Anyone Have The Daypart?

Thoughts Of The Week
Thanks to David Burn of AdPulp for my two favorite quotes of the week. (He didn't write 'em, he reported 'em)
"Decision makers in every business, from entrepreneurs to local business owners to executives at enterprise organization are learning to appreciate the prospectus of social media and its promise to materialize a brighter, more interactive and customer-focused

Battle Of The B.S. Artists

Okay Ad Contras, I have a question for you. Who's more full of it -- traditional advertising brand babblers, or new age digi-drivelers?

It's up to you to decide!

To prime the pump, I'm going to give you one example of each. First, a real sample of traditional ad baloney and then a real sample of new age web-blather.

Here's some nice traditional brand babble
"Brand Footprint utilizes sales,

Zealots, Maniacs, and Hustlers

I am frequently accused of being anti web marketing. I'm getting tired of responding to these accusations all the time, so I've decided that every few months I'm just going to re-publish this post from July 2009.

Here at The Ad Contrarian global headquarters, we've developed a reputation for being anti-digital media and pro-traditional media.

We are neither.

We have no personal interest in,

Bean Counter B*st*rds

My friends, I'm afraid our colleagues don't respect us much anymore.

Sure, they give us fancy titles (Chief Marketing Officer, Worldwide Creative Director) but they don't really seem to take our titles very seriously. (Why can't they respect our titles? Don't they realize we're only going to have them for 18 months? What's the harm?)

Lately, they've been asking to "see the stuff" before it goes

An Open Letter To Email Marketers

Dear Email Marketer,

I realize that it's not very expensive for you to send me email solicitations. Nonetheless, it is a waste of time and energy for you, and a source of irritation to me.

Since we are both busy people, and since neither of us is profiting from this effort, I thought I'd send you a list of things that I am not interested in. So here we go -- you may feel free to discontinue

Friday Follies

Fair Weather FansStarbucks has five times as many Facebook and Twitter fans as Dunkin' Donuts. What does it mean? Apparently not much. Dunkin' fans are 35% more likely to recommend the brand.*

Earthquakes Caused By Hotties
From Tuesday's New York Times
A senior Iranian cleric says women who wear immodest clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes. “Many women who do not

Who's Nielsen Trying To Fool?

Like most of you, I would like some reliable data about social media that I can take to my clients and say, "Look, social media isn't all hype. Here's some data to show that it really works."

Yesterday I finally thought I had some.

I received an email from Nielsen informing me that they were "releasing the results of an important new study."

The report is called "Understanding the Value of a

The Next iPhone

According to Gizmodo someone left a working model of the next generation iPhone in a bar in Redwood City.

Here it is.

For a much better look at it, and more info, go here.

I pity the poor fool who left it. Steve will not be happy.

Update: This is a bigger story than I thought. Check this from NYTimes.

Leo Burnett: Spinning In His Grave
Do not miss this post from The Grumpy Brit yesterday.

Special Pleading For The Web

“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets started on the proof.” John Kenneth Galbraith*Humans are funny. We are very reluctant to change our minds.

When facts don't match our beliefs we rarely change our beliefs. Instead, we re-arrange the facts.

We have all decided that the web is an awesome advertising tool. It has

No Personal Brand. No Lifestyle.

I'm tired of having a lifestyle.

Can't I just have a life?

And do I really need a personal brand?

Can't I just be a person?

If anyone out there is looking for a lifestyle or a personal brand, you can have mine. Just tell me where to send it.

Gravity And The Internet

Driving through Berkeley, it's not unusual to see a beat-up old VW bus with a bumper sticker that says "Think Globally, Act Locally."

Unfortunately, if there's one thing we humans are not good at, it's thinking globally. We have a tendency to think very locally.  I see it every July in San Francisco -- people from New Jersey, dressed in t-shirts and shorts, freezing their asses off because they

Does Marketing Make You Stupid?

It's amazing how quickly otherwise intelligent people become knuckleheads when exposed to marketing.

I am often invited by clients to attend confabs about sales and marketing. Over the years I have met many staff members of these client organizations. Some have been in sales, some in operations, some in finance, some in manufacturing.

As many corporations will do, sometimes these clients will

How To Criticize The Ad Contrarian

Criticizing a cranky loudmouth is an iffy proposition on a good day. But on an afternoon when my clients are all whiny, and my back is acting up, and I'm running late for opening day at the ballpark, it's just not a good idea.

So I was a little miffed on Friday when I read a blog piece called Debunking The Ad Contrarian.

It was written by a guy named Ilya Vedrashko who describes himself as an

Just The Facts

Just The FactsSocial media maniacs are very long on assertions and very short on facts. For a nice, reasonable, non-hysterical (not my style at all) look at some of the facts undermining the preposterous claims of many social media zealots, here's a link to a piece called Social Media: How Much Is Too Much? from Stoltz Marketing Group, in Boise, Idaho.

VolvoA year and a half ago we said...
..."

The Failure Of Web Advertising

We're about 15 years into the internet revolution as a mainstream phenomenon and by any measure internet advertising has to be deemed a major failure.

While the web itself has been a massive success (influencing virtually every aspect of our lives) advertising on the web is mostly a bad joke.

Fifteen years into its mainstream life, television had created scores of powerful consumer-facing

An Apology To Everyone For Everything

My last post was called "I Ain't Apologizin' For Nothin.'" Just to prove that this is a fair and balanced blog, today I'm going to apologize to everyone for everything.

In this day and age, it's more important than ever to be proactive. So I want to take this opportunity to apologize, in advance, to everyone for everything.

I now understand that as a Blogger, I have unique responsibilities.

I Ain't Apologizin' For Nothin'

In honor of April Fool's Day... just once I'd like to turn on a press conference and hear this:

I'm not apologizing to anyone for anything.

You don't like what I do? Tough shit.

I'm not apologizing to my fans. I didn't murder anyone. I didn't steal anything. I didn't commit any crimes. I screwed a few willing women. So what? No animals were injured. The majority of men and women do exactly