According to Wieden + Kennedy's London office, these guys - Dave and Ian - were outside this morning with their banner, no doubt encountering all sorts of abuse from passing students, drunks and conceptual artists. …
Time Warner Lightens Its Case Load
Wired: Steve Case, a co-founder of AOL and one of the key architects of the disastrous AOL-Time Warner deal, said Monday that he has resigned from Time Warner's board of directors. Case had relinquished the role of chairman two years ago, but remained on the media conglomerate's board of directors, despite the opposition of shareholders angered by the fallout of AOL's purchase of Time Warner at the height of the …
The More Things Change…
"Human nature hasn't changed for a million years. It won't even vary for the next million years. Only the superficial things have changed. It's fashionable to talk about changing man. A communicator must be concerned with unchanging man - what compulsions drive him, what instincts dominate his every action, even though his language too often camouflages what really motivates him. For if you know these things about a …
New Stars Are Made As Media Planning Takes Center Stage
Business Week: Media strategists used to rank just above accountants as the kind of people advertisers wanted to meet in the industry. In recent years, however, disdain has been replaced with adulation as the attention spans of consumers have shrunk. With the Internet, ad-skipping digital video recorders (DVRs), video cell phones, and portable music and video players all vying for their attention, consumers are …
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Men Are Extreme (What Can We Say?)
Danny G's post on Mr. French and his antiquated views is the entry that keeps on giving. Today, "Gay Like A Fox" chimed in with this: I suspect the dearth of top-level women creatives is rooted in nature. Looking beyond the realm of advertising we see that, historically, very, very few of the top contenders in any field have been women. In other words, there are relatively few women among the world's best chess …
The French Evolution
Neil's been tarred and feathered aplenty, so in my new column in Talent Zoo I've decided to focus on a larger issue: why there's so much hero-worshipping in the ad industry. Frankly, Neil French isn’t the problem. The problem lies with the starstruck suckers who treat his every utterance like it was the word of Moses or the Dalai Lama. And then insist his comments are above reproach simply because, well, he’s Neil …
Sir Martin’s Fat Wallet Loses Tons Of Weight
Adfreak picked up on a London Times piece detailing Sir Martin Sorrell's divorce. Sorrell is chairman of WPP, the world's second largest ad agency holding company. Court papers reveal that the advertising magnate must hand over a £23.4 million lump-sum plus their £3.2 million Georgian townhouse. Also among Lady Sorrell’s spoils are two underground parking spaces at Harrods in Knightsbridge, West London, worth nearly …
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Consulting Is Cool
Josh Spear dot com: Over the past year, I 've been overwhelmed by emails and calls asking for my opinion on brands, products, design, etc. Several large companies, that will remain nameless (for now), have sought me out for my thoughts on how to beef up both their image, and their product line. As a result, I've been involved directly with a variety of brands in a very short time, helping to launch startups, as well …