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Guest Columnists
In Search of Bernbach, Advertising's Greatest Thinker
To learn the secret behind classics such as his Volkswagen "Think Small" ads and Avis "We Try Harder" campaign, I decided I must find Bill Bernbach, the leading force behind the Creative Revolution.
Drop the Words 'Relevance' and 'Authenticity' From Your Marketing Lexicon
It's not that relevance and authenticity are bad. It's that they've become generic, convenient ways to get universal buy-in across departments. Using them is now as complacent as putting "profitable" in your brand strategy.
Earl Graves on the Importance of Black-Owned Media
There are definite advantages to publishing a magazine aimed at a black audience. That's the opinion of Earl G. Graves Sr., the founder and publisher of Black Enterprise and one of this year's inductees into the Advertising Hall of Fame.
Muckmakers: Online-Reputation Firms Struggle With Ethics
The shadier online-reputation firms may offer marketers tempting solutions to disappear the past -- or harm a competitor.
Why More Media Companies and Agencies Should Guarantee Ad Results
Ad performance guarantees like Meredith's aren't just about pleasing clients' budget-minded procurement officers, writes Universal McCann global CEO Jacki Kelley. They can give us all the freedom to take greater risks.
We Tried to Resolve the Google+ Issue on Google Wave but ...
Simon Dumenco, a host of early adopters and every person ever slighted somehow by Mark Zuckerburg may be Huddling together in glee, but here are five reasons to keep calm and carry on.
Madison & Vine Is Dead, but the Time to Invest in Branded Content Is Now
Having a branded-content strategy is as much a mistake as having a social or a digital strategy. Instead, marketers need to understand the role of content in their overall marketing strategies.
What Your Social-Media Team Should Learn From Direct-Response Folks
There's still an irresistible urge to build an audience at scale, but there's real value hiding within the smaller subsets of any aggregate audience -- a value we are simply not tapping.
The Dark Matter of the Online Ad Universe
We need to find a way to measure how much online ads -- even the good ones -- are annoying potential consumers.
Break Free of the Digital-Content Trap
While the mantra of the web these days seems to be "content, content, content," we keep finding that content alone is a dead end for ongoing engagement.
In the Era of Cloud Computing, Three Important Maxims for Brands to Follow
In the era of cloud computing, any incident pertaining to privacy or security -- even a minor one -- is the fastest way to erode brand equity and consumer trust.
Study: Advertising Half as Effective as Previously Thought
I worked with colleagues to analyze more than 750 estimates of how sales or market share respond to advertising. The estimates spanned a broad sample of brands, product markets, time periods and countries. What have we found from all these studies?
How Marketers Can Court Brand Advocates
But even for the most buzz-worthy brands, not all word of mouth is created equal -- because not all consumers are created equal.
Does This Ad Make Me Look Gay?
If you launch a gay-targeted campaign or even simply run advertising in gay media, will you be pegged as a "gay brand"? Could this turn off your heterosexual customers?
Pros and Cons: Should You Embrace Lifestyle Branding?
Puma is shifting away from stressing functional performance toward touting its products as a lifestyle choice. Is this wise?
Pharma Industry Can't Advance if FDA Fails to Properly Advise It
Given that eight in 10 internet users are looking online for health information, it is imperative that the FDA finds a solution to its ongoing battle to provide timely and relevant guidelines for pharmaceutical social-media communications and marketing.
Outdoor Advertising Creates Another Digital Divide
You can't turn in any direction on any major street or in any restaurant or shopping mall without being presented with a digital advertisement -- but the backlash is already beginning.
What Apple Can Teach You About PR
Apple CEO Steve Jobs' latest round of off-the-cuff communications raises some great questions for communicators. Chief among them: If a CEO screws up but no one seems to care, does that have any effect on the company's reputation?
How to Ensure You're Getting the Most Out of Collaboration
A collaborative culture requires that individuals are motivated by and rewarded for pursuing a common goal.
Why Old Spice Ad May Be the Ad Your Ads Shouldn't Be Like
Humor can be extraordinarily powerful. There are few things more important to the human experience than laughter. But, it's not the most powerful tool for advertising.
