by Richard Whitman on Sep 16, 6:18 PM
Well now. This week HubSpot is holding their annual Inbound conference in Boston, so it's a good time to take a look at why you might want to consider hiring an inbound marketing agency. Business2Community summed it all up in a post entitled "6 Signs It's Time to Hire an Inbound Marketing Agency," which includes the following signs: Your blog is as inconsistent as the Dodgers; You don't know who your content is for; your metric of inbound marketing success is higher traffic; you think every website visitor is there to buy your product...So, you feeling any of this? Maybe …
by Richard Whitman on Sep 15, 6:51 PM
Only in the ad world can this happen. Only in the ad world can a bunch of 20 and thirty-somethings gang up on a guy just because he has a funny looking beard and wears drop crotch pants. Only in the ad world can a marketing publication write a tongue and cheek article about a guy that caused him to be dubbed Australia's Biggest Wanker and have it be taken seriously. Only in the ad world can the whole thing blow up on Reddit to the point where the publishers of said tongue and cheek article had to resort to …
by Richard Whitman on Sep 14, 7:51 PM
Oh, you totally wish you had done this first. Come on. Admit it. By now, you've heard of the "Apparently Kid," right? He was the five-year-old who became famous last month for a TV interview he did during which he said the word "apparently" over and over. Perhaps you just saw him on "The Ellen Show" during which he said he was over the word "apparently" and has moved on to "seriously." Anyway, pet food brand Freshpet -- working with Shareability -- wanted to get in on the meme-worthy action and hired the kid, Noah Ritter, to ad lib a …
by Richard Whitman on Sep 11, 6:03 PM
Congratulations to Colenso BBDO. The agency has been named the smartest creative agency in the world by UK-based marketing intelligence firm Warc. BBDO and Omnicom also top the list as, respectively, the smartest ad network and media holding company. The findings were arrived at through the analysis of hundreds of marketing campaigns in different markets around the world (based on the Warc 100, a ranking of the smartest marketing campaigns) along with points assigned based on awards won.
by Richard Whitman on Sep 10, 6:22 PM
So what changes is Interpublic Group making in the wake of reports about Cadillac's poor performance over the past year? Well, here it is straight from the mouth of Interpublic Group Chairman and CEO Michael Roth. "Given the global scope of the Cadillac brand and business priorities, the decision is a natural evolution of our service model in support of this key client. With the counsel and support of Cadillac management, we have recently assessed the state of our offering at this point in the relationship. The group of agencies we brought together a year ago were uniquely suited to …
by Richard Whitman on Sep 9, 8:49 PM
Well, here's the greatest thing to have come along since, well, since Tuesday's announcement of the new iPhone. It's a new app called Pitcher. The app lets clients create a short list of up to five agencies, with the options to call directly or send an e-mail inviting them to take part in a review. Pitcher was invented and created by ad agency Woedend! and the agency content in the app is supplied by Amsterdam Ad Blog. Woeland! Creative Director Merien Kunst explains: "The current pitch culture in the Netherlands is not sustainable. Brands are increasingly flirty and agencies need …
by Richard Whitman on Sep 8, 6:06 PM
Oh my head! If yet another ad agency comes up with yet another new title for the same old job that's been done for fifty years, I think my head will explode. What's getting me all worked up? Dallas-based Moroch Partners hired Doug Martin as the agency's first chief client service and development officer -- or, I guess, CCSDO. Or they could have just stuck with director of client service or VP of client services or director of account service. I suppose that since every agency now has a chief marketing officer, everyone in account service got all uppity and …
by Richard Whitman on Sep 7, 5:39 PM
Some agency recruitment efforts are more laudable than others. This one from Happiness Brussels is on the laudable side of things. To find some super-talented copywriters, the agency launched Sell the Jobless, an effort that urged applicants to write cover letters for one of 14 unemployed people featured on the campaign Web site. The campaign was designed to challenge copywriters to complete what is arguably one of the toughest tasks in today's economy -- namely to write a standout cover letter that successfully sells a jobless person to a potential employer. Over 594 cover letters have been written since launch. …
by Richard Whitman on Sep 4, 6:30 PM
Ken Segall, who worked on the Apple account while at TBWA/Chiat/Day, thinks a Job-less Apple has "lost its ad bite." Speaking to the The Australian, Segall said, "I feel that Apple is acting a lot like a big company now when it comes to marketing, and a lot of their recent efforts show that. Their iPad advertising is more like, 'People all around the world are using the iPad to do amazing things.' That may be true and that may be impressive, but people aren't buzzing about their commercials.'' And why is this happening? Segall goes on to say, "My …
by Richard Whitman on Sep 3, 4:45 PM
In an effort to amp up the ongoing pitch process for the Miller Lite account, Leo Burnett employees have taken to social media. Employees such as Director of Operations David Kuta, EVP Cliff Schwander, Account Supervisor Emily Myjak, Creative Director Chad Ingram, Finance Manager (and 2010 ABC The Bachelorette participant) Frank Neuschaefer along with many others are posting images of themselves with Miller Lite on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #ItsMillerTimeLB. Nothing like a social media blitz to get an agency stoked for a pitch...and to let the client know the agency is fired up. The brand launched …