Holding Companies Seek Even Greater Profits In New M&A Deal

Mergers and acquisitions—it’s one way to grow a company beholden to its shareholders. Ad industry holding companies know all about it, given that they regularly acquire and then “hold” what were once independent and innovate agencies. Earlier this month in what could become the merger of all mergers, Omnicom announced its intentions to acquire Interpublic […]

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Authenticity Or Bust

In the elder days of Art Builders wrought with greatest care Each minute and unseen part, For the Gods see everywhere. –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow In his pithy and spot-on book, On Bullshit, Harry G. Frankfurt writes about the above lines of poetry, “The point of these lines is clear. In the old days, craftsmen did […]

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Authenticity Or Bust

In the elder days of Art Builders wrought with greatest care Each minute and unseen part, For the Gods see everywhere. –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow In his pithy and spot-on book, On Bullshit, Harry G. Frankfurt writes about the above lines of poetry, “The point of these lines is clear. In the old days, craftsmen did […]

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Healthy Teams Make Great Things

Collaboration is the key that unlocks creative greatness. The best films, music, food, advertising, media, and so on, are all made by teams. Therefore, joining a highly functional team and learning to be a productive member of the team is the way forward for ambitious makers. Two professors at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas […]

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When Content Degrades and Distracts, Advertising Suffers Too

Advertising is a parasite that depends on the blood of its host—news and entertainment content—for its survival. When the body or in this case the media industry is sick, the parasite too will suffer. This is the conclusion, although not the language, of Mike Follett, managing director of eye-tracking company Lumen Research (and a former […]

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Did Stephanie McCarty Just Say What Other CMOs Are Thinking?

Stephanie McCarty is chief marketing and communications officer at Taylor Morrison Homes, a home builder based in Scottsdale, Arizona. McCarty is top of mind for a lot of agency leaders at the moment, because she used her LinkedIn page to speak some hard truths about the agency business. When her LinkedIn post went viral, Adweek […]

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AI Is Not the Problem, Lack of Original Thinking Is the Problem

How many times have marketers been told—mostly by other marketers—that the new tech is the best tech? So many times…remember when every brand had to have a home in Second Life? It was an absurd thing to say then, as it is today when the new new thing has to be tested, twisted, and made […]

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The Data-Driven Way to Win Customers’ Hearts

It’s Customer Contact Week and hundreds of people who are responsible for delivering better customer experiences are gathered this morning at the Renaissance Hotel in Austin. Neil Hoyne, chief strategist at Google, Wharton fellow, and author of Converted: The Data-Driven Way to Win Customers’ Hearts is this morning’s keynote speaker. “I get people to click […]

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Influential Voices in the Marketing and Advertising Industry Today

Last year I tried to resist AI. I had my reasons, and have them still, but I’m adopting a different, more curious, and accepting posture now. That’s what led me to ask my AI Assistant, Claude, to name the 10 most influential voices in the advertising industry today. Claude quickly named Seth Godin and Bob […]

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Close the Perception Gap and Find A Way to Get On the Customer’s Page

How well do today’s marketers know their customers and prospects? It’s not a new question, yet it remains an important one. Data is having its moment and the moment seems (to me) suspended in amber. But data is not knowledge nor is it intelligence. Data is the raw material that human beings can use to […]

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Change Agents Are Always Needed, Even If They’re Not Always Welcome

I don’t hear the words, “change agent” too often these days and that’s okay. Buzzwords never contain much value in the first place. But let’s not confuse the buzzy name for the work. The work of a change agent is to make a difference by recognizing what must change, and then having the chops and […]

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Only You Can Understand Or Act On A Customer’s True Wants and Needs

Now in its 13th year, the WARC’s “Marketer’s Toolkit 2024” offers insights to help turn disruptive areas into opportunities for growth. The Toolkit is also a trend-spotter. For example, the report reveals that nearly three-quarters (70%) of respondents in the survey plan to unlock the potential of artificial intelligence in their marketing. Before we get […]

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United Auto Workers Is Battling the Culture of “Corporate Greed”

American workers are tired and tired of being overlooked while struggling to make ends meet. Meanwhile, corporate profits are soaring to unheard-of heights. According to the Economic Policy Institute, profits at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis almost doubled between 2013 and 2022, totaling $250 billion. Is that money trickling down to the workers in the […]

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Martin Weigel Imagines A Better Future for Strategy and Strategists

People inside and outside the agency business sometimes wonder what strategy is and how it works. Strategy is about creating change and transformation, according to Martin Weigel, chief strategy officer at AMV BBDO. I’m glad he is in the mood to explain the strategic offering and argue for its value. Let’s look at just one […]

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David Droga Is Always Making, Shaping, and Creating

In this on-camera interview, CNBC’s Tania Bryer asks David Droga, founder of Droga5, CEO of Accenture Song, and the most awarded person in Cannes Lion history, what his secret ingredient is. Droga replies, “Not piss a lot of people off…No, I don’t know, I’ve always been restless and curious. I’ve been lucky that I’ve worked […]

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Ad Chatter Season 4, Episode 2: Steve Red of RTO+P

During this episode of Ad Chatter, host Dan Goldgeier talks about the advantages and challenges of mid-sized independent ad agencies with Steve Red, the President + CCO of Red Tettemer O’Connell & Partners in Philadelphia. Discussion topics include: How a copywriter/art director partnership became a business partnership His agency’s “No shitheads” rule Whether he’d pitch […]

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You Are Not A Machine. Resist!

The advertising agency business has been in one bind or another ever since the dawn of digital. Digital shook the industry to its core, and the reverberations are still being felt from top to bottom. The list of problems is long, but one problem we don’t spend enough time discussing is the problem of not […]

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What ChatGPT “Thinks” About Ageism in Advertising and Media

Discriminating against people due to their age is a pox upon advertising and media houses. It’s bad business, and another bad business practice is the last thing that these industries need, right now. Ageism is also a particularly perplexing issue emanating from professional workers who truly ought to know better. Given that everyone who is […]

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Bias Against Aging People, Like All Bias, Is Idiotic and Unproductive

The truly odd thing about ageism is how every single living creature on this planet is aging. We’re all aging right now, as we do each and every moment of our lives. Ultimately, this means our bias against aging people is discrimination against the self, and that ageism is a brutal form of self-hatred. As […]

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“Owning A Large Portion of the Best Talent” Is Pre-COVID Thinking

Like so many businesses, the agency business is a talent business from top to bottom. Nothing good happens without extraordinary efforts made by dedicated, gifted people working as one. Agency heads used to say the agency’s “best assets,” a.k.a. the talent, walk out the door and go down the elevator each evening. Of course, these […]

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