Advertising Age : Ad Budgets have been seriously cut and reapportioned into different areas
November 12, 2007
“This year has been hard,” said Mark Tobin, managing director and executive producer at a52, a visual-effects and design company that has serviced clients such as Lexus, EA Sports and Nike. “Budgets have been seriously cut and reapportioned into different areas. We have to find ways to make more with less.” Â Â Adage
I can tell you where they have been allocated… To firms like Yooter InterActive Marketing
Our mission in life is to help Ad Agencies deliver value to their clients, and in this regard we have been highly successful.  Most of our clients are Ad Agencies, and the ones that have partnered with us have seen their clients ROI increase and have faced less agency reviews (literally 10% the average in terms of Agency Reviews).
That means, simply speaking that their clients have been more happy with them and have been less likely to explore other areas.  The problem is that Advertising Agencies need to face the fact that the industry has changed.  The Internet is becoming more and more the medium of choice…. TV ads and print media ads in declining circulation magazines and newspapers just don’t cut it anymore.
For less than a fraction of the price of one full page ad in Newsweek ($231,525 - 4 color full page published rates - single run)
you could have a robust SEO package for an entire year for an average NYSE or NASDAQ traded company. Generally speaking the ROI is dramatically higher choosing a competent SEO firm.
This is why your clients put your account for review every year or two… it’s because they look at that quarter million dollars you charged them to put their ad in the magazine…  and realized that for a fraction of that cost they could of used a media that provided MEASURABLE RESULTS.
Hence that answers Mark Tobin’s question.  You wanted to know where the budgets have been allocated?  They have been allocated to us.
Funny Apple Ad making fun of people that downgraded back to XP from Vista
November 12, 2007
The Ad in Question Makes fun of windows users for downgrading back to XP from Vista. The problem with it is that it’s actually somewhat of a painful ad, mostly because it’s true.
We love Mac’s Advertising, their agency has put in some of the better ads of the decade.
Now more than ever you have Mac OSX and Linux flavors like Ubuntu gaining market share over what many experts are now calling Vista “Windows ME” The failed Microsoft OS from a few years back.
We do feel that it’s ‘now or never’ for other OS’s to gain market share, Vista’s hardware requirements are forcing people to buy new machines rather than upgrade theirs, and if that new machine happens to be Apple or Ubuntu.. then that is where they have their chance.
Hill, Holliday steps on BBDO’s foot
November 12, 2007
Although BBDO may be driving the overall image of BofA, Hill, Holliday has been the agency behind three recent campaigns on behalf of its global wealth and investment management division, which BofA described as a “broader visibility initiative” for the unit. Hill, Holliday execs aren’t commenting, but the onslaught of advertising this quarter is intriguing. Adweek
Funny — sort of…Â Generally when this happens it’s called the first stages of putting the account in review.
Our bet is that Bank of America is going to throw that account in review…Â generally speaking you don’t have two agencies making creative if you are content with your agency of record.
Google sued over patent by Northeastern University
November 11, 2007
“Google Inc faces a federal patent infringement lawsuit by Northeastern University over technology used in its core Web search system, according to legal papers filed last week.”
In other news, Google has more money to hire more lawyers than Northeastern University could ever muster…
Digg - Please fix the search - Screenshot of Ad Agency Search
November 8, 2007
We Love Digg but you gotta fix that search feature , the below screenshot is after multiple attempts of trying to get it to display relevent results.  This was typical (we tried sort by best match and every other display option). In the below search we tried to get it to display all the most recent Diggs regarding an ‘ad agency’
You tell me what does the EPA, FEMA and all the other results have in common with an Ad Agency? Nothing, other than 1 word of the 2 word search string, I put the word ‘ad’ in the search for a reason…. like most of us… we search for the keywords we are looking for.. with results like this I might as well just typed in ‘agency’ rather than ‘ad agency’.
 We are not trying to tell you how to run your business, but at least spend more time on this aspect, millions of us sort of depend on this to find out what’s going on in our little industries.
Digg is coded in PHP and uses MySql Databases … an average coder could fix this…Â
You forgot one more award TBWA\Chiat\Day
November 8, 2007
This post is currently under review due to a nasty letter we got…. story developing…
Ad agency perspective on WSJ article
November 8, 2007
The post from TheFounder on 10/5 is right on. It underscores the new reality with brand building: brands are not built through advertising. They’re built through PR and the web. The article mentions YouTube and Wikipedia. Both gained incredible prominence virally on the web, but it was national news coverage that legitimized both brands. That’s the powerful third-party endorsement that PR provides. Advertising still has a role. It can reflect back and reinforce consumers’ positive perceptions of a brand. It can hone perception —� not create it. And it provides predictable frequency in a different medium. All of these are important qualities. However, they only work once the web and PR foundations are firmly established. Unfortunately, far too many agencies use conventional advertising campaigns as their lead rather than their support.
We can help confirm the rumors regarding Saatchi & Saatchi
November 8, 2007
Agency Spy published something that we have been hearing for a few weeks now.
There are a boatload of nasty rumblings from Saatchi & Saatchi regarding the closing of the Los Angeles office. The rumor mill that we have heard, though this is not verified. Is that some of the Saatchi & Saatchi LA employees were offered “a position in New York” meaning that they would have to pack up, pull their kids out of school… ship across the country.. and resettle them in on the East Coast.
This is where the rumors turn nasty.  From what we heard, some of those ‘offered’ or ‘discussed’ never included moving fees…. IE: ship your shit yourself, and pay for it yourself.
Now this is WHAT WE HEARD.. not verified from the company……Â Â The tip came from someone that recently became aware that his (or her) job was under fire… so take it for what it’s worth.
FedEx’s Ad, Featuring UPS truck being hauled by Fedex
November 8, 2007
Generally speaking, Tribble advertising Agency focuses more on the lack of insight the Ad agencies have in regards to Search Engine Optimization, that being said, we are not above pointing out when we do see something of quality.
The below ad is a FedEx ad totally blowing the water out of UPS.
Digg going for sale - 300 to 400 million dollar pricetag
November 7, 2007
Valleywag is stating that it has an inside scoop that Digg is for Sale
The price being discussed is 300-400 million.. this story is still in the ‘rumor’ stage, but we actually heard it from another source as well.
Rumor has it that The New York Times Co. and the Washington Post Co are both looking to buy Digg, but that is not verified. If true, it would instantly change those old school papers to modern internet firms.
The problem is, if those old timers see the stuff being posted on Digg, would they understand it?  If they understand it, would they allow it.
Digg is pretty ‘anything goes’ (Remember the DVD key issue a few months back).Â
This story is developing……..Â
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