I like that Jonah Bloom of Ad Age doesn't like how casual agencies and brands are about their naming schemes these days. This week, Publicis' shops Starcom, Leo Burnett and Digitas announced they were collaborating on a new agency that will go by the name ... Insight Factory. Sounds sort of familiar? Maybe you live in the U.K., where there's a company called The Insight Factory. Or maybe you're getting it confused …
TV Spending Fails To Address The Truth About The Product
Consumers are trending toward craft beers and the nation's laregst brewer (who doesn't make craft beers) is going to spend more money on TV in order to "educate" consumers about their brewing process, ingredient sourcing and history. In other words, A-B will try to sway beer drinkers from Sam Adams and the like to Michelob by using Sam Adams' marketing strategy. The St. Louis brewer devised the new strategy after …
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Petside.com Open For Business
According to The New York Times, brands are moving boldly into the media business, and are even willing to accept advertising on their content rich sites from competitive products. NBC Universal and Procter & Gamble have set up a pet-focussed Web portal that looks something like a Yahoo or AOL for pet owners, with a bit of Facebook and MySpace thrown in. The companies plan to share the advertising revenue. Procter & …
Giving Thanks, Courtesy Of Emmanuel
Like a lot of people, I take being an American for granted. We've got our share of problems here, but for some people it's still a land of opportunity that they're grateful for. I learned that once again last week, when I shot and edited a video on behalf of Refguee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta (RRISA). Emmanuel came to America last year, having spent much of his life in Tanzanian refugee camps. …
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Soul Searching Gets No Respect At Ad Age
Ad Age is treating GSD&M CEO, Roy Spence, unkindly. Exhibit A, this headline: The trade mag feels that Spence's walkabout at a time of massive layoffs at the agency is "a publicity stunt whose timing couldn't be worse and whose true purpose was never really clear." What's the deal? A man can't walk? …
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Brand Narratives Will Benefit from Transmedia Storytelling
CAMBRIDGE—The final session at Futures of Entertainment 2 is called “Cult Media” and it features four entertainment makers, including Jesse Alexander, co-executive producer and writer on NBC epic saga, Heroes. Henry Jenkins, co-founder of MIT’s Comparative Media Studies program is moderating the panel, members of which are batting the term “transmedia storytelling” around like a badminton birdie in the warm and cozy …
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Dan Wieden Talks Howard Schultz Into Running National TV
"By its very nature, national advertising fuels fears about ubiquity," Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO said over a decade ago. With Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds competing for his customers, Mr. Schultz is singing a new tune. One he learned from Dan Wieden. "We need to recognize that the category is evolving," Mr. Schultz told analysts on a conference call Thursday. "And as the leader, we have an opportunity to make sure …
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Really Smart People at MIT Actually Study Advertising. Weird, Huh?
CAMBRIDGE—Saturday morning’s opening panel at Futures of Entertainment 2 is wholly academic. Sam Ford, the moderator of this panel and one of the organizers of the conference says he found it interesting how one half of the participants here today come from the academy and the other half from industry. He also says many of the academics had trouble getting the necessary funding to attend, and that MIT has been …
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