Andy's MoPho Blog

2006-05-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

I'm So Back

2006-05-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

I'm back. Back to the web log and back to Media. After seven years, I left my old gig and now I'm at a big ole media buying company running interactive media. It's a huge step for me and I will make it work. Such a logical step in my business for me to take, but not an easy one. Got a ton of press announcing that I took this new job. The firm is the sixth largest media buying outfit globally, and are ripping it up on the new business front. Change is always scary, but that's the nature of life. You make a move to something like this becuase you think you can do something you couldn't do before. Frankly I just couldn't take the small-budget clients. I felt like I was becoming a bill collector and then I really got hungout to dry by the agency. I was ending up as just an account guy and I respect the work of account guys to much to half ass it. So back to media, back to objectivity. Back to being the most creative guy in the room. Back, Back, Back.

The Mophoblogger Is Back

2006-02-27T17:02:00.000-08:00

Like these mophos (mobile phone pictures) to the left, I'm getting back to my roots. These photos are from my home in NC. Shot them over Christmas. Yeah, they about sum it up my roots. To that end, this weblog is going back to its roots... mophobloggery (the art of placing mophos on a weblog. Scenes from tomorrow's show will include "low budget webfilm shoot". So y'all come back now, ya hear.

The Militant Middle

2006-02-07T14:36:00.000-08:00

Since the launch of this weblog, I’ve had a No Politics editorial standard. Not because I’m apolitical, but because I didn’t see what I could contribute to the national debate…until now. That’s right; I am jumping in the political punditry ring with this simple call to the vast American public:

RISE UP YOU MILLITANT MODRATES

1/5 of the electorate is hardcore liberal and 1/3 thump bibles on the right. This leaves 53% of us with some common sense. The problem becomes that the ideological base of each party motivates the rest of us to vote one way or another. That’s why we need a moderate base to get the 53% of us to finally say “give it rest with socialism” and “who gives a rat’s ass about what people do in bed”. We’re thinking it anyway.

Think this all sounds quite sensible but hopelessly naïve? Well it’s not if you have my plan. By my estimation, we need 1/8 of the population to consider themselves Militant Moderates. These are the folks that can picket outside the 700 Club studios on Sunday and heckle the Communist Feminist Forum at Oberlin on Tuesday night. They can staff phone banks, canvas New Hampshire and all that shit.

Sadly I can’t be the leader of the Militant Moderates. I’m pretty moderate, but not militant. You need crazies for that. You need a think tank. You need to wage the language war. It’s not pro-choice or pro-life, it’s Sensible Decision. It’s not the Death Tax or the Inheritance Tax, it’s just Income Tax. There will be no more FemiNazis or Womyn… just People with Points of View.

It’s just as simple as staying true to the ideals of pluralism. Sadly, when you’ve got a right and left mobilized against opposing ideas, you’ll also need a small group of people that are just as big a bunch of assholes about pushing moderate ideas.

Now I don’t sound naïve, do I? Cynicism gives me credibility, right? Well I’m not just being a cynic. That’s too easy. I’m simply saying that if three people approach me on the street to sign a petition and the first wants to “throw all them foreigners out” and the other is planning to chain his ass to tree; I’m going for the one that comes up and says, “Make legal immigration work for businesses and immigrants and use science as the basis for forest management. Now I just sound hopeful guy with a plan. Don't I?

So…. RISE UP YOU MILLITANT MODERATES. Go crazy for a while. I’ll follow you.

Fuck It We Lost

2006-01-24T21:15:00.000-08:00

So we lost. It happens. I can honestly say that I'm happy for our team. In four years we've come from a 1-15 bottom-feeder to a perpetual threat to go all the way.

The core of our team will be back next season. We need to resign Foster and add some depth in that area. I'd like to see a new tight end like a Wesley Walls. Looks like Rich Proehl will be back, but we need another lunch pail guy to pass to underneath the defensive seconary coverage.

I think ATL will be much improved next year, the Tampa will be about the same and the Ain'ts will be rebuilding. This puts us in a solid position to take the NFC South next year, but it's not a lock.

So we went down against a very good Seattle team that was playing at their best. We were depleted at the end of the season. We left it on the field at Chicago. Peppers wasn't right after that game and Foster broke his leg. It happens and it's an achievement to be proud of. Coach Fox has every player putting it on the line to win. These guys are all playing at the highest level. It's a great feeling to be part of a team that you believe will be back next year and the year after. Have a good couple months off Panthers. We'll see you at Mini Camp and I'll go back to bed.

Damn It's been a long long time

2006-01-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

I'm back after my holiday break form posting. Okay it's nearly February, but whatever. Anyway, quick catch-up:

Tara has been in Ireland for 10 days on business, back today. After you use the bathroom with the door open a couple of times, there isn't really anything fun about your girl being gone for that long.
Christmas in NC was great. I'll post some photos. The subtext of those photos is that it's where I come from, but there's no going back. 10 years Westside and I get that now.
Sally has Puppy Papilloma. I won't be posting pictures, it's a virus in her mouth that is gross. It will go away in a couple of months once she builds up the antigens on her own.
Business is um, busy. Next week we're launching something very very cool. I'll let you know.
I'm selling my car and going to bike to work everyday. Good for my health and will save a ton of money. Tara is selling her car to and economizing with a Prius. I could front and say it's "Great Going Green", but really it's so she can use the carpool lane with only one person in the car.

Following is a teaser of some of the subjects I'll be posting about in the coming month:

"Depleted but Victorious" or "Fuck It We Lost"
Rise of the Militant Moderates
KLF Chill Out; Masterpiece of My Time
Dunk Face
All Things Steve Coogan
808 State Live in Barcelona. Who The Hell Is Lucy?
Confirmation and Dog Training. Two Thing I Can't Make Myself Do
Ode To Two Danes. Homeboy and A Resting Place of $10,000
Are You Shitting Me? (a reoccurring take on crap ads)

Apropos of Nothing

2005-12-16T09:22:00.000-08:00

After a couple of days of self loathing, I went to a party that made me feel much better. Last night the company we license our music from had their holiday party in their loft in the Mission. Rondo Brother and Hieroglyphics played. I had a great time and took this fuzzy picture to the left. That’s Hieroglyphics performing and they ware great.

Also, here is a picture of Dane shooting a gun. Sure it’s a non sequitur since it happened last July, has nothing to do with the party or even really makes sense to post now. However he looks very super Red State in the picture which is deliciously inaccurate. Dane, I’ve got more where this comes from, so return the call I left you last night.

To my loyal three readers, I’ll see you all very soon.

One for One

2005-12-13T17:11:00.000-08:00

So our road trip last week resulted in a record of 1 and 1.

The 1 win was Mini. A fully integrated, transformation account that will change the fortunes of our agency. The 1 loss was consolidation of the Coke online advertising account.

As the image above indicates, I'm focused on the loss more than the win. While I contributed to the Mini win, and by every conceivable measure it's bigger and better, Coke is my account and I fucking hate losing.

Losing is distasteful. It makes my skin crawl. Losing destroys the soul and is bad for the complexion. It makes my stomach turn. Losing is not why I got into this game. I'm not accustomed to it and find no redeeming value in it. No lessons learned, no wisdom gained is worth the price of failure. Losing fucking sucks donkey dicks. Fuck.

Road Games

2005-12-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

We’re four weeks from the end of the NFL season. For many teams this means at least one more series of road games. Well the fourth quarter of every year is kind of the same for ad agencies. To that end, I’m on a series of big new business pitches on the East Coast all this week. I got into NJ for a car pitch last night. We’ll pitch today and then I’ll spend this evening in NYC. I have to drive into Manhattan this evening so that should be interesting. On Wednesday, I’m onto Dirty South for three days in The ATL. We’ll end this week with a major pitch to consolidate online advertising for the Coke Main Brand. The cool thing is that car account might let us know by Thursday of this week. I’ve never seen that work so fast, but you never know. So anyway, I get back to San Francisco late Friday night and then we have our agency Christmas Party. So I expect we’ll be drinking one way or another. Let’s hope it’s a happy drink. My camera phone is jacked-up so I have my regular camera. I’ll put some photos up when I can download them.

Got The New Audio Bullys Today

2005-11-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

Amazon.co.UK came through for me again today. The new Audio Bullys album came out in the UK last week and I got my copy today. It will be months before it's released here. When you see the post mark from the Old Country, you know you've got "chunes" coming. I got The Streets Original Pirate Material in much the same way several years ago before it hit big here. Sadly, while Street got big enough to fill the Fillmore, I've yet to see postings for Audio Bullys playing anywhere but some uny in The Midlands. I hope with the new album that will change that soon.

So about the new Audio Bullys second effort "Generations". I have just been through it once today while I was working and I like it. I think it will hold up better than "A Grand Doesn't Come For Free" which was a bit of a let down after The Streets nearly perfect first album. What hasn't caught my ear yet is the poetry of suburban decay that lifted Audio Bullys first album Ego War from great beats to a high rotation on my playlist. I'll give it a deeper listen and we'll see. The Nancy Sinatra sample in "Shot You Down" has potential to break big in the UK, but not the US. It's a bit of gadget play in my book, but it is endlessly remixable and should get dance floors moving. Perhaps if they ride this song to a top 100 UK single, then they'll feel compelled to tour the US. The last thing to add is that Audio Bullys say Happy Mondays' "Wrote for Luck" was a big influence on them. I think you can really hear the influence. So here's your SAT question for today:
"Heaven and hell and drugs to sell..It's a suburban ego war" is to "I don't read, I just guess, there's more than one sign, and it's getting less" as Saun Ryder is to ______.

Thanksgiving In Vegas

2005-11-24T13:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving. I'm in Vegas at my Sister-in-law's house. Due to the inclusion of a new loser live-in boyfriend, it's super lame. Since this quasi-public I'll spare you the details. Let it suffice to say that this could turn into an episode of Cops Las Vegas any minute. I'm so concerned that the Cops TV crew will show up that I refuse to take off my shirt under any circumstance. I figure, you only see Billy Ray arrested on that show sans shirt, so if I'm fully clothed...the cops won't come. I'll post a little later. If I play my cards right, perhaps I'll sleep at Mandalay Bay tonight instead.

I Don't Want Chicken Tonight

2005-11-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

Damn I love a backlash – especially when I saw it coming a mile away.

Having evangelized interactive advertising for 9+ years, it's great to see that it’s now a "no brainer" for my largest clients. Unfortunately, when it comes to using the medium to impact brands in the way that has been long expected of traditional advertising, they continue to lose the plot.

We live now in the “Viral Bubble”, similar to how we lived in the “Direct Response Bubble” for so many lowly years. My take is that viral stunts are distracting attention form the big-brand power of interactive advertising in the way our DR roots did for so long.

Subservient Chickens are great, but they are only one tactic to use in the broader strategy of moving entire brands. A few years ago, it was all BMW Films, all the time. The films were great creative content that Fallon did a hell of a job integrating into the entire brand messaging strategy. The problem with BMW Films was not Fallon, they had the right idea. Rather it was the myriad of brands that said “I gotta get me one of them Internet movies” without regard to how it lifted the entire brand. If anything, the claptrap I hear now about ‘Viral” is less evolved than ‘me to’ BMW films fad of 2002!

The IAB is winning the10% solution for the internet faster than we expected. So let’s move on to the next challenge of winning the battle of the brands. We have to continue the painful process of convincing our client’s that ignoring distinctions between distribution channels gives them the freedom to consider the real issue of moving perceptions and driving their brands.

Rance Crain wrote recently in Ad Age that “What agencies need to do is reinforce big, bold ideas through all the new media and technologies available-as well as the traditional media that can still pack a punch.” Damn straight homeboy.

I’m the first to bow down at the alter of media agnosticism. Just don’t try to bend a knee with me if you're pulling a viral stunt in isolation or web film unconnected to shit. We don’t go to the same church.

Quote in Fortune

2005-11-15T16:49:00.000-08:00

Check it out, I got a quote in an article in Fortune Magazine last week

"Worse, advertisers hated dealing with AOL. Even after Miller arrived, the ad sales staff was still alienating its customers. "It was their lack of flexibility," says Jeff Lanctot, vice president of Avenue A/Razorfish, one of the largest buyers of online media. "They came to us not with an open mind about what was best for the client but with a predetermined package about what the client should buy." But the tone began to shift after Miller hired Kelly, a Time Warner executive with years of experience dealing with advertisers. (Kelly, it should be noted, is not the Mike Kelly who was previously Time Warner's CFO.) For example, says Andy Sims of online ad agency SF Interactive, AOL has stopped forcing advertisers that buy ads on high-traffic pages to also purchase ads on less desirable locations."

Quoted from:
COMEBACKS: AOL
AOL: The Relaunch

FORTUNE
Monday, October 31, 2005
By Stephanie N. Mehta and Fred Vogelstein
Link to full article:
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/print/0,15935,1123956,00.html

It's always nice to get a quote in an interesting article on things that are going on in my industry. Fortune consistently does a super job of reporting on interactive advertising and publishing. It's a must read in my opinion.

Sally Discovering New Technology

2005-11-02T15:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, the deal with this is that I got a call the other day for an interview with the Japanese Wall Street Journal. The article was about how ad agencies like mine find new advertising technology for their clients. Well, since the interview was over the phone, the reporter asked if we could take and send over a photo of our head of engineering Mark Ruder and I in front of some computers "discovering technology". We couldn't figure it out for the life of us. We must have stood in front of every computer in the shop and didn't like any of the photos. When the article comes out I'll post the photo that we took, but until then, you can just look at Sally "discovering technology" since it's far better than ours.

Shopping Day

2005-10-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

Ah Sally. Saturday was a beautiful day for shopping. The great thing about San Francisco is that you can take your dog almost anywhere you like. Here is Sally at Macy's and she also went to Louis Vuitton today for the first time. The great part is that she was wearing a knock-off LV collar and leash.

"I Want Your Pills and Grass You"

2005-10-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

Ah, our friend Bez here to the left. At 32 years old, I remain an unabashed Happy Monday’s fan. Having paraphrased Tony Wilson the other day, I felt obliged to mention my deep admiration for Happy Mondays. For me it starts with Shaun Ryder’s lyrics. Having studied only a bit of Yeats in high school, I’m probably not qualified to disagree that Shaun is the best lyricist since Yeats. Certainly that Shaun laughs at the idea gives him credibility in this comparison. Of course, it’s possible that he doesn’t really know who Yeats was. A man that doesn’t pore over his own genius is either humble or ignorant of it. I’ll go with the theory that Shaun Ryder is a bit of both. “God made it easy, God made it easy on me, God made it easy on me” has meaning. 1991 was time of personal celebration in my life. Happy Mondays were about celebration. God did make it easy on me as he made it easy on the Ryder brothers and Bez.

This brings me to our friend at left. Bez represents what I love most about this music that meant so much to me. While Oakenfold provided the beats I loved, Wilson the money to hire Oakenfold and Shaun the inspired lyricism, it’s Bez that made it fun. Bez was the freaky dancer, the guy who danced like a goon rolling in celebration of the music, the pills and the moment. I was never going to be Shaun or Martin Hannett or Ian Curtis, but I was Bez. I loved the sound and I danced. I danced without shame of celebration. I sang “God made it easy on me” until my voice cracked and the cars passing my Toyota slowed to see the seizure in the right lane.

Two words: Gub Ment

2005-10-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

There is a dude at work that is always talking about how the government is spying on him. I’m pretty sure he’s joking, but maybe I’m just being optimistic. Anyway, he was on about it today so I made him and some other guys that listen to his crap put on aluminum foil hats to protect them from the CIA Brain Scanners.

Andy and Hayden Christensen

2005-10-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

I was at this charity event honoring George Lucas on Tuesday and Hayden Christensen was on hand to introduce Lucas for the award. I was at the bar and saw him across the room and grabbed him for a photo. Sources close to me at the event said I was all “Hey Dude, Come Here” and then forced him into the picture. Respect to Hayden, he must get dorks like me always hounding him for a photo and he was cool about it. Now I have a signed photo of Luke Skywalker circa 1982 and Photo with Darth in 2005. Outstanding.

Oktoberfest

2005-10-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I went to Oktoberfest at Fort Mason in San Francisco. So much fun. I had some Schnitzel and some great German beer. It was Dane's birthday and both his brothers were there. It was a lot of fun. Look at that big beer. Outstanding.

Big Man in a Little Car

2005-10-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

2005-10-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

The time has come to put my picture on the site. This is at the Coca-Cola Company Store at their HQ in The ATL.

Notable Ad from NC

2005-10-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, I didn't take this photo, but it's of a pretty killer OOH execution done by Boone/Oakley out of Charlotte. The billboard ran in my parent’s small town of Mooresville, NC for some Grocery story named Bloom. This goes to prove that there is a ton of great work going on everywhere for shops with enough good ideas. Congrats Boone/Oakley. I've been watching from afar and you guys have a lot of good work coming out of there.

So here's the gag:

The board has 6 giant 3D "muffins" and reads "Jumbo Muffins always in Bloom." 3 days after board goes up, they place a $300 Kia under it. A little while later they crush it and put one of the giant muffins on top. Car gets crushed by big ole' muffin. Anyway, the stunt gets a lot of press, maybe sells some muffins and certainly drives trial of Bloom by many of the Winn Dixie shopping moms driving down HWY 150.

Nei & Eric doing ads

2005-10-03T16:43:00.000-07:00

We presented the Sprite concepts for the Slam Dunk Contest at the NBA All Star Game in February. Went well. We'll see how it goes in Atlanta later in the week.

Tara DJing Last Night

2005-10-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

This is Tara DJing at Magnet in North Beach. As usual she rocked it. It was Sally's Birthday and she celebrated with mommy DJing. Lucky that dog likes house music.

Dane Frederiksen

2005-10-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

Dane at Mandalay bay for his Bachelor Party in July 05

Ms. Sally

2005-10-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

This is Andy's MoPho Blog. Each day I'll post a photo from my mobile phone - that's the MoPho in this deal.
So the first photo is of Sally and was taken by a professional potog. Please note how bad the photos will get from here on out.