Manhattan's commercial real estate, like everything in The City, is outrageously expensive. Since COVID-19 infected our public spheres last March, these towering office structures have also been largely empty. Did you know that only 15% of office workers are projected to return by the end of 2020, according to the Partnership for New York City? No One's Home on Madison Avenue Madison Avenue was once the …
You Won’t See This in the Trades: Rodrigo Maycotte Admires Stan Richards
A week and a day have passed since Stan Richards opted to step down after the firestorm of controversy surrounding his comments in an internal creative review for Motel 6. Comments that were quickly passed along to the client, who then fired the agency. What I've heard through the grapevine since is the activist role that Adweek may have played in this case. The word on the street is Adweek's reporters called all …
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Do What’s Necessary? Or Do What’s Easy? Strategists Know the Difference
This new article in our Emerging Voices Series is made possible by the generous support of Adpulp's patrons on Patreon. Please join us and help pay writers. Life is a series of forks in the road. The same is absolutely true of a career in strategic communications. Somewhere early in your career, you’ll go from delivering for, to partnering with clients. It becomes your responsibility to use your …
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Bronze Seeks Silver Shows The Personal Side of A Pivotal Era In the Ad Industry
“Even with every advantage I was given, I’ve had to plan, sweat, and fight for each move on this marketing game board." -Mat Zucker There are two styles of books advertising professionals write when they want to tell their career “war stories” and impart some of their learned wisdom: Either it’s a cradle-to-boardroom minutiae-laden biography or a series of simple, 1- or 2-page digestible …
Stan Richards Said Dumb Things, Now His Agency Is Reeling
Stan Richards said something he wishes he had not said. It's personally embarrassing and it's costing his agency money. According to The Dallas Morning News, Richards described a new ad pitch for long-time client, Motel 6, as being “too black” for the motel operator’s “white supremacist audience.” According to Ad Age, the remarks were heard by about 40 Richards Group employees attending a remote internal …
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A Conversation Between Copywriters
S. Todd Anthony kindly requested a Zoom meeting with me last month. During the meeting, he asked me a lot of great questions about advertising, copywriting, clients, mentoring, and more. The full interview is available on his LinkedIn page, right now. It will also be published on Pinwheel's blog. For a taste, scroll down to the three questions I chose to highlight here. Todd is the executive creative director …
Can’t Sell Won’t Sell Will Piss Off Many Ad People If They Read It
In a year filled with chaos and uncertainty, it’s increasingly clear that the future of the advertising industry hinges on economic, social, and political forces constantly in flux. And in the midst of the fog of 2020 comes a firecracker of a new book. British Creative Director Steve Harrison holds the advertising industry’s feet to the fire in Can’t Sell Won’t Sell: Advertising, politics and culture wars. Why …
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I’ll Take ‘Creative Wizardry’ for $800, Alex
Diminish a once-powerful industry and lose all respect inside and outside the agency. What is influencer marketing? What is programmatic? What is artificial intelligence? There is a virulent strain of stupid on the loose in the business world today. The disease leads those infected to strip the soul of creativity from the marketing communications industry. Whether it's a content marketing disciple …
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