Marketing bloggers, like Jackie Huba, are loving Rob Walker's new book, Buying In. But Huba wanted more than a read through, she wanted to question the Savannah-based author and New York Times Magazine columnist directly. Here's one of her questions and Walker's response: Q: Is "I buy, therefore I am" just as common today as it was 100 years ago? A: I think it's more true. A century ago, you wouldn't sell deodorant …
P&G CMO Steps Down
Jim Stengel, P&G's Chief Marketing Officer since 2001, is stepping down, to be replaced by Marc Pritchard, former head of P&G's cosmetics business. Stengel's worked for P&G for 25 years. Ad Age reports that his last day will be Oct. 31. Why's he leaving? Was he pushed out? He's only 53 and, according to AdWeek, he's got big plans for the future: [A] P&G rep [said]...Stengel was simply ready to move on. "Jim feels …
If You Want to Have Some Say, Become A Client
Dave Linne, 47, a former creative director at Leo Burnett is now in a new role at ConAgra. That's right, he is now a client. As senior VP-advertising, global market strategy, Linne believes he will have more impact on the work, according to Ad Age. Creatives at Nitro, DDB/San Francisco, Venables Bell & Partners, Element 79 and Wondergroup will now be dealing with one of their own. Could be interesting for all …
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The Smaller The Pond, The Bigger The Fish
Joe Erwin of Greenville, SC agency, Erwin-Penland wrote a piece for Ad Age on attracting creative talent to smaller markets. He suggests mining the local talent pool for all its worth and employing PR tactics. He also suggests "investing considerable resources in promoting the surrounding area" as Erwin-Penland has done with "Food for Thought: A Convention of Unconventional Creativity." This three-day celebration, …
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Femvertising
Omnicom is forming a new consultancy to help marketers reach women. The new unit is named G23 — G as in Group, 23 as in the pair of chromosomes that carries the sex differences between women and men. The power of women in the marketplace is undisputed. Surveys indicate that female consumers in the United States buy or influence the buying of more than 75 percent of all goods. “Targeting women is something that is at …
See No Evil
Jane Sample and Ad Broad consider morality in the context of an ad career. Jane says: I can see how some people think we are evil. But we are not evil. The majority of the people who work in advertising are extremely intelligent and empathetic people who CARE about the world and the people in it, we just like advertising. I know many people who work in advertising and are extremely passionate about “giving back” …
Step Up to the Drafting Table
Alan Wolk wants to be an architect, not a builder. Me too. Years ago, when I worked at the legendary Anderson & Lembke, Steve Trygg (who started the shop) was fond of saying that “an ad agency can be the contractor or it can be the architect. And you always want to be the architect.” Wolk argues that typically ad men and women are not architects today. We’ve turned ourselves into the contractors. The guys who make …
Thinking On Your Feet
Rob Walker has been out touring the nation to promote his new book, Buying In: The Secret Dialogue between What We Buy and Who We Are. Portland bookstore, Powell's, asked Walker to write an essay that would help sell the book (because they're Powell's). In the essay for Powell's, Walker says no one wants to see themselves as a consumer. It's too trivial a description for a complex organism. Yet he argues that …
