Who owns "Adland"?

If there's one thing that advertising people actually value, it's a brand. Especially if it's one of our own.

So it's no surprise that Åsk Wäppling, the Swedish owner of the advertising blog adland.tv, doesn't want other people using the term "Adland."

Adland is absolutely ancient in internet terms, having been established in 1996 when most ad people were still trying to figure out if the web was good for anything except free shock porn. A young Ms. Wäppling, under the pseudonym "Dabitch," instead saw the opportunity to create an online global ad archive and professional forum, which in this decade Brand Republic, Business Insider, and Fast Company have listed as one of the most influential in the industry. She even trademarked the name, several years ago. And he's been a mentor as I've fumbled my way into the ad blogosphere.

So you'd think it would be pretty clear that "Adland" = adland.tv. Especially among ad industry bloggers.

Apparently not. As you can see from the Google screencap above, venerable industry magazine Ad Age uses the term "adland," in a generic sense, to refer to the industry in several posts. I have no idea if they used it this way in print, years back, but online it definitely infringes on Dabitch's intellectual property. And she's let them know, many times.

Now other people are letting them know. When Ad Age posted "Adland seeks to hire veterans," Dabitch says she started getting resumes. After finding out they didn't mean THAT Adland, one vet let Ad Age know what he thought about the avoidable confusion:

Courtesy Dabitch

(adland.tv ended up helping the guy get some job leads anyway.)

Dabitch has written directly to Ad Age's legal heads, but after receiving what she characterizes as "nya, we won't" replies, she has taken to the court of social media.

She told me, "Now I tweet at them every time they use the word in a headline and I hope the responses take off."

Here's a recent example:

Here's our best tattoo @adage #adland pic.twitter.com/uQyUzuCDnl

— Adland (@adland) May 6, 2015

Cheeky. But will it get Ad Age's attention now? (More importantly, will it get the attention of its readers and advertisers?) We'll see. Because there are a lot of important ad pros watching that little red TV.

The greatest poster ever created

Here it is, according to The Outdoor Hall of Fame:

That's right... best ever.

It beat 99 other finalists, including this:

And this:

And this:

 And this:

And this:

And even this:

Considering the clear preference(s) of the voters, I'm sure the only classic poster that gave Wonderbra any stiff competition was this recent Marks & Spencer billboard:

The ads were chosen after more than 10,000 reader votes on a selection of 100 ads, which had been shortlisted by a panel of judges. You can blame advertisers all you like. But when they drop the clever ideas and go straight to the boob route, they are giving the people what they want.

Is "DIY" the end of the agency?

This is the question asked by Brand Republic, with the conclusion: "it might be time to start coming up with some reasons for clients as to why they shouldn't turn their marketing problems over to the hive mind to solve."

To me, there is a huge difference between idea generation and creative development.

A great idea can come from anywhere. Agency people have always known this. While Creatives are the ones tasked with the job, client services people, clients, even admin staff have been known to chirp up with excellent ideas when given the chance. Sometimes entire campaigns are built around conversations that focus group members have when the moderator leaves the room and they forget they are being watched. Just the other day, my Kindergarten-age son said something in the bath that became a concept for a commercial. Even spoof ads from Adbusters can inspire the very people they mock.

But having ideas is not the hardest part about being an advertising Creative. Knowing which ideas are right for the job is.

Throwing your brand open to the ideas of the masses isn't that much different than training intern Copywriters. You get back all kinds of crazy and inappropriate shite, but you can sometimes sift gems out of it. Without strategic guidance and Creative Direction, however, they are just ideas. Concepts are those ideas that pass the creative brief acid test of brand, objectives, message and audience, and can be executed effectively on budget.

So go ahead and get your ideas from adhack if you like. Run a contest to get user submissions for "reality advertising". But you'll never get rid of the admen. Just as with reality TV, the storytelling is all in the editing.