Caffeinated posts from a copywriter/adgrunt. I write about advertising, design, astronomy, cooking, and pretty much anything else that strikes my fancy, including random bits of reference info for work purposes. You may also know me as 'that other gal' who helps run Adland. | make contact | RSS Feed | ATOM

Thursday, November 30, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: At the grind ]

+ Overheard in the office: "This is a solution company."
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: The Trouble with Stock Photography ]

+ WSJ points out some of the troubles with stock photography.

"We try not to use the same images as other competitors ... if it happened, it happened," says Joan Peloso, marketing services director for Cleveland-based KeyCorp, the bank-based financial services company. Advertisers often don't buy exclusive rights, which are pricier, opening up the risk that others will use the same photos.

Nonexclusive rights to stock photos can cost as little as a $1, whereas the cost of arranging a photo shoot to produce an original picture can easily run into tens of thousands of dollars, given photographers' fees ($1,000 to more than $10,000 a day), the cost of hiring a model and securing a location.

Besides being embarrassing for advertisers, such duplications can make it difficult for consumers to tell brands apart.

"If we all look alike, it is hard for a customer to differentiate between their choices," says Robbyn Tangney, a brand marketing executive with Bank of America Corp.

The companies involved in such mix-ups usually don't know that their images are being used by other firms. And when they find out, if the campaign is a modest one, sometimes they don't care.

"The risk of two people seeing the same image and connecting the dots is very, very low because the exposure of the campaign isn't very, very great," says Gary Shenk, senior vice president of images for Corbis Corp., a Seattle-based digital media agency that licenses stock photos.

As brands start to embrace new media campaigns and devote larger portions of their budget to the Web, industry executives expect companies to put more emphasis on exclusive pictures.

"People don't always read an ad, but they can't help but see the picture. They are getting impressions of the brand all the time," says Halle Hutchison, head of brand and advertising at Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA. "It is just too dangerous, you never want to go two steps back on that."

[ :: adgruntie :: Best Fudge leaving headline ]

+ Ok I think Business Week wins the best headline for Ann Fudge leaving Y&R with "Y&R's Fudge Heads for the Exit"

[ :: adgruntie :: Work life Astute Observations ]

+ Stating the obvious, but one of the downsides to cubelife for a copywriter is the inability to close a door and not hear people chatting while trying to concentrate on writing.

[ :: adgruntie :: Youtube viewers skew older than thought ]

+ Who is watching videos on youtube?

According to an eMarketer audience report, the group of people who watch YouTube videos the most are the 35-64 group, at 54.5 percent. In contrast, people aged from 2-34 comprise 41.3 percent of YouTube viewers, with the 25-34 subgroup comprising 19.1 percent of the total. Kids aged 12-17 made up only 12.6 percent of the total.The data is supported by other Internet research firms as well. Nielsen/Netratings found that 55 percent of YouTube users were between the ages of 35 to 64. Comscore looked at US YouTube visitors specifically and found that 48 percent of them were in the 35 to 64 age category. Quantcast also looked at US visitors and pegged the number of 35 to 64 year-olds at 65 percent. All of these studies were carried out over a single month between May and August 2006, but all using differing methodologies.

[ :: adgruntie :: Philips sponsors shows on NBC ]

+ In a return to the golden era of television where shows were sponsored by one brand, we're seeing a resurgence in a sponsorship deal with the Philips Electronics North America Corporation and NBC will provide fewer commercials, and all that will be shown will be for Philips during "NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams".

The sponsorship is part of a weeklong, $2 million agreement between Philips and the NBC Universal division of General Electric that includes "Today," two cable shows and a feature on NBC's digital weather channel. The deal is the latest element in a campaign that seeks to drive home the Philips advertising theme "sense and simplicity."

And even more scary?

The NBC Universal deal also includes a provision for Donny Deutsch, the host of "The Big Idea" on CNBC, to read a Philips commercial live during his show. It will be the first such delivery of a spot by Mr. Deutsch, who has some familiarity with commercials: he is also the chairman of Deutsch, an advertising agency owned by the Interpublic Group of Companies.

He may have familiarity with them but not acting them out, at least as far as I know. ;)

[ :: adgruntie :: Web 2.0 : Hype or Reality? ]

+
Commercializing Web 2.0: Hype vs. Reality in which the author gives thoughts on how we might determine whether this is hype or reality – and as you might guess, the answer turns out to be a little bit of both. Some interesting bits in the comments as well.

[ :: adgruntie :: Rolling Rock fake bannage ]

+ A week ago I posted on Rolling Rock ads created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners centered on consumer complaints about ads that don't exist and never aired, sources said.

See one below. It's awfully lame, er...tame to be considered "banned", even fake banned.



[ :: adgruntie :: Brands and brains? ]

+ Ok, this is amusing. David Card reports on a very funny press release on a study that tested 20 people and 4 brands, claiming its results to prove that people's brains react to "strong" brands. Even funnier is the claim that "This may be, as Dr. Born says, the first study of consumer brains."
Monday, November 27, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Singing cranberries for UI health ]


+ Walking past the TV which was on, I just saw the beginning of an ad for CranAssure. Watch the spot here. Follow the bouncing cranberry and sing along! ;)
It's kinda trippy with a little bit of old skool advertising jingle/animation flavor. Thankfully it's the animated lady singing about urinary tract health and not the cranberries themselves. ;)

[ :: adgruntie :: Cingular and Office Max use A Christmas Story ]

+ BBDO Worldwide, Atlanta created a spot for Cingular Wireless recreating plot of A Christmas Story, swapping out the BB gun for a cell phone.



Additionally Office Max has about 20 games and microsites under the theme "Spread the cheer", a couple of which also borrow from A Christmas Story as well. There will be teasers on youtube and the campaign was created by Toy, NYC.

"An office-supply store as a gift destination wasn't exactly an easy leap," said Ari Merkin, partner and executive creative director at Toy. "If we were going to ask people to get a gift at Office Max, we felt we would have to start by doing a little giving of our own."

Don't Shoot Your Eye Out - shooter type game...watch out for ricochet.
Stuck to a Pole - Just what it says
My Holiday Sweater
Shake The Globe
Roast a Turkey
Everything's A Reindeer - Babies, dogs, cats, etc.
Reindeer Arm Wrestling
You Got Elfed
Elf Yourself
Elf Interviews
Mistletoe in an Elevator - Livin' it up when you're going down.
Season's Sculpting - ice carvings
Faux Charity Donation Generator - send a donation to some strange charities or make up your own
Guess My Gift
A Worldwide Wish - more wishes make the tree grow
Conspiracy Carols - Plays jingle bells backwards with your "message".
Yes I'm Working
Save The Snowman - Hangman styling
North Pole Dancing - make santa dance
Greetings From the North Pole
Friday, November 24, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Things to read ]

+ Here are a few articles I came across this morning in my tryptophan hang-over state.

Brits don't buy the brand blog.

ecent data from the IAB shows that online ad spend in the UK jumped 40% in the first half of 2006 to £917m. While many brands were seemingly slow to react to the Web initially, this year marketers have embraced the online environment, so much so that Yahoo! chairman and chief executive Terry Semel, speaking at Engage, said the UK is "years ahead" of the US in internet advertising.

Youtube vs. Boobtube

George Clooney pokes fun at his sex symbol status in a new 30-second TV coffee ad for Nespresso, titled The Boutique and directed by acclaimed film and music video-maker Michel Gondry, will debut in Britain at the end of the month (27Nov06).

Size matters for online ads.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
[ Happy Turkey Day ]



[ :: adgruntie :: Milk ad banned downunder ]

+ An ad for Peters & Brownes Chill Milk in which an animated Barbie-style doll engaged in a sexy dance has been withdrawn after the advertising watchdog upheld complaints. Viewers called the ad sexist, derogatory, disturbing and offensive.

In the ad the doll washes a car's hubcaps while shaking her bottom to the camera, lies on the bonnet and slides down the windscreen wiper. She finishes her routine sitting on the bonnet with her legs apart and pouring the bucket of water over her.

The advertiser, Fonterra Brands, said it was modelled on a music video clip by Jessica Simpson singing the Nancy Sinatra hit These Boots Were Made for Walking, used to promote the film The Dukes of Hazzard. Fonterra said: "The use of the doll reinforced the parody of what was a very provocative clip … [It was] making fun of the sexual stereotype."

The chief executive of the Advertising Standards Bureau, Mark Jeanes, said the ad was "over the top" and "unacceptable in the light of prevailing community standards".

It was found to have breached the industry code, which calls for ads to "treat sex, sexuality and nudity with sensitivity to the relevant audience".

Wednesday, November 22, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Moving TV spots to Web spots ]

+ Repurposed TV spots.

Unfortunately, they mostly look like television commercials. "Replicating television online doesn't work," Hanlon said. And the ads are repeated too often because of a limited amount of online video ad space, he said.

The video ads need to be more targeted and more interactive, experts agree. "What's out there isn't leveraging the interactivity of the medium," said Sheryl Draizen, senior vice president and general manager of the IAB. "The beauty of being online is your ability to create dimensions to your advertising, to go deeper." For example, a Web surfer could get additional information on the product advertised, communicate with the merchant or participate in a survey, all by clicking on the ad or a "hot spot" area in the ad that has a link to another Web page, experts say.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Battle of the Ad Blogs ]

+ Wonder how I got that stylish 3rd place blog-candy over on the right? You could get one yourself. Adland has opened its call for entries for the Second Annual Battle of the Ad Blogs. Go nominate your favorite ad blogs.

[ :: adgruntie :: Rolling Rock/A-B new spots ]

+ New Rolling Rock ads say "sorry".

Anheuser-Busch this week will start apologizing for decisions it's made since buying Rolling Rock from InBev USA in May. But it won't be apologizing for what some brand loyalists saw as the beginning of the end for Rolling Rock, when America's largest brewery bought the product line and moved production out of its longtime Latrobe, Pa., home to New Jersey. A-B will be saying it's sorry for advertising it never aired.

A broadcast, radio and Web campaign created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco will relaunch the brand with a fictional battle between Rolling Rock's new owners and its core fan base over its fabricated marketing and advertising decisions. The campaign, which includes two Web sites, is centered on consumer complaints about ads that don't exist and never aired, sources said.

Ads will star a fictional bumbling A-B marketing executive apologizing for the ads and marketing decisions he's made. And consumers will have the opportunity to search the Web for pieces of the story--all the massive marketing mistakes the character makes and the offensive material--and pass them around virally, sources said. "His ads are way over the top," described one source. Two Web sites will offer the perspective from both the brand loyalists and the fictional marketing executive.

[ :: adgruntie :: Advertise on a butterfly? ]

+ Advertisers and marketers are always looking for the next ad space. Please, oh, please don't let it be on butterfly wings.

A glowing green logo drawn by scientists on the wing of a genetically altered butterfly could herald the day that the insects are adorned with adverts and slogans.

A team at the University at Buffalo that developed the world's first GM butterfly has now adapted the work to create the fluorescent marking on the wings of the insect to demonstrate an innovative tool that will make it easier to find out what genes do, in this case those that play a role in making the patterns on wings, from stripes to eye spots.

The researchers demonstrated their method by using a laser to stencil the silhouette of a butterfly upon the surface of a butterfly's wing.

The butterflies were otherwise unaffected by the laser, which could activate specially implanted fluorescent genes, according to the study published yesterday in the journal BMC Developmental Biology by a team in America and Germany.

[ :: adgruntie :: Another viral cartoon ]

+ Dabitch points to the update of the viral adland cartoon from a while back. And whey hey, Cup of Java got a thanks! Nice.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Adland Swag ]



+ Sexy ad swag at Adland's shop. Check it out.

[ :: adgruntie :: More copyright infringement issues for MySpace ]

+ Universal sues Myspace over copyright infringement claiming the site allows users to upload and download songs and music videos.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, is seen as part of a strategy by Universal to test provisions of a federal law that provides a "safe harbor" to Internet companies that follow certain procedures to filter out copyrighted works. The law requires sites to remove such content after being notified by the copyright holder.

If Universal can win in court, it is likely to gain leverage in negotiating licensing terms with user-driven services — just at the moment that those services are attracting deep-pocketed partners.

Earlier this year, Universal's chief executive, Doug Morris, publicly identified the YouTube video-sharing site and MySpace as copyright infringers. Universal successfully negotiated to take a stake in YouTube shortly before it was sold to Google for $1.65 billion, according to executives briefed on the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity. But licensing talks with MySpace recently reached an impasse.

MySpace said in a statement yesterday that it complied with the requirements of federal law. The company said it had kept Universal, a unit of Vivendi, "closely apprised of our industry-leading efforts to protect creators' rights, and it's unfortunate they decided to file this unnecessary and meritless litigation."

"We provide users with tools to share their own work — we do not induce, encourage, or condone copyright violation in any way," MySpace said.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Wii Spot Out ]

+ Can Wii Play?

The first Wii commercial aired last night during the performance finals of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. The ad was a 30-second portion of the two-minute "documentary" style ad featuring two Japanese men who travel to random homes across America saying "Wii would like to play!"

The full two-minute ad will be shown in its full length for the first time tomorrow during MTV2's Sucker Free show. The Wii ads will be seen on ABC, NBC, Comedy Central, BET, USA, TBS, Discovery, Animal Planet, ABC Family, Nick at Nite, Sci-Fi, TLC, Fox, The CW, MTV 10 Spot, MTV, MTV2, MTVU, Adult Swim, Fuse, Si TV, The N, VH-1 and Black Family Channel.
Monday, November 13, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Windy Miller's Uncle Goes Full Monty ]

+ Hehehe. This spot for Oatso Simple might make you giggle. Ananova's got a screen shot of Uncle Guber's doodle, as Ned Flanders would call it, that somehow managed to make itself seen during the filming.

Windy Miller for Oatso Simple.


[ :: adgruntie :: Brand Camp ]

+ Tom Fishburne's Brand Camp cartoons are a must view. This week's cartoon: The 8 Types of Bad Creative Critics.


found via: Brand New

[ :: sidetracks :: Aliens! ]

+ OH! MY! This has totally made my day (yes, even though it's not even 9am yet!) Yep Yep YepYepYepYep! Hurrah! Brrriiiiing! (hat tip swissmiss).


Com-pu-tor


[ :: adgruntie :: The need to create a new rating system? ]

+ CBS' Chief Research Officer wants commerical rating system.

Dating back to the introduction of people meters, we have enjoyed a stable, one-size-fits-all audience-measurement system. However, it is clear we need a new measurement system. It must be a dynamic, multifaceted system that may not allow for uniformity of application.

Any further delay in addressing the immediate need for a new audience-measurement currency runs the risk of devaluing TV advertising as a powerful marketing force at a time when the medium is demonstrating new creative vitality and audience engagement.

[ :: adgruntie :: Garfield reviews new Army spots ]

+ Bob Garfield reviews the Army's new ads that feature the endline "Army strong." Besides making me think of Tarzan-speak ("me Tarzan, you Jane")or some such, the opening line in the ad sounds somewhat like it could be for deoderant, trashbags or something: "There's 'strong,' and then there's 'Army strong'." There's Bounty, then there's Bounty strong. There's Sure, then there's Sure strong.
Friday, November 10, 2006
[ :: sidetracks :: Nimoy sings Bilbo Baggins song ]

+Oh. My! Hat tip to dabitch for this! Eep!


[ :: adgruntie :: Writing for the web ]

+ Tips for writing for the web:
- keep it simple
- get the important stuff up front
- make the information randomly accessible and structured
- be consistent
- use text that can be read easily and quickly

[ :: sidetracks :: Moonlighting bloopers! ]

+Ok, if it wasn't already official, you can find anything on the internet. Moonlighting bloopers! Ah young Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepard.




[ :: adgruntie :: Beauty ads encourage cannibalism? ]


+Yesterday I stumbled upon these ads for Ella Bache from their Australian website. The ads created by BMF are old, from 2002-2003. I couldn't help thinking cannibalism when I read the line "Skin good enough to eat".

Apparently the concept behind the campaign is that you wear your skin like a garment, and like garments, you must adapt your skincare needs to each season. I don't see what that has to do with skin good enough to eat though. Which, is creepy enough on its own.

[ :: adgruntie :: Chinese athletes banned from endorsing ]

+ China is banning all its athletes from appearing commercial endorsements.

Olympic diving gold medallist Tian Liang was kicked off the national team in 2005 for taking part in a rash of television ads and endorsements.

"Since the Athens games, Chinese athletes have taken part in too many commercial activities," Wei Jizhong, former general secretary of the Chinese Olympic Committee, told the paper.

"Some athletes simply do not manage the relationship between their identity and their role as product endorsers." In May, Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang came under fire for signing a deal with the Baisha corporation, a Chinese tobacco giant that sells 75 billion cigarettes a year.

[ :: adgruntie :: Xmas ads and the ASA ]

+ Christmas is coming too early say complaintants to the ASA.

Several of the complainants suggested the ASA should look at setting parameters for when companies can start airing Christmas-themed ad campaigns.

"Whilst we appreciate that some people will find it frustrating to see advertisements for Christmas appearing so early in the year, this is not an area that we regulate," an ASA spokesman said.

"Advertisers are able to chose when they wish to begin their seasonal advertisements and, if potential customers are aggravated by those scheduling decisions, this is a risk that the advertiser must accept."

The Christmas ad for Argos has received 15 complaints from parents because it conveys the concept to children that Santa may not be real and that it is parents who actually buy children's presents.

[ :: adgruntie :: International faux pas ]

+ Work internationally? Wikipedia has a list of faux pas from around the globe. Worth a look.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Magazines are the holy grail? ]

+ "Advertising guru", Michael Baulk, who was chairman and chief excutive of the abbot Mead Vickers BBDO Group until June 2006, was addressing some delegates at PPA's CEO conference (Periodical Publishers Association) claimed magazines are the 'holy grail'. Other points he made:
- The magazine industry's "enhancement and sustainment of its brands by constant product innovation and product development."
- Magazines offer advertsiers and agencies the "holy grail" of communication in the 21st century: "engaged reach."

In conclusion said Baulk: "Magazines are absolute gold dust in today's brand communication world."

It's somewhat amusing to me, the whole claim of trust and "engagement and trust they had with readers, something other media forms could not replicate". Especially with editorvertising and all that crap that is so very obvious on almost every magazine page (well, depending on the type of magazine). Perhaps I'm much more jaded than the average reader, being that I am in the biz/read about it. But it does seem that more magazines have more product placement in text type stuff going on now. Here's a related bit I wrote back in 2004 on the topic for Adland.

[ :: adgruntie :: Bookvertising ]

+ Disturbing news of toady? Bookvertising. Granted it's not exactly new, but still. Creepy. We are not amused.

[ :: adgruntie :: Selling Wii to women ]

+ An amusingly written article on how nintendo is selling Wii to women.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
[ :: cooking :: recipes ]

+ I'm really miffed at blogger right now. Both of my blogs on their beta are missing in the backend (you can still see them on the web). So since I cannot add anything to the blogs that have disappeared into the mist, I'm going to add these links here, for now.

Thai-spiced Pumpkin Soup

2 acorn squash, pumpkins, or other smallish winter squash
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
1 teaspoon (or more) red Thai curry paste
water
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt (or to taste)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place the oven racks in the middle.

Carefully cut each squash/pumpkin into halves (or quarters). Slather each piece of squash with butter, sprinkle generously with salt, place on a baking sheet skin sides down, and place in the oven. Roast for about an hour or until the squash is tender throughout.

When the pumpkin/squash are cool enough to handle scoop it into a large pot over medium high heat. Add the coconut milk and curry paste and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and puree with a hand blender, you should have a very thick base at this point. Now add water a cup at a time pureeing between additions until the soup is the consistency you prefer - a light vegetable stock would work here as well. Bring up to a simmer again and add the salt (and more curry paste if you like, I used just shy of 6 teaspoons but the curry paste I use is not over-the-top spicy).

Serves six.


Old-Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake
For best results, don't make the frosting until the cakes are cooled, and use the frosting as soon as it is ready. If the frosting gets too cold and stiff to spread easily, wrap the mixer bowl with a towel soaked in hot water and mix on low speed until the frosting appears creamy and smooth. Refrigerated leftover cake should sit at room temperature before serving until the frosting softens.
Serves 10 to 12

Cake
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), very soft, plus extra for greasing pans
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces), plus extra for dusting pans
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate , coarsely chopped
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa (3/4 ounce)
1/2 cup hot water
1 3/4 cups sugar (12 1/4 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks

Frosting
16 ounces semisweet chocolate , finely chopped
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream (cold)

1. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch-round by 2-inch-high cake pans with softened butter; dust pans with flour and knock out excess. Combine chocolate, cocoa powder, and hot water in medium heatproof bowl; set bowl over saucepan containing 1 inch of simmering water and stir with rubber spatula until chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup sugar to chocolate mixture and stir until thick and glossy, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and set aside to cool.

2. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Combine buttermilk and vanilla in small bowl. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whisk eggs and yolks on medium-low speed until combined, about 10 seconds. Add remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar, increase speed to high, and whisk until fluffy and lightened in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Replace whisk with paddle attachment. Add cooled chocolate mixture to egg/sugar mixture and mix on medium speed until thoroughly incorporated, 30 to 45 seconds, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add softened butter one tablespoon at a time, mixing about 10 seconds after each addition. Add about one-third of flour mixture followed by half of buttermilk mixture, mixing until incorporated after each addition (about 15 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture (batter may appear separated). Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans; smooth batter to edges of pan with spatula.

3. Bake cakes until toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes, then invert onto wire rack. Cool cakes to room temperature before frosting, 45 to 60 minutes.

4. TO MAKE FROSTING: Melt chocolate in heatproof bowl set over saucepan containing 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, heat butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted. Increase heat to medium; add sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt and stir with heatproof rubber spatula until sugar is dissolved, 4 to 5 minutes. Add melted chocolate, butter mixture, and cream to clean bowl of standing mixer and stir to thoroughly combine.

5. Place mixer bowl over ice bath and stir mixture constantly with rubber spatula until frosting is thick and just beginning to harden against sides of bowl, 1 to 2 minutes (frosting should be 70 degrees). Place bowl on standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until frosting is light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir with rubber spatula until completely smooth.

6. TO FROST CAKE: Place one cake layer on serving platter or cardboard round. Spread 1 1/2 cups frosting evenly across top of cake with spatula. Place second cake layer on top, then spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides of cake. Cut into slices and serve.

[ :: adgruntie :: Web page to PDF ]

+ Coudal points to 9-interactive where you enter a url and presto-chango you get a pdf of the page. Sweetness!

[ :: adgruntie :: Hegarty on the web ]

+ Marketing Week interviews John Hegarty in which he accuses clients of not understanding the medium and "not wanting to let go" of control over their brands.

He says: "Agencies get kicked a lot; we're behind the curve according to clients. We're not. It's the clients who are behind the curve. They've got to understand this is a medium where you've got to let go and they don't want to."

"When you're online it's an interactive process and you've got to change. It's only certain brands that will let go and enjoy having a conversation with the public instead of it being in command. Brands are going to find that very difficult. It's more their issue than ours. We're full of ideas."

"Brands have played around with it. They think that it's all about doing something completely wacky like chopping cats' heads off. Then when there's a furore about it, they withdraw and say, 'It's nothing to do with us.' It completely undermines the value of what it is they're saying."

Hegarty says that the internet has yet to prove itself as a brand-building medium.

"If you were to read the headlines you'd think television is over, it's all going online. We have to calm down a bit. It is an incredibly exciting medium but we're still waiting to know how you build brands here."

[ :: designy :: Guess the logo ]

+ Can you Guess The Logo? It's a bit tougher than it looks. (via Coudal)

[ :: adgruntie :: Creative departments do what? ]

+ Ad Agency Creative Departments: What Do They Do? explained by Scott G.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Forms and words ]

+ Label Placement on Forms, does it matter? Yes, it does.

[ :: adgruntie :: Brand New Trend? ]

+ A new Brand New, not to be confused with Brand New, Brand New Day or Brand New School.

[ :: sidetracks :: GO VOTE! ]

+ Voter to candidate buttons. Yes! Need voter info? Here you go.

Saturday, November 04, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Saturday Morning News ]

+ Nielsen indefinitely postpones their plan for commercial ratings.

The networks — CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox — refused to allow Nielsen to rate their commercials unless it changes the way it counts viewers who use digital video recorders like TiVos.

In related news, CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves said that next year advertisers would start paying for viewers who watched ads on their digital video recorders.

"In terms of DVRs, we think it is inevitable that they're going to have to start counting DVR usage as part of ratings, and I think everybody in the world -- even the advertising community -- is acknowledging that this year they were able to exclude it," Mr. Moonves told analysts on a conference call to report the company's third-quarter results. "But next year there is no way that's going to happen. So once again, we think as technology advances, as Nielsen advances, as recording advances, the strong broadcast networks are going to be even stronger."

Two other articles from Adage, which I found amusing considering their juxtaposition in the adage email, was an article on David Jones, CEO of global agency network Euro RSCG Worldwide in which he said that rather than talking about how to redefine creativity in a fast-changing world, "we should just get on and do it."

His first piece of advice: Stop worrying about the 30-second TV commercial. The death of the TV ad is highly overrated, he maintained, and "to talk about it is to miss the point. Our industry is the best in the world at short-form content. We should think of ourselves as creators of short-form content, not 30-second ads." He then criticized a popular trend in advertising today: the use consumer-generated content. "We've got to stop thinking that consumer-generated content is an idea," he said. "It isn't. It is a phenomenon." The problem with relying on communications created by regular Joes, he said, is that they "rarely create content with your brand strategy in their pocket."

Just down the page of the email was then an article on the NFL asking fans/viewers to create commercials for them. More on that here.

Also of note, Dodge Nitro ads go testosterone heavy but this time it's not a CPK idea, and three tips to get them to listen for better writing and fonts that make you look lame which has the usual suspects along with some others.
Friday, November 03, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Why we drink ]

+ This was in my inbox from a bit ago, but it seemed to go so well with that adverbatims post. Very ranty today, huh?

Why Creative Professionals Drink:

1) Waiting around for you? No thanks.
If you tell someone you're going to have X done by a certain time, and they schedule their time around you, notify them. And not at the last minute. Don't expect that others will move the world around for you (or not bill you) for time you've made them wait all day for your feedback, revisions, etc. Just because you have epidemic issues with completing your work on time, don't expect others to move the world around for you. Just like you, we have other things to do. YOU are not any more special than anyone else. Period. Sorry to be the one to tell you so.

2) Busy doesn't mean available.
Assuming you're speaking the same language, this really shouldn't be that tough. And let's just say the chances of that being the case are about as slim as Bernbach coming back to life and winning at Cannes. Don't think you can just walk up to someone's desk and demand their time right then if they don't have it. If someone is in the middle of the creative process, or even writing a business proposal, there should be enough brain cells in your head to understand that "I'm busy, let's talk in a little while or set up a time to talk" does NOT mean "Yes, I'm free to spend 20 minutes reviewing your changes because whatever it is that you have to talk about is more important than anything else I could be doing at the moment". In fact, the majority of people who tend to pull bullshit this wouldn't stand for it to happen to them for a second.

3) Beware the manure spreaders.
There's always someone who seems to trollop through the mire and yet always end up smelling of roses. How? They pawn work off on other people. They manipulate others, craft emails to make others they work with look bad, and generally refuse to take any blame for poor work or lack of work. These are also the same folk who seem to always be on vacation. Stop letting them work their way up the ladder. If you don't stick your foot out and trip them, you're responsible for making other people's lives hell, until someone has the balls to do it. Dead weight does not help you get anywhere…

4) Communication.
I find it extremely depressing, considering the field we are in (communications, if you didn't know), how many people are very poor communicators. It's really not all that hard. Just think for a second before you shoot off an email, even take the extra minute to re-read what you wrote so you can be sure it makes sense. Keep people in the loop. Let them know of changes in schedules. Tell them the information that you just received from a client about the project you're working on. We are communicators, not mind readers. Plain and simple. Use your words kids, written or verbal. It won't hurt, I swear.

5) Time keeps on tickin'
People who love to have meetings for the sake of having meetings.Those who give themselves a week to do their work but make others turn it around in a day, sometimes less. Continual revision after revision. Having no idea what you want but you need it yesterday. Lack of time management is probably one of the biggest inefficiencies in the world of advertising. These are all things that can be avoided. Yet it happens all the time. Why? Perhaps it's just one of the mysteries of the working world.

6) Play your role, let others play theirs.
There's a reason you're an AE and not an art director or copywriter. There's a reason you're a media buyer and not a planner. Sure you can have ideas and work together, but the fact is the person laying out an ad or designing a website knows what they are doing. After all, it IS their job. And, yes, you can have an opinion. But, when it comes down to it, the reasoning to use X font size or a certain phrasing should be left to the experts. Knowing how to use Word does not a copywriter make. Being able to create a PowerPoint presentation does not give you a degree in graphic design, so put away your fade in reveal skills and leave it to the professionals. P.S. - professionals use real tools like creativity and common sense.

7) Learn to extinguish the flame gracefully.
Just because your boss or client lights a fire under your ass to get something completed does not mean that you can skip the set up channels to get your project to the front of the queue. There's a reason why creative briefs were created. Complete one. It won't kill you. Half-assing the process just leads to more wasted time in getting your project done. Fires happen. Learn how to put them out properly instead of starting a blazing wildfire.

8) Stop acting like an idiot.
Don't ask the same question over and over. Don't you listen or are you just a moron? That's the impression that comes across when this happens. "Did you send the PPT doc? So, they got the doc? Are you sure they got it? So, they should be all set?" It's even worse when you reply to an email that states "This is the latest draft, with one change" with "Is this the latest draft?" Can you read? Good. Then do it.

[ :: adgruntie :: Move to create content/entertainment ]

+ Creating content to go with the ad spot looks at marketers who are creating movies, shows, shorts and more, in addition to the :30.

[ :: adgruntie :: Get down to business ]

+In the new Business Annual issue of HOW Design is this worksheet for finding your career bliss by Stefan Bucher.

[ :: adgruntie:: Adverbatims ]

+ Adverbatims is absolutely hilarious! Go and laugh yourself silly. Here are some that got me laughing this morning. (via DesignObserver)

#153- "I like it, but I just don't think a multinational company should be doing ads in felt tip."
(Client, on first presentation of a line drawing concept scamp)

#128- "Make it wild but conservative!"
(Agency, Account Executive, to Art Director)

#119- "Can you change the word 'exquisite' on the ad? Words including the letter X are way too complicated."
(Client, Marketing Manager)

#113- "We need your help. According to what I understood from the client, we have to put subtitles on the radio spots. Is that doable?"
(Agency, Account Assistant)

#101- "Minimize, minimize!!! Don't keep that many windows opened, you’re going to break the computer!!!"
(Media, Team Coordinator)

#093- "It's a minor modification. We're just changing the content and layout of the whole website."
(Client, Marketing Manager)