Hasta La Creative!

Newly founded agency Arts & Letters, which bases its approach on the prototyping methods familiar at technology companies, is opening its doors with Google as its first client.

“Our process resembles the agile prototyping of tech companies versus the top-down approval of traditional creative shops,” says Charles Hodges, founder and executive creative director. “We value speed over being right, so we fail early and often and spend most of our energy learning as quickly as we can versus a cascade of approvals.”

“Every company is a tech company whether they know it or not,” says Hodges.

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Ad Age began the long-running Digital Conference, our biggest event of the year, when MySpace was still bigger than Facebook.

Now that everything is infused by tech, we’re refocusing on what that means, and evolving our conference: We hope you’ll join us Nov. 15 and 16 in midtown New York at Ad Age Next.

These two days are designed for you, industry decision-makers who need to know what’s about to happen and what you should do about it. And we’re not wasting any time. Our efficient and often interactive agenda sets down on the frontiers of AI, voice-controlled assistants, ad blocking, chatbots, VR, light speed creative work and more; takes your questions; and hits the next stop.

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Fanta’s Halloween virtual reality lift experience is aimed at engaging with more millennials.

(TrendHunter.com) Customization is a key component in many industries to keep consumers interested which is seeing it being incorporated in new ways like with the Razer Wolverine Ultimate Controller. Designed for the…

Sneaker heads, unite: There is now a video platform, founded in partnership with Kastner & Partners’ Brandon Rochon, dedicated to highlighting the $60 billion industry and its culture.

The other founding members alongside Rochon, who will retain his role as managing chief creative officer at Kastner & Partners, include: “The Voice” Emmy award-winning executive producer Audrey Morrissey; TV director Ivan Dudynsky, known for “Celebrity Name Game” and “Hollywood Game Night”; and Dermot McCormack, veteran digital strategist, who has previously held the posts of president of video at AOL and executive VP of digital at MTV/Viacom.

Snkr Inc, with eight full-time staffers and offices in New York and Los Angeles, is a combination of a content studio and brand agency, with the mantra “while every sneaker has a sole, every soul has a story.”

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Marketers with portfolios suffering flat sales and poor recent growth tend to resort to a standard riposte – they’re “building brands for the long term”.

What’s the largest demographic in America right now? Trick question. Ditch the demographics.

Pivotals, a term we created for the sweet spot between Gen Z and Millennials, is possibly the most influential generation to date. This is critical to marketers as Pivotals refuse to accept traditional identity categories. More than 61% use at least one “niche” descriptor to identify themselves. Which niche? Anything and everything, from refugee to sexually fluid to mixed-race.

As part of this, Pivotals are actively redefining beauty to challenge outmoded ideas of race, gender, sexuality, politics and even religion. Beauty is no longer just a part of culture. Beauty now defines culture as Pivotals embrace their niches.

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