Content and social media marketing get beaten up by old school ad men for focusing on “the conversation,” instead of the sales pitch. I think the reality is a bit different than the reported complaints. Car companies, real estate companies, clothing companies, restaurants, and hotels all use social media to share their assets with the […]
Car Account
Nine Founders Rock BMW’s Hot Seat
Startup founders think big and act fast. BMW and their ad agency, KBS, understand the mindset, and chose to appeal directly to entrepreneurs with BMW Hot Lap Pitch, a high-speed spin on the classic elevator pitch. An elevator ride can be frightening for some, but these brave entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas to VCs from […]
Used Mini Blowout In Sausalito
Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners is one of the few ad agenices in America worthy of admiration. The reasons are many, and now we have a new one. Forced to defend the account once again, BSSP is walking away from BMW Mini after 11 years. According to Campaign, agency CEO , Greg Stern said: There […]
Consciousness Comes To Carvertising
European luxury wagons are not just personal transporters to efficiently and safely get you to and from work—they’re $45,000 sleds that you can ride to freedom. Volvo’s agency, Forsman & Bodenfors, went deep into the archive for this Alan Watts speech: There is no use planning for a future which when you get to it […]
Venables Bell & Partners Is Driving Home Audi’s Appeal
Action adventure films are some of Hollywood’s greatest blockbusters. Why aren’t more commercials taking a page out of this well-worn book? Westerns are some of Hollywood’s greatest blockbusters. Why aren’t more commercials taking a page out of this well-worn book? Both Audi long-form commercials are highly cinematic. Both are mini-movies with a narrative arc, high […]
Volvo USA Is A Believer In The Sanctity of Marriage
I’ve been puzzling over the Volvo wedding campaign ever since this ad first appeared on TV. A dude with a beard sits in the back seat and gazes lovingly into his navel… Okay, then what? Who are all these people? When and where was the wedding? Where’s the bride? I know. Lots of unanswered questions, […]
Subaru of America: A Living Case Study In Micro-Targeting
How did Subaru of America build on its niche lifestyle targeting to become a mass-market car brand? Alex Mayyasi of Priceonomics reports: When Subaru marketers went searching for people willing to pay a premium for all-wheel-drive, they identified four core groups who were responsible for half of the company’s American sales: teachers and educators, healthcare […]
Avicii Helps Orchestrate “A New Beginning” For Volvo
Swedish powerhouse Forsman&Bodenfors has turned in this new long-form commercial for Volvo featuring Swedish artist/producer Avicii. Filmed on location in Stockholm and Osterlen, southern Sweden, the video visits places of personal significance for Avicii and tells his own story of renewal, following several years of hard touring. The song “Feeling Good” was arranged and produced […]
Americans Taken For A Ride By Chrysler And W+K
The Kings and Queens of America are the ones who reach out and take what’s there. Because this is America, the land where world-changing opportunities are ripening on the vine. All you have to do is harvest them and turn them into products that generate glorious profits. Provided you’re man or woman enough to drive […]
Driving A Giant GMC Truck Is Like “Painting The Corners”
Baseball season is almost here. And people forget. GMC is wisely reminding us, and wisely using a World Series hero and one of the best songs in rock and roll history to move metal. The commercial features San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Jeremy Affeldt, who earned the win in Game 7 of the team’s World […]
Dan Goldgeier
David Burn
Shawn Hartley
Wade Sturdivant