To help mask its layoffs and reorg, Ogilvy has adopted the language of tech startups. The agency is now in "perpetual beta," according to Ad Age. Starting immediately, the WPP Group-owned agency is trying to get small, requiring that client meetings center around four key people at the table -- marketing, creative, strategy and program management -- and it will gradually streamline its structure, doing away with many …
Taste Makers About to Make Money Too
According to The New York Times, Zagat Survey is for sale and may fetch as much as $200 million. The Zagats, who met at Yale Law School, could not find a publisher for their annual Manhattan restaurant rankings guide in the early 1980s, so they began publishing it themselves and delivering copies to any bookstore that would stock them. They set up a publishing company in part to get tax deductions for meals. The …
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You Can Have Your Truck And Your Conscience Too
Chevy bought a full page in today's New York Times and created a microsite at nytimes.com/chevy, in an effort to "educate" the car buying public about GM's commitment to green practices. The ad and microsite both feature a letter from Beth Lowery, GM's VP for Environment, Energy and Safety Policy. She says the right things, like: Because GM's environmental footprint is indeed large, so is our obligation to …
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Seeing The Value In Shared Mobile Notes
Evelyn Rodriguez is on her way to New Orleans. She's using Twitter to keep her friends and followers informed about her journey across the American southwest. This seems like a particularly good use of Twitter to me. Even in its condensed form, it's a travel journal. Not Kerouac--he could never have been bothered with such short form--but it's evocative text in real time, or mobile time to be exact. Personally, I …
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A 15-Year Old Single Malt Learns To Mingle
Today in Sunday Styles, readers encounter one Charlotte Voisey, a “brand ambassador” at William Grant & Sons, Glenfiddich’s parent company. Turns out, she is responsible for creating a Scotch-laden libation known as "Sweet Solera." A mixture of Glenfiddich 15-Year-Old Solera Reserve, Lillet Rouge, and a winsome dash of caramel syrup, and bespangled with a maraschino cherry, the Sweet Solera is a cousin to a Rob Roy, …
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“Charticles” Are Out Of Bounds
Choire Sicha and two other Gawker editors walked out on Nick Denton late last year. They'd had enough, but enough of what? The New York Times had to find out. ...During a vacation at a house on Fire Island in November, Mr. Sicha decided he’d had enough. He said he resented Mr. Denton’s pressure to produce more mass-appeal content. “I don’t care that top 10 lists perform well on the Internet,” Mr. Sicha said by phone …
Coaches Are Thumbs Up On Texting
The New York Times has an interesting look at the use of text messaging in the college athletics recruiting environment. Desperate to connect with the best players, college coaches have adopted text messaging with zeal, and some athletes have had enough. Beginning in August 2007, the N.C.A.A. banned Division I colleges from using text messaging to recruit athletes, citing complaints from students that the practice …
No Fancy Coffee For Ford Truck Drivers
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