If you like to follow the ups and downs of Chicago ad agencies and the people who work in them, Lewis Lazare is your man. In this morning's edition of the Chicago Sun Times, Lazare details the many twists in the road faced by GreenHouse Communications. GreenHouse is perhaps best known as the shop that in April 2005, bought the remains of Campbell Mithun/Chicago. Sources say the Campbell-Mithun parent shop in …
Can’t We All Just Sing-A-Long?
You want to know what's good? An art director who can write is good. Bill Green of Make the logo bigger is such a creature. Here's his take on a Coors Light radio spot that made him want to punch the radio: Really trying hard here not to be an asshole, but if anyone can explain to me how the latest Coors spot deserves to be on the radio, I’ll have George Parker send you $50. Damn if I can find it to give you a link …
“Involve Me And I Will Understand”
If you read the advertising trade press everyday as I do, you grow tired of all the latest and greatest developments. Reading the same story over and over again with only the names changed becomes tedious. The endless buzz (and the terminology invented to support it) falls on deaf ears. Ergo, it was sweet to stumble across this utterly lucid commentary from a founding father today: "Tell me and I will forget, Show me …
The Creative Mind Has No Off Switch
John January of Sullivan Higdon + Sink tried his best to have an ad free holiday weekend, but it didn't work out exactly as planned. On his way to and from a relaxing weekend of pontoon boating on a rock-bottom lake, January observed the following: -Both churches and Adult-oriented merchants believe strongly in the power of outdoor advertising. Outdoor companies are laughing all the way to the bank. -Most …
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Trade Ya
This is either a stroke of genius or an act of total desperation. I can't tell at the moment. Virgin Mobile is willing to trade you free minutes on its wireless network. All one has to do is willingly watch commercials and pay attention while doing so. According to the New York Times: With the cost of mobile phone calls already dropping sharply, Virgin Mobile USA plans to announce a way that people can talk for no …
Vodka And Fake Red Bull
Coke may be the real thing, but Red Bull is making its own authenticity case in courtrooms across the land. From Iowa City Press-Citizen: The distributor of the energy drink Red Bull has filed a lawsuit against an Iowa City bar for mixing cocktails with an imitation, but failing to tell customers who specifically ordered drinks with the popular beverage. Red Bull North America Inc. filed its lawsuit in U.S. District …
Kids Today
If you market to tweens or teens, hopefully you know where to find them. Tina Wells, CEO of Buzz Marketing Group knows. In an OMMA article she says: Teens and tweens are drawn to Web sites that engage them on multiple interactive platforms, hold their ever-shrinking attention span, and give them a reason to come back. Wells names the following sites as teen and tween havens: uthtv.com, omnik.com, absolutepunk.net, …
Garage Philosophy Leads To Big Things
Mark Fletcher spoke about his experience starting ONElist and Bloglines at this month's SDForum in Palo Alto. I like his advise about doing it on the cheap. I am a cheap bastard when it comes to startups. With ONElist I was, you know, $55,000 got us through a million users. With Bloglines it was $200,000 from start to finish. It's so cheap to start and run these web companies, especially if you do it virtually. Like, …
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