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Middle seat nightmare. BTW, it's a 787. And the reason I know that is because of the recent spate of bad news about that plane, from fuel leaks to electrical fires. I'll take the 757, thank you.
This Dreamliner is a nightmare
Picture the following scenario: You're squeezed in the middle seat of jam-packed United 757 about to leave Newark en route to Las Vegas. Flight attendants are yelling at passengers to pass their oversized luggage forward since it won't fit in the overhead bins, the aroma of Big Macs and pizza...
I remember what Jimmy Huff had to go through to help win that business. But I never heard that anecdote about Malcolm. Brilliant!
Pitch this
Have you had an opportunity to watch 'The Pitch' on AMC? For those of you not in the know, it's yet another artificial reality TV show. In this case, though, the plot revolves around two real-world advertising agencies pitching a living, breathing client. But, after that, all semblance of reali...
Contrived conflict is the primary ingredient for "reality" TV, Steve. Making solid strategy is visually boring.
Pitch this
Have you had an opportunity to watch 'The Pitch' on AMC? For those of you not in the know, it's yet another artificial reality TV show. In this case, though, the plot revolves around two real-world advertising agencies pitching a living, breathing client. But, after that, all semblance of reali...
My fondest quote from Mr. Foster was when I told him I was getting married: "Marriage? Well that'll f*ck you up."
To be stuck inside of Brouillard with the Peppercom blues again
This post is dedicated to every Brouillard alumnus who suffers the same type of PTSD. Do you have a recurring nightmare? I do, and it's something special. The plot's always the same, although the characters sometimes change. Here's the gist: For god knows what reason, I've decided to sell...
*head smack* Would love to know how many man-hours it took them to come up with that.
We just got religion
As a proud alumnus of Hill & Knowlton, I was interested (and then disheartened) to read of the firm’s name change. Effective immediately, Hill & Knowlton is now Hill+Knowlton Strategies. Wow! Talk about cataclysmic news. I’m not sure I’ll ever be quite the same. Adding the word strategies is, we...
Not there yet, a mere 77. A lot younger than Ernest Borgnine. I like the fact that they still work together as the voices of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy on Spongebob Squarepants.
Red roses for a blue lady
I’m not sure why I’m on Mike Carlton’s e-mail distribution list, but I’m glad I am. Mike’s a Chagrin Falls, Ohio-based, advertising agency consultant who produces a periodic e-mail newsletter and video. (Note to Mike: if I were you, I’d urge the city fathers to change the name of your headquart...
Informative and cautionary content for sure. By the way Steve, Chagrin Falls is the hometown of comedic actor Tim Conway.
Red roses for a blue lady
I’m not sure why I’m on Mike Carlton’s e-mail distribution list, but I’m glad I am. Mike’s a Chagrin Falls, Ohio-based, advertising agency consultant who produces a periodic e-mail newsletter and video. (Note to Mike: if I were you, I’d urge the city fathers to change the name of your headquart...
Lorraine. Duh.
What a REAL Steve Jobs presentation must have been like
Wednesday's CommPR.Biz contains a blog authored by Makovsky's Gene Marbach and entitled, "The Art of the Presentation (and What I Learned from Steve Jobs). As might be expected, the blog contains all the smart things great presenters already know (i.e. Jobs strict adherence to The KISS princip...
Passion is important, but in his case it was all consuming.
What a REAL Steve Jobs presentation must have been like
Wednesday's CommPR.Biz contains a blog authored by Makovsky's Gene Marbach and entitled, "The Art of the Presentation (and What I Learned from Steve Jobs). As might be expected, the blog contains all the smart things great presenters already know (i.e. Jobs strict adherence to The KISS princip...
Based upon all the anecdotes Job's biographer supplied during his book tour, from the temper tantrums to the weeping, I've come to the conclusion that Jobs was simply a moody, genius level menopausal woman. No offense to actual women.
What a REAL Steve Jobs presentation must have been like
Wednesday's CommPR.Biz contains a blog authored by Makovsky's Gene Marbach and entitled, "The Art of the Presentation (and What I Learned from Steve Jobs). As might be expected, the blog contains all the smart things great presenters already know (i.e. Jobs strict adherence to The KISS princip...
My eyes are still burning from reading this. Ivory tower thinking at its best.
Big agency think
As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, I recently had the opportunity to speak on a cable industry panel that addressed such subjects as client-agency relationships, social media and what's next. I was paired with a branding expert and a big agency guy. The former was somewhat out of his depth s...
A ham-handed attempt at social media-influenced humanization.
There's nothing gray about this name
Grey Healthy People is the horrendous name chosen for the new, combined healthcare unit of Grey Group, one of hundreds of agencies within WPP (insert link). The global division will specialize in advertising for health-related products and services. But, let me ask you something, would you ret...
"To the best of my knowledge, Ronald was never ordained". Oh, snap!
The Pol Pot of supersized portions
First it was Hosni Mubarak. Then, Muammar el-Qaddafi. Now comes news there's been a coup d'etat at Burger King as well, and the King has been banished. The media cited words such as 'creepy' and 'disturbing' to explain the king's overthrow. I'd add “…horrific role model, guilty of encouraging m...
I was thinking the same thing after reading at your first graph. New biz pitches are about as ugly as sausage extrusion (and law making).
I wouldn't pitch 'The Pitch' either
Looking to cash in on its breakout hit, 'Mad Men', AMC is scrambling to create a new reality show called 'The Pitch'. It's intended to be a behind-the-scenes look at real ad agencies pitching real pieces of new business. There's only one problem: AMC can't find ANY agencies to participate in...
A positive twist on your use of Heinz 57: lots of variety creates a rich life. Can't say you're not squeezing every drop out of the bottle.
Golden Years
I'm 57 today. That's old. It sounds old and it looks old. As a matter of fact, 57 only looks good on the label of a Heinz's ketchup bottle. Turning 57 is an actuarial wake-up call. There's no denying that, statistically speaking, I'm much closer to the end than the beginning. But, to add insu...
"I believe religion, and not money, is the root cause of all evil."
Damn straight.
Forget WeinerGate. What about JudgmentGate?
How come we're hounding Congressman Anthony Weiner out of office but allowing Brother Harold Camping to continue scaring people and collecting millions of dollars for his ersatz preaching? In case you don't recognize the name, Camping's the lunatic who predicted Judgment Day would occur on M...
Oh, just give me the TARDIS. End of the world wouldn't matter.
Ten days to go!
According to Bible scholar and Family Radio personality Harold Camping, Judgement Day will occur on May 21, 2011. (Note: Harold & Co. spell judgment with an “e” so RepMan is compelled to honor their mistake. But me wonders if their math is off too…?) That's right. We have 10 days until “The Ra...
Sit in on every comedy act I could find. Hey, if the world is about to end, might as well drink and laugh. I'd expect a set from you, Steve.
Ten days to go!
According to Bible scholar and Family Radio personality Harold Camping, Judgement Day will occur on May 21, 2011. (Note: Harold & Co. spell judgment with an “e” so RepMan is compelled to honor their mistake. But me wonders if their math is off too…?) That's right. We have 10 days until “The Ra...
Consider Lewis Black's take on soy "milk" [Caution: Not safe for work] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXS5GBuk-GQ
There's no joy in Soyville
The market for soy food and beverages dropped a whopping 16 percent in the last two years, according to a report from market researcher, Mintel. Soy watchers blame rising prices, new alternatives and the fickleness of health-conscious consumers. I'd add one other ingredient: taste. Yuck! Hav...
What makes a blog popular seems as elusive as what makes a video go viral. But Book and Lunch are right. We all have reputations; the topic is deep as it is wide. So we regularly tune in to find out who screwed up this week and how to avoid making the same missteps ourselves.
A blog about blogs
Remember the Seinfeld episode in which Kramer writes a coffee table book about coffee table books? Well, this is a blog about blogs. I began blogging in 2006. Since then, Repman has been named best in industry, consistently ranked among the AdAge Power 100 and attracted hundreds of subscribers...
Where will it end, Steve? With people like the Steinbrenner boys casually referencing socialism when public funds built their cash-making sport palaces, who knows? http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/index?id=6146704
Wretched excess
I sometimes shake my head in wonder at how utterly detached from everyday reality our role models have become. Take the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter. Please. I think the Yankees would like another team to take the aging superstar off their hands. In addition to his eroding, on-the-field skil...
Private elevator? Feh! I remember back in the day that our erstwhile CEO had his own corporate lunch table. I glanced at it once.
Sorry, but this is my elevator
Erstwhile Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O'Neal had his own private elevator at corporate headquarters. After being deposited at a separate, ground floor entrance by his liveried driver, Mr. O'Neal would stroll into 'his' elevator and zoom upwards to his world-class corner office on the 32nd floor. Wh...
You killed.
What sets your organization apart?
Differentiating a public relations firm is no easy task since we all pretty much offer the same set of services. Sure, the holding companies will play the size card and boutiques will tout their category expertise while we midsized firms will sell a ‘best of both worlds’ solution. Still, it’s...
I knew the second Jim and you'll never be him. Of that you can be glad.
The Lion in Winter
I've worked for two lions in winter. Both were aging CEOs in the twilight of their careers. Both were both named Jim. And, both told me I should be ashamed of myself (but, for dramatically different reasons.) The first Jim was president of a global consulting firm in the mid-1980s. He was te...
Feeling the same way out here on the prairie, Steve. Looking around the bend for better news. BTW, regarding the Q-Tips? Unlike pursuing new business, stop when you feel resistance.
A distant ship’s smoke on the horizon
Ever since writing the very first RepMan blog back in 2006, I’ve been trying to find a good fit for my favorite Pink Floyd lyric, ‘A distant ship’s smoke on the horizon.’ And, while I’ve never been quite understood the lyric’s context within ‘Comfortably Numb,’ I’ve always found it incredibly ...
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