Insights
Oh, the arrogance- or if you run out of original ideas, call it something new.
Guy Kawasaki once said “Advertising is the plastic surgery of business,: a procedure to make ugly and old products look good” (“Selling the dream”) and it seems that agency types are still looking for new ways to package their same old mojo:
Ernie Schenck Calls This Advertising?: Bruce Bildsten Opens Brew. The Devil Made Him Do It.
Former Fallon CD, Bruce Bildsten, has opened Brew: A Creative Collaborative. Do not call it an ad agency or I will kill you. Brew is what I see as one of a new and emerging class of creative organizations. Says Bruce: “We are reinventing the creative team for the new communications landscape.” And Bildsten should know about new creative landscapes. While at Fallon, he directly oversaw the creation of BMW Films.“Think of Brew as the nation’s first truly unbundled creative shop—where we assemble best-in-class creative, strategy and media on a custom basis for clients,” said Bildsten.
I’m sure Bildsten is hotter than an Iranian nuclear dump- but his differentiation strategy is one of ignorance of the “new communication landscape”- you see the monster in the closet in marketing is search- the Google brand of search- and if we try to find Mr. Bildsten’s firm- well, we’ll end up looking at beer sites- lots of them.With a name like “Bildsten” he could have been like “Esrati”- a unique name for search marketing- but, I named this firm in 1988- in the days when a “Search engine” was a little old gray haired lady called a librarian and you still went to a phone book to look someone up.
I took some flack on Ernie’s site for suggesting that Mr. Bildsten was sounding like a poser on launch of his new endeavor, however I stand by the idea that the customers (marketers/clients in this case) still need to be able to define your “Creative Collaborative” by the standard vocabulary- “Meta data” of “Advertising Agency” in search- instead of forcing people into fumbling to find you.
I haven’t found the site for “Brew” yet- but I can almost bet that it will built with some search evading technology like Flash or a site full of pretty pictures with proper meta data to identify them.
If you do know the url for “Brew”- please add it in the comments.
Note: it’s been found:brew-creative.com
And if you want to see the Press release, it’s here: http://brew-creative.com/brew_press_release.pdf
Note: Dec 10, 2006, almost three months later, site is still under construction. Internet time doesn’t wait 3 months for content.
Note: Feb 8 2007, still waiting for content.
Note: April 13, 2007 it’s up. All Flash. No RSS. Search? 3 whole pages. Will there be new content from the “new” media gurus? Time will tell.
If you are really interested in new ideas for a new economy, but don’t want the same old tacking on the word “new” to the old wisdom of advertising- you are in the right place- The Next Wave in advertising- since 1988, nothing new about us, other than we were doing this long before Bildsten knew what a browser was.
We’re also available to speak to Ad Clubs around the country on the “new technology” of the “new media” of the “web 2.0 world.”
Sure hope this post has enough keywords in it.
The Crispin Porter + Bogusky monograph- coming to you soon.
Those Miami based builders of buzz are adding yet another tool to their marketing array- a monograph from Warren Berger called “Hoopla”
They aren’t the first agency to do this, or will they be the last. I can look at our agency bookshelves and see quite a few of these types of books- some more useful than others.
My first experience with these types of books came at my second job in the business- working for Visual Marketing Associates (a very short lived gig). One of the partners had a copy of “Living by Design”- one of Pentagram‘s first of many books they have produced about their work and processes. It was engaging, intelligent and changed my view of how a creative company should approach a clients challenges- from the narrow- solve the problem, to the how do we create the complete WOW factor that Tom Peters later wrote about (Pursuit of Wow! 1994).
I read about wagering fees on results for a campaign for a racetrack in “Chiat/Day, the first 20 years” (now very hard to find)- and Wieden and Kennedy’s pursuit of their first car account in “Where the sucker’s moon” - and realized that even the best agencies still have to stretch to win the big accounts.
Crispin is turning clients away these days, so the question will be, how much of their secret sauce will be revealed, and even if other agencies gain the recipe- will they be able to re-create the phenom that defines Crispin Porter + Bogusky in today’s advertising battlefield?
Procter & Gamble goes little league
A client forwarded me an e-mail, suggesting that the high and mighty brand managers at P&G now think “aspiring copywriters, commercial artists, videographers” working in the food service industry are their new best hope to sell their soap.
Maybe P&G should award paychecks to brand managers based on a “if we like you- we may pay you” basis too.
For the worlds largest advertiser to turn to this is bad enough, but to make the top prize a measly grand, is an insult.
Never mind the instructions (facts, guidelines, tips) read like a “See Spot run” book- instead of a creative brief.
If P&G is really this desperate for ideas, maybe they should reevaluate their crazy bureaucracy that makes doing business with them so difficult.
Here is the text to the invite followed by a link to their site with an excerpt from the intro:
Procter & Gamble Professional looking for a few good ads
Aspiring copywriters, commercial artists, videographers and others working in the foodservice industry now have the opportunity to cash in on an exciting new initiative from Procter & Gamble Professional, the away from home division of the nation’s largest advertiser.
The “Create Our Ad” contest challenges foodservice professionals to develop print or video advertisements focusing on the back-of-house cleaning and sanitation needs of their industry. The winner will receive $1,000, and his or her ad will become part of the company’s advertising campaign. Procter & Gamble Professional will award $500 and $250 to the second and third place winners, respectively. Winners also will receive an introductory case of each product in the Dawn Grease Fighting Arsenal.
Procter & Gamble Professional is accepting print and video ads in any format. Visit www.pgbrands.com/createourad for contest details, general guidelines and suggestions to help non-advertising professionals create ads. Contestants will also be asked to recommend the publication or Web site where their entry should run.
Procter & Gamble Professional will accept entries through October 16.
Winners will be announced on October 31, with the winning ad appearing in print and online later this year.
Create Our Ad
CREATE OUR AD CONTEST: INTRODUCTION So, you think you have what it takes to create advertising for Procter & Gamble? We’re counting on it! After all, as someone who works in the foodservice industry - the industry we cater to - you’re the expert. Put that expertise to work, and the $1,000 first prize and bragging rights might be yours when your winning entry starts showing up in magazines or Web sites later this year.
Yeah, we all work for “bragging rights”- instead of providing valuable expertise in marketing, promoting, advertising and selling products.
Remind me not to buy P&G products anymore. If they can’t respect our profession- how can we respect their products?
Procter & Gamble goes little league
A client forwarded me an e-mail, suggesting that the high and mighty brand managers at P&G now think “aspiring copywriters, commercial artists, videographers” working in the food service industry are their new best hope to sell their soap.
Maybe P&G should award paychecks to brand managers based on a “if we like you- we may pay you” basis too.
For the worlds largest advertiser to turn to this is bad enough, but to make the top prize a measly grand, is an insult.
Never mind the instructions (facts, guidelines, tips) read like a “See Spot run” book- instead of a creative brief.
If P&G is really this desperate for ideas, maybe they should reevaluate their crazy bureaucracy that makes doing business with them so difficult.
Here is the text to the invite followed by a link to their site with an excerpt from the intro:
Procter & Gamble Professional looking for a few good ads
Aspiring copywriters, commercial artists, videographers and others working in the foodservice industry now have the opportunity to cash in on an exciting new initiative from Procter & Gamble Professional, the away from home division of the nation’s largest advertiser.
The “Create Our Ad” contest challenges foodservice professionals to develop print or video advertisements focusing on the back-of-house cleaning and sanitation needs of their industry. The winner will receive $1,000, and his or her ad will become part of the company’s advertising campaign. Procter & Gamble Professional will award $500 and $250 to the second and third place winners, respectively. Winners also will receive an introductory case of each product in the Dawn Grease Fighting Arsenal.
Procter & Gamble Professional is accepting print and video ads in any format. Visit www.pgbrands.com/createourad for contest details, general guidelines and suggestions to help non-advertising professionals create ads. Contestants will also be asked to recommend the publication or Web site where their entry should run.
Procter & Gamble Professional will accept entries through October 16.
Winners will be announced on October 31, with the winning ad appearing in print and online later this year.
Create Our Ad
CREATE OUR AD CONTEST: INTRODUCTION So, you think you have what it takes to create advertising for Procter & Gamble? We’re counting on it! After all, as someone who works in the foodservice industry - the industry we cater to - you’re the expert. Put that expertise to work, and the $1,000 first prize and bragging rights might be yours when your winning entry starts showing up in magazines or Web sites later this year.
Yeah, we all work for “bragging rights”- instead of providing valuable expertise in marketing, promoting, advertising and selling products.
Remind me not to buy P&G products anymore. If they can’t respect our profession- how can we respect their products?