Cartoonist, author and blogger Hugh MacLeod is selling South African Wine in West Texas. Why? Because that's what passionistas do. MacLeod also believes it's a good idea to have an "evil plan." Sooner or later you're going to have to explain to your friends and family EXACTLY why you decided to quit your stable 401K job and go off on some long-term ACT OF LUNACY i.e. your EVIL PLAN. I don't know what exactly …
Undoing The “Creative Sensibility” Oxymoron
Ad Age enlisted Conor Brady, chief creative officer at Organic, to help explain the new playing field agency personnel find themselves on today. Brady says we're entering "the age of creative sensibility" which he characterizes as "a dramatic shift from the 'big agency' practices of the past." Specifically, Brady says creative directors today need to collaborate with peers outside the creative department, embrace …
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Arnold Deploys Hyperlocal TV To Promote Newman’s Own Organic Coffee at McDonald’s
Chris Edwards, executive vice president and group creative director at Arnold Worldwide, said, "The whole idea behind the quiz is: 'Are you New England enough for this coffee?' If you are from New England, you will get these references." [via Boston Globe] …
People Are Not Stupid, So Why Are Brands?
Multi-disciplinary industrial designer, Brian Ling, has five wishes for 2010. One of them is "Brands realize that people are not stupid." Businesses have always known this but somehow live in denial. They continue to deliver product propositions that don't make sense. With the Internet allowing both wide and in depth access to information; brands and businesses have to realize that you can no longer expect to "sell …
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“Dick Cheney-Loving Tea Bagger” Is Unusual Language for An Agency’s Holiday Greeting
Who Are You?
People have flaws, but sometimes flaws are beautiful. That's the message Tara Hunt is putting out. We love people who represent the ideal, the perfect, the imperfectly perfect, the happy, the successful, the amazing, positive, go-for-it, wa-hoo in life. And I'm not saying those people don't exist. They just don't exist as much as we think they exist because there are so many bloomin' personal brands out there that …
Weclome To Fresno, The Pathway To Other Cool Places
According to USA TODAY, the city of Fresno, Calif. is investing in its image. For decades, Fresno has been a punch line, a city maligned on the national stage for everything from its smog and crime, to its hot weather and reputation as a bastion of the un-hip. The city is fighting back, starting with a $1.2 million marketing campaign with the slogan: "Be World-Class. Be Fresno." I'm all for putting one's best foot …
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iMags Sprout From Handheld Media Gardens
Christina Warren of Mashable takes note of the iPhone optimized version of Esquire's January issue, available now for $2.99 in the iTunes store. "The digital version allows users to easily browse through the magazine, access enhanced and extra content and save and share favorite portions with friends," Warren reports. She also notes that McSweeney's--the literary media enterprise started by Dave Eggers--also has an …
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Chaotic Action Is The New Marketing Imperative
Tom Asacker reminds us that Peter Drucker wrote, "The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous." Asacker adds to Drucker's bass line, "the purpose of marketing is to create and keep customers while making selling superfluous." Great stuff, but how does a brand actually go about "making selling superfluous?" Asacker has an answer: Be a bold and creative force in the lives of your customers, community and …
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In Columbia’s Great Outdoors, Leave No Knot Untied
Disclosure: I helped write the copy for the following iPhone App from Columbia Sportswear. When you're bivouaced high above the valley floor on El Cap, there's little room for consulting a classic how-to book on knots. But when that book is repurposed for the iPhone, it's a different story. Columbia Sportswear's first iPhone App, "What Knot To Do," features 70 knots in six categories. With this App you'll always …
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