Hasta La Creative!

Apres Al Dente la crise, l’agence Al Dente est de retour avec un nouveau concept : la creation de musique
participative avec leur plate-forme aldentesongs ou des internautes peuvent creer des paroles de chanson pour des marques selon un theme propose.

Al Dente  et sa boite de production […]

I have a love/hate relationship with the aggregators that provide the news feeds to my lap top. I’ve been using two…one that is on my desk top that is on pretty much all the time. It works well, but some of the sites that I want feeds from don’t load correctly. So, I also have my feeds set up on iGoogle, and Google Reader. Actually, looking at it new light, it’s not the aggregators; it’s the state of the advertising industry that has my panties bunched up in a wad. Just to give you an idea of what we, as an industry face, I went back in time and pulled some of the juicier headlines from the last couple months:

TV Revs to Decline 21% in Two Years

Media Industry Job Cuts Soar 57%

The number of job cuts in corporate America between January and April was up 9 percent from the same time period last year. In the media industry, job cuts are up 57 percent over last year, according to a survey from consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Although analyst’s state that it’s not time to panic, what is it time for? Tea & Crumpets? (These statistics are from 5/2/2008)

Media Jobs Disappearing

The job market for U.S. media employment has dropped to it’s lowest point in 15 years. Much of this has to do with the dying throes of newspaper industry, as well as the automotive and housing industry “set-backs”, which were not what would be commonly known as beneficial. However, one bright spot is that the market consultant profession gained the bulk of new jobs last year, according to AdAge. Media positions are low compared to levels in 2000. It’s estimated that newspapers, nationwide, have cut 25% (1 of 4) positions since 1990, when newspapers made up half of the media jobs available in the U.S.

Analysts Expect More Major Media Company Cuts to Come

The U.S. Labor Department reported that some 530,000 jobs were lost in November of 2008 which, at the time, brought the unemployment rate to 6.7%. The media industry did it’s best ensuring the numbers were high, as Viacom and NBC combined to chop 1400 postions.

Viacom and NBC both cut jobs last week. Viacom dumped 850 workers, while NBC cut jobs at its NBC News and broadcast ops in an ongoing effort to hack a total of 500 jobs. And those cuts are just the tip of the iceberg, says Barclays Capital analyst Anthony DiClemente (via Mediaweek). “Further work-force reduction announcements should be expected from the other large-cap media companies,” he says.

WPP to Trim Thousands, Ogilvy Already Feeling the Knife

WPP announced that they would be cutting around 7,000 jobs worldwide. The media giant employs approximately 100,000 people. The U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain were cited by the company as markets under pressure, writes Reuters. The cuts have already begun. Adweek reports that WPP’s Ogilvy Group reduced 10% of its staff today. The cuts affected Ogilvy & Mather, OgilvyOne, Ogilvy Interactive and OgilvyAction. 

Omnicom Group is bracing for cut-backs, estimating that 3,500 of its 70,000 workers will get tossed.

Conclusions

The competition is fierce, to say the least. Right now, even receiving a phone interview is a victory. There is a lot of demand, and zero supply. The bright light at the end of the tunnel is that advertising and media professionals tend to be extremely flexible, strategically creative, and work well under pressure–all huge assets. Think progressively, and be bold; after all, what is the worst that could happen?

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you: linkedin.com/in/jefflouis or twitter.com/jlo0312

Create your own expression of joy with the Z4!

You can now paint online with a virrtual remote Z4 as a paintbrish.

Download the ‘Z4 Paintbrush’ and show off your masterpieces online here!

Here is another campaign with a print ad that is using the augmented reality effect as […]

This new application is promoting itself outside of Facebook via this viral video below.
Apparently it’s an application to snipe your friends on facebook’s pictures.

It says:  Grab your friends pictures from Facebook and snipe them as they try to escape. Set up a league or […]

For kids slowly being exposed to the Internet, here is a great site they can check out. Toy innovator Techno Source, and Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc., a wholly owned company of Internet powerhouse IAC, have partnered to create a new creativity Web site and line of affordable Internet-connected toys under the new Smiley Central Studio™ brand that will allow kids to express themselves with smileys.

The toys will unlock special content at SmileyCentralStudio.com, a free online art studio that allows kids to create, personalize and share their expressions in unprecedented ways.

The new web site and Smiley Central Studio toys will make their debut at the American International Toy Fair February 15-18 (booth #3149). Kids will be able to make and share their own unique smileys and experience the complete online art studio at SmileyCentralStudio.com beginning in June 2009.

In fall of 2009, kids will be able to collect their favorite Smiley Central Studio characters in the form of plush, collectibles and activity kits. Each of these will include a code to unlock premium content online and enhance the creative experience. Smiley Central Studio toys are appropriate for children ages 6 and up and will retail for under $10.

(Source) Press

Amazing application allowing us to comment with Facebook on CNN.com Live for the Barack Obama inaugural address.
This is the new way of watching Live content and sharing feelings with other watchers.
I have access to all the Facebookers watching it on CNN Live even if they aren’t […]

After the launch of their of their excellent dedicated website Sweet Spots,
Nike is back with snow-gear showcase for the upcoming skiseason.

I especially appreciate the possibilty to click directly on the video to see the tagged products.

[…]

To send New Year greetings for 2008, the communications team at the dinosaur museum in Brussels sent colleagues and main sponsors a highly original package. Inside was a block of plaster and a hammer & chisel with an invitation to amateur paleontologists to dig, not for the bones of a mighty T-Rex, but to find the museum’s greeting card.

Agency: McCann Erickson Belgium
Account Director: Talia Hendlisz
Creatives: Gregory Defay, Quentin Gascard
Thanks for the pointer, Tanguy