Displaced Designer is a new site dedicated to helping people in the industry get back on their work feet. We reported last week on Brains On Fire's effort to help Gulf Coast agency staff relocate temporarily to Greenville, SC. Now Adweek reports, Trumpet’s 32 employees were celebrating the agency's eighth anniversary just two nights before Katrina rolled ashore. Co-founder Robbie Vitrano said that all 32 employees …
Hugh’s Turn
I'm kind of surprised I did not see this earlier, but today I stumbled upon B.L. Ochman's interview with Hugh MacLeod of Gaping Void. Hugh supports himself with income from blogvertising. He resides in rural England, where his rent is one fifteeenth of what he paid in New York. He says he makes close to what he made in New York as a copywriter. I don't know what Hugh made, but copywriters can be paid pretty well in …
We All Need Brand Camp
For 79 more wickedly insightful marketing 'toons from this artist, visit Tom Fishburne's …
Volkwagen Cruises Over To Crispin
From Adweek: Volkswagen said it has named MDC Partners' Crispin Porter + Bogusky to handle creative chores in the U.S. and Canada. Havas' Arnold here had previously handled the business for the past 10 years. Arnold has done quite a lot of good and memorable work for VW over the years, but as VW sales have been slipping lately, this serves as a potent reminder that no agency-client relationship is ever safe. The …
GSD&M To The Rescue
Brand New Day: Advertising agencies are generally viewed as nothing more than organized, high priced hucksters. But here is what one agency did, quickly, to dispel that stereotype. Austin, Texas shop GSD&M called the Ad Council on Wednesday morning, when the rest of us got the full picture of how awful the situation is, to volunteer to put together radio and television advertisements for the Red Cross. By Thursday …
Let The Product Or Service Speak
The Hidden Persuader posted this Neil Frenchism last week. "The answer to making an ad is always in the product, if you look for it. Our task is not just to find that answer though - it's to make the answer relevant to someone who, at present, doesn't give a shit about it. So first I look at the product and deconstruct it ... what Robin Wight used to call 'interrogating it until it confesses to its …
Respecting The Channel
Beer is sold through a distribution channel. Often times, beer marketers even call the distributor "the customer," since the distributor has to be sold first, before the end user. According to Adweek, Budweiser is placing increased empahasis on their distribution channel. Anheuser-Busch is about to debut folksy TV ads in its bid to be more local by loosening compliance standards for its wholesaler network, giving …
Change Is The Only Constant
Tom Asacker unleashed a pearl on change. There are two types of change: change within a system of beliefs; beliefs that stay the same. And change in your system of beliefs; e.g. your assumptions about the marketplace, customers, and your role. If you want to change, you have to change twice. Yes, you must change the reality of the situation. But you must also change how you view that reality. The business world is …