Monday, February 16, 2009

Champagnes for Mardi Gras!

As one of the best days coming, FAT TUESDAY, thought i would share some champagnes for that day and evening!  And if your going to fast during LENT, go out in style:

(Abridged from FORBES LIFE)

The Party Boy: Marques De Gelida 2004 Cava Brut
The Sure Bet: Roederer Estate NV Brut
The Sweet Tooth: Zardetto 2007 Prosecco
The Wild Card: Majella 2005 Sparkling Shiraz
The All-American: Schramsberg 2005 Blanc de Blancs
The American Artisan: Soter 2004 Brut Rose (Oregon) this is so friggin yummy
Going Green: Pommery NV Blanc de Noirs
The New Kid: Bollinger NV Rose
The Keeper: Dom Perignon 2000, 
THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST:  KRUG 1996

Thinking ahead and enjoy the day and end up with Krug, if you have to go dry go out with style!

Happy Monday



Saturday, February 14, 2009

Interesting Reading/Fascinating Wines

Well it is the weekend, many things going on right now, wanted to share some good wines, good books and some good thinking:

Ken Roman's book, The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the making of Madison Avenue.  Good reading, highly recommend!

Pamela Sweet, Jonathan Weisen, Selling Modernity: Advertising in 20th Century Germany. Saw this on Amazon and like whatever and when I got it, could not put it down, interesting perspective on the history of advertising in a country that I have visited many times.

If you can score some Blue Mountain Chardonnay from Vancouver/BC, damm you will think me so good.

Read the above books with a good bottle of Ladera on Howell Mountain, always a rich ruby red wine, like the people and the product.  Join the club and you will thank me, I am not a big joiner of clubs but Ladera and Phelps, the only two!  (have to get Insignia at release prices)

A very challenging time in the ad business and I think the wine business is as well. Evidence is that i am going to be on the Sine Qua Non  allotment, and that has taken 3 years.

Hope you have a good three-day weekend and drink some good wine!




Friday, February 13, 2009

Great Reading

Some new books crossed my desk in the last couple of weeks, and wanted to get them in front of you for consideration.

Roy Spence of GSDM in Austin, Texas fame, has a damm good book, It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven by Purpose. This is good reading, did it on a plane back from iMedia in Florida.

Grab it and drink with some good Italian wines, hmmm how about our friend, Pao Bea, and his Sagratino (you will so think me for this recommendation!)

The other book is by a good person in the SF market: Digitial Engagement by Leland Harden and Bob Heyman. Bob is a great guy in this business!

Hope you get to taste some good wines, for Valentines always Merlot is a good bet! And how you can not have any Champagne, for the best value right now, Bollinger Grand Annee Rose 1999 for under 80.00,  friggin awesome!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

A South Florida Wine and Marketing Weekend


Well it has been a good weekend, a great wine dinner with some really fine wines and even better company--drinking  Freeman, then Rochiloi and some Dolce for dessert. Awesome wines but some members of my company and Real Branding!

I am here in South Florida for the iMedia conference about Brands in this digital environment. It is going to be a good conference.  

If you get a chance, check out Jim Nichols blog , a great way to think about Catalyst:SF. Fascinating time to be in the advertising business right now.

Cheers!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Quick and Dirty on the Super Bowl

wow, what can I say, the Game was good, damm good, all the way to the end! Good finish, wish the Cardinals had won, but it was good.

1. NBC must have run some 300-400 GRP  to promote their own properties (Hulu was good, and the Olympics only 374 days away)

2. CareerBuilder, Teleflora, Dennys were some of my favorites, but most were lame. 

3. If you want to check out the ads from Ad Age 

4. Budweiser spent a lot of energy promoting that they were an American legend, is this the beginning of the influence of InBev...too mushy for my taste!

So the big question, was the ROI on $3,000,000 worth it!  your thoughts.  Also check out Bob Garfields witty video on AD AGE...

Cheers