• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, April 7, 2010

Long-time media and advertising industry journalist Bob Garfield, who officially stepped down after 25 years as Advertising Age's ad critic this week, Tuesday announced the first of several new industry consulting relationships, signing on as a "consultant at large" with Atlanta-based word-of-mouth marketing firm Fizz.

Garfield, the author of "The Chaos Scenario," and "Now A Few Words from Me," described word-of-mouth as "the most potent, and most persuasive medium," and said it was rapidly becoming the "most important" medium in the "rubble of mass media."

Garfield said he would work with the Fizz team strategize on behalf of clients and to vet ongoing work.

Garfield, who also is co-host of the popular National Public Radio show "On The Media," has not announced what other business ventures he might be involved in, but implied they would be limited to a handful.

In a swansong column written for Advertising Age this week, he unabashedly explained one of the reasons for his departure was "naked greed," and that, "From this point forward, my brain is for rent. I will be forming partnerships with three or four organizations for the purpose of selling to marketers what I've been dispensing gratis for decades. This possibly will bring me money, which is good for buying things."

"I can't tell you how delighted I am to have access to this guy's brain," stated Fizz managing partner Ted Wright. "He has been so far out ahead of the pack on the trajectory of marketing, and he has an uncanny knack for getting the beating heart of every problem, every issue."