Let's look at ad blogs ourselves for a moment. Shall we? Steve Hall tells Shedwa that the work ad bloggers do is important. We have a huge impact. Ad Age reads us (by us, I mean all ad blogs) because they don't want to miss anything. In one sense, we do a lot of early reporting for them. Uncover new trends, stories, scoops which then sometimes find their way onto the pages of Ad Age. I'm not saying we're a …
The Clown Triumphant
Irene Done points to a story in LA Times, about a Consumer Reports finding that people like McDonald's coffee better than Starbucks coffee. Consumer Reports magazine said today that in a test conducted at two locations of each emporium, its tasters found McDonald's coffee to be "decent and moderately strong" with "no flaws." On the other hand, the Starbucks brew "was strong, but burnt and bitter enough to make your …
Live Blogging Fashion Week
The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.) examines a new kind of reporter attending Fashion Week in New York City--the retail blogger, whose aim is to drive traffic to stores where the latest fashions are available for purchase. Ken Downing might look like any other reporter at the New York shows. But he's the fashion director at Neiman Marcus, the Dallas-based department-store chain that caters to well-to-do …
We Knew Him When
A year ago in this space we decided to help an aspiring copywriter develop his spec book. Today, that aspiring copywriter works as an editor for Gawker Media and gets ink in The New York Times. Ben Popken is an unlikely consumer crusader. The power of blogs never ceases to amaze. …
Element 79’s Super Bowl Quickie
Super Bowl spots take months to create. Or not. According to Lewis Lazare, Chicago's Element 79 put one together in a hurry for their client Frito-Lay. Creative Director, Phil Gant, at the agency all of a week, went to Chief Creative Officer, Dennis Ryan, with his pitch a mere eight days prior to the game. Gant, who had been chief creative officer at BBDO/Chicago, wanted to do a commercial showing groups of people in …
Digitally-Minded Ad Peeps In High Demand
Boston Business Journal writer, Lisa van der Pool, examines the convulsions being felt throughout Adlandia. She says traditional advertising agencies are facing a difficult paradigm shift--the need to evolve their businesses to accommodate for all things digital. "Our digital group used to be a department. Now, they are right at the center of the agency, digital guys are imbedded into every account," said Fran Kelly, …
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First, Get A First Life
"The brands that are adopted, blogged about, and parodied the most are the ones that are going to win because they're involved in the evolution of pop culture." -Jeff Hicks If we are to believe Crispin's CEO, Second Life is in the winner's circle. …
Fines Levied In Boston Case
According to the Washington Post, parties responsible for last week's viral marketing "bomb scare" have a hefty price to pay for their actions. Turner Broadcasting Systems and a marketing company have agreed to pay $2 million compensation and apologize for their advertising campaign that caused a widespread terrorism scare. The agreement with several state and local agencies resolves any potential civil or criminal …