You Sleep When You Die
you sleep when you die...and other unpopular thoughts from retail marketing leader, Jordan Zimmerman
We don’t give a damn whether we win an award for being “creative.” We are a business solutions agency that happens to do advertising. We are not Miss America contestants. Our competitors claim that when they win awards from the advertising industry, it increases recognition and business for the clients. That’s bullshit. We succeed because we are insanely committed to making sure our clients succeed in the marketplace. And “pay-for-performance” is how we have always worked.
Has JC Penney started a new, forward-looking chapter in its history? One problem for me, though, is that the chain’s initial national TV ad campaign was way off the mark. It was discombobulated, and it didn’t connect. I wasn’t sure what customers were suppose to take away from the ads, what value they were articulating, or what action they were meant to inspire. And there’s a deeper problem to look at. Unfortunately, when you walk into the JC Penney store environment now, any interest or excitement they might have created doesn’t work. The stores are still the same old stores.
A few days ago, there was movement as Ad Age reported that there will now be Lions given out for advertising effectiveness. At last, Cannes will be celebrating work that works. While part of me wonders what took them so long, I will simply tip my chapeau and say, “Très bon!”
Well, sort of…
By now almost everyone has heard about the new “Cash for Clunkers” program.
I recently commented about the pros and cons of the program in an interview for an Ad Age article. Click here to check it out.
I told you so.
A recent article in Ad Age announced the cancellation of many of the parties and other festivities scheduled at this year’s Cannes Festival. “You’d have to be tone-deaf to throw a big party this year in Cannes,” says DDB Worldwide CEO Chuck Brymer. According to the article, Cannes 2009 will be more focused on learning and improvement than parties and socializing.
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