Rachel Mercer

Now when I saw that my favorite guys from the Barbarian Group (Noah Brier and Rick Webb) were throwing what can only be described as a party of epic proportions over the release of this book, I had to pick it up. With the advertising business limited to those illusionary books such as Hey Whipple Squeeze This and Ogilvy On Advertising (which is now older than myself) I felt the need to pick up something fresh and, you know, relevant (something that also wasn't screaming OMG SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING on the cover either). 

I realize that when I previously mentioned AdLand in my blog, I shit a proverbial brick on the video. Which I think was partially based on my misinterpretation of the big picture, the lack of context for the presentation of those questions can easily explain the basis of said misinterpretation, though I still maintain that it is more about the user's choice than the product itself. In the book, it's actually presented as an idea to a class -- are you passionate enough about advertising to pursue ALL of these goals -- which I think is entirely different from the argument initially presented in the video. 

Anyways, to the meat of the matter: what I thought of the damn thing! Right off the bat, I was excited because the man graduated from Northeastern. I know this really shouldn't matter to me, but the fact that someone became a successful adman after attending this joint is pretty damn exciting, because I've been going here for 4 years with design teachers telling me that there would be no hope for my sold-out ass. So, despite the fact that the first third of the book mostly describes the adventures of a man who had a cushy job at a big agency during the days of big spending and fat expense accounts, it's still a ton of fun to read -- and interesting to someone who wants to understand what it's like to be at a big agency. 

It's the latter 2/3 of the book that actually hit to the meat of the matter. Not only is there a discrete analysis on what the future of advertising could be (with a little help from my genius dudes over at the Barbarian Group), but there's a close study on what things like improved analytics and statistics are doing to improve the effectiveness of different ads. After that, we get taken through what can only be a magic world of mini-shops, interactive agencies and digital directives that are not only constantly churning out what I will refer to as "badass shit" -- this includes tour descriptions, interviews, and a description of work which leaves you drooling every time you turn the page. For me, the most difficult part was to read the final 15 pages, which describes VCU's Brandcenter facilities, which seem to me to be heaven fallen to earth on a platter and in the form of campus buildings. As someone who is in the middle of applying to the programs, the work certainly seems daunting -- but oh my gawd, the classes that he's describing seem like more fun than I could ever have in my lifetime. 

All in all, the book was a good read -- anyone who wants to get their finger on the pulse of what's going down in advertising these days should probably just pick it up to skim through the second half. Big-eyed kiddies like myself should definitely check it out, as the descriptions of Cannes will likely send you into shock from how damn exciting it sounds. Think of it: it could really be spring break (+burning man) for the ad world, akin to the SXSW Interactive experience for Techies. Do you realize that I like this by now?