The Clients Won. And This Is What We’re Gonna Do About It
The old models of making money at production companies and advertising agencies are falling by the wayside. Budgets are crashing through the
The Lost Art of Telling Long Stories
In life, one thing happens, then another. In story, one thing happens because of another. It’s causational. They’re interdependent. It’s pro
Top 10 Funniest Brand Pranks for April Fools’ Day 2017
Petco "DooDoo Drone"
Honda "Horn Emojis"
Lexus "Lane Valet"
Google "Gnome"
Mall of America "Tex
This is What You Need to Know About the Super Bowl of Advertising
In the last several years, pre- and post-game Super Bowl buzz were almost as important as the broadcast itself. Rather than unveiling spots
The Voodoo of Telling a Long Story: Humor Beyond 60 Seconds
I was in a Seattle Costco, hustling my production crew upstream through a river of shoppers scavenging pallets of packaged goods, and I was
The Tragic Process of Producing Comedy
Producing comedy is a lot like making a burrito: a plethora of tangy challenges wrapped in a tortilla of high hopes. It requires a light tou
Creating Comedic Characters That Can Sell Anything: Part II
As I explained last week, if you can create a well-designed character it can live for a very long time. But what I failed to mention is that
Creating Comedic Characters That Can Sell Anything: Part I
The senior copywriter rolled his eyes, expressing complete disdain for my answer, the idiot who let me in the building, and my very existenc
The Anatomy of a Successful Infomercial
Infomercials are the butt of a lot of jokes. And with good reason. Many of them are terrible. One reason? The production cost of a typical n
If It's Not Valuable It's Not Content Marketing
Today, everyone goes to great lengths to avoid ads. It’s becoming easier and simpler to avoid them with DVR’ed programs and ad blockers. Tha
How Machine Learning Reinvented Advertising
You’re shopping online for car mats from your cubicle at work and find a good price. Is it the same price you’ll pay tomorrow, searching fro
What You Need to Know About Strategy: Part II: Diffusion of Innovation Model and Brand Lifecycles
Everett Rogers created the Diffusion of Innovation Model in 1962. It explains how products gain momentum, which then spreads through differe