[Originally posted on Medium] In A.M. Rosethanl’s 2006 obituary in the New York Times, Robert McFadden explains of Rosenthal’s tenure as managing and executive editor: By the end of the 1960′s, The Times, despite a distinguished journalistic history, had a clouded future. Its reporting and writing were widely regarded as thorough but ponderous. Revenues were declining, profits were marginal, circulation was [...]

I gave a talk at Ogilvy last week, and I used this reel of classic commercials that I learned about in Mary Well’s book and Art and Copy. Here are my notes: American Motors Rebel (Mary Wells): This commercial is inspired by an intriguing fact: American Motors Rebels were the most popular cars used in driving school.  It then included [...]

There is a coming creative revolution in digital advertising. Despite the DSPs and RTBs, most RFPs from major brand advertisers proclaim things like “what can you do custom, unique, and high impact!” This clear and crystal messaging on many RFPs is often accompanied with the comment “standard display units as value add only!” I believe we are returning to the [...]

In my continued study of vintage advertising industry texts, I came across Lester Wunderman’s tome “Being Direct,” thanks to David Shen. Wunderman the eponymous firm, remains a leading creative shop within the WPP group.  Lester, himself, is perhaps known as the godfather of direct marketing, and the 1996 book makes no reference to the internet.  With that said, few things [...]

My reading list on the ad industry began with Ogilvy’s Confession of an Advertising Man.  I was so compelled by the book, and its relevance to the online ad industry that I bought it for everyone in the office.  Over the weekend, I read Jerry Della Femina’s book, the literal inspiration for the show Mad Men.  These two texts serve [...]