Hasta La Creative!

Plaid made the holidays extra-special this year by sending a video to clients and friends — including us — that makes it look like we’ve been involved in an affair with Mrs. Claus, which has since gone public and may potentially destroy Christmas.

Adrian Ho of a href=”http://www.zeusjones.com/”Zeus Jones/a, writing in a href=”http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/community/columns/other-columns/e3id78469d811368539a899e78f92093921″Adweek/a, sounds the alarm for agencies hoping to profit by developing social media campaigns for their clients.

blockquote…a growing number of highly respected marketers don’t actually see a role for their agencies in social media.

Writing on my blog, Barry Judge, CMO of Best Buy, said: “I do feel very strongly that people who work for companies have to participate as themselves in social media. Social means people interacting with people. You can’t outsource that. I am really clear on how we should be participating. I am not sure how agencies participate for clients.”

Words like this ought to set off massive alarm bells in the heads of everyone working in the agency business today. To an industry whose primary reason for being is crafting and disseminating messages, the idea that social media — which is rapidly becoming the primary way companies communicate with their customers — is better executed by clients themselves is a fundamental problem. /blockquote

It’s an interesting perspective, but a bit overstated (by Ho iand/i Judge) in my opinion. I agree with the basic sentiment that employees can and should take an active role in the firm’s social media opportunities. Where I differ is that it’s an alarming problem for the agency business. For one, agencies have never relied on income derived from social media, so in most cases, they won’t miss it. They’ll keep producing TV, print, radio, digital and experiential solutions and they’ll continue to be paid handsomely for their efforts.

Companies like Zappos with 448 employees on Twitter are the exception, not the rule.

Furthermore, there are still a lot that agencies can provide in the social realm. Judge may not want to outsource, but many others will. Twitter doesn’t require its users to be much of a writer, so 448 people working for an online shoe retailer can participate on Twitter. But blogs are another story. For a blog to work well as a branding tool it has to be well written.

Agencies can also recommend and create brand specific social networks, execute various programs across social sites (and for mobile), create outstanding content that’s delivered in a social setting and give consumers a thousand different ways to participate with the brand. Sure, many such attempts have so far fallen flat. So what? Agencies who have failed at a social media effort are like failed entrepreneurs–they’re better prepared to fight the next battle.
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a href=”http://brainsonfire.com”Brains on Fire/a has a new website and it’s well worth your click.

span class=”mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image” style=”display: inline;”img alt=”Brains_new_site.jpg” src=”http://www.adpulp.com/archives/2008/12/23/Brains_new_site.jpg” width=”416″ height=”240″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //span

Not only is the design of the moment, the copy sings.

Here’s how they describe themselves:

blockquote We are a tribe of true believers…

Protagonists. Pirates. Optimists. Disco-junkies. Brutally honest superheroes. And if the walls come tumbling down tomorrow, no worries. We’ve still got this company we call Brains on Fire. Because we’ve still got our people./blockquote
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These interactive posters are part of an international promotion for ‘Twilight.’ They were placed in Sao Paulo subways in honor of the release of ‘Twilight’ in Brazil.

The subway installation featured…

A lot has changed in this business since the turn of the century.

One of the most dramatic changes is a href=”http://adage.com/talentworks/article?article_id=133481″given voice/a by Traci Armstrong, the director of talent acquisition at Organic:

blockquoteIf you’re creative, it’s expected in this digital age that your portfolio is online. It makes a bad first impression with most creative directors and recruiters if you drop off a “hard copy” of your book, rather than just forwarding a link./blockquote

I first put my book online in 1999. But no one–and I mean ino one/i–would look at it until about 2003.

The funny thing is I now have a href=”http://davidburn.com/David_Burn_Book.pdf”a physical, printed book/a that’s a collection of online content. But I’m not interested in dropping it off for anyone. It’s a talk piece, something to share in person.
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Just in time for the hectic last-minute shopping gift crush are these macho billboards for Lamb’s rum. With the tagline “Your holiday spirit,” the three billboards each channel a man’s inner lumberjack…

Ever needed a quick grid to set up your HTML or book layout?. Fear no more!

Via: The Grid System.

An amazing collection with the best 10 concert visuals from 2008.

De lujo.

When I first happened upon "Secret Millionaire", my first impulse was to check the cable box.

(TrendHunter.com) Tech-connected individuals are no longer content to keep their cell phones close by at every waking moment; according to an article published by MSNBC, many of these individuals request to be buried with…