Be Different Or Be Dead by Roy Osing explores "The Only Statement" among other topics meant to encourage business leaders today. Rick Spence, writing in Financial Post, likes Osing's clarity and sense of purpose. I've heard lots of prescription for writing elevator pitches and mission statements, but Osing's formula strikes me as one of the best. Instead of talking about low prices, great selection and friendly …
How Holding Companies Are Holding Their Own
Ad agency holding companies -- Publicis, WPP, Omnicom and IPG -- are always being criticized and ridiculed for being outdated in the new world of advertising. BusinessWeek takes an in-depth look at how they're doing. All of the big agencies are working on multiple fronts to integrate their technology teams more deeply into every aspect of the creative process. The days of digital silos inside agencies are long gone. …
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Get Social: The Dragonfly Effect and Social Nation Show You How
Two new books shed more light on the practical uses of Social Media for businesses and causes. And to how how nuanced social media is, these two books come at the subject from quite different viewpoints. Social media has proven to be a catalyst for change in a lot of cases. In The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways To Use Social Media to Drive Social Change, authors Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith …
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L.L. Bean Is Nice, Best Buy Is Naught
The Consumer Reports "Naughty and Nice Holiday List" is a collection of customer-service policies Consumer Reports likes or loathes. …
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Google’s Visual Search Technology Returns Branded Answers
According to The New York Times, Google introduced a smartphone application last year that lets users take photos of objects and get search results in return. The app called Google Goggles is now available on Android phones and the iPhone. Google is now bringing this functionality to five national brands in an experiment to see how consumers use their mobile devices to search for more information from Buick, Walt …
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Pumpkin Pie Makers Are Thankful For A Shared Sense Of Humor
Frisch's Big Boy in Cincinnati found an interesting place for its holiday-themed outdoor campaign. With help from Powers Agency, Frisch's Big Boy placed its messaging right in a competitor's grill, or oven, as the case may be. "I just thought, the nerve of someone to put their advertisement of a pumpkin pie practically on the side of our building," joked Dan Busken, President and CEO of Busken Bakery. The Busken's …
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Buy My Book: View From The Cheap Seats
This week marks the 150th column I've written for TalentZoo.com. I've received countless emails and comments of praise, and I've managed to piss off the AAAA, Sarah Palin fans, and the SMU faculty, among others. But mostly, it's been fun and cathartic. Now AdPulp readers can own a compilation of columns in a hardcover copy of View From The Cheap Seats: A broader look at advertising, marketing, branding, global …
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Do You Like That Ad? It’s Just Your Hormones
Gotta love these scientific studies. From Marketing Week: Research has found that oxytocin, which acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain, causes people to have more empathy towards issues raised in TV advertisements. Participants at the Claremont Graduate University in California were given a spray of oxytocin to sniff, or a placebo, and then shown US and UK public service announcements about the dangers of smoking, …
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