Rainmakers Gear Up With Mirren’s Paid Content

RFPs are no fun. But a Request for Proposal may be a necessary evil for agencies in need of new business–and every agency is in need of new business.

As you can see from the attached graphic, Mirren Business Development in New York City dangles RFPs like candy in front of agency rainmakers.

Mirren offers subscription rates to their exclusive content.

Rates begin at $96/month for agencies with fewer than 25 people. If you work for a big agency, that fee shoots up.

I’m curious, is this the kind of information you feel you need to grow your company? Furthermore, where do most of your RFPs come from now? Are clients finding you, or are you finding clients?

Get Your Instant Fix Of “View From The Cheap Seats”

I’m happy to announce the Kindle version of my book is now available for just $2.99! That’s about 3 cents a column.

If you have an iPad with the Kindle App, it’s an instant download for you, too. Thanks for your support, and have a Merry Christmas.

Brands Beg of Thee

How does brands get people to “Like” them on Facebook? You can read all about it on best practices lists by social media marketing experts, or you can see what NOT to do, care of North Social.

Brands fumbling all over themselves in pursuit of follower counts are easy targets, of course, but that’s okay. Someone needs to point out how silly and/or sad they look, and North Social is just the team to do it.

Blogging Superstar Maria Popova Featured In Mother Jones

Mother Jones asked Maria Popova of Brain Pickings some interesting questions about her work habits, how her parents feel about her chosen career, her ability to stay in the U.S. on a work visa (she’s from Bulgaria), and more.

Here’s a small slice of the interview with Popova:

With Brain Pickings, especially, whenever I look at a piece of content I think “Can I add something to it? Can I add some depth and context and background to really make it worth featuring?” Or do I just do what Jeff Jarvis calls “do-what-you-do-best-and-link-to-the-rest,” and just tweet it instead? That’s always the litmus test. Is there something that I can say. If I can pull in pieces of older content or something else that connects different disciplines or different ideologies, then I will write an article about it.

When Popova’s not adding her something to say on Brain Pickings, or the magazines that she writes for, she’s working for TBWA\Chiat\Day in New York City, and reading 10 to 15 books a week.

People have asked me how I do what I do here on AdPulp, while juggling work and family, but I don’t hold a candle to Popova when it comes to her media diet, or her ability to repurpose what she consumes. Of course, no one else does either, so it’s not like I’m being hard on myself.

Photo credit: Panman Productions

This Holiday Season, Take Aim at the GSD&M Staffer of Your Choice

It rarely snows in Austin, which may help explain why GSD&M is pelting its own this holiday season.

Battle of The Behemoth Bloggers

Michael Arrington created a major media brand with TechCrunch, built it into a profitable business, sold it and now is witnessing its demise at the hands of its new owners. All this in a few short years.

Naturally, he has something to say about it.

Other than dial up, TechCrunch is/was the most profitable and fastest growing business unit inside of AOL.

That, ultimately, is why everything fell apart.

Arrington squarely places all of the blame on Tim Armstrong’s need to coddle Arianna Huffington.

The company has bet everything on Huffington, so anything that challenges her power, real or perceived, has to be destroyed.

Really? That’s why AOL is gutting Arrington’s team at TechCrunch? There’s likely more going on behind the scenes than a battle of outsized egos.

Meanwhile, Mashable, ReadWriteWeb and GigaOm continue to provide tech news without all the drama.

Footnote: Do you find it odd that Huffington and Arrington are almost the same name, give or take a few letters? I wonder what kind of rich and powerful editor I might be if my last name was Burnington.

Front Range Creatives Reflect On Lessons Learned In 2011

The Denver Egotist asked advertising pros in Colorado what they learned this year.

Naturally, they’ve uncovered some interesting results. I particularly like Evan Fry’s response.

Sure, I learned a shit-ton about clients, business realities, finance, revenue models, leadership, empowerment, allowing folks to succeed on their own (or fail, and thereby succeed), fearlessness, change, pushing, allowing, etc. But for me, within each of these larger areas was one common or constant. And that really and truly was acceptance. Accepting that folks might be smarter than me. Accepting that clients know what they’re doing, or don’t, and either way they hold the keys. Accepting that I have to step aside in some areas in order to help others learn. Accepting that I still have to do more than I thought I would. Accepting that things don’t look the way I originally envisioned. Accepting that maybe it’s better than I originally thought.

Then there’s this bit of wisdom from Blake Ebel: “When you operate like you have all the business, you’ll be surprised how often clients give you all the business.”

I also appreciate how my friend Matt Ingwalson learned “that it is vaguely unsettling to achieve your goals.”

Clark Is The Real Coca-Cola Kid

Wendy Clark is a former agency-side exec who is now a big, big client. Ergo, she a person to listen to and learn from.

Here she is at ad:tech in New York last month:

At 39 minutes in to her speech, Clark gives up the mic to Renny Gleeson of Wieden + Kennedy, who speaks about innovation and how Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE) has a role in helping brands learn iterative process and how to fail fast.

At 50 minutes in Clark says mobile is the most important medium for Coca-Cola, going forward. Combine that with her call for “more good content” from brands, and you can see the task is reaching consumers at “the point of thirst” with relevant, on the spot offers and shareable stories.

iMediaConnection was there at ad:tech to chat with Clark and Gleeson after the keynote.

Previously on AdPulp: Is Your Content Strategy Liquid And Linked?

Need Better Beer Advertising? Will Ferrell Provides

Will Ferrell is in touch with the red-blooded American man in a way few “Hollywood phonies” are.

That’s why these Ricky Bobby-like ads for Old Milwaukee are jokes of the serious kind.

According to Adweek, “Will Ferrell approached Old Milwaukee about creating ads because he’s a big fan of the brand.”

I question if that’s the way this deal went down, but no doubt it’s a sweet deal for Old Milwaukee. Celebrity endorsements don’t come cheap, and they’re often meaningless, but this one feels better. This one feels like a Saturday Night Live commercial (after the intro monologue), and that’s an achievement for beer advertising.

Let Kent Wesley Win Your Case And Get The 4G Phone of Your Dreams

Lawyers are not funny people, generally speaking. Lawyers in commercials are particularly unfunny. But BBDO New York is reversing those charges by presenting Will Arnett in the role of Kent Wesley, a high-powered internet attorney.

There’s more from Kent Wesley and AT&T at YouveGotACase.com.