Subscribe to RSS

Clow and Bogusky Say Nothing, Still Kings of Advertising

clow_bogusky_chat.jpg

You know, on one hand you have to respect the likes of Lee Clow and Alex Bogusky for the successes they've had and the successes they've built in the form of their agencies but, on the other hand, for some reason when these two sit in the same room with each other to discuss the definition of advertising, advertising agency and then end up trying to define the future of film while coming to no conclusions, it leaves one, well, disappointed. Granted, a three minute video segment isn't a lot of time but if these are the best nuggets the editors were able to find, it leaves one, well, disappointed. We do, however, love how the water glasses suddenly turn into wine glasses and Lee wastes no time imbibing. But, whatever. You know, you and I would give anything to be in the positions these two hold so any complaints we may have just come off as the jealous rantings of an underachieving wannabe. So we're going to pretend we didn't say anything at all about this and simply bow down at the feet of our masters.

by Steve Hall    Mar-27-06   Comments (6)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies

Agency Makes Joke Out of Nasty Internal Email

hb_tshirt.jpg

On Friday, an internal email about office cleaning from the President of Toronto-based Henderson Bas was leaked to us and has, as of Saturday afternoon, spawned 57 comments. Most, it seems, from former agency employees. The email, which you can read here along with the comments, reads like a displeased parent blasting her children after returning from a vacation to find the house trashed. Now, everyone has emotions and, at times, everyone says something they wished they hadn't. Perhaps that's the case here or perhaps it is, as the clear majority of commenters claim, a true representation of affairs inside the agency.

more »

by Steve Hall    Mar-25-06   Comments (7)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies

The 'Nice Agency' Isn't So Nice

henderson_bas.jpg

We all know most agency management treats its employees like idiotic children and, while most employees may truly be idiotic, pampered, over-paid children, it's still humorous when an agency head pulls out the ruler and lays down the gauntlet like a Kindergarten teacher. Today, we're informed Toronto-based agency Henderson Bas President Dawna Henderson was displeased the assigned group didn't properly organized the agency's monthly Round Up, an agency wide cleaning event, and took matters into her own hands in the form of a stern email. There are rules, damn it and "this is not a joke!" The kicker in all of this? The agency's URL: theniceagency.com. Read on...

more »

by Steve Hall    Mar-24-06   Comments (111)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies

ATTIK Founder Thanks Prince Charles For Prince's Trust

prince_charles_attik.jpg

Thirty years ago, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales founded The Prince's Trust to help change the lives of underprivileged or troubled 14-30 year olds in the UK through financial and practical support. Twenty years ago, ATTIK Co-Founder James Sommerville and his partner Simon Needham were among those granted assistance by The Prince's Trust. Last Thursday evening, at a Buckingham Palace fundraising dinner reception held for supporters of The Prince's Trust from the UK and USA, James was given the Honor of thanking Prince Charles for his support, on behalf of the 60,000+ businesses impacted by The Prince's Trust since 1976. See, now isn't that a happy advertising story?

by Steve Hall    Mar-23-06   Comments (1)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies

Agency Partner Directs Junkie XL Music Video

junky_xl.jpg

This made the rounds last week but it just fell off our radar because, well, it doesn't really have to do with advertising except that the director of this music video for Junkie XL, Glenn Cole, is partner and creative director at LA agency agency 72andSunny and the very very persistent PR person had some influence as well.

Oh, to connect the dots even more, the PR person tells us it's a "cool ad story because the video's director Glenn Cole and Junkie XL first hooked up together in 2002, when Glenn was a CD with Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam and hired Junkie XL to remix the Elvis track 'A Little Less Conversation' for a Nike World Cup 2002 commercial. The two have remained friends and frequent collaborators ever since." It's all about who you know.

by Steve Hall    Mar-21-06   Comments ()    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies

Lee Clow And Alex Bogusky Discuss...Clothes

lee_alex.jpg

AdCritic has launched a new free feature called Face2Face, a video series that will feature ad luminaries speaking with one another. For the launch, AdCritic has placed the old and the new up against one another. Lee Clow and Alex Bogusky, two people who might have a few tidbits of insight to offer, discuss the earth shatteringly important topic of what agency people wear to work. Let's hope future episodes get to meatier topics.

by Steve Hall    Mar-21-06   Comments (2)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies

Agency Art Buyer Named San Francisco's Best DJ

ay-dj-2.jpg

To prove there's life outside the walls of advertising, Amy Yvonne Yu, ATTIK San Francisco art buyer and traffic co-ordinator, has been named San Francisco's Best DJ in a contest hosted by SF Weekly and East Bay Express.The competition is part of the Ultra Music Festival which brings together music editors from metropolitan area news weeklies. Yu will now join the rest of the regional winners and travel to Miami's Bicentennial Park to mix with The Killers, The Prodigy, Paul van Dyk, Hot Hot Heat, Hard-Fi, Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox and Perry Farrell. There is life outside the cube.

by Steve Hall    Mar-17-06   Comments (3)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies

Hill | Holliday Ditches Website, Goes All Blog

hh_blog.jpg

Boston agency Hill Holliday has tossed its traditional site and launched a weblog. No, they didn't just add a blog to their already existing site, they ditched it entirely. Well, almost. They've done a wonderful job incorporating some of the usual capabilities and portfolio items into the header of the blog using Flash. The beauty of this approach, what many agencies still need to discover, will catapult Hill Holliday into the "conversation" about advertising. The site will get natural Google love, Technorati love and proliferation throughout the blogoshere's link-fest, something a static agency site can never achieve. And, most importantly, potential clients will get to know how HH thinks rather than how well they write website copy.

Other agencies such as W+K have great weblogs but we're not aware of any other major (yes, smaller ones have) agencies that have gone the all-blog format. We think this is great and we welcome HH to the conversation.

by Steve Hall    Mar-13-06   Comments (3)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies, Good, Weblogs

American Copywriter Dishes On CP+B's Boulder Office

american_copy_logo.jpg

Just listened to the latest American Copywriter podcast from Sullivan Higdon & Sink's John January and Tug McTighe during which they have some fun with Crispin Porter + Bogusky's latest bit of news. Riffing on the announcement that CP+B is opening an office in Boulder, CO, John and Tug get to the heart of the matter: Alex is sick of South Beach and wants to raise his kids in the family-friendly mountains. As always, John and Tug are hilarious. Give it a listen here.

Oh, and guys, CP+B does do a podcast. Check this out.

by Steve Hall    Mar- 8-06   Comments ()    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies, Podcast

Agency Self Promotional Street Campaign Aims to Conquer World

modernista_bang.jpg

Advertising For Peanuts highlights and ongoing self-promotional campaign, Bang the Streets, for Modernista, the Boston agency that just won a big chunk of Cadillac business. The campaign encourages people to place the agency's trademark red exclamation point, which the agency will send to anyone that requests it, anywhere they like, take a picture of it, send it in and Modernista will highlight it on the Bang the Streets site. Potential Photoshop trickery and defacing public property issues aside, We kinda like this campaign.

by Steve Hall    Mar- 8-06   Comments (1)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies, Good, Guerilla, Online, Outdoor

follow-us-on-twitter-bird-160.jpg
    @adrants
    @stevehall