Rosser Reeves was a rule-breaker, a gifted writer, a visionary business person, licensed pilot, sailboat racer, chess player, and art collector. He was born in Virginia in 1910 and he wanted to become rich. Reeves got what he wanted. In 1934, he moved to New York and went to work as a copywriter for a handful of agencies before landing a job at the Ted Bates and Co. in 1940, where he was able to help formulate the …
New Commercials from BK, High Noon, and Diet Coke
Commercials of merit have their own narrative arcs, where action, tension, and resolution all come together in 60 seconds or less to inform and entertain the viewer. COVID-19 has its own narrative arc, and in the following BK spot, the COVID story winds its way to a logical, but contrived conclusion. https://youtu.be/ARS78eTBia8 My take: If you're a pandemic survivor, you deserve a flame-broiled burger, not …
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One Man with Exceptional Vision Can Help Many Others See
Rishad Tobaccowala is the singular voice rising above all others, for me, and for many others working to make better communications and stronger and more meaningful bonds with customers. Rishad is a Senior Advisor to Publicis Groupe, a holding company with 80,000 people. He also freely shares his insights with anyone who wants to subscribe to his Substack newsletter, The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers …
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Ad Chatter, Season 2, Episode 6 with featured guest Santi Bibiloni of COR
In this special edition of AdChatter, we introduce London-based brand strategist, Toby Donaldson to listeners, plus we feature a special guest, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Santi Bibiloni. Santi founded an eCommerce agency in Argentina when he was just 22 years old. The agency grew to be one of Argentina's fastest-growing companies. Today, Santi is the founder and CEO of COR, a next-generation solution for …
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Brands Can Do This, And We Can All Do This (Until It’s Done)
Big brands are doing good deeds and making the local nightly news as a result. For instance, McDonald's is in the news for putting messages on its paper cups to help educate and motivate people to get vaccinated. “We all want to protect ourselves and our loved ones and be together with our communities again,” said Genna Gent, McDonald’s USA vice president for global public policy and government …
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Realtor.com Appeals To Each Home Buyer’s Unique Tastes and Needs
Buying real estate in today's hyper-competitive market is incredibly taxing. Homebuyers are in the middle of the most competitive buying season of all time. There are 50% fewer homes on the market year over year, and home prices at a national median of $375,000 have surpassed all-time highs, plus homes are selling in just 43 days (on average). Finding a desirable and affordable home and then actually closing on it …
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Badvertising Aims to Define Why Ads Make You Go ‘WTF?’
No one in the advertising industry ever gets up in the morning and says, “Today, I’m going to create boring, uninspired work people will ignore.” But it happens every day. We all know it, we’ve all done it, and I’ve spent a good part of my career pontificating about the idiosyncrasies of an industry that churns it out. But perhaps no one’s dissected why bad work happens as systematically as “Tagline Jim” Morris does …
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Speed Up, It’s Time for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway
Branded events and pro sports with a limited number of fans in attendance are back. This Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Darlington, South Carolina for The Goodyear 400. It's also NASCAR's Official Throwback Weekend and while this adds a festive nature to the race, the reality of COVID-19 (and the need for widespread vaccinations) continues to determine the need for responsible conduct. Fans will be asked …
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