The pandemic has made a substantial impact on the marketing and advertising industry, that’s no secret. But in this episode of Marketing Then & Now, we sit back down with one of Bozell’s owners, Kim Mickelsen, to get her take on the past couple of years, as well as her predictions for what’s to come. Having personally seen our agency survive three major crises during her 20 years of ownership, she offers a unique perspective on the matter. Read More

By almost all accounts, 2020 was a devastating year for the ad industry. According to Forrester, ad agencies lost nearly 50,000 jobs globally – that’s more than double what was lost in the 2008 recession. (Source) And while the industry is still working to come out the other side and find “the new normal,” one thing is certain – we must adapt or we die. Read More

By now, you’ve probably heard about Clubhouse. You may have received an invite, maybe checked out a couple of rooms and some of you have even shed some insight to complete strangers — so brave! But for those of you who need a little more push as to why you should even download the app (currently only available on Apple), I have some ideas that will convince you to join the club, not for yourself, Read More

By now, you’re aware that Apple will require all apps in the App Store to offer a prompt allowing users to opt in or out of tracking. This is called App Tracking Transparency (ATT), and it is being rolled out this week to iOS 14.5 users.

Initially, many experts were predicting that 20% of users would opt in to allow tracking. However, studies conducted by various mobile measurement partners have seen percentages as high as 42%. Read More

The 1960s are seen as a hinge point in American history from both those who welcomed the change and those who feared it. But that decade proved to be a tectonic shift socially, culturally and politically – tackling issues from civil rights, immigration, feminism, the Vietnam War and environmentalism.

Similar to the 60s, as we ushered in 2020, we began seeing fundamental shifts and a call to arms on many fronts. From sustainability, gun control, feminism (#MeToo), Read More

“We’re in this together.”

“In times like this.”

“Now more than ever.” 

“We’re here to help.”

Not long after the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S., we became bombarded by TV commercials and Facebook ads from various brands saying these same phrases. Over and over. So much so, that one of my co-workers pointed out we could be playing advertising bingo every night with all of these now mundane phrases. Read More

Okay, I’ll bite.

Burger King released its The
Moldy Whopper ad campaign yesterday and it has a lot of marketers and consumers talking. Why? Because it’s gross and brilliant all at the same time.

How much do I love this
commercial?

Let me count the ways. Read More

Photo credit: MediaPost, Nov 2019

The good, the bad and Sam Elliott’s mustache.

Robin Donovan, President

When it comes to TV commercials there is no more widespread, public venue than the Super Bowl. Advertisers in the Super Bowl must be prepared to wow the audience, the whole audience, even the part that does not fall within their target demographics. In order to generate a level of excitement worthy of the Super Bowl, most advertisers choose to make their commercial hilariously funny, Read More

Insurance has typically been an avoidance category. We never want to think of bad things that could potentially happen to us and we don’t want to hear or read boring clause after clause of legal mumbo jumbo. So, we shut it out. Read More

Has Super Bowl advertising jumped the shark?
As way of explanation, here’s the definition of “Jump the shark”:
“Jumping the shark is the moment when something that was once popular no longer warrants the attention it previously received, particularly when attempts at publicity only serve to highlight its irrelevance… reaching a point at which far-fetched events are included merely for the sake of novelty, indicative of a decline in quality.”
Sounds an awful lot like the current state of Super Bowl advertising. Read More