ad broad

Need a proofreader? Hire a monkey.

2009-07-12T09:17:00.003-04:00

A recent study shows monkeys have the ability to recognize good grammar from bad. Is this a newly acquired trait? If so, I imagine our species to be on oddly inverse paths: one ascending into heady discussions of literature and philosophy as the other descends into random, disorganized thought engendered by monosyllables and acronyms required of communicating in 140 characters. Hv a gd day!

Mad Men and their 40 year war

2009-07-08T11:01:00.038-04:00

George Lois' memory of Rita Selden writing the VW Lemon ad might not be so reliable after all. (How did I miss this?) Turns out Lois' former writer at DDB and partner at PKL, Julian Koenig, has been raging against him for decades, even going so far as to take out an ad in Adweek, accusing Lois of being "the greatest predator of my work." In fact, NPR just did a podcast about how Koenig is fighting to win back recognition he insists he deserves for lots of ads that Lois either takes credit for or attributes to others.

The piece is convincing, although the journalist discloses that she is his daughter. But contemporaries from the business are speaking up on Koenig's behalf, as well.

An Ad Class blog post about Koenig vs. Lois elicited a commiserating comment from the daughter of Lou Dorfsman who passed away recently.

My father would have HOWLED at your piece on NPR and also would have nodded his head sagely, knowing all too well that what you report is true. GL was a speaker at the memorial, of course, and one of my biggest fears was that the speech would turn into the George Lois Show.

Yes, the pair look chummy in this photo that ~~Steve Hall~~ Rick Kallaher took last year at an event honoring legends of advertising past hosted by the One Club. But their show of camaraderie was perhaps just for display in front of the biggest crowd of Mad Ave names gathered since David Ogilvy's funeral.

All that's certain: one of them is lying. Or having a senior moment. Is it the guy who convinced Muhammad Ali to pose as a pin-cushion? Or the guy who claims to have invented thumb-wrestling? A question even more salient: what role did Rita Selden play in growing the Lemon? Google won't tell. In fact, according to them, she barely existed. One thing Mad Men seem to have had over Ad Broads is affinity for PR.

UPDATE: Commenter Dominik points to Dave Trott's Blog which provides interesting insight into the longstanding squabble, and a marvelous Zen story.

ad broad who invented the lemon

2009-07-02T15:07:00.011-04:00

George Lois recounts the birth of DDB's Volkswagen ad "Lemon", attributing copy not to Julian Koenig who was Helmut Krone's partner (and named in awards) but to a woman in her 50s who worked for Koenig: Rita Selden. The report differs somewhat from what I had heard. But Lois was there. I go with his story. (From the film troves of Imseng)

billboards that work without CTR

2009-07-01T11:13:00.018-04:00

The disturbing billboard shown on the front page of today's New York Times reminds me of the power of an analog medium that (because of slashed budgets?) seems to be enjoying a creative revival of sorts. We all know what outdoor did for Ashton Kutcher. And there was good showing this year in Outdoor Category at Cannes. (Though my own Grand Prix would have gone to BBDO's ingenious cross-platform idea.)

Here's a few more examples of creative use of the medium, in case you're looking for concepts to steal today. (Thanks, GardenBroad.) Sorry, no attributions. Please comment if you've got credit info.

10 rules of twittertainment I learned from @bettydraper

2009-06-26T00:58:00.044-04:00

I was thrilled to be part of the recent 140 Conference in New York, a diverse gathering of social media players from around the world. (Video of sessions available here.)

Illustrator Jonny Goldstein took marvelous visual notes of our Mad Men on Twitter panel. (Hope he got one of the twittertinis served by Frank Adman recently outed as David Benardo.)

I had the chance to meet tweeters I've admired from afar. Including @SavvyAuntie (Melanie Notkin) who's just signed with TNT to live-tweet Saving Grace. And now that Brillstein Entertainment has teamed up with Amy Ephron to do a reality series based around twitter, I'm thinking maybe twittertainer will be a bona fide job description someday.

So, for those looking to hone skills, here's a few tips I've learned from @BettyDraper:

1. Reserve character names in several iterations. (At least @firstname and @first_name)

2. "Adopt" more than one character so you can stage spontaneous scenes which won't work as well if you have to wait to coordinate time zones and schedules with other writers. Novelists and playwrights speak for more than one character. A good writer can handle multiple characters just as successfully in this medium. Imbue each with a separate personality as distinctive on twitter as it is on TV.

3. Don't deviate from storyline. You're looking to extend viewers' interest in the show, not showcase your own scriptwriting talents. If you go off storyline, fans will feel betrayed. The most common praise from Mad Men on twitter fans is how good we are at staying in character.

4. Remember, fans play a large role in twittertainment. Don't broadcast show schedules and timing. Twittertainment works only if it's entertainment. Engage fans by interacting with them, not just other characters. Incorporate fan tweets into your stream. Build out your character with Linked-in, Facebook, even a personal blog. @BettyDraper recognizes twitter fans in some of her blog posts. She also hosts (virtual) parties in Ossining to which not only characters, but fans are invited.

5. You don't have to respond to every tweet. Only answer questions that appeal to a broader audience. And when responding to tweets, incorporate the question into the answer, so followers will know what's going on.

6. The shorter your tweet, the more retweetable . Two of the most retweeted Betty posts are the blandest : "Tying a scarf" and "Frosting cupcakes."

7. Get the details right. Fictional characters must be perceived as authentic. (!) Part of what makes Mad Men on twitter work is ferocious devotion to period detail. I was born the same year Sally Draper was, so am personally acquainted with the 60s, but I don't trust details of the era to the memory of a child. I have an entire collection of vintage cookbooks and housekeeping manuals so that tweets will contain historically accurate references like "Rob Roys" and "bluing."

8. Use Twitter's "real time" advantage to dimensionalize posts. Mad Men characters still immersed in the 60's "unwittingly" comment on real time events. On January 20, Inauguration Day, Betty tweeted "Shocked by a colored man swearing on television." When Matt Weiner was honored by the Clios in Las Vegas, Mad Men tweeted from the CLIOs in 1963, from the Waldorf Astoria, where the Clio's that year had a Las Vegas theme.

9. Writing twittertainment is surprisingly time consuming, requiring time for not only posting, but research and reading and monitoring tweet streams of other characters. Don't expect it's something you or someone else can do in just a few minutes a day. And if you're looking to hire, don't just look for a good writer. Look for someone energetic and outgoing who loves to perform. Twittertainment is equal parts writing and improv.

10. Have fun! Once your characters take up residence outside the (tv) box, there's no telling where their adventures will lead them. And you.

museum of forgotten art supplies

2009-06-22T07:55:00.017-04:00

At the 140 (twitter) conference in New York last week, I had the pleasure of meeting the man behind fellow Mad Men tweeter Frank Adman with whom I shared not only twittertinis but memories of once essential tools of the trade. Where have all the Acu-arcs, xactos and stat cams gone? To the Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies, of course!

Proportional Wheel
I started out as a junior art director but switched to writer partly due to lack of math skills. You had to be a numbers person to be an art director in the old days. Standard issue to ADs was this proportional wheel, which I never was able to figure out how to work. Most had the name of the owner markered in HUGE pt type on the back.

Rubber Cement Pickup
Used for removing "goobers" left after rubber cementing a layout onto foamcore.

Polaroid SLR 680 Camera

Used to be, ad agencies did their own casting in conference rooms. Models were constantly parading through the hallways or freshening up at the ladies room mirror, where a girl could feel like a separate species. Casting directors had multiple 680s to grab headshots. I've long been in awe of one of the first casting people I worked with, an assistant named Avy Kaufman, who parlayed a knack for choosing shills for household cleaners into a brilliant career casting for Woody Allen and others.

X-acto Kit
No self-respecting art director was without a blue-anodized xacto knife, a swivel knife for cutting rubylith (see next item) and the super professional "burnisher" for rubbing down lettraset type. Letraset! Anyone remember?

Rubylith
Light-safe red film used by graphic designers for masking areas, used in various printing techniques. Some ADs sported a 7X magnifying eyepiece while cutting it or the other popular masker, yellow amberlith.

Many more blasts from the past on view at the always-open Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies. Unfortunately, no Lucigraph. Though Frank Adman claims to be harboring one in his attic.

2 days in a bunker with 140 characters

2009-06-18T21:18:00.052-04:00

On March 23, Jeff Pulver put out the call: "Seeking creative, out-of-the-box thinkers...to explore the future." Must twitter.

He was trying to put together, in less than three months, an industry gathering of not just tech geeks, but "all kinds of people and the only thing they have in common is that they speak Twitter" ... something as diverse as the bar scene from the first Star Wars movie, he told The Observer.

IMHO, he succeeded. Of course, there were appearances by regulars on the twitter circuit like the ebullient (and ever mesmerizing) Gary Vaynerchuk who has turned his enthusiasm for running his family's wine business into a personal brand with 530,000 followers. Chris Brogan, social media magilla. Robert Scoble , blogger and professional digital taste-tester. Tim O'Reilly, using twitter mania to build a media empire. Tony Hsieh of Zappos fame and Brian Solis, writer and beloved social media philosopher.

There were also rarer opportunities to hear from others at the twitter forefont. Like Jack Dorsey, Twitter's co-founder who traced the roots of the platform to own his obsessive musings about infrastructures in high school. Ann Curry, anchor on the Today Show (and the darling of the conference, see why here.) Moeed Ahmad, from Al Jazeera who shared how twitter is helping his journalists reach farflung sources and audiences. David Saranga consul for media at NY's Israeli Consulate: "there's no hiding behind institutions anymore". Fred Wilson, VC at Union Square Ventures (one of Twitter's main backers) who posited that links and retweets are the currency of the internet and will turn into actual money at the end of the day. (Which day, he didn't speculate.)

Pulver observed throughout: "It's not about old media replacing new media, but the fusion of the two." Which set a generous tone and in part perhaps because of this, there was a refreshing lack of snark that pervades gatherings of digerati. Many of whom didn't seem to consider themselves digerati, but regular folks using the web as a tool to make their way in the world.

In 20 minute strictly- timed "sets", (transgressors were threatened with the soundtrack from Exodus) fashionistas, filmmakers, mommy bloggers, musicians and jilted lovers took the stage, to the chagrin of some in the audience whose speaking proposals had been turned down.

There were reps of big brands like Kodak and Marriott and Macmillan and of one man brands and Adweek editor Brian Morrissey who compared seeing the social ineptness of most brands to "watching Dad dance--it feels awkward and creepy."

There was talk of inanimate tweeters like the Tower of London. A laundromat in Oberlin, Ohio that tweets when its wash cycle in over. Plants that twitter urgently to say they need water, according to Kevin Slayvin of Area/Code.

Female scientists stripteased off labcoats to demonstrate that science can be appealing.

We Mad Men served twittertinis (martinis in Dixie cups) to induce audience to stick around for our 6 PM panel at which Frank Adman was outed and Pete Campbell was revealed to be a woman.

About that time, Twitter went down--not the usual brief fail whale, but extended routine maintenance that is usually performed during the wee hours. Turns out that the State Department had asked Twitter to delay a scheduled maintenance shutdown out of concern for Iranians using the service during the election protests.

The fact that the microblogging platform which obsessed the hundreds of us in attendance was now acknowledged by the White House to wield the power to influence government--served to fuel the camaraderie, a feeling of being distinct from the madding crowds...which was intensifed by the bunker-like location: three stories underground where internet was ornery and cell service nil. This has been roundly complained of by a panelist. But, in truth, the online interruptions were intermittent, as you can see by the number of #140conf tweets: 17,698. The real problem was lack of power outlets. It was as if the site had been built for the Amish.

Despite the tech challenges, and the annoying lack of handheld agendas which would have made it easier to follow the fifty or so panels a day, I found the gathering enormously worthwhile. (Videos of all sessions viewable here.) I liked that it wasn't about branding or metrics or marketing or communication. It was about all of those things-- and almost any other subject you could possibly think of. Which is the essential value of twitter. Allowing you to connect with people out of your customary orbit, people passionate about subjects you'd like to know more about. Being there was like attending a two-day long cocktail party. With fascinating strangers. And friends of friends you'd long wanted to meet. In a secret bunker. BYO power plug.

Mad Men Panel photo courtesy @EmilySPearl (thanks, Emily)

notes from twitter boot camp

2009-06-16T07:52:00.010-04:00

Had the pleasure yesterday of speaking at Twitter Boot Camp, a crash course in Twitter for execs who don't have time to learn it the hard way. (Surprising how much there is to absorb about using a medium limited to a mere 140 characters.)

Representatives from companies doing it right offered tips and best practices to a crowd of a few hundred newbies who'd shelled out $399 (or convinced their travel depts to do so) and come from far away as Rejivak, Iceland.

Tim O'Reilly, who hosted the event, coined a phrase for disorder afflicting many of us with multiple accounts and followers: "stream fatigue." (No OTC remedies available yet.)

Corporate approaches to dealing with twitter reflected various company cultures. David Puner said Dunkin Donuts issues a social media guidelines policy for franchisees, designed to maintain cohesiveness of brand in digital space. As might be expected, Zappos' approach is more freewheeling. According to Tony Hsieh, its CEO, corporate social media policy consists of a single statement: Just be real and use your best judgement. (His standard interview question for prospective employees: Whether they feel lucky or not.) He added that Zappos twitter accounts are considered property of employees who are free to take them, should they leave the company. It's their lives, he shrugged when I expressed amazement at this hands-off approach later at an after-party his company sponsored at the Hudson Hotel. Clearly my old-school expectations needed loosening up. "Here," he said, kindly handing me another free-drink ticket.

Eric Peterson, creator of analytics machine Twitalyzer, used his metrics expertise to burst the bubble being floated by blue-sky marketers touting Dell's report last week of $3 million generated by Twitter. He pointed out that this number amounts to a mere .005 of the company's annual revenue. (Still. In this market, who's to sniff at an uptick of $3 million?)

Ted Murphy made a surprisingly persuasive case for his service Izea which is stirring up controversy among twitterati by introducing pay-per-post to twitter. (His premise: it ain't nothin new.)

I began my advice by pointing out the Four Stages of Twitter, as recently diagnosed by Jason Hiner.

Other tweet-sized insights:

The perfect corporate tweet is a trinity containing: 1. content of interest to the target, 2. a link 3. a call for a response (Marla Erwin, Whole Foods)

Marketers shouldn't overlook the most valuable thing about twitter (and other Social media): it's a 24/7 focus group (Reggie Bradford, Virtrue)

Don't forget your 8th grade grammar. Use abbreviations and lingo sparingly, as many in your target may not understand. (Carri Bugbee, Big Deal PR)

To pump your company brand on twitter, seek out people who can become corporate all stars. Who best to do this may surprise you. Social media expertise doesn't respect traditional hierarchies. Your best spokesperson may not be your CEO, it could be your janitor. (Steve Rubel, Edelman Digital)

Off to put on my Betty Draper persona to speak at the Twitter Conference today.

how to know you're on manhattan's upper west side

2009-06-11T08:03:00.008-04:00

Check the street signs.

madison avenue blues

2009-06-06T22:52:00.009-04:00

The demise of Advertising as We Knew It, to the tune of American Pie. Could have been edited down a bit, but good for a laugh or two. Which heaven knows you need.

excuse the hiatus

2009-06-06T09:31:00.007-04:00

But my daughter just graduated. From Harvard. Who knew, what with pre and post-game events, celebration would last a week? Pardon my popping buttons, but here's a pic of her in Phi Beta Kappa parade. Only marcher wearing leopard print flats and trendy metallics. So proud :)

you can't depend on google translator for everything

2009-05-28T10:32:00.004-04:00

Teenie is a copywriter who, like Dear Jane Sample, works in Canada where her copy has to be written in two official languages. So she's become better acquainted than most to the nuances and pitfalls of coming up with campaigns intended for markets that don't speak the same mother tongue. She confides how to turn one language into another in a post on her excellent blog Teenie Thoughts. And provides this hilarious example of what can happen if you get lost in translation when what you should be doing is adapting, instead.

why most web ad creative still sucks

2009-05-26T15:43:00.045-04:00

Brian Morrissey of Adweek posed an interesting question the other day: Are designers to blame for bad web ads?

(Of course not everyone thinks they're bad. But if you're reading this blog, you probably agree that with a few notable exceptions, they are pretty awful. For you (and me) there's now Ad Block Plus-an app that replaces online ads with images from curated photography collections (!)

I think the fault for lame web creative lies not with designers, but with old agency constructs. As long as creatives see web campaign components as add-ons, as long as we're willing to throw them over the ropes to "guys in interactive" and as long as "interactives" work in isolation, kept out of the club where briefings, strategy and creative executions take place, web ad space will continue to be a place where designers try to out-flash, out-code, out-animate each other. In other words, ads will remain tactically-focused, failing to forge emotional connections basic to the power of advertising's persuasiveness. Imagine what print ads or TV spots would look like if created by only those in production.

Recently, IAB chief Randall Rothenberg argued for putting creatives together with web designers (or creative technologists or digital experience strategists or whatever is the au courant title of day) to form a new creative partnership as transformational to our business as Bill Bernbach pairing copywriters and art directors. (Fact from the wayback machine: until the 60s, they worked apart. Writers used to slip copy under AD's doors, with requests for illustration and--because the requests were coming from writers-- often didn't make sense from a visual perspective. An oldtimer once told me he received a yellow page of aspirin copy with the request for drawing of "man without a headache".)

I agree with Rothenberg that before creative change in web advertising can take place, we need to change the way web creative is done. (Bob Greenburg of R/GA has been saying this for a while.) We have to stop segregating web advertising from advertising. If the state of online creative is to improve, we have to take what we've learned in decades of doing offline advertising and, working with new rules of consumer engagement, take back creative in the digital space.

and for those who still can't find time to twitter

2009-05-19T10:05:00.004-04:00

Now there's Flutter. Limited to 26 characters. Imports Twitter and FB posts, editing them to fit. "Sucking last of latte before facing client in meeting" becomes "Sucking client in meeting." Full GPS capabilites auto-announces wherever you are. As in helpfully informative: "In the bathroom."

Of course, it's a (really well done & worth watching) spoof. But it does bring up a serious question being bantered about among many social media-minded. What's the next big thing? Is there life after twitter?

via Huffington Post via new! improved! Slate

still twitter-averse? finding time to get roundtuit

2009-05-18T15:00:00.026-04:00

Near a little town in the country I escape to on weekends there's a modest diner with the unlikely name of Round Tuit, opened in the 1930s by a farmer who'd talked about opening a restaurant for years. Eventually, the farmer died and the diner passed to his son. Like many small business owners, the son had no insurance. So when the Round Tuit burned down, I mourned the loss of an institution I thought gone for good. But I'd underestimated the stoutheartedness of local patrons. Enough money was raised to rebuild the restaurant and the son lovingly replicated his father's place in every small detail: same linoleum tiles, same Formica tabletops, same wood panelled walls, even the same plastic-framed photos of cows on them. (Only thing he did differently was the pie case, because the original pie case people had gone out of business.)

Sorry to say, I was reminded of Rountuit at the Clios this week. Because it was clear that some ad agencies boasting "digital departments" have built them on the same entrenched practices and outdated values that have fed the way the ad business has been operating for years.

"Twitter sucks," according to the Chief Digital Officer of a top tier agency, who is presumably advising global clients on navigating social media.

"I don't do twitter," announced another speaker who went on to explain he was holding off having to learn it because, "the next big thing is probably just around the corner."

Sure, there were provocative speeches by agency creatives who get it. But twitter-aversion was rampant enough to make me wonder: why is an industry that prides itself on pioneering thought and creative breakthroughs having to be led to the sm frontier by the very clients we're supposed to be leading?

"If I let one more time-suck into my life, I'm doomed," said an ECD who was putting off learning twitter until this summer when her teenager was around. I understood her being daunted by the time barrier. Like many ad agency execs, she's struggling to stretch already long days made longer by reduced bugets, dwindling staff and heightened client demands--like demands to get them into social media.

But twitter (or any social media platform) isn't a monster that consumes your valuable hours while you sit on the sidelines, helplessly watching the clock.

Twitter takes only as much time as you let it. So even if you don't have time to get into Twitter, you have time to get it. OK, don't use it to post what you're having for breakfast. (Most tweeters don't, after their first post or two.) Use it for what most (including smart folks at Google) consider to be its most valuable feature: search.

Twitter search can help you ferret out nuggets of information, insights that can be gold for you and your clients. Search your company, your clients, your clients' products, their competitors. Get a sense of what's happening in your niche in the industry, right this minute, all over the world.

And, Twitter automatically informs searchers of "trending topics"-- top ten words appearing right now on Twitter. It's the most efficient way to keep abreast on what's toplining in news. The morning I saw "Biden" I knew, of course, he'd been picked. "Updike" told me, alas, he had died. Just now, I searched Twitter and AT&T came up. Why? I clicked through and discovered that the company is considering cuts to Iphone price plans. If your client is a mobile, such news might be relevant to a meeting you're leading. And knowing it instantly can make you look a lot more wise and informed than you probably feel these days.

Which brings me to another reason to "lurk" on twitter. It makes you smarter. You know how reading a great columnist can make you sound knowledgeable? Following people who share content relevant to you and your clients can definitely make you wiser (and more valuable) at meetings. Because you're being constantly fed by people plugged into your industry sharing the latest news on what's happening in it.

So, ad brethren: if you're not into twitter, time to get round tuit. Unless you're planning a change of career. Like moving to the country to open a diner. Where you'd face daunting competition from a much-beloved and enduring brand. Not to mention the pie.

why make it so hard for kids to crash the party?

2009-05-16T18:32:00.023-04:00

Attendance was down at the Clios this year, confirmed by Nielsen's Director of Events Karl Vontz who added, sounding upbeat, that the quality of attendees was better--meaning that those able to wangle expenses from lean travel departments were execs higher on agency hierarchies.

Notably diminished in number were the eager young who swarm shows, making no secret they're trying to jump levels or jump shop.

One junior team came at their own expense--which didn't include the price of the $1550+ tickets. A freelance writer and AD from San Francisco anointed themselves "Crash the Clios."

"Why are we doing this," they asked on their blog. (Of course--they had a blog.) Because no one is going to send us... because it’s the 50th anniversary... because we feel all you need in advertising to make it is cojones and a good story. Truth was, they were there for the same reason many others were: to make connections that could lead to work.

At first, their attempts to infiltrate were thwarted by hotel security. The show was held at the Hard Rock Hotel, host to Rehab TV shoots for which security is tantamount to training for the old KGB. But thanks to intervention of Agency Spy, they managed to procure passes and spent the next couple of days live-tweeting, milling about and generally contributing to conversation.

My question is--why were they so resented? When Agency Spy posted about their presence, comments ranged from nasty: The last things creatives want to do at award shows is meet eager people looking for a job to vitriolic: Rather than sending some naive kids into the clios to pester folks who paid good money to be there, howsabout going and doing YOUR damn job and getting us the skinny on what's happening out there? 

Have we become the type of business that eats its young? OK, financial investing in the next generation may be a thing of the past (remember paid internships and executive training sessions?) but a word of advice or encouragement costs nothing--yet proves invaluable to those launching careers. Remember?

Did the reaction have to do with a new meanspiritedness on Madison Avenue that Alan Wolk observed recently? Or did people unconsciously feel they were doing a favor by imparting the lesson most needed to succeed in this business: overcoming rejection.
_______________________________

UPDATE--DISCLOSURE
Crash the Clios Team comes out of hiding to disclose contact info. (Now that they're safely back in SF and no longer in fear of retribution by Hard Rock security goons.) Good luck to art director Patrice Speed and copywriter Christopher Ryan. Hope your ingenuity and chutzpah pays off in card keys.

postcards from vegas

2009-05-15T09:06:00.015-04:00

Last night was the CLIO Moving Image Awards (formerly known as Television) and the show opened with a Walk of Fame where larger than life icons of classic commercials bounced, danced and jiggled down a red carpet: Kool-Aid Man, Nesquik Bunny, Michelin Man, Charlie the Tuna. Big line for photos with Morris the Cat. Yep, I succumbed.

It wouldn't be Vegas without Barry Manilow who was honored with a Clio for his contributions to advertising, jingles he obligingly belted out in a medley on a white baby grand: You deserve a break today...I am stuck on BandAid...Like a good neighbor...All across the nation, it's the Pepsi generation...It's the most original soft drink...Up, up and away...no wait, he didn't write that one, only suggested it for the next Viagra commercial. He was wildly cheered by a standing crowd, some of whom held up lighters in tribute. (yes lighters. It's Vegas. You can smoke indoors. And engage in other activities the real world prohibits.)

Vintage spots from the 70s and 80s evoked nostalgic sighs from the audience. Remeber Coke's Mean Joe Green from 1979?

The kid who handed the Coke to Mean Joe was honored with a CLIO last night, 40 years later. He's Tom Okon. His dad was a Mad Man at Benton & Bowles and invited his brother to a casting session. Tom tagged along and was cast for the spot instead. He's got four kids of his own now. When I asked if he was in the business, he look surprised. Nope. He owns a construction company.

Extending the theme of Former Child Stars Now on the Speaking Circuit, presenter for the evening was Chris Knight. Peter from the Brady Bunch, remember?

Still here? You must be reading to find out who won the awards. Click through.

CLIO awards for emerging (some would say already hatched) media

2009-05-14T11:33:00.015-04:00

High energy and entertainment value at last night's CLIO awards for Emerging Media. (Emerging? Neil Robinson, AKQA CD bridled at this in a panel: "Is it still 1997? Why are we still talking about the novelty of digital?")

No surprise that Crispin Porter + Bogusky took Gold in Interactive for Whopper Sacrifice which ECD Rob Reilly pointed out leveraged both social media and human nature. A Facebook application convinced more than 233,000 to defriend someone in return for a free Whopper. Dumped friends were informed they'd been sacrificed in messages that included their profile pics in flames. Facebook stepped in, disabling the app as it violated FB policy of not informing users when defriending occurs. But by then, the campaign had already converted 233,000 consumers and generated incalcuable free press and WOM. Crispin cleverly leveraged the fallout by cross-platforming the news in traditional print.

Another no brainer: Obama campaign won Gold for Integrated. Dipdive acceptor said, humbly, "Our client was the American people." No wonder their "product" was named Ad Age Marketer of the Year. A companion campaign, the hilariously effective "The Great Schlep" won Silver in Content & Category.

Surprises were multitudes of strong showings from afar. Particularly impressive was Silver winner for Innovative Media: BBDO Auckland's campaign for New Zealand Book Council. Brief: Encourage people to read again. Concept: Disguise books as computer documents so people will be able to read them at work, despite BOS. And organize books into an online library diguised to look like a Windows desktop.

An Aussie campaign for a travel company was produced, interestingly, by an alliance between a strategic agency The Hallway and a creative one Happy Soldiers. How to get people to take vacations during a recession? Produce household staples and price them for pennies, so shoppers can spend money on travel instead.

Gold winner for viral (I know you hate that word) was Superfad's brilliant because oh-so-simple concept executed in charming animation for Durex. (As of today, 2.8 million unpaid views)

Lots more CLIO goodness (including stunningly sophisticated work from students at NYC's School of Visual Arts and Miami Ad School) in full list of winners here.

me and my new BFF Matt Weiner

2009-05-13T09:22:00.006-04:00

Of course, the highlight of last night's CLIO awards for me was getting the opportunity to speak with Matt Weiner, recipient of first honorary CLIO award which wasn't a shiny gold statuette (his spots for the Relaxicizer would have to be real to earn one of those) but instead the more understated and recession-appropriate Lucite.

He is also creator of characters I ran away with on Twitter. So I was a little nervous about shaking hands with him. But "Mind?" he asked, looking incredulous. "I love what you're doing with Betty Draper!" Heartening words indeed from the man who created her. He said he loved all the Mad Men on Twitter and asked me to thank the other writers behind them. Sheepishly adding that he doesn't twitter himself. Yet.

I was impressed by his warmth and patience for photo-opps with fans who swarmed him. And by his generous words on the stage: I was interested in the history of advertising, and ironically I get to be a part of advertising history. But what most impressed me was that after accepting his award, he didn't bolt backstage to party or jet home to LA. He humbly stepped down, took a seat at a front table and watched attentively as others gathered their awards, looking rapt through even the student competitions. He is an old-school gentleman just like Don Draper. And, apparently, just as captivated by the business of advertising.

hitting gold in las vegas

2009-05-13T08:01:00.006-04:00

Congrats to those who took home the gold last night. Against all odds: Grand Prize was for Pharma. In spite of this (or maybe inspired by it) CLIO announced it will be launching a new award for Healthcare. In recognition of the difficulty of competing in a category which requires half an ad to be written by lawyers. Submission process opens in July and winners to be honored at a ceremony in New York in October. (Sort of like an industry Special Olympics?)

2009 Grand CLIO Award for Print:
• CLM BBDO, Boulogne-Billancourt, Pharmaceuticals, Dissolve Your Problems “Bear, Paparazzi, Magician, Prison” for Alka-Seltzer (Grand CLIO Winner in Print)

Gold CLIO Awards for Print:
• Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London, Corporate/Institutional, “Inner Child” for Museum of Childhood
• AlmapBBDO, São Paulo, Automotive, Volkswagen Customized Trucks “Volkswagen Customized Trucks - Beer Box, Volkswagen Customized Trucks - Fruit Box, Volkswagen Customized Trucks - Milk Box, Volkswagen Customized Trucks - Egg Box” for Volkswagen Trucks
• BBDO Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Automotive, Two Worlds “Bushman & Eskimo, Husky & Camel, Mountain Goat & Crocodile” for Jeep
• Clemenger BBDO, Wellington, Public Service, Crashed Beds “Bridge, Tree, Creek” for Driver Fatigue
• Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Martinez, Health Care Services, “Children – Tree” for Hospital Alemán - Kinder Plan
• Leo Burnett & Arc Worldwide Thailand, Bangkok, Home Furnishings/Appliances, “Chicken, Fish, Lobster” for WMF
• McCann Erickson, Madrid, Public Service, “Woman Shoe” for Greenpeace
• Miami Ad School Europe (Student - Sandra Nicolas), Hamburg, Student, Inspired By Life “Porridge, Brother, Aunt” for IKEA
• Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, Petaling Jaya, Public Service, “Stop” for Guinness
• TBWA\PARIS, Boulogne-Billancourt, Household Products, Mir Black “Mir Black - Spider, Mir Black – Arms” for Henkel
• TBWA\PARIS, Boulogne-Billancourt, Household Products, Mir Laine “Mir Laine 1, Mir Laine 2, Mir Laine 3, Mir Laine 4” for Henkel

Gold CLIO Awards for Direct Mail:
• Lowe Limited, Bangkok, Dimensional, “Torture Test” for Breeze Excel Washing Detergent
• Philipp und Keuntje GmbH, Hamburg, Collateral, “Balloon” for Chubb Nord-Alarm Security Systems Company

Gold CLIO Awards for Radio:
• DDB Chicago, Chicago, Beverages/Alcoholic, Real Men of Genius “Mr. Rain Delay Tarp Roller Outer, Mr. Golf Quiet Sign Holder, Mr. Football End Zone Painter, Mr. Football First Down Marker” for Anheuser-Busch
• Grey, Melbourne, Public Service, Pictures of You “Anne, George, Martin” for Anti-Speed Message
• Grey South Africa, Sandton, Public Service, “Shark Attack” for Shark Life
• Grupo Gallegos, Long Beach, Media, Subtitles “Epic, Robinson, Horror” for Comcast CableLatino
• Network BBDO, Johannesburg, Travel/Tourism, Plain Insanity “Ferret, Dancer, Dog” for Virgin Atlantic Airlines - Upper Class Suites
• Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, Business Equipment/Services, Compression Radio “Soap Opera Romance, Eating Candy, Calling Tech Support” for StuffIt Deluxe

Gold CLIO Awards for Poster:
• Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London, Corporate/Institutional, “Inner Child” for Museum of Childhood
• BBDO Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Automotive, Two Worlds “Bushman & Eskimo, Husky & Camel, Mountain Goat & Crocodile” for Jeep
• Big Ant International, New York, Public Service, “What Goes Around Comes Around” for Global Coalition for Peace
• Contract Advertising India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, Public Service, “Family Name” for Aadhar Association
• Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Martinez, Health Care Services, Children “Tree, Cookie, Stairs” for Hospital Alemán - Kinder Plan
• KNARF (Students - Annie Chiu, Anna Echiverri), New York, Student, “Subway Bench” for Victoria’s Secret

Gold CLIO Awards for Billboard:
• DDB London, London, Media, “Global Downturn” for Financial Times
• Leo Burnett Canada, Toronto, Beverages/Alcoholic, “Share Our Billboard Campaign” for James Ready

Gold CLIO Awards for Strategic Communications/Public Relations (new category this year for "innovative use of any form of unpaid publicity and messaging that drives credibility, awareness, reputation, and relationships between a company or organization and its consumers or constituents"):

• Edelman, Chicago, Consumer, “FilterForGood: Better Water, Less Waste” for Brita
• Ketchum, San Francisco, Consumer, “Haagen-Dazs loves Honey Bees: Let's Lick This Problem” for Haagen-Dazs

greetings from vegas. but where were the CLIO's in 1963?

2009-05-12T13:41:00.006-04:00

Writing this from (as the sign says) "Fabulous Las Vegas" where the Clio Awards is celebrating its 50th anniversary by showcasing statuette-winners from five decades. They'll also be honoring Matt Weiner tonight for his Mad Men work that dramatizes advertising in the 1960s, generally considered to be the turning point in the business, the time when advertising became a legitimate career instead of a shady enterprise propogated by hucksters. (You may not agree that this shift occurred.)

Betty Draper will be tweeting the event with other Mad Men on Twitter. (From a 1963 POV, of course.) Of course she'll be far more dressed up than most attendees. In the 60s, award shows were black tie. Every gentleman owned one. The few female invitees toted gowns and heels to their offices and you didn't want to go to the ladies room at 5 PM when air was heavy with perfume and hairspray and you'd likely see a boss in her girdle.

Doing a little research into CLIO archives turns up names long gone, but not quite forgotten: Normal, Craig & Kummel; NW Ayer; Oglivy, Benson & Mather; Paper, Koenig, Lois; Benton & Bowles (more commonly referred to as B&B.)

Still-vibrant DDB won best in 1963 for this sixty-second long (interminable, by our standards) spot using actor Jack Gilford for Cracker Jacks. Creative kudos went to writer Judy Protas (though the spot is silent) and inimitable art director Bob Gage.

on breaking into the business

2009-05-08T07:28:00.020-04:00

There's been talk going around about how the best creative young minds aren't choosing to go into advertising anymore. But I spoke recently with ad majors at City College and their smarts and enthusiasm waylaid any doubts I had about the caliber of the next generation of Mad People. Perhaps what I told them might prove useful to a jobhunter you know who is about to take the step of moving permanently off-campus.

When I got into the business, it was a different business. Copy was mailed to a client, with stamps. Art directors could draw. Cut and paste called for blades and rubber cement.

But you? You’re coming into advertising in the throes of a maelstrom. Longheld rules of marketing are changing and ad agencies are going through gyrations, trying to keep up. Creative directors are scrambling to retrain their staffs, to figure out how to stake claim for brands in the new, digital world. A few years ago, “doing interactive” meant coming up with banner ads. But web 2.0 has made the medium more challenging and creative directors are hoping that you, the first generation of digital natives, will come up with brilliant ideas for exploiting it.

Don’t get me wrong. To get a job in advertising, you still have prove your creative prowess in print and TV. But now every concept also needs a digital component that shows you understand the shift to conversational marketing. The ideas that are most likely to land you a job are ones that promote brands across multiple platforms: print ,TV, Facebook, Twitter or whatever is the latest application du jour.

That’s why the best way to show your book isn’t a book. It’s a website. Claim your name (or some variation) in a URL and create a case for yourself on the web. Once your work is online, creative directors can look at it whenever, wherever they please. And a digital “book” has the added advantage of never getting lost or tying up your chances at an agency because another agency, after three weeks, still hasn’t gotten around to looking at it.

Your website doesn’t have to be fancy. In fact, it’s a good idea to keep it as simple as possible. Creative directors are looking to assess your concepts, not your mastery of widgets and code. They won’t take kindly to being made to wait, no matter how cool your site is when the flash finally loads. They make time for your work and you make your site so heavy they have to stand by watching a bar fill in? You’ve just demonstrated a cardinal sin in advertising⎯not knowing your target. Click. Through.
What else?

1. Make a list of where you want to work. This may sound basic, but I’m always surprised by people who don’t think to do this. Look for agencies instead of job offers. Where you start in the business is the most important career choice you’ll make, as the connections you form there will help determine the jobs you’ll get next. Success in advertising, as in most businesses, depends partly on who you know and who knows you.

2. Twitter search for a job. Despite Twitter's exponential growth, the community it hosts is still relatively small. Which makes it easier for you to get the attention of someone who might not have time for you in the real world. Go to twitter search and plug in the names of agencies where you'd like to work. Follow people who work there. (Usually employed people put job affiliation in their profile description.) Start up a conversation with them. Do this by publicly commenting on something they posted. (Do I have to say this--do NOT make your first contact a direct message, or one that asks for a job.) Some connections you make may turn into F2F meetings. And you'll impress people by proving you're savvy about conversational marketing by marketing the most important product you'll ever sell--yourself. This may prove especially effective with senior execs (your target!) desperately trying to figure out "this twitter thing" for themselves.

3. Know the good campaigns. What won awards last year? Which do you admire? This is a common question in interviews and answering it gives a creative director an idea of what you think is good, and if it dovetails with her own ideas. Don’t go to an interview without having an opinion or two about what kind of work you’re seeking to emulate.

4. Read the ad blogs. They’re a great source of what campaigns are being talked about now, what it’s like to work in an ad agency, even what to wear on your first day at work. There are lots of blogs to choose from. I'd suggest beginning with DearJaneSample, ToadStool, Why Advertising Sucks and Scamp--each of which offers good advice for newbies. But don't stop there. The Ad Age Power 150 is actually a list of over 900 blogs, each appealing to a slightly different sensibility.

5. Read the trades. Adweek. AdAge. BrandWeek. Doing so will feed your head in a way that sets you apart from most applicants who limit themselves to Creativity, Communication Arts and Campaign. (Which you should read, too.) Remember. Advertising is an art, but it’s also a business. Creative isn’t creative if it doesn’t ultimately sell.

6. Clean up your Facebook. Google your name. See what comes up. Is that something you want prospective employers to see? Trash those photos of spring break when you were a sophomore. Get a LinkedIn profile. Take yourself seriously. Until you do, nobody else will.

7. No doubt I'm forgetting something important. Another lesson: in advertising (as in life) doing it perfectly is the enemy of doing it at all. If you're already in, please add to this list. Some young talent might find it helpful and hire you freelance someday.

is the new york times becoming the onion?

2009-05-06T15:58:00.002-04:00

Check out this photo of Hillary and caption. Front page of the NY Times. I kid you not.

london proves actions speak louder than taglines

2009-05-06T11:14:00.005-04:00

What is it about London that inspires out-of-the-telly-box thinking? I'm not just talking T-Mobile's flashmob events, such as in January when Saatchi sent breakdancers diguised in business clothes to Liverpool Street Station where they flabbergasted commuters by breaking into dance on the platforms. Or, last Thursday when they text-messaged their customers to gather in Trafalgar Square, drawing 13,000 into what was surely the world's loudest karoake rendition of Hey, Jude...

I'm talking the quieter but just as engaging McDonald's digital display at Piccadilly Circus, one of the world's most photographed locations, where 1.1 million people who visit a week can now snap photos against an ever-changing backdrop that makes it look like they're blowing out birthday cake candles, avoiding a bop on the head or wishfully thinking about (what else) fries or a burger. Agency Leo Burnett cleverly extends engagement by inviting consumers to post photos to a branded Flickr page. Because as every marketer knows, one CG photo is worth 1000 words of copy.

reflections of a mad man, IRL

2009-05-03T23:45:00.010-04:00

Bill Blackshaw joined BBDO in 1960 when the agency was working on Nixon's campaign. He claims Matt Weiner got a lot of things right: like the 3 martini lunch which "was invented by the ad business." And the elitism that existed in the industry then. Top brass "always had their last name first, like Thurston Charles McGee." He recalls presenting a media schedule to a Pete Campbell-like account exec who couldn't believe buys included Sunday afternoon radio spots on Long Island because "Everyone will be at the polo matches!"

One discrepancy, however. The bottle wasn't brought out in the office nearly as often as it is on the show. And usually didn't make its appearance until late in the day. (Presumably, just in time for commuters to knock back one for the road before pointing their cars--without seatbelts-- towards the Long Island Expressway.)

Footage lovingly shot by Bill's son Pete Blackshaw, EVP at Nielsen, a few months before his father passed away. Thanks for preserving this firsthand account of ad history, Pete. (And thanks, Randall Rothenberg, for posting the link.)