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Advertising News and Know-How

Advertising News and Know-How

Learn from the Legends

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Yet Another Facebook Story: Is Doubting Facebook Doubting Humanity?

Last year Carmen Joy King quit Facebook. Can you believe it? Why would someone do such a thing? Let's listen. In the end, what does all this online, arms-length self-promotion ultimately provide? Perhaps it's merely one component of the pursuit to alleviate some of the blackness encountered in the existential vacuum of modern life. As Schopenhauer once projected, modern humans may be doomed to eternally vacillate …

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Palo Alto, We’ve Got A Problem

Randall Rothenberg's book, Where the Suckers Moon was instrumental for me at the beginning of my ad career, probably because the book's release (October 25, 1994) and my interest in the business coincided. Today, Rothenberg is President of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). As such, he's concerned with the lack of creativity in Interactive media. The four enemies of online branding: A direct-marketing culture …

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My Self-Selection: Writer, Editor and Entrepreneur

The other day, I read a meditation on what it means to be an entrepreneur. Here are some highlights: What makes an entrepreneur different is that he assumes risk. He puts his money, his time, his success, and himself on the line for what he's doing. I was an entrepreneur in the past. Being a young entrepreneur didn't just change my life; it literally paved my way. I believe that entrepreneurs, and even …

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California, Prophet On A Burning Shore

"Seems so long I felt this way and time sure passin slow My time coming, anyday, don't worry about me, no " - John Perry Barlow Mark Morford is a columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle. In his latest piece, he imagines a glorious "green in every way" future for the Golden State. Pot is, by a huge margin, the single largest cash crop in the state unless you count porn stars and celebrity rehab. It rakes in upwards …

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Top Brands Are The Land of Real Value

There are times when Mad Men let doubt creep in. Times when they wonder if their investment in advertising is well spent. If you're suffering from such thoughts, maybe this will help... According to Market Watch, America's Top 100 brands (as ranked by BusinessWeek and InterBrand) generated a 31% return from 2000 through 2008, while the S&P 500 left you with losses to the tune of 28%. This, despite big losers in the …

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Motivate Like A CEO: Good Advice No Matter Who You Are

I have to admit, I was a little skeptical when I got a book by Suzanne Bates entitled, Motivate Like A CEO: Communicate Your Strategic Vision and Inspire People to Act! Because I've seen and heard way to many ad agency CEOs who simply have no motivational or leadership skills. They rule by fear, politics and the deep-seated reality that they can't handle hiring people smarter than them. So what's to learn in Bates' …

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Oregon’s Culture Shapers Win Again

Phil Knight's Laika is big news in Portland these days. The animation studio's new film Coraline is doing well at the box office and people are also loving the marketing for the film created by Knight's old buddies at Wieden + Kennedy. In an Ad Age interview, Knight says W+K identified some 15 niche demographic "spokes," then set about courting the knitting aficionados, comic-book geeks, collectibles mavens, emo …

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Not Schlotzsky, Schlovsky

Who is Arthur Schlovsky? Is he a potato chip manufacturer? A coal miner? A cowboy with Polish roots? No, Arthur Schlovsky is an Internet agency in Paris with a made-up name designed to support its creative image, according to Nathalie Alfred, a Mediaedge spokeswoman. Mediaedge is the agency's parent company. According to The Wall Street Journal, the biographical film that credits its make-believe founder with …

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