There is an image of an advertising campaign poster making the rounds on social media that has been marked with comments that question the motives and manipulative methods behind the design. (See Below) It is a good example of social and cultural commentary being added onto a commercial poster, but it is far from a new idea. The first time I became aware of this type of movement was in the 1990s, by a group called Adbusters. As a graphic design student, and taking great interest in designers such as Jonathan Barnbrook who were very social and counter-cultural in the work they did (and it turn ..read more

John Wanamaker, a successful retailer and merchant, is reputed to have said that “half of my advertising is wasted, I just don’t know which half.” Such sentiments have oft been repeated in the years since Wanamaker’s death. There is no doubt that advertising, with its strong focus on creativity and the use of ever evolving media technology, remains a bit of a mystery. Yet the things that make advertising effective are well known. They have been well documented in academic literature and articulated by creative directors with remarkable clarity. This is not to suggest that there is a “formula ..read more

The modern digital age exposes consumers to unprecedented levels of information, with much of it coming from brands and businesses. In 1980, 25 years before the advent of the smartphone, Americans were exposed to the equivalent of 10 gigabytes of data per day. 28 years later, in 2008, the human hard drive processed 34 gigs of daily data. Today, Americans absorb roughly 74 gigabytes of information every single day, the equivalent of nine DVDs worth of data. If this trend continues, we’ll soon need to find ways to consume more than 24 hours of media every 24 hours. In today’s world of multitask ..read more

Jon Bond and Richard Kirshenbaum are trying hard not to be seen, hiding in plain sight at the Pen & Pencil restaurant, an upscale eatery in Midtown Manhattan. It’s the lunchtime rush and the waiter, dressed in a crisp white shirt and black trousers has come over once, twice, to take their order but again they push him away. The two ad hustlers work at different advertising agencies but have a side gig that lets them meet during lunch hour to collaborate on freelance projects. The projects pay just enough to buy the duo lunch at the most expensive restaurants in town. They only have the lu ..read more

The majority of today’s advertising is still based on push marketing tactics, especially price discounting to incent consumers to buy. Push marketing sometimes works to move products off the shelf in the short term, but push marketing is not a brand building strategy. Product ads and messages not tied to a cohesive brand story are simply doing product positioning, but not brand positioning, and since products come and go, over the long term it’s the brand story, its values and ideal experiences that compose the big ideas for positioning your company. Thus, it cheapens a brand by putting out t ..read more

There is an image of an advertising campaign poster making the rounds on social media that has been marked with comments that question the motives and manipulative methods behind the design. (See Below) It is a good example of social and cultural commentary being added onto a commercial poster, but it is far from a new idea. The first time I became aware of this type of movement was in the 1990s, by a group called Adbusters. As a graphic design student, and taking great interest in designers such as Jonathan Barnbrook who were very social and counter-cultural in the work they did (and it turn ..read more

John Wanamaker, a successful retailer and merchant, is reputed to have said that “half of my advertising is wasted, I just don’t know which half.” Such sentiments have oft been repeated in the years since Wanamaker’s death. There is no doubt that advertising, with its strong focus on creativity and the use of ever evolving media technology, remains a bit of a mystery. Yet the things that make advertising effective are well known. They have been well documented in academic literature and articulated by creative directors with remarkable clarity. This is not to suggest that there is a “formula ..read more

The modern digital age exposes consumers to unprecedented levels of information, with much of it coming from brands and businesses. In 1980, 25 years before the advent of the smartphone, Americans were exposed to the equivalent of 10 gigabytes of data per day. 28 years later, in 2008, the human hard drive processed 34 gigs of daily data. Today, Americans absorb roughly 74 gigabytes of information every single day, the equivalent of nine DVDs worth of data. If this trend continues, we’ll soon need to find ways to consume more than 24 hours of media every 24 hours. In today’s world of multita ..read more

Jon Bond and Richard Kirshenbaum are trying hard not to be seen, hiding in plain sight at the Pen & Pencil restaurant, an upscale eatery in Midtown Manhattan. It’s the lunchtime rush and the waiter, dressed in a crisp white shirt and black trousers has come over once, twice, to take their order but again they push him away. The two ad hustlers work at different advertising agencies but have a side gig that lets them meet during lunch hour to collaborate on freelance projects. The projects pay just enough to buy the duo lunch at the most expensive restaurants in town. They only have the ..read more

The majority of today’s advertising is still based on push marketing tactics, especially price discounting to incent consumers to buy. Push marketing sometimes works to move products off the shelf in the short term, but push marketing is not a brand building strategy. Product ads and messages not tied to a cohesive brand story are simply doing product positioning, but not brand positioning, and since products come and go, over the long term it’s the brand story, its values and ideal experiences that compose the big ideas for positioning your company. Thus, it cheapens a brand by putting out ..read more