AKP&D Message and Media is one of the most influential "brand strategy" firms in Chicago, and the nation. One of the firm's partners, David Axelrod-- described as Obama's answer to Karl Rove and the most powerful political consultant not on a coast--heads up Obama's campaign for President. According to the LA Times: The burly 52-year-old with the drooping mustache oversees ad creation and coordinates with the …
The Opposite of Chill Time
South Carolina gets most of its visitors in the summer months. The South Carolina tourism office with the help of Greenville shop, The Bounce Agency wants to change that with a new campaign that specifically targets Chicagoans. The Palmetto State's "Time to Thaw" messaging doesn't do much for David Gianatasio at Adfreak though. The effort includes: 360-degree elevator wraps “that literally put passengers inside …
New Flake Girl
Soul singer, Joss Stone, is working with Cadbury's Flake brand to reinvent a classic campaign from the 60s and 70s. In the new adverts -- which will be available on Cadbury's site -- Stone will be in a recording studio singing to herself the chocolate bar's iconic strap line, "only the crumbliest flakiest chocolate." [via Ad Age] …
Yet Another Facebook Story: Who Moved My Cheese?
Motley Fool wants to know how much Facebook is worth. So they posed the question to Anders Bylund, Rick Aristotle Munarriz, and Tim Beyers. This is what Bylund says: Since some of the finest marketing minds in the world have tried and largely failed to monetize social networking already, I see many years of losses and negative cash flows ahead for Facebook. The other two are more optimistic. …
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Whatever You Do, Do Not Recreate MySpace
Social media consultant, Brian Oberkirch, doesn't want brands to waste resources by building their own social networks. Here's what he does want to see: What would save you money and me time, is for you to be like the Web. Made up of small pieces that connect just about everywhere. Just add bandwidth & remix. Make use of my friend lists. Make use of my profile. Make use of my verified identity. Make use of my …
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The Many Faces of Twitter
According to The New York Times, Michelle Slatalla wanted to keep in touch with her kids via Twitter. But the kids resisted. They said it was spam, pointless and creepy in a surveillance kind of way. Walter J. Carl, an assistant professor of communications studies at Northeastern University notes: “The people who I see using it are an older demographic, people in marketing or P.R. or advertising, who use it for work, …
Give ‘Em Something They Can Actually Use
Members of the adverati are increasingly calling for branded utility. You might even say it's a mantra for a new year. But what is it? What does it look like? And how might we sell it in? Benjamin Palmer of Barbarian said, "For the same budget and energy as we expend on current forms of advertising, we could be making something more tangible, useful and reusable that plays a more integral part in the consumer's life. …
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Barack Obama Is Your New Bicycle Dot Com
Click the message above for more consumer-generated political advertising with a sense of humor. …
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