Monday, December 5, 2011

The Magic of Coca -Cola, as Seen by Andy Warhol



This is one of my favorite quotes from anyone; it's from Warhol's 1975 book, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol.

What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.

Monday, October 24, 2011




As advertisers, we're almost always being asked to "tell the story better" and at the same time, we're usually asked to wedge in a few product points, data details, and other things typically extraneous to the story being told.

Keeping it simple becomes one of the biggest cahllenges as an advertiser. I don't have the answer, byt I do know all the questions.

Monday, June 20, 2011



Way too many media, advertising and marketing power brokers have landed in Cannes just in time for the annual International Advertising Creativity Awards (Lions) and Festival.

According to early reports, attendance for 2011 could increase by as many as 1,700 people compared to the Cannes event held in 2009, reflecting both the positive global economic environment advertising is enjoying around the world as well as increased emphasis on smart marketing and the return you can get on solid advertising campaigns.

There will also be many late night huddles on music, art, and their impending convergence.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

What's In A Name ?



A little tired of advertising agency naming conventions.......where the weirder the better. A current (and far from complete) list of real live ad agencies names follows.

18 Feet & Rising
Frank Unlimited
Big Spaceship
Wexley's School for Girls
Firstborn
Evolution Bureau
Trailer Park


I'm sure there are more, I quit looking.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Where Can I Find Ads I'm Looking For? Maybe in a MOAT.

And now, a Search Engine for Ads

• This all new website www.moat.com is a new search engine for display ads, which shows you all the creative ad units currently running across the web; the website goes beyond just clicks and conversions
o Typical clickthrough rates on display ads are less than 10 out of every 10,000 visitors (0.1%); whereas about 500 of every 10,000 people (5%) spend at least half a second hovering their mouse of an ad, and 1,000 out of 10,000 (10%) touch the ad in some fashion without clicking on it
o Moat captures this data and delivers it to marketers so that they can test different images and wording in their display ads
• Moat also works on heatmap engagement and analytics, as well as a crowdsourced marketplace for display ad designers

Monday, April 11, 2011

USPS Pain in the Neck


You may NOT believe this, but there is a woman who hasn’t worked since 2005 due to a disability claim for a neck injury she claims to have suffered when lifting a letter tray while working for the United States Postal Service. As part of her claim that she was unable to work, she has (so far) collected $193,000 in disability payments.

The U. S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General investigation found that the injured rural carrier has been traveling around the world…..... gained certification as an open water and advanced scuba diver.......… and engaged in hiking, snow skiing, bungee jumping .....… and horseback riding… she was even seen dancing after her disability claim was filed.

To make this story even better, she purchased a $150,000 boat and named it “Free Ride.”

That might have been the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

She was sentenced to eighteen months in prison and fined $193,000. Needless to say, her thirteen-year career with the Postal Service has come to an end.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

How Do I Know Advertising Works?


An age old question. And there is no standard answer. Although I did come across this, which at the very least, validates my long held belief.

“I know from my own experience that with all the time we spend on the analytical aspects of our campaigns like quality scores, click-though rates, cost per click, and match types, it is very easy to lose sight of this simple truth: what your ads communicate is much more important than the metrics you use to track them.”

–– Mark Van England in SEARCH ENGINE LAND

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Dumber Than Dog Snot.


What will have to be considered for "Headline of the Year" will have to be this doozy: “Security Blunders Dumber Than Dog Snot,” which emanates from an August 17, 2010 web page of CSO Magazine (Chief Security Officer).

Roger Johnson, a member of the "vulnerability assessment team" at respected Argonne National Laboratory describes three all too common problems:

1. People forgetting to lock the door.
2. People too stupid to be helped.
3. Otherwise intelligent people who fail to exploit their abilities for the betterment of security.

OK, so what, and so what's up with that headline? Johnson watched his dogs repeatedly crash themselves against a picture window facing the yard when they wanted to chase a squirrel. Hence, most of his windows wrere covered in.......wait for it......dog snot.

He also notes that:

1. Most security cameras fail to prevent crime because poor resolution causes security personnel to miss important things.

2. The assumption that low-level employees are harmless and are seldom asked about their activities.

3. That overlooked insider threats are often sparked by poor HR policies.

4. Both employees and contractors can be bribed by offering them money to do bad things.

Enlightening as dog snot!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Your Government at Work


You do NOT need to look very far to find evidence of government excess:

For example:

Pages of documents submitted during the past several months by Goldman Sachs to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission: 2.5 billion.

Number of days federal investigators have been given to review all the documents before issuing its final report: 209. (Source: Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.)

Number of prison inmates who received tax credits under the first-time homebuyer program: 1,295.

Number of these prison inmates serving life sentences: 241. (Source: Department of the Treasury.)

That is all.

Workaholics


Americans may think they work hard.........but according to a recent IPSOS studt, published by Reuters, American workers rank only fifth among the world’s biggest workaholics, using only 57% of their available vacation days.

The French take their vacations way more seriously, using 89% of their available vacation time (is that a surprise to anyone?). And on the other hand, the Japanese are actually the world’s biggest workaholics, using only 33% of available vacation days. (Source: Reuters/ipsos.)

Monday, January 10, 2011

What The Hell Do You Expect?



It occurs to me that your experience is critically tied to your expectations. And in some ways I think people expect too much these days. Reasonable expectations are valid and determined by the mores of the day. If you see great customer service in action ----- you come to expect that. And likewise, if you see bad customer service ----- you tend to expect more of the same.

And whether you realize it or not, you have certain expectations from great brands.

You don't expect the same cornering from a Chevy Geo as you would from a Porsche Cayman. A Kit Kat bar doesn't taste like Godiva. Whatever is inside that Tiffany box will likley be better than the sack from Sears. The shoes from Cole Hahn feel better than a pair of loafers from Payless. And that $2 Starbucks should be better than the no name office coffee.

Point is, you help shape the expectations of all the brands you come in contact with, along with millions of others. And expectations are always built in to the advertising and promotions for brands (good ones and bad ones) perceptionally and in reality.

What are your expectations, and what brands have let you down lately?

Monday, January 3, 2011

Hold Please.


Gotta love this. There's a small advertising agency in Seattle - Creature. They must have had a little extra time on their hands......they decided to re-do their own on hold music. What they came up with is both creative and fun!

No boring Muzak here. No highly caffeinated psuedo pop rock. No smoooooth jazz.

Just a thoughtful rant on your next conversation.

"I heard the rumors about how bad our hold music was -- and so I called and asked to be put on hold and I was really embarrassed," said Jim Haven, chief creative officer at Creature. "You spend so much time talking to people on your cell phones, you kind of forget about the main phone number and that to many people it's the gateway. At any rate, I challenged the creative department to come up with a solution."

"This Next Telephone Conversation," gives you some insight in to what MIGHT happen next. My personal favorite take is: "You MIGHT find yourself on a cliff, drinking beer, with a midget".

They're teasing us now with the possibility of adding more songs --- maybe a 'Songs to Hold By' greatest hits!

Love to see creative people look for any and all outlets for their creativity.

Happy 2011



What is all the fuss about a change on the calendar? A flip of the page, a turn of the dial? It's just another day. Some people make way too big a deal over it. I simply don't understand that.

What I do understand is that the things I truly care about will get the most attention from me in 2011, and all the days after.