October 1, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Ben Sellon is a 25-year old copywriter living in Portland and looking for work.

Naturally, he mingles with industry types and hands out his card. But in Ben's case it's not just a business card that he hands out. Rather, it's a hand-made statement about his DIY ethos, his willingness to get his hands dirty (literally), his design aptitude and his unique creative vision. Yes, a business card can do all that, when the card is made with love and careful attention to detail.

Ben was working for Milk Milk, "a Marketing Collective" in Portland until last June. On his blog, he writes:

...if you're an agency looking for a writer or a creative company wanting a rad dude for any sort of concept/content development -- hit me. I mean, don't literally hit me, hit me up. Or I suppose you could physically hit me too, so long as you write me a paycheck.

I see Ben going far in this business. You might too. Hit him up @sellonb.

October 1, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Kraft has long helped busy people plan their meals. Now, the foods giant is helping busy people with an iPhone and $.99 plan their meals.

Ad Age spoke to Ed Kaczmarek, director of innovation-new services at Kraft Foods, about the brand's decision to charge for their iPhone App.

We look at iFood Assistant as a natural evolution from product to service. We look at it as providing the consumer with a service that's of value, and we feel the 99 cent price, which is the same as a song, is a minimal cost, but it also signifies the content is more premium.

October 1, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Ad Age reports that "It's the end of the road for Saturn, as General Motors pulls the plug on the iconic car brand following an11th-hour breakdown in talks with would-be buyer Roger Penske."

Penske terminated the deal because it was unable to secure a source of new product beyond what GM would build on contract.

October 2, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Why did Fallon/London got to Seydisfjordur, a small village in Iceland, and fill it with speakers that played music from the likes of Death In Vegas, Bob Dylan and the Guillemots? To make a short film, of course.

"Believe in superior sound experiences," Sony says. Okay, I will.

[via Creative Review]

October 2, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 4 Comments

According to Ad Age, the 4As conducted a compensation study at more than 230 marketing agencies of varying sizes, geographies and specialties.

A chief creative based in the New York Metro area billed an average of $751 an hour last year -- more than double what a chief creative in other parts of the Eastern U.S. or in the South billed, at $319 an hour. In the central part of the country, a head creative billed an average of $420 an hour, and in the West, an average of $461.

So what conclusions might one draw from this data? One might be that ad people are highly paid. We are highly paid because there's a lot on the line and ideas (and execution of those ideas across countless media) don't come cheap, nor should they.

Another conclusion that's easy to draw is brands interested in "value" need to be working with agencies in the South, Midwest and West.

October 2, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Sally Hogshead has collected some of her "recent tweets, online posts, random mumblings, little ditties--that sort of thing" for your benefit and hers.

She adds, "feel free to print, post, or plagiarize to your heart's content."

October 3, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Danner is a Portland-based boot company that's been in business since 1932.

The company invested in a series of industrial films to advance their "Crafting Higher Standards" campaign.

The short films were shot by Tadd Meyers on a 5d MkII on location at Danner's factory, sweetened by Digital One and edited by Transparent Studios.

October 5, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 8 Comments

According to Brian Morrissey at Adweek, brands and their agencies can't produce enough content for the voracious machine, a fact which is leading them to look outside themselves for answers.

AT&T turned to an outside firm called Associated Content -- a startup with a network of 300,000 freelance content creators -- to produce over 100 how-to articles. Topics range from setting up a wireless network and building a marketing strategy to writing a business plan. The material will appears on the AT&T Small Business InSite destination.

After looking at the quality of content available on Associated Content, I'm dumbfounded by AT&T's decision to go this route. For instance, let's examine--painful as it is--this Associated Content advice on becoming a copywriter.

When writing as an advertising copywriter, it is easy to focus on the facts about your product. You need to make sure that you are writing with a little flair. Also, features can be a vague concept for many readers. They don't know how to translate that into what it means for them. If you are only writing features, then your readers are missing your point. And if you include some benefits with some features and fail to show how those features translate into benefits, your readers may also be confused.

This wonderful piece of copy comes from a PhD in Theology candidate at Bob Jones University, which is an interesting credential for a copy tutor.

AT&T and other brands may feel under-equipped to fill the content hole. I understand that. Which is why I, and others, keep saying brands are in the media business now.

It's time to start acting like it. Acting like it means hiring real writers to craft sensible solutions.

October 5, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Levi's and its agency, Wieden + Kennedy, are set to unleash a new Alternate Reality Game (ARG) on the denim wearing world.

At the center of the game is a character named Grayson Ozias IV. According to brand legend, Ozias was a friend of Levi Strauss' nephew Nathan. A friend who disappeared into the American wilderness in 1896, after hiding his fortune for future adventurers to find.

The experience is part story, part scavenger hunt adventure and part puzzle game. It starts online, where the story--delivered via recreations of old wax cylinder voice recordings--follows the 1890s adventures of Ozias.

Players collect online clues which need to be fulfilled offline. Each real-world task involves a collectible clue, which players document and email to Levi's. Each time a collectible is found and posted, it unlocks the next segment of story and more clue finding.

The final challenge will be revealed in mid-November as the game narrows to 100 finalists. These players will be given the last piece of the Ozias puzzle to decipher, and the first to solve it is the winner. The winner will receive $100,000.

By the way, Ozias is on Twitter, but not on Wikipedia.

October 5, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Alex Bogusky keeps bringin' it on his new blog-like thing and I keep saying, "Yep, right, uh huh."

...every day what we do becomes more like the movie and television business. For some of you the lines may have blurred between what you do and the publishing business. And if you are on the cutting edge you find yourself spending time harnessing games, industrial design, architecture and interactive apps to help build our clients' businesses.

It's no coincidence that we find ourselves spending more and more time in these disciplines. These are our sister professions...We are all part of the Creation Industries. And it really isn't limited to the list of industries above.

Thankfully, I have already begun to live the shift Bogusky mentions, away from making ads towards something that more closely resembles editorial. For me, editorial or content is a better fit. I have the temperament of a newsman and the need to write copy completely devoid of brand buzzwords. Yet, I'm all for serving the client's interests (when those interests align with my values).

Yeah I know, I ask a lot. I don't want to make ads. I want to make content. And I don't want to do it for just any old client, I want to do it for clients that have a humanistic vision of the future and a deep commitment to seeing that vision through.

What can I say? A man's gotta have goals.

October 5, 2009 by Dan Goldgeier | Permalink | 0 Comments

And then there's the one with the idiot Miss Teen South Carolina.

I would love to have been a fly on the wall in the conference room where this idea was presented. It was probably more bizarre than I could imagine.

October 6, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Is Google about to make email the killer app again? Sarah Perez of Read Write Web thinks so.

Real time updates, something that Gmail users are starting to notice, is why.

Just imagine the possibilities! In the enhanced Netflix emails, for example, you not only view your recent recommendations - you can actually add them to your queue right from within the message itself.

This sort of interactivity is sure to be an email marketer's dream as it allows for whole new levels of user engagement with the brand. Instead of simply dismissing the email with a click of the "delete" button, recipients might find themselves actually taking the time to read through what were once thought of as "throwaway" messages.

But a little in-email interactivity may only be scratching the surface of what this enhanced content makes possible. What could come next? Perhaps you'll soon be able to make purchases without ever leaving the confines of your inbox? Wait until Amazon gets on board with that idea - our wallets are sure to take a beating!

October 6, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

The rise and fall, mostly fall, of print titles in the Information Age is something the press is forever writing about. Which is fine. It is a big story.

Maybe that's what makes this small story in The New York Times about the 300th anniversary edition of Tatler so enchanting.

Like an obstinate British blueblood sticking to tweed, Tatler seems to have decided that the Internet is a passing fad. It keeps the magazine's contents off its spartan Web site, posting only material from its supplements on subjects like travel, cosmetic surgery and private education.

While many magazines are digitally challenged, few seem to be as unbothered about it as Tatler, a fixture on coffee tables in stockbrokers' homes in Surrey and elsewhere around the world where old and new money mingle.

"I'm rather tired of all this business about the Internet," said Patricia Stevenson, Tatler's publishing director. "Magazines are wonderful things to have with you and to take around with you. I think Tatler is going to be around for another 300 years."

Interestingly, Condé Nast, which owns Tatler, announced the end of the line for four of its print titles--Gourmet, Modern Bride, Elegant Bride and Cookie. About 180 people will lose their jobs as a result of the four closings.

Yet magazines, as Tatler's publishing director argues, are wonderful objects to have around and tote about. I have several on the coffee table before me now. But titles lacking a sizable share of adverts and/or a dedicated subscriber base are fast disappearing. Is this wrong? No, but for longtime fans of a mag, it can be a bitter disappointment. For instance, Meg Hourihan, a geek who likes to cook, says, "Shuttering Gourmet is short-sighted and stupid."

October 6, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Major League Soccer is coming to Portland in 2011 and thanks to NEMO's youth and sports marketing chops, the team's advertising account stays in Portland too.

The Portland Timbers selected NEMO to deliver creative services during the 2010 USL season, and the inaugural MLS 2011 season. NEMO's category experience is deep, with work for Nike 6.0, Smith Optics, MasterCraft, Bell Helmets, Globe Bicycles, STX Lacrosse, Nike Soccer, ESPN, FUEL TV and the Portland Lumberjax.

Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson said, "NEMO understands the voice of the Timbers and we've got great things planned to engage Timbers fans and our community."

NEMO co-founder and general manager Trevor Graves added, "This is a great fit for us. It's a national client on a global playing field, right in our backyard - which gives us the opportunity to experience the product and build community on a local level."

October 6, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Akron is an industrial town in Northeast Ohio famous for making tires and for being home to LeBron James and The Black Keys.

Akron is also home to Keathley Advertising and its new blog Rooftop Banter.

According to the press release:

After years of having thought-provoking conversations on their rooftop patio, Keathley Advertising's crew decided to take it to professionals everywhere with its new blog, Rooftop Banter.

The Keathley staff works in the top floor of the Castle Hall building, which was built in 1878.

The office once served as a ballroom for the Knights of Pythias.

October 6, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Agency: Carmichael Lynch

[via BrandFreak]

October 7, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Agency: Woods Witt Dealy & Sons

October 7, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Big Dog Eat Child is a sketch comedy troupe from Alsip, Illinois. They're also the team that's responsible for the Water Werks commercial above. While the homage to SNL appears to be in jest, it's actually a real commercial for a real client with real boats for sale--a fact which makes this spot richer than most.

October 7, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

One of the best things about making tourism adverts is the chance to let pretty pictures lead, something art directors are wont to do.

According to The Inspiration Room, the ad above from Publicis Mojo positions Daylesford (in the state of Victoria) as a village perched on the edge of decadence and purity.

The spot features Melbourne-born actress Isabel Lucas. Music is "Down to the River To Pray", sung by Paris Wells and supported by the Brunswick Women's Choir.

October 7, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 7 Comments

AdPulp will be five years old next week. In blog time, that's aged.

We may be old, but we don't dally. At the time of this writing there are 7137 entries in our database, not all of which were written by me. I've only written 6016 of them, thanks to the kind and expert help of Danny G., Shawn, Matt Bergantino, Tom Asacker and Wade Sturdivant.

This is probably a good time to reflect on the path to here and now, but I'm more curious about the road ahead. Will we keep on keepin' on? Will we increase revenue and become a profitable media enterprise? Will we be able to pay contributing writers? Will we break important stories? Will we be swallowed up by a larger fish one day? These are all good questions. I wish there were equally good answers to the questions, but we're not at the answering table just yet.

When I compose these navel-gazing posts I sometimes wonder if you care. I realize it's asking a lot to care. I know you have other more pressing concerns to occupy your mind. However, I also know that we have fans and that some of our best fans do, in fact, care. Some of you have told us that you'd pay for this content and others have paid for it by choosing to run ads here. Believe me, we appreciate the support, both emotional and financial.

There is no elegant way to say this, other than to blurt it out. We need more of you to step forward and help now. There are many ways to help AdPulp financially. You or your clients can run an ad, or an ad campaign. You or your workplace can become a site sponsor. You can hit the tip jar every so often (now would be good). You can buy the books we advertise in the eyebrow above. There are also non-monetary things you can do to help like writing a guest post, keeping us informed of breaking news in your world, inviting us to speak at conferences and so on.

None of this would matter if AdPulp was just a side project, a nice little hobby. But that's not what AdPulp is. Technically yes, we fit this daily project into our larger work lives, but AdPulp is an established micro-media brand with a unique editorial voice and a smart, engaged industry audience. In other words, it's worth something. Exactly what it's worth is to be determined. I'm asking you to help make that determination with us.

October 8, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

David&Goliath and Seagram's Vodka are appealing to football fans with a new campaign that brings NFL rivalries to the fore.

The spots will run through Super Bowl Sunday.

October 8, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Personally, I'm happy to see Brett Favre playing football. Which team the guy plays for doesn't matter to me. I know that's not the case in Wisconsin and Minnesota, but I don't live in Wisconsin or Minnesota, nor do I claim the Pack or Vikes as my team.

I don't really have a pro team to be honest, although I do like the Seahawks and the Saints. At any rate, Sears drew up a great play with Favre helping to move widescreen TVs. And EuroRSCG/New York executed the play to perfection.

October 8, 2009 by Dan Goldgeier | Permalink | 2 Comments

Everyone who works in a creative field is fighting the theft of ideas and work. The American Society of Media Photographers is tacking it with this spot and a new site, Don'tScrewUs.Org.

I'm not even a professional photographer, but I was reluctant to put my nicer photographs on Flickr in the fear that someone might lift one and it would end up on some lame banner ad. In a way that's wishful thinking, I suppose. But a photographer friend said to me that if no one ever sees it, no one can like it enough to lift it. I guess that's true.

Still, anyone who creates some form of content -- photos, ads, whatever -- takes a risk, particularly when they put it online to promote themselves. But this ad makes a good point. Remember, many people thought nothing of downloading music from Napster when they wouldn't dare walk into a record store and steal a CD.

Hat tip to AdLand.

October 8, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Gene Rebeck, Senior Editor at Twin Cities Business, spoke to the former Fallonites now known as Zeus Jones.

Here's a bit of what he came away with:

"The marketing world is so cluttered, it's so difficult to get people's attention," Adrian Ho notes. Fast-evolving interactive technology was revealing tantalizing new creative possibilities. Marketers are certainly putting "trad-ad" messages online, and this isn't to say they don't work. But the interactive world can also swiftly undercut those messages via brand critics, marketing-BS detectors, and unhappy, often video-posting customers.

The result: "The picture of a company is being formed much less by advertising," Ho says. That image, he and his colleagues believe, is being shaped much more by how a company acts--how it helps people, not the clever ways it shouts at the consumer masses.

How a company acts (the media) is the message. And when it's the agency's job to amplify those "actions" a truth is being told. I like that.

October 8, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 4 Comments

I'm really glad Gavin Mevius of Jawbone.tv took the time to describe the inner workings of PartyAcrossTheInternet.com, a digital promo from Axe Bodywash, a.k.a. Lynx, because my brain might have blown a gasket trying to decode it.

The experience starts on a fake Men's Magazine known as Ralph, set to a remix of KiD CuDi's Day n' Nite.

What follows is a story that brings you through several recognizable places on the internet, with the next stop being Quiksilver (the clothing company) where a pool party literally spills out of its video box.

And on from there, until one ends up at the Facebook page for Lynx. The page has 34,587 fans at the time of this post.

The digital campaign is the work of independent Australian gaming company agency, Soap Creative.

October 9, 2009 by Dan Goldgeier | Permalink | 0 Comments

Other than a peripheral connection to "fun," I don't get why this helps VW, but this idea is clever as hell.

There will be more to come at TheFunTheory.com

As the YouTube page suggests, "We believe that the easiest way to change people's behaviour for the better is by making it fun to do. We call it The fun theory." Which is true. But is it really going to make people think VW is more fun? Will it make consumers like VW more? Will it sell any cars? Actually, it may convince subway riders to get back in their cars for some newly rediscovered fun.

Frankly, I think the marketing folks at Kaiser Permanente or Blue Cross Blue Shield (or any other healthy lifestyle-type brand) are looking at this and going, "Fuck. We should've done that."

October 9, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Take a good look at the spot below, because Cadillac won't have the luxury of such well crafted spots in the near future.

Ad Age is reporting that the "new GM" will drop Modernista from the Cadillac account.

Since GM's exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy this summer, the Detroit grapevine has swirled that Modernista was the odd agency out since it was independent, and that it would be replaced with a shop from one of GM's two main agency-holding conglomerates: Publicis Groupe or Interpublic Group of Cos. Pundits figured the leaner GM could no longer afford the luxury of a smaller, independent shop.

The move is financially related -- GM wants to cut fees, said a former GM exec, since Modernista had higher fees than other, longer-term agencies to the marketer.

Yes, higher fees for much much better work.

[via Ken Wheaton]

October 9, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Bill Green of Make the Logo Bigger is teaming up with Angela Natavidad of Adrants and Live and Uncensored to create a new adcast called AdVerve.

Green has a really good radio voice and Natavidad's touch works as a solid counter balance. Plus she lives in Paris. How many radio shows can say they have a host in Paris?

Green & Natavidad's first episode features Hadji Williams, ad creative, author of Knock The Hustle and the industry's most outspoken advocate for diversity in the ranks. Naturally, the discussion is about race, a topic Green says, "won't be solved by a Facebook group alone."

I asked Green why he was compelled to produce the show and how podcasting is different from blogging. He says, "I always loved a round table approach where you sorta listen in. And I think people will tolerate lengthy discussion over a lengthy post."

October 9, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

AmEx, you've been served by Joseph Jaffe. Somehow, I don't see them caring all that much.

By the way, BofA took 30 large off our table (home equity line of credit) with no rhyme, reason or warning, and then they came back around and clipped the limit on one of my credit cards.

Banks don't want to extend credit. YouTube rants notwithstanding, that's the reality of today's market.

October 9, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

A new media baron is about to born on the Third Coast. His name is James Tyree.

Tyree, 51, is chairman of Mesirow Financial and scheduled to be the next owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and its 58 suburban newspaper titles.

"Media kingpins aren't what they used to be, but Tyree said he's not content with modest expectations," according to an article in the paper he's about to own.

Tyree said he's convinced there's still a business model to build around "high-quality, high-integrity and focused local content."

"Everybody thinks there will be some golden light that will be the answer" for the media business, he said. "I don't think that will be the case. There will be a lot of answers, and they will work differently for different operations. It's a portrait that's still being painted."

Tyree and his investors will pay $5 mil and absorb $20 mil in liabilities (but not the $600 mil owned to the IRS by former Sun Times owner Conrad Black, now in prison) so it's fair to say Tyree is getting a great deal.

He told the Chicago Tribune, "I think this is a very good business investment in a business that will at some time in the future be a winner. "I'm aware of what other people think, and it's a legitimate viewpoint. But I choose to look at it differently."

As a content creator, I salute the investment. The unions got beat up in this deal and the newsroom took a 15% pay reduction, so there are hurt feelings in the ranks. There are also sighs of relief in the ranks that someone with capital to invest is stepping forward and saying local news is an important product and by trimming former excesses and adapting to a changing media marketplace, the news business will be a good business to be in again.

October 10, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

I'm not a big fan of industry award shows. But The Andy Awards are bringing a new twist in 2010 that's well worth noting. Via Elect the Jury, the Andys aims to provide "the first globally crowd-sourced group of judges, that truly represents where we are headed as an industry."

As you can see in the graphic here, I voted for Jureeporn Thaidumrong, David Byrne, Jeff Benjamin, John Jay and Rob Schwartz. There are lots of other people to vote for and learn about. In fact, one of the best features of the site is the directory of nominees and their attendant bios. For instance, here's the bio of my first selection:

Some refer to Thaidumrong as Jeh Judee which, in Chinese, means big sister because of her 18-year experience in the ad industry. Beginning as a copywriter, she worked her way up through DY&R, LeoBurnett, Results Advertising and then on as ECD at Saatchi & Saatchi. In 2005 she started Jeh United and garnered instant success that made Thaidumrong one of the most powerful women in the Asian Advertising Industry. She had won the first Gold Cannes Lion for Thailand from the work of Tabasco, "Cigarette" and Thailand first Silver Pencil D&AD from Streamlight Torch, "See What Really Out There".

Naturally, many of the usual suspects are listed, but there are some outside the box characters, as well. Although no ad bloggers, which seems like an oversight.

October 12, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Agency: Borders Perrin Norrander

October 12, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

At the start of this century, recruiters and CDs in general market advertising agencies would not look at an online portfolio. Fuhgetaboutit. The talent scouts wanted to "pass the work around the office," I was told more than once.

Today, things are much different. Now you have to have an online portfolio, although the mini-book reproduction is still a popular format and people still like something physical to hold and consider.

The other day I happened upon Krop and was instantly taken by their design aesthetic. I registered and built a free online portfolio in about 20 minutes, which looks pretty good, I think.

Another great thing about Krop is the site's jobs database. I searched "copywriter," "Portland" and "Seattle" and found a few jobs of interest, although none in Portland.

Chris Spooner at Spoon Graphics took the time to review Krop and several other hosted portfolio solutions (including Flick, where I have a more lengthy presentation that can be viewed as a slideshow).

What's your favorite way to present yourself and your work online? Do you feel compelled to make your site, or do the various hosted solutions work for you?

October 12, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Adweek points to a new study from Mirren Business Development that reveals how agency execs feel about agency search consultants.

One of their feelings is that the consultants could improve their services in the following ways:

• Stop the "cattle calls:" be more selective in the agencies that are being invited.
• Stop "process for process sake" and instead better focus the process on providing client decision-makers with only the information they really need to make informed decisions.
• To better understand the key business/marketing/communications issues, provide more access to the client decision-makers.
• Provide better, more constructive feedback to agencies after reviews.
• Search Consultants themselves must work harder to better understand the real business/marketing issues/problems.
• Stop selling services to agencies, which in turn creates the potential for conflict of interest and makes agencies feel obligated to "pay to be in the game."
• Stop showing the materials (that were submitted for a particular review) to other agencies.

That's a lot of "Stops." But Brent Hodgins, director of client services at Mirren in New York says, "This study is not meant to be a forum for venting, but instead a constructive look at a practice that influences billions of dollars in business changing hands each year."

It seems to me Google probably handles the bulk of the agency search work, but big spenders like to buy themselves a little help/insurance with the process. And with job and millions of dollars on the line, it's hard to blame them.

And matchmaking is but one of many services offered by the leading consultants. Other services might include management consulting, market analysis, curriculum development and workforce training. Such is the case at Mercer Island Group.

Scott Meyer of Shandwick says nice things about Mercer Island's founder. "My experience with Steve Boehler is that he has achieved the Holy Grail of what a consultant is all about. He takes time to understand how his clients make money...and then he helps them make even more money."

October 12, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

According to Variety, online chatter about TV shows is forming an all important "viral watercooler" effect coveted by studios and their PR teams.

Thanks to the Internet, a show's shelf-life now extends days after an episode's premiere for shows that lend themselves to obsessive online discussion and analysis.

...nowadays episode recaps for series like "Mad Men" and "Lost" are no mere quick rundowns of major plot developments. They're often a cross between literary criticism and discourses in conspiracy theory. On the most popular blogs and websites, comments on a recap can easily pass the 300 mark within 48 hours, and many of them raise new theories or challenge the reasoning behind the original thread.

A major plot point on "Mad Men" this season was uncovered by commenters on the "What's Alan Watching" blog, written by the Newark Star-Ledger's TV critic Alan Sepinwall. When an intriguing male character had a seemingly fleeting introduction as "Connie" from "San Antonio, New Mexico," fans went to work and quickly surmised that it had to be hotel magnate Conrad Hilton. Sure enough, three episodes later, Don Draper's chance meeting with the man he didn't recognize to be Hilton figured into the storyline.

October 12, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Previous AdPulp Polls: I'm Talking Dapper |
Navigating the Holidaze

October 12, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

In this week's Mad Men episode, Don underwhelms Connie Hilton when new work for the hotel chain is presented. Hilton asks to speak to Don in private after he's seen the boards. After everyone files out of the conference room, Don is on the defensive.

Don: This is a good campaign. One of the best. It's modern. It's witty. It's eye catching. It will change your business.

Connie: Calm down. I'm going to speak very honestly with you. I don't think folks do that often. Probably scared.

Don: Or they trust my work.

Connie: You want me to just say yes to everything you do?

Don: Most admen believe that clients are the thing that gets in the way of good work. I've never experienced that.

Connie: You did not give me what I wanted. I'm deeply disappointed, Don.

Don: This is a great campaign.

Connie: Fine. What do you want from me, love? Your work is good, but when I say I want the moon, I expect the moon.

Later, Roger Sterling stops by Don's office to quiz him on what account people do for a living. He also puts him on notice that he's in over his head.

Cooper already told these two to kiss and make up in an earlier episode. They better pucker up before big fish start jumping ship.

October 13, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

For it's fourth annual Creative Challenge in China, Pepsi partnered with Tencent, China's internet giant, to effectively allow Chinese netizens the ability to twitter, blog and IM their birthday wishes to China.

Here's a look at some of the wishes:

• The People's Intermediate Court as the brain, national defense as the heart, people's livelihood as the blood, the economy as the skeleton - these four parts combine to make China!
• As the sun rises on 60 years of tremendous change, this brilliant, ancient patriotism remains unchanged, 100 million celebrating, all Chinese filled with pride.
• My country, a long time ago you were just an egg, hiding inside a shell; then you hatched into a chicken, allowing yourself to be trampled; but now you have grown into a rooster, high-spirited, bold and brave!

The campaign received nearly 34 million entries, over 17 million of which resulted from Pepsi's use of Taotao.com, the Twitter-like site, for submissions. This represents an increase of nearly 6 million entries from the previous year.

"Pepsi is always looking to raise the bar in terms of consumer engagement. Back in 2006 we realized that young Chinese are increasingly looking to the online space to connect with brands," concluded Chris Tung, Vice President of Pepsi brand Marketing, Greater China region.

In 2006, Pepsi asked consumers to create a 200-word Pepsi TVC script featuring Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou. The campaign received 28,000 scripts and 5 million online votes were cast.

October 13, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Branded utility is starting to soar and it's a good to see.

According to Adweek, Lufthansa and its digital agency Profero have launched MySkyStatus, an application that sends altitude, location, departure and arrival updates automatically to your Facebook and Twitter pages.

MySkyStatus works on any flight on any airline, which is a nice touch. Profero North America CEO Wayne Arnold says, this not only widens the audience but adds a level of transparency.

"It comes back to open-source marketing," he said. "We believe this is a useful tool for anyone who is traveling. Why just make it exclusive to their own customers?"

October 13, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

According to CNET, PepsiCo has tweeted an apology on its Amp Energy Twitter account, as well as its Pepsi account, to those who may be offended by its new iPhone application, Amp Up Before You Score, which some have complained is insensitive to women.

The soft-drink maker stopped short of removing the free application from Apple's App Store.

October 13, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

When it comes to analyzing the current state of the ad business and the economy, George Parker and Bob Hoffman are not glass half full kind of guys. Not at all.

Here's some of what Hoffman's saying:

It's embarrassing to be in the ad business these days.

Ad agencies don't know what they believe.

In reaction to the dual onslaughts of the web and the recession, they have abandoned all principles.

Sadly, for most in this business there weren't many principles to begin with, other than serve the clients' interests and keep the money coming in.

Parker says he's "a bit tired of reading everywhere that the recession is over."

Anyone with half a fucking brain knows that's bullshit. There are millions of people out of work who will probably never work again. And that's particularly true of the ad biz.

Never work again?

Edward O'Meara of MediaHound speaks up in Parker's comments.

Each of us have different things we notice in this economic re-set.

For me, it has primarily been the volume of friends (mostly guys in their 40s & 50s with amazing credentials) who were felled because they were easy, explainable, expensive, variable costs. I'm thinking about nearly 70 people.

Few have even had a single interview. Not one has found employment.

I'm in my 40s and I walked away from a great job nine months ago. It wasn't a hard decision to make at the time--I've always been confident in my ability to find work, as a freelancer or as staff. I'm still confident, but it might be a defect, or something.

Parker also mentions that many of the freelancers he knows have slashed their rates. Interestingly, I had a CEO of a tech company tell me last week at lunch that I should double my going rate. I like that kind of into-the-wind thinking.

I also like how this slightly younger team from Australia is handling the out-of-work situation:

October 14, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Mashable is the third biggest blog on the Web, depending on who you ask, says Pete Cashmore, the site's founder and CEO.

Cashmore, speaking from Aberdeen, Scotland (a city in the far north of the country) also says the Web is a meritocracy, and that success is available to those who work hard--a point that's tough to refute, but somewhat maddening. The fact is lots of people work hard, on the Web and elsewhere, but still fail to achieve what might be commonly referred to as success.

October 14, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

At 89 years old, Art Directors Club--"the first international creative collective of its kind"--has been around the block a few times and seen a shenanigan or two. So stopping scam ads shouldn't be a problem for the group that awards ADC Cubes for "brilliant creative work" each year.

ADC wants to make two points clear:

• Your secret is not safe with us. If we find an entry to be fake, the agency and client in question will be disqualified. Then, for the first time starting this year, we'll take the additional step to communicate directly with other industry awards organizations and inform them about the scam ad so they too can be on the lookout and take action. We call upon other awards organizations to reciprocate.
• ADC realizes some interesting creative ideas never get approved or run. In cases like this, agencies may enter the work in the ADC Annual Awards Playground category, created four years ago specifically for work that for one reason or another never got approved by the client, or never ran.

You heard the women and men, if it's spec or it didn't run, it belongs on their "Playground."

October 14, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

The Rush Limbaugh brand ain't gonna play in the National Football League.

According to The New York Times, the conservative radio announcer would face stiff opposition if his bid for ownership in the St. Louis Rams were to go forward.

Commissioner Roger Goodell cast doubt on Rush Limbaugh's viability as an N.F.L. owner Tuesday, saying that "divisive comments are not what the N.F.L. is all about."

Goodell's comments were a thinly veiled signal that Limbaugh's bid -- even if it were the highest -- would most likely not receive support from owners. Three-quarters of the 32 owners must approve a sale, meaning just nine of them can scuttle a deal.

Goodell, who presides over a league whose players are 65 percent black, took the extraordinary step of addressing an ownership bid early because a brushfire had sprung up last week when Limbaugh's interest in the Rams became public.

Limbaugh famously made stupid comments about Donovan McNabb in 2003 while employed by ESPN, a network that instantly canned him for it.

Peter Schaffer, an agent and professor of sports law, agrees with the commissioner. "There is no place in our society for a person in a leadership role that has demonstrated inherent, life long and deep standing prejudices against human beings."

October 14, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

It can't be an easy time for Magazine Publishers of America to put out self-promo pieces, but the trade group has managed to come up with "Twenty Tweetable Truths About Magazines" like this one: The top 25 magazines reach more adults and teens than the top 25 prime-time TV programs.

See MPA's site for the other 19, all of which are Tweet-ready.

October 14, 2009 by Dan Goldgeier | Permalink | 3 Comments

It's hard to watch these stories about people who are struggling in the economy. And I get the impression that even people who are doing OK are very cautious about spending. That's a problem for the advertising industry. When people can't buy what we sell, we're in trouble:

We don't need Socialism with a capital S, but we do need the balance that maintains a vibrant middle class. A little spreadin' the wealth helps the ad industry--not so we can sucker people into buying what they can't afford, but to ensure the means to buy little slices of a life well lived--a nice dinner out, a new outfit, a vacation here and there, a new garage door on the home, a trip to the ballpark. It's no coincidence they set "Mad Men" in the post-war boom years of the Fifties and early Sixties. That was a golden age of consumerism and upward mobility for a lot of people. But that era, for better or worse, is long gone.

Our clients today--the brands we've surrounded ourselves with in modern living--won't survive for long if current economic conditions continue. Big brands are particularly vulnerable. When cost is a factor, shoppers will opt for generic brands or less premium brands. And when cost isn't a factor, there's still a growing movement among some people to avoid big brands. I'm sure you know folks who insist on supporting local businesses or small brands even if it's more expensive to do it.

Are there any solutions? I explore this in my new column on Talent Zoo, which will be on the home page tomorrow.

October 15, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Internet time moves fast. So fast, a new company born in 2003 like MySpace, is already faced with the task of brand reinvention.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the soc net is intent on focusing its offering.

Jason Hirschhorn, the company's chief product officer, says, ""This is not an all-things-for-everybody portal. This is a social entertainment experience."

I think MySpace has always been "a social entertainment experience" and "a place for friends." That's why every band in existence has a MySpace account. But the Journal does note that MySpace has removed features that didn't fit its new strategy, including weather, jobs and classifieds.

For me personally, MySpace is all about music discovery. I go there to learn about bands and hear their songs on the MySpace player. A lot of people recently have said that MySpace is no longer cool. I guess cool is relative, because sampling new music for free is pretty f-ing cool.

October 15, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Big wigs in entertainment, advertising and Internet technology gathered at Orbita US 2009, a digital media summit hosted by Terra in New York City this week. Those in attendance got the chance to hear Oliver Stone speak.

"I've heard the democratic argument [for the internet] and I'm not an elitist, but ... a mashup is not a movie. It's offensive," said the director of Natural Born Killers, Wall Street, Platoon and many other notable films.

"Certainly at the beginning of this thing, the internet was an enemy. It was just a disaster for people like me who are classically trained in film school," Stone said. "We've got 6 billion people showing off. I don't understand. How do you judge? What is life for? Is there a hierarchy of quality or not? Or is it all the same?"

I salute Terra, an internet company with a massive Hispanic audience, for bringing a contrary view to the stage.

To Stone's line of questioning, I'd say no it's not all the same. There is craft here, just like in other media, but it's a new game and for the best players "the craft" is fast developing.

October 15, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Disclaimer: The following company provides me swanky office space in return for creative services.

Portland's Site9 was recently recognized for its ProtoShare product.

O'Reilly Media's Inside RIA, named ProtoShare a "Top 50 Most Usable RIA" (Rich Internet Application).

According to the company's Blog:

We are quite proud of our selection, especially considering that ProtoShare was not designed in Flash, Flex, or Silverlight, but rather uses HTML, Javascript, and CSS to create interactive prototypes with real-time collaboration.

Interactive prototypes with real-time collaboration? Yes. Let's hear the firm's elevator pitch from Co-founder and VP Business Development, Blake Johnson.

ProtoShare helps Web designers manage the site development process, build out specs and share the whole wireframing process with clients and team members via a Web-based interface. In other words, ProtoShare up front saves the design team from suffering headaches and lost revenue later.

PhotoShare's enterprise solution, which allows for five licensed users and 20 active projects is $89/month.

October 16, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Previous AdPulp Polls: I'm Talking Dapper |
Navigating the Holidaze | It's 10:00 AM, Do You Know Where You Are?

October 16, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

James Curleigh, CEO of Portland-based Keen Footwear outlines the company's commitment to sustainability at Go Green.

I like how Curleigh identifies the reason Lewis & Clark paddled canoes from St. Louis to the Pacific coast in 1804, and then how he builds on that for his own purposes.

"The goal of the Lewis & Clark Expedition was to gain an accurate sense of the resources being exchanged. That's kind of an interesting notion of sustainability in itself. So for us, we've tried to always gain an accurate sense of the resources we're exchanging in the materials we use, in the products we make, in how we consider how they're made, in the places we choose to make them, and right through to the people who are going to wear them to try to spread the message."

According to a press release on Outdoor Industry Association's site, Curleigh worked as President and CEO of Salomon North America before coming to Keen. He also spent time at Mars, Inc. where he was involved with business strategy, brand extensions, and Olympic sponsorship. So he's a marketer, through and through. Which isn't to say Keen's commitment to the environment is concocted merely to sell shoes. I believe Keen is genuine. And I believe the environmental movement needs more marketers.

October 16, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

I love the copy in this ad, especially the set up. "First there was sport. Then there was betting. Next came the Internet." Yep, that about covers it for the last 10,000 years, give or take.

[via AdFreak]

October 16, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

The Denver Egotist is pointing to John Hunt's site for his new book, The Art of the Idea. When you visit the site and click "Excerpts" you'll be treated to 20 short videos like the one above.

October 16, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Shar VanBoskirk, an analyst for Forrester, spent some time in Denver this week with a group of marketing exces that work for Kaiser Permanente, Genesco Retail, Radio Shack, Jones Apparel, and Adidas America.

Her big takeaway:

That one of the greatest challenges for interactive marketers today is getting support and cooperation from their traditional brand marketing colleagues.

Opportunity, please meet Challenge. Challenge, Opportunity.

It's poor form that so few "brand marketing colleagues" are up to speed on the Web and what it means for all involved. Sure they've read a few books, built a few sites, placed some banners here and there and even made a home for themselves on Facebook. And that's a good start, but it's still a long ways from Web craftsman status. The craftsman are for the most part working in small design shops and other configurations that typically don't merit a seat at the mega client's table.

When that seat is there, there's often a language barrier. In my last staff job, one of the key functions I brought to the agency was digital interpretation. That is, the geeks in the room who actually build things would speak, I would then translate for the traditional ad guys, who would then speak back, and I would repeat the process, except in reverse.

I know many others are also busy "teaching the language." There's a lot to learn and clients too need to swim further from shore and start to experience the rush of the digital stream. For those who wish to push off with a guide in the boat, the best ones won't be found on Madison Avenue--that's not where digital lives. But they can be found, with a little social networking, perhaps.

October 16, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 12 Comments

Five years ago today we started posting articles to this site.

I could reflect on all we've learned, or all I've learned as a writer, editor and ad man, but that kind of thing doesn't make for much of a celebration. Instead, I hereby raise the AdPulp glass to all who come here regularly to share your thoughts with the community (in the comments) and with us (in emails).

I especially want to thank our best friends. Thanks so much for being here Vinny Warren, Steffan Postaer, Amy Hoover, Rick Myers, Tom Asacker, Matt Bergantino, Wade Sturdivant, High Jive, Alan Wolk, Sally Hogshead, Todd Davidson, Bob Hoffman, George Parker, Amber Case, Renny Gleeson, John January, Marc Babej, Chris Rock, Chris Maley, Jay Roth, Court Crandall, Spike Jones, Ian Schafer, Bill Green, Faris Yakob, Todd Anthony, The Denver Egotist, Jerry Ketel, Daniel Timothy Wood, Tom Bennett, Mason West, Brian Harrison, G.B. Veerman, Matt Ingwalson, John Winsor, Cathy Taylor, Brian Morrissey and many many others.

And no cheers would be complete without a nod to our families and friends who consistently offer support, often in the form of typos caught.

October 17, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

"Ford County is the best writing that John Grisham has ever done." -Pat Conroy

Wal-Mart and Amazon are slashing prices on soon to be released hardcover editions of some of the holiday season's potential best sellers, offering them online for $8.99 apiece, according to The New York Times.

The titles affected include Sarah Palin's memoir, "Going Rogue"; John Grisham's short-story collection, "Ford County"; Stephen King's "Under the Dome"; Barbara Kingsolver's new novel, "The Lacuna"; and the latest installment in the Alex Cross thriller series by James Patterson, "I, Alex Cross."

But where does this battle of online retailers leave authors and their readers?

"If readers come to believe that the value of a new book is $10, publishing as we know it is over," said David Gernert, Mr. Grisham's literary agent. "If you can buy Stephen King's new novel or John Grisham's 'Ford County' for $10, why would you buy a brilliant first novel for $25? I think we underestimate the effect to which extremely discounted best sellers take the consumer's attention away from emerging writers."

"What this does is accentuate the trend towards best sellers dominating the market," William Petrocelli, an owner of indie Book Passage, said. Without independents, decisions about what books to put on store shelves would reside in the hands of a few corporate executives rather than hundreds of idiosyncratic booksellers, he said.

On the other hand, low prices from Amazon and Wal-Mart might put more books in more people's hands and that can't be all bad.

October 17, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

One of the things that I enjoy about college football Saturdays is seeing the spots that the schools run during games. Take a look at these ads for University of Texas:

VO: Walter Cronkite (who attended UT, but left school in 1935 to work in radio)
Agency: GSD&M | Idea City

October 18, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

New York Times Magazine columnist Rob Walker busted out of his "Consumed" column this week with an in-depth feature on Pandora, one of the leading players in streaming radio.

Walker's piece is an interesting look at how far radio has evolved in 100 years. He also notes how Pandora's particular use of technology (which determines the various playlists a listener hears) runs against the crowdsourcing grain.

Pandora's approach more or less ignores the crowd. It is indifferent to the possibility that any given piece of music in its system might become a hit. The idea is to figure out what you like, not what a market might like. More interesting, the idea is that the taste of your cool friends, your peers, the traditional music critics, big-label talent scouts and the latest influential music blog are all equally irrelevant. That's all cultural information, not musical information. And theoretically at least, Pandora's approach distances music-liking from the cultural information that generally attaches to it.

Which raises interesting questions. Do you really love listening to the latest Jack White project? Do you really hate the sound of Britney Spears? Or are your music-consumption habits, in fact, not merely guided but partly shaped by the cultural information that Pandora largely screens out -- like what's considered awesome (or insufferable) by your peers, or by music tastemakers, or by anybody else? Is it really possible to separate musical taste from such social factors, online or off, and make it purely about the raw stuff of the music itself?

Let me answer that. No. Which is not to say Pandora doesn't offer discovery and value to its audience. But since the question of taste is on the table, I'll say that my own taste in radio is DJ-centric. I like hearing from a music personality (pro, semi-pro and/or amateur) and feeling like that in-the-know person is turning me on to great music.

October 19, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Disclosure: The following company provided me a free box of MiniCards.

MOO.COM, an online stationer that makes unique, highly customizable printed stationery for small businesses and individuals, today announced a new version of its well-known MiniCards.

Specific updates include:

• Two-sided image uploading - easily incorporate corporate branding, logos, and designs on both the front and back of the MiniCards, expanding the possibilities of what this product can be used for.
• New layout options - Additional templates, fonts, and colors give customers more options for the design of their cards, taking MOO's personal customization to a new level.
• Quantity discount - With the new 400 pack, small businesses can buy in greater volume to meet their networking needs and receive a bulk discount.

Almost 50 million MOO MiniCards have been shipped to 180 countries around the world since the product's launch. The new batch I just placed an order for this morning is my third. So I can say from experience that these cards are almost universally well received.

October 19, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

People who makes ads for a living are sometimes a bit too hot headed for their own good. Just like engineers, architects, dramatists, Steve Jobs and all the rest who put everything they have into an idea and then work hard to steer it through seemingly endless checkpoints and committees.

According to some of the performance reviews (and dismissals) I've received in my ad career, I can be difficult, aggressive, insubordinate, contentious and a bunch of other not so nice things. I made the decision to work on it, to not be so damn attached to the work.

Now I find Ernie Schenck's latest essay in CA and I have to pause and wonder if I was wrong to mellow with age, after all I'm not a $60 bottle of wine, I'm a writer.

I miss the lunatics. I miss the whack jobs and the incendiaries, all full of passion and madness, wild-eyed, hearts on fire, willing to fall on their swords for an idea. I miss the art director I once knew who threw a cigar at a client.

I miss the yellers and the screamers. The immature, belligerent little bastards who refused to let mediocrity suck them down into the cage of mediocrity.

I don't know George Lois but I think about him. What a wild man he must have been in the early years. What a nut case. What a Claymore mine just begging you to trip his wire. Go ahead. Just pull my chain. I dare you. What a genius.

It's important to note the huge difference between fighting for the work and fighting for control. I've had to fight plenty of people inside the agency for control and that process has been a real bitch. The thing is, you can't fight for the work in a culture that doesn't place a priority on the work, and expect good things to come from it.

Ernie misses the lunatics. I'd modify that sentiment to "I miss the characters." Lunatics frighten me. Characters entertain me. I might also add that "I miss being a character." But that's easy enough to fix.

October 19, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Steelhead Advertising, with offices in Portland and Ashland, OR, tries to live by its "spaw or die" mantra. It's also one of a handful of Oregon shops that belong to the 4As, not that anyone's counting.

Here's some copy from the agency's Facebook:

Why are you in business? What are you waiting for? Now is the time to give birth. Be fruitful. Multiply. Grow. Create. Spawn or die. Fight upstream against all odds, against the constraints of time and money, against the tide of the evil naysayers who would prevent you from giving birth to your Brainchild your Baby your Big Idea. Plant it like an atomic seed or a tiny egg and watch it erupt into a million billion brilliant possibilities. Welcome to Steelhead.

The agency works on LG Electronics, Dutch Bros. Coffee, Leatherman, Mt. Shasta and North River Boats. And Steelhead execs came to the realization that "there's more to our business than advertising and selling products and services." "Capitalism with a Conscience" is Steelhead's response to that realization. Under this banner, the agency brings communications tools to impoverished areas in order to help people in need get their stories told.

By the way, Steelhead rejuvenate after spawning, so they may return to the oceans to start the anadromous cycle once again.

October 19, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

The following is a student project from prematurely jaded Miami Ad School grads:

The Ad-O-Matic from James Kiersted on Vimeo.

I love how they torch the revolutionary idea to make room for a much safer one.

[via AdFreak]

October 19, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Do potential ad school students check the "Media & Advertising" stories in The Times? Miami Ad School believes they do. Take a look at the school's media buy (which didn't come cheap):

Note how the use of hot pink in these banners makes the ads unavoidable. I wonder if that's what they teach, 100 Ways to Successfully Interrupt (Instructor's permission required). I'm joking Ron, take it easy. In fact, we'd love to run your hot pink ads in this space.

October 20, 2009 by Dan Goldgeier | Permalink | 0 Comments

Amidst the flurry of stories floating around the Deutsch-Lowe merger, this Ad Age article caught my eye for a very surprising fact:

According to one person close to the matter, Lowe in New York has 150 people and Deutsch about 250, and cuts of about 10% -- some 40 people -- are expected in the coming days, mostly for non-client-facing roles. A spokeswoman said the matter of redundancies is under review.

250 at Deutsch in NY? 150 at Lowe? To me, that seems awfully low for what I've perceived to be big agencies. I'm not disputing figures, I'm just surprised. I guess years of dumping staff have taken their toll on large NY agencies. If you'd asked me to take an uneducated guess, I'd have said there were several hundred people at both shops.

Is it the same way at the other New York offices of prominent shops--JWT? BBDO? DDB? Grey? McCann? Ogilvy? Are the employee numbers dropping that much? If you can enlighten me, please do so.

October 20, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Kara Swisher of Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital says Yahoo's new partnership with Goodby Silverstein & Partners "is sure to be much commented on by the advertising industry."

And she's right, here I am about to comment...

First, let's examine the ridiculous spin put on the move by Yahoo's Integrated Marketing and Brand Management SVP, Penny Baldwin.

(Baldwin) stressed that the move was a broadening of its outside marketing advisers and was not a replacement of Ogilvy, or any indication that the current new marketing campaign needed to change.

She said internal reports on the effectiveness of overall big theme of "It's Y!ou," launched last month, have been strong.

Internal reports? Uh, whatever. How about external reports? Like this one, made herein on 9/28/09.

If you prefer your ad criticism with a dash of salt, George Parker (who has a freelance relationship with GSP) says, "this gives O&M a brutal kick in the nuts after only six months on the business and producing a truly shitasticly mediocre campaign that has been universally hammered in the trades."

Whatever the missteps made by O&M and Yahoo on the new campaign, I think we'd all agree that Yahoo needs more help than any ad campaign, even a brilliant one, can provide.

"This is far more than just an advertising effort," said Baldwin of Yahoo's efforts to revitalize itself in the eyes of consumers-and, while she did not say so, to the digerati of Silicon Valley. "This is a business transformation."

When you're going nose-to-nose with Google, anything short of "business transformation" is a losing strategy.

I'm confident Goodby will bring big, juicy, "transformative" ideas to Yahoo's table. The question is will Yahoo listen, and act on Goodby's advice? For their own sake and Goodby's, I certainly hope so.

October 20, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Accenture, the management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company that pays Tiger Woods to be its spokesman is now entering a relationship with Adchemy, a Silicon Valley digital marketing company.

According to New York Times:

Adchemy is one of several ambitious young companies trying to employ cutting-edge computing techniques -- including machine learning, statistical inference and advanced data mining -- to Web advertising.

The ideal, according to Accenture's managing director for digital marketing optimization, is to use Adchemy's technology and other tools to not only figure out the sort of person who is visiting a site, but to then deliver to the visitor a Web experience that is appealing and increases the chances of converting that person into a buyer.

"The commercial Web has been a brochure-ware experience up to now," Mr. Symons said. "What you want is digital assets that can be assembled on the fly, depending on who is viewing a site."

The "digital assets" would be assembled into bigger and better ads, as far as I can tell. This needs to happen, there's little doubt that an online advertiser's current display options are lacking. However, I'm not convinced that a more relevant display ad is the saving grace for online advertising.

We're going to come back to this and back again. Companies that want to play in this space need more than ads. They need a content strategy.

October 20, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

According to Re:cycled Tweets from McKinney, "it's time to stop polluting Twitter with boring. Littering it with the literal. And inundating it with the uninteresting."

[via TweetFreak]

October 20, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

"Fortune swims, not with the main stream of letters, but in the shallows, where the suckers moon." -A.J. Liebling

Wired is running a feature on Demand Media, a content mill that produces a deluge of articles and videos everyday in order to eek pennies in ad revenue from each. Lots and lots of pennies, I might add. Privately held Demand is expected to bring in about $200 million in revenue this year and the company is valued by VCs at $1 billion.

Content mills are a hot button topic for content creators, which are paid a pittance--typically $15 to $25 for an article or video. In fact, Erik Sherman is one writer who's worked up about it. He says, "this makes me so angry that I want to grab writers by the collar and slap them repeatedly until the dazed look leaves their eyes and they get mad."

Sherman also references this Harlan Ellison video:

Ellison has published works include over 1000 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, and a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media.

The point is there's a dark side here. Yet, Demand is a successful media business. Perhaps, there's something to be learned from them.

Here's a clip from Wired:

...what Demand has realized is that the Internet gets only half of the simplest economic formula right: It has the supply part down but ignores demand. Give a million monkeys a million WordPress accounts and you still might never get a seven-point tutorial on how to keep wasps away from a swimming pool. Yet that's what people want to know.

Just to be clear, Demand employs an algorithm to come up with story ideas, not human editors. Their business model depends on it. "Instead of trying to raise the market value of online content to match the cost of producing it -- perhaps an impossible proposition -- the secret is to cut costs until they match the market value," Demand execs believe. In other words, stories and video shoots need to be assigned by a computer and written and shot by amateurs or semi-pros, or it'll cost more than the skimpy ad revenue can cover.

I think there's a place for content mills, and a place for professionally-generated content. What gets lost in these debates sometimes is how large the Internet is. It's large enough to allow for endless business models. Demand has one that works for them and perhaps for some of their highest grossing content conveyors. I'm working on a different model, one that supplies content to brands as a replacement for, or adjunct to, their existing and future ad campaigns.

October 21, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Does the number "206" mean anything to you? It should, it's the number of countries where Coca-Cola is sold. To bring attention to the global reach of this joy-inducing soda from Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Coke is sending a three-person team of "Happiness Ambassadors" to all 206 countries in 2010.

Coca-Cola Expedition 206 - Project Introduction Video from Expedition 206 on Vimeo.

The three-person Expedition 206 team--chosen in an online popularity contest--will keep a brisk pace, covering 150,000 miles in just 365 days, in order to seek "what makes people happy and share their happiness and enthusiasm with the rest of the world."

The whole thing's a bit heavy on the Happy, for my tastes. Do you "Open Up Some Happiness" when you drink a Coke, or is it simply your favorite compliment to popcorn or a cheeseburger?

"Why ruin a good thing with the truth?" I hear a phantom voice telling me.

I do like to bigness of this promotion and the use of social tools to tell a brand narrative. According to the company's press release, fans engaging with the expedition members will serve as virtual travel agents for the team, giving suggestions on where they go, what they do and who to visit in each market.

See @x206 on Twitter for more.

October 21, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Kara Swhisher is breaking the news that Microsoft has inked an important new search deal with Twitter and Facebook.

The pact will bring status updates to the Bing search engine. Swisher says, "The deal is a definite blow to the dominant search engine, since-for the first time-data will be available on Bing that is not on Google."

Facebook sees 40 million updates a day on average. That's a lot of mostly meaningless data to mine and repackage.

Of course, FB users can opt not to have their updates made searchable. But still, it's a lot of data. So I hope Bing knows which data is most relevant upon query, otherwise a terrible mess is about to unfold.

October 21, 2009 by Dan Goldgeier | Permalink | 31 Comments

Even these days, a campaign with plenty of cash behind it will infiltrate the consciousness of America. So it is with the campaign featuring "Flo," The Progressive Insurance girl, played by actress Stephanie Courtney.

I see these ads all the time.

I'm just curious what our readers think of this campaign. Like it? Hate it? Don't care? It ain't going away, that's for sure.

October 21, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Sean Blanda of eMedia Vitals is looking at the how editors are still a vital component of the media business, despite reports to the contrary.

"Aggregation is just bringing stuff together, just collecting stuff and laying it out there. We used to do that more in the old days," says Mindy McAdams, an online journalism professor at the University of Florida.

Presenting endless volumes of content is no longer the defining characteristic of a good digital publisher. Instead, the core competency must shift to presenting the most relevant information.

Just yesterday I wrote about content mills, and there are countless other examples of shotgun approaches to digital publishing. It's not something I believe in, although it's hard to argue with another publisher's success.

Call me crazy, but the more information that we feed the machine every day, the more value editors--professional people capable of presenting the right news at the right time to the right audience--provide. Even if I could trust an algorithm to this task, I wouldn't want to.

October 21, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

AdFreak is pointing to an awesome commercial for Cullman Liquidation, made by North Carolina-based comedy duo, Rhett & Link.

The two funny men make all sorts of spots under the I Love Local Commercials banner. I Love Local Commercials is a project of MicroBilt, a risk management solutions company for small and medium businesses.

I must say, MicroBilt, which is not a "creative" business, sure has a winning strategy here. They serve small businesses with credit info and other data products, and they wisely use I Love Local Commercials to get the attention of their marketplace, and of others who enjoy Rhett & Link's work.

October 22, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 4 Comments

Zach Canfield, Director of Talent for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners asked a rhetorical question on Twitter last spring.

I don't know many @replies his question generated, but I do know I could help him locate some talent. Talent isn't hiding, it's toiling in the salt mines--a place that doesn't coddle and doesn't reward; hence, the lack of visibility.

More recently Adrienne Waldo, writing for Ad Age, asked Canfield, "What makes an application stick out among the countless resumes that go across your desk every day?"

He said:

I look at every single thing sent to me. And ultimately it comes down to the work. Wrap it in a golden foil and have 40 virgins hand-deliver it, or just fold it into a paper airplane and fly it through my window onto my desk: Good work is good work.

October 22, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Agency: Carmichael Lynch
Client: Denver Museum of Nature & Science

[via The Denver Egotist]

October 22, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Portland interactive agency, Pop Art has the most visible sign from the street of any agency in the city. I like that. A lot. Too often agencies are tucked away in some warehouse or high rise. Agencies need to connect to the street in more ways than one, and Pop Art's sign helps them do that.

What other agencies have street presence? Send pics our way, and we'll publish them here.

October 23, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Newsday, the Long Island newspaper, is about to put a pay wall in place, according to The New York Times. And a spendy wall at that. The paper, owned by Cablevision, plans to charge $5 a week, or about $260 a year (Cablevision customers will get the subscription for free). The Wall Street Journal is $149 a year, by comparison.

Other papers in the paid content game include The Financial Times, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and The Albuquerque Journal.

Judy Shapiro, for one, ain't buying it. The seasoned marketer who is now VP Paltalk, wrote earlier this week on Ad Age:

Content is really good at attracting audiences -- but it's not so great at directly generating revenue through gated-content subscriptions. Sorry, but you just need to get over it (unless you are the exception: The Wall Street Journal). Most people can get most content one way or another and circumventing the gated-content model is not that hard for users. Media companies trying to figure out how to plug all the naturally leaky ways content gets out there is like trying to win at whack-a-mole. Frustratingly unsatisfying.

Personally, I'd like to see many more publishers make this move to paid content. At the very least, it'll give media pundits (and operators) some numbers and facts to work with.

October 23, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 2 Comments

Ad Age is reporting on how happy Honda is with it's "Social Experiment," a mostly viral effort with some TV sprinkled on top.

In August, Honda quietly launched an official Facebook page, themed "Everybody Knows Somebody Who Loves a Honda," to recruit fans of the brand.

Honda initially supported the site with a sprinkling of ads on Facebook. "It wasn't a big media buy, but it got a lot of attention," said Tom Peyton, senior manager-national advertising. Earlier this month, TV was added to the mix, with 15- and 30-second spots featuring actual owners. The commercials were created by Honda's longtime agency, independent RPA, Santa Monica, which developed the concept.

Honda isn't using the exercise as a way to expand its database of prospects. "We aren't collecting names and e-mails, and we are not going to hound these people," Mr. Peyton said. "We are learning, like everyone else, what we are permitted to do with these kinds of things."

I used to own a black '91 Honda Accord station wagon, and RPA is right, I loved it.

October 23, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

[via German site, Brain Wash]

October 23, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Microsoft formally introduced Windows 7 Thursday at a launch event in New York City. Speaking at the event, CEO Steve Ballmer called the OS more responsive and "less busy" than its predecessor, the widely maligned Windows Vista.

Microsoft needs the product to be a hit, as Windows sales have slumped badly of late, according to Information Week.

October 23, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Canadian Tourism Federation is a spoof from Adbusters.

[via Osocio]

October 24, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

TurnHere, a video production and advertising company, released a survey that not surprisingly says online video will continue to have a prominent place in the marketing arsenal.

Some of TurnHere's specific findings:

• Online video is the top marketing priority for 2010, edging out both email and search marketing
• Branded content is the preferred online video type with the highest use among all video formats, the highest overall satisfaction levels and the highest likelihood of future use
• Professionally produced content was overwhelmingly favored over user generated
• 90.7% of respondents are likely or highly likely to use online video in their marketing efforts in the next 12 months

The survey, which was conducted throughout Q3 2009, included 116 respondents from Fortune 500 and regional brands, as well as digital, PR and traditional agencies. Surveyed companies had annual marketing budgets ranging from $100,000 to $5 million.

Here's a random example of a TurnHere-produced video for a small business (there are thousands more on the company's YouTube channel):

October 24, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Renewable Fuels Association's tagline, "Right Here, Right Now," is a strong position for ethanol--the only clean-burning liquid fuel that's readily available today. There may be better alternatives in our future, like biodiesel, but you can put ethanol in your car or truck right here and right now.

Note: Too bad this spot doesn't make use of Van Halen's "Right Now."

October 25, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

At the airport "being searched" is a royal pain. On the Web it's the golden rule.

According to The Wall Street Journal, marketers are becoming more savvy searchers. For instance, VW is sharing information across its dealer network so dealers and corporate don't compete for a key phrase like "GTI Atlanta." The article also argues that social media marketing campaigns lead consumers to search more.

Xerox registered a substantial increase in the number of searches related to its brand after launching a promotion in May, anchored by a video about a fake psychological disorder called Information Overload Syndrome. The goal was to get consumers to think about Xerox as a company that can help them manage information better, not just help them print or copy paperwork. A spoof video generated more than a million hits, Xerox says, and the campaign generated buzz on blogs and social-networking sites. That buzz translated into a 65% surge in searches related to the brand and the subject of the campaign, Xerox says.

"Everyone is growing their search budgets and has been for a long time. There is no exception to that," says Barbara Basney, head of global advertising for Xerox. Social media "is giving us another way to help influence people's propensity to search."

Here's the Information Overload Syndrome video in question:

October 25, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 2 Comments

Many industries have built-in inefficiencies that some don't want to see fixed, for there's money to be made in these dark zones. For instance, say your team adopts new technology that improves efficiency. Some might fear that change because greater efficiency can lead to fewer billable hours, at least in the short term before more work can be brought into the system. It's faulty logic, but that doesn't make it go away.

Wired UK paints the print media industry as one with mass inefficiencies and a willingness to live with them in an article titled, "All the news that's fit to bin."

Retailers are typically irritated if more than 5% of the goods that reach their outlets fail to sell. Many magazine publishers, by contrast, remain content if 40% of their products are returned unsold by retailers.

The industry has a name for managing this mountain of waste. It's called reverse logistics.

In the words of one dispirited editor: "We're talking about an industry that prints millions of magazines every month knowing that it will end up pulping 40% of them.

"God help us when someone works out the carbon footprint involved in this. All it would take is a couple of activists, some data and a little bit of coding to blow the lid off the whole thing."

The waste exists because it's relatively cheap to produce additional print copies once the presses are up and running. Even though a smaller percentage of a given print overage will end up selling, due to the limited costs of the overage, the publisher still profits.

October 25, 2009 by Dan Goldgeier | Permalink | 1 Comments

I've said it before on AdPulp, and it bears repeating: If you really want to get ahead in the advertising industry (or any industry for that matter), develop your presentation skills. It takes practice, it takes skill, and it takes a flair for the dramatic. Of course, it helps to be presenting something insanely great.

Much has been made of Steve Jobs' semi-annual presentations when Apple introduces new products, and in The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience, author Carmine Gallo dissects the Jobs magic.

Using a number of Jobs' presentations and other key media events, Gallo shows us how a great Jobs-like presentation gets created. There are tips on things like how to package "news," word choices, Keynote (not PowerPoint) tips, adding a little drama, stage presence, keeping the audience engaged, and a lot more.

If you want to learn how to sell your work (and yourself) better, and make yourself more valuable to your company, I recommend The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs. Because doing great ads won't help if you can't sell them convincingly.

Special thanks to FSB Associates for providing me a copy to review.

October 26, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Ad Age critic Bob Garfield says if you like the above commercial you may be a douche bag.

Was this conceived during 'shroom day at McGarryBowen?

See, in non-psychedelic reality, Miracle Whip is not a badge of defiance but rather the quintessence of middle-American déclassé, the turquoise pants suit of condiments. To assert the opposite is just a slap at our collective intellects, our collective honor, our collective non-douche-baggery.

If this succeeds, ladies and gentlemen, we do indeed surrender. If Miracle Whip is cool, the terrorists win.

October 26, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 4 Comments

Several high profile clients are shopping around for new agency partners, but there's a catch according to The Wall Street Journal.

"The chief procurement officer has become more important than the chief marketing officer inside some companies," says Joanne Davis, a new-business consultant in New York.

About 80% of reviews now include procurement departments, up from 30% to 40% about five years ago, consultants say.

On Thursday, WPP's JWT pulled out of a four-way contest for United Parcel Service's $140 million account because the review was largely being led by procurement executives eager to push down costs, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In a memo to his top executives, JWT Chief Executive Bob Jeffrey said the review "centered on protracted legal/contractual/financial discussions that are not in the best interests of JWT."

Times are tight. Everyone knows that. But penny pinching, while likely necessary, isn't going to solve marketer's problems.

[UPDATE] Ad Age has more on the procurement push back from agencies, JWT in particular.

"UPS is a big business with a very big problem to tackle," JWT Chairman-CEO Bob Jeffrey wrote in an e-mail to colleagues. "They need to treat us or any agency as a partner, and it doesn't seem that is in their culture. We've invested significant time and energy in pitching this business, so we are not taking this decision lightly."

Damn, Brown's not doing much for Bob Jeffrey.

October 26, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 2 Comments

According to Ad Age, a growing number of marketers are directly engaging consumers through original content, instead of pitching their stories to reporters.

Take this Coldwell Banker video:

The thing I find interesting in the Ad Age piece is how PR agencies are being tasked with content creation. For instance, Coldwell Banker enlisted the help of its PR shop Cooper Katz, to gain presence on YouTube. I don't have a problem with PR agencies doing this kind of work, but I'm not convinced they're always the best team for it.

One of my favorite mantras is "May the best storyteller win." I see it as the rallying cry for our time, and the reason some people are saying things like "this is a great time to be in advertising and/or media."

The digital disruption of the market created a situation where production and distribution are now very inexpensive. That means the focus is now totally on the story.

PR shops have traditionally told brand stories to the press, whereas copywriters and art directors are used to telling brand stories to mass audiences. Digital distribution provides a more intimate venue for story, but it's nowhere near as intimate as a lunch with a reporter.

Additionally, the Ad Age piece points out that nearly 30,000 reporters have left the industry since the beginning of 2008. Add to that the army of videographers roaming the globe and I'd say the stage is set for a new model to emerge, one where content pros (many who've never made an "ad" before) are increasingly asked to weave brand narratives.

October 26, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Relationship Marketing is a big banner under which several sizable pieces fit together. Email and events, for instance. Which is why it makes sense for email marketing provider, Constant Contact, to add event marketing management to their array of offerings for small business.

Event Marketing from Constant Contact is "a professional, affordable tool" to help small businesses and organizations set up and promote events. From online registration and payment options to promotional web pages Constant Contact wants to make the process easy to manage.

"Small businesses and organizations thrive on their ability to continually strengthen customer relationships, and hosting events is a great way to do so," says Gail Goodman, CEO, Constant Contact.

Though usable as a standalone product, Event Marketing is fully integrated with Constant Contact's Email Marketing and Online Survey tools allowing event hosts to easily access their contact databases and information.

October 26, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Newser is an aggregator with an attitude.

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most important stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7--you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

From a purely marketing standpoint, "Read less, know more" isn't a bad tagline. But it is loaded. The line assumes we're drowning in data and that Newser's condensed product is the lifeline we need to get to shore.

It's a provocative line, but unbelievable. "Read more, know more" is more like it.

October 27, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

Things look better in Paris. Food smells and tastes better. Sex is better.

How else to explain the shining ray of optimism from Publicis CEO Maurice Levy who said Tuesday that the market hit bottom last June?

"The advertising market has stopped deteriorating during the summer and a slow and gradual recovery is under way," he told reporters.

Mr. Levy said Publicis should outperform the expected 10% decline for the global advertising market in 2009 and could post organic growth for the whole of 2010 once it returns to growth around the middle of next year.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

October 27, 2009 by Dan Goldgeier | Permalink | 3 Comments

A few months ago, I incurred the wrath of some advertising professors who took exception to my Talent Zoo column about advertising education. One university department head sent me a snarky note at 11:00 at night and called me "vapid," while another professor dug up my resume in an attempt to play "gotcha" with my own educational background. Not exactly Socratic debating techniques.

While I said that advertising programs need improvement, particularly in training future creatives, Livingston Miller, writing in Ad Age, goes much farther:

So why are so many college majors, let alone whole colleges, cropping up around the idea that advertising should be taught as an undergraduate course of study? I can understand why you'd seek training for some of our key tools -- Photoshop for design, Illustrator for creative, Squad and Dart for media people. But that's on a par with postgraduate study, which can home in on specifics.

But spend precious undergraduate years studying advertising? Not only are kids wasting their time, they're underdeveloping their minds -- and dimming the lights on the future of our business. There's just too much precious learning to be had in science, history, art, literature, language and math. These majors are not only more interesting and personally rewarding in their own right, they are also more supportive of a career in advertising over the long run.

I wonder if any professors out there are willing to take Miller on. There are some colleges beefing up their ad programs, and I suspect they won't like his perspective one bit.

UPDATE: And I was right about that last point. When I posted this on AdPulp there were only 2 comments on Miller's article. Now there are 16 the morning after. Lots of Syracuse and VCU folks taking Miller to task. Although I do think their arguments would be just as effective if the arguments weren't so personal and vitriolic. Because if that's what they're teaching in school, it's a problem. You can't talk to your clients or co-workers that way, even if they're wrong and stupid--not if you want to stay employed, that is.

October 27, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

You know what's missing today? I do. An abundance of quality-obsessed craftsmen who put love into the things they meticulously make. Oh, they're out there, but they are the exception, not the norm (even in a place as quirky and hand-made as Portland).

Which is why it brings me pleasure to introduce you to an artisan who will hand-craft a custom laptop bag, a tote, iPod Wallet or makeup/coin bag for you.

Our friend, Michelle Kline, started S N A P design in 2004 with "just a shoulder bag pattern, a fine art degree, and a lot of ideas." Since then, her work has made lots of people happy and been featured on the TODAY SHOW, Daily Candy, Seattle Times and in several other media outlets.

Her bags are constructed from an assortment of colorful vinyl, decorative top stitching and complimentary fabric lining. The ever-changing combination of vinyl, thread color, stitch pattern and lining makes each bag one-of-a-kind. Plus, S N A P bags are durable, waterproof, and clean up easily with soap and water.

October 27, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

The Ad Store delivers for Jimmy John's. In a category dominated by lame product attribute pitches, finally someone steps up and out.

[via AdFreak]

October 27, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

According to The Washngton Post, consumer confidence fell unexpectedly in early October, "painting a bleak picture for an economy driven by consumer consumption."

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index slipped to 47.7 in early October from 53.4 in September.

The number has to reach 90 before the economy is considered -- at least by this index -- to be solid.

The consumer confidence number is being driven lower by the high unemployment rate. The official U.S. unemployment rate is 9.8 percent, but the percentage of workers including those who have given up looking for work or are working part time when they want to work full time is now at 17 percent.

October 27, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

The other day, I brought up the question of who is best prepared to weave brand narratives in the social space.

Turns out it's also a popular topic over at PR Squared.

Site host, Todd Defren, writes:

My main thesis is that PR is and has always primarily been about day-to-day relationships, thus is tailor-made for the gruntwork of Social Media, whereas Advertising is more about the paid-for message of a campaign mentality; it's more about the big splash by its nature. Again, not a BAD thing, just different.

Defren makes a good point on the gruntwork. I also like Doug Winfield's perspective:

...it takes real creativity to conceptualize, produce and propagate social media campaigns which produce impact and awe. Perhaps the rank and file of current advertising leads aren't creative enough to imagine how this is possible?

Turns out, Edward Boches of Mullen speaks for the ad guys, sort of.

Hey, who you calling an ad guy ;-). In an era of digital, social, PR, creative, free content, user generated content, crowdsourcing, inbound marketing, viral video, and, yes, blogging, what's an ad guy anyway?

That's a solid question. Does one need to make "ads" to be in the club? You would think, but what's an ad anyway?

October 27, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

According to MarketingProfs, social media marketing is now a widely adopted practice, despite the fact that the field is in its infancy.

Personally, I think the contests and coupons category needs a little more love from the Chief Marketing Officers in question. Twitter and Facebook are great venues for promotions, even if it's something simple like what's on the menu today. For instance, look at how Mother's Bistro in Portland rolls:

October 28, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

Southern Comfort is going back to its roots. Specifically, to its creation story in 1874 when New Orleans bartender, M.W. Heron, concocted the recipe.

It's a smart move for SoCo to put New Orleans front and center in their new campaign from Arnold Worldwide. The Crescent City is an easy sell. It's America's "other." A Las Vegas with history and class.

If SoCo connects meaningfully to the magic of New Orleans, and drinkers everywhere think "New Orleans" when they're about to order a cocktail, it's a big win for the Brown-Forman brand. The campaign also answers a tactical need when it says what "Southern Comfort is."

"These spots represent the come-one, come-all inclusionary attitude of New Orleans, one that is representative of Southern Comfort," said Mike Isaac, Global Brand Director, Southern Comfort.

At the center of the new campaign are four "TV" spots, running on the brand's Facebook page, Hulu, NBC.com, Fox.com, FX.com, CBS.com, Comedy.com, Break.com, MyDamnChannel.com, Playboy.com, TheFader.com and Pitchfork.tv.
The outlets signal a continuation of the brand's recent decision to go with an all-digital media buy.

See the other three spots in the campaign here: Tapestry:30 | Genius:30 | One of a Kind:30

October 28, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

In February of 2006, Hill Holiday scrapped their brochureware site in favor of a blog.

Now they're taking things a little further and I'm intrigued by the way Baba Shetty, Hill Holliday's Chief Media Officer, describes the agency's new site:

First, the site is built on a platform that gives us enormous flexibility to create scenarios that vary by user situation.

The site platform is a new toy for us - allowing us to play around with the intersection of web content and user context. Stay tuned as we experiment with it.

"The intersection of web content and user context." There you have it in a tight little sentence. Content is king, but without context, the kingdom can be a lonely place.

October 29, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 1 Comments

I follow the careers of several strong women and in a few cases count them among my closest advisors and most powerful influences. Sally Hogshead exists in this small circle. Her positive vibration and quick mind are obvious bright points. So is her generosity. I hope this exchange will help give you a sense for her and what drives her forward.

Q. You made some really big waves early on in your ad career, but I'm not sure people know what you're doing today? You have your own consulting company now. Can you tell us about your clients and what kind of work are you doing for them?

A. I have a lot of different job titles and business cards (freelance copywriter, author, speaker, consultant) but they all share the same goal: to create messages that persuade and influence. The audience for that message could be a million consumers, or 500 people at a conference, or a single reader of a book, but in any case I'm creating and delivering a message that's intended to change behavior in one way or another.

Secretly, my true love is still advertising. This summer I took several months away from freelancing to finish this next book, and it's fun to be working with agencies again.

Q. I once dropped some samples of my work at the front desk when you were at Robaire & Hogshead. I remember the office as one of the best-looking agency spaces I've seen. How important to the end product is the environment where ideas are made?

A. That's great to hear...it was a fun office! Still, the truth is, aesthetics of an environment are unimportant in developing ideas. Trendy furniture, elegant bathroom fixtures, designer lighting-- that stuff doesn't make people more creative. (It might convince clients that something super-crazy-zowee-cool is happening behind the curtain, since the creative process is otherwise invisible; however if we learned anything from the dot-com era, it's that wacky paint colors do not a profit make.)

What does matter-- and matters very much-- is an environment's ability to help people build ideas, to concentrate deeply, to gather as a group easily and share thinking seamlessly. The offices of Radical Media do this exceptionally well, as does Modernista!, and the New York offices of StrawberryFrog and JWT.

A famous creative director once told me something to the effect that agencies usually start looking really fabulous right after they hit their creative peak and start to fade. Funny. And probably true. Some of the most expensively-designed offices are total crap when it comes to the actual process of developing ideas. (Hello, form over function.) As with many things about the creative process, simplicity is good. So are comfy chairs, brave clients, and caffeinated beverages.

Q. Tell us about your new book, FASCINATE: YOUR 7 TRIGGERS TO PERSUASION AND CAPTIVATION. When's it coming out and what's it all about?

A. FASCINATE comes out in February.

I started working on this book in 2006, the year after Radical Careering came out. I wanted to write about why we become captivated by certain people, ideas, and brands, but not others. One of my agents, Larry Kirshbaum, had worked closely with Malcolm Gladwell on Blink. Larry taught me how to expand a business concept by weaving together research from different disciplines: neuroscience, history, evolutionary biology, psychology, and of course, marketing. I began to study how people have historically shared ideas and messages. My research led me to the 3,000-year-old concept of "fascination," which translates in ancient Latin, "to bewitch with an irresistible force."

I spent three years interviewing experts in different fields, and researching topics ranging from the Salem witch trials to suicidal cults, from the Amazon rain forest to Amazon.com, from Olympic training to shoe fetishes. I found some unexpected parallels. A 1636 frenzy over Dutch tulip bulbs perfectly mimics the 2006 real estate bubble. And a billion-dollar "Just Say No" program actually increases increase drug use among teens, by stimulating the same "forbidden fruit" syndrome as a Victoria's Secret catalog.

Turns out, there are seven different "triggers" that activate our fascination: Power, lust, mystique, prestige, alarm, vice, and trust. Each trigger shapes our behavior in a different way. For instance, the mystique trigger provokes our curiosity, making us want to seek out more information. The lust trigger makes us crave an experience. Alarm increases anxiety at the threat of negative consequences. Trust calms us with familiarity and reliability.

As advertisers, if we can pinpoint which triggers are most likely to influence decision-making, we can make brands more fascinating. That matters, because consumers pay more for fascinating brands. I partnered with Kelton Research to conduct a national study on fascination, and one of the findings is that people will pay a week's salary to be the most fascinating person in the room. Women will spend more to be fascinating than they spend on food and clothes combined (an average of $338/month).

Q. There's a lot of talk about the changes underway in the ad biz and in all culture businesses due to the disruptive nature of the Internet. What's your read on it?

A. The BBC released a report: "The addictive nature of web browsing can leave you with an attention span of nine seconds - the same as a goldfish." Nine seconds. Think about that the next time you're buying a media plan.

Q. What traits or personal attributes do you find in common among the best marketing minds?

The best creative thinkers aren't those who can come up with THE brilliant idea, but can keep going when ideas get killed over and over.

Runners up: Killer presentation skills. Confidence to experiment. Healthy disregard for the status quo. Critical thinking, to turn a problem inside-out and uncover new ways of seeing. Voracious curiosity. Irreverence to extract surprising conclusions from boring problems. Optimism to see what's possible, and experience to actually do it. Relationships to help pitch in. Motivation to create big ideas, and tenacity to keep going when those big get killed.

This said, all the optimism and motivation in the world means little, if ideas only live in PowerPoint slides and piles of foamcore. No marketer's career can succeed unless they're supported in actually getting ideas turned into something real. People at famous shops aren't more talented than the ones at little-known agencies; they just have a stronger support system for getting things approved. The goal? Find an environment that supports you in creating your best thinking, and, supports your ideas in coming into the world.

Q. I'm curious about your take on industry awards. You won big and you won early. How might things have been different for you, if you hadn't?

A. I have to confess, I haven't picked up an award book in years. Maybe it's just me, but I think our industry has moved on from our fixation with awards as a benchmark. Awards mattered more in the 1990s, because we couldn't just go online and check out new spots on YouTube. How did agencies learn about new trends, international campaigns, emerging talent, and so on? Awards books. Yet there were only 4 or 5 forms of media, total, so the emphasis was more about the kerning of a serif typeface, not the bigger-picture idea of an iPhone app. It was more insular, and frankly, more geeky.

Today, we don't need an award show jury to get competitive. We have more great minds than great jobs. We're all trying to distinguish ourselves in one way or another. If award shows aren't your thing, no problem. Just find some other own way to prove you're a remarkable talent (digital prowess, track record of extreme effectiveness, etc.). Awards are a handy yardstick, but certainly not the only way to establish your worth.

Q. You grew up in Jacksonville, FL and returned home after living in Los Angeles [for eleven years]. Does living in JAX help or hinder your work?

A. Jacksonville isn't cool or energetic or trendy. People wear Members Only jackets without irony, and sushi is still a novel concept ("raw fish??"). The city's culture (or lack thereof) helps me focus more on my writing. Plus I travel at least 10 days a month to various cities, and Jacksonville is my nest.

That said, I didn't move here to help my work. I moved to be closer to my family, and to raise my kids with their grandparents and cousins. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in, my kids go to the same elementary school, and my sister lives on the same street as I do. That makes me happy. And happy balance helps anyone's work, don't you think?

Q. I noticed that you use Facebook as a business network. Do you prefer FB over LinkedIn, Twitter and other sites?

A. You know how we were talking about the benefits of living in Jacksonville? Well, there's a downside: it's harder to keep up with emerging trends, launching work, and the more nuanced "conversation" of marketing. I use social media less as a social outlet, and more as a way to stay plugged into what people are thinking and talking about. Especially business thinkers that I admire.

The other great thing about social media is the way in which it allows anyone to built their own voice, and point of view. For potential employers, it helps them get to know how you really think. I've recently seen people hired on the basis of their blog, or even tweets, as much as their resume.

Remember how we used to introduce ourselves with cover letters and business cards? Now it's not about what you want to say, it's about inviting people to participate and play with you in a conversation.

Q. You don't publish to your Hog Blog frequently? Why not? Is social media overrated?

A. Hang on! I'll be publishing more in the coming weeks when the site relaunches. (And no, social media isn't overrated. I just get busy.)

Q. Would you be happy to see your children go into advertising?

A. Sure. But I'm not sure advertising will still exist by the time they graduate.

Q. What's the best film you've seen this year?

A. Last month, my kids and I were at the beach with friends. There were a total of eight kids, age four to fifteen. As luck would have it, we just happened to have a hundred glow-in-the-dark bracelets from a birthday party. We gave each kid a dozen of these luminous circles for their arms, ankles, necks, hair, ears, whatever. It was a dark night, so it was just a hundred glowing circles, Technicolor against black, dancing to Black Eyed Peas. I made a video with my iPhone, and posted it to Facebook. It might not be the best film this year, but it's my personal favorite.

Q. Do you miss the big time agency excitement? Would you ever want to return to a staff position, or is working for yourself the ultimate way to go?

A. Definitely, I miss the excitement of being part of a team that's really into a project and there's lots of energy and ideas flying around. I work in agencies as a freelance writer so I get my fix. And a staff position? ...hmm. Dental benefits would be nice.

Q. What changes would you like to see "Corporate America" make?

A. Make innovation as essential as research and evaluation.

Q. What emotion does the blank page evoke in you?

A. Hope.

October 29, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

What can AdPulp provide in an email that you don't get on the site, or elsewhere in the vast reaches of the Interwebs?

I've been asking myself that question ever since Friend of AdPulp, Tom Asacker, grabbed me by the virtual lapels and told me to start an email newsletter at once (many mooons ago, I might add).

The easy answer to the content question is exclusive material, packaged especially for you, our closest friends. The plan is to gather some thoughts that do not appear here on the site and send them your way in an email, probably once a month, maybe twice.

It goes without saying that we will not sell your name, or treat your inbox unkindly and that escape from our semi-evil clutches is possible in a click. Having said that, we'd love to have you join the list. Please enter your name and address, so you're all set to receive the first edition in November.

Thanks!

October 29, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

You either like runny eggs or you can't tolerate that kind of mess on your plate. Twitter's no different. The place can get messy in a hurry and a messy home is no place for an infovore to dwell.

That's why Twitter has been testing its new lists feature among a select group of Tweeps. To give Tweeps the power to clean, to make order, to feel good about where things are.

Yesterday, the new lists feature was made available to the masses, a.k.a. you and me. I've been playing around with the new interface for about 24 hours and have made four lists so far. They are:

• Ad World
• Journalism
• Tunes
• The Environment

You can also see which lists you've been added to. Right now, I'm on 12 lists, and that number is growing by the hour.

It's possible to follow another person's list. So, if my own "Ad World" list gets a little tame, or I want to see how others have made there own groupings of ad folk, I can jump over to @BettyDraper's "Mad Men of the Future" list or any number of like-minded lists.

It also appears that you can follow a list, without following the generator of that list. I'm a bit confused by that, but I'm rolling with it. Following a list is not like following a person or company, the list's data doesn't enter your stream. There's simply a notation of which lists you are following, along with which lists are following you.

If you're using Twitter lists, please sound off in the comments and tell us which lists to follow and what your own take on the feature is.

October 29, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 2 Comments

I kind of like this spot for Richmond Sausages, but not as much as I like AdLand Suit's response to it.

Richmond make almost-sausages for Bastards that used not to be Bastards and would like to be ineffectual Not-Bastards again.

And so it is with great pleasure that I invite everybody involved in making both this ad and Richmond kinda-sausages to be the inaugural members of my Bastards Of Advertising Hall Of Bastardry. You are all Bastards.

Here's another spot from across the pond, posted by the same YouTube user.

October 30, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 0 Comments

When Hill Holliday busted out their redesign of HHCC.COM, Baba Shetty said, "the site is built on a platform that gives us enormous flexibility to create scenarios that vary by user situation." I really wasn't sure what that meant, but now I have a better idea.

For one, Hill Holliday's Web team is writing custom headlines and inserting them into the header section of their new site. The headline a visitor sees depends on the context of their visit. In other words, content meets context and the bar is officially raised.

The header above--We think AdPulpFiction would be an awesome movie--is the one you see when clicking over from this site. The agency put the custom headline into play on Thursday after we wrote about their site refresh on Wednesday.

October 30, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 4 Comments

Procter & Gamble is funding content, a.k.a. "independent editorial" in effort to reach their desired demographic, in this case women aged 21 to 34.

According to BrandWeek, P&G is working with Web content syndicator Studio One Networks. The result is a new editorial offering--
Life & Beauty Weekly--created specifically for Procter & Gamble.

Studio One tapped journalist Beth James, a regular contributor to Self, The Oprah Magazine, Shape and Good Housekeeping, to serve as managing editor of Life & Beauty Weekly. The content offering will consist of "feature articles, polls, quizzes, practical tips, and expert Q&As, all written by professional journalists."

Here's a sample layout of Studio One-produced content embedded in a media partner's page.

October 30, 2009 by david burn | Permalink | 6 Comments

Copywriter, Nathan Archambault, writes Maybe I'm Gravy, a blog about the sport (not to be confused with his sports blog). On said blog, he posits that ad agencies are shifting (or need to be) from making ads to creating cults.

Ad agencies will still be idea factories. But creating ads is going to become a side dish to advertising's main course capabilities.

Ideas are going to be used to create something every brand wants, but few brands have. Something that takes advantage of the collective thinking, immediacy and transparency of Facebook, Twitter, smartphones and everything else that's bringing people together.

Cults.

That's what brands need. And that's something ad agencies can provide. Cults that empower a brand's biggest fans, produce greater brand differentiation and increase market share. Cults full of passionate, deeply loyal consumers who do a better job at selling a brand than ads ever did. Cults that convince people to opt in, unlike most ads that force people to opt out.

My friends at Brains on Fire call these groups of passionate consumers "movements," not cults, but the thinking is the same.

Of course, ad people helping to inspire cults, or movements, is not foreign to insanely great brands like Apple. Everyone knows about the "Cult of Mac." And that cult was clearly created by stellar advertising and exceptional product design (a killer combo, if there ever was one).

I wonder though, will a cult, or movement, ever rise up around an average product? Maybe. A lot of people classify Wal-Mart, McDonald's and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese as average products, but all three have cult followings.

Whatever the answer, I like the concept that agencies aren't in business just to makes ads that promote product. Rather agencies (and freelancers like me!) are generators of big ideas that attract a passionate audience.