Thanks to everyone who responded to our 2024 Predictions survey last month. While the sample size wasn’t quite the size of a Pew or Nielsen, seeing our fan base’s collective expectations for the new year was interesting. Most of you have high expectations, with nearly half proclaiming their business is going “through the roof” in […]
No we’re not talking about Charles VII or his father Charles VI. Instead, we’re recognizing the passing of the baton after years of shifts from traditional to digital media. According to Statista, global ad spend for digital media has officially passed traditional media’s ad spend. This may have gone unnoticed since US ad spend has
The King is dead.
Long Live the King. Read More »
In the 1920s, a company called Burma Shave — producers of brushless shaving cream — started putting signs up that delighted and educated drivers. These signs would run in succession down the road, delivering rhyming and sometimes clever lines, and they would always end with the Burma Shave logo. This simple yet clever idea propelled
Advertising in the Great Outdoors. Read More »
In advertising, pretty much everyone has been influenced by someone else. As we’ve been bringing you stories about ad legends like Bill Bernbach and George Lois, we stumbled onto a guy who influenced both. Paul Rand (not to be confused with Rand Paul) is well known for his logo work for companies like UPS, ABC,
Who Influenced the Influencers? Read More »
The world is full of bad advertising. Sometimes it’s because the ad is tone-deaf. Other times these ads are just flat-out boring. Unappealing. Without soul (We’re looking at you, AI). Usually, this results from laziness, but client “preferences” are also the culprit. So put away your starbursts and listen up. The best way to make
Appeals Court — Common Appeals in Advertising. Read More »
Okay, I’ll admit that I knew nothing about JWT before starting this article. I knew he was the founder of J. Walter Thompson Advertising, now the huge conglomerate Wunderman Thompson. I also knew he didn’t fit the mold of most of my subjects. He came way before the “Mad Men” era. In fact, he actually
J. Walter Thompson: Father of brand advertising? Read More »
The year was 1909. The US Army bought the first military aircraft from the Wright Brothers, Sigmund Freud lectured in NYC, and the Manhattan Bridge opened. Meanwhile, in Louisville, KY, the American Advertising Federation convened at the Galt House and — led by Samuel C. Dobbs — took a stand against false advertising. You can
Truth in Advertising Read More »
Bernbach, along with James Doyle and Max Dane, founded DDB in 1949. He had left Grey Advertising in “an act of defiance,” taking one small client — Ohrbach’s Department Store — with him. The reason he left was simple. He had the notion that advertising was an art, whereas most thought of it as a
Bill Bernbach and the Creative Revolution Read More »
In 1999, Time Magazine named Leo one of the most influential people of the 20th century. He earned this honor not only by building an ad agency that now boasts 85 offices worldwide — employing over 9,000 people — but also by creating some of advertising’s most iconic characters. Born in 1891, Mr. Burnett started
Leo Burnett: Ad Legend Read More »
Out of the golden age of advertising came a number of fantastic TV commercials that are forever stuck in the heads of people who grew up in the 70s. Many of these commercials featured ongoing characters. Well before the bears — Leonard, Dylan, Amy, Bill, and Molly — Charmin had Mr. Whipple, who was obliged
TV’s Greatest Commercial Hits Read More »
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Ed brings 15 years of traditional and digital media sales experience to the agency, giving us a perspective most agencies don’t have. When he’s not working or seeking new knowledge, Ed hangs out with his wife, two kids, two dogs, one cat, and a hamster. And yes, the cat and hamster are best friends.
