Chicago Sun Times ad columnist Lewis Lazare doesn't care for the new Sears campaign from Young & Rubicam/Chicago. It's obvious to us hedge fund guru Eddie Lampert and company still haven't a clue where Sears is headed. Why do we say this? Because the campaign's new tag line -- "Sears: Where It Begins" -- is so hopelessly weak and non-specific. It's a collection of words that say absolutely nothing, primarily because …
Word From A San Francisco Ad Man
The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.) asked Rich Silverstein of Goodby Silverstein + Partners some good questions on the heels of the agency's two huge account wins (Sprint and Hyundai). Asked how he reassures a smaller client (The Commonwealth Bank of Australia) that they too are important in the wake of such wins, Mr. Silverstein said: We had a creative team camp out at San Francisco International Airport in …
A Match Made In Boulderado
Radar Communications of Boulder, CO has joined forces with Crispin Porter + Bogusky also of Boulder (and Miami), according to a May 7th post from John Winsor, Radar's founder and CEO. One of the things that attracted us to join forces with CP+B was not only their fearless approach to advertising and marketing but also the way they approach business itself. CP+B shares our passion for bringing clients exceptionally …
Walking A Mile In Luke’s Shoes
Sally Hogshead has a new "Naked Career" interview up at Radio Talent Zoo. This time around Ms. Hogshead speaks to her hero Luke Sullivan, formerly of Fallon and West Wayne and now at GSD&M in Austin. That's right, two superstar copywriters engaged in conversation about the ad business. Give it a listen. I could tell you all about it, but I prefer to do something else. Purely for your entertainment, I will endeavor to …
Beam Exercises Restraint
The New York Times is doing its best to see through the pr machinations of a large adult beverage marketer. Beam Global Spirits and Wine — which makes brands like Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark bourbon and Canadian Club whiskey — announced it would voluntarily adopt stricter rules to keep messages away from young people. But the step is largely symbolic. Beam said that it would purchase print and broadcast advertisements …
QVC Meets MTV
According to The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.), Publicis Groupe and Droga5 are diving deep into branded entertainment with a new website called Honeyshed. But unlike other examples of the genre -- movies and TV shows created by marketers that aim to subtly promote a brand -- there will be nothing subtle about the programming on Honeyshed. "It's about celebrating the sell," says Mr. Droga, creative chairman of …
YouTube’s Piggy Bank Open For Biz
Variety is reporting on Google's new Revver-like compensation initiative. Google-owned viral video site announced Friday that it will start giving a cut of ad revenue to some of the most popular amateur video brands on its site, such as lonelygirl15 and LisaNova. They will get approximately the same revenue share from the performance of display ads around their videos as YouTube's professional partners, such as the …
Taking Tea Where It’s Never Been Before
Guayaki Yerba Mate is an emerging beverage brand with interesting stories to tell about their organic, rainforest-grown, fairly traded product. Witness, the seven-minute documentary: Guayaki also makes room for brand advocates and Mate heads to tell their own tales. Available from the brand's YouTube channel, "Out of my Gourd" appears to be a New Age-inspired consumer generated commercial. The brand name Guayaki …
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