MEDIA COMMENTARY, MUSINGS, & GENERAL CRANKINESS
Posted in Advertising, Commentary on Mar 27th, 2013
The quotation above is from the famous Bill Bernbach. I think it is one of the smartest things I’ve ever heard and is such a great way to truly describe what the word “principle” stands for. The best single example of somebody standing up for a principle (and having it cost them some money) was [...]
Posted in Advertising, Commentary, Creativity on Jan 30th, 2013
Sorry I haven’t posted in awhile. Cardinal sin of bloggers, not to create new content. That, and sucking. But anyhoo, here’s an interview I did a while back with some nice folks in Romania. Here was their very nice intro. (I promise, the interview’s more interesting.) Luke Sullivan is included in the Business Insider’s [...]
Posted in Advertising, Commentary, Creativity, General Crankiness on Nov 4th, 2012
Several years ago, I wrote an article for Adweek about the addiction some clients have to promotions at the expense of their branding. “Should we throw out promotions and go cold turkey?” I asked. “Of course not. In the retail world, promotions are an essential part of the marketing mix. What I’m suggesting is, first [...]
Posted in Advertising, General Crankiness on Oct 24th, 2012
Most of us grow up with pretty finely tuned bullshit detectors. The thing is, this technology is getting better every day. In fact, over the years, I think bullshit-detection technology has more than kept pace with computer technology, to the degree that kids today have BS detectors picking up readings as low as one-part-bullshit-in-a-million. Interestingly, [...]
Posted in Advertising, Commentary on May 12th, 2012
I’m just finished reading a very good book by the guy who founded Behance – Scott Belsky – titled Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles between Vision & Reality. We’ve all seen our share of creative directors who believe that critiques should be based on finding out what’s wrong with a piece of work. But [...]
Posted in Advertising, Commentary, General Crankiness on Apr 17th, 2012
“3 A.M. CALL TO THE PLUMBER.” (Curtain rises) WE OPEN ON A CLOCK ON THE WALL. IT’S 3 IN THE MORNING. WE PULL BACK TO REVEAL SLEEPY PLUMBER ENTERING A BATHROOM AS THE CLIENT HOLDS OPEN THE DOOR. CLIENT: It’s in here. The sink is just totally clogged. PLUMBER: No problem. Sounds like a hairball. [...]
Posted in Advertising on Feb 26th, 2012
(A small excerpt from the new fourth edition of Hey Whipple, Squeeze This.) In a screenwriting book I read years ago I stumbled on this basic Hollywood trick that seems to apply to what we do here in advertising. To create a story, the author said, “Create one world and then look at it through [...]
Posted in Advertising, Education on Dec 19th, 2011
(I just “liked” my own essay to see what would happen. What happened was my name ends up in the list of likers. Made me feel creepy. Please forgive, won’t you?) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • [...]
Posted in Advertising, Education on Oct 16th, 2011
This is the cover of the new book from London’s D&AD, The Copy Book. I am crazy proud to be one of the featured writers. That said, I would have trouble looking anyone in the eyes and claiming my work should be featured in this book, and not that of my friend Greg Hahn’s. Or [...]
Posted in Advertising on Oct 9th, 2011
Steve Job intrduces Chiat\\Day\’s new campaign 1.) He didn’t work from notes. Notes suck. Notes say, “What I’m saying is so unmemorable, even I had to memorize it.” Speak from the heart. 2.) It didn’t feel like he was presenting. It felt like he was talking with us. 3.) He stopped 23 agencies from pitching [...]
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