"Now that nontech stories have exceeded the tech stories," says Jay Adelson, co-counder of Digg, "The challenge is on us to provide what our community needs." What Digg's users need, says Adelson, are social-networking tools. On Sept. 19 the company is launched a host of new features that might seem more at home on Facebook or News Corp.'s (NWS) MySpace. The intent is to make it easier for users to find others who …
The Very Genius Of It All
Tucked into this Wall Street Journal article (paid sub. req.) on staving off ad fatigue, is a nugget about the popularity of Bud Light's "Real Men of Genius" radio campaign. The ads combine a bombastic announcer, sappy 1980s rock music and outlandish tributes to trivial achievements, such as the invention of the foot-long hot dog. They leave male audiences giggling. And they have been a staple of sports-radio …
Buckmaster Bewilders Some, Inspires Others
Lucy Kellaway is Financial Times' management columnist. For the last ten years her weekly column has "poked fun at management fads and jargon and celebrated the ups and downs of office life." So it was fun to see how she did with Jim Buckmaster, the CEO of Craiglist. Ahead of our meeting I gave myself two modest challenges: to make Mr Buckmaster talk financial and to make him smile. After all, he has enough to smile …
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Make Grilled Cheese Not War
Stuart Elliott presents moves made by Kraft to inject some emotion into its typical product story. Kraft will devote a campaign that begins today to the glorification of the grilled cheese sandwich. The television, online, print and retail campaign carries the upbeat theme “Have a happy sandwich.” In campaigns from the longtime previous agency for Kraft Singles — the Chicago office of JWT, part of the WPP Group — …
Citi Plays By The Old Rules
According to Media Post's Marketing Daily, financial services giant Citi would rather not dip its toe into social media. "We're not there yet, and we're proceeding very cautiously," said Lisa Caputo, Citi's first company-wide CMO, at an industry event last week. She added that allowing consumers access to Citi logos and other materials related to its brand for their own creations could backfire: "I am very loath to …
Experiential Spawns WOM
Dockers is turning to trunk-shows in effort to convince a small gorup of influential women to wear the brand's clothes. Dockers is inviting between 50 and 70 women to each of eight events dubbed "Dockers Style Sessions," in hotel suites in cities such as Sacramento, Calif., Cincinnati, and McLean, Va. The first event is in San Francisco on Thursday. The shows coincide with a print-ad campaign in roughly a dozen …
MDC Likes A Loose Grip, But Crispin’s Success Could Make Them Grabby
Matthew Creamer of Ad Age speculates on an ownership struggle at Crispin. This year, MDC Partners has the option to raise its stake in Crispin from 49% to 60%, according to financial filings. In 2008, the stake could be increased to 77%. MDC has deferred these options in the past and could do so again. If it doesn't, say people close to the agency, it could encounter friction with a creative shop that not only values …
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Why Are These Newsmen Laughing?
These newsmen are laughing because they don't work for a newspaper owned by Wall Street moneymongers. Rather, the St. Petersburg Times, Florida's largest circulation newspaper, is owned by Poynter Institute, a not for profit organization. “We don’t put out a newspaper to make money,” says Paul C. Tash, the chief executive of the Times Publishing Company, which oversees the paper. “We make money so we can put out a …
