by the minneapolis egotist / June 1, 2018 / After 23 years in the advertising business, for the first time ever, I’m doing Ramadan a bit more on my terms. In the past, as I’ve fasted from food and drink from dawn to sunset every day for a month, I’ve had to endure a litany of agency barbecues, client meeting pizza leftovers, and “donuts in the kitchen!” It’s like free food just knows when Muslims are doing Ramadan. Now, on my ev[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / May 14, 2018 / After just 30 days of being out on my own, untethered by the too-fast-or-too-slow-moving agency clock, I find myself in a highly unfamiliar position. It’s 11:27 am and I’m home, lounging on my living room sofa, writing this piece. It’s neither billable nor due at any particular time. So weird. I’m either caught up with all my work or I don’t have any work to be caught up on. Glass half e[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / May 10, 2018 / What do most people think of when they hear "Minnesota"?
Well, according to this mostly accurate guide (everyone knows the home of the Juicy Lucy is The 5-8 Club, not Matt's Bar—sheesh) from Movato, the answers include:
Cold weather. (Yes, but only for seven months out of the year. Okay, sometimes eight).
"The Land of 10,000 Lakes" (Per our license plates, yes, but actually it's closer to[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / April 25, 2018 / “How long will three ad campaign concepts take?”
“Two weeks.”
Not entirely sure which century this conversation took place in, but the answer has certainly held up nicely over the years. Two weeks to kick off the project, noodle on it, stress over it, come up with heaps of concepts, decide which three have the most promise (or which three suck the least), make the copy sound less salesy,[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / February 1, 2018 / As I sift through brief after brief chock-full of segmentation profiles and mandatory personalization variables, my mind longingly wanders to the good old days of advertising. Well, the ones I’m old enough to remember at least. It was a special time for copywriters like me where a single headline spoke to everyone, not just this segment or that segment, and a righteous call-to-action (one, of co[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / September 28, 2017 / This year, GdB (Gabriel deGrood Bendt) turns 20. That means, the agency opened its doors just before the turn of this century and right at the cusp of the digital age. Since then, the shop has gone through more than its fair share of changes, including becoming part of Clear Night, a marketing services platform with a new office in the North Loop. Long-time agency creative director, Doug deGrood h[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / July 7, 2017 / Written by Brooke Nelson, organic social strategist at Rocket55
On a sunny Friday in June, the world of digital marketing converged on the Saint Paul RiverCentre for the annual MnSearch Summit: a one-day marketing conference that brings together marketing and business professionals from around Minnesota and the greater Midwest for a day learning from an elite lineup of keynote and session speaker[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / June 19, 2017 / Written by Andy Thieman and originally published by Twin Cities Business Magazine
I started my career at an electronics big box retailer, writing product signage and price tags for vacuums. Day in, day out, I boiled down features and benefits to a few short sentences and a handful of bullets. That was 20 years ago, but it taught me an unforgettable lesson: what’s merely True about your product [Read More]
Dick Polipnick / Sarah Edwards Launches Story-Driven Content Agency I AM SARAH EDWARDS
Sarah has great content! I'm also a storyteller, and I can vouch for her that she does an amazing job telling a compelling story while still dri[Read More]
Rex Humbard / Colle McVoy unlocks what’s possible for Cub Cadet
Beautiful, arresting visuals, but the copy sure stinks. Did they have the themeline sitting around after a lost pitch for a bank, hardware store[Read More]
