David Griner of AdFreak fame has convinced his agency, Luckie & Co, to launch The Social Path. It's a clean, uncomplicated and sane place for learning about social media.
The blog went live Sunday. I don't want to gush much, but I spent most of the last half-hour reading the entries. If you're looking for rants or hype-ridden miracles, you will probably be disappointed.
What it will do is simplify topics that have become extremely noisy. And then it will walk you through them while clasping your hand -- not as an "expert," but as a person learning alongside you.
For a sense of what I mean, read his second entry, Five Myths of Social Media. It's a great place to get started.
Royale leaps to the aid of JWT, whose "Happy Jetting" campaign for Jet Blue has been poorly received -- and not - just - by - us.
"Jetting" is set to ELO's Mr. Blue Sky and has a poppy feel-good Target vibe -- except, you know, more blue. It's also jam-packed with effortful Jet Blue-isms like "Jetting is decked out in leather," "Jetting means business," "Jetting isn't flying," and "Jetting thinks you deserve a snack."
Aww, Jet Blue gave us a coooookie.
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- On her grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, a Millennial reflects on how the advancement of technology in the last century have made life different.
- To distract from its increasing irrelevance, the Yellow Pages is engaging in a few guerrilla stunts. Nothing we haven't seen before.
- Draft FCB is a new breed agency with great analytics. It's gonna transform this industry in a modern way -- and that means holistic offerings with a strong Return On Ideas, not to mention rad rock music and awesome whitewash camera tricks. And then we choked on our rapidly-escaping brain cells and died. From George "Fuck Louie, that's some 'Analytics' you've got there!" Parker, via MTLB.
- Some mothers want John McCain to keep their babies out of war. Others are begging him to take theirs. (Via.)
JWT plans to run a spot in Mad Men's upcoming DVD set, spelling MAD MEN out with letters and logos from its client roster. Tagline: "Making brands famous since 1864." See it right here.
"All I'm looking for is a nod of the head and recognition for what JWT is," CEO Bob Jeffrey whines. Which begs the question: from who?
To answer that riddle, AdWeek gleaned perspective from Chris Vollmer, a Booz Allen-based media guy: "It's an industry play rather than a consumer play, because I can't see how it would make sense to a consumer."
Aww. JWT needs a shoulder-punch from its peers. Before leaving work today, call your nearest JWT creative and tell 'em you really like what they're doing with, I don't know, Kit Kat.
What do you do when you find yourself in a room full of the people that imagineered your childhood?
You lose all social poise and most of your moxie -- not on purpose, but inevitably.
That's what it felt like during last night's press debut for The Real Men & Women of Madison Avenue and Their Impact on American Culture. As I walked across the floor, treading over familiar phrases like "Got milk?" with Ed McCabe! and Judy Wald! at either elbow, I fell back (hard) on responses like, "Awesome!" and "Woooow!" and "Ha-ha-HA!" -- sometimes even before they could finish a sentence.
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For KahloRivera100, Ken Carbone of Carbone Smolan Agency created a playful print that riffs off the King and Queen of Hearts.
"I chose to emulate the structure of a playing card, as it best demonstrates the duality of this royal couple in the history of art," Carbone said.
Some backstory: Kahlo and Rivera, lovers, political agitators and artists, got married and made each other completely miserable until Kahlo's death (lots of cheating and general ego-clashing). They apparently loved each other too much to really separate.
Carbone's work piece is especially appropriate in light of a recent video sent to us by BC Dairy, which depicts the Queen of Hearts cheating with the Jack of Spades. (Frida is reputed to have cheated on Diego with Trotsky, who was murdered with an ice axe. Okay, maybe this connection is kind of a stretch.)
KahloRivera100, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of Kahlo's birth and the 50th anniversary of Rivera's death, is sponsored by Alliance Graphique Internationale. It will feature over 100 contributions, including this one, and will appear at the Club de Banqueros de Mexico AC in Mexico City this July.
Ric Kallaher, the photographer who took all those awesome shots at One Show in May, ditched the Cannes International Ad Festival for the Coney Island freak show, otherwise known as the Second Annual Wrath of Cannes.
And he's not sorry.
"Who needs Cannes?! Beter yet: who WANTS Cannes?!" he concluded, having obviously returned a changed man.
"THIS is everything an advertising awards show should be: last minute, no hassle entries open to anyone & everyone, free beer, rockin' surfer-guitar music (blasted out by the ever-cool Tarantinos), raucous fun on the beach, and on-site, in full-view judging for clients that could never exist for ad campaigns that could never air.
"But, hey, with modern mobile platforms, why not?!"
Below: 8 Freakish Things We Learned About Wrath of Cannes. (Illustrated.)
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- Corbis has announced the opening of its Museum of arts for the Arts where all things photography, paint and music will be celebrated.
- The Amsterdam office of StrawberryFrog has severed ties with the parent company and will now go it alone, rebranding itself as Amsterdam Worldwide. Odd. Name your agency after a city? Oh wait. Not half as odd as naming your agency after a...strawberry frog.
- Hmm. Just goes to prove all men look at are boobs.
3/4ths of stock photo buyers surveyed by Photoshelter (399 out of 536 people, mostly art directors and creative directors) feel like they've seen everything stock photo companies have to offer. They also rated availability, quality and diversity of photos "poor to average."
See stats and charts.
In general, people seek images that are natural-looking, believable or candid. Sore spots include the "ethnic people (general lifestyle)," "seniors being active," and "current technology" categories.
Given the constraints (how do you make the contrived look real?), I admire the wherewithal of companies like Corbis or Getty. They sure do try to think of everything. That photo at left? It's called -- wait for it! -- "Bride Talking on Her Cell Phone."
Here's an idea, ad-heads: take your own damn pictures! Or get to know compfight. Intimately.
Well it's not the Agency.com Subway video, except for the bookends which feature Exaggerated Ad Dude (Charlie Anderson), but it's still filled with enough bravado, though subdued, to cause ugly Agency.com memories to rear their ugly head. In the video, Saatchi & Saatchi X employees describe a campiagn they did for Wal-Mart and Old Spice and why that project makes them worthy of additional and broader Old Spice work.
The ladies will love cute, unassuming Creative Guy. Until, sadly, he starts spouting blatherific business babble likely written for him by some account guy.
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