Last month Adweek held an online poll where you could rate certain agencies in certain categories. I can’t find an online link to the full report, but I’ve seen it in print. Here are some of the top category vote getters: Most Competitive: Crispin Porter & Bogusky Most Complacent: Grey Most Overrated: Deutsch Most Underrated: […]
Why Are Mitsubishi And Isuzu Driving Off A Cliff?
I drive a 1995 Mitsubishi Montero with 140,000 miles on it. I love it, but at the rate the automaker is going, I won’t be able to buy one to replace it. Adweek reports on the departure of two more marketing executives from Mitsubishi, the latest in a long string of ’em. Mitusbishi’s sales declined […]
Mad Dogs May Be Euthanized
According to Adweek, Mad Dogs & Englishmen in New York City is facing an uncertain future following a major reduction in spending by Atkins Nutritionals, one of its major clients. While I hope they stay in business, there’s a lesson here: When I was in school 10 years ago, Mad Dogs was THE hot shop […]
A Billboard That’s Getting Folks Muy Caliente
Illegal immigration is a pretty thorny issue right now, so the billboard above, done for a LA Spanish-language newscast, has some people really ticked off, as the “CA” has been intentionally crossed out and replaced with “Mexico.” The idea is meant to emphasize the newscast’s equal devotion to local news as well as news from […]
Will Alex Bogusky’s Mom Sign His Adweek Report Card?
This week’s Adweek contains the Annual Agency Report Cards. While you have to be a subscriber to access the full report, I’ll give you some of the highlights right here: These are overall grades, which include revenues, creative, global and regional highlights and management: Berlin Cameron/Red Cell A- Crispin Porter & Bogusky A- TBWA Chiat/Day […]
Stop The Madness
In an article on Slate, Seth Stevenson calls for an end for the kind of TV spots that make you go “huh?”: “Enough already with the “twisted” humor. The willful wackiness. The over-the-top, absurdist scenarios.” I’ve written about this before. It’s hard for advertising to push the envelope when real life already is doing a […]
Google Goes Ad Crazy
Google will soon be experimenting with larger form ads, giving advertisers more control over where their ads are shown, how they pay for them and what they look like. Google’s market value is currently higher than Viacom and Disney. Ad people–planners, AE’s, media folks, and creatives alike–had better start including Google ads in their client’s […]
Ads On Satellite Radio? Surely, He Can’t Be Sirius
In an interview with Ad Age, Mel Karmazin, the CEO of Sirus Satellite Radio, predicts that ad revenue on Sirius will reach $100 million by 2007, although the music stations won’t carry ads, just the news, sports and entertainment stations. Sounds to me like there’s a whole new opportunity for radio advertising to get more […]
Remembering New Coke
Let us pause (a pause that refreshes, if you will) to remember that this spring marks the 20th anniversary of the introduction of New Coke, one of the most studied marketing blunders of all time. I lived in Atlanta back then, and it wasn’t pretty. But the whole episode taught us a couple of things: […]
Wendy’s Chili Eater Gets Fingered For Larceny
Okay, I couldn’t resist that headline. But last night, Anna Ayala was arrested by San Jose police yesterday. There’ll be more details coming from the police this afternoon. There was some damage done to Wendy’s brand and sales, especially in San Jose and Ayala’s hometown of Las Vegas. Despite the jokes and the gross-out factor […]
