Do you trust your data? Do you trust your data provider? Do you trust that someone on your team will parse the data that you do trust into common sense insights that can be acted upon? People say data is more valuable than gold. People also say all that glitters is not gold. I once got in trouble for saying "Comscore absolutely does not fucking matter" in a fancy meeting where I was the youngest person by …
For Good Things To Happen, Brands First Need To Be Famous
Rory Sutherland is a deep thinker with the ability to cut through the bullshit. It's an uncommon trait, so let's pay close attention to the man's words. https://youtu.be/hcO4VLd-xYA When asked what is the biggest challenge for Ogilvy (where he works as Vice Chairman) in the next 10 years, Sutherland coolly replies: "Oh. I think that the whole advertising industry has totally lost the plot. It has become …
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Fear of Mass Shootings Is Bad for Business, Bad for Morale, and Bad for America
President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself." It's a wonderful line, but it's also from another time in American life. Today, We, the People, have plenty of reasons to be afraid. For one, domestic terrorism works. Not only do the shooters kill real people who are their imaginary enemies, but millions more viewing the carnage at home are also impacted by the violence. As a …
The New Frontier In Privacy: Your Face
Agree or disagree? Communications technology, like all new technology, is neither good nor evil. I believe what we choose to do with technology is what matters. For instance, Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) can be used for the good of all, or it can be used by a draconian surveillance state to control a population. Last year, Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft, warned that the technology was too …
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Mercedez-Benz Is Making the Driving Experience Better for All Miamians
Generosity. It's what's missing from too many interpersonal relationships today, and it's missing from our relationships to brands. Therefore, there's opportunity in generosity. Playing in the brand utility sandbox, cross-cultural creative agency the community came up with Bridge Forecast, a first-of-its-kind system that monitors drawbridges in real time to inform commuters of potential traffic delays. …
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Ad Agency Holding Company, Desperate for Customer Data, Pays $4.4B for Epsilon
Publicis will pay about $4.4 billion for Epsilon to give it a leg up in digital marketing and to help clients personalize their connections with consumers. Today, data is worth more than a mountain of gold on a platinum platter. “Our clients are facing increasing pressure from the rise in consumer expectations,” Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun said. “The only response is to deliver personalized …
Data Predators and Surveillance Capitalists Get “T Boned” at SouthBy
Legendary musician and music producer T Bone Burnett came to SXSW 2019 to slay digital demons. I highly recommend that you make some time to watch his keynote and/or read the text of his speech. It may shake you awake. There is so much to digest in Burnett's speech that no recap is going to suffice. I will pull a few gems forward for your consideration, however. Here's one...have you heard the name Edward …
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All Work And No Play Makes Johnnie and Joanie Witless Screen Zombies
Advertising like law, journalism, technology, engineering, medicine, and other professions demands countless hours from its workers. This, despite damning evidence that productivity and creativity fall flat after about six hours of concentrated work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American works 44 hours per week, or 8.8 hours per day. A 2014 national Gallup poll put the …
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Thanks To “Surveillance Capitalism,” The Googleplex Knows What You’ll Buy Next
Careful where and what you click. Every keystroke you make is evidence. If you're not comfortable with being spied on every time you open a window, I highly suggest you spend some time with this brilliant article by John Naughton in The Guardian. I would say that it is an eye-opening exploration of our lost privacy, but that would not provide the proper emphasis needed. Naughton dives into deep waters with …
The Mediaverse Continues Its Sharp Decline; Adpulp Continues To Climb
For a century or more, advertising and journalism have been two separate but closely related industries. Advertising and journalism needed each other. Now that it's 2019, is this still true? Or have the two industries morphed into a grotesque new ad tech-dependent creature? Whatever the answer, both industries are losing so much ground so fast that neither seems capable of helping the other. Maybe this is the …
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