Often we hear arguments that ring sort of true when they otherwise should not. Some of these I call The Yao Ming Argument. It is when you take an exception and make it seem like the normal, the average. For example, as the US struggles with its messed up healthcare system, people continually point out to… Read More: The Yao Ming Argument »
It is quite amazing how easy your job is. Just ask someone who doesn’t do it. At the same time, from your point of view, their job is amazingly easy. We get this every day in advertising because with digital tools it is not that challenging to make something that looks like an ad. But… Read More: Your Job Is Easy; My Job Is Hard »
The Juno Awards was an annual private music industry awards ceremony for insiders, wearing tuxedos and gowns, until 1995. The organization that put it on was the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). They had this crazy idea that they should be making money from it rather than losing or at best breaking even. They… Read More: The Day the Junos Went Public »
US Historian Daniel Boorstin, in his book The Image, noted that “The celebrity is a person who is known for his well-knownness.” That was in the 60s. People’s obsession with celebrity is even more so today. Why are people so obsessed with celebrities? One theory is the loss of the village. Our population and communications… Read More: Celebrity Makes a Village in a Mass World »
People in the U.S. like to treat their Constitution, and its associated Declaration of Independence, like religious works of biblical importance. Immutable. Virtually written by the hands of gods known as founding fathers. The high priests, the U.S. Supreme Court, spend a lot of time interpreting these documents for their laity. What is meant by… Read More: The 28th Amendment to the US Constitution »
One of the broadcast laws in Venezuela, back in the day, meant all commercials had to be shot using local Venezuelan talent. One of our clients, Revlon, was a stickler for having their commercials look as exactly like their worldwide creative as possible. Nevertheless, these had to be re-shot locally which could be quite a challenge… Read More: Shooting with Flex-ibility »
La publicidad no es solo un ‘negocio del espectáculo’; también hay mucho trabajo detrás de las cámaras que hay que entender antes de desarrollarla. Queríamos saber cómo mejorar las ventas de jabón para nuestro cliente, Procter y Gamble de Venezuela. Por eso le pedí a uno de sus vendedores que me llevara al mercado mayorista… Read More: Los Mayoristas Sí Saben »
We buy media against demographics like age, income and education. And target our creative at that target. We are consistent and correct – right? Let’s check by starting with how well people perceive themselves. Take you for example. (Pull out a mirror or look at the graphic to the left.) Do you always “act your age?”… Read More: Aim Creative at Who the Target Thinks They Are, Not… »
We started our little company in the early 90s and used computers as the core of our infrastructure. This was a quite unusual at the time; but, it paid off over the years. Slowly we added people. First there was an Art Director who had recently arrived from India. She had worked for a multinational… Read More: We Built Our Company on Diversity »
The leaves don’t turn; the snow doesn’t fall. It doesn’t get colder or in the spring thaw. There are some seasonal changes, more or less rain, hurricanes. But no gradual progression of the seasons. So how do people mark the changing of the Florida seasons? The secret for Florida residents is the flow of commercial… Read More: The Changing Seasons in Florida »