2012 was an interesting, sometimes challenging, year in AdPulp. We published our 10,000th post and continued to deliver a consistent run down of the most important trends and news in the MarCom space. We heard from new voices, and we worked harder to provide more depth to our stories and thus value to you.
As part of the first wave of Ad blogs to emerge all the way back in 2004, it is interesting to see who is still standing, who managed to make punditry their profession and who moved to a “disconnected from the Internet, but connected to nature” cabin in the woods.
I took two extended periods away from the site in 2012. Either stretch could have easily become permanent. I wanted to quit many times. But for a strange mix of reasons, I keep coming back. Naturally, I have this same kind of complicated relationship with Advertising itself. I find most advertising loathsome, if not maddening. Yet, I recognize the awesome power in the form, and therefore its potential to do both harm and good.
Advertising also makes for a nuanced, complex field of study and an endless stream of topics to think and write about. I hope you agree and that you will find value in revisiting some selections from 2012, regrouped here for your ease and pleasure:
- January: Brands Are Not Inherently Social, And It Shows In Their Conversational Marketing #social
- February: Geniuses Masquerading As Interactive Creative Directors, There’s A Place For You #talent #recruiting #digital
- March: The AdPulp Interview: Ad Contrarian Revisited #traditional #TV
Want To Reach People? Great, What Is Your Basis of Conversation? #commonground #contentstrategy - April: Can “The Crowd” Compete? #crowdsourcing
- May: We’re All Contractors, Some Of Us Just Have Longer/Better Contracts #freelance
- June: Lots of Small, But Interested Audiences. What’s A Brand To Do? #content #YouYube #fragmentation
- July: The Truth Is The Truth, Not What The Client Says It Is #clientservice #transparency #thetrades
- August: Say Something Interesting In A Memorable Way, Or Shut The Hell Up #noise
Two Turntables And A Microphone Not Necessary #cocreation #personalization - September: 10,000 Down, “Y” To Go #selfpromo
Use The Knowledge In Your Brand To Empower Your Prospects and Customers #contentmarketing - October: Facebook Doesn’t Want You To Be Lonely In The Vast, Dark Universe #WK #FB
- November: What We Can Glean From Karl Rove’s Real Bad Day #dinosaur
- December: Social Media Marketing Is A Loss Leader For Brands, And A Waste of Resources For Everyone Else #social #ROI
As a bonus click, I also recommend this post where Dan Wieden eloquently explains what business we are actually in. “What this business is about is not about selling stuff,” he says. “This business is about creating strong provocative relationships between good companies and their customers. Those relationships will feed the business, but you have to feed the relationship first.”
Thanks for reading.
Note on the image: Thanks to Friend of AdPulp and long time friend of mine, David Keller, Ph.D, for boldly wearing the AdPulp brand where few admen dare to tread — the wilds of Idaho.