I've spent many years working closely with brand managers at Coors, Diageo, Camel, and other top tier consumer brands. Which is great. But now I'd like to apply my knowledge in a slightly different arena. I want to help my friends who run businesses (and other people who run businesses that I'd like to be friends with) develop content strategies for the social Web. I'll also help develop traditional marketing …
Branding Is For Brands
There's a certain abandon to Steffan Postaer's writing. I like that, especially since it's coming from deep inside the machine. Today, the creative leader of Euro RSCG/Chicago, takes on agency mission statements and self-promo exercises. Thankfully, he does so with abandon. Are we about ideas, client service, publicity or all of the above? In every creds piece (including ours), is some permutation of "building brands …
Self-Promo Ad #4
Commercial writing is still creative writing. Otherwise, it's not writing at all, just empty words strung together haphazardly. And Lord knows, there's an overabundance of such drivel passing as marketing communications. Since you're reading this via AdPulp, not Craigslist where it originally appeared, chances are good you know the value of compelling copy. Which is great, I don't need to beat that drum any more than …
Guest Post: Jerry Ketel Spiffs His Brand
Editor's note: Jerry Ketel is one of Portland's leading figures in the agency business. He runs a firm with his name on the door and he's President of the Portland Ad Fed. Recently, Ketel attended a class that moved him. Here's his account. Instead of navel gazing, maybe it's time to rebrand yourself. Recently, I had a job change, not because of a layoff, quite the opposite, I was kicked upstairs in my organization. …
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Self-Promo Ad #2
After Bozell laid me off in 2001, I wandered around for bit looking for a foothold. It came when Dave Markes introduced me to Cathy Solarana. Cathy had a solid design business going in Omaha and her clients were increasingly asking for ads, not just design. That meant someone had to help concept the ads and write them, as well. Thankfully, that someone was me for a time (before I went back to Integer for round …
Creative People Find Elegant Solutions (It’s Our Job)
Bill Taylor, co-author of Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win with Polly LaBarre, reminds us that tough economic times are also times of innovation. Don't let risky times dull your appetite for taking risk. More then ever, companies and their leaders have to offer a positive alternative to a demoralizing status quo. So why wouldn't you move now to shake up your market and transform your …
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Online In ’09
I mentioned yesterday that I want to see what AdPulp and social media, in general, can do in '09. My challenges are presently two-fold: A) We own a house near Hilton Head and Savannah that we need to sell or rent, a.s.a.p. b) I need to secure new income streams from a variety of sources, a.s.a.p. A win in either "a" or "b" is a big win. But let's focus on "a" for the moment. I know it might seem crazy and/or …
Self-Promo Ad #1
It's 2009 and we're going to see what AdPulp can do this year. And what social media can do. The impetus for this is personal, in that I moved from South Carolina to Oregon last August, worked remotely for BFG until the end of the year and am now a member of Free Agent Nation, once again. This time, I'm not looking for a job, I'm looking for business. It's a subtle but important distinction. And I'm willing to look …