Thursday, February 28, 2008
There are no mysteries
Verbal: To a cop the explanation's always simple. There's no mystery to the street, no arch criminal behind it all. If you find a body and you think his brother did it, you're gonna find out you're right.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Karsh\Hagan in Communication Arts Exhibit
Karsh\Hagan's work for 20/20 Tax Resolution is going to be in Exhibit. See the work and get the story in the news section of the agency website.
Monday, February 25, 2008
News spreads fast on the tubes
Wow. Even Zeus Jones is picking up Andrew's VC Wear presentation.
UPDATE: More at Redeye VC and Webyantra, and from Dow Jones.
UPDATE: More at Redeye VC and Webyantra, and from Dow Jones.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
...but not their life.
Paul Tilley, the ECD of DDB/Chicago, apparently took his own life Friday night. [AdAge, Adweek] There has been all sorts of conversation on Twitter about whether a Feb. 18 post on the anonymous ad agency gossip blog AgencySpy was at all to blame.
A long time ago, I saw a quote from Wonkette herself that changed my blogging:
The intensity of our industry is not proportional to its importance. Play hard, but play fair. Life is short. My heart goes out to Tilley's family.
A long time ago, I saw a quote from Wonkette herself that changed my blogging:
[I]t's OK to ruin someone's day but not their life.
The intensity of our industry is not proportional to its importance. Play hard, but play fair. Life is short. My heart goes out to Tilley's family.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Our House: A good play, a few years too late
[Ed. - This post contains spoilers for Our House, a play by Theresa Rebeck that premiered at the DCPA. I decided not to publish until the Denver run concluded to avoid giving away the plot. You've been warned.]
I liked Our House a lot while I was watching it. The writing was snappy. The direction was gripping. The actors were committed. The moral - TV is bad, TV news is worse, and reality TV will rot your brain - was right out of a college lecture on hyperreality, but it's a good lecture and I needed to hear it again.
Still, there was something that bothered me about the play. And reading through my playbill, I figured out what it was. I'd watched Our House's world premiere. But it didn't feel current.
Ken at Pure Thinking was all over an article titled "Young prefer MySpace to TV." He wrote:
Today, wannabe celebs turn to the Internet, not broadcast. (See: Samberg, Andy and Tequila, Tila.) So when Our House's Merv started blowing away his roommates, I expected him to put video on his YouTube channel. When he demanded to talk to the news anchor who hosts his favorite reality show, the play seemed dated.
This thread points out that Our House was inspired by the story of Julie Chen, who anchored the CBS morning news and has hosted Big Brother since 2000.
2000. That's sounds about right. Eight years ago, Our House might have been vital. But today Real World is in it's 19th season and nobody I know trusts the TV for news anyway.
For me, the play felt like a look back at a quaint time when TV still ruled.
I liked Our House a lot while I was watching it. The writing was snappy. The direction was gripping. The actors were committed. The moral - TV is bad, TV news is worse, and reality TV will rot your brain - was right out of a college lecture on hyperreality, but it's a good lecture and I needed to hear it again.
Still, there was something that bothered me about the play. And reading through my playbill, I figured out what it was. I'd watched Our House's world premiere. But it didn't feel current.
Ken at Pure Thinking was all over an article titled "Young prefer MySpace to TV." He wrote:
When asked how they would rather spend 15 minutes, 45% of this age group answered social networking sites, surpassing watching TV, reading, talking on the phone, or playing video games.
Today, wannabe celebs turn to the Internet, not broadcast. (See: Samberg, Andy and Tequila, Tila.) So when Our House's Merv started blowing away his roommates, I expected him to put video on his YouTube channel. When he demanded to talk to the news anchor who hosts his favorite reality show, the play seemed dated.
This thread points out that Our House was inspired by the story of Julie Chen, who anchored the CBS morning news and has hosted Big Brother since 2000.
2000. That's sounds about right. Eight years ago, Our House might have been vital. But today Real World is in it's 19th season and nobody I know trusts the TV for news anyway.
For me, the play felt like a look back at a quaint time when TV still ruled.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Scott Goodson and Gareth Kay to judge 2008 Denver 50
A few days after the 2007 Denver 50, I got a call from Kevin Roddy's assistant. She wanted to confirm that I was still on for drinks with Kevin that night.
In Manhattan.
The clicking sound she heard was me jumping to my laptop to see if it was possible to get an immediate flight from Denver to LaGuardia. It wasn't, and I reluctantly informed her that she'd gotten me confused with someone else.
Ninety-eight percent of the people in America don't understand why that story is funny. For the two percent that do, I have news.
Scott Goodson and Gareth Kay have given an early thumbs-up to the idea of judging the 2008 Denver 50.
Scott Goodson is the founder and CEO of StrawberryFrog. He's only judging The Denver 50 and D&AD this year. His blog is scott goodson's writings. He was profiled in USA Today. And here's a link to all of Agency Spy's articles about StrawberryFrog.
Gareth Kay is the head of planning at Modernista!. His blog is brand new. He's joined the Denver 50 Facebook group. And here's a link to all of Agency Spy's articles about Modernista!.
We're chasing two more judges whose names will make ad geeks get all wobbly.
The 2008 deadline will be in August, so we're still a good six months out. But it looks like the Denver 50 will again have a judging panel that'd make the One Club jealous.
In Manhattan.
The clicking sound she heard was me jumping to my laptop to see if it was possible to get an immediate flight from Denver to LaGuardia. It wasn't, and I reluctantly informed her that she'd gotten me confused with someone else.
Ninety-eight percent of the people in America don't understand why that story is funny. For the two percent that do, I have news.
Scott Goodson and Gareth Kay have given an early thumbs-up to the idea of judging the 2008 Denver 50.
Scott Goodson is the founder and CEO of StrawberryFrog. He's only judging The Denver 50 and D&AD this year. His blog is scott goodson's writings. He was profiled in USA Today. And here's a link to all of Agency Spy's articles about StrawberryFrog.
Gareth Kay is the head of planning at Modernista!. His blog is brand new. He's joined the Denver 50 Facebook group. And here's a link to all of Agency Spy's articles about Modernista!.
We're chasing two more judges whose names will make ad geeks get all wobbly.
The 2008 deadline will be in August, so we're still a good six months out. But it looks like the Denver 50 will again have a judging panel that'd make the One Club jealous.
Friday, February 15, 2008
No Gear + Me
I was working on print ads when I saw Andrew's challenge:
"Repeat. Creative." Using low-tech tools. Sounded good to me. Because what I was doing for my client was drawing hundreds of black boxes with a Sharpie in a sketchbook and then daring myself to fill them. Headlines. Visuals. Positioning statements. Observations. Whatever.
It doesn't get more repetitious or creative than that. Just keep the mind moving. Box after box after box.
I used my camera phone to shoot the first few of the 20-something pages I've filled so far. Then I made the photos into a PowerPoint presentation. And put it on my SlideShare page.
The whole exercise reminded me of what Luke Sullivan wrote in Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. A great idea is still a great idea, even when it's in the marker comp stage.
Apparently I'm still looking for mine.
As a community let’s take on a challenge to create some beautiful, creative and engaging works, by using the worst gear we have. Leave the professional gear in the storage container, this challenge will be filmed using cell phone cameras, digital cameras that have never gotten a ‘best of the year’ award, Polaroids and vhs decks with lenses. Edit it in the most simplistic way you can think of, Movie Maker, iMovie, paint, etc.
Here is the challenge. It is short, so get to it and participate.
Theme: Repeat. Creative.
"Repeat. Creative." Using low-tech tools. Sounded good to me. Because what I was doing for my client was drawing hundreds of black boxes with a Sharpie in a sketchbook and then daring myself to fill them. Headlines. Visuals. Positioning statements. Observations. Whatever.
It doesn't get more repetitious or creative than that. Just keep the mind moving. Box after box after box.
I used my camera phone to shoot the first few of the 20-something pages I've filled so far. Then I made the photos into a PowerPoint presentation. And put it on my SlideShare page.
The whole exercise reminded me of what Luke Sullivan wrote in Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. A great idea is still a great idea, even when it's in the marker comp stage.
Apparently I'm still looking for mine.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The tubes are a utility
Some folks don't quite understand online social networks:
The other day I sat in a focus group made up of college-bound high school students. They all had Facebook pages. But not a single one of them thought of the Internet as a "world of make believe." Their online social networks were merely tools they used to enrich real-life relationships.
Speaking of Facebook, here are three amazing things that happened to me there.
• An art director in Sweden found me on Facebook and sent me a message, asking me to recommend broadcast producers in Denver. I did.
• I learned that a woman in my office cut her hair when she updated her Facebook status with the words, "Still getting used to my new bangs." I then walked the 50 yards to her desk to see her new style.
• My Facebook friend noticed that my other Facebook friend was the stranger whose mail she had been receiving for six months. They connected and he finally got his lost mail.
I could tell similar stories about Twitter and LinkedIn. But the moral is the same. The end of value of the Internet is that it helps real connections to take place in marvelous and unexpected ways.
I'm still one of those people who looks a person in the eye when I'm talking... Frankly, what I've learned over the years is that a couple of true friends can help you get through anything. It won't be easy jumping into this new world of make-believe.
The other day I sat in a focus group made up of college-bound high school students. They all had Facebook pages. But not a single one of them thought of the Internet as a "world of make believe." Their online social networks were merely tools they used to enrich real-life relationships.
Speaking of Facebook, here are three amazing things that happened to me there.
• An art director in Sweden found me on Facebook and sent me a message, asking me to recommend broadcast producers in Denver. I did.
• I learned that a woman in my office cut her hair when she updated her Facebook status with the words, "Still getting used to my new bangs." I then walked the 50 yards to her desk to see her new style.
• My Facebook friend noticed that my other Facebook friend was the stranger whose mail she had been receiving for six months. They connected and he finally got his lost mail.
I could tell similar stories about Twitter and LinkedIn. But the moral is the same. The end of value of the Internet is that it helps real connections to take place in marvelous and unexpected ways.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Does the planet have a collective narrative?
The problem with Twitter is that the ability to microblog passing thoughts discourages you from ever assembling them into narrative. Take my my caucus-night tweet:
Just one little tweet. Probably meaningless. Probably should've come home and blogged about the whole night.
But maybe not. Because maybe individual narratives mean less than the collective narrative of our planet.
There is a raft of new services that attempt to compile tweets into memes that reflect America's collective consciousness. Like TwitterLinkr. And Twemes. And the Google Maps/Twitter mashup that broadcast tweets in real time throughout Super Tuesday. (The map is here and a story is here.)
Most of these services have the word alpha or beta attached to them, so they're claiming permission to screw up early and often. But I'm dying to know what it'll be like to search a term like "climate change" and pour through the world's ideas.
We are all in this together. And maybe our collective whispers will become something more interesting than synthesized recollections could ever be.
Cross-posted on the agency blog.
Wow. Over fire code. Running out of sign in sheets. This is best caucus ever.
Just one little tweet. Probably meaningless. Probably should've come home and blogged about the whole night.
But maybe not. Because maybe individual narratives mean less than the collective narrative of our planet.
There is a raft of new services that attempt to compile tweets into memes that reflect America's collective consciousness. Like TwitterLinkr. And Twemes. And the Google Maps/Twitter mashup that broadcast tweets in real time throughout Super Tuesday. (The map is here and a story is here.)
Most of these services have the word alpha or beta attached to them, so they're claiming permission to screw up early and often. But I'm dying to know what it'll be like to search a term like "climate change" and pour through the world's ideas.
We are all in this together. And maybe our collective whispers will become something more interesting than synthesized recollections could ever be.
Cross-posted on the agency blog.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
The NDAC scores the Super Bowl ads
I tried to track the scoring from the New Denver Ad Club's Super Bowl party on Twitter. Our top 3 were Tide To Go and the two E-Trade spots.
UPDATE: The Rocky reports on our party:
The article includes quotes from Bob and Steve and they even found room for me.
UPDATE: MySpace has the ads. AgencySpy has the USA Today rankings. Wired has the Tivo rankings. And AdRants reminds us that Christina Ricci is still awesome.
UPDATE: Blah ha ha ha:
UPDATE: The Rocky reports on our party:
Tide's talking coffee stain trumped Audi's The Godfather spoof and FedEx's genetically engineered carrier pigeons in the Madison Avenue matchups during the Super Bowl, according to Denver advertising executives.
The article includes quotes from Bob and Steve and they even found room for me.
UPDATE: MySpace has the ads. AgencySpy has the USA Today rankings. Wired has the Tivo rankings. And AdRants reminds us that Christina Ricci is still awesome.
UPDATE: Blah ha ha ha:
Friday, February 1, 2008
Trends to watch for at the NDAC Super Bowl Party
What can we expect to see at the NDAC Super Bowl party, besides tipsy art directors and suicidal Giants fans?
• Premature exposure - It used to be that the Super Bowl was a brand's big chance to make a statement to the business media. But this year, it seems that practically every spot has either been released or teased online. The creative may seem new to consumers, but NDAC members and reporters may arrive at the party with their minds already made up.
• Storytelling - Traditionally, Super Bowl ads are all about spectacle. But things may start to change this year. I'm curious to see if any brands have the courage to use their spot as an accessible doorway into a larger story told across multiple online and offline media.
• More of the same - Every year, brands feel obligated to try to out-big each other by overplaying rock music, overdoing special effects, and overpaying Justin Timberlake. That trend probably won't die this year. But it could be less prevalent.
• Cause marketing - Ian Schafer predicts that big brands will use their time "to tell consumers how green, pink, yellow, or red they are." That may cause a backlash among educated consumers and jaded NDAC members.
• I think that's the lint-licker actress hawking Bridgestone - That's not really a theme. But it's funny.
You can see my Super Bowl linklist here. You can see every AdRants post tagged Super Bowl 2008 here. You can check out AdFreak's ongoing coverage here. Oh, and get your tickets already.
• Premature exposure - It used to be that the Super Bowl was a brand's big chance to make a statement to the business media. But this year, it seems that practically every spot has either been released or teased online. The creative may seem new to consumers, but NDAC members and reporters may arrive at the party with their minds already made up.
• Storytelling - Traditionally, Super Bowl ads are all about spectacle. But things may start to change this year. I'm curious to see if any brands have the courage to use their spot as an accessible doorway into a larger story told across multiple online and offline media.
• More of the same - Every year, brands feel obligated to try to out-big each other by overplaying rock music, overdoing special effects, and overpaying Justin Timberlake. That trend probably won't die this year. But it could be less prevalent.
• Cause marketing - Ian Schafer predicts that big brands will use their time "to tell consumers how green, pink, yellow, or red they are." That may cause a backlash among educated consumers and jaded NDAC members.
• I think that's the lint-licker actress hawking Bridgestone - That's not really a theme. But it's funny.
You can see my Super Bowl linklist here. You can see every AdRants post tagged Super Bowl 2008 here. You can check out AdFreak's ongoing coverage here. Oh, and get your tickets already.
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