In the ad business we hear about brands wishing to reinvent themselves daily. In fact, many of us have heard these exact words (more than once), “We want to be just like Apple.” Thankfully, there are few signs of brand-specific cluelessness this overt. Like agencies seeking a new skin, I am not convinced a full [...]
Last week, I posted some contrarian views on Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” idea. Writing in Forbes CMO Network, Will Burns leaps to the defense of Dove and smacks down the criticism of the video, calling the criticism “ugly” and “absurd.” Burns is off the mark here with his characterizations. There’s nothing ugly or absurd about [...]
Since I moved to Seattle, I’ve become much more aware of environmental issues and groups that draw attention to them. But where I came from, it’s another story. We’ve seen many attempts in recent years by marketers to capitalize on a growing awareness by consumers of environmental issues. Today’s New York Times reports on the [...]
Fact: When it comes to marketing spending, analog still outstrips digital by a factor of three to one. Jake Sorofman, an analyst with Gartner, supplied the cold hard fact above in a Harvard Business Review article. It’s the kind of fact that my friend Bob Hoffman likes, and likes to use to convince CMOs and [...]
So I’m zoned out here watching “Seinfeld” reruns when this spot comes up: Gotta admit, it’s a pretty good way to grab viewers’ attention. Even that of a gringo like myself.
Indra Nooyi, chairman-CEO of PepsiCo, believes in advertising. She now has some numbers to back up her thinking. According to Ad Age, PepsiCo reported a 4% drop in full-year profits in part due to increased marketing spending. But fourth-quarter profit rose 17% as the spending kicked in. Pepsi also posted 5% organic revenue growth for [...]
Hessian is a brand without a company, a backwards fabrication from a designer uninterested in how things are typically done. Be that as it may, the idea is generating some press for its creator Ben Pieratt, who now wants to sell his concept and the designs that support it for $18K to an entrepreneur in [...]
Not long ago, I got an assignment for a technology company. They were an also-ran company in a crowded category, and they didn’t have a strong brand identity or any real unique benefits to tout. In a situation like that, there are basically two choices: concoct a story that may or many not be rooted [...]
Last night I went to see the touring production of “The Book of Mormon,” a musical from the creators of South Park. It’s quite funny, but it takes some serious jabs at the LDS Church and the origins of its beliefs. Flipping through the Playbill I got when I entered, I noticed several ads like [...]
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