If the traditional ad agency is dead, what will take its place?

It was 17 years ago this month that McKinsey & Company published a strategy paper called “A revolution in interaction”. It was a look forward at the likely economic impact of the internet and the mechanisms that would drive it. In 1997 few of us had any idea about the changes that were about to transform marketing or how quickly the business models that defined our industry would become obsolete.

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The illusion of communication and how to prevent it

How to create your own marketing micro-profession

Before getting involved in advertising, I had planned on attending medical school. A lot of my pre-med training focused on establishing a very precise foundation of language to describe all things medical. Then I got a job in an ad agency.

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The Ad Agency Pitch Process Must Die

My New Year’s resolution for 2012 is to stop working for free. And if you run your own advertising or creative services firm, I hope you’ll join me.

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Will Direct Response Save Advertising?

Last week I read a great op-ed piece in The Boston Globe by Alex Poulos called “Mad Men of the Future.”

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Social media and the 10% solution.

I'm often asked if brands should use traditional or social media. The question is often phrased as if the two are mutually exclusive and you need to be on one camp or the other.

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Why we are not a Social Media Agency (and how that benefits you)

A prospective client recently contacted me because he heard that The Duffy Agency is “one of Europe’s best social media agencies.” At the risk of losing his business, I had to tell him we are not a social media agency, we are an advertising agency that is highly skilled in social media.

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The Superbowl’s biggest winners were also its biggest losers

The winner of the populist vote in this year’s Super Bowl ad war is the Betty White Snickers commercial. According to the 2010 USA Today Ad Meter, the commercial received an 8.68/10 score.

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Old dogs & new tricks: Saatchi and the Yaris social media debackle

Four years into the social media surge and I'm still not convinced that many of the large agency networks get it. The same way they didn't get branding in the late 80's, or the internet in the early 90's.

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Does the "Starring You" viral video technique still work?

Can your brand benefit from the wildly viral "Staring You Media"?I am not a fan of Sweden's "voluntary" TV-tax. However, I am a big fan of the campaign they have launched to induce me to pay it. Why? Well, it stars moi

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What I learned at Cannes Lions 2009

Big ideas win big at Cannes. Will advertising ever be the same?

The global slowdown in the ad biz took center stage at every talk and seminar this year at Cannes Lions. You could also see it in the smaller number of attendees and their general demeanor.

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So funny it hurts - the latest ad process parody

In case you ever wondered how bad ads get that way, you may want to check out this film. It's a cross between Truth in Advertising and Nine Ways to Improve an Ad. If there were no stop signs this is how they would be developed by a company and their ad agency.

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Will you be at the Cannes Lions 2009?

Well it's June and that mean tines for the annual pilgrimage to the South of France.  If you will be at the Cannes Lions next week let's meet up. I'll be there all week with colleagues from The Duffy Agency and the Transworld Advertising Agency Network (TAAN).

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Back to Basics

I’d like to thank you all for being here for the 2009 TAAN Global summit. I know most of you traveled great distances to join us here in Copenhagen. 

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