A recent article by Seth Stevenson in The Slate.com really takes CP +B to task for leading the charge to dumb down the tone and direction of advertising and promotion. http://www.slate.com/articles/business/branded/2012/01/crispin_porter_bogusky_how_the_hot_ad_agency_fell_from_grace_.single.html
In it Stevenson takes the agency to task for it's "live by the bro, die by the bro" mentality and cites it's lowbrow humor as the reason for it's fall from grace. Truth be told, he makes a good point. The advent of digital and social media advertising has galvanized certain trends aimed at the perceived demographic of twenty something men, or what they call "supefans". Essentially his point is that this narrow focus on one segment ("demographic tunnel vision") is too short sighted and will lead to alienation of every other demographic if used to exclusion.
While Seth makes a great point, he kind of comes across as the stogy old advertising man chomping on a cigar in his leather and mahogany clad office. After reading his article, I partnered with Metaphor Media to create our subtle jab at this dogmatic stance. While the video we created is ultimately an internal marketing piece for Metaphor Media, it's also a calling card that puts forth the company's take on industry trends in general. We were able to connect with respected advertising expert Lennon Barnaby to get his take, similar to Stevenson's, on just what is going on in marketing today.
You can watch it here: http://youtu.be/GHOc9KlAprw
The only thing I wish we could have also added was a way to work in beer-fetching dogs, talking babies and a well-timed kick to the junk.
