In her latest Hog Blog post Sally Hogshead explains the value of anarchy and reminds us the "The Declaration of Independence" was once considered an anarchist document. As much as I love where she's going with her "Anarchy Now!" call to action, what I really like is her paragraph on transparency. Companies are coming to terms with the need to be “transparent” with consumers, realizing that poor service, shoddy …
Picturesque Americana In Focus
I saw a TV spot last night that led me to Google and then to Nikon's wonderful "Picturetown" microsite, created to promote their D40 camera. Nikon, with the help of McCann Erickson/New York, has put together a remarkable campaign. Remarkable because it's a consumer generated content initiative that looks and feels extremely high-quality. Consumers will no doubt attribute this to the D40's ease-of use, which from my …
eHarmony’s Sour Note
This Hanft Raboy and Partners ad for Chemistry.com is timely. Reuters is reporting that dating site eHarmony is facing legal action in California for denying lesbians and gays the right to use its service. Lawyers bringing the action on behalf of Linda Carlson are seeking to make their case into a class action lawsuit. eHarmony was founded in 2000 by evangelical Christian Dr. Neil Clark Warren and had strong early …
The Courage To Act
The Wall Street Journal wants to sell its Weekend Edition. Their creative leaders campaign is intended to do just that. Here's their pitch: Even in an industry full of radical thinking there are standouts—individuals whose ideas consistently break new ground, no matter how quickly circumstances shift. These pioneeers realize that even as the work week ends, the next big thing is about to begin. Weekend Edition is …
Kraft Drops Axe. Heads Roll.
Ad Age and the Chicago Sun Times are both writing about JWT's Chicago office today. Lewis Lazare leads with: It didn't take long for the other shoe to drop at JWT/Chicago. Just weeks after a quarter of the agency's staff was axed, JWT/Chicago also is jettisoning its top managers -- President Ros King and executive creative director Graham Woodall. This latest management upheaval comes in the wake of Kraft's recent …
Red, White + Blue vs. Red, White + Blue
WakeUpWalMart.com has launched an advertising campaign aiming to dissuade what it calls Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s core customers -- Southerners and conservative Republicans -- from shopping at the retailer. WakeUpWalMart.com, which was formed two years ago by the United Food and Commercial Workers union. The UFCW's tagline is "A Voice for Working America." The first ad to air criticizes Wal-Mart's ties to China. The ad …
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There’s A New Content Sheriff In Town
Donna Bogatin of ZDNet has written two posts about Attributor, the VC backed start-up seeking to help online publishers profit from the widespread repurposing of their orginal content. Attributor’s technology analyzes publishers’ original content published to the Web—text, images, audio, video—with the goal of providing "visibility” as to how it is subsequently re-used by third-parties online. Today, Attributor …
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Bud.TV In The Shop For Repairs
When you go to market with a new product or a new campaign for that matter, you have one chance to make a first impression. Which leaves Anheuser-Busch in a quandry as it seeks to fix Bud.tv. According to Brandweek, A-B is in the process of adding shorter videos and the brewer wants to make its Bud.tv programming more edgy. This, despite an acknowledgment from St. Louis that the site didn’t draw even enough traffic …