SEATTLE—I am in Seattle to discover where the brand transformers work. And how they work different to achieve better results. Jim Haven, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Creature, is my willing and hospitable guide. Haven and Co-founder Matt Peterson started Creature in 2002 and have since seen the agency grow to 50 people in [...]
An Agency Website That Works From Copacino+Fujikado
February 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment
I have been staring at hundreds of advertising and digital agency websites on my Pinterest directory trying to decode each agency’s objectives and strategies. Frankly, the lack of ad agency website differentiation, especially if you view these websites from a new business perspective, is confounding. Every once an awhile I come across an agency that [...]
Look Who’s Drinking The Super Bowl Cool Aid
February 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment
According to the deluge of positive, if not effervescent ink, about Sunday’s Super Bowl TV commercials we are back in the good old days of TV advertising and the highly profitable broadcast advertising agency. It’s a nice vision and one that the advertising industry gets to revisit and bask in once a year. So, bask on. I [...]
People See The Poetry That Is Colorado, People Book A Vacation To Colorado
January 17, 2013 By 3 Comments
How do agencies prove their worth and secure more client dollars year in and year out? In an acronym, ROI. When you can prove return on investment, or even strongly suggest it, client checkbooks open. Tim Williams of The Ignition Group, a consultancy devoted to helping marketing firms create and capture more value, argues that [...]
Spotlight on Northwest Creative: Seattle’s POP Pops Some Corks
January 17, 2013 By 1 Comment
Inide agencies, especially indie agencies with a strong digital practice, are hot properties. Holding company execs circle, but the news here is that increasingly these holding companies are media companies. For instance, Hearst bought the digital marketing firm iCrossing for $325 million in 2010, while Meredith has acquired a series of agencies including O’Grady Meyers [...]
Advertising Is Full Of Sinners. Now We Can Confess.
January 16, 2013 By 1 Comment
Pride. Sloth. Envy. Wrath. Lust. Gluttony. Greed. What would advertising be without them? We all have those dirty, secretive thoughts we have during meetings or concepting sessions, or when we’re alone at our desks. Now, creatives David Ma and Nick Hugh Schmidt are letting you confess. And then be judged. Enter yours at The Creative [...]
Three Words For 2013: Socially-Optimized Microcontent
January 5, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Looking into the crystal ball is a practice best reserved for characters in fairy tales. Unless it’s your business to gaze ahead, which of course it is. Deep Focus, for one, isn’t afraid to see things. Here’s some of what the Ian Schaefer-run agency sees happening in 2013: Social platforms will become the primary digital [...]
From Traditional To Digital To Integrated To Social To Instagram
December 18, 2012 By 1 Comment
The lack of distinctive agency brand positions has been a thorn in our industry paw for years. We’ve all heard the cobbler’s children’s shoes metaphor and the harangues from agency consultants telling us that despite our own branding skills, our sales propositions all sound alike. Lately there has been a slow shift to agency USPs that has been brought on [...]
Does The Freelance Economy Improve Advertising?
December 10, 2012 By 1 Comment
I’ve worked at full-time jobs and also had long stretches as a freelancer. And as I wrote on Talent Zoo not long ago, more and more ad agencies are making the use of freelancers or permalancers a normal way of doing business. Writing on PandoDaily, site founder Sarah Lacy explores the flip side of our [...]
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