Des Temps

The only blog you’ll ever need.

  • Windell Middlebrooks

    the champagne of spokesmen.
    the champagne of spokesmen.

    Best. Name. Ever. The actor who plays the beer deliveryman for Miller High Life is Windell Middlebrooks. He grew up in Texas and has a BA+MFA in Theater. Wondering if it’s a stage name. I’m having name envy.

    He gets mad love in Milwaukee and in a small rabbit hole of WTF!? he threw out the first pitch at a Brewers game, introduced by his real name, yet in character and costume.

    jabk8BR0M64
    Riding the wave of our brokeass economy, Miller is doing a :01 Super Bowl spot in lieu of a :30 (or so they say). A grand way to position the brand as a friend to the millions who’re feeling the pinch – and without being a cloying drag. Better still, both the scripts and acting are brilliant. And best is that the ‘outakes’ stretches long, dumping you into a Dada sandbox, which is just fine with me.

    K9GwHnU2ESEHT to AS

  • Smarten Up, Open the Market Up.

    I’ve been watching heaps of brand strategy presentations this week, some of which I think are top shelf.

    Below is what Adrian Ho from ZeusJones learned from the structural shortcomings of advertising. And what he decided to do about it.

    Strategy: beyond advertising

  • The Huffington Post: Meanings of Media

    Who is Down? and What Is Up?
    Who is Down? and What Is Up?
    Huffington Post just picked up Raafi’s Ad Age article about YouTube, Race and the bottom line.

  • Desedo Does DC

    How, you may ask, did team Desedo score passes to the national media pool? Well, there are trade secrets, alas, even in our open-source hearts. Look for some motion pictures of the inauguration from us soon.

    But we’ve also covered the event in the industry press. Here’s an article I’ve written in AdAge on diversity, youtube, and the industry.

    The advertising world has had its own race issue, on the table now for more than 40 years, but has yet to find a voice that can apply salve to that gaping wound whilst moving an otherwise ailing industry toward reconciliation.

    Read the full piece in Ad Age here. Or in the business section of Huffington Post, another space where we’ll soon be penning more thoughts.

  • Ad Age: Meanings of Media

    If a black kid in the woods gets 20 million views, will the advertising world notice?
    If a black kid in the woods gets 20 million views, will the advertising world notice?

    Raafi wrote an article for Ad Age about YouTube representation and content creation – and how this dovetails with the marketplace of race, still not understood by advertising.

  • Muslim Ad Network and Desedo FTW!

    As Agency Spy teased last week, we’re working with LA-based Muslim Ad Network (MAN) to launch the first ever US advertising agency that will focus on the American-Muslim consumer demographic.

    MAN has aggregated the Muslim new media space for ad placement, providing vertical access to +10 million page views each month. BFD? Well, yes. This is an ignored demo with $170 Billion of spending power. And in this recession, brands are aiming to engage ‘new’, niche consumers.

    We’re now meeting with larger agencies to introduce them to this space, and we’ll keep you posted as the work comes out. Give a shout if you want to learn more.

  • Sexy Time

    We are pleased to announce that our dude Derek Lo
    aka The Big Asian has been dubbed 2009’s Sexiest Man in Advertising. Should you wanna grab his chain, he spins them records round and round every Friday night at Happy Endings. And he might be wearing a crown.