Calling advertising fraternity to help Lebanon July 17, 2006
Posted by Farrukh Naeem at copywriterjournalist.com in : Advertising , 10 commentsThings are going from bad to worse in Lebanon. When will this senseless violence stop?
I personally, wholeheartedly, unconditionally condemn all violence and every killing of an innocent civilian, particularly the use of bombs and missiles in civilian populations. (No matter how smart bombs get, they can never make out the difference between a terrorist and an innocent civilian, can they?) Like Gandhi said, an eye for an eye makes everyone blind. Senseless aggression is not the answer for anything.
Tim Addington has written about the Lebanon crisis and its effect on the advertising industry on the Campaign ME blog. Seeing the post, I was inspired to do something about it, as a human being, as an advertising professional, as a writer, as a journalist. Not politics but humanitarian support.
Moryarti of Dubai Consumer Mirror wrote a Relief for Lebanon post on the UAE community blog exploring how we can help. Do have a look at it and the links in the comments.
I am thinking, most of the advertising agency top brass in the UAE is Lebanese - they must surely be organising some relief efforts, I’d love to know how I can join in. And this is the time for not just the Lebanese but for all of us from every country in the UAE to rise to the occasion and find ways to help.
Instead of news of agencies closing down their offices in Lebanon, I’d be inspired to see the advertising people getting together and organising at least a relief campaign if not a campaign to promote peace and condemn violence. So many of advertising agency people are very well placed and well connected to initiate and organise regional campaigns for relief. Let’s do it. No help is ever too small.
C’mon advertising fraternity - it’s time for us to take our creativity and use it for a good cause - there is so much we can do as communicators as well as ad professionals with high disposable incomes. Organise relief campaigns, fund raising events, peace campaigns and advocacy. What if we don’t have some client to fund it - let’s do it pro bono. I as a copywriter volunteer to write the relief and peace ads for free.
I remember seeing an ad where one man is making his way through a huge crowd of people running franticallly in the opposite direction. This man is walking against the flow of the running crowd. Alone.
There comes a time when everyone has escaped and only this one man is still going towards the place which everyone was running away from. The camera focuses on the back of this man’s t-shirt. It has a red cross on it. That’s how I would like us ad people to be.
Advertising Website Review 2: Adrants - Marketing Sherpa’s “Best Blog On Advertising” July 2, 2006
Posted by Farrukh Naeem at copywriterjournalist.com in : Advertising, Advertising Publications, Marketing , 6 commentsMarketingSherpa recently announced results of its voting for the Top 10 Best Blogs & Best Podcast of 2006. More than 230,000 people had been invited to rate their favourite marketing related blogs and podcasts based on four criteria: (a) Personality, (b) Usefulness, (c) Design & readability, (d) Would you revisit?. The response was huge.
The coveted “Best Blog on Advertising” Award was won by Steve Hall’s Adrants. I interviewed Steve to find out what makes his blog tick.
Adrants had started as a personal blogging experiment for Steve Hall during a period of unemployment in 2002.
“My background was media, account service and new business on the agency side. Initially, I was hoping to get a job,” replied Steve when I asked him what his initial reasons for starting Adrants were. “I had heard that people were getting jobs because those hiring were reading blogs,” he said. But the blogging experiment brought in more than just interested readers.
“The focus changed when I realized enough ad revenue was coming in that it could sustain me,” Steve said. In March 2004, Steve was ready to launch it as a business that would get him his bread, butter and jam. And he did.
Today, Adrants gets 600,000 pageviews per month and 275,000 unique visitors. A newsletter version of the blog reaches out to 13,000 subscribers. Steve runs the blog on his own and is supported by a team for the sales.
I don’t think Steve’s looking for a job anymore.
Secrets of Blogging Success
By Steve Hall, Publisher, Adrants1. Be concise.
2. Have a sense of humor.
3. Mostly know what you’re talking about. Actually, not being 100 percent right all the time makes for much better reading.
4. Learn where and who can give you stories.
5. If you want to make it a business: Realise that businesses take commitment. It’s not a hobby.
I’d love to know which one is your favourite advertising blog… fill me in.
