I had the opportunity to spend four days in Barcelona last week on a hastily-arranged vacation. The time was short, but it was nice to have the change of scenery.
On my first day there, I noticed this huge, striking Nike banner draping one of the skyscrapers on Plaza Catalunya. It had two giant bell peppers in the team colors of Football Club Barcelona and a Nike swoosh. I thought, that’s cool, and made a note to myself to photograph it later.
Even though I’m not a huge sports guy, I knew …

When I first saw the ads and the coverage announcing the Judgment Day for May 21st, I thought it was a great guerilla campaign for a movie, maybe a prequel for “2012”.
But then, I realized that it wouldn’t make sense at all, not even for Hollywood. Yeah, the campaign was about the real J-Day.
The man who attracted the world’s media attention (why media, why?) with his “vision” is a broadcaster called Harold Camping and is…89 years old.
Man, if I was in my nineties and I was sure the world was …

Like it or not, the world ‘lives’ on Facebook these days. It is the hub for virtually everything that happens online. It is where people go to coordinate their social lives. It’s where we share stuff. It’s where we go to find stuff. It’s our network. It’s our life.
So why the hell would you leave your work info off of your profile?
As someone who looks for talent on a pretty regular basis, I cannot tell you how frustrating it is when I see a Facebook profile with no work history …

You rarely raised your hand in class. When you had free time, you buried your head in books. You thought being sent to your room was pretty cool.
You, my friend, are a natural born leader.
Huh?
Yep, that’s what this article says. And it uses some pretty high-profile examples (Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Charles Schwab) to make its point.
It all may seems a bit counterintuitive, especially when you see some of the flashier ‘rock stars’ in our business getting all of the attention. No doubt, those high-energy ‘Type A’ people can be …

I was traveling around the US the other day to work on  a shoot.
And in my hotel, next to the cereal dispenser, I found it.
A box of milk with a label saying: 2% of milk. As I never drink milk, it was a revelation for me: they are making milk with no milk.
Later that day, I went to a convenience store, bought a bottle of “Lemonade” and looked at the label again. Surprise: 0% lemon juice.
We live in an age where nothing is what it was supposed to be. Milk, …

Sometimes we forget that we are all in the dopamine business.
More than anything else, our job as marketers is to create a brand experience that fires off synapse explosions in the target consumer’s lower frontal lobe, triggering the secretion of dopamine. It sounds harder to do than it actually is. We experience these reactions every day, whenever we taste something weird or delicious, listen to Kanye, or search the web for photos of grown men wearing baby bonnets.
These are the very reactions that make people do the things they do. …

Randy Sandy was a professional boxer back in the 50s. His career record was a very symmetrical 24-24-2.
If he worked in advertising, he’d be considered an expert.
Why?
Because we value experience over expertise. We value consistency over curiosity.
Just keep doing what you’re doing, don’t rock the boat and don’t stick your neck out. You will be rewarded with bonuses, promotions and features in Adweek and AdAge.
We have created a culture where failure is the worst thing that can happen. This is just flat out stupid.
Failure is a necessary by-product of innovation. …

You ever spend 2 hours online just checking out ad agency websites?
Or blow an hour scrolling through twitter feeds of your favorite creatives?
How about spending half a day reading up on financial planning because you have an ad due in 3 days on that very subject?
A little obsessive? Maybe. Good for your career? Absolutely.
The only way to get really good at something is to obsess about it. You think Beethoven had only a passing interest in music? You think Steinbeck thought books were kinda cool? You think Megan Fox is …