buaidh no bas

Awesome website: thecoolhunter.net

Keeps you up-to-date on everything “cool” – from architecture, design, fashion, music, travel, gadgets, and even ads.  One really cool tab on the site shows profiles of companies that are doing innovative things.  This is a great site for people in the ad industry who like/need to keep up with everything trendy and new.

I am ready to go snowboarding.  However that could be a problem if there’s no snow.  Let’s check out the conditions at the nearest resorts:

Wintergreen – still closed (no snow)

Massanutten – still closed (no snow)

Snowshoe – opening Nov. 21st (Thurs-showers 58degrees, Fri-flurries 38degrees, Sat-cloudy 43degrees, Sun-showers 46degrees)

Sugar Mountain – open (Thurs-showers 51degrees, Fri-cloudy 28degrees, Sat-cloudy 31 degrees)

I think Snowshoe has the most potential.

“Sometimes clients like to drink their own kool-aid…smoke their own brand-crack.”

- John Leeman, SVP Communications Planning, Carat

I recently visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C.  Upon entering I received an identification card that tells the story of a real person who lived during the Holocaust.  This is what mine said:

Name: Nina Szuster

DOB: May 18, 1929

Place of Birth: Rokitnoye, Poland

Nina was born to a Jewish family.  Her father built ovens.  Nina’s family was very diverse: her father was an Orthodox Jew, her brother was a militant Zionist, and her mother leaned towards communism.  Nina attended a Jewish school in her town. 

In September 1939 the Soviet Union invaded the eastern half of Poland.  All businesses were quickly nationalized and property was seized.  The Soviets distributed most of the town’s wealth to the poor in the area.  Nina’s mother taught a class about the Soviet constitution in her home.  The Soviets closed their Jewish school and opened a Ukrainian one.  They began learning about their new Soviet rulers.

In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union and occupied Nina’s town.  The German authorities immediately gathered the local Jews into a few houses and circled the area with barbed wire.  One night, the Germans suddenly began dragging people out of their house.  Nina tried to get some clothes but a German grabbed her and yelled, “Quick or I’ll kill you!”  She tore herself away and ran to the kitchen.  Then she heard a shot: her uncle was dead.  She saw an open window and jumped out.  Fortunately, it was foggy, so now one saw her slip through the barbed wire.

After her escape, Nina joined Ukrainian partisans.  Befriended by her commander, she was sent to Moscow to study until the end of the war.  In 1947 she emigrated to America.

Today I was in Target searching for a birthday card for my Aunt, and came across a card with a caveman on the front.  It looked like an uglier version (if that’s possible) of the Geico Cavemen, so I picked it up.  On the inside it said, “Getting older….So easy a Caveman could do it.”  The card was lame and I would never buy it, but it made me mentally congratulate The Martin Agency for creating an icon that has seeped deep into the American culture…so deep they are making bad birthday cards with it. 

Some interesting tid bits that I’ve learned over the summer…

-Philips invented the DVD and earns money off of every DVD made

-New television series/seasons begin in the fall because that’s when new cars for the upcoming year come out

-YouTube has three times the reach as MTV

-Carat Fusion (digital) is Google’s largest agency client in the world

-Marriott Hotels & Resorts is owned by Mormons and won’t place any ads next to controversial editorial material – like sex, drugs, or politics

-Media Planning was ‘invented’ in 1966 by a French guy who is now very very rich

-David Verklin (the CEO of Carat, and an ex-Adcenter board member) loves his job and “has never looked at the clock in 30 years.”  He has a Facebook account (created by a fellow intern) and has gotten frustrated from time-to-time because he’s “competing against the same sons of bitches everyday.”

-Sometimes media buyers make up costs

-MTV has one of the worst viewer retention rates during commercials – they lose about 20% of their viewers, which just shows the growing ADD-ness of today’s consumer

-For the first time, commercials – not just the TV show – will receive ratings

-Nielson has never really had a competitor – until now.  TiVo can now measure viewership in Seconds, as compared to Nielson’s measurement in Minutes.

-ABC, NBC, and CBS all passed on American Idol, which is how it ended up on FOX

-Radio reaches 94% of all Adults 18+ every week

-1 and 2 second TV ads are now being sold, called “blinks”

-If a company wants to advertise its product in Good House Keeping, the product must be sent to the ‘Good House Keeping Institute’ to be thoroughly tested before the magazine will even consider advertising it

I have been interning at Carat, a media agency, as a communication planner since June 4th.  So far, I’ve met a bunch of people, learned a lot, and have been working on some interesting projects.  Some of the accounts I am lucky enough to work on include: Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Ernst & Young, Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Tous Jewelry.  I’ve also been doing a group project (not skipping any beats from the Adcenter).  My group, including 3 other interns, has been researching, assessing, and gaining insight on flat screen TVs, as we are developing a Communications Plan for Philips Flat Screen Televisions.  At the end of the internship we will present our plan to some Carat communications strategists, and possibly even the CEO and the Philips client.  I can’t wait to show off my newly polished Adcenter presentation skills! 

With 4 weeks left in my summer internship, I’ve decided to finally get down to it and start a blog.  I will share thoughts, experiences, opinions, and any other randomness.  I’m sure a good amount of adcenter-ness will be added as my 2nd year in Grad school progresses.  I hope you enjoy!

As for the title of my blog, “buaidh no bas”, it has to do with my last name – MacDougall.  I’ll let you figure it out.