MisEntropy

Plannersphere Top 20 - December 2009

The top 20 blogs in the plannersphere as of 2nd December 2009 are:

01. advertising lab
02. adliterate
03. Noah Brier dot Com
04. Nick Burcher
05. We Are Social
06. Only Dead Fish
07. russell davies
08. brand new
09. Adspace Pioneers
10. Life Moves Pretty Fast
11. Herd - the hidden truth about who we are
12. Talent imitates, genius steals
13. Servant of Chaos 
14. livingbrands 
15. Make Marketing History
16. Interactive Marketing Trends
17. Mike Arauz
18. Influxinsights
19. The Hidden Persuader
20. Get Shouty

a. The top 20 blog list winnows out the planning/strategy blogs from the AdAge Power 150 list - and represents a snapshot of their relative positions during the course of their constant Brownian flux on the AdAge list.
b. The plannersphere universe considered in compiling the above charts is this master list (curated by me) which itself was (and continues to be) derived from the Plannersphere wiki list.
c. To figure in the top 20 blog chart, a blog should feature both in the AdAge Power 150 (information on submitting it is available on the same page) AND in this master plannersphere list. Do leave a comment below to ensure the latter if you have been recently enlisted on the AdAge Power 150.
d. In addition, to feature in the top 20 blog chart a blog also needs to have been active - with at least one entry - over the last 1 month.
e. If there are any omissions, do let me know; I shall include them henceforth.
f. You can view rankings from previous months at Plannersphere Top 20.

Plannersphere Top 20 - November 2009

The top 20 blogs in the plannersphere as of 6th November 2009 are:

01. advertising lab
02. Noah Brier dot Com
03. We Are Social
04. Nick Burcher
05. Only Dead Fish
06. Adspace Pioneers
07. Herd - the hidden truth about who we are 
08. brand new
09. russell davies
10. Interactive Marketing Trends 
11. Servant of Chaos
12. adliterate
13. livingbrands 
14. Mike Arauz
15. Influxinsights
16. Make Marketing History
17. positive disruption by: Tom Martin 
18. The Hidden Persuader
19. Talent imitates, genius steals
20. paul isakson

a. The top 20 blog list winnows out the planning/strategy blogs from the AdAge Power 150 list - and represents a snapshot of their relative positions during the course of their constant Brownian flux on the AdAge list.
b. The plannersphere universe considered in compiling the above charts is this master list (curated by me) which itself was (and continues to be) derived from the Plannersphere wiki list.
c. To figure in the top 20 blog chart, a blog should feature both in the AdAge Power 150 (information on submitting it is available on the same page) AND in this master plannersphere list. Do leave a comment below to ensure the latter if you have been recently enlisted on the AdAge Power 150.
d. In addition, to feature in the top 20 blog chart a blog also needs to have been active - with at least one entry - over the last 1 month.
e. If there are any omissions, do let me know; I shall include them henceforth.
f. You can view rankings from previous months at Plannersphere Top 20.

ten things i didn't know until last week

1. In the Biblical account of Genesis, the first task God entrusted to Adam was to give names to all the animals.
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2. Password aging is a feature in software that forces users to change their passwords after a specified period of time.
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3. According to long-standing protocol, Brazil always speaks first at the UN General Assembly and is followed by the host country.
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4. Jazz musician Stan Getz's real name is Stanley Gayetsky.
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5. Silent movie superstar Clara Bow was the original 'It' girl - heralded as such in 1927 for appearing, appropiately enough, in the movie 'It.'
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6. Goldfish are naturally greenish-brown or grey. But when exposed to high-levels of light, as in a fishbowl, they turn a pleasing gold colour.
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7. In the early days of barcodes there was a plan for round - or bullseyes - ones.
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8. The Lincoln penny is the longest-running U.S. coin still in circulation. Introduced in 1909 it was the first US coin on which a President's likeness appeared.
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9. Saturn's rings are named in the order in which they were discovered, not for their location.
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10. Germany does not recognize Scientology as a religion and treats it instead as a business.
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[Original pic by der makabere]

Plannersphere Top 20 - October 2009

The top 20 blogs in the plannersphere as of 6th October 2009 are:

01. Noah Brier dot Com
02. Nick Burcher
03. russell davies
04. advertising lab
05. We Are Social
06. adliterate
07. Only Dead Fish
08. News from the Herd
09. Influxinsights
10. Adspace Pioneers
11. paul isakson
12. Life Moves Pretty Fast
13. Herd - the hidden truth about who we are
14. brand new
15. Servant of Chaos
16. Mike Arauz
17. The Hidden Persuader
18. livingbrands
19. From The Head Of Zeus Jones
20. Talent imitates, genius steals

a. The top 20 blog list winnows out the planning/strategy blogs from the AdAge Power 150 list - and represents a snapshot of their relative positions during the course of their constant Brownian flux on the AdAge list.
b. The plannersphere universe considered in compiling the above charts is this master list (curated by me) which itself was (and continues to be) derived from the Plannersphere wiki list.
c. To figure in the top 20 blog chart, a blog should feature both in the AdAge Power 150 (information on submitting it is available on the same page) AND in this master plannersphere list. Do leave a comment below to ensure the latter if you have been recently enlisted on the AdAge Power 150.
d. In addition, to feature in the top 20 blog chart a blog also needs to have been active - with at least one entry - over the last 1 month.
e. If there are any omissions, do let me know; I shall include them henceforth.
f. You can view rankings from previous months at Plannersphere Top 20.

Why scam ads are like pedigree dogs

Leafing through an old issue of New Scientist magazine, I came upon this op-ed column that expresses outrage at the cruelty and insensitivity inherent in breeding pedigree dogs.

It seems that pedigree dogs are so efficiently bred for narrow award-winning characteristics that as a result they often end up suffering grave ill-health and a greatly reduced quality of life.

That immediately struck me as an appropriate way to describe something closer home - a scam ad. After we are done condemning the creatives and agencies behind scam ads (whenever that would be), it isn't too difficult to see the life of a scam ad as one akin to a dog's - metaphorically, if not always literally.

And then the problems that are endemic to pedigree dogs suddenly seem widespread in scam ads too.

"Pedigree dog breeders compete to produce animals that conform to written standards, which may include traits that inadvertently compromise quality of life. These traits were included in the first breed standards set when dogs left the working arena and entered the world of dog shows in the late 1800s. Many of them were valued by early dog domesticators because they served a purpose, such as long legs for hunting dogs, or muscular build for guard dogs. Unfortunately, breeders now tend to priortise looks over function, and to pursue traits with excessive zeal."

Even a casual peruser of scam ads will notice the traits that are being pursued with excessive zeal - long copy, no copy, microscopic logo, clever visual, ambient device, etc.

"Take the pug, which is required to have eyes that are "very large, globular in shape." Breeders select for this, leaving pugs with eyes that bulge so badly their lids can scarcely meet well enough to wipe the eyeball clean. The poor dogs suffer a lifetime of conjunctivitis that scars the cornea and blinds them."

All I can say that most scam ads suffer a much worse fate. Most of them can't even enjoy a life as an ordinary ad - the one that gets run and whose existence is seen and acknowledged. They are show-freaks who have no place in daily life.

After making a case for "a new approach to dog breeding, one based on a comprehensive understanding of their biology," the above piece ends on this note:

"Perhaps one day breeders will compete in a class for "The dog with the best chance for a high quality of life.""

While the brouhaha over scam advertising usually focuses on the perpetrators accompanied by ritual condemnation (and followed by a swift return to the status quo) - approaching the problem with empathy for the ads and ideas themselves may help us see the problem in a new light. And might even change the motivations of the scam ad "breeders."

As Rory Sutherland puts it, scam advertising is not really an ethical problem at all but an economic one. In the post, Rory also proposes a market system that can mitigate, partially at least, the colossal economic waste that scam advertising results in - and give the dog another chance to have its day.

There do seem to be changes in dog breeding - the above op-ed mentions withdrawn support for dog shows in the UK and also a pilot scheme to promote appropriate behavioural traits in show dogs.

And there do seem to changes afoot in scamland too - the One Show recently announced that it will ban scam creators for up to 5 years.

While many hope that the above will end the 'scam', my worry is that it shouldn't put an end to so-called "scam advertising" - advertising which owes its existence to profligate creativity.

I only hope that the One Show measures push us to work harder to give our scam ideas the legitimacy they deserve - by selling them to clients, going beyond a single execution and release, fighting (often with our own scammy and lazy selves) for their 'quality of life' and for their presence in the brand's legitimate guard book.

[Sammy, the crochet dog, and its picture courtesy Patti Haskins]