It’s the new water cooler conversation piece – ChatGPT – the artificial intelligence (AI) that many say will transform (or destroy) their industries. In our circles of course, everyone is asking the question “Will Advertising Agencies become a thing of the past?” Heck, find one college student who hasn’t discovered ChatGPT and I’ll show you...
Effective marketing eludes most people for a couple of reasons. The first is because we, as marketers, have become lazy and enamored with vanity metrics. It’s far easier to brag about impressions and reach of our campaigns than to hold our marketing dollars accountable for metrics that matter. Increased accountability increases predictability. A predictable marketing...
Super Bowl ads are more than just breaks between gameplay during the biggest sporting event of the year: They offer a glimpse of the country’s mood, along with how major industries are faring, not to mention, down right fun! When Super Bowl LVII kicked off Sunday night with the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the...
We are approaching that time of year when the stress level for kids graduating from college is deep. The pressure to be “successful” the day after accepting your diploma is real…but probably not realistic. Indeed, graduating students are already beginning to hear stories of peers who have gotten Fulbright’s or jobs with prestigious company’s, who...
On the face of it, consumers spending less to cope with inflation doesn’t scream marketing opportunity. And it probably isn’t in terms of driving immediate results for many businesses. Yet if you examine the changes people are making, spending less is only part of the story. It’s also about changing established routines: shopping in new...
When things are looking grim, there’s often a knee-jerk urge to move efforts to the lowest-hanging fruit. I’ve watched the same phenomena take place time after time for 40 years. When times are tough, there is always a race to performance advertising. It’s more measurable than brand marketing, drives immediate response and is easier to...
I was sitting at my desk this morning sipping on a robust cup of Joe – my daily quiet time at 6:30am – thinking it’s already been 8 years since I bought the 30-year-old Orlando-based advertising agency that I had been running for 10 years as President and changed the name to 78Madison. While I...
I don’t know about you, but I have always practiced the philosophy that if you find something you LOVE to do, you never work a day in your life. I have always believed this statement and can honestly say that 40+ years into my career, I love what I do as much as the day...
The changing consumer and media landscape now provides small and independent agencies like 78Madison a competitive edge. The world has changed. Not more or less than in previous years or decades or generations. But in a post-cookie, post-pandemic, post-ad-free-Netflix world, things are different. It’s different for consumers, for brands and for the things that matter...
Many people are surprised that I have been in the same industry – advertising – for 40 years. In fact, most are fascinated by the fact that I continue to be so passionate about what I do. I will certainly confess that this has been a great ride so far, and I don’t see it...