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."