Ever tried to make a pair of pancakes, except you make the mistake of pouring the two disks of batter too large?  And then they flow together so that you have one large, undifferentiated mess that forces you to use a spatula to try to divide them right in half so your kids don't complain?  No?  Then you should have attended the supper-time debate here at the ANA conference between Joe Trippi and Tony (whose last name slips my mind).  If you did and had expected a spirited, partisan argument about the virtues and iniquities of political branding you might …

Finucane spoke via pre-produced video about how, when she'd initially planned the trip to ANA months ago, "Nothing short of a global economic crisis could have kept me away."  A video followed that review just how that crisis happened, complete with news reels of the obligatory weeping stock trader, hands grasping forehead in disbelief (do they use the same actor for this shot? I want that job) and house "for sale" signs sagging forlornly on front lawns.

Sketchers conference buncha Sketchers and Zappos people, one too many bars hopped. Sketchers person wanted a pepperoni pizza. No hot food after midnight. She was craving it.

Having a vision that's meaningful, says Tony Hsieh of Zappos. We wanted to be more than about shoes; we wanted to be about customer service. If you chase the vision, the money will follow. He cites Craigslist as an example. Users can sense the passion as do employees. Growth comes naturally this way. 2. Focus on repeat customers, purchase more often the longer they're customers and spend more each time. 3. Be transparent. "Be real, and you have nothing to fear." Share tweats from Twitter with the world. You'll see that people enjoy working at Zappos. …

Anne Finucane, CMO of Bank of America was supposed to be on hand to give a presentation to ANA over the past weekend.  It is a telling circumstance that she had to deliver her address by video.  The company is in the midst of acquiring hobbled mortgage firm Countrywide,  and hobbled investment bank Merrill Lynch. Brand and advertising officer Anne Saunders and Claire Wong were there in her stead to talk some turkey about how the company is dealing with the crisis both in financial markets, and in consumer perception of banking overall. "We  are talking more about …

CEO Tony Hsieh pointed out several ways the company goes above and beyond for its customers. One uses a communciations device that he says connects his customers to Zappos like nothing else. It's called a telephone and Zappos has determined that every customer uses it at least once in its history with the company. Here's another: the call center people at the other end of the line don't use a script! Their sole mandate is to make sure the customer is happy. How quaint. (Hello, Sears?) Then there's the 365-day return police for, as Hsieh says, "people …

Looking toward 2009, how much will you spend on marketing over this year? 1.More than 10% 26% 2. Less than 10% 3. Hold stable 28% 4. Decrease less than 10% 5. Decrease more than 10% Bob Liodice was surprised to see that 28% said they'll be stable while 26% said they will spend more than 10% more. "That's a little more bullish" than an earlier ANA survey, he said. little more bullish than an ana survey

Brand champion!  Mark Addicks of General Mills showed how consumer insights about brand champioins lead to advertising direction.  Such as Saatchi's campaign for General Mills Fruit by the Foot, "How do you rip it?" Or Yoplait's campaign that suggests you can have your cake and eat it too.  Or Lucky Charms "So each charm can have its story, with websites.  so it felt big." "This idea of knowing your brand champion is powerful." Also, Addicks showed the first new execution from Pillsbury that acknowleges the current uncertainty with a Wizard of Oz theme, where in a spot called "Home …

"Welcome from Minneapolis where butter is a spice and gravy's a beverage," said Mark Addicks, CMO from General Mills. "We doubled size with Pillsbury ten years ago," he said explaining that General Mills is a "house of brands", "even today our mission is to nourish lives: brands can make lives richer, and we do believe fundanmetnally in power of brands; we have never marketed General Mills." First, we believe in the brand manager system. the small team, like what is celebrated at Google, small, cross functional team.