How your agency is ripping you off
Posted by: Sean X on: December 18, 2011
The structure of the agency-client relationship is not designed to produce the best or the most work. It is designed to avoid mistakes. Over time, that is how agencies have structured themselves to serve clients. It makes sense. They do not get fired for inefficiency. They get fired for screwing up. Worse, Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome to sxc marketing
Posted by: Sean X on: December 11, 2011
There is something magical that can exist in the space between agencies, brands, and consumers; and when there is clarity in that space, the work you produce is spectacular. However, when it is filled with friction, what can be magical, is instead chaos.
You’ve had those moments when everything just Read the rest of this entry »
Why the QR code is failing
Posted by: Sean X on: December 6, 2011
They have become the standard violator appearing on advertising; in the corner of print ads, across billboards, on buses, or in pieces of direct mail — even peppered throughout this article. You’ve seen them; that little block of even littler squares. Unfortunately the technology behind QR codes was not invented for advertising and marketing; we are just co-opting its usage, and it shows.
From the relative lack of public understanding of what they even are, to the dearth of creativity in their usage, the QR code is destined to become just the little box that geek built. But if it does go the way of CueCat, only we are to blame. Here’s why. Read the rest of this entry »
10 Reasons to LoveHate Google
Posted by: Sean X on: April 19, 2011
Such a strong word
It is a company that is loved, and yet surprisingly hated — if not despised — by some. It is the friend whose little strange habits and quirks we once cherished. But now they annoy and grate on our nerves. It is a company that we have held up as a shining beacon of hope — the giant killer. The company that could stand against Microsoft and the great evil empire.
But alas, the company is but the latest victim of the same pedestal on which we elevated Microsoft years before. Beware that pedestal, for it provides a perch that only looks downward. Sometimes when companies ascend to it, they start to believe they are separate, better versions of humans.
They start to believe their own hype; in that moment, they become lost.
There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance, between self-assuredness and hubris, and unfortunately Google is straddling that line. Why the perceptive shift in attitudes toward Google? What has the company done other than bring us fantastic tools? Tools, like Android, that have changed entire industries. Tools, like search, that have provided insight into the most remote corners of the world. Why is the simmering of discontent Read the rest of this entry »
Chrysler 200 Rant. “USA Today” is the News equivalent of a Happy Meal.
Posted by: Sean X on: March 8, 2011
Chrysler ran an ad on the Superbowl in 2011 for the Chrystler 200, that embodied their brand, repositioned it, and grittily carved out a niche. “Imported from Detroit.“ It was quite possibly one of the most brilliant stances taken by a car company, for reasons I will explain below. In disservice to that ad USA Today rated the Ads in the Superbowl based on a panel of viewers via second-by-second responses to ads during the game. The ranking for Chrysler 200? 44. Huh? It has be gnawing at me for weeks, so I finally decided to rant about it.
Let me explain…
Chrysler 200: Imported from Detroit
WARNING: If you are easily offended please do not read. And if you plan on chiding me for my rant after reading, I gave fair warning. So don’t blame me, blame your lack of being able to take direction. Read the rest of this entry »
The Mobile Signature. Please excsue typoo’s.
Posted by: Sean X on: February 19, 2011
NOTE This is an iPhone email. The iPhone keyboard is, to say the least, persnickety. Since I have neither the thumbs of a newborn, nor the texting prowess of a 13 year old, please excuse the occasional spelling mistake.
And so read my iPhone signature line. Why should this offend anyone? And what harm is it alerting someone of this possibility? Ah, therein lies the trap. There are those who, for lack of a better description, are “stuck.” Stuck in old ways of thinking, old ways of communicating.
Their desire for absolute precision in communication is often the product of their wish to separate themselves from others. It is a manifestation of their ego’s; the desire to position themselves as “better than.” Even including such a statement at the end of your Mobile emails can position you in the “other” category for them; as if you are trying to excuse Read the rest of this entry »
3 Brands that flunked Digital 101
Posted by: Sean X on: December 21, 2010
There are hundreds of brands that continue to be stuck in the “old way” of thinking, pre-Web 2.0. Some survive because they didn’t jump on the next fad, and some perished because they did. Many brands are starting to get it, but for many it may be too late and Web 2.0 has passed them by. It’s time to take a look in the mirror and figure out why your company Read the rest of this entry »
5 ways you will be defeated by the pitch process
Posted by: Sean X on: December 21, 2010
So you just got the call from the potential client, or worse, the loser-merchant handling the pitch for them. Your agency didn’t win, “but thank you for participating.” As if this was a ring toss at a carnival. Throughout the process you fried your staff, lived in 5-Hour Energy increments, ticked off your spouse… yet again, spent more money than you should have and destroyed internal relationships; just face it, you’re a loser.
Well seriously, you didn’t win, so what else would I call you? Read the rest of this entry »
iAds will revolutionize online advertising, but are digital agencies up to the task?
Posted by: Sean X on: April 27, 2010
We have been struggling in online advertising for more than a decade, and although this new medium provided unfettered access to information, the desire was to continue the tradition established by traditional media – essentially making access to information remain relatively free.
Unfortunately, while the prospect of more individualized metrics enabled by the internet did come to fruition, it didn’t translate into better advertising. Instead it reduced it to the “quantitative” in such a droll fashion that the majority of online advertising became reduced to “pinch the monkey,” “squeeze the baby,” “click here,” “learn more,” and “please click this fracking banner so I can justify my existence!”
For years, I have railed against banner ads online, I have illuminated the barriers to digital as an impactful medium for advertising, and I have chided our entire industry for being the uncreative lepers of advertising, slinging drivel at consumers. We are a medium that is neither immersive, experiential, nor adored by consumers.
The internet is not a medium – devices that connect to it are the medium. The medium had always Read the rest of this entry »
