We premiered the new Birmingham Venture Club logo at the March meeting today—and Michael Tomberlin posted a nice little note about it on al.com, along with a link to our website. You can see the note, and the vertical version of the logo, at this address: http://bit.ly/v-club
Jumping Isn’t The Only Thing We Can’t Do.
I suppose this is going to make somebody mad, but here it is… While watching the NCAA basketball tournament last night, an interesting thought crossed my mind: Why are there so many white coaches on the sidelines? Because that’s where they spent their careers as players. Not only was it a common occurrence for all … Read More
The Messiah Complex
(ANOTHER FABULOUS DAVID BROOKS EDITORIAL) Every age produces its own sort of fables, and our age seems to have produced The White Messiah fable.This is the oft-repeated story about a manly young adventurer who goes into the wilderness in search of thrills and profit. But, once there, he meets the native people and finds that … Read More
RHETT&LINK: ADVERTISING’S COHEN BROTHERS
I miss T-Buff’s white suit, and his reassuring vow: “We will…approve your credit.” I miss Suzuki Man. I miss Jim Skinner’s quivering liver. Heck, I even miss Jim and Jimmy. Re-gard-less of what the tastemakers might say, not all “bad” advertising is bad. And today, nobody does Bad better than Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal—a … Read More
QUOTATIONS #2
“An idealogical system in conflict with the facts generally finds it prudent to defer to itself.”—David Berlinski “I’ve gone into hundreds of fortune-teller’s parlors, and I’ve been told thousands of things. But nobody ever told me I was a policewoman getting ready to arrest them.” —New York City Detective “Write a wise saying and your … Read More
Darwin Was Right!
Flipping through channels the other day, I stopped briefly at PBS’s latest ode to Darwin. After a couple minutes, it hit me: That whole hypothesis about adaptive behavior and natural selection is so true! Witness, for example, how adeptly a biologist camouflages his conclusions against that vast body of fact which utterly undermines the theory … Read More
I Love This Ad For So Many Reasons.
I’m on a horse – – If you haven’t already seen the latest Old Spice body-wash ad, stop reading and click on this link immediately: http://bit.ly/smell-like-me First, I love the creative strategy: Don’t sell this product directly to men. Sell it to women—who make the majority of those purchasing decisions. Next, find a guy who’s … Read More
GISI Case Study
WORK NOTE #1
Small Site Scores Big. We recently launched a nice website on a shoestring budget for a buddy of ours—who manufactures the world’s greatest supplemental game feeder. Unbeknownst to us, Hindsight Management (led by Birmingham ad legend Jim Riley) evaluated the site’s effectiveness using The Riley Persuasion Index. Jim reports that it earned the highest score … Read More
Nonconformity Is Skin Deep
NOTE: Sadly, The Birmingham News has dropped my favorite Editorial Page columnist, David Brooks. Below is a condensed version of a column of his I saved years ago. We now have to work under the assumption that every American has a tattoo. Whether we are at a formal dinner, at a professional luncheon, at a … Read More