themselves while they buy an overpriced item they don't really need."

Mark Rosenman, a longtime activist in the nonprofit sector and a public-service professor at the Union Institute & University in Cincinnati, said the disparity between the marketing outlay and the money raised by Red is illustrative of some of the biggest fears of nonprofits in the U.S.

"There is a broadening concern that business is taking on the patina of philanthropy and crowding out philanthropic activity and even substituting for it," he said. "It benefits the for-profit partners much more than the charitable causes."

I hear the above concerns and believe they're valid. Yet, there's no question that the great causes of our time need corporate support. And corporations are right to want more for their money than a check writing ceremony. Red allows the corporate sponsors to actually make a profit, and this fact has some traditionalists stirred up, but it's a good idea nonetheless.

The companies supporting this charitable cause include Motorola, Apple, Converse, Gap, American Express and Emporio Armani.

Can I get the U.S. rights to do this over here?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The best consumer-generated ads we've seen out there are for political campaigns. And this is just a sample of what we're in for in 2008:

As I understand it, this wasn't sanctioned by the Obama campaign. But I love it.

Talk about some big time brand extensions: BusinessWeek reports on Disney's new line of designer bridal gowns.

Disney is taking a bold step into a market dominated by designers like Vera Wang with high-end cachet. But Mickey Mouse is no stranger to the altar. In 1991, Disney World in Orlando, Fla., launched its Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons service. The popularity of the program and the number of available options and extras have grown over the past 16 years. Disney now plans and hosts more than 2,000 unions a year—typically costing between $8,000 and $45,000—in both Orlando and at Anaheim (Calif.)-based Disneyland.

I could actually see this being kinda fun if you're into that sort of thing and you don't take it *too* seriously. Would you want a Disney wedding?

According to Seattle Times, Starbucks fields thousands of calls each year from customers phoning from the road to find the nearest Starbucks store.

Customers with cellphones and mobile devices can now save themselves the call. Mobile users can send a text message with the area's zip code to MYSBUX (697289), and a list of nearby Starbucks stores will pop back.

I just tested it and it works. Now, if someone comes up with the same system for indie coffee shops, espresso addicts will be hooked up.

Advertising Age's Emily Tan asked some of digital's top movers to identify the biggest trends and challenges that lie ahead for brands and those who would serve them.

Shane Steele, director-emerging media and online advertising at Coca-Cola Co. offers a client's perspective:

"The ideal is to identify and test new platforms that offer a first-mover advantage, that are measurable and that can be scaled effectively to deliver a significant return on investment. From a process perspective, this requires risk tolerance, rigor and speed, which can be significant challenges for organizations to overcome."

Nick Law, chief creative officer, R/GA offers an agency perspective:

"The emergence of digital as the hub of marketing. More and more agencies with a robust digital discipline at their center will be asked to steer clients' brands."

Stuart Elliott ponders, "Why is Ray-Ban saying, 'Don’t shade your peepers'? The idea is to find a playful way to encourage younger consumers, particularly those ages 18 to 25, to assert their individuality by revealing their sense of personal style."

Naturally, Ray-Ban's new campaign from TBWA/Chiat/Day San Francisco needs a consumer generated media component. It has one. You can upload a picture of yourslf wearing Ray-Bans and the image will appear on 11 mega screens in Times Square, starting tomorrow.

"Blogs, like podcasting and virtual worlds such as Second Life, offer a passionate niche audience. At the same time, they typically are not suited for repurposed content, and require special attention from marketers to work well as part of a campaign. This is partly why blogs are not considered very effective by most US advertising executives, according to the American Advertising Federation."

[SOURCE: eMarketer]

Facing increased competition from MySpace and YouTube for the hearts and minds of young people, MTV will launch an ambitious and risky Web strategy, according to Reuters. MTV's web presence is already 150 sites strong, but the new plan is to build literally thousands more.

[MTV] aims to build Web sites related to every personality and aspect of its shows, hoping to catch viewers wherever they happen to be on the Internet and on mobile phones, [Mike] Salmi [digital president of MTV Networks] said in an interview.

It has created three virtual worlds -- Laguna Beach for teenagers, Nicktropolis for children and Virtual Hills for young adults -- and says more Web sites can help it go deeper to promote individual shows and personalities.

The move is a risky one for Viacom as it could breed confusion and dilute corporate branding.

..."The goal is hopefully to tie it all together over the next year, and to be far more open," said Salmi.

...Salmi said the company plans to open up more of its archives, allowing Internet users to take videos and post them on their own sites and also re-edit some clips.

I don't like what I'm reading today about new fee structures for internet radio.

Orbitcast and Arts Technica warn of the format's demise. While Kurt Hanson of Radio and Internet Newsletter (RAIN) breaks down the mathematical implications:

Because a typical Internet radio station plays about 16 songs an hour, that's a royalty obligation in 2006 of about 1.28 cents per listener-hour.

In 2006, a well-run Internet radio station might have been able to sell two radio spots an hour at a $3 net CPM (cost-per-thousand), which would add up to .6 cents per listener-hour.

Even adding in ancillary revenues from occasional video gateway ads, banner ads on the website, and so forth, total revenues per listener-hour would only be in the 1.0 to 1.2 cents per listener-hour range.

That math suggests that the royalty rate decision — for the performance alone, not even including composers' royalties! — is in the in the ballpark of 100% or more of total revenues.

Given that I listen to WNCW's internet stream pretty much all day at work, anything that threatens them, threatens me. If you come here often, you already know I have an enormous appetite for media consumption. Now you know which type of media I cherish most.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting Michael Roth's strategy for growth in China.

The chairman of Interpublic Group of Cos. said the advertising and marketing-services firm is working to expand in China by cultivating more local clients in addition to the multinational customers it serves in the market.

"The untapped opportunity is with local clients and, eventually, with local clients trying to be global," Interpublic Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Roth said. "This is a very important market for us."

New York-based Interpublic, which is the parent company of ad agencies McCann Erickson Worldwide and Draftfcb, among others, now reaps 9% to 10% of its world-wide revenue from Asia, and Mr. Roth said he expects the business to continue growing.

The New York Times looks at Next New Networks, a New York-based Internet start-up run and backed by former executives of MTV and Nickelodeon. NNN plans to offer a series of video-oriented Web sites — what the company calls micro-networks — on niche topics like do-it-yourself fashion, comic books, car racing and cartoons.

The video above is from ThreadBanger (threadbanger.com), which offers a five-minute weekly show with anchors who discuss the homemade-clothing culture.

Seriously, can someone tell me what it was like to concept, present and shoot an idea like this? Because I just can't imagine working in an ad agency that would've done this. It's so far removed from the reality of my life as a copywriter in 2007.

Over at AdFreak the comments have been coming in hot and heavy over this ad for a Boise bagel shop that ran in a local alt-weekly:

But scroll down through all the cream cheese and schmear jokes and you'll find a comment from Brian at Idaho Ad Agencies:

There's no reportedly about it -- it did run in the Boise Weekly. Even though it was supposed to be in support of the Vagina Monologues, what you see here is what was printed in the paper.

The annual production of The Vagina Monologues at Boise State University is always an attention-getting, controversial event. Which helps explain the ad. Context is everything. Particularly in print, where some of the best ideas have to do with where and when they're placed in the media. On the tubes of the Internets, there is very little context or explanation of what you see.

Ecko Enterprises is planning to open 150 full-price retail stores across the U.S. by the end of 2009, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Ecko says he understands the risks. "If you want to grow a business in American malls...it's more than just being able to have the money for the key," he says. "There's theater to it. [Customers] want to feel something when they walk into a store. It's not enough to say, 'We've got a great sense of style."'

"I'm a designer, right? But because I've kind of encompassed this whole lifestyle attitude," Mr. Ecko says, "I'm kind of given license to explore other businesses that are more contemporary but still embody the lifestyle values. And this isn't necessarily clothing."

In 2002, Ecko launched Complex, a lifestyle magazine for men, so he has some experience with breaking out of the clothing box.

Shawn Waite's Shedwa Six--a six question interview series with ad geeks and bloggers--this week features Ariel Waldman from Shake Well Before Use.

I find this exchange interesting:

S: What impact, if any, do you think blogs serve in the ad community?

AW: I find that blogs have really broken down the barriers between competing agencies over time. Rather than operating in isolated pods, we're sharing ideas and networking on a broader scale with our competitors, and it only makes the ad community stronger.

I have to concur. AdPulp has served as an introduction to a bunch of ad peeps I wouldn't otherwise know.

Speaking of, I'll be in Austin starting tonight and all next week for SXSW. If you're there and want to meet up in person, email me at dburn @ adpulp dot com.

Sometimes, I like Rachael Ray.
Sometimes, I like Dunkin' Donuts.
But together? I'm not sure about that.

However, we're all just gonna have to get used to it:

As its new brand representative, Ray will appear in a multi-platform marketing campaign for Dunkin' Donuts. Ray will also lend her perspective to the Dunkin' Donuts culinary team in the development of new, "better for you" food and beverage options. In recent years, the company has introduced several new products that provide customers with additional on-the- go options, including Smoothies, Latte Lite and the reduced carb bagel; in addition, the company has been working since 2004 to remove trans-fats from all of its menu offerings.

"We believe there is tremendous synergy between Dunkin' Donuts and Rachael Ray," said Robert Rodriguez, Dunkin' Donuts brand president. "Rachael's philosophy of creating quality meals quickly and without pretense for busy people living busy lives is the same driving force behind the Dunkin' Donuts brand."

She's all about cooking at home. And she's even got an endorsement deal for cookware. So why is a good idea for her to push Dunkin' Donuts on us?

SXSW is sensory overload. I finally waded through my film, interactive and music schwag bags. Lots of junk, of course, with several good mags tossed in--HOW Design Annual, Paste, Paper, Relix, Utne Reader, etc.

In the interactive bag, I found three white pieces of paper stapled together. Simple black type on white pages. No design at all. All copy. Here's some:

Not only can you interview while at SXSW for a shot at working in CP+B's Interactive Department, but in this handy-dandy resignation toolkit, you'll find a professionally crafted resignation letter. Pefectly worked to help you cut the ties to your current company. Simply look on the next couple pages, complete the checklist and you'll soon be on the fast track to working with the innovative minds behind subservientchicken.com, comeclean.com, MINI's roofstudio.com, vwfeatures.com, and BK's Xbox games.

I don't see the resignation letter in my packet. Maybe someone forgot to staple it. That can happen with a schwag bag.

Here's an interesting article from the Washington Post about Sears and its chairman, Edward Lampert.

Lampert bought Sears in 2004. He has no retail experience. Actually, he's a Wall Street guy. So he's taking the money he makes from Sears and is turning it into a hedge fund while letting the stores die:

But, if Sears the Retailer is ailing, Sears the Hedge Fund has never been healthier. Hedge funds are massive unregulated investment pools typically open to only institutional investors and wealthy individuals. The company's stock soared 45 percent in 2006, driven by high-risk trades that produced $101 million, or a third, of Sears Holding's pretax income in the third quarter. These investments did not perform well in the fourth quarter, and the firm had to sell off properties to cover its losses, according to a Morgan Stanley report.

Under Lampert, Sears has spent far less on its retail business than competitors. Gone are the days of heavy television promotions such as the "softer side of Sears." The Sears Roebuck Foundation, the firm's charitable arm, has dried up in generosity, several Chicago-based institutions such as the Children's Museum report.

Whether or not Sears as a store is worth saving, well, that's debatable. But there's an interesting lesson here for any business, brand, even an agency: The business will always be run and managed as a reflection of whoever owns it. In this case, Sears is no longer worth much as a retail brand, because Lampert isn't a retail guy.

Nike has used other shops for advertising before (i.e, Goodby and Chiat/Day), and they use other agencies for projects and things, but this Adweek article suggests a real big shift may be on the way:

The first piece of business likely to be up for grabs, sources said, is the client's U.S. running shoe account, currently handled by Wieden + Kennedy.

The Nike rep, Dean Stoyer, would not discuss potential contenders or assignments. But sources said that on Friday Nike informed Wieden, the client's primary agency for 24 years, that the running shoe account would be put into review. Spending is undisclosed.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which has been in talks with Nike for months, is said to be a likely contender for the business. While one source said the account is already headed to the Miami-based MDC Partners shop, the Nike rep said, "No decision is imminent to give a piece of business to any agency."

Wieden + Kennedy made Nike what it is today. And vice versa. Is this a good move? Bad move? What agencies should (or shouldn't) try to get the sneaker side of the business?

Well, for a second this seemed like a shocking piece of news:

MTV owner Viacom Inc. sued the popular video-sharing site YouTube and its corporate parent, Google Inc., on Tuesday, seeking more than $1 billion in damages on claims of widespread copyright infringement.

Viacom claims that YouTube has displayed nearly 160,000 unauthorized video clips from its cable networks, which also include Comedy Central, VH1 and Nickelodeon.

Then, I checked on it. And realized that Google could show up on Viacom's front door with a truckload of $100 bills and not miss a beat.

They have $11 BILLION in cash and investments that they're sitting on. Now that's how you make a shitload of money in advertising: One click-through at a time.

See if you can figure this one out. From the AP:

Levon Helm, former drummer for The Band, is suing a Manhattan advertising firm over the use of the band's signature song, "The Weight," in a television commercial.

In a lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in December, Helm asks for information about BBDO Worldwide's profits from the commercial for Cingular cell phone service and for financial compensation for the use of his performance.

Pinsky (Helm's lawyer) said Helm received a royalty payment from the use of "The Weight" in the commercial, but doesn't feel he has been adequately compensated.

"Profits from the commercial"? How does one figure that out? A media buy? A production markup? He's putting the load on BBDO's accountants, I guess.

Danny G. asked me earlier today if I'm too hung over to post. He asks because I'm in Austin for SXSW and I haven't been blogging about it on this site. I have made a few posts at BFG Blog about my experience, and I made one at Leftover Cheese about the film "Silver Jew."

I have been taking notes during the panels. I don't "live blog" because my typing skills are not great. Plus, I like to absorb the information before processing it for an audience. It's frustrating in a certain sense (given our cultural need for immediacy), but it's how I work.

At any rate, I'm sitting in Room 10 A-B at the Austin Convention Center waiting for a panel on "Global Microbrands" to begin.

Hugh MacLeod of Gaping Void, Kathy Sierra of Creating Passionate Users, Gabe Rivera of Techmeme and David Parmet are on the panel. Hugh coined the term, so after a quick introduction from Parmet, Hugh introduces his concept.

Here are some opening remarks:

Hugh: I went to Univ. of Texas in the late 1980s. Because of blogs I'm recession proof. I have a global network of people. Some give me money. Some don't. I still work 18 hours a day. The key is personal sovereignty. So thank you.

Gabe: You're not going to advertise in magazines if you're a global microbrand. But you might appear on Techmeme if you put stuff out there that people want to link to.

Kathy: The big moment for me was when I had a higher Technorati rating than my publisher at O'Reilly. That changed my book deal for the better. (on blogging) Be grateful. Peoples' attention is a gift. Everything I do is driven by that. Our job is to make people feel better about themselves.

Parmet: You're gonna piss some people off. But you will also find work through your blog, so it balances out.

Highlights from the Q + A:

Hugh: Link to people who read your blog, not to Scoble or Kathy. (about his involvement with Stormhoek) Two years ago, when I started working with Stormhoek they were selling 40,000 cases a year. Now we sell 40,000 a week...so it works!

Kathy: Sometimes I go two weeks without a post. Don't just post to post, take the time to think and offer something of value.

Hugh: (speaking about Thomas the "English Cut" tailor) He makes suits for Brian Ferry of Roxy Music. That's how cool he is. Every time he makes a suit, he gets an order for three more. But he doesn't give a damn about his Technorati rankings. He cares about suits.

Parmet: It's not about reaching the most people, it's about reaching the right people.

Hugh: I used to work in advertising on Madison Avenue. It was horrendous.

Rivera: Sometimes when you forget about the metrics and find your own voice, your metrics improve anyway.

Parmet: (on working from home) I want to show my kids that when you graduate from college you don't have to work in "the glass building of death for Mr. Dickless." (he's quoting Hugh)

Hugh: I'm sorry, real jobs do suck. The more people who can succeed on their own terms, the happier I'll be. I want everyone to succeed.

Hugh: Everybody Google "social object." It's the future of marketing, in my opinion. It's not about technology, it's about love. We're here today because of love.

Tim Gideon of PC Magazine wrote an article about a SXSW panel I walked out on yesterday--"What Does the Future Hold for Video on the Internet?" Before I vacated the room, I did hear this exchange, and upon reflection believe it's worth repeating here.

Kent Nichols, from Ask A Ninja, pointed out that most "user-generated" sites like MySpace own all the uploaded content and can do whatever they want with it, including use your videos for their purposes or police the links you include on your page.

Nichols seemed to think that companies like MySpace and YouTube were succeeding very well at tricking people into basically giving them content. The creators of LonelyGirl—the YouTube phenom from last year—are, according to Nichols, kicking themselves for using YouTube as their launch pad instead of just using the YouTube player and embedding it on their own, separate site. Why? Now everything they do involving LonelyGirl must pass through YouTube.

According to Wikipedia, Crowdsourcing is a neologism for a business model that depends on work being done outside the traditional company walls: while outsourcing is typically performed by lower paid professionals, crowdsourcing relies on a combination of volunteers and low-paid amateurs who use their spare time to create content, solve problems, or even do corporate R&D. The term was coined by Wired magazine writer Jeff Howe and editor Mark Robinson in June 2006.

On Saturday, during a SXSW interactive panel on "Commercialization of Wikis," Moderator Evangelo Prodromou, founder of Wikitravel, made fun of the crowdsourcing concept. He likened it to the popular fable, "there's a sucker born every minute" (that will do your work for you for free). Essentially, he believes crowdsourcing is exploitation.

Prodromou said, "Our job is to provide a platform for people who have information and for people who need information." He also said wikis, commercial and otherwise, need to have a noble purpose. Unlike blogs or social networking sites, wikis are not about ego and not about making friends, he said.

Having recently bought a car myself, I can attest that one's experience at a car dealership can make or break everything. No amount of image advertising that ad agencies do can reverse a really bad experience with a dealer who tries to screw with you or a salesman who doesn't know much about the car you want.

Over at The Truth About Cars, there's a bit of a "Point-Counterpoint" discussion going on about the current state of auto dealers and salespeople. A Honda dealer and a TTAC contributing writer weigh in, along with plenty of comments from readers.

Car dealers are actually having a rough time of it in general--now that consumers are savvier about the purchase price and using the Net to comparison shop, it's getting harder and harder for them to make profits. (I'm talking about the dealerships, not the manufacturers.) So many of them still try to find sneaky ways to extract more of your money from you. And no one seems to be in a huge rush to end all of this price haggling. While there are some good dealers and salesmen out there, you just never know what's in store for you when you walk into a dealership.

At the moment, Hyundai, Jeep, and Volvo are all searching for new agencies. Until the dealer system gets a radical overhaul, it may not matter who does the brand advertising because the consumer experience is what truly needs a makeover.