(TrendHunter.com) Kevin Van Aelst didn’t listen to his parents when they told him not to play with his food. Instead, he became an artist using food as his canvas. The website EatMeDaily.com showcases his his mastery of…
As Americans, there is a love/hate relationship that exists with the media due to one of two things: over portrayal (senseless beating to death of a subject) or non-portrayal (glossing over a story to move on) of news. Both tend to upset the news-hungry public, but over portrayal nears that point where news becomes culture for a short time. A couple of examples: Octo-Mom, Jon & Kate Gosselin, LiLo’s drug rehab, relapse, rehab, and relapse.
Yes, these are “celebrity” examples, but unfortunately, it happens with the “real” news as well. Take for instance the automotive and banking bailouts. The fall of Fannie May and Freddie Mac. Bernie Madhoff. How many times did news anchors need to go over the fact that the Chairmen for the Detroit automakers flew in private jets to the Senate Subcommittee hearings? Definitely not 10,000.
The same holds true for the advertising industry, and yes, the economy. Yesterday, June 8, 2009, AdWeek ran a story encompassing a RSW/US survey of 200 marketing and 100 ad agency execs. (RSW/US is a lead generation and business development firm.) The survey showed that agencies were more optimistic than prospective clients regarding the economy and the advertising business for the remainder of the year.
Agencies participating in the survey, released in mid-May, included Leo Burnett, Mindshare and Bailey Lauerman. Clients included Ford, GE, Kraft, Lego and Lenox. While 51 percent of each group said that the second half of the year would see at least some continued falls in ad spending, more agency respondents (42 percent) felt the economy had already hit rock bottom and would therefore start to improve over the rest of the year than clients (35 percent).
Seventy-six percent of agencies felt that the number of new business opportunities would rise in Q3 and Q4 of 2009. 
Today, Media Life reports that Q1 2009 spending was beyond horrid. Like someone couldn’t have pulled their head out of their #$$ to figure that one out. At this juncture, it is safe to assume that corporations have cut back, or totally scrapped, their advertising spend for 2009. If this is not clear to everyone, please ask your neighbor to explain it to you. The point being? No one really knows what will happen yet, or how the economy is really doing. There are educated guesses on how far down the auto industry will take the nation, but it’s still just a guess. Is respite coming quickly? No one truly knows. Thus, the time for speculation is over, and if there is to be some haphazard guessing, please don’t print it in a magazine.
Today, Media Life reported the following:
Ad spending plummeted 12 percent during first quarter Total first-quarter ad expenditures off $3.8 billion Local Sunday supplements, biggest spending dip, off 37.7 percent Thirteen of nineteen media tracked saw double-digit declines Spot TV down 28.9 percent National magazines dropped 20.6 percent Local newspapers fell 14.3 percent; spot radio was off 9 percent Online dropped 3.4 percent (not including search) Network TV, the largest category, was off 4.8 percent Automotive spend fell 27.7 percent, or $723 million
The single category that did do well? Quick-serve restaurants. Hey, depression causes the munchies!
Unless there’s an answer to this debacle forthcoming, there’s just no reason to report or talk about this subject anymore. Let it go and move on to something else.
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, so leave a comment or follow the links: linkedin.com or twitter.com.
MINNEAPOLIS (AdAge.com) — Monday night featured reruns for three networks (CBS, Fox and the CW), all reality on ABC, and a reality/news grid on NBC. No network ran an original episode of a scripted series. Comparatively, cable seized the pop-culture news narrative, with Showtime's season premiere of "Weeds" and series premiere of "Nurse Jackie" joined by TNT's opening of "The Closer" and "Raising the Bar."
Fresh out the Harry Potter franchise, Emma Watson returns to earth on behalf of Burberry, which managed to score her in full postpubescent splendour.
On June 22, the Boston Ad Club will host The Ad Club Reunion
@AskACopywriter managed to catch the phone booth ad at left, fruit of a liaison between BMW’s Mini Cooper and — oddly enough — HBO’s True Blood.
There’s something about stop-motion vegetable videos that: 1) soothes us, and 2) convinces us anything the associated brand says is true, including the oft-repeated lie that the food is fresh.
A Nissan precisava aumentar o número de pessoas interessadas em fazer um test-drive no novo Nissan Micra C + C Convertible. Realizou, então, uma intervenção incomum em alguns cinemas da Alemanha. O trabalho, desenvolvido pela agência TBWA\ Düsseldorf, colocava um projetor virado para o teto dos cinemas, dando a ilusão de ter um teto solar dentro das salas. O vídeo projetado, na verdade, era um comercial do automóvel que vinha com uma mensagem no final convidando as pessoas a fazerem o teste no Nissan Micra, e conhecerem de perto do teto solar do carro.
Após a ação, a Nissan registrou um aumento próximo de 20% no número de pessoas que buscavam saber mais sobre o carro e fazer o teste-drive nele.
:: Realização – novembro, 2008.
The time is near. In fact, the day is next Tuesday.
We’ve heard it said that we’ll always be about five or six years old in the eyes of our parents — no matter how much we accomplish, how old we really get, or where on our bodies our hair starts to grow.
Apparently, companies that have screwed up across the U.S are. They think all you have to do is change your name and you’ve rebranded. The following companies have recently “rebranded” or changed their name to disconnect themselves from previous stigma. Yup, pretty much just a name change no internal changes at all.
I can’t help but to wonder, if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, but calls itself a rhinoceros–is it still a duck? Hmmm…
Recent Name Change Bandits:
– GMAC Bank, the auto financing company connected with Chrysler and General Motors renamed its online bank, Ally Bank.
Do I here a quack? I think I do.
– AIG was renamed AIU Holdings, but The New York Times reveals execs rethought name change and are working on a new one.
Good call guys, maybe you can change the company beneath the name while you’re at it…thinkin’ I see some webbed feet still sticking out.
– CompUSA and Circuit City were both bought and had name changeroos by online electronics retailer TigerDirect.com.
Will these duckies bring consumers relevance this time around or continue to waddle their way back into the stale electronic age?
What do you think?
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Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) who has been in the communications industry for over 8 years, specializing in creative strategy and implementation, 360 branding communications, and brand development. Join her at http://twitter.com/germllc or her firm’s website at http://germonline.com/
Tim Gunn knows a thing or two about fashion. By association, he knows a thing or two about laundry detergent. Strike that.
(TrendHunter.com) If you thought the Oculus 250-foot superyacht by Schöpfer Yachts looked good, you haven’t seen anything yet! Schöpfer Yachts has launched a second luxury yacht, this one is called the Infintas because…
NYCA, an Encinitas, Calif.-based agency, takes its "Grow!" mantra and uses it to help its community bloom; Michael Mark, CEO-creative director, tells how.
(TrendHunter.com) In the apartment life, space is sometimes hard to come by. H20 Archtectes have designed this child’s bed in order to accommodate crowded areas.
The structure is an all-in-one area for children. It features…
LONDON – The DMA has promoted from within to fill the two new directorships to run the association in place of a managing director. The association axed the role of MD last month, making James Kelly redundant, as part of a sweeping overhaul of its management.
Do you have Information Overload Syndrome? Odds are this isn't the only blog you're reading, so it probably feels right. So how is it possible that Xerox, trying to capitalize on the frustration, left me feeling so cheated with their new campaign?
The "feature arms race" in new products is fundamental to our consumerism way of life: Product managers the world over create "good, better, best" product portfolios with an ever increasing number of features to justify ever higher prices. They build it and we buy it.
Advertising Agency: FP7, Dubai, UAE
Executive Creative Director: Marc Lineveldt
Creative Director: Vincent Fichard
Copywriter: Vincent Fichard
Art Director: Matthew Jones
Via [Dubai Lynx]
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
