The interest graph and marketing to consumer aspirations
Mullen in the News

The interest graph and marketing to consumer aspirations

I strongly believe that consumption is less about reflecting who we are–even though that’s clearly a fundamental dimension of it–as much as it’s about who we wish to be. That quote comes from Paul Mullins, a professor at Indiana University-Purdue University and president of the Society for Historical Archaeology.  Professor Mullins’ new book, The Archaeology of Consumer Culture, proposes… Read More
Brandbowl is back with new features
Featured Post, Work

Brandbowl is back with new features

This post originally appeared on Creativity_Unbound. It’s that time of year again. The online Superbowl party that Mullen started three years ago to celebrate the age of Twitter is well into development. If you remember, we began our annual project when there weren’t very many ad types on Twitter. In 2009, most of the industry was… Read More
Analysis & Opinion

What we think about when we think about Steve

Sure we think about the Mac and the mouse and all the iThings. But Steve Jobs didn’t just change the computer business, or technology, or advertising. He changed everything. Culture. Business. Art. Creativity. He did as much to bring the spirit of the 1960s into the American mainstream as the Beatles did. He democratized creativity.… Read More
Analysis & Opinion, Work

Social media fatigue and the challenge for brands

You finally have Facebook working. You’re interacting on Twitter. You’ve got company blogs.  And your social media staff or your agency has set you up with dashboards, a conversation strategy and analytics to measure everything from engagement, traffic and word-of-mouth. But now there’s Instagram. Brands like Burberry and Olympus (a Mullen client) are getting more… Read More
Analysis & Opinion

Staying ahead

I thought I’d share a presentation I recently made at a management offsite. One of the characteristics we believe defines Mullen is a willingness to constantly embrace change. And despite some of our successes over the last year – making the AdAge A-list, being named among the most innovative marketing companies by Fast Company –… Read More
Work

BrandBowl2011 is live – join the conversation

Get your adjectives ready: Brilliant, Genius, Hysterical. Or if you prefer:  Lame, Boring, Derivative, WTF. BrandBowl is back. Time to think about Super Bowl TV ads. For even in the age of social media, conversation, user participation and engagement, we still like a good TV commercial. And what better time and place to watch them… Read More
Awards

MITX awards and the “digital” agency

(first published on Creativity Unbound) Last night MITX put on its annual award show ceremony, celebrating the best digital and interactive work in New England. It’s always fun to be there as the show attracts everyone from ad agencies to digital shops, production companies, start-ups, VCs and social media agencies. Boston has a big, healthy… Read More
Analysis & Opinion

Twitter’s new ad model

When are they going to make money? How can their valuation be so high? Remember MySpace and Second Life? Or even AOL? Platforms that were flying high and then hit a virtual ceiling. Well it appears Twitter may finally have an answer. Or at least a first step. The fast growing micro-blogging service – from… Read More
1 of 3123