Jaffe thinks the creative function should fade away?

“Why don’t you all just fade away.” - Rex Manning, Empire Records
 I couldn’t help but think of this quote from my favorite movie when I finished reading Joseph Jaffe’s latest blog post on “Is it time to phase out the creative function“.  In one of the more provocative posts I have read in a long [...]

Redefining luxury today and in the future

Folks at scenarioDNA put together a great presentation on the changing face of luxury.  Not only do they define 4 luxury personas (Purists, Guilted Lillies, Passport Posse & Brand New Heavies) but also talk about generational differences within these 4 personas.  Great read for those in luxury marketing or those looking at the concept of [...]

Future Department - The Next Issue

Just finished reading the The Next Issue and it was filled with some truly great quotes.  If you aren’t familiar with The Next Issue, it is a new monthly magazine put out by the Future Department.  The magazine includes some killer commentary from thoughtleaders in a variety of industries.  Here are a couple of my favorite [...]

Being like Dad isn’t a bad thing

I’ve been a huge fan of the new Canadian Club campaign ever since it broke a few months ago.  According to the latest article from AdAge, it appears I’m not the only one.  The campaign, under the tagline of “Damn Right Your Dad Drank It” has helped Canadian Club reverse one of the longest declines [...]

Alicia Keys sells out for Dove

So my girlfriend was watching the season premiere of The Hills last night and I was surprised by what I saw during the commercial break.  Dove had created a “micro-series” called “Fresh Takes” to promote their latest product launch.  Now I wasnt surprised by the micro-series itself (which was horrible in my opinion) but by [...]

How do you measure Social Media?

Ian Schafer points us to a great article/discussion over at Adweek on the metrics of Social Media.  In my opinion, this is one of the biggest issues facing the industry right now.  The largest advertisers (like P&G) have embraced the traditional aspects of social media, putting up banner ads on MySpace, etc.  We are experimenting [...]

What’s Next in Marketing?

Just read a great presentation by Paul Isakson on the Future of Marketing. One of my favorite slides was a quote from a marketer at Nike:
“We’re not in the business of keeping the media companies alive. We’re in the business of connecting with consumers.” - Trevor Edwards, VP Global Brand & Category Management [...]

AOL buys Bebo for $850MM…did they get a good deal?

Lots of talk this morning about AOL buying Bebo for $850MM.  My favorite post was over at Silicon Alley Insider where they made a comparison of the per user cost of Bebo versus other deals.  Here is the snapsot:
News Corp (NWS)/MySpace deal, July 2005: $580 million, or $21.80 for each of the network’s 27 million [...]

IEG Presentation - Youth is a Mindset

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ll be at the IEG Sponsorship Conference in Chicago next Monday giving a presentation on Youth Marketing.  Entitled “Youth Marketing is no longer a demographic…it’s a mindset”, the presentation looks at how brands need to leverage the youth market to learn how to market in new, meaningful ways.  It’s a collection [...]

Social Media Jobs on the Rise

Not surprisingly, Social Media jobs are on the rise and likely will only keep getting hotter.  Frankly I am encouraged by this because I’m a big believer in the potential of Social Media, but I’m afraid bad marketers could kill it.  We need experts that really understand the space and the communities so that brands [...]