“A product is an artifact of a truth of a promise. A brand is a promise. The promise of Gateway is to be the wagon-master across the silicon prairie. It was more interesting to me that Gateway opened stores than Barnes & Noble went dot-com. It doesn’t matter whether Gateway sells anything in its stores […]
The Wonders Of Wiki
Blogs are being discussed just about everywhere in mainstream media today. CNBC and other news programs have even begun to feature bloggers like Ana Marie Cox, a.k.a. Wonkette, as talking heads. Now wiki is having its day in the sun. Business Week and Red Herring recently ran articles on this open source publishing technology. While […]
P&G Cleans It Up
Clairol’s Herbal Essences, when applied, no longer produces orgasms. The beauty product does lead Jadyn Maria to sing, however. Too bad. Any old shampoo can lead one to sing in the shower.
Easy On The Beefcake
Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer ads that dramatize the product benefit. Apparently, Outback Steakhouse knows nothing about this time-honored approach. One of their current efforts features three hunks that come to the table to serve three adoring, but rather shy, ladies. No mention of the food at all. What happens when a lonely lady […]
Take It Outside Or Have It Taken Away
In four Monterrey, Mexico churches, Israeli-made cell phone jammers the size of paperbacks have been tucked unobtrusively among paintings of the Madonna and statues of the saints. AdBusters seeks to “jam” our pervasive media culture, TiVo helps content hungry viewers jam commercials and now we have priests in Mexico jamming cell phone usage. I applaud […]
Conversational Media Goes Big Time
The future just arrived. Welcome to it. AdAge editor, Scott Donaton writing today about how consumers now hold all the cards, not marketers, said, “Make no mistake, it’s nothing short of a revolution. Those who don’t embrace it — and resistance to change remains disappointingly strong — will be crushed by it.” Scott Donaton, editor […]
Lewis Lazare Just Phoned
Sun Times advertising columnist, Lewis Lazare, just phoned to ask me several questions about AdPulp, blogs, my industry experience and whether I wouldn’t prefer to be writing the great American novel. Look for his write up next week. It will be interesting to see how he breaks it down. He can be a tough critic, […]
Elevators Rarely Go Anywhere Worthwhile
Adweek’s Joan Voight published an article today about the importance setting has on an agency. Naturally, she leads with Mike Shine, since Butler Shine and Stern occupy offices in Sausalito
