spotted owl

Award Season

Lots of award announcements lately, congrats to both Effie winners (here) and Addy winners (here). While awards definitely matter in our industry and around here, I like that we can have fun with them.

Social Media Uniform

Pretty hilarious. Order here. Thanks to Clay & Marcellina for passing along.

Planning in the Times

The last two Sunday Times have had great articles for planners. The first, called Back by Popular Demand, is all about the return of nice. It cites the popularity of the affable Paul Rudd, the chipper tone of twitter and the Obama administration. It even quotes Ogilvy planning director Graceann Bennett talking about recent client preference for pleasantness. It's funny how everyone seems to get nicer when things are bad - though it certainly makes sense.

The second article, from last Sunday, is Put Ad on Web. Count Clicks. Revise. It's all about digital data-mining and the whole new level of analysis and accountability that's opened up to advertisers and media companies. There were no planners quoted in this article, though I think  we should be playing here too. It's all about messaging effectiveness, measurement tools and behavioral targeting - a very plannery skill set that seems under-utilized.

I like the two images from the articles above because I think they illustrate a world where planners are comfortable (cultural anthropology, trends, macro observations) vs. a place where we're a little uncomfortable (information complexity, digital experimentation, micro analysis). One was on the front page of the Sunday Styles, the other on the page 1 of Sunday Business. Interesting.