If CP+B Shred School and the holiday gift of 900 guitars to its staffers is any indication, Boulder is really starting to get to the Crispinis. Put another way, the Crispinis are settling in and starting to get their Rocky Mountain grooves on. [via The Denver Egotist] …
FDR – A Change Agent’s Change Agent
Roberto Ramos, president and CEO of The Vox Collective, thinks brand managers ought to look to FDR for inspiration in these troubled times. With Adweek as his stump, Ramos suggests, a four step approach. Here's how he addresses "structural reengineering": A salient aspect of the New Deal was the creation of new programs to address specific challenges and the population's concerns. The imperative for branding …
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Dove’s Chinese Soap Opera
China has it's own "Ugly Betty," but her name is Wudi, not Betty. According to The Wall Street Journal, WPP Group PLC's Mindshare, brokered a deal to bring the format to Chinese TV, giving Unilever the right to exclusive ads and product placements during the show, as well as a script built around the company's Chinese reformulation of the campaign for real beauty. "Ugly Wudi," protagonist Lin Wudi, who works at an …
A Sliver of Social Media, An Entire Helping of TV
Alan Wolk sees a new dawn for branded communications when he speaks of "The Great Unleveling". ...for the past fifty years, brands have been able to rely on marketing to "create a splash" for low-interest products and services. So that a clever TV spot with a catchy tag line really could have significant impact on brand awareness for the general public. That's because that TV spot was competing for your attention …
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Flash Mob for the Environment
Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo. Carrotmob is a network of consumers who entice businesses to be socially responsible by offering huge profits in return. Learn more at Carrotmob.org and Vigrance.com . …
Eat On Barack’s Face
Yes, I voted for the guy, but this commercial is creepy. It's not his "confident smile and kind eyes" that I care about. It's his brain. But I guess there's nothing more American than the right to promote tacky commemoratives through special TV offers. UPDATE: And, uh, Biden gets one too! …
Let’s Do Lunch
Journalists like to meet interesting people. It's one of the perks of the job. Apparently, so is lunch at Michael's in New York City. Media Magazine claims they don't care for lists, yet they've made a rather long one called "100 people we'd meet at Michael's". It's not just about being rich, powerful or influential. It's about being someone who can contribute something meaningful to the conversation and leave us …
Jerry Ketel: Conductor
During Monday's snowmageddon, Jerry Ketel, President of Leopold Ketel & Partners and the Portland Ad Fed took time out from answering an RFP to meet with me in the well appointed lobby of his "idea studio." Ketel has an infectious laugh and a sense of ease about him. He's also full of big ideas. He talked to me about creating social memes, how Facebook is huge in China (a communal society) and how I'm at the nexus …