Metrics Don't lie

Years ago, ADWEAK broke on the scene.

Each week it would take potshots at the industry and skewer the nonsense that takes place in agencies from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon.

It was an instant hit. Mostly because in the days before AgencySpy, it gave voice to the incredible frustration and discontent of those of us toiling for the man.

Naturally, because the picture of the Editor was a burly, hairy man in front of a swimming pool, I fielded a lot of calls assuming I was behind the sedition.

I was not.
And I am not.

The guy in the picture has 100 lbs. on me.
And I've seen better mustaches on women.

However, I am friends with the guys who started ADWEAK and I know this was not an accident. Nevertheless I enjoyed their antics then. And I enjoy them now.

The website hasn't been active for about ten years. Instead, the ADWEAK gents ply their wares on Twitter.

I wouldn't have thought it possible, but the new format has allowed them to be even funnier. Because now they can move at the speed of sound. They can spit out the funny faster than a project manager can arrange a week's worth of creative check-ins.

Last week, my ADWEAK buddies ran a little experiment and wanted to see if adding a link to this blog could produce additional web traffic.

It did. On both ends.

I had a noticeable jump.
And they had measurable increases in engagement, views and click-thrus. Of course we're just a bunch of freelance copywriters and have no idea what to make of the any of that. But visuals of fast-rising unexpected vertical spikes (insert Cialis joke here) make us happy:

All of which brings to a point that Bob Hoffman often makes on his blog, the Adcontrarian  -- and by the way, if you're not currently enjoying Bob's unique brand of curmudgeonly goodness, you ought to be.

The people who are making the most of the new digital platforms, the ones telling stories, making things, and commanding attention in the new emerging arena, are not the ones using artisanal beard wax or sporting man-buns or $1000 stingy-brim fedoras.

We're the people pundits will tell you have lost touch with the business and can't keep up with the social media dominated world.

The ones that need to move on.

You might know us by a different name -- the Dinosaurs.