Nothing is the New Anything

I recently read a compelling New York Times Op-Ed piece by Susan Cain entitled, “The Rise of the New Groupthink”. In it, she highlights a dramatic trend in business, education and religion that moves us away from individual thinking to an almost forced collaboration, something she calls “The New Groupthink.” It’s an intriguing comparison between the solitary efforts of “lone geniuses” and the seemingly homogenization of the work that occurs with endless meetings and brainstorms.

How’d You Get In: Margaret Johnson

With the constant chatter about the gender balance and women in advertising, we thought it a propos to feature one of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners’ finest ad women, Margaret Johnson, as our first How’d You Get In? of 2012. During her fourteen-year tenure at GS&P, Margaret has worked on nearly every account in the agency, from Budweiser to Haagen-Dazs, HP, Logitech, Nike, Nintendo, Specialized and Yahoo. She is also a filmmaker, having completed her first film, Dunkumentary (part of the Short Film Corner at Cannes), in 2008. She may be Executive Creative Director and Associate Partner now, but how did Margaret get her start?

Two is the Loneliest Number

The world might not end in 2012 as the Mayans predicted, but you don’t need an ancient calendar to see that the traditional way advertising is created, and more specifically the way ideas have traditionally been created, is quickly becoming extinct.

In the good ol’ days of advertising, the joined-at-the-hipster duo of copywriter and art director was the most efficient way to develop ideas into a campaign. Whether they were locked in an office together, in side-by-side cubicles, or sharing a table at the local coffee house, these two people were expected to change a client’s fortunes, or at least come up with something decent for the agency reel.

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Embracing the Unknown

Does This Idea Make Sense in Spanglish?

AGENCY PROFILES

BBH Asia-Pacific, Singapore
After starting up using Simon Sherwood’s (Simon is now BBH’s Global CEO) apartment as its humble base of operations, the agency has now moved into an old warehouse right by the Singapore River where 88 people come in to work every morning.

AKQA, San Francisco
While the majority of San Francisco’s ad agencies inhabit skyscrapers stretched along Battery Street (the “Madison Avenue” of San Francisco), AKQA is located in SoMa (South of Market, for the rest of us non-natives.

Sid Lee Amsterdam
It seems like everyone who works in advertising has at one time or another thought about opening their own agency. I know I have.

INDUSTRY

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EDITOR'S PICK

How to Train Ideas to Come When They’re Called: Notes and Advice for Young People in Advertising PART ONE
In this article, I’m hoping to impart some useful information about advertising ideas and how one arrives at them. I’m hoping this information will bring comfort and peace and a touch more confidence.

How to Train Ideas to Come When They’re Called: Notes and Advice for Young People in Advertising PART TWO
Let’s talk about another process for idea generation. This process isn’t specific to advertising, but it can work very well for what we do. It’s called SCAMPER, and it is attributed to a writer named Bob Eberle.

How to Train Ideas to Come When They’re Called: Notes and Advice for Young People in Advertising PART THREE
What happens if you do something unexpected with your product or your medium or an everyday object? Many years ago, Volkswagen found a way to make the shape of their car say something about thrift in tough economic times.

Nothing is the New Anything

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