Holding Court

It’s 2:03 a.m. and 5,000 sweaty, rabid, Texas A&M football fans at Kyle Field have just unleashed a collective scream that would make you think they’ve just won the BCS national championship. The funny thing is, these kids aren’t here to cheer on their team. They’re here to cheer on the filming of our commercial. See [...]

As seen on Forbes.com
There’s no more common refrain in marketing than that of the ad agency imploring the client to “do something big.” And yet, how many agencies do you recall actually doing something big? I’m not talking about big commercials, stunts or social programs for the brands they handle. But something big for themselves.
Looking [...]

I think the single most satisfying moment of my life took place two days ago at the Manhattan Beach TEDx event, Journey To Purpose.

About six months ago, I became intrigued with a group of people in our industry I had never thought much about— sign spinners. So one day on my morning commute, I decided to pull over and talk with one of them. Which inspired me to talk to another twenty. Which inspired me to get out [...]

Here is my recent Ideasicle podcast with Will Burns. What I liked about the experience and the final product, was that it felt a lot more like a discussion than an interview. I don’t know about my answers, but Will’s questions were certainly interesting and provocative.  I hope you find it somewhat informative and, above [...]

I’ve known a lot of creative directors in my time. And the one thing we all have in common, is that at one time in our career, we were certain that our value was tied to our ability to sift through a mound of ideas, identify the ones with potential and help turn them into [...]

‘Tis the season and ‘tis the profession to look forward. To let old acquaintances be forgot along with technology that’s more than 15 minutes old and ideas that got 3 million hits on YouTube last month. Let’s face it, this time of year fits well with the mindset of our industry. One that’s driven by [...]

Here is the latest Crandall family holiday card installment in a tradition that started 19 years ago.

And here is the backup. By the way, those are Depends™ we’re rocking even though they look like my grandmother’s panties. Not that I’ve, you know, seen my grandmother’s panties.

Which card do you prefer?

I was going through some old work this week for one of our new pitches and I came across a spot I hadn’t watched in a while. It was for the California Department of Health Services anti-tobacco initiative. And it was inauspiciously named, “Bubbles 2.”
Of all the spots I’ve been part of, this is maybe [...]

On March 9, Agency Spy ran a piece announcing that I was undertaking a charity/documentary project called, “Free Throw.”  The comment in the thread below the article which had the most “likes,” (11) started with the words, “How utterly horrendous.” Four months later, on Monday, July 11, I appeared on CNN with one of the [...]