Advertising's Final Solution

Good news!

We no longer need creative people in advertising.

We can finally get rid of those annoying, whiney, pains-in-the-ass.

According to The New York Times there's a new software program developed by an agency called BETC Euro RSCG,  that can generate advertising by itself.

But before we get to the software, let's talk about the agency for a minute.

Does an agency really need 8 initials

Does Your Brand Truly Care? Truly?

Last weekend I read a blog post in the American Express Open Forum. It was called Serving Is the New Selling: How to be a 'Brand Butler.'

That's right -- a 'Brand Butler.'

Here's what I learned...
"...customers expect that the brands they do business with truly care." Thank goodness someone in marketing finally gets it!

I want my brands to truly care about me! That's right, ME! I've had it

Leveraging Anxiety, Part 3

In the first two episodes (one and two) of this exciting story, we alleged that:
Creating client anxiety about the future helps keep us employed.
We maintain this level of anxiety by frequently declaring that something new "will change everything."
In fact, the things that are supposed to change everything generally have a modest effect on overall consumer behavior.
Then we asked the question

Leveraging Anxiety, Part 2

In Leveraging Anxiety, Part 1, we asserted that...
Part of what keeps us...employed is keeping our clients in a constant state of anxiety about the future....The more we can convince (them) that everything is changing... and they need us to interpret the changes -- the longer we stay in business. Consequently, every few years we come up with a new "thing that will change everything"Today,

Leveraging Anxiety, Part 1

Part of how we advertising and marketing hacks stay employed is by keeping our clients in a constant state of anxiety about the future.

The more we can convince our clients that everything is changing around them -- and they need us to interpret the changes -- the longer we stay in business.

Consequently, every few years we come up with a new "thing that will change everything" to get them

Why Is Advertising So Crappy?

Like most sensible people, here at The Ad Contrarian world headquarters we do our best to avoid advertising.

This keeps getting harder and harder.

Despite all the witless proclamations of new age marketing gurus about the death of advertising, advertising isn't just growing, it's metastasising.  Every click of a mouse brings us at least three ads. TV watching is at its highest level ever. Every

The "Give-Up" Strategy, Part 2

If you can't hit homers, declare that the object of the game has changed, and it's really all about good bunting. There are a number of popular beliefs behind new age, web-centric marketing thinking. They include the following:
The era of mass marketing & advertising is over
Markets are "conversations"
Consumers seek "relationships" with brands
The furtherance of this relationship is