Hasta La Creative!

Good ol’ Barbón from the always attractive NiceFuckingGraphics recently dropped a list of the 100 best spanish-speaking design blogs, and to my surprise, my website’s in there.

A huge honour considering that my website is basically just a mix of my personal tastes regarding design, digital art and overall trends; which apparently and fortunately has been well received by the people coming in.

A big shout out to Barbón for the consideration and I invite you guys to pass by his website ’cause it’s really making a buzz around the latinamerican blogosphere.

Link: 100 best spanish-speaking design blogs.

QINGDAO – The fate of Haier’s newly-named Olympics roster – which includes DDB, Initiative and Burson-Marsteller – remains hanging in the balance, following the departure of chief brand officer Larry Rinaldi (pictured) after less than six months in the position.

BEIJING – French supermarket chain Carrefour has launched a PR campaign reaffirming its support of China and the Olympics.

ASIA-PACIFIC – Cisco Systems has begun a search for a lead agency to handle its regional creative requirements, as the networking giant attempts to shift its focus to the SME segment of the B2B market.

SOUTHEAST ASIA – An eventful period for McCann Worldgroup in Southeast Asia’s key growth markets has seen the agency boost its operations in Indonesia but retreat in Vietnam.

SEOUL – Lee DDB has beaten incumbent Oricom, Cheil Worldwide and LG-affiliated agency Silver Bullet in a competitive pitch to take on a 29 billion Won (US$30 million) domestic brief from Korean car manufacturer SsangYong Motor.

SEOUL – Growth beyond Asia and lynchpin client Samsung are top priorities for Cheil Worldwide, says its newly installed global president and chief operating officer Bruce Haines (pictured).

Ooo, ooo, ooo! Who doesn’t love a good parody ad?

According to Ad Age’s annual U.S. Ad Agencies Ranked By Revenue report, 537 U.S. ad agencies reported income in excess of one million dollars last year.

I must admit I’ve always enjoyed looking at this report. It’s simple in structure, but it offers lots of things to ponder.

“Are these real numbers?” is one thing I ponder. I also like to read all the names and wonder what type of firm lurks behind them. Initials only doesn’t offer much to go on. Whereas names like Avrett Free Ginsberg or Duffy & Shanley give a hint. Then there are the creative names like Periscope and Modernista.

Naturally, I also take note of the US headquarters column. Get past New York at the top of the list and find cities like Akron (home of Malone Advertising), Oklahoma City (home of Ackerman McQueen), Little Rock (home of Cranford Johnson Woods) and El Paso (home of Sanders/Wingo). All good candidates for AdPulp’s “Agencies in Strange Places” series.

Finally, it’s daunting to think of starting one’s own agency. At the same time, consider that 537 teams made more than a mil last year. Just in the ad agency category. There are many more agencies making good money in marketing services, digital, direct, search and media.

A Los Angeles real estate mogul plans to build animated billboards in LA modeled after the huge billboards in the cult classic film of the 1980’s Blade Runner. Sonny Astani, who says he has seen the movie about five times, plans two build two 14-story LED digital billboards that will mimic the monst…