• Gnats On An Elephant's Back
    Rishad Tobaccowala once famously described the ad industry as cockroaches. He meant it as a compliment, but today I'd like to compare it to gnats, in a not-so-flattering way.
  • It's Time For Brands To Raise Their Highly Visible Hands In The Marketplace
    As troubling as these times are, it's encouraging to see brands and agencies stepping up and taking an activist stance that I don't think we ever would have seen in "normal" times. Last week's statement by Dentsu Aegis Network's 360i, a column published by The Media Kitchen chief Barry Lowenthal, and big outdoor lifestyle brands such as North Face, Patagonia and REI are stepping up and putting their money where their mouths are, exercising what might be called "the highly visible hand of the marketplace."
  • Is RegTech The New Ad Tech?
    That was one of the questions raised during a symposium hosted by the Institute for Advertising Ethics last week featuring hundreds of regulatory, ad industry, and academic experts who spent a day hashing out what it would take for Madison Avenue to create the kind of ethical standards that would prevent new regulations restricting how, when, where and why advertisers use data to identify and target consumers.
  • Real-Time On A Real Issue: Industry Responses To The Murder Of George Floyd, Racial Injustice And Inequity
    Full disclosure -- I am white. I'm also a male. I've also lived what many would consider a privileged life. If you feel those attributes disqualify me from reporting on the protests and discussion surrounding racial injustice that followed the murder of George Floyd on the streets by police officers on the streets of Minneapolis on May 25, I'm sorry. I feel compelled to do it anyway, because it's my job to cover when important things happen that could impact our readers.
  • Got Ethics?
    Just before the pandemic disrupted "normal" coverage of the ad industry, I began working on a series of initiatives related to the industry's ethics, especially its use of consumer data. While the pandemic and its economic aftermath continue to play out, it feels like it's time to return to this project for a couple of reasons outlined in today's "RTBlog."
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