Tag: creative

Today, every brand wants to have an ethos of authenticity and a transparent culture. They're all claiming to be responsible green and sustainable. Or maybe it's all well-crafted bullshit sentimentality. Afterall, how can you really know what a company's management really thinks? Newsweek lists the top 10 US Green Companies this…

Hillary Clinton's campaign tactics, public statements and brand promise are all a lot more understandable than Donald Trump's, which I've previously written about. In fact, Hillary's campaign feel a lot like it could be for a packaged good's company than her competitor. After all, Proctor and Gamble's motto is "The…

Donald Trump is famous for using the Ad Hominem attacks like "Lyin' Ted", "Crooked Hillary" and "Little Marco" on his opponents rather than the logical take down. Why does he do it? Simple: people don't care about facts in marketing, advertising and politics (and really, in most things). For example:…

A lot of ad creatives (and my students) think their job is to create the best damn creative humanly possible on every single assignment they get. That's awesome and I get it. It's also a good long-term career goal. You've got to always be selling improving your portfolio and track…

I've worked at some of the best agencies in the country and some of the crappiest. Mostly as writer in the creative department and a lot of times as a freelance writer. Maybe surprisingly, at both good agencies and mediocre ones you're bound to be surrounded by talented people. Heck,…

Could you write about how it feels to be a new mother if you were a 55 year old man? Could you truly understand a 35-year-old blue collar man's perspective if you were a 25-year-old african american woman? Could you understand the needs of tiger mom if you were a…

If I had a nickle for everytime a creative agency failed in this town. Then I wouldn't need to be in a creative business. But I am in the creative business and am currently on my third start up of my own and have also worked at two other start…

After spending over a decade as a copywriter, and working through the internet explosion, I have a few opinions about what it takes to be a great copywriter in today's creative environment. The three key elements are first, being well a rounded writer, second, having a great understanding of how…

Ok, so I stole the "collaboration is the new competition" hook from Alex Bogusky, a true sage of our industry. You can read about his interpretations of this phrase on his site, but let me take a moment to explain how it affects my business operationally and one way I…

Most single-media projects I've worked on in the last few years have included an afterthought. "Wouldn't it be great to use this ______." Fortunately I tend to over shoot things and have had the creative ability to find solutions for these afterthoughts. But the average commercial production these days usually…