A week and a day have passed since Stan Richards opted to step down after the firestorm of controversy surrounding his comments in an internal creative review for Motel 6. Comments that were quickly passed along to the client, who then fired the agency. What I’ve heard through the grapevine since is the activist role […]
Do What’s Necessary? Or Do What’s Easy? Strategists Know the Difference
This new article in our Emerging Voices Series is made possible by the generous support of Adpulp’s patrons on Patreon. Please join us and help pay writers. Life is a series of forks in the road. The same is absolutely true of a career in strategic communications. Somewhere early in your career, you’ll go […]
Bronze Seeks Silver Shows The Personal Side of A Pivotal Era In the Ad Industry
“Even with every advantage I was given, I’ve had to plan, sweat, and fight for each move on this marketing game board.” -Mat Zucker There are two styles of books advertising professionals write when they want to tell their career “war stories” and impart some of their learned wisdom: Either it’s a cradle-to-boardroom minutiae-laden biography […]
Ad Chatter, Episode 7: The Motel 6 Incident
All episodes of Ad Chatter are now available on Buzzsprout \ Apple Podcasts \ Spotify \ Stitcher \ Amazon Music \ Listen Notes \ Deezer \ Podchaser \ Podcast Addict \ Google Podcasts \ iHeartRadio Stan Richards, 88, never intended to retire or resign from the job he loves. Now, amid a firestorm of controversy […]
Stan Richards Said Dumb Things, Now His Agency Is Reeling
Stan Richards said something he wishes he had not said. It’s personally embarrassing and it’s costing his agency money. According to The Dallas Morning News, Richards described a new ad pitch for long-time client, Motel 6, as being “too black” for the motel operator’s “white supremacist audience.” According to Ad Age, the remarks were heard […]
A Conversation Between Copywriters
S. Todd Anthony kindly requested a Zoom meeting with me last month. During the meeting, he asked me a lot of great questions about advertising, copywriting, clients, mentoring, and more. The full interview is available on his LinkedIn page, right now. It will also be published on Pinwheel’s blog. For a taste, scroll down to […]
Ad Chatter with Special Guest, David Blain, President of Saxton Horne in Salt Lake City
In this new episode of Ad Chatter, we hear from a special guest, David Blain. David is president of Saxton Horne in Salt Lake City and a mentor to me. I got my start in the agency business in 1997 at David’s agency, Blain Olsen White Gurr, which was a high-tech B2B agency in Salt […]
Rolling With The Changes
I don’t doubt that Renny Gleeson, Global Director of Digital Strategies at W+K, knows how to sell cutting edge digital solutions to the world’s leading brands. But do the world’s leading brands know how to buy cutting edge digital solutions? And does an agency that made its name in print and on TV know how […]
Ad Chatter: Special Edition with Steve Harrison
I recently reviewed Steve Harrison’s new book here on Adpulp.com, Can’t Sell Won’t Sell: Advertising, politics and culture wars. Why adland has stopped selling and started saving the world. In this special edition of Ad Chatter, I talked with Steve a little more about his book. We covered a wide variety of topics, including: Groupthink […]
The Rob Schwartz Interview (A Preview)
Rob Schwartz of TBWA\Chiat\Day NY is one of my favorite people in the ad business today. To qualify for this kind of praise, you have to be smart and kind. Rob is both, and like all of my favorite people, he doesn’t bullshit. He’s down to earth and he makes time for people—qualities not always […]
