February 24, 2006
BART CLEVELAND: I recently had a friend from another agency e-mail me begging me to write about meeting abuse. I have to agree that some agencies seem to feel they are not being effective unless they have a meeting to plan meetings about how to have meetings.Fortunately my partners and I all have a low tolerance for meetings that last longer than ...
February 22, 2006
It's a challenge. Traditional art directors and copywirters allow ideas to bake. But in our digital group, they microwave ideas.
February 21, 2006
Put down that client briefing deck for just one moment to think about all of the new technology out there.
February 21, 2006
BART CLEVELAND: I’ve heard it said anyone could come up with a great idea. I think that’s true. But what is not true is that anyone and everyone can recognize a great idea. Otherwise many non-creative people who suggest creative solutions or “tweaks” would surely withhold them. Why is creative assistance so irresistible? A ...
February 15, 2006
BART CLEVELAND: I’ve read that the average client relationship is now around two years. On the other end of that scale is the client that sticks with an agency through thick and thin sometimes for decades. I know of many small agencies that have clients that have been with them for their entire history. We have one. Over the years we have bec...
February 10, 2006
BART CLEVELAND: A lot of big clients are hiring smaller agencies to handle their business because of the speed and lack of red tape they offer. Large agencies that are owned by holding companies are surely feeling the effects of this shift of perspective. MMB in Boston picked up Subway when they fired Omnicom Group agency Goodby Silverstein. How ...
February 08, 2006
BART CLEVELAND: There are a lot of people who watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials. I’m not sure if it’s the work our industry is doing or just a tradition that was born in 1984, but the media is still hyping them and the day after people still talk about them as much as they do the game. My agency even has an online program d...
February 01, 2006
Part of the adventure of growing up is outgrowing your space. We’ve almost doubled in size over the last year and are in desperate need of more room. After looking at various locations we’ve opted to build. We should be in our new space in less than year. In the meantime, fate dealt a hand and we had to move from our present location to...
January 27, 2006
No, this is not homage to great advertising legends. It is a call to arms for the next creative revolution in advertising. If you are small you could be one of the revolutionaries. Why? Small is where all cultural revolutions have started. Small is unnoticed and underestimated. Being small is a lot of fun if you like being a guerilla warrior. So th...
January 24, 2006
Small agencies come in many sizes because being “small” is a state of mind. The reason small agencies are so important to our industry is because they represent its creative seed. People who start small agencies seem to love what is wonderful in our business and want to keep it alive. Some small agencies that strive this way have grown ...
January 18, 2006
Have you ever browsed through one of those Sky Mall magazines they have on airplanes? Can you believe all the oddball items you can buy? You would think that most of the merchandise in the Sky Mall would seem pretty risky as a manufacturing investment, but obviously it’s not. They must sell it or it wouldn’t be in there year after year....
January 16, 2006
It’s not easy to do great work these days. Advertising creative has matured over the last four decades leaving less and less new ground in traditional advertising. The advertising world is not exactly the same either. Clients don’t trust agencies as they once did. We’re vendors to more clients than ever. Advertising is something t...
January 13, 2006
I have become convinced IT is the bane of an agency’s existence. We just moved and it went incredibly well except for moving our computers. I won’t bore you with details because there are too many. Suffice it to say that the way ideas are created isn’t by computer, but when the server goes down you would think so. Doesn’t it...
January 10, 2006
A small agency is a very delicate thing. We have 25 people. Each one has a critical role. You really feel it when someone isn’t pulling his or her weight. You also can easily see when someone is going beyond the call of duty. It is not surprising that these two people have a direct affect upon one another. If the non-weight pulling isn’...
January 05, 2006
Is it smart business to like your competition? When I worked in Atlanta there was a handful of us who worked hard to make Atlanta a city know for great advertising. We tried to follow the example of agencies in cities like Minneapolis who obviously cared about one another’s success. They knew each agency's success would ultimately help t...
January 02, 2006
While reading our industry pubs I seldom see small agency people quoted. We don’t have the national identity that gives instant clout to our view. I don’t mind this. I guess the person who wrote “I’m lovin’ it” does have a natural credibility compared to someone who is working on a statewide restaurant chain in M...
December 26, 2005
Have you heard they’re selling virtual goods on EBay? Let’s say you play an online video game and you need 30 virtual gold coins to get a particular sword to kill some intergalactic sloth. You can play the game for days to get those gold coins or you can take a short cut and just buy the coins on EBay. (If you think this sounds crazy it...
December 19, 2005
Anyone who says ad awards are just about ego is naïve. It’s not a coincidence that the most successful agencies win the most prestigious awards? Did you know an industry-wide global study, conducted by Leo Burnett, showed that 82% of award winning campaigns also met or exceeded business objectives? This figure is consistent with previou...
December 16, 2005
AdAge.com blog revised 10/17/05 Title: Yes MantraToday, I sent an admonition to my co-workers. I overheard a couple of “We can’t because…” a little too closely together. A great idea was about to die before it got out the door because of a production obstacle. It left the impression with me that they who felt defeated by ob...
December 14, 2005
As an industry are we getting worse at creating great ads? I feel we may be substituting gimmickry for ideas. Maybe it’s just the cycle of culture we’re in. Hollywood keeps coming out with movies that are remakes of TV shows. That’s the same thing as what we’re doing. Maybe we’ve just run out of creative juice. Maybe w...
