Initial Launch Reactions

Only a week ago Advertising Age wrote about our new Marketing with Meaning concept. This story represented our launch of Marketing with Meaning outside of our office walls, and we’re getting some very good feedback and responses.

Many friends - and even competitors - in the advertising industry have called or emailed to offer congratulations, as well as praise the thinking behind Marketing with Meaning. I was asked to appear on the SustainCommWorld conference on “making media green and profitable.” I received an email and blog link from two separate agency CEOs: Robert Wheatley of Wheatley & Timmons PR agency praised the concept and linked to his own similar perspective; and Drew Neisser of Renegade linked in with his agency’s take, Marketing as Service. I received another nice email and blog post link from Anne Stewart, who runs HotCards.com.

I also thought it was interesting that the concept seems to be catching hold within the staff at Ad Age. Another reporter called me last week to talk more about branded tools; and Rupal Parekh at the tongue-in-cheek Adages blog says, “You want marketing with meaning?… take a Japanese bra that uses solar panels to recharge gadgets.”

Of course not every piece of feedback was positive. One of our first links was from Steve Lambert at the Anti-Advertising Agency. As you can probably guess, this is an organization that doesn’t like what we do for a living. We had a good back-and-forth on his blog, and it proved to me that responding to critics is often the best way to go. Another anti-advertising group put us on its “Spin of the Day” list.

So as we start Week 2 of the Marketing with Meaning revolution, my team and I are feeling pretty good. I will continue to share links and feedback (both good and bad) in this space.