I was not aware that the Denver Ad Fed closed down in December 2004. This Denver Post article from last month, provides some details. The 113-year-old group shut down in December 2004 as a result of flagging membership. Leaders and members said the group had been too slow to respond to changes in the industry. Many people - particularly those in smaller boutique agencies - no longer saw the value of membership. A …
“Your Boat Is The Brand”
Once upon a time, Jack Trout was the man. After all, he is the acclaimed author of many marketing classics, including Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, Marketing Warfare, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing and Differentiate or Die. But now he's come out against word-of-mouth in Forbes, making him look old-fashioned, at best. There's no way to control that word-of-mouth. Do I want to give up control and let …
Punk Your Brand
I attended a Joshua Davis presentation three years ago at SXSW. Now, Wired has an interesting profile of the man. There are two ways to get noticed as an artist. You can stick to a familiar formula, like Thomas Kinkade with his prodigious output of country cottages that look perfect hung above the chenille sofa in a bed-and-breakfast. Or you can have a fresh shtick, something that kicks convention to the curb. …
Hugh Tilts, You Tilt, We All Tilt
Hugh MacLeod is an ambitious man. I like ambition in intelligent people. YOU WANT TO REACH PEOPLE ON A HUMAN SCALE. That's what Madison Avenue keeps forgetting. That's what Madison Avenue can't get their head around, because their business model has no credible answer for it. Part of my agenda here is putting ad agencies out of business. Or at least, trying to. Hugh wants to replace the monarchy with a more …
Twenty Years And Out
Adweek reports that Gretchen Erwin, co-founder of Erwin-Penland and the agency's media director, has retired. Erwin, 50, and her husband, Joe, formed the agency in 1986 after purchasing Penland Advertising in Greenville, S.C. The couple, along with partner Allen Bosworth, turned the one-person shop into an agency that currently employs 145 people and has billings of more than $120 million. Erwin is married to South …
Adventures Of Kling Kong
One look at Jeff Kling, and you know the guy rages. What might not be as readily apparent is the fact he is also a man with a fancy position in advertising--executive creative director at Euro RSCG/New York, to be exact. A search of the Way Back Machine, reveals an interesting Willamette Week story recounting the days when Kling was a copywriter working to reinvent Miller Genuine Draft High Life at Wieden + …
A McKinsey-Like Droga
We last looked at David Droga on August 23rd, after he stepped down as worldwide creatice director at Publicis--kind of a bold move for a 37-year old. The Feb. issue of Creativity catches up with him. I've become obsessed with producing doing work that doesn't necessarily start with a given template. I love traditional advertising and have built my career on it. However I think that is one option, not the only …
Don’t Quote Me, But…
Rumor and innuendo are hardly the province of gossip rags, online or off. For instance, Chicago Sun Times advertising columnist, Lewis Lazare, loves to quote unnamed sources. He relies heavily on them for his piece on Marhsall Ross, appearing in the paper today. The search is on. After coming up empty in several recent big new business pitches, Cramer-Krasselt/Chicago appears to be in the market for a new executive …
