Seattle’s Big Ideas Belong On Big Napkins

The world knows about Amazon and Microsoft, but the startup scene in Seattle has also gotten quite a boost from all the talent the big boys are luring to town. As part of the new Bezos Center For Innovation at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry, several of these startups have gotten a big – oversized, you might say – spotlight thanks to an innovative idea from local agency Copacino + Fujikado.

MOHAI 8536 Bezos NeedleSketchNowOpen_ST

Often, when you meet someone involved with a startup, you come away thinking, “So what the hell do they really do?” So ten startups, chosen in conjunction with local online pub Geekwire, were given giant six-foot “napkins” to sketch an idea that represents their business in its simplest form.

One startup, SNUPI Technologies, used their napkin to outline the genesis of their new product Wally – which uses a home’s electrical wiring as a giant antenna connected to sensor that can collect data and track condensation from water or appliance leaks. The idea grew from a series of events, outlined on the napkin, that began with noise overheard emanating from a wireless keyboard.

snupinapkin

The other startups also have equally compelling ideas—and napkins. If you’re going to promote a museum as interactive and innovative as MOHAI, the idea makes sense. For Copacino + Fujikado, the idea represents a way to “own the moment of innovation,” according to Mike Hayward, C+F’s Creative Director. And to generate some public participation, people were invited to sketch their ideas as well.

BX8GPrrCMAAvuoq

Of course, any creative in advertising knows the best ideas sometimes come from napkin sketches. In the world of startups, that adage applies as well.

The post Seattle’s Big Ideas Belong On Big Napkins appeared first on AdPulp.

Hill Holliday Cuts a Few

hillhollidayWe received a few tips about this today, so let’s just clarify things for a sec. Sources familiar with the matter tell us that Hill Holliday has had to cut a few staffers, specifically in the creative department. From what we’ve been told, the cuts affect less than two percent of staff at the Boston-based, IPG-owned agency. Sources say that the reductions were made as part of a strategic restructuring reshuffling of talent at Hill Holliday, which of course has taken the lead on Cadillac creative but is also in the midst of the Liberty Mutual review. Regarding the latter, word from sources is that a decision is expected to be made by month’s end/early January. Hill Holliday, which also works with clients including Dunkin Donuts, has handled the Liberty Mutual account since 2005.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Blind Item: Is Holiday Party Time Dead?

sadsanta

From our distant view, it appears that the agency holiday party scene is a bit quieter this year than most. Then again, maybe we’ve just lost our luster, but this little note from a notable agency was sent our way from a seemingly distressed soul who prefaced his or her tip with “Christmas is cancelled at <redacted>.” We’re not sure if things are more low-key this year, but is your agency sending memos like this? Perhaps our tipster is being a bit oversensitive, but feel free to chime in.

“This is to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and, as it coincides, Chanukah.

To remind, we are closed tomorrow and Friday  in observance. As the roads are slick  and storms persist please use your discretion in departing this afternoon, but safety first is the primary concern.

You may have noticed that we have yet to send a Hold the Date for the Holiday Party. Given how short the post-Thanksgiving period will be, only three weeks, we’d like to postpone the party until later, in 2014 when we hope to have some good things to share and time to enjoy it.

So for now, rest up over  Thanksgiving, know that we’ll have a sprint to the finish line and after the  break can return to a New Year and a chance to celebrate the possibilities.

Happy Thanksgiving.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Muh-Tay-Zik/Hof-Fer Wears Ski Masks for Google Maps Office Photoshoot

Screen Shot 2013-12-03 at 12.56.13 PM

Two things Google has historically absolutely excelled at are creating groundbreaking products and figuring out how to monetize them. One such product is Google Maps, which allows your business to pay Google-licensed photographers to come inside your office and photograph it for Maps’ Street View feature.

Now, if you’re in a super-hip business like an advertising agency (where art students-turned-art directors bring the skinny-jeans heat), your office is probably designed to look simultaneously forward-thinking and client-friendly. (This goes double if you’re in close proximity to Silicon Valley.) How better to impress stodgy CPG brands looking to get millennials addicted to their brand of high-calorie salted snacks? How better to convince tech startups backed by high-rolling investors that you’re as cool as they are? Well, SF-based agency Muh-Tay-Zik/Hof-Fer did the pay-for-Street View thing, and they decided to play with Google Maps’ strict “no faces” policy.

Should you visit Google Maps, visit these coordinates to take a tour of Muh-Tay-Zik/Hof-Fer, and visit their delightful ski-masked staff. There’s even a dog with a ski mask, but it doesn’t have any ideas cut out, so it’s kind of sad. He’s probably pretty scared, huh?

And now some tips for one-upping these guys should your agency go the same route and be bored:

1. Scary clown masks

2. Replace all human heads with dogs heads via putting dogs on your shoulders

3. Kanye-style sequined masks

4. All bears and sunglasses

5. Embrace the blurred out faces, but all pose as though you’ve been caught in the midst of a lewd act

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Wondersauce Reimagines the Yule Log

Digital design/development shop Wondersauce and Dan Savage (no, not that Dan Savage but this one) have spearheaded a new spin on the yule log, created by President and C.E.O. of WPIX, Inc. Fred M. Thrower in 1966 as a gift to apartment-dwelling New Yorkers. Yule Log 2.0 re-imagines the yule log”through a collection of short films by illustrators, animators, directors, and creative coders.”

The style and quality of the animations vary widely, but they should all make you feel warm and toasty. Some take a relatively straightforward approach to depicting a yule log, while others — such as “Octopusmas,” “Thermofile,” “Cosmic Log” and “Dear Seer” — take the concept to unexpected places. Cultural references also abound, as in “Log OS 7.0,” “Eames Yule,” “Yulecraft,” and “Vince Guaraldi’s Living Room.” It’s a fun little project, and a good way for the 66 graphic artists involved to strut their stuff. You’ll be surprised by their inventive twists on the yule log, as well as the sheer quantity of content for the project. We’ve included a few of our favorites above and after the jump, but head on over Yule Log 2.0 for the full experience. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Lorraine Bracco Brings Her Signature Rasp to Deutsch’s Holiday Netflix Spot

Lorraine Bracco (she of The Sopranos and Goodfellas fame, of course) lends her familiar voice to Deutsch LA’s new holiday spot for Netflix, and predictably, makes the ad work.

In the spot, “Tree Topper,” Bracco voices the part of the smiling porcelain tree topper that has been part of the McDermott family for 34 years. Through the tree topper we see the wild antics of the McDermott boys, as well as Christmas cooking failures and Uncle Luther’s fake snow. Despite the occasional difficulties living with the McDermott family, Bracco’s tree topper enjoys when the family curls up to enjoy watching something on Netflix.

It’s not the most original of concepts, but Bracco makes it work. Her voice is not only recognizable, but dramatic and expressive. This helps make the idea of a sentient tree topper seem less ridiculous, and even imbues the character with emotion and personality. It helps make the spot not seem overly sentimental, and her delivery of the spots’ final line really brings out just the right amount of curmudgeon from Bracco’s character. While celebrity voice acting is so often an afterthought used as an easy cash-in, Deutsch LA hits the mark by casting Bracco for “Tree Topper.” Hopefully other agencies are taking notes. Credits after the jump. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Carey, Union Part Ways

davecareyAfter spending the last year-plus as part of the leadership team at Union, the agency that emerged following the shuttering of CP+B’s Toronto officeDave Carey is no longer with the MDC Partners-backed operation. Carey, who held the title of partner/client service at Union, led the agency alongside former Taxi 2 ECD Lance Martin, and former CP+B Toronto president, Subtej Nijjar. Below is a statement from Union about Carey’s departure:

“We can confirm that Dave Carey has left Union to pursue outside interests.  The agency has had a tremendous first year, doubling in size while proudly delivering results for clients including Mondelez, Kraft and and Colgate, and we greatly appreciate Dave’s contributions to the launch of our new breed of agency.  Together, we established a course for many years of continued success, and he remains a friend of the agency and of ours personally.  We wish him all the best in his next adventure.”

Prior to his time at Union, Carey spent a year as SVP/client services at fellow Canadian agency, Lowe Roche, and has also worked as senior-level account at Innocean’s Toronto branch on Kia among other accounts. From what we’ve been told, there are currently no plans to replace his role at Union.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

How Small Agencies Can Steal Business From Large Holding Companies

Blog_David-and-Goliath.jpg

You can’t really go through a day in the advertising business without reading something about the Publicis Omnicom merger. The industry is obsessed with every last little juicy detail. And no one’s more vocal than WPP’s Martin Sorrell and Havas’ David Jones. Ever since the merger announcement, both men have had nothing but negative commentary to offer, with most of their statements centering on the notion the Publicis Omnicom Group will be so large and unwieldy that it will continuously trip over it bloated, inefficient self.

When you think about the fact that WPP and Havas are gigantic holding companies themselves, anything Sorrell and Jones have to say regarding size and efficiency is laughable.

For an article I wrote for Central Desktop, I decided to speak to several advertising agencies that are, in fact, small and 100 percent qualified to comment on why bigger may not always be better, as well as why small can often times be the better solution.

More…

Former LBi/MRY Prez Joins Up with Figliulo

judithcarrWell, this is news to us but it appears that Judith Carr-Rodriguez has joined the executive team at Figliulo & Partners, the agency launched this past summer by former TBWA\Chiat\Day NY creative chief, Mark Figliulo. Prior to her new gig as president/founding partner at F&P, U.K. native Carr-Rodriguez spent several years at LBi, eventually serving as president of its US operations (as well as MD of the New York office) and then in the same role when the agency became MRY earlier this year. No word yet on who else has landed at Figliulo & Partners, which as you may know just landed its first notable client in Sprint. As mentioned previously, F&P will focus on broadcast efforts for the brand.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Seven Steps To A More Agile Agency

Editor’s note: Please welcome Nathan Archambault of AKQA in NYC to AdPulp. An earlier version of this article appeared on Maybe I’m Gravy.

The old advertising agency model, the one where Madison Avenue agencies took their sweet and expensive time, isn’t working anymore.

It’s time for a forced retirement.

Sorry, old model. The nature of the business has changed. Client relationships have splintered and the traditional methods by which agencies profited are shrinking or disappearing. Clients want more effective work and they want it faster and cheaper.

Agencies are left with a clear choice: become more nimble, flexible and cost-effective or fade away. As Jeff Goodby recently admitted, we’re past the time for quick fixes.

It’s time to build a more agile agency. Here are a few things agency leaders can do.

Reduce logistics.

Today’s agency doesn’t need the same departments that were once a centerpiece to the creative offering. Goodby folded project management into account management and scaled back in-house production, opting to work with more outside vendors. Other agencies have eliminated the studio department, instead leaving final design responsibilities to creative instead of to a separate department.

Ask your agency: What departments are redundant, outdated or inefficient?

Operate like a newsroom.

It’s time for agencies to get out of the meeting business and get into the making business. The old model has too much overhead, too much process and too many barriers getting in the way of the work. An agency should feel like a living organism with the sole goal of producing great work, and nothing else should matter or get in the way. Oreo operated like a newsroom during last year’s Super Bowl and we all know how that turned out.

oreo-super-bowl-tweet

Ask your agency: What can we do to get out of the way of the work?

Replace perfection with experimentation.

In the past, clients demanded perfection and the agencies that delivered it thrived. These days, experimentation returns more on investment. Google launches everything in beta and future updates are expected and (mostly) welcome. The important thing today is getting your product, service or campaign idea to market. Once people have access to it, you can gather feedback, revise and repeat. This is what successful startups like Instagram, Foursquare and Path do and it works pretty well for them.

Ask your agency: What can we make today and worry about making better tomorrow?

Hire doers, not thinkers.

Agencies used to be able to hire creative teams to sit around and think up big ideas. But teams that lack the craft to build the ideas they come up with aren’t pulling their weight today. They’re requiring the agency to hire someone else to execute and bring the vision to life. The jig is up, big thinkers: Being clever and having good taste is no longer a job. That’s why side projects are the new main course – they’re the work of a doer.

Ask your agency: Who actually makes things around here?

Cast for talent.

Interpersonal relationships and unique skills matter more than staffing plans. The need may be for an ACD-level copywriter, but it’s important to be open to creative solutions when filling this or any position. An agile agency wants to find people with the right mindset, regardless of whether or how they fit into a particular department or job title. With the right people in place, an agency can cast for projects, not staff for them.

Ask your agency: Are we hiring the best people first and determining their role later?

Deconstruct the process.

It doesn’t make sense to implement the same process for every project. These days, unlike when advertising was mostly made of TV and print, each project is different from the last. Michael Lebowitz, Founder and CEO of Big Spaceship, gives his teams a framework instead of a process. This allows each team, each operating as mini-agenices, to bubble up a unique process that leads to more unique work.

Ask your agency: Are we finding new paths to the end goal of creativity?

Integrate every department.

The different stages of any given project shouldn’t feel like a baton pass. The brief can’t spend weeks with strategy before being handed off to the creative department, and later to production. AKQA CCO Rei Inamoto believes that agencies need to combine strategy, storytelling and software in order to build emotional and useful connections with people. This means that creative, strategy and technology work together from the start, making each team more invested at every stage of the process.

Ask your agency: Is each team member a stakeholder from the beginning?

Maybe you’re not in a position to change the way your agency operates. But there is something you can do: you can join an agency that believes in the game-changing power of agility.

In this agile age, one thing is for certain: the inflexible will be left behind.

Previously on AdPulp: The Google To Adlandia: Be Lean And Agile Like Us, And You’ll Be Rich Like Us

The post Seven Steps To A More Agile Agency appeared first on AdPulp.

DDB Canada Shows Organized Retail Theft Mark-Ups for Toronto Crime Stoppers

Organized retail theft costs Canadian businesses $4 billion a year, but is often perceived as harmless shoplifting. So DDB Canada created a new campaign for Toronto Crime Stoppers, called “It Costs Us All,” to raise public awareness of the realities of organized retail theft.

Sean Sportun, vice chair, Toronto Crime Stoppers explains, “Organized retail theft is often perceived as harmless shoplifting, when in fact, it’s a lucrative, criminal enterprise and part of the business plan for gangs funding other illegal activities.” So those stolen retail goods could go to funding guns, and drugs, which could wind up in the hands of Rob Ford. Their solution? “…asking the public to have their say for stiffer penalties and to contact Crime Stoppers to anonymously report suspected cases of organized retail theft,” says Sportun.

The campaign includes “flyers, wild postings, in-store posters, newspaper, radio and online advertising, which appear like conventional on-sale advertising, but instead of showing prices being discounted, the prices are marked-up on the merchandise shown.” Each of these approaches drives the consumer to the It Costs Us All website. It’s an interesting tactic, combating consumer indifference by showing consumers how they are  ”ultimately paying for the crimes of others,” says David Ross, ACD at DDB Toronto. The result is slightly less heavy-handed and melodramatic than your typical public service campaign, even if the “It Costs Us All” tagline is a tad on the serious side.

“It Costs Us All” was launched with the following corporate partners: BOMA Toronto, Building Technologies, FACECROOK, Interac Association, Loblaw Companies Limited, Mac’s Convenience Stores, Retail Council of Canada, Sobeys and TJX Canada.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Here’s How To Fight A Baby

Gavin McInnes, Vice co-founder and current Rooster NY creative director, is back with more helpful tips for the modern man.

As you may remember, McInnes also starred in Vans’ OffTheWall.TV’s beloved “How to Piss in Public” and another video, “How To Work Out From Home,” which featured him using his children to lift weights. Since being uploaded yesterday, “How to Fight a Baby” has already racked up more than half a million plays. While it’s not McInnes’ funniest video, it’s perhaps his cutest. And, because it’s the Internet, “cuteness” it worth more that BitCoin. (Timeliness rimshot!)

It’s honestly hard not to be a fan of McInnes. The guy is super endearing, a trait that many CDs attempt to exude but fail to deliver on. Any way you see it, McInnes’ (wince) personal brand building strategies continue to make Rooster look like a really fun place to work. And, when was the last time an agency did that this well?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Urban Ministries of Durham, McKinney Want to Name a Small Item After You

Names For ChangeIt’s common for people to donate money to have a wing of a building or stadium named after them. But what about donating for items that really make a difference? Durham agency McKinney and Urban Ministries of Durham “are offering naming rights to every small item that, in totality, helps them change a person’s trajectory in life.” You could lend your name to a plunger, a light bulb, a bus pass.

The project, Names For Change, attempts to raise money for Urban Ministries of Durham so they can provide food, shelter and a hope for the future to those in need this holiday season. Names For Changes was created by Jenny Nicholson and Nick Jones, the folks responsible for Spent: the interactive game that teaches people how difficult it is to live in poverty by positioning the player as an unemployed single parent who must make it through a month with $1,000 left in their savings account. Names For Change wants to lend people’s names to every day items because they ”want you to see how critical every item is to helping us fight homelessness.” Like Spent, it helps raise awareness by educating people about the importance of things they take for granted.

The Names For Change site is well designed. As you scroll down the page, you see different items that you can donate to lend your name to. Next to each item is its cost. There are also inspiring audio clips from the Program Director and Head Chef at Urban Ministries of Durham, as well as current and former residents. At the bottom of the page is the amount raised, and the fundraising goal. Currently the project has raised just $10,332 of its $100,000 goal, or enough to help two people out of homelessness. If you’d like to help make a difference (and have your name attached to an everyday item that means everything to those who truly need it), head on over to Names For Change now. And if you haven’t already played Spent, give it a try. Then, make all your Republican friends play it.

 

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The Folks Over at Firehouse Wish You a ‘Happy Twerky Day’

We hope you’re ready for Thanksgiving, because the Turkey Day items are starting to pour in. If you’ve noticed that the word “turkey” rhymes with the word “twerky” and find this funny, then you’re in for a treat. For whatever reason (blame Miley), twerking turkeys seem to be a thing this year, and the folks over at independent full-service Dallas agency Firehouse couldn’t resist getting in on the action. Maybe they were just in a celebratory mood after being named creative AOR for San Antonio-based Mexican restaurant chain Taco Cabana last month.

They’ve created a video full of twerking turkeys (actually people dressed in turkey costumes), entitled “Happy Twerky Day.” That pretty much sums things up: dudes holding speakers blasting dance music while people twerk, dressed up as turkeys. If you find that premise funny, you’ll get a good chuckle out of the above video. If you don’t, you’d probably be better off spending that 58 seconds elsewhere. And if all that turkey twerking still isn’t disturbing enough for you, try this GIF of a Miley Cyrus twerking turkey. Or don’t, if you’d still like to sleep at night.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Allen & Gerritsen, Neiman Bond Over RFID Pic-Tap-Toe

Five months ago, Boston-based agency Allen & Gerritsen acquired Philadelphia-based Neiman, expanding their staff to approximately 200. This gave both agencies the challenge of getting to know each other.

The folks 0ver at Allen & Gerritsen decided that simple names on emails amd faces in profile pics weren’t enough. What better way, they decided, than a friendly, cross-office game of Tic-Tac-Toe. But instead of simple Xs and Os, they decided to use nine “radio frequency identification (RFID) readers, a Wi-Fi enabled Arduino Yun, and Instagram” to put a new spin on the game. They dubbed their creation Pic Tap Toe. Here’s their explanation of the rules:

  • Each office takes turns by placing a special game piece on sections of a custom game board consisting of RFID readers and an Arduino.
  • Instead of Xs and Os, photos from employees’ Instagram streams appear on one of the 9 corresponding screens in each office.
  • Screens update in real time in both locations, becoming a digital connection point and a way to glimpse into our coworkers’ lives through the photos they’ve taken.

It’s a fun take on getting to know new co-workers, and an innovative use of technology. Beyond the immediate benefits to their newly expanded organization, Allen & Gerritsen see the game as a great example of the “huge opportunities in RFID and the ability to customize a message and communicate it wirelessly to an individual at point of sale.” Allen & Gerritsen sees RFID as a groundbreaking tool with limitless potential, and Pic Tap Toe will give their employees valuable experience with RFID while also letting employees from their different offices get to know each other. Check out the video above for a more detailed look at Pic Tap Toe and RFID and let us know what you think in the comments section.

 

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Mekanism Debuts Revamped Website, Which is Still Weird

Mekanism New SiteMekanism, the San Francisco/New York agency you may remember from this compilation of rejected pitch videos from director Tony Benna we featured last month, has always had a reputation for having one of the weirdest websites in the industry. Now, they’ve completely revamped their site…and it’s still really weird.

The new site uses “Parallax Effect which enables users to have a 3D visual experience by layering images and having them move at different speeds and perspectives to create depth.” Visitors to the site are instructed to scroll down for the Mekanism web experience, where they are told about the agency’s combination of “super smart strategy,” “innovation,” “design,” and “age old storytelling.” If you continue to scroll down you are brought to case studies highlighting some of the agency’s best recent work, including their halftime intro for Beyonce’s Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show, their “Datalandia” trailer for GE, their “Clean Happy” campaign for Method Home, “Coast to Coast Photo Post” for Samsung, their “YOUphoria” spot for Nordstrom, and their work promoting Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Mekanism also provides a list of awards they’ve won, from their Cannes Gold Lions Award in 2004 up to their 2013 One Show Interactive award for branded games.

Their “About” section is similarly image-driven, making full use of the Parallax Effect. There’s also a more complete “Case Studies” section, a list of work and clients, news, and contact information. The attention to visual detail makes for a dynamic web experience, and Mekanism’s unique sensibilities ensure that it’s a weird one. Let us know what you think of the new site in the comments section.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

BSSP Would Like You to Meet Your Dear Ukranian Friend, Moxkat Grvida

A few weeks ago, we announced that BSSP had won creative and digital duties for streaming services device Roku. Now, the Sausalito, California agency has debuted their first work for Roku with the “Moxkat Grvida” campaign.

The idea is simple, yet clever: You might not get Roku for Christmas, so buy it for yourself, wrap it, and say it was from Moxkat Grvida, your dear Ukranian friend. In “Merry Christmas from Moxkat Grvida,” Grvida introduces the concept in a friendly message extolling the virtues of Roku and offering up his services as an excuse for buying yourself one this holiday season. You can think of Grvida as a sort of friendly, older, Ukranian version of Borat. With so many holiday ads trying too hard to be over-the-top and ridiculous, it’s refreshing to see a simple, direct idea like Moxkat Grvida executed well. It’s worth a chuckle, and the humor is employed in a way that could actually help sell the product.

In addition to the above, minute long “Merry Christmas from Moxkat Grvida” spot, there are also three 15 second ads along the same lines. One of these, “Moxkat’s Favorites” finds Grvida sharing a few of his favorite movies. We’ve featured it, along with credits, after the jump. Enjoy.  continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Harry Mustachio Wants You to Monate Now

More Movember business, this time from San Diego shop i.d.e.a. Not only are they raising money for prostate cancer research in the name of hairy upperlips, but they’ve gone ahead and created an entire character, Harry Mustachio, who asks you to monate money instead of being a stachehole. Clearly, the folks at i.d.e.a like puns, but stachehole does have a certain ring to it. Above, you can watch a short biopic-style dramatic parody on Mustachio.

The goal is to raise $5000, compared to the agency’s $2306 total from last year. To donate and learn more about the crazy life of being a puppet with a mustache, visit the campaign’s website. Below, there’s also a video of Harry Mustachio interviewing people on the street. The clip may be a bit creepy, but Tom Selleck gets a few shout-outs, which is always a good thing.

After the jump, you can watch i.d.e.a.’s 2012 Movember campaign video, which features the “We Need You Mo Than Ever” rethinking of a pop classic. Puns can be bad, but that is well done.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Find Your Inner Producer — Make Great Things Happen

Ideas are a dime a dozen. Talented people have great ideas all the time. It’s the ability to act on the ideas and turn them into tangible works of art and/or commerce that separates the pros from the All Pros.

This is one reason the meme “Every company is a media company” makes sense. Media companies and entertainment companies know how to run with an idea. They’re producers, and that’s what brands and their agencies need to be, as well.

According to Variety, ad agencies have long worked to produce various pieces of video content, even full-blown TV programs, but the growth of video platforms has heightened demand for those services.

“The agency model is evolving,” said Jon Hamm, chief creative and innovation officer of Momentum Worldwide. These days, Momentum has five or six programs in advanced stages of development. One series, “Full Circle,” created and written by playwright Neil LaBute debuted last month on DirecTV.

“The rise of digital media as a significant platform of engagement for brands and consumers is creating much more opportunity, and also creating a much greater need for content,” said Peter Tortorici, chief executive of GroupM Entertainment.

It would be logical to deduce that “a much greater need for content” also means a much greater need for content providers, also known as brand storytellers. The thing is, brands are not always clear about where to turn to bring their brand stories to life.

Do brands call on their ad-making buddies at the agency? Do they hire highly skilled but under-employed journalists? Or do brands work directly with a production company? All three options are viable, but I also see a greater need for hybrids with roots and capabilities in all three worlds.

The post Find Your Inner Producer — Make Great Things Happen appeared first on AdPulp.

BBDO, AT&T Debut ‘Pet Turkey’ for ‘It’s Not Complicated’

BBDO’s “It’s Not Complicated”series for AT&T has been one of the most recognizable campaigns on television for a while now, offering up different variations on the “kids saying cute, funny things in a classroom discussion” theme with straight man Beck Bennett. Indeed, the campaign has been so ubiquitous and well-received that it basically landed him a spot on SNL.

The agency’s latest, Thanksgiving-themed “Pet Turkey,” while enjoyable, is not the greatest effort in the series. If you’re a fan of the approach, you’ll probably enjoy this new one; if you’re getting tired of this direction, chances are it won’t do anything to dissuade you.

“Pet Turkey” sees Bennett asking the group of kids, “What’s better on Thanksgiving?” When one boy suggests, “a pet turkey,” Bennett offers his rational take on that answer. Again, nothing new here, just more of the same approach from BBDO. Since this brand of cute funny has worked so well for them in the past, it’s understandable that they don’t see the need to change things up. But something about “Pet Turkey” makes it feel like BBDO is treading water, like the approach is finally losing steam and they need to inject “It’s Not Complicated” with some fresh ideas if they want to prolong its shelf life. Although with Bennett’s star on the rise, the campaign’s days may already be numbered.

“Pet Turkey” will debut this Sunday, November 24th and will run throughout the Thanksgiving holiday season. Credits after the jump. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.