Thankful For Little Things

I am thankful for the following:My sock draw is full.My dog doesn't smell too bad.There are no soldiers stationed in my neighborhood.I have some friends.My daughter doesn't laugh at my playlists.There is a really good bakery in my vicinity.I haven't had a cavity in five years.There are still some book stores left.Only fourteen more weeks till spring training.I have something to do every day.Have

Be Sure To Look For This Story

Coming to your local newspaper soon will be the following all-purpose advertising story:Advertisers Punch Up The Punch Lines To Create Some Holiday CheerConsumer worries over a struggling economy, layoffs, and financial uncertainty have lead a number of major advertisers to launch humorous advertising campaigns for the holiday season.Brand X, Brand Y, and Brand Z have all begun lighthearted

It Just Never Stops

The thing that makes advertising so great is that the bullshit is never-ending. There's always something alarmingly stupid to write about.My favorite article of last week appeared in Ad Age and was entitled "Beverage Ads Not Fueling Enough Word Of Mouth.""In 47% of conversations about brands in general, marketing or advertising is mentioned as a source of information. But only 38% of

Why "MadMen" Lived In Barbie Dream Houses And You Live In A Shit Dump

This is the third part of "How Ad Agencies Make Money". The first two parts are here and here.Advertising used to be a lucrative profession.The traditional economic model for an ad agency was this: an agency's goal was to have revenue equal 15% of billings, and profit equal 20% of revenue.So, on a hypothetical account with billings of a million dollars, the old "MadMen" financial model looked

5 Good Things About The Coming Depression

You know me, always looking on the bright side.So while the world comes crashing down around us, I thought I'd make a list of 5 potentially good things about the coming years of deprivation and misery.No more fucking crème fraîche. With any luck all the bullshit restaurants will close down and we'll be able to get back to eating good stuff like grilled cheese and spaghetti and meatballs.No more

The 3 Numbers You Have To Know

How Ad Agencies Make Money, Part 2.Yesterday we started a series on the economics of the ad business. It's not meant to be in-depth or technical, but just a simple overview for non-financial types.I am constantly amazed that people who've worked in the agency business for 10 years or more have no idea of the economics of the business. They've heard all the terms but are not really sure what they

How Ad Agencies Make Money

Part 1.Okay, you're sitting in your cubicle and you're thinking, "why the hell do I care how ad agencies make money?" Here's why:So you won't sound like an idiot when you talk to grown-ups.Do you really want to work for these morons the rest of your life? If not, you need to know more than how to load the toner cartridge.The reason for this post is that I read an advertising blog the other day

Spreading The Manure

A few weeks ago I wrote a post called "The Smear Machine."It was a reaction to bloggers who had written that the web will diminish the effect of political smears and lies that are spread during campaigns by quickly exposing them.I believe the opposite. In the post I said, "the internet has proven to be a far better medium for spreading nonsense than for exposing it."One week later, a story

Nader Wins Dance Poll!

View the moves that swept Ralph Nader to victory.Final Results:AdBroad 13%George Parker (AdScam) 6%David Burn (AdPulp) 7% (despite massive get-out-the-vote campaign!)Steve Hall (AdRants) 9%Alan Wolk (The Toad Stool) 9%AdContrarian 27%Ralph Nader 30%

Take My Poll, Please

I was surfin' the old interweb the other evening and I came upon a poll. I have no idea what the poll was about, but it was designed so nicely that I immediately wanted a poll myself.So I went to PollDaddy, the source of said poll, and found that I could have an awesome poll just like the one I saw for FREE! Couldn't pass that up.The only trouble was, I didn't have anything I wanted to have a

I Don't Like It

Back when I was a creative director I always used to get into arguments with copywriters and art directors. They'd show me something and I'd say, "I don't like it."Then we'd debate whether it was okay for me to kill an idea just because I didn't like it, or whether I needed a reason for not liking it.I was reminded of this last week when I read a piece in Adweek called "Why Do Clients Deserve The

Dopey Digital Diva Dumbness

Today's sermon is about a story in Ad Age called "Wired Women an Untapped Goldmine for Package Goods." The thrust of the story is that package-goods marketers are missing out on a huge bonanza by not spending money to reach "digital divas" on line. Apparently MicroSoft, MindShare and Ogilvy teamed up to convince gullible package-goods clients to piss away money on social marketing and other

The Real Real Story

Anyone who's had the pleasure of dealing with the press knows the game they play.They call you and ask for a comment. In about 30 seconds you can tell what the angle of the story is going to be and what they want you to say. If your comment doesn't agree with the predetermined assumptions of their story they'll either...Ask another questionKeep pumping you until you say something that sounds

I Made Out With Julia Louis-Dreyfus

It's true. And, to be honest, it wasn't all that great.Here's what happened. The other night I dreamed that Julia and I were working together. It wasn't clear what we were working on, but it was definitely something very creative.After work we headed home. I walked with her to someplace like the NYC subway. It was like the NYC subway in the sense that it was a public transportation site. It was

Washington Post Admits Bias

In a post last week, TAC excoriated the press for its bias toward Barack Obama during the presidential campaign.Several commenters took me to task.Today, however The Washington Post admitted its bias. Their ombudsman, Deborah Howell, had this to say..."...readers have been consistently critical of ... what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day,

Will The Recession Help TV?

We conclude "Recession Week" today with two guest posts. The first is by Susan Bandura.Now that even The Wall Street Journal has admitted we are in a recession, everyone has run amok with dire predictions about marketing and advertising.The online world remains relatively upbeat, knowing that the Internet is still attracting plenty of viewers, and that online advertising is way cheaper than more

Hard-Time Lessons From Grandpa Red

It's "Recession Week" here at TAC. I've asked some of my colleagues to give us their thoughts about advertising during a recession.Today's guest post is by Jimmy Cabral.My grandfather prepared me for a recession. Grandpa Red grew up in an orphanage in Healdsburg, CA. Times were tough and his mother couldn’t afford to take care of him.He worked hard his whole life and appreciated the money he

Dangers Of A Biased Press

I voted for Barack Obama and I'm glad he won. I hope he becomes a great president. Lord knows we need one.Now the bad news. I've been thoroughly disgusted by press bias in his favor.As someone who is a "communications professional," I have a healthy regard for the difference between what I do in advertising -- advocacy -- and what the press is supposed to do -- report facts.Press favoritism has

Good Strategy For Bad Times

This guest post is by Sharon Krinsky. Yesterday, Sharon described the three types of businesses and how the wisdom of advertising during recessionary periods was different for each. Today she talks about creative and media strategy for a recession.During difficult times it's more important than ever to be practical and realistic about what you're trying to achieve by spending money on advertising

Advertising In A Recession: Yes or No?

It's "Recession Week" here at TAC. I've asked some of my colleagues to give us their thoughts about advertising during a recession. Today's guest post is by Sharon Krinsky.Whenever there’s a serious economic downturn there are always two knee-jerk reactions:1. Advertisers cut their ad budgets.2. Ad executives say they shouldn’t.Who’s right? Well, that depends on who you are.In order to have an