• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, October 27, 2014

In, perhaps the best explanation of the futility of ad banners ever uttered since their introduction 20 years ago, Fast Company writer John Brownlee opines, in an ode to every junior designer's worst nightmare: "Only 0.08% of all banner ads shown get clicked on. In fact, thanks to widespread solutions like AdBlock Plus, most banner ads never even get seen. Pity the young intern designer, then, trying to jumpstart his or her career creating designs that there's a 99.92% chance will never been seen. Imagine if you were forced by circumstance into prostitution, even though you knew that only 0.08% of your clients ever achieved orgasm. Statistically, that would mean having a 99.92% chance of being fucked over forever. Can you imagine anything more hopeless?" Oh, and then there's this: "You know what the banner ad being 20 years old means? That means it's a fucking millennial. They have so many traits in common. They're ineffectual! They're a waste of space! They're materialistic! They're self-entitled! And everyone hates them!" Brilliant.

CP+B is high fiving itself this week after winning the Infiniti global creative account. The incumbent was TBWA. CP+B will open an office in Shanghai to aid in the servicing of the account, but the account will be led of the agency's Boulder office. Of awarding the account to CP+B, Infiniti Global Marketing VP Vincent Gillet said, “Crispin Porter + Bogusky has a demonstrated ability launching and nurturing brands and is an excellent match for our mission: elevating Infiniti to be a global premium brand. Their strength in leveraging multiple communications channels made them the obvious choice as our marketing partner, and we look forward to their fresh thinking as we continue growing Infiniti’s stature.”   

Agencies are you recommending Vine videos to your clients? You should be. After all, they are cheap (around $25,000), live on an established, popular and growing platform, aren't gone after :30 like a TV spot, are perfect for our ADD and mobile-powered society and can perform quite well for brands. Right now, GE, Samsung, Unilever and Virgin Mobile are working with the Gary Vaynerchuck-backed GrapeStory, which is pumping out videos featuring 25 popular Vine video creators. Does it work? HP is seeing great success with its #FindRalph campaign as is JBL which has hooked up with Vine star Logan Paul. 

Well, Mr. Goodby, we don't know whether to take this personally or pat you on the back. Goodby told Mumbrella: “It’s harder to get championed by the press now. When we started everyone wanted us to succeed. It’s not a coincidence that Wieden + Kennedy started the same year we did. Everyone was hungry for something outside New York to happen. It’s harder to get that effect now. You don’t get any help with publicity now. The trades aren’t as closely read as they used to be, so you have to do something that makes people crazy, that’s the only way to make it work now. In the first year of your work you have to make something really great.” Ouch. Well, Jeff, I do my very best to make sure I make known to the world all the greatness Goody, Silverstein & Partners has achieved across the various publications for which I write. But you are right -- generally people don't take time to read anymore. They want the quick hit. In. Out. Done. Wham Bam...oh, you get the picture.

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