Writing in Ad Age's Small Agency Diary, Derek Walker tells a great story about a CEO tirade. "What is this crap?!" (He used another four-lettered word.) He continued looking down at the work on the pool table. "Everyone get out here. Now." Everyone hurried around the table, including our creative director. We stood there silently as he glared down at the pool table covered in work. No one said a word -- we had never …
Hell Hath No Fury Like A Social Media Advocate Running On Little Sleep
Right now, the Twitterverse and the advertising world is learning that Edward Boches of Mullen didn't have a good night last night. He stayed at a Marriott, and his room had all sorts of problems. OK, so maybe it's not your fault that my hotel room ceiling leaked all night long. Though the fact that there was already a stain in the same corner of the room suggests you should have known about it. But what doesn't …
Continue Reading about Hell Hath No Fury Like A Social Media Advocate Running On Little Sleep →
Tracking You At The Mall? There’s An App For That
We've been hearing about location-based apps for a while. This one sounds like a big one. From The New York Times: Major retailers are working with a new smartphone application that tracks and offers promotions to shoppers as they move from outside the store, to counters, to cash registers -- even inside the dressing room (now that's persistence). The app, called Shopkick, will be available on Tuesday for the iPhone …
Continue Reading about Tracking You At The Mall? There’s An App For That →
IPG Does A Little Traditional-Digital Merging
This isn't as big a deal as the DraftFCB merger, but it is another sign of the times. From The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Campbell Mithun, the storied Minneapolis advertising agency that gave consumers the iconic Hamm's bear to sell beer and a very young John Denver singing for Northwestern National Bank (now Wells Fargo & Co.), is jumping full force into the digital age of websites and banner ads with an announced …
Continue Reading about IPG Does A Little Traditional-Digital Merging →
Someone Tell Bjork, Iceland’s Full Of Fake Guitars Now
To the surprise of my friends, I don't own/play Guitar Hero or Rock Band. I suppose I'd like it, I just never got the inclination to spend money on a fake guitar with no strings. Apparently the folks at PowerGig, makers of a real six-string guitar that's also designed for video game use, feel the same way. So they took a whole bunch of plastic stringless guitars and dumped them into an Icelandic volcano. That's one …
Continue Reading about Someone Tell Bjork, Iceland’s Full Of Fake Guitars Now →
Freelance Journalism Is Goin’ Mobile
The media upheaval of the last decade has left many journalists without permanent work homes. But they're still looking for ways to ply their trade. The New York Times looks at one effort that's taking advantage of the new mobile society: The magazine, called Nomad Editions and created by a New York start-up of the same name, will feature the work of freelance journalists with expertise in a specific area, like …
Continue Reading about Freelance Journalism Is Goin’ Mobile →
My Inbox Is Gonna Keep On Keepin’ On
In my current copywriting gig, I write a lot of sales-related e-mails on behalf of clients. So it's not lost on me that people feel flooded with irrelevant e-mails, or simply ignore a ton of them. I've also taken notice that quick posts on Facebook and Twitter have reduced the amount of personal e-mails I tend to write. So does the inbox still have a place in the marketing plans of tomorrow? Writing in Ad Age, Steve …
Continue Reading about My Inbox Is Gonna Keep On Keepin’ On →
Fast Times At Advertising High
I stumbled onto studying advertising mid-way through college. I don't think it occurred to me in high school that advertising would be a career option. But Minneapolis agency OLSON is reaching out to high schoolers in an attempt to both diversify the business and get young folks interested in advertising. From The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: BrandLab is a three-year-old program that takes a marketing curriculum into …
