Brand Central Station

Blame Tina Fey if you want.  I do.

The SNL alum had the nerve (along with her cohorts) to call out the mainstream media and seriously question their objectivity on the Obama vs Clinton primary battle for the Democratic nomination for President.  It does seem the media has been taking it easy on Mr. Obama and the SNL folks don’t seem to like it much at all.  (View Fey’s editorial rant here.)

There’s more to review by visiting a blog set up to provide the video YouTube won’t show.  Give it a look (here) and let me know what you think. (more…)

Welcome to Stage 9.

Disney has just launched their first (?) on-line production studio, Stage 9 Digital Media (summary, article).  And with the launch of their studio, they also introduced their first of twenty made-for-web series.

That’s right, twenty. (more…)

The Bulldog Reporter’s “Daily Dog” newsletter reports (here) that Richmond, VA-based AgencyFinder.com is launching an agency rating system for the agencies registered with its service.  The rating system helps rank agencies that meet the criteria required by the searching client or consultant.

As a disclaimer, let me say that I’m friends with the folks at AgencyFinder and have used their service to conduct a search for a new agency for a client.  The service is free to those who are looking for a new agency – the cost of the service is borne entirely by the agencies registered in the database. 

From my point of view, AgencyFinder’s new rating service will help keep things fair and objective (the first round of evaluations is done “blind” – meaning the client doesn’t know the name of the agencies they’re reviewing).  Keeping everything on an “apples to apples” basis will put small and large agencies on a relatively level playing field.

Congratulations to Chuck and his team on this new innovation.  I can’t wait to see it in action.

There’s an interesting piece in AdWeek this week that talks about a demographic class I hadn’t seen before … the “working wealthy.”  This group of consumers (also known as “middle class millionaires”) is defined by authors Lewis Schiff and Russ Alan Prince as having the following attributes:

Middle-class millionaires — the 8.4 million households in America with $1 million to $10 million in net worth — are setting the pace for innovation in new and fascinating ways. Although the word “millionaire” may conjure up images of first-class lifestyles and financial peace of mind, middle-class millionaires work exceptionally long hours to maintain their expensive lifestyles and most think of themselves as just plain “middle class.”

Though the working wealthy share many of their values with the rest of the middle class, they also exhibit traits that set them apart. For example, they consider themselves to be influential in their community. They are 50 percent more likely to say that they “tell lots of other people about products or services they like” than middle-class survey respondents. They also report “being asked for advice on what to buy” five times more often than our middle-class survey respondents.

I encourage you to read the whole article – you’ll find the information to be helpful in your marketing planning and of interest to your clients, as well.

Forty is too young to die.

I can say that now, as I’m all of forty-five.  Last week’s news of the death of DDB’s creative chief, Paul Tilley, hit home for me.  Here’s a guy about my age with a bunch of kids and a wife and (apparently) all the upside in the world.

But with the upside comes pressure.  And with the pressure, a darkness.

Ad Age had a very solid piece on Paul Tilley and the reactions to his suicide.  You can read it here.

One line in the Ad Age piece referred to a New York Post story (found here) that referred to the “Blogs of Death” – specifically AgencySpy and AdScam.  The “Blogs of Death” epithet is more the result of bad headline writing than any claim staked by either blog.

Do yourself a favor.  Don’t get caught up in the self-indulgent introspection of trying to figure out who’s to blame for this tragedy.  It won’t bring Paul Tilley back and it won’t make life any easier for his wife and kids.  Just morn the all-too-soon loss of a husband and father who, as it just so happens, was a creative director that did some excellent work.

Godspeed, Paul Tilley.