The best creative thinkers and doers write about what it takes to cut it in the world of art for commerce.

Three (or More) is a Crowd Brad Mislow 11/16/09 Clients love to mix things up in the ad biz. More and more, clients are awarding their business to more than one shop. There’s nothing new about it. It works like this...

Is it a "Viral" or a TV Commercial and What's The Difference Anyway? Steffan Postaer 10/28/09 The rules for creating video content are different than they used to be. You Tube and the like have given everyone the idea that making a commercial is now cheap, fast and easy.

The New Linguistics Tim Brunelle 10/05/09 Being a creative person has always been, in part, a job of competing with popular culture. Your real competition wasn’t just the ads created by other creatives, it was any great film, album, novel or distraction and the way in which that art adjusted our common understanding of a common tongue.

Why is Outrageous so Effective? Alan Whitley 09/21/09 As creatives, we focus a lot on accomplishing the client’s stated goals and adhering to approaches and tone that have been vetted. That’s usually a good thing if you favor continued employment...

In Advertising, and in General, We are No Longer Capable of Being Appalled Steffan Postaer 09/09/09 Remember appalling? Remember when being intrusive or disruptive was a bad thing? Whether it was a terrible TV commercial or a gruesome homicide, we used to grimace at the offensive, raise hell about it if necessary. We were capable of being aghast.

Becoming a Copywriter (circa 2009) Tim Brunelle 08/19/09 I wrote my first headline in 1992. It pretty much sucked. Since then it’s been a journey.

The Recession in Adland: Can Bad Times Have a Silver Lining? Steffan Postaer 08/12/09 There is brutal comedy in the misfortune of others. If/when one agency hears of another’s misfortune we cheer. In bigger agencies, creative groups on one floor often compete and root against creative groups from another.

Continued Education – A Sustainable Competitive Advantage Jaci Russo 07/29/09 What I am referring to is taking on the responsibility of bettering yourself, whenever and wherever possible. This could mean performing research on market trends, or simply paying attention to the world around you. The biggest mistake anyone can make, is assuming they already have all the answers.

Gossage On The Brain Tim Brunelle 07/08/09 Please make room in your beach bag this summer for a 324 page, 10 inch by 8 inch volume of the best advertising insights ever inscribed on paper. I’m speaking, of course, of The Book Of Gossage, published by The Copy Workshop, a collection of one book and much more.

So You Want to Be a Creative Michael Russo 07/01/09 The following are a few things that I have learned over the years that may be helpful as you begin your career as a creative in advertising.

Au revoir les enfants d’advertising! My final column from Cannes. Steffan Postaer 06/28/09 And so we’ve come to the end of another Cannes Festival, albeit a smaller, more restrained version.

Money for Something Brad Mislow 06/24/09 Free is all around nowadays, even in our sputtering economy. The iPhone has thousands of free apps. Some even have practical uses: radio streaming, FedEx package tracking, mobile friendly versions of the New York Times, a carpenter’s level, etc. Sorry, iBanjo. I still don’t see the point.

In the Eyes of the Beholder Steffan Postaer 06/01/09 One thing that has always driven me crazy about advertising is the grandiosity we agencies have when it comes to talking about ourselves. As soon as I became part of my agency’s creative leadership I became part of the “Who are we?” discussion.

Show Runners and the Future of Advertising Tim Brunelle 05/04/09 Job descriptions just don’t cut it anymore in advertising... These are symptoms, from the front lines, of a broken system. The roles inside every ad agency have changed tremendously because of technology in the past very few years.

The Digital Jump Brad Mislow 04/24/09 There was a time I was all about TV spots. I loved making them. I loved watching them. I loved the fact that it was the easiest way to describe my job, especially to my parents. Print and radio was great too, but nothing gave me career satisfaction as cranking out the big spot.

The Short of the Long Martin Bihl 04/06/09 I teach advertising at an arts university. Often they tell me that the reason they are in my class is that they want to use advertising as a job to support them while they get on their feet as artists...

4 Fool Proof Ways to Create Wealth NOW ! Joshua Miller 04/01/09 I don't know about you, but I am personally fed up with all the newsletters and emails from people and companies offering me their latest and greatest ideas, opportunities or products to improve my life...

Finding Inspiration Tim Brunelle 03/26/09 Advertising is the business of optimism and the business of creativity. It is our life’s work to encourage. So here’s a few thoughts, not on finding that elusive gig...

Integrated Marketing. For Guns and Roses, “it’s so easy.” For Ad Agencies, Not So Much. Steffan Postaer 03/16/09 Everything about Guns early “marketing” was a brilliant example of integrated marketing. A teaser campaign? Unofficial pseudo-bootleg? Sound familiar? That’s because it’s the same strategy countless brands...

Judgement Tim Brunelle 02/18/09 A few weekends ago I found myself in Albuquerque with four other smart advertising people to judge the New Mexican community’s body of advertising work. I wonder what Cormac McCarthy would have said about this state of affairs. Probably not much...

Insecurity In the Creative Department. It Happens To the Best of Us. Steffan Postaer 02/11/09 Busy time at the agency. Lots of pitches. Lots of production. Always plenty of meetings. Factor in the brutal economy and you’ve got pressure. Being both player and coach in the creative department, I feel this pressure like a barometer.