When I was in high school, there was a lot of interest in the 60's, partially due to the reissuing of classic albums on CD. And Nike used "Revolution" in an ad, while Neil Young said he'd never sing for a brand. Now, once again, the Sixties are back in vogue in advertising. From The New York Times: The growing prominence of the '60s is partly a result of the election of Barack Obama, whose paeans to hope and …
The Path To Empathy
If you believe talking heads on TV, empathy is a bad thing for a Supreme Court justice to have. It's a must-have to be good in advertising: In advertising agencies, empathy--in this case, the ability to understand an audience--is a skill, just like Photoshop prowess. It needs to be learned and honed for effective marketing. And yes, it should be an advantage for someone in advertising, at hiring time and on the job, …
A Water Campaign With A Good Message That’s Easy To Swallow
Call me an ignorant American, but I still sometimes have trouble getting my head around the fact that much of the world doesn't have access to clean drinking water. To call the attention to the problem, the sheep-haters at Sullivan Higdon & Sink created a dynamic campaign for WaterPartners International. Introducing L'desh Fresh: The World's Most Authentic Drinking Water. What's cool about the idea and the L'Desh …
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GM Spot Starts With “Let’s Be Completely Honest.” Are They?
This is a bright, shiny spot from Deutsch talking about the future of GM: As far as bright, shiny spots go, this is nice, but it's not going to help matters much. Kicking GM while it's down is pretty easy these days. So let me pose a different question: Is there any person or ad agency out there that could help them at this point? Because I think their problems--and whatever solutions--lie in the design and …
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Joe, Sponsored By Joe
I'll admit that a couple of years ago, I ditched my habit of watching "The Today Show" in favor of MSNBC's "Morning Joe." I kinda like it's loose style, even if the guests tend to be the same. Now it seems, Starbucks likes it too and is making it official. From The New York Times: Starbucks is becoming a naming sponsor of "Morning Joe," in what is the closest integration between an advertiser and a national news …
Bernbach Gets A Second Look In New Book
A new book might take a bit of the shine off DDB legend, Bill Bernbach (the "B" in DDB). From Ad Age: Twenty-seven years after the death of legendary adman and DDB founder, the agency's former PR director has quietly self-published a 200-page tell-all, Nobody's Perfect: Bill Bernbach and the Golden Age of Advertising, that shatters the image of Mr. Bernbach as masterful copywriter and confident ad titan. In it, Doris …
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Start With The Answer: Good Advice, Easily Digested
These days, it seems everyone has advice to share, and they write a book about it. Especially advice for businesspeople, or leaders, or CEOs, etc. So on the surface, it didn't seem like there would be anything special about Start With The Answer And Other Wisdom For Aspiring Leaders by Bob Seelert. But Seelert is the Worldwide Chairman of Saatchi and Saatchi, so I wanted to see if there was any unique advice for the …
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Jack Keeps Bringing It
I have a theory. It's not a very highly-developed theory, but I truly believe advertising where I live (Atlanta) would be much, much better overall if the general populace here was regularly exposed to Jack In The Box TV commercials. Because it would force the local yokels here to raise their game. Since there isn't a JITB for hundreds of miles, I keep forgetting how inventive and funny their spots have been over …
