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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Most catastrophes come about through the concurrence of a number of errors, not just a single one. Our brains like to believe in single causes; our brains have challenges dealing with complexities. When we hear that an Earthquake on the Iran/Iraq border killed thousands, we resolve to stay away from earthquakes or Iran. But earthquakes… Read More »
Perhaps no other game has more intricate rules than golf. The lawyers love this game; they can quibble about its many nuanced rules for hours. No where else can you see championships changed by TV viewers calling in with rule challenges. Too many rules makes for a duller game. So, we have some additional rules that take… Read More »
Our company was the first agency in Canada to start building websites on the internet back in 1994. We saw the internet as a new form of communications. We had opportunities and plunged forward. It took some figuring out, some investment and some staffing to organize into an area that was new to everyone. We… Read More »