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It's The Heavy User, Stupid
For years, we here at Ad Contrarian global headquarters have been preaching that the key to marketing success in most categories is to attract the category heavy user (if you haven't already read my semi-brilliant book, you can download it here free.) An interesting article on how this idea affects media strategy is available here. (Via George Parker)

Biggest "End of the World" Story of the Decade

The last week of 2009, we asked our readers to vote for the most hysterical media story of the decade. Here are the top 5 results.

1. Y2K -          51%
2. Swine Flu - 16%
3. Bird Flu -      7%
4. SARS -          6%
5. Mad Cow -    5%

Write-in candidate: Global warming (climate change) was by far the leading write-in choice.

We Knew It All Along
According to 50 Things We Know Now That We Didn't Know This Time Last Year,

"Grumpy people think more clearly because negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking."

Thanks to Thomas Stack for this.

Are You Sick Of This Blog?
Or Twitter? Or Facebook? Or all of it? Social Media Suicide quickly and easily removes all traces of social media from your computer and your life. Just go to SuicideMachine.org

The Value of Twitter Followers

Read about it here. 
Thanks to Tucker "The Brain" Perry for this.

Conversation With A Creative Director

Recently I had lunch with a head creative guy at a successful agency who works on some very successful brands. I am not going to reveal his identity as his clients may be listening.

He had some interesting things to say.  I will be paraphrasing throughout.

First he said, aside from the paycheck, there are only two good reasons to work in advertising. First, to hang around with funny people. And second, to do cool stuff every once in a while.

Then he started lamenting. He said the funny people have either stopped being funny or have "moved to New Jersey." He said the young creative people he is working with are still motivated and talented, but take themselves way too seriously. They don't have a sense of the "absurdity of most of what we do."

But what's really bothering him is the work he's doing. He said that although his clients were all doing well and were satisfied with his agency, he felt that "I haven't done anything cool in years. My clients think an ad is a brief with pictures."

He lamented the quality of client people he is working with. "They may know the language of marketing, but they don't know what makes a good ad. Every time I try to put some spin on the ball, there are 10 of them trying to take the spin off."

In an era in which there is so much "marketing communication," you'd think clients would be starving for fresh ideas. This guy says no.

He says that they talk a good game, but when push comes to shove they all want advertising that looks and sounds like advertising.

What do you think?

10 for '10

Since it's the beginning of a new year, and I'm on vacation, and I'm feeling expansive, and everyone's always telling me how negative I am, and it's a beautiful day, and spring training is only 6 weeks away, and I had a cocktail with lunch, I thought I'd try something new.

So here are 10 ideas that most ad people have never considered that might help us all be more successful in the ad biz in 2010.

The 10 Commandments of Advertising.

1. Tell your clients the truth.
2. Speak in plain English.
3. Put your clients' interests ahead of your own.
4. Be guided by principles, not fads.
5. Be modest in your promises.
6. Make every client meeting as small and short as possible.
7. Never bring up an issue unless you have a recommended solution.
8. Never congratulate yourself or your agency.
9. Be more prepared than your client.
10. Always have a Plan B.