The new school of the old school.

Know how I know advertising is changing?
Because people are changing it.

Take my internet friend and advertising colleague, Ian David.

He and his partners have eschewed the standard operating procedures of big holding company ad agencies -- people on the ground, usually young people making little more than minimum wage, doing all the work, eating all the bowls of shit, and sending the gobs of money back to their NY overlords -- for something different.

They run FEARLESS, a collective of talented people, some in their 30s, 40s and dare I say, even 50s. They bring their experience and wisdom to bear on all kinds of projects and marketing challenges.

His is not the first collective of its kind, nor will it be the last.

I'm seeing more and more of these outfits forming in cities large and small. They're mostly driven by the desire to fix what's broken in the ad industry. And partially driven by the desire to exact their revenge on the big ad agency people who broke it in the first place.

Naturally, I've offered Ian a heavily discounted day rate.

It's good to see many things changing in our troubled business.
It's also good to see that some things are not changing.

Yesterday, I read on Linkedin that February sales of Hyundai vehicles had soared 16%.

Gee, what do you think could account for such a meteoric rise in sales?
Think hard.
Think Super hard.
I know you're smaht.

That's right, Hyundai moved the merch because Hyundai had a great TV commercial during the Super Bowl.

I suppose you could argue the reason the spot was so effective was because it was "part of an integrated approach that maximized multiple platforms, the latest in data mining technology, and a holistic strategy that optimized best practices throughout all tiers and touchpoints of operation."

You could argue that. 

But I'd call BULLSHIT.

The reason this advertising worked is the same reason why any advertising works. They had a funny script. They had a great execution (full disclosure, supervised by some of my seasoned ad friends.) They got noticed. And they demonstrated a unique feature on the car. That's how it's done people.

This is not rocket science.

This is not curing cancer.

This is not even curing coronavirus.

It's just good old school advertising racking up good old sales. And it's a shame there's not more of it.