July 26, 2013

Friday Follies


Sad But Funny
George Zimmer, recently dislodged founder and long time TV and radio spokesman for the Men's Wearhouse, had this to say about ad people:
"...what really drives success, in my experience, is repetition and consistency, not creativity. I think people who are in the [ad] business tend to get more hung up on the creative aspects. They start to think of themselves more as artists and less as businessmen. We have the same problem with tailors, by the way."
Even if you hate the sentiment, you have to admit, it's a funny line.

Ad Contrarian On Campus
Very proud that my book, 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising, is one of only 3 books that is required reading at a major university this fall in a course about "Strategic Communications."

I read the course requirements and it's a good thing I wrote the book because I wouldn't qualify for the course.

Some Upcoming Gigs
The Type A's have some interesting gigs coming up in the next several weeks. Here are dates and places.
  • July 25: STAR (Society for Television, Advertising and Radio) San Francisco, ("Turnaround Marketing")
  • July 30: Noll Media Satellite Seminar, US & Canada ("The Battle For The World's Most Valuable Consumer")
  • August 22: Aging 2.0 Conference, San Francisco ("The Battle For The World's Most Valuable Consumer")
  • September 19: Portland Ad Federation ("Social Media vs Traditional Media")
  • September 26: Buffalo, NY Ad Club ("The Golden Age of Bullshit")
  • October 3: Travel Marketing Association, Hot Springs AR ("The Battle For The World's Most Valuable Consumer")
Some of these are open events. If you're going to be around, please try and drop by.

The Type A's at Noll Media's Satellite Seminar on June 4th. We'll be back doing another one on July 30th.

We are trying to do about one or two speaking gigs a month. If you'd like to book us for a conference or event, it's best to do it early. We're happy to discuss topics and costs. Just email us at info@typeagroup.com.

4 comments:

CaliforniaGirl500 said...

George Zimmer IS Men's Wearhouse. How stupid of the board to ignore that. Just saw their 1st ad sans Zimmer & it could haveen Jos.A.Banks or any other. George's persona as the brand always reminded me of the Rodney Dangerfield character in "Back to School". He was his own brand for his Thornton Melon "Tall & Fat" stores.

tim said...

It takes someone like George Zimmer to help keep us honest. I'd just amend his statement to 'It takes repetition and consistency, AND
creativity...' Don't sell yourself short, George - no matter what the 'suits' tell you.

uglymugagency said...

I'll look forward to your talk in Portland. You'll be a welcomed relief at the Portland Ad Fed. Please talk at length about the poppycock of Social Media. Cheers!

Hugh MacLeod said...

As someone who has been in both the the advertising (Leo Burnett) and tailoring (Savile Row) business, I can totally verify this...