September 12, 2005
dispatches from the we-need-a-blog-let’s-get-the-intern-to-write-it school of advertising
Wieden & Kennedy London, the deadsexy ubercreative superstar hotshop U.K. ad agency has a blog. Groovy.
Lots of groovy blog entries with groovy photos of groovy people in groovy clothes with groovy offices sitting on groovy furniture in groovy meetings talking about shooting groovy commercials for groovy clients. Groovy.
The person writing it doesn’t seem to want to share his/her name with the readers. Groovy.
Can’t say I blame the poor bugger. Groovy.
[FURTHER READING:] “British Advertising Continues To Die (Hurrah).”
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A wee chuckle to start your day off right etc.
Correct me if I’m misunderstanding when I take it you don’t really like the blog. Can you point to an ad agency that runs a blog you do like? I wonder if you’re not comparing reality to an imaginary ideal.
at the very least, it’s accessible, doesn’t use flash, and isn’t “over-designed.”
it also, um, doesn’t really say much at all. ah twell, can’t have everything.
By the way, thanks for the great thoughts again, Hugh. I’ve got you listed under educator in my daily blogs. (Hope you’re complimented by that.)
I took a look at W+K’s blog and saw a few people there making entries, Neil and Kim for example. Maybe they take turns?
I didn’t see anything wrong with the blog. Nothing either particularly sophisticated or obnoxious about them from my pov. Wondering what’s your beef could be with places like this?
Are they making tons of money in the ad game without any true smarts? That’s frustrating to watch in every arena!
doesn’t look too groovy for me. imho just a (slightly) boring job someone does because the boss said they need a blog.
Hugh doesnt like anything he hasnt written himself. He is a self-centred, self-serving cynical egotist if that isn’t too tautologous.
“just a (slightly) boring job”
” Nothing either particularly sophisticated or obnoxious”
“doesn’t really say much at all”
That’s Hugh’s problems with the blargh, I think…
It’s a. kind of boring b. kind of boring c. the new campaign for nike is pretty lame. I WILL RUN A YEAR.
Yeah, Lo, other people’s stuff sucks. Thanks for reminding me bwah ha ha ha ha…
Maybe the boss didn’t say shit. Maybe the lowly intern is trying to make his or her presence known.
I actually like the understated nature of W+K London’s blog. Given who they are, the thing could be gushing with cool. I for one am glad it is not.
“Gushing with cool”. Now that would be funny. Heh.
Hum. It’s not that bad. Yeah, there’s a lot of backpatting-look-at-our-cool-offices type crap but overall it isn’t overly digested. It will be interesting to see if it progresses into something a bit deeper.
OK Hugh – here’s why I like the W+K blog (at the risk – hope – of having you draw a cartoon about me) –
The W+K effort tells me less about WHAT they do and a lot about WHO they are. Just about ad agency can brag about their latest conquest and the brilliancy of their people – this one shares their personality, which I think is more important when choosing someone to manage your image.
I don’t know. I kind of like it. Nothing special, but also not affensive in any way.
On a more serious note, the ad agencies are learning and learning fast. The recent purchase frenzy by the big networks (this is a good time to own a boutique agency) is testament to this. Strawberry Frog in the Netherlands is an example of clever people doing clever stuff that’s honest and relevant.
Hmmm… I’d say “under-designed” by a long shot.
If you’re Hugh, and you’re pushing the idea that the conversation is the point and the look isn’t (and you have nice cartoons) then the generic blog look fits.
If you’re WK, it seems you might want to make a sharper visual impression. Oh, wait… I just checked their main website. I guess they don’t go on the Internets much.
Anyway, yeah, kudos for not forcing popups and flash (their regular site does, even from the “HTML low bandwidth” point of entry). But isn’t that just because they’re using a standard template?
The content looks to me like it’s recruiting-oriented, but maybe I just don’t know enough about that business. If I were thinking of working for them, or lusted after one of their staff, I’d certainly read all the posts.
Love the Oregon office though. (Sorry, guess I’m complaining about it too, and I’m not even in the same biz.)
what a total waste of everyone’s time
I think you’re all under some delusion that advertising folk should be cool. Once in every 100 attempts, an advert is cool, but advertising folk??? It’s a business. Thanks for lifting the bonnet chaps…
That’s the beauty of blogging. You can’t keep up the pretence for long.
Anyhow, as guy ritchie would say…’what exactly does it mean when you deconstruct the context of cool…er…geezer?’
“On a more serious note, the ad agencies are learning and learning fast.”
Andreas, I’m not sure if I agree with you.
Why not? Because blogs,when done well, are cheap and easy. They’re in the business of selling stuff that is neither.
Anybody who pays serious agency money to make blogs for them is either a fool or being ripped off. Just my opinion.
“Why not? Because blogs,when done well, are cheap and easy. They’re in the business of selling stuff that is neither.”
Hmmm. I am not sure. That statement reminds me too much of the old adage ‘Linux is only free if your time has no value’.
A blog, when done well, takes considerable effort. And effort equals time. Which brings us back to Linux.
Selling stuff, and helping to sell stuff, is not inherently a bad thing. Our entire society is build on trade. Take it away and see our empires crumble. Advertising is the oil that keeps the machinery going that puts roofs over our collective heads. (Whether that’s a good or a bad thing, especially in the light of mounting environmental concerns, is probably a discussion for another day.)
Blogging, when done with the purpose of selling stuff or launching idea virii (I hope that’s spelled right) is jusst another forjm of advertising. Is is inherently more honest? I doubt it. Is it inheerently more effective? I doubt that even more. Is it cheaper? Yes, if your time has no value
I don’t mean to be down on blogging, I enjoy blogs and the discussion surrounding them, far too much for that. But our opinions differ when it comes to the role of blogging in the marketplace.
Hope all is well in Blighty, have a beer for me when you’re next in London.
No worries, Andreas. Hope all is well on your end
PS: Andreas, blogs are just the tip of the Cluetrain iceberg. And it wasn’t the tip that hit the Titanic.
The first thing I look for in a company I want to hire is empty beer bottles all over the table.
Does W&K London’s Blog Suck?
Wieden & Kennedy London has a blog. It’s kind of about Wieden & Kennedy London, but nothing really happens. Is this the way an agency should blog? Fast Company named it one of their top ad agency blogs. Hugh McCloud…
Went into that Blog for about ten seconds. Made my fucking trigger finger itch. What a bunch of Nathan Barley wankers, sitting around drinking free beer that they advertise, and so is hip, fucking Albanian or somesuch. Odd trip to the plush bogs to top up on self-importance powder.
Can you imagine the paucity of ideas from the kind of cunts that having climbed up to the edge of the shit filled cesspool that is the shrinking London ad scene. these fuckers are the lungfish that live long enough in the dry season.
I can just imagine that they all have real stiffies thinking about how they are kind of on reality TV, but that it is Ironic and hip because its also about advertising. Bet all of those shits have the website on the favourites, and look about once an hour to see if they are on it…
FuckFuckFuck. I’m going to rub “Toilet Duck” in my eyes until the sight of that goes away.
[FULL DISCLOSURE:] Hamish’s first job out of college was selling advertising space for Campaign Magazine, the London Advertising trade mag. Heh.
Since when do cunts have stiffies?!