Howard Draft is stoked. According to Ad Age, Interpublic has finalized plans to merge two of its largest units, the marketing-services agency Draft and traditional ad agency FCB. The combined unit will be called the Draft FCB Group, with Howard Draft as the new unit's chairman-CEO. It marks the end of a 133-year journey for FCB as a stand-alone brand and is another sign of the ascension of a long-marginalized part …
What Carrie Bradshaw Did For Manolo Blahnik…
The New York Times is running a story about product placement on steroids. In the first episode of "Lovespring International," a new comedy on the Lifetime channel about a dysfunctional dating service in Southern California, the owner of the agency storms into an office, furious at two employees. "Do you know how many people have signed up for Perfectmatch.com in the last five minutes?" she barks. "1,623." In real …
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Get Web 2.0 Right (So There’s No Web 3.0)
Steve Rubel, VP of a large PR firm, is moonlighting as a commitment counselor. Who knew? If I were the Web, I would be tired of all the dating games by now and would have moved on to someone else. It seems as though all global corporations want to do is flirt, date or maybe have a fling or two with the web and then move on. Many don't want to invest in it like it's a long term relationship. Corporate America's love …
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New Valley Startup May Eat In To Conference Attendance
courtesy of Flickr user, adactio Valleyschwag, not to be confused with Gawker Media's Valley Wag, is preparing to meet the needs of nerds everywhere. Out here in the Valley (Silicon Valley, that is) we're well known for cookin' up a mean tech company. But our real legacy is our schwag--the t-shirts, ballcaps, notepads, stickers, keychains, and other booty blaring the slogans that create new industries (and sometimes …
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Fertilizer Needed
If you like to follow the ups and downs of Chicago ad agencies and the people who work in them, Lewis Lazare is your man. In this morning's edition of the Chicago Sun Times, Lazare details the many twists in the road faced by GreenHouse Communications. GreenHouse is perhaps best known as the shop that in April 2005, bought the remains of Campbell Mithun/Chicago. Sources say the Campbell-Mithun parent shop in …
Can’t We All Just Sing-A-Long?
You want to know what's good? An art director who can write is good. Bill Green of Make the logo bigger is such a creature. Here's his take on a Coors Light radio spot that made him want to punch the radio: Really trying hard here not to be an asshole, but if anyone can explain to me how the latest Coors spot deserves to be on the radio, I’ll have George Parker send you $50. Damn if I can find it to give you a link …
“Involve Me And I Will Understand”
If you read the advertising trade press everyday as I do, you grow tired of all the latest and greatest developments. Reading the same story over and over again with only the names changed becomes tedious. The endless buzz (and the terminology invented to support it) falls on deaf ears. Ergo, it was sweet to stumble across this utterly lucid commentary from a founding father today: "Tell me and I will forget, Show me …
The Creative Mind Has No Off Switch
John January of Sullivan Higdon + Sink tried his best to have an ad free holiday weekend, but it didn't work out exactly as planned. On his way to and from a relaxing weekend of pontoon boating on a rock-bottom lake, January observed the following: -Both churches and Adult-oriented merchants believe strongly in the power of outdoor advertising. Outdoor companies are laughing all the way to the bank. -Most …
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