Ad People Pull Together in Tough Times

When I was in New York in late March, I attended two advertising events that strained in different directions as if they were Dr. Doolittles pushmepullyous.

The first was held at a beautiful glassed-in meeting room at the New York Times that honored the 2009 inductees to American Advertising Association's Hall of Fame. This first event was a reception in a beautiful setting (the sun was setting slowly over Manhattan in winter and the renzo Piano glass box that is the NYT headquarters never looked better). I got nice wine and canapes plus a chance to meet and talk with some of 2009's - as well as past HoF - honorees.

These are all people who've been good for advertising and who advertising has been extremely good to (read $).

After 90 minutes among the elite I hailed a cab and went further downtown for an event in an Irish-themed bar on 3rd Avenue sponsored by AdAge "honoring" ad people who had been laid off in the current economic downturn. It was called "This Sucks... Let's Play." The bar was not quite as photogenic as NYT, nor was the event as festive.

These are all people who've been good to Advertising but who advertising has NOT been extremely good to, but had provided a good living, until recently.

I talked to several people who'd been let go before for economic reasons and many of them expressed a desire to finally leave the business and get into something "more stable." A bottom-line loss to the business of advertising.

I knew I'd blog about this sooner or later but didn't really know how to resolve my own conflicts with the two events.

Then, this morning I saw - or rather heard - a resolution. NPR's Morning Edition featured a segment titled "Ad Agency Finds 2 for 1 Deal in Downturn."

As the story states, "Ariel Horn, who runs The Horn Corp., a Manhattan ad agency, has found both a way to help the numerous unemployed ad workers in New York, and a new business model."

Yes, I believe this is what I was looking for.

This may be the business model advertising needs now!

Comments appreciated!

First a Flash of Light, Then the Rumble of Thunder

Every once in a while I come across something to cause little lightning storms inside my head. On the subject of history is was a 1970s book and TV series called Connections by James Burke. In the 80s, while I was president of an ad agency, it was Tom Peters' treatise on management, In Search of Excellence. And when I was in grad school in history in the late 90s, I was thunderstruck by the new ideas in William Cronon's Changes in the Land : Indians, Colonists and the Ecology of New England - the book that launched the practice of environmental history - and It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own by Richard White that helped form my view of American Western history. Let me not leave out Lawrence Olivier's King Lear, Kenneth Branaugh's Henry V and RM Koster's obscure, but no less electric, The Dissertation.

The common experience was that each provided me with a way to sharpen my curiosity about (or appreciation of) a difficult topic and gave me the impetus to better structure my notions regarding each. When I met Tom Peters at the National Association of Broadcasters meeting in 2001, I told him that reading his book led me into lots of trouble in the business world. He replied with what he and I already knew, "That was the point!"

Well, I saw something Friday in Bend, Oregon, that caused another cranial storm.

Yesterday, those of us attending the American Advertising Federation Western Region Meeting saw a presentation - crackling with ideas, insight and humor - by author Scott Bedbury founder of Brandstream, Inc., that represented a semester-long course in branding - miraculously shrunk to about 120 brain-buzzing minutes.

Bedbury is Northwest-born (University of Oregon School of Journalism) guy who cut his teeth at ad agency Cole & Weber and who subsequently drove the marketing machines at both Nike and Starbucks.

I bought his business book A New Brand World, some time ago, but haven't yet opened it. Shame on me for the delay. I've moved it to "next" in my to-read stack.

Here's Bedbury, on a more formal occasion, introducing his theory of motivating staff using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.



It was a great afternoon, a high voltage current of ideas about the mystery we call "branding." I'm glad I was there to savor it.

I'm in Central Oregon for an AAF Meeting

If anything dramatic happens, I'll let you know.
GP
Seventh Mountain Resort, Bend, OR

Meanwhile, this for your consideration:
Most valued brands and brand values*. Please, why is it always the same hands that go up?

*We're doing our part to support one US icon; we just bought a Ford.
GP&KP