john st. unignorable - Blog the book of john

Why are brands like Google, Facebook and Apple so successful? They do a lot of things right, but it seems they pick through the bright creative minds of the young people in their buildings that are nourished with new ideas. Many successful companies seem to be started by young, enthusiastic minds – arguably because they all have a propensity to accept and deal with one thing most of us can’t: Risk.

Super Bowl Sunday has always been a coveted media spot for television advertisers.  The first 30 second spot aired in 1967, and cost $37,500.  Now, 45 years later, advertisers pay $3.5 million for 30 seconds.   The demand for advertising spots during the game has not changed but what has changed is that Super Bowl ads are not just for TV anymore.

I’m addicted to Pinterest and I am not the only one. Pinterest is a relatively new social network with 3.3 million users logging more than 421 million page views since it launched in March 2010.  Pinterest describes itself as virtual pinboard that allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web.  You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.  People use pinboards to decorate their homes, plan their weddings or plan tonight’s dinner.

What makes it so addictive for me are 3 simple things.

Almost 1.5 million people have viewed our Catvertising video on YouTube in the last two months, and it's gotten almost as much press as Charlie Sheen's meltdown last Fall.

Surely, there must be some lessons that we can take from this and apply to our other work. And here they are:

Every client knows that after a creative presentation, the agency team looks up at them expectantly and says ‘So, what's your gut reaction? Just give us your visceral response’. But what if your gut isn’t feeling especially articulate?

Even without an office south of the border, john st. was recently recognized by Adweek in its recent Agency Portrait.

Thanks Adweek!

It is with great pride that I present to you the first installment of Ads That Bit the Dust.  And by "Ads" I mean "ad-like objects that at the time seemed like a drop of Dawn in the pool of midnight oil" and by "Bit the Dust" I mean "never saw the light of day and eventually ended up in a paper-mache-like object".

Recently I came across a blog post titled “A Brief Rant on The Future of Interaction Design” and the argument contained within completely floored me, changing every notion I’ve had about the devices that will surround us in the future. The post was written by Bret Victor, who once held the job title of Human-Interface Inventor for none other than Apple.

Recently, a few of us former clients led a lunch and learn for our account group to help provide insight into the "other side".  The process got me thinking about what I've learned from being back in advertising for the past 8 years and the advice I'd give myself and other marketers to get the best of your agency.