DirecTV Adds DogTV Channel for Canine Viewers


DirecTV, the largest U.S. satellite-TV provider, is adding distribution of DogTV, a $5.99-a-month premium channel aimed at canine viewers.

Under a multiyear agreement between DirecTV and DogTV, the channel will be available on the satellite service in the third quarter of this year, according to a statement by DogTV today. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

DogTV, which calls itself the first and only TV network for dogs, is designed to comfort animals and stave off loneliness when pet owners are out of the house. The DirecTV agreement marks the biggest distribution deal for the nascent channel, which is currently available online for $9.99. It’s also being offered as an on-demand channel to Cox Communications subscribers in California?for $4.99 a month.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Progressive Stamps Out ‘Rate Suckers’ With Snapshot

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This is funny. Hilarious, actually. What would it be like if you were driving down the road and all of a sudden “rate suckers” attacked your vehicle? That’s the premise of a new — and very different — Progressive Insurance ad created by Arnold Worldwide.

Looking for a stark contrast from its popular Superstore ads, starring Flo, Progressive tapped Director Ruben Fleischer of “Zombieland” and “Gangster Squad” fame for the campaign. The spots feature “rate suckers” latching themselves onto unassuming cars with their mouths–literally sucking the insurance rates of good drivers.

Progressive Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Charney explains rate sucking, saying, “A Rate Sucker is simply an over-the-top manifestation of an underpriced driver and can be anybody — your mom, the guy next door, the waiter at your favorite restaurant. We all probably know somebody we’re subsidizing. Snapshot helps solve that problem; showing consumers that their good driving can reduce the impact other drivers have on their rate. This campaign is our line in the sand to the industry and a wakeup call to consumers.”

Of course, the Progressive solution seems a bit Big Brotherish.

Content Marketing: It’s Not About Shock, but Good Storytelling


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Absolute Radio and TalkSport retain Premier League rights to 2016

Absolute Radio and TalkSport have retained their audio rights to broadcast Premier League matches on UK radio for another three years, taking them to the end of the 2015-16 season.

DDB, R/GA, BBDO Webby Most Nominated For Agency of the Year

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It’s that time of year again. Time for the Oscars of the Internet. The time when the red carpet is rolled out to honor the best web work of the year. With 18 nominations, DDB leads all agencies in nominations and joins R/GA (17), BBDO (11), Wieden + Kennedy (9), Ogilvy (8), McCann (8) and Y&R (8) in primary contention for Webby Agency of the Year. Other Agencies with multiple nominations also in the running for Agency of the Year are Digitas (7), Pereira & O’Dell (6), Razorfish (6), and Heimat Werbeagentur (5).

In addition to awards voted on by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Science, supporters and fans can choose winners for the People’s Voice Awards. All Webby Award nominees are eligible and voting ends on Thursday, April 25, 2013.

Winners of The 17th Annual Webby Awards will be announced on Tuesday, April 30, 2013. The star-studded ceremony will be streamed from www.WebbyAwards.com on Wednesday, May 22, 2013.

Billboards Ask: Should George W. Bush or Barack Obama Be Added to Mount Rushmore?

Residents of Cincinnati, Phoenix, Sacramento and San Antonio have probably seen billboards asking them to vote for adding either Barack Obama or George W. Bush to Mount Rushmore. I'm sure those billboards have prompted many questions, most of them variations on "What the hell for?" As it turns out, the answer is "No reason." The billboards were the idea of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, which admitted that the campaign was a bogus project designed to "measure consumer response." (The actual billboards sent people to RushmoreVote.com.) After the four-week campaign, more than 70 percent of respondents said Mount Rushmore should remain unchanged. Big shock there. So, not only were the billboards fake, they didn't really accomplish much that couldn't have been done quicker and cheaper. As for Mount Rushmore, they should put Grover Cleveland up there twice, just because.

    

Cabaret Audio Producer: Battle field

Whatever it takes
Cabaret Audio Producer

Advertising Agency: Heads SP, Brazil
Creative Director: Silvio Medeiros
Art Directors: Silvio Medeiros, Pedro Galdi
Copywriter: Gabriel Sotero
Illustrator: Lambuja

Cabaret Audio Producer: Dragon

Whatever it takes
Cabaret Audio Producer

Advertising Agency: Heads SP, Brazil
Creative Director: Silvio Medeiros
Art Directors: Silvio Medeiros, Pedro Galdi
Copywriter: Gabriel Sotero
Illustrator: Lambuja

Coke Zero Teaches Guys How to Be A Zero

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When this new Coke Zero “Video Games” commercial, part of the brand’s “It’s Not Your Fault” campaign, airs during tonight’s Louisville-Michigan NCAA game on CBS, it will be funny. Guys will laugh. Girlfriends will chuckle knowingly. Inlaws will smirk.

But if everyone stops to think for a minute, they will soon realize all this commercial does is urge guy gamers to continue being useless couch potatoes with nothing better to do than forget the commitments they have made and, generally, hoist a giant middle finger to the world.

Boost Energy Drinks: Kick

Boost dropkicks tired in the mouth. #boostism

Advertising Agency: Big Communications, UK
Executive Creative Director: Dylan Bogg
Copywriter: Josh Pearce
Creative Group Head / Copywriter: James Cross
Creative Group Head / Art Director: Tim Jones
Client Team Director: Chris Walker
Agency Producer: June Hacker
Photographer: Gary Salter
Designer: Duncan Bancroft
Account manager: Amelia Smith
Published: April 2013

Boost Energy Drinks: Dog

Boost does to tiredness what dogs do to lamposts. #boostism

Advertising Agency: Big Communications, UK
Executive Creative Director: Dylan Bogg
Copywriter: Josh Pearce
Creative Group Head / Copywriter: James Cross
Creative Group Head / Art Director: Tim Jones
Client Team Director: Chris Walker
Agency Producer: June Hacker
Photographer: Gary Salter
Designer: Duncan Bancroft
Account manager: Amelia Smith
Published: April 2013

Boost Energy Drinks: Rocket

‘Rocket boosters’ contains the word boost. Coincidence? Nope. #boostism

Advertising Agency: Big Communications, UK
Executive Creative Director: Dylan Bogg
Copywriter: Josh Pearce
Creative Group Head / Copywriter: James Cross
Creative Group Head / Art Director: Tim Jones
Client Team Director: Chris Walker
Agency Producer: June Hacker
Photographer: Gary Salter
Designer: Duncan Bancroft
Account manager: Amelia Smith
Published: April 2013

The Sunday Times: The rich list, Alan Sugar

Advertising Agency: Grey, London, UK
Creative Director: Dave Monk
Creatives: Pauline Ashford, Mike Kennedy
Business Director: Tamsine Foggin
Account Director: Clare Anderson
Planner: Hamish Cameron
Retoucher: Tom Fryer
Account manager: Albert Ponnelle
Global Planner: Matt Gladstone
Creative Producer: Shaun Musgrove
Junior Creative Producer: Oliver Roberts
Published: April 2013

The Sunday Times: The rich list, Paul McCartney

Advertising Agency: Grey, London, UK
Creative Director: Dave Monk
Creatives: Pauline Ashford, Mike Kennedy
Business Director: Tamsine Foggin
Account Director: Clare Anderson
Planner: Hamish Cameron
Retoucher: Tom Fryer
Account manager: Albert Ponnelle
Global Planner: Matt Gladstone
Creative Producer: Shaun Musgrove
Junior Creative Producer: Oliver Roberts
Published: April 2013

The Sunday Times: The rich list, Daniel Radcliffe

Advertising Agency: Grey, London, UK
Creative Director: Dave Monk
Creatives: Pauline Ashford, Mike Kennedy
Business Director: Tamsine Foggin
Account Director: Clare Anderson
Planner: Hamish Cameron
Retoucher: Tom Fryer
Account manager: Albert Ponnelle
Global Planner: Matt Gladstone
Creative Producer: Shaun Musgrove
Junior Creative Producer: Oliver Roberts
Published: April 2013

When Start Up Means Start Over: Chucking the Cushy for the Cramped


The office I share with my partners, Matt and Nick, is no bigger than your typical county jail cell. To make up for the fact that the office has no window to the outside world, its walls have been painted bright orange. Not surprisingly, Sherwin-Williams #6893 is not a suitable substitute for the sun.

In accordance with feng shui, we’ve turned our desks to face out toward center, allowing us to stare at each other all day long. Our knees bump up against the bottom of the collapsible metal IKEA desks we occupy. Random pages spit out of the copier onto the floor, where they remain unclaimed. Diet Coke cans and orange rinds pile up in wastebaskets, waiting for the Garbage Fairy (who apparently comes only on Saturdays) to remove them. And it’s always too hot in here.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Luxury Car Motorcycle Hybrids – These Concept Designs Combine Ducati and Audi in Sleek Fashion (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) Two of the most recognizable transportation makers in the world are combined with these sleek Ducati and Audi concept hybrid designs.

These Ducati and Audi hybrids may not actually be too far-…

Cykno Bicycle Design

Cykno est un vélo électrique très réussi combinant une technologie innovante tout en adoptant un style rétro. Conçu par la société italienne de conception « Engeenius », ce projet sera présenté prochainement à la Milan Design Week qui aura lieu du 9 au 14 Avril 2013. Plus d’images du concept dans la suite.

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Michael Bolton Makes Everything More Juicy, Particularly Starburst

Michael Bolton follows up his Optimum campaign with a cameo in the Starburst ad below, part of a new campaign from DDB Chicago that offers theories on why the candy is so "Unexplainably juicy." In "Orchard," it's because Bolton serenades trees whose fruit then becomes extra luscious, obviously. Another spot says it has something to do with Keyboard Cat and dragon tears. The spots were directed by Andy McLeod of Rattling Stick. More executions and credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Starburst
Agency: DDB Chicago
Chief Creative Officer: Ewan Paterson
Creative Director: Chuck Rachford
Associate Creative Director, Art Director: Alex Zamiar
Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Jonathan Richman
Executive Producer: Will St. Clair
Producer: Matt Green
Senior Account Director: Kate Christiansen
Production Company: Rattling Stick
Director: Andy McLeod

    

11 Templates to Create Social Updates, Blog Posts, Infographics

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If you’re doing marketing right, you have a lot on your plate. Managing social media, producing content, updating your website, tweaking your SEO and more. And you have to create reports to summarize all this work to clients, bosses and co-workers. Wouldn’t it be great if you had a cheat sheet of sorts for all this reporting?

Thanks to HubSpot, now you do. HubSpot has put together the Ultimate Library of Inbound Marketing Templates. But don ‘t let the term Inbound Marketing hang you up. Although much of what you’re doing now is inbound marketing (perhaps without even knowing it), these templates can be used for all kinds of marketing.

The templates include:

1. Social Media Publishing Template
2. Blog Editorial Calendar
3. Designed Ebook Template
4. Designed Infographic Template
5. On-Page SEO Template
6. Sales and Marketing Agreement Template
7. Monthly Marketing Reporting Template
8. Buyer Personas Template
9. Designed Calls-to-Action Template
10. SMART Marketing Goals Template
11. Website Redesign Template

Click here to grab them all and make your life much, much easier.