I just ran my eyes down the list of Inc. 500's fastest growing companies in Marketing & Advertising, and oddly enough I don't recognize many of the firms. Ian Schafer of Deep Focus thinks it's because they paid to be there. I don't know if that's the reason, but I do know this is a giant industry made up of thousands of firms I've never heard about before. Thankfully, Inc. provides some spotlight features. In our …
Can One Agency Really Do It All?
I work at what you'd consider an integrated, full-service agency. But in this world of exploding tactics and new media everything, trying to put together a truly comprehensive, multi-media campaign that builds brands, engages consumers and drives sales seems impossible. Or is it? Theoretically, of course, one agency can do it all, but think about how it actually works. You need a budget or an assignment or an idea to …
BFG And Crew Making Headlines
We don't cover accounts wins or personnel moves very often. There are other less interesting places for that. However, I'm making an exception today in order to highlight this bit of news from Stuart Elliott of The New York Times. SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, Orlando, Fla., owned by the Blackstone Group, hired BFG Communications, Hilton Head, S.C., to find marketing partners and develop marketing partnerships …
Relax. Or Else.
Writing in Ad Age's Small Agency Diary, Derek Walker tells a great story about a CEO tirade. "What is this crap?!" (He used another four-lettered word.) He continued looking down at the work on the pool table. "Everyone get out here. Now." Everyone hurried around the table, including our creative director. We stood there silently as he glared down at the pool table covered in work. No one said a word -- we had never …
IPG Does A Little Traditional-Digital Merging
This isn't as big a deal as the DraftFCB merger, but it is another sign of the times. From The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Campbell Mithun, the storied Minneapolis advertising agency that gave consumers the iconic Hamm's bear to sell beer and a very young John Denver singing for Northwestern National Bank (now Wells Fargo & Co.), is jumping full force into the digital age of websites and banner ads with an announced …
Continue Reading about IPG Does A Little Traditional-Digital Merging →
My Inbox Is Gonna Keep On Keepin’ On
In my current copywriting gig, I write a lot of sales-related e-mails on behalf of clients. So it's not lost on me that people feel flooded with irrelevant e-mails, or simply ignore a ton of them. I've also taken notice that quick posts on Facebook and Twitter have reduced the amount of personal e-mails I tend to write. So does the inbox still have a place in the marketing plans of tomorrow? Writing in Ad Age, Steve …
Continue Reading about My Inbox Is Gonna Keep On Keepin’ On →
Fast Times At Advertising High
I stumbled onto studying advertising mid-way through college. I don't think it occurred to me in high school that advertising would be a career option. But Minneapolis agency OLSON is reaching out to high schoolers in an attempt to both diversify the business and get young folks interested in advertising. From The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: BrandLab is a three-year-old program that takes a marketing curriculum into …
Leo Burnett–The Agency, Not The Man–Turns 75
Some agencies don't last more than a few years, but Leo Burnett soldiers on. It's owned by Publicis, but the man's name is still on the door and his legacy lives on. Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune has some thoughts: Sorry, Charlie. Don't get mad, get glad. Catchphrases coined at Burnett may be phased out, replaced by other campaigns. But the best of them remain with us, like a song playing on a clock radio as …
Continue Reading about Leo Burnett–The Agency, Not The Man–Turns 75 →
