Ad Fed Blog

In recent years there have been numerous referrals to the rise of the creative class both nationally and here in Charleston. The beauty, the setting, and the people of this area have been key factors in attracting talent from such disciplines as Graphic Design, Photography, Public Relations, Marketing, and Web Production. This Blog is an effort to rangle the thoughts, ideas, and aspirations of this talented group of people and to eventually become the place to come to for Charleston area creatives. What is the plan to do that?

To start, we are going to be asking creatives in the area from a variety of disciplines to share their expert opinions and ideas with you. Interspersed with these short articles by our local “experts”, you can expect to find postings on everything and anything to deal with the marketing and design world. These postings could be anything from a reference to a new design tool to help you out in your daily work, to a link to an amazing ad that someone saw the other day on YouTube. As we hope to develop a fairly expansive group of trusted users to post, we hope that there will always be fresh content for you to enjoy and learn from.

The next step is you. We will never know what matters most to you unless we see some comments on the site, questions about becoming a blogger yourself, maybe even some inquiries about out our club. And while you can live an entire Second Life on the Web, this blog hopes to get ideas and discussions going both online and offline. Attend an AdFed, PRSA, AMA, or some other local club meeting…start your own group or just meet up with friends to discuss the hot topic of the day (can anyone say iPhone?). Now is truly a great time to be in the city of Charleston and we hope this Blog becomes a representation of the energy and talent that we see all around us.

Welcome to 2007. Looks like we’ve got another great year of Ad Fed Events in store for you. Our next program features Michael Dweck, a fashion and reportage photographer whose latest book titled The End:Montauk, N.Y. (Harry N. Abrams, 2004) has been called “The ultimate homage to the sun-kissed surfing life. Sensuous, seductive and unbearably sexy in its effect,” in the words of The New York Times. Be sure not to miss this one (and bring your photographer, fashion, and surf-obessessed fans) to the American Theater on January 18th. Before you do that, don’t forget that your Addy entries are due (a must-do) very soon — January 10th in fact. Don’t miss this opportunity to show the world your fantastic work. Information on how to enter is available on the front page of the Ad Fed Charleston Site. See you and your work soon and be on the lookout for a new newsletter coming your way!

Is the typical agency model dead? David Smith certainly thinks so.

As founder and creative director of The Republik, a “performance-based agency” based in Chapel Hill, NC, David’s team is focused on changing the advertising agency business model as we know it.

Join us on January 19th to hear David speak about the state of the current advertising business model, and what their agency is doing to change it.

For more info on The Republik, visit their Web site, or better yet, just show up on Thursday, January 19, at the American Theatre on King Street. It’s only $15 for non-members, and free for AdFed members. Learn more about joining AdFed.
I’m interested to hear how much success they’ve had in getting other agencies to follow their lead. Until the leadership on the client side really starts demanding accountability — instead of choosing agencies based on how *funny* their commercials are or how flashy their Web site is — it’s going to be a while before the current model dies. Kudos to David’s team for taking the first step towards accountability.

More on accountability in advertising:

• For the Web
  The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Standards and Guidelines
• Search Engine Marketing
  Pay-Per-Call: A New Avenue for Search Marketers
• Magazine Publishers of America
  A Guide to Measuring ROI and ROO Across Media (PDF) (Web site)

See you on January 19th!