Maret 2012

The Golden Age Of Advertising.

Monday I posted a piece called Opinions About Everything, Knowledge About Nothing.

It was about the shockingly low level of knowledge that many ad people have regarding the facts of life in our business today.

One of the most troubling aspects of our business is not just the absence of knowledge about contemporary advertising but also about the history of our business.

It would be unthinkable

Opinions About Everything, Knowledge About Nothing

I had a disconcerting, but not unexpected, experience last week. I taught a workshop on advertising creativity to a group of 30 advertising people.

These people were all employed at agencies. They were mostly working in account service and media departments. They were a very bright, young, engaged, and attentive group.

Unfortunately, for the most part, they were very much like the current crop

Author, Blogger, Pimp

I think you have to agree that I have been very circumspect, or circumscribed, or circumcised, or whatever the hell that word is, about pimping my book here recently.

Well, there's a limit to everything.

So today, we're going to do two things. First, we're going to remind you that 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising is on sale for a mere $2.99 at Amazon.

You can read the reviews there,

Advertising's Stupidest Legend

Of all the stupid, misguided truisms of advertising, the one that is most thoroughly destructive is the idea that advertising is a "young person's business."

This nasty, insulting platitude comes from two different but related misconceptions.

The first is marketers' irrational obsession with young people. As I have written many times here, this insane, costly preoccupation with young people

Inter-Galactic Worldwide Experientiator Predicts End Of Advertising

Just when you think every meatball who has predicted the end of advertising has either been exiled, jailed, or sent to the permanent rotating 4A's conference on "transformation," up pops another one.

This one is the "Global Brand Experience Manager" for Facebook. I'm pretty sure everything you need to know about him is explained in his title.

According to this guy, traditional advertising and

Awestin, Texas

Memo

TO:                 Registered Delegates
FROM:           SXSW Board of Directors
SUBJECT:     The SXSW Human Re-Purposing Project

Each year at this time, the world's most awesome people travel to Awestin, TX to join us at the gathering known as SXSW (pronounced "Some Xceptionally Smug Wankers.") SXSW exists at the intersection of technology, marketing, and self-absorption.

It's a fun

Teens and Television: The Facts

One of the characteristics of marketing professionals that makes them so insufferably dim is their obsession with young people.

The fact that over 75% of the wealth of this country is in the hands of people over 50 makes absolutely no difference to them. The fact that young people have no money and are terrible customers means nothing.

They always give you the same answer: "Yeah, but our

Interactivity: Get Over It

From CNNMoney, last week...
"Imagine if Joe Smith, in need of a new car... presses a button on his remote and instantly receives more information about a Ford F150, including where he can buy one. Meanwhile, Joe's wife, Sally, watches a later ad for a Sony phone. The product on the screen is sleek and modern, and Sally wants it. She can turn her emotion into ownership, purchasing the phone with

Ad Dude Of The Year

Last night I received the "Ad Person of the Year" award from the wonderful people at the San Francisco Ad Club at their annual awards gala. Because of time restraints, I had to edit my remarks. Here are the full remarks that I wrote for the occasion.

Thank you Ad Club for this lovely honor.

Thanks for this wonderful plaque...and the beautiful new Ferrari, and the dollar off on the drink

Neuroscience And Pseudoscience

Yesterday, The New York Times published an interview with Dr. Eric R. Kandel, the Nobel Prize winning neuroscientist and researcher at Columbia University.

One subject of the interview was the early overselling of psychoanalysis. Dr. Kandel put it this way...
"In the 1950s and early 1960s, psychoanalysis swept through the intellectual community, and it was the dominant mode of thinking about

A Simple Allegory About Music, Marketing, And Storytelling

Every evening after work I get off the Bay Area Rapid Transit system near my home in Oakland.

Often there is a saxophonist standing outside the station playing for contributions. He is a talented musician. He plays very difficult scales and very complicated jazz runs.

His collection box is usually empty.

Being the know-it-all that I am, I have an uncontrollable urge to grab the guy by the

Farcebook

Facebook is like the telephone. It's great for chatting, but not terribly good for selling.

One of the most remarkable things about it is the blind faith that marketers continue to have in it despite its questionable record as a marketing vehicle.

For people who are marketing things, there are two ways to use Facebook -- the free way and the paid way.

Making a Facebook site is the free way.