In this week's Adhocracy column, Everybody Loves an Underdog, Simon Houpt reveals research that shows consumers bond easily with scrappy upstarts, and that companies can leverage the story of their origin long after they’ve grown.

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BY SIMON HOUPT
THE GLOBE AND MAIL

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British ad watchdog bites over broadband claims

For an organization made up of people who look at ads all day, the Advertising Standards Authority of Britain doesn’t seem to have much tolerance for poetic licence. This week it ruled against British Telecom’s claim of providing “instant” broadband after the telecom company admitted its service wasn’t literally instant: it was instant like, you know, instant coffee. The ruling came after the U.K. telecom regulator Ofcom discovered the average speed of most ISP service was 46 per cent lower than promised. Hold on – there’s a telecom regulator that actually checks ISP speed? Are you listening, CRTC?

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As media strategists, our jobs are very much about making choices: choices about which sites to include in our media plans, which ad creative to use in our campaigns, and which ad formats to employ. Not only must we select from among a plethora of options, but we must also weigh the value of these against one another. Should we go with a Leaderboard unit or Half Page Skyscraper? A floating ad or a rollover banner?

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A weekly compendium of interesting items from the world of media, marketing and advertising.


AdWeek, July 29, 2010
If your smartphone shows an ad for a coffee shop across the street, it’s not an accident—in fact, it’s part of Google’s new paid Adwords strategy. Users of the Google Display Network will soon see advertisements for products and services based on their current whereabouts, provided the obstacle of determining user locations can be overcome. Read the AdWeek article


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BY SHAWNA RICHER
THE GLOBE AND MAIL

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It turns out that people love Don Draper about as much as they do real ad executives, which is to say: Not very much. Despite Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, and a flood of rave reviews, the fourth season of Mad Men kicked off last Sunday with only 2.92 million U.S. viewers, which is marginally higher than last year’s debut but far from what you’d expect with all that promotion. Still, AMC says it’s pleased, pointing out that 48 per cent of the show’s viewing households earn $100,000 or more, leading to higher ad rates. Well, at least ad executives love a show about ad executives.

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In this week's Adhocracy column, Canada’s anti-attack ad culture, Simon Houpt discusses the reason for a dearth of marketing smackdowns on this side of the border, and why some argue it’s a lost opportunity for advertisers.


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A weekly compendium of interesting items from the world of media, marketing and advertising.


AdWeek, July 27, 2010
Traditional agencies are starting to catch up to their digital counterparts in the online advertising sphere. As illustrated by the recent success of the Old Spice commercials, companies like Wieden + Kennedy are demonstrating a new understanding of this medium, and similarly, digital agencies are moving beyond their technical capabilities to increase their role in brand awareness and relationship programs. Read the AdWeek article

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A weekly compendium of interesting items from the world of media, marketing and advertising.


AdWeek, July 20, 2010
Social networks—everybody uses them, but does everybody love them? According to an American Customer Satisfaction Index report, the answer is: no. In fact, the report states that social networks have the lowest customer satisfaction score of any of the measured e-business or e-retail industries and are at the same (low) level of popularity as airlines and cable television companies. Read the AdWeek article

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BY SHAWNA RICHER
THE GLOBE AND MAIL

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Are you a creative director whose parents still wish you’d done something meaningful with your life? Winning a Cannes Lion just wasn’t enough for them? Would bringing home a Nobel Peace Prize finally shut them up? Then check out The Impossible Brief, a challenge by Saatchi & Saatchi Tel Aviv to devise a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Detail your original, creative and truly inspiring suggestion for how to bring these two nations closer together,” reads the campaign’s Facebook page . The winner will be selected by a panel of Israeli and Arab ad folk, who no doubt will come to a unanimous decision in complete and perfect harmony. Oy.

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In this week's Adhocracy column, Sex sells. No, wait. Maybe it doesn't, Simon Houpt discusses why developers have used sex and lifestyle images to sell real estate and why insiders say it doesn’t work.

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A weekly compendium of interesting items from the world of media, marketing and advertising.


AdWeek, July 12, 2010
Thanks to a pair of global sporting events and an overall market turnaround, the advertising industry is finally seeing the light. After 18 dark months, advertising dollars are on the grow again, with the biggest surges coming from Asia and Latin America. Read the AdWeek article

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BY SHAWNA RICHER
THE GLOBE AND MAIL

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Porsche and Gahndi


Poor Germany! As if the country’s loss to Spain in the World Cup semi-final weren’t humiliating enough, now a guerrilla marketing campaign by Nissan has Porsche crying like ein baby. During last weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, Nissan adorned one of its cars with the logos of Audi, BMW, and Porsche next to a notched count of victories it had won against each of them at a German race track. Porsche complained about the unauthorized use of its trademark, and Nissan relented, but it didn’t back off a parallel billboard campaign. Sample tagline? “The Germans Came Off Wurst.”

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