Musicians Imogene Heap and Little Boots are active in social media. Their proficiency inspired Ian Tait to write about them, which in turn led Ed Cotton to ponder why brands and the agencies that assist them can't come up with something authentic to say. Somehow we've gotten into our heads that business should only talk when it has something to sell and beyond that there's nothing really that they can or want to talk …
Radiohead Has Heart
Getting the precise music to fit your spot is one of the tricky but crucial steps in making a commercial, video or film. According to Ad Age, the National Coalition for the Homeless got extremely lucky when the directors of their spot sent Radiohead's management a cut featuring the band's music. Radiohead decided to donate the song's use, which the band has never done before. [UPDATE] According to commentators on …
An Army Of Swindlers
Over at the BNET Advertising Blog, Jim Edwards takes a very good look at the recent Leo Burnett/U.S. Army overbilling scandal and others like it: Perhaps the most worrying part for employees and clients of Burnett, however, is the failure of leadership. When ex-CFO Eric Martinez objected to Burnett keeping a secret account filled with Army overcharges, ex-CEO Linda Wolf fired him. Note to management: If you have to …
Good Form
Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin is appearing in Max Azria's new online ad campaign. New York Magazine has the details. …
Everyone Together Now: PULL!
I’ve spent most of my ad career serving large companies with equally large marketing budgets. These companies invest many millions of dollars pursuing all sorts of push marketing efforts. But that's not my concern at the moment. Recently, I've been realizing how much small businesses mean to me. My friends work in, and own, small businesses. And when these friends ask me about their web site or advertising, I …
Lines Are For Blurring
Brian Morrissey of Adweek looks closely at Panasonic's efforts to create buzz during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. Panasonic wanted to build cachet among Internet influencers for its array of tech products. As part of its "Living in High Definition" push, Panasonic new media consultancy Crayon recruited five bloggers to travel to CES on Panasonic's dime. Panasonic footed the bill for their …
Starbucks? No. McDonald’s? Yes.
Adweek's Noreen O'Leary asked a number of agency people how they planned to market their clients' products in this time of diminished credit and general economic woe. Here are a couple of the best responses: "This is not a normal recession. This is a tectonic, structural shift, a global realignment," says Umair Haque, director of Havas Media Lab. "The post-war industrial era was the era of production. Now we're …
File This Under “PR Imbroglio”
China is paying tens of thousands specially trained - and ideologically sound - internet commentators 50 cents per post to tell the government's story, according to the BBC. The commentators have been dubbed the "50-cent party" because of how much they are reputed to be paid for each positive posting (50 Chinese cents; $0.07; £0.05). "Almost all government departments face criticism that is beyond their control," …