Ad Age: Joe Mansueto, the founder and chairman-CEO of Morningstar Inc., has emerged as the lead contender to buy Fast Company and Inc., Gruner & Jahr USA …
Socialist Realism Gets Another Go
Maryland commuters are being subjected to what one person has deemed, "authoritarian post-modernism," on their daily train ride. Thanks to Articulatory Loop for the post. …
Naomi Klein Is Going To Be Pissed
Adrants points to this Toronto Star article on McGraw-Hill's efforts to place ads inside college text books. Thankfully, the random ad man asked to comment blasted the idea. "Textbooks are one of the last bastions," said Randy Stein, a partner at Grip Media Ltd., a Toronto ad agency. "There are some things that should remain pure and sacred. What's next, university professors with logos on their blazers like …
Social Networks On Slippery Slope
Molly Wood, a CNET editor, has published a piece claiming social networking doesn't work. I've gotten a lot of invitations to Friendster over the years, which, to be honest, I ignored. I always just assumed I didn't have time for that tomfoolery. Plus, I already had a boyfriend, and I already had friends. I know that all sounds horribly snobby, but there it is. But then, along came Orkut. Suddenly, because I was …
Newspaper Men Meet Craig
Here's another entry in the dinosaur chronicles. According to the New York Times, many newspaper execs are totally clueless about where their classified revenue is going. Surprisingly, the momentum of this online alternative with virtually free offerings had not drawn much attention as recently as last fall, when Creative Intelligence, a consulting firm based in Altamonte Springs, Fla., surveyed the newspaper …
Get ‘Em Ernie
Ernie Schenck is not impressed by Carl's Jr., nor GoDaddy. Pointing to their "sex sells" approaches, Ernie says the tactics are, "a weak-minded crutch that lame clients like Carl's Jr and GoDaddy and a thousand others invariably fall back on in a sad attempt to get noticed." He goes even further in his comments section. Ever since I've been in this business, there's been creatively horrific crap that's proven to be …
Squeezing Nickels Pinching Pennies
from New York Times: Clients, facing relentless competition and consolidation in categories like automobiles, fast food and telecommunications, are anxiously squeezing every nickel of waste from their ad budgets. "In the 80's, we used to fight with clients over creative. In the 90's, it was about strategy. Now, it's only about money," said Jonathan Bond, co-chairman of Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners in New York. So in …
Times Says Fast Company Is Done
from New York Times: When the Meredith Corporation announced its purchase of Gruner & Jahr's women's magazines last Tuesday, Meredith said that Gruner's business magazines, Fast Company and Inc., were not "material" to the sale. What that means is that two magazines that sold for more than half a billion dollars four years ago now have a value of zero. As it flees toward its exit from a billion-dollar experiment gone …
