Hugh MacLeod is driving his "marketing disruption" machine across America this spring and summer. He's helped turn "Geek Dinners" into an event marketing campaign for his South African wine client, Stormhoek. We like sponsoring geek dinners. We want to do more. Lots more. Ergo: 100 Geek Dinners in 100 days. Starting in May. Are you a U.S. blogger? Fancy throwing a geek dinner? Big or small, it doesn't matter. Let us …
Microgooglehoo Asks Washington For Help
From USA TODAY: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday launched a task force to counter efforts by other nations that use U.S. technologies to block the free flow of information across the Internet. That came on the eve of a congressional hearing Wednesday on Internet companies — including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft — that cooperate with China's government in censoring or handing over information government …
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The Old King Still Has Power
From The New York Times: Trade organizations for the newspaper and magazine industries plan to introduce elaborate and expensive campaigns that tackle a daunting task, persuading marketers and agencies to think better of print as an ad medium. Both are suffering from sluggish growth as they face off against the Internet, e-mail marketing and other, newer rivals. The focal point of the magazine campaign will be ads …
American Brands Take A Beating In Pakistan
From AP: Thousands rampaged through two cities Tuesday in Pakistan's worst violence against Prophet Muhammad caricatures, burning buildings housing a hotel, banks and a KFC, vandalizing a Citibank and breaking windows at a Holiday Inn and a Pizza Hut. At least two people were killed in Lahore, where intelligence officials suspected outlawed Islamic militant groups incited the violence to undermine President Gen. …
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In Rare Instances “Old School” Still Works
Jason Kottke points to this article on New Yorker editor, David Remnick. It's an interesting counterpoint to much of the discussion you will find here and on other media and marketing blogs, as Remnick is a traditional journalist with a conservative view of the business. "I don't lose sleep trying to figure what the reader wants. I don't do surveys. I don't check the mood of the consumers. I do what I want, what …
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J.D. Power Speaks. Will Ad Agencies Listen?
A new book by the kings of customer satisfaction surveys, JD Power & Associates, looks like an interesting read. Satisfaction: How Every Great Company Listens to the Voice of the Customer probably has some lessons the ad industry could use as we try to make our clients value our services more, and help our clients become better companies all-around. From the Amazon description: Satisfaction offers tactical advice …
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Ford’s Takes Credit For Helping To Create Black Middle Class
High Jive is exploring Black History Month ads, which he says are "a pain-in-the-ass to produce, given the politcally correct nature of it all." Here's one sample from 2005. The ad reads, in part: In 1913, One Ad Changed The Face Of America's Middle Class. Henry Ford recognized the value of a skilled workforce—regardless of race. And when Ford Motor Company became the first major corporation to pay African American …
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Gillette Fusion In It To Win It
The Onion landed an exclusive with Gillette CEO James M. Kilts, who had this to say about his new Gillette Fusion razor: Would someone tell me how this happened? We were the fucking vanguard of shaving in this country. The Gillette Mach3 was the razor to own. Then the other guy came out with a three-blade razor. Were we scared? Hell, no. Because we hit back with a little thing called the Mach3Turbo. That's three …