• by September 19, 2003

What are the industry's leading brand-builder's leading brands? You'd probably not be surprised to learn that New Yorker Publisher David Carey's is Apple Computer. After all, he's been featured in their print ad campaign. But you might be surprised to learn that James Speros, chief marketing officer at stately Ernst & Young, prefers Harley Davidson and Virgin Airways. "He rides a Harley and flies a virgin. Think about it, if I'd said that another way it would have an entirely different meaning," quipped Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts, who served as master of ceremonies, moderator and chief brand- associater during Thursday's American Advertising Federation (AAF) Hall of Achievement Alumni roundtable. As boring as that discussion group may sound, it was anything but, and Roberts was such a delightful and animated and genuinely funny MC, that it made the Riff wish - for the first time - that we were in an agency creative department. Roberts' department, anyway. In fact, we were thinking he was so entertaining that his talents may be underutilized by the ad biz alone. Heck, if Donnie Deutsch could land a gig on CNBC, why not Kevin Roberts? While Roberts didn't venture what his favorite brands were, the AAF did release a study that same day showing what a broader group of industry leaders deemed the top branding campaigns of the past five years. Volkswagen topped the list with 11% of the respondents, followed by Nike (10%), Budweiser (9%) and "Got Milk" (7%).

Speaking of brands, did anyone else notice the irony in the death of one that once was one of Madison Avenue's mightiest? Bates, the agency that conceived one of the essential tenants of advertising - the unique selling proposition (USP) - is no longer around to sell or position anything unique, at least not in the Western Hemisphere. Bates Worldwide has shut down its New York office, according to a report by Advertising Age. That news was not entirely unexpected following WPP's purchase of Cordiant. WPP chief Martin Sorrell last month announced plans to "integrate" most of Bates' business into its other agency networks. Though the Bates brand is expected to continue operating in Asia. Still the demise of yet another of another ad industry brand is giving the Riff one heck of an Excedrin headache, but without a proposition for relieving it. What we are witnessing is the erosion or dilution of Madison Avenue's own brand equity. Preceding Bates into the pantheon of agency identities were: N.W. Ayer & Sons (perhaps Madison Avenue's original brand name), Compton, Cunningham & Walsh, Backer & Spielvogel, Wells Rich Greene, not to mention a generation of younger, spirited shows like Ally & Gargano and Ammirati & Puris that once defined the industry. Even the legendary Doyle Dane Bernbach - who's guiding principal, guided with the principle that nothing should separate the names of his partners, not even punctuation - has been watered down to DDB. Who's next? BBDO? Grey? J. Walter Thompson? Leo Burnett? McCann-Erickson? Ogilvy & Mather? Saatchi & Saaatchi? Young & Rubicam? That's just what seemed to be on the mind of self-proclaimed Ad-Basher and industry analyst Jack Myers when he chided the AAF's hall-of-famers with a question that clearly got under their skin. Amid bluster about "great ideas," indelible brands, "trust-marks" and "love-marks," Myers asked the panel of industry leaders, "How can an industry, which has destroyed [it's own] great brands, be entrusted with your clients' brands?" Anyone who knows Jack knows he loves advertising and the ad business as well as anyone else, but he's also an instigator and thought-provoker and the question hung heavily in the room as some of the industry's leading brand gurus scrambled for a retort. About the best they could muster was Leo Burnett's Carla Michelotti's anemic proclamation, "We're passionate star-reachers," a reference to Burnett's motto and star-grabbing logo.

Media titans have never fared especially well in Forbes' annual list of the richest people in America and the 2003 installment is no different. Viacom curmudgeon-in-chief Sumner Redstone, is the first media owner to show up on this year's list at No. 19. But we would have imagined that the media industry would have performed better on Forbes' "Fictional 15" list, a feature in this year's edition that showcases the 15 richest fictional characters in America. No arguments about No. 1. With an "infinite" net worth not to mention a bounty of goodwill asset value, toy maker Santa Clause rightfully tops the list. (Though we do have to worry about his place of citizenship.) And no problem with No. 2, the fabulously wealthy Richie Rich, but we're disappointed to see that the first media magnate to show up on the list was Charles Foster Kane at No. 12, way behind Thurston Howell III, Bruce Wayne, Lex Luthor and the like.