Dave Trott is one of those characters who is almost always right. Best of all, he manages to be almost always be right by always being entertaining.
Here he is on the difference between brand and branding. Essential reading for everyone involved in marketing strategy.
A neat summation of how the virtues of 'old-fashioned' advertising can, and should, inform contemporary work. And as the author implies at the end of the piece, all this good stuff can be found in some of the great advertising books. If I had to choose one, it'd be Luke Sullivan's absolutely essential Hey Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads. Required reading for everybody who works in advertising.
Dave Dye, one of the UK's most respected and experienced Art Directors, runs a fantastic blog called Stuff From The Loft that features stuff from his (metaphorical) loft. It's packed to the rafters with interviews, stories, case studies, portfolios and all manner of flotsam and jetsam that shows how fascinatingly fun and creative advertising used to be. Truly marvellous.
Always entertaining, often funny and never wrong, Bob Hoffman's new book should be just the thing we need to cut through the endless marketing drivel that's out there. As the promotional blurb states:
"In marketing today, delusional thinking isn't just acceptable -- it's mandatory. In "Marketers Are From Mars, Consumers Are From New Jersey", Bob Hoffman, author of "101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising" and "The Ad Contrarian" explains how marketers and advertisers have lost touch with consumers and are living in a fantasy land of their own invention -- fed by a cultural echo chamber of books, articles and conferences in which people like them talk to people like them."
Buy it here for only $1.56.
Sexist advertising - a fine old tradition that carries on to the present day (thanks to American Apparel). A number of women share their views.
The excellent - and always correct - Bob Hoffman offers free advice to McDonald's new CMO: someone who is well-versed in the cliches and jargon of modern-day marketing:
1. Clean up the f***ing stores.
2. Serve the burgers off the grill instead of those plastic drawers.
3. Teach the crew how to smile.
Full post here: McDonald's Jargon-Fest.