Modernista might be considered the home of the challenger brand. The five-year-old Boston-based independent agency works with a diverse roster of clients, few of which would be considered top in their respective class, but all are looking to break out.

"LIFE AFTER THE 30-SECOND SPOT" Broken Ties: Agencies and Clients at the Crossroads

reating a web-based streaming TV network was one of the great business model fantasies of the Internet gold rush, but one that usually ended in scandalous crash-and-burns like TheDen and Pseudo.com. So you can't blame U.K.-based Internet TV firm Narrowstep for keeping a relatively low profile about the 325,000 unique users it attracts to 30 niche-oriented streaming media channels like Cycling.tv and High.tv. "Our audience is growing about 25 percent to 30 percent a month," says Dilip Shukla, commercial director. The company claims to serve 1.8 million tv ads a month into these channels from sponsors like Sony Ericsson, …

The sold-out crowd is pop-ulated with suited and business-casual indie and media types that haven't taken the time to change into their hipster threads. The New York Public Library's stage lights seem too bright for Wilco Frontman Jeff Tweedy. Initially shifty, he seems uncertain as to how he ended up sitting on a panel with Stanford University Law Professor Lawrence Lessig dissecting the question, "Who owns culture?" Tweedy would probably be more comfortable jamming in his pajamas, as he did at Wilco's packed New Year's Eve show at Madison Square Garden. But, with some gentle prodding from …

After spending seven years steeped in virtual reality at Walt Disney Imagineering, Joseph DiNunzio left to create a virtual world of his own, one that crosses the digital divide to the real world, or a phone booth to be exact. The president of 4orty2wo Entertainment, a company that specializes in "immersive, entertainment-based alternative marketing campaigns," DiNunzio and his colleagues create hype for brands by way of search operas, or alternate reality games (ARGs), which engage consumers through a mix of mystery, puzzles, and real-life clues that all add up to an entertaining game for hard-core fans and …

Online auctioneer eBay is the new breeding ground for myriad emerging media - most unwarranted and unnecessary. It seems there are actually people with body parts to sell and eBay is more than willing to oblige. Adding fuel to this trend is GoldenPalace.com. The online casino has an eye for the unconventional, having purchased ad space on women's cleavage and even people's foreheads. So when a press release touting an ad medium dubbed "voicevertising" came through the wire, we immediately thought, "Oh, no. What has GoldenPalace.com bought now?" It turns out our speculations were wrong; it wasn't a GoldenPalace …

An episode that aired this season from Fox's hit "24," featured seduction, murder, and identity theft, all in brisk succession. While the plot elements may not have been entirely unfamiliar to "24" aficionados, the method of viewing them likely was: The network beamed the 60-second episode exclusively to the cell phones of Verizon Wireless V Cast subscribers. Welcome to the mobisode, TV-style episodic programs for mobile devices that, depending on who you ask, could well spur the next out-of-home marketing boom. While only a handful of mobisodes currently exist, there are no plans to add marketing content anytime soon, …

They're shaking things up and turning the media world upside down. They have the deftness and creativity to find solutions to problems. These enfants terribles are a rare breed; they stand at the cusp of a radical re-interpritation of media and possess a talent for spotting opportunity.

THE NEW AD AGENTSThe Media Co.Time Warner's in-house marketing play Need help navigating Time Warner's marketing and media assets? Many clients of the world's largest media company do. "We are definitely applying much more creativity and marketing to the preeminent assets in the house of Time Warner, trying to address the more complex client challenges that are out there," says John Partilla, president of Time Warner's Global Marketing Group, the company's in-house marketing and creative consultancy. Global Marketing was restructured a year ago when Partilla joined the media giant after heading Young & Rubicam's Brand …

Maybe, or it's just evolving into something else