No Such Thing as a Free LunchMay 12, 2008 There is a term that conjures up abhorrent visuals featuring the droves of mini-malls that pepper our communities, parking lots packed with minivans, and endless aisles of cheese puffs, canned beans and toilet paper.More
Leading With DigitalMay 07, 2008 Last night I had dinner with the head creative director of an agency on the West Coast. We were discussing the topic that seems to be on everyone's mind: "How does an agency truly become digital?"More
The Digital Rules of EngagementMay 05, 2008 Reading Twitter recently, I came across a great quote by Tom Ajello (Meat99), who said Twitter is like "an army of deaf people shouting into a canyon."More
Application EconomicsMay 05, 2008 It was the year 2000. I had been with digital shop Agency.com for less than six months when I got the call. It was Jon, one of our business development people.More
There's No Crying in AdvertisingApril 30, 2008 As a copywriter and creative director for a small New York ad agency, people often ask me what I do when I get writer's block. I tell them, "I'm not allowed to get writer's block."More
What Are You Morphing Into?April 28, 2008 Years ago, and I mean back when they still called it "the information superhighway," I did an ad with David Fowler and Ken Markey for our client GTE. The headline: It turns your computer into a phone, your phone into a computer, and both of them into a television. Sort of.More
'First, Do No Harm'April 28, 2008 There isn't an agency meeting that doesn't end with the question, "Who's hot?" It's an interesting question because the answer is contingent upon the "agency of the moment" and its winning streak. (AAR's Leslie Winthrop and Lisa Colantuono are shown.)More The Trouble With AgenciesApril 28, 2008 The last time I expressed my views on our industry to our industry was at the 2006 American Association of Advertising Agencies' Management Conference. In my speech, entitled "The 5 Percent Solution," I encouraged holding companies to allow their agencies to retain one-fourth of their individual operating profit for growth through investment, incentive or reward. My feeling was and remains we are unable to get bigger if we are unable to get better -- and that requires money.More
We Can Be Rock StarsApril 23, 2008 I signed up to attend TED over a year ago, with the fears and insecurities of anyone in our business. I had come to believe that TED was full of entrepreneurs and activists who put the likes of people in our business to shame.More
Beyond CPMs and GRPsApril 21, 2008 For some time, especially since the Writers Guild of America strike ended, there has been endless speculation in the press and on industry panels about the ultimate demise of the upfront.More
TV Upfronts: Alive and WellApril 16, 2008 It's that time of year ... magnolia trees begin to blossom, spring wardrobes come out of hiding and, oh yes, that other annual ritual we passionately refer to as the upfronts.More
Is It Time to Phase Out the Creative Function?April 14, 2008 For too long now, I (and I suspect you as well) have been troubled by the dearth (or death) of creativity in the industry.More
It's in the JeansApril 09, 2008 Do you know a denim dad? He is one of nine multidimensional consumer types that shed light on evolving attitudes and represent some of the key behaviors shaping tomorrow's consumer landscape.More
Why the Web Is Foreign TerritoryApril 07, 2008 OK, so I've never worked at an advertising agency and have never been part of a massive advertising network with, like, 1,000 offices worldwide. So I guess I'm not an expert on global advertising, except that nearly every brand campaign we have ever done at our small independent digital company has been global.More
What a Difference a Day MakesApril 02, 2008 It all happened in a day. First, I woke up to find about six messages in my in-box pointing me to YouTube's posting of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's presentation at this year's TED Conference. (Taylor is a neuroanatomist at Harvard.)More
The Path to ProfitsMarch 31, 2008 Svadhyaya. It's a yoga term that means self-education. A mental process that shuts out all external noise and keeps you quietly focused on your inner path. As a new yogi, I am amazed by the power of this concept.More
Tying Offline Advertising to Online ResultsMarch 26, 2008 No longer do people debate whether you can use an in-commercial response mechanism either to sell things (e.g., Ginsu knives, George Foreman grills) or build brand image, but not to do both at once.More
Attack of the Pod PeopleMarch 24, 2008 C3 is good, but pods are the thing. If only Nielsen would realize this and agree to measure and report commercial pods in time for the 2009-10 upfront buying season.More
Currency ExchangeMarch 24, 2008 Exactly one year ago our industry was abuzz with debate over the prospect of using commercial ratings rather than traditional program-viewing measurements as the primary currency in negotiating rates for national television inventory.More
There's Only One Job in AdvertisingMarch 17, 2008 When we decided to move a portion of the agency to Boulder, Colo., a very surprising thing happened: The mayor's office asked to take a meeting.More
Surviving the Awards ShowsMarch 17, 2008 As we get into the thick of advertising awards show season, here's some survival advice.More
Paper Chased: Digital Design Comes of AgeMarch 13, 2008 When we first started doing digital work, we would always print out the project, rather than view it on screen. The point being that it was easier to dismiss simple and subtle design decisions in electronic form than it was when the tangible piece of paper was staring you in the face.More
An Inside Look at Obama's Grassroots MarketingMarch 12, 2008 This year's primaries have been some of the most exciting in living memory. There's been new thinking, bold new political approaches and bold new marketing practices. Barack Obama's campaign has been extraordinary for a number of reasons, ranging from the radical use of new media tools to the use of social networking to further his reach.More
By and for the PeopleMarch 10, 2008 How did design get so popular? Why has every business from Procter & Gamble to the corner restaurant decided that design is going to help them connect to a broader audience? There's something going on here, and everyone wants a piece of it, but I think many are missing the real reason this change is taking place.More
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