Agency websites tend to be pretty tame affairs, which is a sad commentary on how slow agencies can be on the uptake. Be that as it may, today I stumbled upon something I like on an agency web site--a positioning line delivered in an impactful way. Cramer-Krasselt is hanging their hat on the following sentiment: "Yes, it is a popularity contest. The brand with the most friends wins." This mantra is delivered in Flash …
How Draft/FCB Scored Big In Bentonville
Lewis Lazare has some ideas on how Howard Draft and his team reigned supreme in the Wal-Mart review, bringing the bacon home to Chicago via an estimated $570 million in annual billings. When the Draft FCB merger was announced, Jonathan Harries, the new global chief creative officer of the merged agencies, even went so far as to say ROI would take precedence over creativity at the new agency. It was a bold statement …
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A Refresher Course
Marvin Harris Jr. on advertising on Vimeo The above video is a strange piece of self-promotion for DuFour Advertising of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. …
Enter Burnett’s “Cathedral Of Ideas” With A Simple Click
Ad Age is reporting on Leo Burnett's move into virtual reality. Leo Burnett Worldwide is hoping that setting up shop in a virtual world can improve its real-world results. The iconic Chicago agency -- which has absorbed the losses of long-held, major accounts such as Cadillac and the U.S. Army of late -- is opening an "ideas hub" within Second Life, a virtual, three-dimensional, internet-based alternate reality …
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Will You Get Hannitized If You Buy A GM Car?
I'm not sure what advertising agency or promo firm is working on this, but right-wing talk show host Sean Hannity is co-sponsoring a contest to give away GM cars. Listeners to his show (and yes, I've listened) know that if they get on the air and say "Hi Sean, you're a Great American!" he'll return the compliment right back. Hence, The Sean Hannity You're A Great American Car Give Away. On a few liberal blogs …
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Is DDB Chicago In Turmoil?
He loves anonymous sources, speculation and rumors, but still, Lewis Lazare's column is always a good read. Such as today's focus on DDB's Chicago office. Sources say that some of the agency's best creatives have called the decision to put Tilley in the top creative post the equivalent of "the last straw." They are angry because Tilley is perceived by many to lack the skills -- and talent -- to be the strong creative …
The Point Of No Return
Lewis Lazare of the Sun Times simply can't get cozy with the idea of a direct marketing hustler like Howard Draft sitting pretty atop venerable FCB. But that's the state of affairs today. DraftFCB's Chicago office has a staff of 1100, making it the city's largest shop. But size is not what's bothering Lazare. Like any aesthete, he's concerned with commerce's grubby hands encroaching on the arts, in this case the lost …
Lowe Gets The Adweek Expose Treatment
A very lengthy article in this week's Adweek explores the history of Lowe--both the man and his agency--as it merged and remerged through the years. Lowe's situation is symptomatic of the problems plaguing IPG after its acquisition frenzy of the past 20 years. The holding company, after all, is still subject to an SEC investigation as it struggles with financial controls stemming in part from poor integration of past …
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