I wouldn't say Los Angeles is the friendliest of American cities, but 180 Amsterdam seems to be making a place for itself. According to Adweek, the agency is settling in to their Santa Monica digs (above a yoga studio). Last fall, the consumer electronics giant Sony awarded its U.S. business to the agency, which is teaming up on the account with BBDO. This was the incentive 180 needed to expand, and in early 2007, it …
Power Point Turns 20
Lee Gomes brings Power Point into focus for readers of the WSJ's Career Journal. Robert Gaskins was the visionary entrepreneur who in the mid-1980s realized that the huge but largely invisible market for preparing business slides was a perfect match for the coming generation of graphics-oriented computers. With major programming done by Dennis Austin, an old chum, PowerPoint 1.0 for Macs came out in 1987. Later that …
Don’t Assume
Catherine Remoussenard, senior professor in human resources and change management at the Burgundy School of Business in Dijon, France debunks some myths about organizational change. Don't assume that organizations are naturally dynamic. Organizations reflect the people who constitute them -- as a whole they are inclined to inertia. In part this reflects the fragmented nature of organizations. At every level and in …
Meet The Media Neutral Brand Chiropractor
Event Design Magazine featured Eduardo Braniff, the ceo and creative director of Imagination USA in March, but I just stumbled across the article yesterday. Braniff on left Describing his firm, Braniff says, “Being a consultancy reinforces us to be, first and foremost, a thought-leading enterprise. It’s a deliberate use of language. We solve problems, craft solutions, and understand situations. We use design and …
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When It Comes To Music, I’m Label Conscious
The recording industry is looking more thug-like as each day passes. According to several sources, including Wired's Listening Post, Universal Music Group, the largest recording business in the world, will not sign its annual contract with Apple to sell its music in the iTunes store (the 3rd largest music retailer in the U.S.). The move is meant to pressure Apple into a deal where they would share revenue earned on …
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McDonald’s Looks Under Its Own Hood For An Answer
McDonald’s plans to run its 155 UK delivery trucks on biodiesel made entirely from cooking oil collected from its restaurants by the end of the year. It will collect oil from 900 of its 1,200 UK outlets each week, take it to a separation tank in East Anglia, where food particles will be removed, and then on to a biodiesel conversion plant in Milton Keynes in central England. Matthew Howe, manager of McDonald’s UK …
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Narragansett Takes A Page From PBR’s Book
The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.) is reporting on the remarkable reversal of fortunes for Narragansett Brewing Company. Mark Hellendrung bought the rights to the brand from Pabst Brewing in 2005. Since then he's been on the road, meeting face-to-face with 60 to 70 bar owners and hundreds of beer drinkers throughout New England each week. It appears to be working, as Narragansett was bringing in about $100,000 …
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Keep Cool With Cold Light
As an adult beverage marketer intent on "owning cold," it's best to have some solid data to back up your strategy. Come in with some proof that cold matters. According to The Denver Post, Golden's largest brewer has this data in hand. A Coors Light survey of more than 1,500 men ages 21 to 44 found that nearly 75 percent would rather have air conditioning in their homes during a heat wave than win a date with a …