A Creative Approach to Sales

A Creative Approach to Sales: "Taking a cue from another New York boss decades before, WCBS New York Presi..."

Yummy Wines/Good Reading

Really been drinking some incredibly great burgundies--such a kick! Marcassin Three Sisters Vineyard 2002 Pinot, Kosta Browne/Kanzler Vineyard 2005 & 2006, such incredible wines that did so well with the food and the company. Which is the perfect storm in every way!

Some good books to note: The Science and Art of Branding by Giep Franzen and Sandra Moriarty. Another book to add to your collection and really good insights is Ads to Icons: How Advertising Succeeds in a Multimedia Age by Paul Springer.

Been buying a lot of Oregon Pinot's for the cellar--I think dollar for dollar, so good, priced right and really go well with good food!

And my friend, Brad Berens, always wants to know the right books to read--well make sure that all of you get and devour: Brand Immortality: How Brands live long and prosper!

Promise to right more, in fact am doing a Top 50 of Must books for your Kindle/library in the advertising/marketing business.

Yummy Wines/Good

Catalyst:SF wins Del Monte Foods digital account - iMedia Connection

View >>

Go Out And Buy Some Newspaper Imps Today - iMedia Connection Blog

iMedia Connection Blog: Go Out And Buy Some Newspaper Imps Today

View >>

The Republic Project Puts Musicians in Control of Their Content

The Republic Project Puts Musicians in Control of Their Content

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

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!

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!

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!

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

I saw this on WINE CRUMUDGEON, which is a really good wine email, this is interesting and wonder what is happening to prices at restaurants, "Wines that built their business on wine lists at exclusive restaurants are in trouble. They need to find new markets"  wonder if that will bring the prices down on some of the California over-priced wines, some of these wine lists just suck!

No wonder we want to bring our own!  did that recently at Mortons in San Francisco, brought a bottle of Sine Qua Non 2001 Shea Pinot and a 1996 Quintessa, it was so awesome, the wine sommelier, had never had either and was loving the tastes--made sure the waiter tasted and the  service and food that night was so good, a belated holiday dinner!

Wine lists and wine gouging, I am so over!  will send along some good books in next post!

Back in the Saddle

Just a short note to my friends, that the wine posts are coming shortly, have many to write about

sorry to have been away, but back in the saddle and ready to write and share wines and books--

so many!

happy new Year!