Category: Blog

  • Are You Pinning?

    Pinterest jumped from 1.68M users in September 2011 to 7.21M users in December 2011. That’s a 429% increase, during the season you’d think most people are too busy holiday shopping and traveling to discover a new social platform. Last week, Pinterest crossed the 10 million unique monthly U.S. visitors threshold…

  • Tasteless Marketing Stunt Backfires in Boston

    This is a story about a crass publicity stunt that blew up in the face of its perpetrators, and about how easy it is for bad advice to damage a brand.First, some context. It’s been a touchy week in New England. Our beloved Patriots came agonizingly close to winning their…

  • Why Google+ Matters

    Google’s foray into social media got off to a slow start, but they may be poised to disrupt yet again and change the way we think about social networks and search.Just over six months ago, Google entered the realm of social media with Google+, a direct shot at the ubiquitous…

  • Embrace The Cutting Room Floor

    Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Sheen and Gary Oldman were three of the many famous actors who suffered the same fate in director Terrence Malick’s 1998 movie, “The Thin Red Line.” They were completely edited out of the movie, despite months of filming.In the February issue of FastCompany, editor Robert Safian…

  • The New CTP: An Insider’s Look at a Rebrand

    CTP’s rebrand took the better part of a year. There were a lot of ideas, lots of discussion and lots of opinions. The most important factor in branding a company, or an agency, is understanding who you are, what you stand for and the type of work you do. Once…

  • What Makes Betty White, a Tailor and a Monster Super?

    Why do brands, year after year, spend upwards of $3.5 million on a 30-second Super Bowl spot? Because with those 30 seconds in the spotlight comes media coverage, instant social media buzz – sometimes positive, sometimes negative – and weeks of viral chatter. And for the brands that really do…

  • The Legends, the One-Hit Wonders & the Comeback Kings

    Beyond the actual game, the most heated debates in the aftermath of this Sunday’s Super Bowl will center on two expressions of creativity – the commercials and the halftime show.Super Bowl ads are our industry’s most widely viewed and closely scrutinized expressions of creativity. And with good reason. With investments…

  • How Twitter Has Changed Fan Interaction

    Slowly dying are the days of fans writing to their favorite athletes, then checking the mailbox for an autographed photo, ball or letter in return. Instead, Twitter, Facebook and myriad other social networks are giving fans the ability to connect instantly with sports teams and athletes. And now fans are…

  • It Was the Best of Times. It Was the Worst of Times.

    Who doesn’t like positive press? It’s generally good for business. Strokes the ego. Makes your employees feel good. Heck, you could even argue that even some bad press can be good for at least some of the above reasons. But positive media coverage isn’t always good for business. Yes, you…

  • Why Lockouts Are Bad PR

    The National Basketball Players Association announced this week it had rejected the latest offer regarding its collective bargaining agreement and now it will be up to the courts to decide the fate of this year’s NBA season. Like the NFL lockout earlier this year, the NBA and the Players Association…