advertising

Is (Was) Advertising Cool? Yes, Said Mad Men

Peter · March 30, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Mad Men – RIP.

We are about to see the last episodes of Mad Men. What a ride – especially for advertising folks.

The very last days of the show and its era synced with the first days of my advertising career so I got to work with people like Don, Peggy, and Roger.

Stay with me on this one. Yes, it will sound a bit all-about-me. But, there is a point at the end.

I joined, Dancer Fitgerald Sample (DFS), the largest agency in New York, as an AAE on the General Mills account in 1980. So, just for the hell of it… what was that period like for for an ad guy newbie?:

I felt like a superstar. I got to work at New York’s largest ad agency. In those days, advertising had today’s Internet startup vibes.
It was a really cool way to earn a living. Imagine the alternatives.
I worked with really, really smart and talented people.
My bosses were named: Sheffield Halsey, Michael Jeary, Robert L. Ficks III, Marion D. (Skip) Sims and E. Freeman Bunn. They looked like the Mad Men guys. It was fun to be the ‘token Jew’ in the land of WASP’s.
DFS taught me about the value of strategy and consumer research.
The agency has serious clients like P&G, Toyota, Nabisco, Yoplait, Wrangler, HP and made great ads like Wendy’s ‘Where’s the beef?’
DFS was the ‘Agency Of The Year.’
I got go to work in the art deco Chrysler Building. A fucking brilliant way to start the day.
Our corporate culture was benevolent.
Our mantra was: ‘Ambitious Advertising’.
Our most senior clients valued powerful advertising.
We won 90% of our new business pitches. That’s how I learned to pitch.
I got to dress up in great suits and ties. Note: I grew up in Manhattan, so looking good was part of my ethos.
Everyone was good looking.
By my third year, I was flying around the world.
Yes, we drank and many snorted coke. It was, after all, the 1980’s.
In the late 1980’s we were bought by Saatchi & Saatchi.
The purchase allowed me to move to our London office – our creative epicenter – in 1990. There were English Dons, Peggys and Rogers over there too. They just drank much more red wine.

Fuck yeah.

That’s why I dig Mad Men.

It was both real (I witnessed their era) and the show did a decent job, well sort of, showing the ad-man lifestyle. We were very much about being very creative. Not…

…programmatic buying drones.

Which brings me to a final point. I’d love to see us bring back the sexy bits. I fear that pixels and apps are simply not as much fun as my favorite Northwest Airlines shoot which spanned Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Ah, 1980’s expense accounts (and the profits from the 15% commission.)

OK, last point.

I didn’t totally mean what I just said about the ‘good old days’. I believe that given the complexities of today’s analog and digital advertising world… today can be the most exciting time to be in marketing. Just don’t forget to stop, take a breath and have a drink and toast Matthew Weiner.

Advertising, digital, social still has the coolest people to down a beer with.

This Portland Ad Sucks

Peter · March 18, 2015 · 2 Comments

This Portland Ad Sucks (Or, Um, Screws Up)

I don’t usually write about poor advertising. There is simply too much of it. However, this ad for Hawthorne Cutlery, a Portland knife shop, caught my attention. In fact, I assume that catching my attention was what the shop intended.

However, boy did they fuck up. Pulling me in with a cunniligous oriented headline (not sure I’ve ever used this ‘C’ word in my blog) does in fact pull me in. But, not the way the advertiser wanted. The headline and WTF photograph pulls me into thinking that these guys are very lame.

Last point, I feel sorry for the adjacent ad. Not sure that a whole lot of brunchers want to be associated with munchers. SORRY!!!! I couldn’t control myself.

Planes, Trains, Automobiles, Ad Clutter & Urinals

Peter · March 9, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Planes, Trains, Automobiles & Urinals = Ad Clutter

I was in New York recently and noticed, actually re-noticed and re-noticed, that advertising messages are everywhere. This hit home when I went to a restaurant urinal after a fine lunch and had to face an ad, you know, one of those framed ads. Not very high tech but very much in my face — like about 6 inches away.

I thought two things: 1) why do I have to look at this ad and, I have other things that I should be paying attention to right now. 2) it doesn’t stop. A few minutes later I was speeding up to a thirtieth floor meeting in an elevator equipped with one of those relentless video screens and more ads.

No peace! No chance to reflect on my upcoming meeting. No moment to be alone in my thoughts in places that used to be ad free. I’ve been attacked by, yes, dreaded ad clutter.

The Cost of Paying Attention

The New York Times’s “Sunday Review” ran the excellent excellent op-ed piece, “The Cost Of Paying Attention” by Matthew B. Crawford, author the upcoming book “The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction”. Mr. Crawford points out that we are bombarded by ads. No news here. But, he makes the strong case that “attention is a resource.” A very scarce resource and the advertising world (that means you and me) are destroying our individual chance to be introspective, alone in our own thoughts and focussed on our own being rather that yet another freakin ad or wannabe social media relationship. Bathroom and elevator advertising isn’t a new phenomenon. However, in Mr. Crawford’s view, they are a form of pollution. I have to agree. Here is how the article begins. [Read more…] about Planes, Trains, Automobiles, Ad Clutter & Urinals

The Business Of Marijuana & Advertising

Peter · March 6, 2015 · Leave a Comment

The Business Of Marijuana & Advertising & Publishing

I’ve written a bit about the burgeoning marijuana industry and the new business opportunities for ad, digital, social and PR agencies (see a link to articles at the bottom of this post.)

In Portland alone, there are over 35 medical marijuana dispensaries and each one has driven incremental business for a wide range of suppliers including landlords, contractors, interior designers, security firms, lawyers, accountants, venture capitalists, safe companies (each dispensary has at least one), package and graphic designers, ad agencies and publishers. I have a good take on this business because I am an investor in two medical marijuana dispensaries.

To give you an example of how crazy this business can be. Here is what I did yesterday (and why.)

I was in Vancouver, Washington meeting an illustrator friend for lunch. I then went to take a look at two fully recreational marijuana shops. This means that you can just walk in, prove that you are over 21 and then a buy marijuana as you would cigarettes or wine. What was massively interesting was that one of the stores (on Main Street, literally) had 22 customers at 2PM on a Thursday. There weren’t 22 customers buying wine at a single wine shop at 2PM.

Later in the day, I was in the back room of a Portland marijuana shop photographing the store’s ‘joint roller’ and getting a couple of artisanal ‘art’ joints (like the one above). Yes, joints.

So, now the why…

In case you are wondering, I am not at all a big stoner.

But, I am starting a small publishing entity that will cover this huge and growing market. I am currently shooting photographs for two small books (“Joints” and “26 Dispensaries”). I will add other small books (imagine portraits of bud tenders) and apparel based on a new brand that will be coming to a browser near you. All of this will eventually be used as Kickstarter rewards for the funding of a large book on the industry.

I will keep you posted on my progress.