It’s the new water cooler conversation piece – ChatGPT – the artificial intelligence (AI) that many say will transform (or destroy) their industries. In our circles of course, everyone is asking the question “Will Advertising Agencies become a thing of the past?” Heck, find one college student who hasn’t discovered ChatGPT and I’ll show you...
Effective marketing eludes most people for a couple of reasons. The first is because we, as marketers, have become lazy and enamored with vanity metrics. It’s far easier to brag about impressions and reach of our campaigns than to hold our marketing dollars accountable for metrics that matter. Increased accountability increases predictability. A predictable marketing...
The changing consumer and media landscape now provides small and independent agencies like 78Madison a competitive edge. The world has changed. Not more or less than in previous years or decades or generations. But in a post-cookie, post-pandemic, post-ad-free-Netflix world, things are different. It’s different for consumers, for brands and for the things that matter...
Many people are surprised that I have been in the same industry – advertising – for 40 years. In fact, most are fascinated by the fact that I continue to be so passionate about what I do. I will certainly confess that this has been a great ride so far, and I don’t see it...
We understand that sometimes you bite off more than you can chew… We understand that some days you just can’t win… We understand that working hard seems to be getting harder… We understand meetings and deadlines and overtime… We understand that flights get delayed, and luggage gets lost… We understand that it’s hard to find...
I was having lunch recently with a gentleman who was asking me if I might consider being on the board of his organization. During the “getting to know each other” sequence he asked me about my career, and if things had changed dramatically since I entered the advertising agency industry in 1978. Then he asked...
Brands obsess about attention, and for good reason. A fractured media landscape makes it harder to get noticed, especially with attention spans getting shorter. Yet too many ads are trying too hard, and nothing pushes someone away more than desperation. Why are we still subjected to digital ad units that pop up and make it...
As many of you are aware, I bought the advertising agency I had been President of for ten years in 2014 and changed the name to 78Madison. Early on, while there were changes to how we conducted business philosophically, there was not a major shift in approach for our staff or clients. But now, eight...
Strange question when it comes to the subject of marketing and creativity. But in short, the answer is yes! Unfortunately, most advertising agencies are not willing to endure the pain that it takes to end up in the right place on behalf of their clients. So, what is good pain? Good pain is not accepting...
An old advertising cohort and I used to go to lunch at Steak and Shake every Friday—back in the late 1980’s (ok, so I’m old) when in my humble opinion the franchise was under-managed, and the buildings were stuck in the 1950s. I remember thinking dozens of times; this is such a great product. What...