Hasta La Creative!

The magazine Popular Science has decided to shut off comments on its articles, saying ignorant, insulting and counterfactual posts were polluting the discourse and sowing confusion.

David Lowery, leader of the bands Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, is pressing for higher royalties for musicians.

A large audience tuned in Sunday night for the concluding episode of the AMC series.

It’s probably more of an blow to corporate egos than a real metric worth pondering, but as Adweek reports, this year’s Best Global Brands 2013 report by Interbrand places Apple on top, dropping the previous chart leader Coca-Cola to #3.

The conventional not-so-much wisdom in the advertising and marketing industries for the past couple of years has held that Coca-Cola’s content efforts are paying off big time while Apple, which does little to no content or social media marketing, has been flailing around since Steve Jobs’ death. So what’s really the story here?

I drink a lot of Diet Coke and have been a loyal Apple user since 1983, so I’ll likely remain loyal to both brands. But it’s easy to see how Coke seems to be throwing lots of content around and seeing what sticks, while Apple focuses on product improvement. And while Apple hasn’t been able to top its iPod/iPhone/iPad trifecta of the past decade, the brand still has prestige in spades, as the Interbrand survey notes.

There’s no doubt many run-of-the-mill marketers and brand managers sit in conference rooms and say, “We want to be like Coke” or “We want to be like Apple.” And try as they might, they can’t be either. But there are clearly two different paths at work here with Coca-Cola and Apple. Brands looking to the Interbrand survey as any indication of where they should focus would be wise to stick to product innovation, not empty marketing.

The post Coke Loses Fizz While Apple Surges appeared first on AdPulp.

As it turns out, men don’t like to get old. The idea of Clint Eastwood’s gritty face with a cigarette, riding off into the sunset to the great beyond is no longer as appealing as it once was. The old cowboy image has faded, replaced with a newfound quest for youthful vigor. Men are no exception to the rule; they feel the pains and pressures of aging the same as women.

The dating scene complicates things further, creating a need for men to dress well and groom themselves properly in order to remain attractive to women. That’s why the men’s grooming industry has been growing by about 8-percent per year.

Companies like Dove are increasingly marketing to men with creams and body washes designed to moisturize. Bolstering this growing trend are websites like the Art of Manliness and Esquire, both of which routinely offer fashion advice for the man’s man. A way to “shave like your father” did, etc.

The business is growing among high and low end retailers. There is definitely room for disrupting the razors locked up in a case model that currently dominates the retail atmosphere. How are the makers of toiletries selling to the men of the world?

Media

Facial hair has seemed to make a comeback in the media, with many men donning a five o’clock shadow or a scruffy face over the clean shaven look. The classic Don Draper style isn’t lost though, leaving plenty of room for high-end retailers to sell razors and creams designed to moisturize the face. The bearded characters are tough and rugged, like King Leonidas. Ron Swanson, the dry-humored manly man from Parks and Recreation, brings mustaches back into style with a thick head of full hair.

Web

The Internet has developed a kind of fascination with beards and mustaches. There are shaving subreddits and blogs devoted to teaching men how to shave and recommending products to groom. Bear and mustache contests challenge men to grow their facial hair and show it off competitively. Results are posted to forums and given accolades on YouTube.

Fan art of characters depicts what legendary game and movie characters would look like with beards. These trends become viral, making facial hair a part of popular culture.

Cross Promotion

The beard and mustache trend is not limited to facial hair alone. How often have you seen pictures of someone holding a fake plastic mustache beneath their nose, or driving around with a mustache sticker affixed to the hood of their car? The trend of facial hair has become a kind of status symbol that oozes retrograde cool.

The facial hair revolution might not fund an entire industry, but there is definitely room for an upscale experience in the everyday hum drum of shaving. Most men might say they wouldn’t buy products for themselves, but men also judge the merit of something based on the experience. Present a man with a well-designed razor that gives a comfortable shave and he’ll be a customer for life. The question is who the next provider to break the model will be.

The post Shaving: the $59 Billion Per Year Business of Cutting Hair appeared first on AdPulp.

Matthew Weiner says advertising has had “a shameful past” when it comes to integration, and that it hasn’t advanced all that much since the era depicted in the show he created, “Mad Men.”

“There are still no black people in advertising,” said Mr. Weiner, who was interviewed by author A.M. Homes Sept. 27 at the New Museum as part of its Visionaries Series. “Advertising in particular is still not integrated.”

“Mad Men” has addressed the volatile racial climate of 1960s America more often in recent seasons, but Mr. Weiner said he still gets questions about why there aren’t more African-Americans on the show.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Andro Kajzer a réalisé à l’aide de plusieurs caméras et notamment avec l’apport d’une heli-camera cette vidéo de skateboard appelée « Bridges and Dragons ». Tournée dans sa ville de Ljubljana, cette création sur une musique d’Eagles of Death Metal propose de magnifiques images de skate.