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 »
There were many times when we presented commercials to clients who we felt wanted to make changes to make sure their input was included in the commercial. The one who pays the piper wants to call the tune and be recognized. So here is how we would describe a typical commercial: two women are discussing… Read More: The Green Dwarf »
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: The Times We Knew It – But Blew It »
My very first assignment at Young & Rubicam New York in 1972 was to work on the Rums of Puerto Rico account. The advertising goal was to promote the many rums that were produced on the island, which included Bacardi, Don Q, and many more that were less well known such as Ronrico, Ron Superior,… Read More: Getting the Test Kitchen Staff Drunk »
Are origin myths true? No matter, they set the trajectory.
In the mid-1970s, my parents arranged for a condo in Florida when I was living in New York. We had a family summer vacation, joined by my brother-in-law and sister and their two small girls, aged 5 and 6 who had come down from Canada. One day we were all heading off to dinner with… Read More: Stories Have Staying Power »
Necessity breeds invention. As a graduate student, one February I was reduced to living off of green beans and wieners. That motivated me and led to the publishing a highly cited study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, with the help of a very kind professor. As a poor grad student at the University of… Read More: Green Beans & the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology »
Shooting commercials is an intense process. Very intense. You usually have one day to capture everything you need that’s in your script and then some. You are paying a lot of people on that one day to get exactly what you want and they are all there that day and then …it is over. What you… Read More: Don’t Speak to the Director! »
When you have the opportunity to shoot a commercial with a top rock group, you have a narrow time window to shoot through. And you only get one chance. Their time is in high demand when they are on top – it may not last and must be exploited quickly. I have had the opportunity… Read More: We Shot a Snow Leppard »