Hasta La Creative!

I admit I’m a sucker for Digiday’s “The Confessions” series. When I started writing my columns for Talent Zoo back in 2002, I did it anonymously because I feared repercussions. So I get that there are those in power who can’t talk freely. Like this “holding company agency exec” who complains about the lack of […]

The post There Is No Ad Industry ‘War For Talent’ And There Never Has Been appeared first on Adpulp.

How does an agency win so much new business, its hair catches on fire? For decades, the answer has been to win a truckload of trophies at One Show and Cannes. But that answer has worn thin. Today, savvy clients are looking for the creative firepower that’s capable of gathering a crowd and a team […]

The post Mekanism’s Unique Blend of “Soul + Science” Helps It Win New Business appeared first on Adpulp.

Agencies are mirrors and the people who work in them often learn to ‘mirror’ the client’s language, preferences, and standard modes of conduct. It is natural and sometimes good that bonds are made with members of the client team by “speaking” their same language. It’s not always good, of course. When ad people mirror a […]

The post Respect The People Who Make the Ads That Make Clients Rich appeared first on Adpulp.

Stan Richards said something he wishes he had not said. It’s personally embarrassing and it’s costing his agency money. According to The Dallas Morning News, Richards described a new ad pitch for long-time client, Motel 6, as being “too black” for the motel operator’s “white supremacist audience.” According to Ad Age, the remarks were heard […]

The post Stan Richards Said Dumb Things, Now His Agency Is Reeling appeared first on Adpulp.

With industry conferences and live events now off the table because of COVID-19, business-to-business marketers are busy looking for new avenues and new methods to help them connect to prospects and current customers. According to Carla Piñeyro Sublett, the chief marketing officer of NI (formerly known as National Instruments), spells it out in a lengthy […]

The post Bee-Two-Bee Is In Need of Some New Buzzy Buzz appeared first on Adpulp.

Wieden+Kennedy, the agency with 11 Agency of the Year credits to its name,  laid off 11% of its global workforce due to financial impacts from the coronavirus pandemic. W+K has offices in Portland, New York, Amsterdam, Tokyo, London, Shanghai, Delhi, and Sao Paulo. Prominent W+K clients include Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Disney, Facebook, Old Spice, Ford, McDonald’s, […]

The post Wieden+Kennedy Isn’t Used To Vulnerability or Criticism, But Here’s A Chance to Learn appeared first on Adpulp.

Katherine Hollar Barnard is a force, a dynamo, a badass. She’s the founder and CEO at Firesign in Kansas City, which offers “enlightened legal marketing” to its clients. We became friends two years ago and I want to mention why that is. This lady is fierce. I admire this in her, and in others. Katie […]

The post The Adpulp Interview: Katherine Hollar Barnard appeared first on Adpulp.

Editor’s note: This second article in our new Emerging Voices series is made possible by the generous support of Looney Advertising in Montclair, NJ. The advertising industry calls them unicorns—the creatives that are skilled in both art direction and copywriting. When a unicorn is discovered, some advertising veterans that believe in the traditional creative structure […]

The post Creative Unicorns Starting to Multiply appeared first on Adpulp.

Courageous Conversation Global Foundation, with help from Goodby Silverstein & Partners, is launching its new “Not a Gun” campaign in Austin, Texas, to help drive meaningful transformation in the community. At the heart of the campaign’s anti-lethal message is the idea that it’s not a gun that the black man is holding, it’s a candy […]

The post Goodby Silverstein Caps A Knee, Makes Police Violence Walk with a Limp appeared first on Adpulp.

Colle McVoy is a masterful designer of holiday cards. Every year the Minneapolis agency sends me something new and every year I marvel at the idea and the elegant execution of the idea. This year a small package arrived. Inside the package, I found four beautiful holiday-themed coasters that also act as ornaments for the […]