Allen Adamson, managing director of the New York office of branding consultancy Landor Associates, put together an outline for brands looking to go mobile with their messages. And what brand isn't? Among other things, he says mobile "is very personal." Unlike TVs and PCs, which may be shared with other family members, a cellphone is personal space. As such, tolerance of unwanted content is nil. And while consumers …
Do the Hustle
The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.) examines the booming business of outdoor advertising today. In particular, the paper looks at upstart Van Wagner, the nation's fourth-biggest billboard business. With cities increasingly passing restrictions, the number of billboards -- 168,000 nationwide last year -- isn't keeping up with demand. As a result, rents are rising. A large billboard on the Bruckner Expressway in …
Advertising Has Never Been A Subtle Art
The NFL’s Trippin’
Resistance is mounting to a new NFL ruling that forces photojournalists to wear vests with the logos of NFL sponsors Canon and Reebok while shooting games. "It totally goes against our Code of Ethics to force photographers to advertise as if they were some sort of NASCAR vehicle," said John Long, the chair of National Press Photographers Association's Ethics & Standards Committee. "We are independent gatherers of …
Richmond’s Take
The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.) says Wal-Mart's new ad campaign strikes "an emotional chord," although I fail to see much evidence of it in the following print ad. The campaign hopes to evoke "a series of simple, real parent-to-parent conversations with Wal-Mart customers," says Danny Robinson, a creative director at Martin Agency, an Interpublic Group-owned agency based in Richmond, Va. "It was important …
Pay to Play
This just in from Cupertino... If you want to see the iPhone at an Apple store, be sure to bring some cash. Large crowds flocking to see the iPhone and next generation iPods have forced Apple to begin charging a $5 entrance fee for Apple stores. Many analysts anticipated the move, and expect a positive response from customers. "Part of the move was to limit crowds to keep the stores safe, but also we wanted to keep …
Pantless Man In The Big City
I was pleased to hear from David Rosen this morning. The former Group CD at Deutsch in NYC has his first novel coming out next month. Rosen says, "I've been lucky enough to realize the copywriter's dream -- my novel, I Just Want My Pants Back, is being published by Doubleday/Broadway in August. I'm thrilled -- I'm considering sporting a white suit and an ascot ala Tom Wolfe." The story follows the life of …
Amp’d Customers So Not
According to Mashable, Los Angeles-based mobile service provider Amp’d will shut down at 12:01am Tuesday. Existing customers will be able to port their phone numbers to a new service, but Amp’d won’t help them do this, and their will be no customer service after Monday. Amp’d assets will be sold in an auction. The company had 200,000 customers in April, but dropped half of them when they failed to pay their …
