Ad Age editor, Scott Donaton, wants more industry leaders like Carat Americas CEO David Verklin. I can't really say why. Maybe so he can have more interesting luncheons. Maybe he likes throwing a little cheerleader in with his journalistic critique. Maybe he's genuinely moved by the guy. You tell me. …
Jobs’ Mad Skills Dazzle Horn Blower
Presentation Zen: Even legendary jazz artist and master performer, Wynton Marsalis, couldn't help but be impressed by Jobs' presentation skills. Just seconds before Marsalis raised his trumpet to play, he paused and said (without a direct mic)..."That was a great presentation." The audience laughed at what was clearly a spontaneous gesture. Marsalis and his band were the "encore" to Steve Jobs' special presentation …
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A Remarkably Twisted Approach To Dining
Lewis Lazare: They must be doing something right. Former Ogilvy & Mather advertising executive Kim Holstein and her husband, Scott, began making pretzels 10 years ago in Kim's Lincoln Park studio apartment. A good product and some savvy marketing and publicity efforts have enabled the Holsteins to grow Kim & Scott's Gourmet Pretzels into a company that produces 40,000 pretzels a day in a 50,000-square-foot bakery. …
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Cultural Bias Clouds Communications
Spurred on by hurricane coverage, Experiential Marketing guru, Katherine Stone, asks, "Do I seem stupid to you?" in a poignant defense of her native Southland. I was born in Baton Rouge. I lived in New Orleans for the first decade of my life. I spent my summers in Mississippi with my grandmother in Vicksburg. I now live in Georgia. I'm a true Southerner, and proud of it. Let me assure you much of the South is nothing …
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The Triumphant Return Of Champ And Moore
The Wieden + Kennedy creative team who gave birth to inspirational advertising for Nike's womens line in the mid-1990s are back. Janet Champ and Charlotte Moore have written a book and they have a brand new blog in support of said book. Ripe: The Truth About Getting Older and The Beauty of Getting On With Your LIfe picks up where the two left off, on womens' health and self-image issues, issues related to aging and …
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Hall Embraces Book While Rebuking Reactionary Flailings
Steve Hall likes Phil Dusenberry's new book. The best thing about Dusenberry's book as that it acknowledges the basic elements of advertising which have been in place and, for the most part, have worked since advertising was invented. While some will surely take issue with this assessment, reading Dusenberry's book makes one wonder why we're all so worked up about weblogs, conversational marketing, consumer generated …
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A Casting Call For Account Advisors
Ernie Schenck turned his CA column over to Neil French this issue. The results are hilarious and didactic. There’s a Confucian saying that “he who asks humbly teaches how to refuse.” Well, “submitting” ads for approval is demanding refusal plus a damn good hiding, in my view. And while we’re meandering down this side-road, why do agencies bang on about “serving” their clients? (Account people are in “client service” …
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Eighteen Plus Six
Lewis Lazare: Oak Brook-based Ace Hardware has renewed its contract with former football coach and television color analyst John Madden for an additional six years. The 18-year association between Madden and the nation's largest hardware cooperative is the second-longest spokesperson relationship existing today, just behind Michael Jordan and Nike. …