NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — If the nonprofit group ForestEthics had its way some, of North America’s top direct marketers — including Sears, Capital One and American Express — would get just as many lumps of coal in their mailboxes this holiday season as direct-mail pieces they bombard consumers with throughout the year.
(Via Advertising Age – News.)
Not quite as good as last year but, as usual, still good. Is it me or is Mac’s smugness getting dialed down ever so slightly?
VW is promoting their Polo’s absurdly low fuel consumption using art inspired by Surrealist painters.
The seven-year old Boston-based firm launched a redesigned cnn.com, a web-based narrative video for Dove and their own web browser in 2008. You can read the Barbarians’ reaction on their blog.
DVR, YouTube, yeah yeah we get it. Is this really the shape of things to come? Answer: Of course!
The already bearish author of myersreport.com joins the legions of people predicting 2009 will be a rough year for the media economy. This kind of forecast is already starting to feel repetitious but Myers has some frightening details:
“If current projections hold, advertising revenues will decline for the first time since the 1930s for three consecutive years from 2008 to 2010. And for the first time total marketing communications budgets will also decline, reflecting an overall decline in total marketing budgets for the first time since the great depression”
GSD&M Idea City’s tagline for Marshalls is, ‘It pays to be shamelessly shopportunistic.’ Not only does the agency despise the English language, but it apparently hates reindeer. This spot shows the beasts (who’ve escaped from a holiday display with a low fence) wandering in snarled traffic, perhaps soon to be flattened by a Hummer—most likely en route to the nearest Marshalls, where ’shopportunities’ await. Who cares about the confused-looking animals when some boutique owner has to cancel his delayed shipment of activewear, thus allowing Marshalls to grab it at ‘an insanely low price’ and sell the garments cheaply to the masses? I almost expected that guy from the old Crazy Eddie spots to show up screaming, ‘Marshalls’ prices are IN-SANE!’ Adweek’s Mark Dolliver says the Marshalls spot contains ‘too much sadness’ to evoke a semblance of holiday spirit. Even in light of the recession, I think this is the most soul-less and vacant yuletide pitch I’ve seen so far this season. ‘Shopportunities’ are for ’shopaholics.’ Such people are unwell. Just like this ad.
(Via AdFreak.)
In which Target makes Christmas consumerism adorable by acknowledging the recession. I’m predicting this is the beginning of huge trend by advertisers to position themselves as recession-proof. I’m sick of it already.
Ad Age has a round up of some of the big agency shifts of 2008. Topping the list is Pepsi’s move from it’s partner of 50 years, BBDO. Also on the list: Starbucks moves to BBDO and Nike leaves Crispin.
Read the article at AdAge
Agency Layoffs