Hasta La Creative!

Agencies have become too concerned with adding input for inputs’ sake, rather than letting something great live. Great ideas, great thinking, and even, ahem, great creatives are dying slow and painful deaths. The illness: Layers within agencies are wreaking havoc on creativity. Some GADEVP/ECD/PM/AAM needs to assert their relevance in a 30 person meeting where everyone is asserting their relevance. Like dogs on a stroll, everyone feels the need to lift a leg and leave his mark.

“Do we think this CTA is clear enough?”

“Do we feel like we even need to present an activation?”

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Global technology editor Emily Tan explores the impact Apple’s Face ID will have on branding and marketing.

The tech that I’m geeking out about at the moment is not the latest gif-making app or glamorous home speaker. It’s something that’s been around much longer – a magazine.

How are brands and agencies adapting to the gathering economic storm clouds, asks Chris Arnold, founder, Creative Orchestra.

CHI & Partners will give staff Christmas bonuses in the form of Bitcoin currency for the first time next year.

Amazon.com Inc. put Roy Price, the head of its film and TV unit, on a leave of absence after a producer told The Hollywood Reporter he sexually harassed her.

Isa Hackett, who worked on the Amazon Prime Video show “The Man in the High Castle,” told the publication that Price made inappropriate advances to her at an event two years ago. Price couldn’t be reached for comment.

The allegation against Price engulfed Amazon in the uproar over mistreatment of women in Hollywood, though only the details of Hackett’s claim were new. The Information had reported in August that Price had been investigated over a claim of unwanted sexual remarks to Hackett. The company had said earlier that it looked into the matter and addressed it.

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Samantha Bee, host of “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” on TBS, released a super-helpful “Penis PSA” Wednesday night, and everyone who has one (a penis) should watch it.

“With all these big sexual harassment cases going public,” Bee says, “men are getting concerned about how they can avoid being accused.” And so she offers some business advicespecifically referencing an aspect of the Harvey Weinstein scandal without actually naming Weinstein.

“Fellas,” she says, “I’m a big comedy-star-slash-Hollywood-executive, and I’ve found that it’s quite easy to not masturbate in front of my employees. In fact, it’s one of the easiest things I don’t do. Every day I wake up, get dressed, take the subway to work, and then, don’t masturbate in front of anyone. Next time you get the urge to masturbate, just ask yourself, ‘Am I in front of an employee or a colleague?’ And if the answer is ‘Yes,’ don’tjust … don’t.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Is it Brexit all over again? Probably not, but Spain is divided over Catalonia’s attempt to declare independence for the affluent northeast region that includes creative capital Barcelona, where many ad agencies have offices. And some marketers based in the region are talking about moving their headquarters so they don’t find themselves left out of the European Union should the independence movement succeed.

In an Oct. 1 referendum, which Spanish courts ruled illegal, almost 90% of those who voted in Catalonia backed independence. But only about 40% of the region’s eligible voters turned out, after the Spanish government asked its supporters to boycott the referendum.

Some agencies with Barcelona offices have been letting employees who support Catalan independence take time off to attend demonstrations. “We are a multicultural agency and we are very respectful of each other’s opinions,” says Gonzaga Ayllon, Lola-MullenLowe Barcelona’s director of client services. He says clients, which include Unilever’s Magnum and Axe brands, have been patient while the demonstrations continue.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

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The effort lands on the heels of competitor Chili’s introduction of “Texas-sized” ribs, which it also says are 30 percent meatier.

TGI Fridays is emphasizing its bacon-crusted ribs (because America can never have enough bacon), and sides including giant onion rings, Brussels sprouts, and baked mac & cheese. Its $12.99 introductory price (with two sides) is down from about $20 typically at many restaurants and a few dollars below Chili’s standard pricing. After about four weeks, TGI Fridays’ in-restaurant price will increase, but online orders will stick at $12.99 to help spur online sales. The marketere also came up with potentially shareable GIFs and had design influencer Enon Avital come up with a teaser for the Big Ribs.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

I love to see brand marketers look inside their own company for inspiration. And when you happen to be an iconic brewer like Guinness, the riches to be found there are endless. Let’s learn more about malted barley from the masters of the art… “Two things have always been at the heart of the Guinness […]

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