AdVerve - Episode 19 - Customer Service-O-Rama

On 3 For 3, we go off on Abbey Road, French Olympics, soy sauce, reality series mania, Dodge Charger ads and YouTube Disco. Then Kelly Eidson of Modea does Five Minutes With... which kicks off a discussion of the small agency digital divide around 33 minutes in. Then the headlining act comes onstage as we discuss Kevin Smith’s recent Southwest airlines fun. (Links below to the sequence of events.) We come out on his side of things and think Southwest is spinning things way too much and is wrong for reasons that the Southwest PR fanboy crowd ignore. Which then leads us into a discussion on the concept of customer service in Europe. And ice cream. Lots of ice cream.

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Topics:

00:00 – 1. Intro
03:25 – 2. 3 For 3
28:35 – 3. Five Minutes With... Kelly Eidson
33:50 – 4. Smaller is better
41:53 – 5. Kevin Smith’s Customer Service-O-Rama
1:02:41 – 6. Promo whores
1:03:07 – 7. Ice cream tipping etiquette
1:11:34 – 8. That’s a wrap...

Linkage:

• A) Kevin Smith’s original story. B) His initial smodcast after. C) Southwest’s follow-up blog post. D) Kevin’s rebuttal. E) Kevin’s final words. F) His smodcast with Natali (the woman passenger next to him).
• Abbey Road up for sale.
•  Dove men’s bodywash commercial.

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AdVerve - The N Word

Do you really need more explanation? Hadji Williams helps us deconstruct John Mayergate and the cluelessness of those who wanna score what Mayer so descriptively called ... The N-pass?

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Linkage:

• John Mayer Playboy interview, VH1 show and excerpts from Chappelle Show bit parts 1 & 2.
• Mayer’s subsequent Twitter apology. (Video apology.)
• Louis C.K. on Opie & Anthony, his origins and dating prefs show (Language NSFW).
• Jay Mohr on Opie & Anthony (Language NSFW).
• Questlove on Twitter.
• Alan Wolk in Ad Age and Gawker response.

Hadji’s website and Blogword info.

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AdVerve - Episode 18 - Super Bowl Jesus

Post-Super Bowl and we only talk about one Super Bowl spot? Sure. Why not. Our show, our rules. From there, things morph into Jesus and how parents make kids go to church, thereby planting the seeds for their future interest in science fiction. Speaking of, prescient that the topic of science friction starts at 25:25. (You figure the ref out.) At least in our cases it did. From there, things devolve further into U.S. imperialism and actors we hate. Mutually exclusive? Could be, could be. Listen for yourselves, then judge, won’t you?

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Topics:

00:00 – 1. Intro
00:45 – 2. NOT the Super Bowl
12:36 – 3. Snowmaggedon
13:36 – 4. Jesus church porn
20:33 – 5. Google buzz—your future is now
25:25 – 6. Science friction
31:08 – 7. Actors we love/hate
35:34 – 8. Le Burka ban
39:32 – 9. Inventing the future... now
45:32 – 10. Classics? Own that shit
52:38 – 11. That’s a wrap...

Linkage:

• Jesus prayer rug junk mail.
• Perfume.
• Where the Wild Things Are. (*Unofficial*)
• Alice in Wonderland.

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AdVerve - Episode 17 - PR Patois

Aka, the art of the release, pitch, whatevuh. Ad blog slash PR dude Dan Barron joins the fun as we talk about all the ways PR releases make us crazy. He also explains a lot of what goes on behind the scenes, which in turn, makes us whiny little bitches who, in turn, go on a podcast and complain about it.

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Topics:

00:00 – 1. For immediate release...
45:07 – 2. What we look for
55:51 – 3. PR is your friend
58:46 – 4. That’s a wrap...

Linkage:

• Beer Rangers.

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Can we start you off with a free sampler?

THAT’S A LOL JOKE! ALL OUR SHOWS ARE FREE!

So maybe you have a friend who doesn’t know what the show is like. Well, send them this new sampler covering a few minutes of regular features we do such as “I need a name for...” and “10 For 10.”  Go on, share it with someone you love.

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AdVerve - Episode 16 - Life After Social Media Snake Oil

To parasteal from Bono, Joseph Jaffe stole the :30 spot — we’re stealin’ it back.

It’s been almost five years since he pissed off people in Ad Land™ talking about Life After The :30 Spot; we look back to see what still holds up.

Supporting that theme is this idea of the social-media-as-snake-oil bias still prevalent in advertising circles. If you were among those that the Chief Interruptor (at crayon, in turn acquired by Power) disrupted, listen close: what's really in question is the advertising model in general. We also manage to get in a few shots at Facebook, Walmart and the Stupor Bowl mindset.

(Want more Jaffe Juice? Catch him on Twitter.)

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Topics:

00:00 – 1. Intro - Blahg, blahg, blagh—a brief history of time
14:15 – 2. Social media snake oil
26:58 – 3. Life After The :30 Spot—5 years later & the death of TV
40:35 – 4. Media, freaking
47:00 – 5. Nobody doesn’t like free.
50:23 – 6. Branding disconnect
56:18 – 7. The Stupor Bowl Effect™
1:12:36 – 8. Disrupt that shit
1:17:28 – 9. That’s a wrap

Linkage:

• Walmart’s Clown spot.
• Whopper Freakout breakdown.
• Intelevision.
• Chevy Volt iPhone app.
• Philips Carousel.

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Ben Kunz on Apple's Potential for Saving Publishing: Now in Technicolor™!

Ben Kunz, who did the Five Minutes With... segment for our "Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms" episode, turned his cameo into a visual manifesto with witty subtitles and music saturated in foreboding.

What we like about Ben is his special way of looking at hype from a critical perspective -- not just to be a contrarian, but because he accounts for both the history of Apple and the trajectory of industries similar to publishing. It's wrapped up all nice, swaddled in logic, and you sit there wondering why you never saw it before.

Give it a watch and decide whether he's right. We've got thoughts on this, but by now it should be clear we like to save those until we're compromised by a stimulant or abject boredom.

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AdVerve - Episode 15 - Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms.

Who can’t use more of each?

Did your mother drink and smoke while pregnant? Then have we got a show for you. After exploring most of the adult vices we could think of, we devote the show to one of our favorite segments, 10 For 10. (We basically hit each other with topics the other doesn’t know about ahead of time.)

From there, Ben Kunz of Media Associates delivers a Five Minutes With... showing why he’s smart. Like, blog smart, especially on his Thought Gadgets where he lives. Whatever that means. We then wrap as only we can—for another 10 minutes and cover things like the idea of heroes and drowning. IT’S 97 MINUTES OF PURE PLEASURE.

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Topics:

00:00 – 1. Intro - A man can always use more alcohol, tobacco & firearms
12:48 – 2. Fuck Skype
13:32 – 3. 10 For 10 - Diesel
18:35 – 4. 10 For 10 - Guys With Scarves
21:04 – 5. 10 For 10 - Personal behavior
22:41 – 6. 10 For 10 - Breaking Dawn & Vampire World
31:16 – 7. 10 For 10 - Save the children
37:08 – 8. 10 For 10 - FourSquare
43:21 – 9. 10 For 10 - Ace of Base
45:57 – 10. 10 For 10 - Hated but still used
47:38 – 11. 10 For 10 - Google, meet China
49:31 – 12. 10 For 10 - I saw it on the YT
53:44 – 13. 10 For 10 - Advertising water
58:14 – 14. 10 For 10 - Disturbing profiles
1:01:09 – 15. 10 For 10 - Red
1:02:55 – 16. 10 For 10 - The Apple rules
1:05:57 – 17. 10 For 10 - Ikea
1:11:09 – 18. 10 For 10 - The brand you hate
1:12:36 – 19. 10 For 10 - Privacy
1:15:22 – 20. 10 For 10 - The brand you love
1:19:11 – 21. Five Minutes with... Ben Kunz
1:24:27 – 22. That’s a wrap... and *other* stuff

Linkage:

• Thank You For Smoking trailer.
• Bob Roberts trailer.
• Diesel’s Stupid campaign.
• Robert Scoble on FourSquare at CES.
• Breaking Dawn review.
• Quick Burger.
• Charlie Bit Me — autotuned!
• Shirley Temple's Baby Burlesques.
• Twitter for Culture Buzz: @vanksen_com.
• Boomsday by Christopher Buckley.

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AdVerve - Episode 14 - Music madness

Music freaks, rejoice!

No, this won't be some bullshit hard-to-keep-up-with Top 10 list. In this segment we talk about technology and its effect on music. From creating it to sharing and making money from it to where things are headed. WE GO THERE.

That we do this without mentioning Black Eyed Peas once is a testament to something, just not sure what.

Joining the fun is Darryl Ohrt and Matt Hunsberger from The Greatest Agency In All The Land. Find Darryl on Twitter; Matt can be found there and fronting Pop Heroes.

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Topics:

00:00 – 1. Intro
01:17 – 2. James Cameron’s Tech Garage
03:32 – 3. Technology in music
30:01 – 4. Buy! Buy! Buy!
37:31 – 5. Pirates!
49:35 – 6. Selling out
57:23 – 7. Touring importance
01:04:23 – 14. That’s a wrap

Linkage:
It Might Get Loud.
Umphrey's McGee on Jamband, the live event and previous Plaid work for the band.
Linda Perry, 4 Non Blondes.
Giving it away. Yep, Prince and Radiohead.
Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles.

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AdVerve - Episode 13 - Bloggers suck

It’s harder for us to title these things anymore since we go off in so many different directions in each show now. The timestamp breakdown gives you a semblance of what we covered. From dudes who love cars a little too much to Angela’s new gigs at Hypios, Culture Buzz and position on Top Sexy Geek lists. The topics we spend the most time on include how blogs are still not taken seriously by “real” journalists (or some ad agencies), and the fear about being too open on them. Then the show devolves into a pop culture ceviche from there.

We also have back a regular feature 5 Minutes With... featuring Matt McDermott of Renegade. (Follow him on Twitter and their agency blog too.)

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Topics:

00:00 – 1. Intro and Angela’s new thangs
06:30 – 2. Speak no blog evil
22:37 – 3. Bloggers aren’t journalists
25:49 – 4. When is young too young?
33:42 – 5. Bad credit? No credit? No problem!
35:45 – 6. Money edumacation
38:48 – 7. 5 minutes with... Matt McDermott
44:49 – 8. Feeling irregular
47:30 – 9. European New Year’s
50:10 – 10. Everywhere is home
51:56 – 11. AmeriFrench cuisine
55:12 – 12. Memorize!
59:11 – 13. Current currentness
01:10:06 – 14. That’s a wrap

Linkage we mentioned:
Psychological violence under fire in France.
Alice Cooper in Germany.
Flight 1549 & Captain Sully billboard.
Louis CK: Everything’s amazing-nobody’s happy.
Car lover dude.
Fashion wunderkind Tavi Gevinson.
The Cablevision mess.
Super petaflop.
McPunched.

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