No Pulitzer for Jonah Bloom's coverage of Wal-Scam!

Just listened to AdAge's audio bit about Wal-Scam featuring Jonah Bloom, one of their Senior Editors. Obviously this guy is hoping that when Julie starts "her own gig" she'll offer him a job. He describes Julie as hip, a rock star, good looking and being a "change agent" about a million times. On the other hand, he describes Wal-Mart as a dowdy, ultra conservative organization. He talks about the Nobu dinner as the kind of thing that happens all the time in the biz... No Jonah, it may happen with existing clients, but not at a consultants dinner hosted by a contending agency and you're the prospective client singing the praises of an agency while the review is on-going. That doesn't happen, 'cos it's fucking stupid on the part of both Howard and Julie. When he talks about the Julie/Sean thing he is assured by her that she never slept with Sean... OK... Bill never slept with Monica... As you say, all of that is moot and there's plenty more stuff to concentrate on. Which unfortunately, Jonah never does, ending his "in-depth" piece with the conclusion that she didn't actually do anything wrong... Which is bullshit... But even if, in your opinion, she didn't... As a journalist covering the ad biz, you should remember one of the great ad lines of all time... "Perception is Reality!"

Not this year, Jonah!

Comments

[media boy]

In his report, Jonah Bloom descrbes Walmart as being a midwestern marketer, when of course it is based in the south.

[makethelogobigger]

"Julie as hip, a rock star, good looking and being a "change agent"

If I hear THAT fucking phrase again, Jesus Christ. Please, a 'change agent' and 'rock star' doesn't jeopardise a huge account like that. Who asked her to 'change' anything, let alone a major brand like Wal-Mart? Oh hey, fuck me, let's go to Coke next and change the color to green.

Wonder how it feels to take Wal-Mart for all that money in such a great position as 'change agent' and fuck it up. Hey Wal-Mart, there's a lot better talent out there with common sense for 1/20th the salary.

See what happens when I hang around here too much? I get nUtz.

[Jetpacks]

Dang, George. You are like Bob Woodward on this story. I think you're jealous of Sean.

Change Agent, Rising Star, Rock Star all mean the same thing: Bullshit Artist. But when you top it with "good-looking" you are more likely to gain an audience and sell your snake oil.

Glass ceiling, my ass. More like see-through "skill set."

[SoundByteWorld]

Jonah Bllom is right there with the Rock Stars and Change Agents. On October 8th he wrote:

"Philips' 'Simplicity' Campaign: A Brilliant Creative Standout
But New-Think Marketing Effort Collides With Old-Think Media Types"

This is where free space and free air time was supplied by the client in hopes of engendering some payback when appreciative consumers went to buy $3,000 TV sets and decided to give their business to the advertiser who eliminated a few commercials from their lives. As if anyone outside the marketing conference room in the real world of TV set buyers EVER made the connection.

[HighJive]

Well, AdAge was (and still is…?) primed to anoint Draft FCB as Agency of the Year. Our media (i.e., AdAge and Adweek) continue to walk a weird tightrope with news, often openly revealing their biases. AdFreak launched a lot of the controversy with its posts on the Cannes Loving Lions ad. Yet they’ve been uncommonly quiet since the Roehm-Draft FCB firings. Wonder if they’re struggling with an identity crisis — mocking on blogs, yet having to report in the magazine and Web site. Can’t imagine they’re gaining fans at IPG. At least AdAge has been consistently open with their biases, whether you agree with them or not. George, we don’t all have the luxury of openness you enjoy.

[theo kie]

What a load of horse apples. As for the pub naming Draft/FCB Agency of the Year because of their "new model", shops have been offering the same for years - teaming up with other disciplines to deliver cross-platform services to clients. In fact, isn't this how agencies have long referred to themselves - as "full service" agencies? The only difference, here, is the fact the direct guy (for once) is at the top of the food chain, rather than bringing up the rear.

[arkansasbob]

(REPRINTED FROM AN EARLIER BLOG WITH NO APOLOGIES)

Add Jonah Bloom, AdAge editor, to the list of Julie Roehm apologists. One of the problems even bigger than the hacks in the industry are the uber hacks who report on it. Apparently Mr. Bloom graduated from two schools: 1) the Larry King school of if someone says it to me in an interview, I believe it entirely. and 2) If I have a Briitish accent, I at least sound smart even if everything I say is utterly stupid. If Mr. Bloom was any kind of a reporter at all he would know there was a long internal investigation at Wal-Mart into Roehm/Womack improprieties, it went on for months actually before their ultimately firing, and the cherry on top was the out and out flouting of Wal-Mart's gratuities policies by both. Then , there is their total lack of qualifications for their jobs and the completely bungling way they handled them. But, it's all good according to Mr. Bloom. Any respect I ever had for Ad Age just flew out the window on the wings of turkey buzzards. Utterly disgusting. This guy calls himself a journalist?

[SoundByteWorld]

"teaming up with other disciplines to deliver cross-platform services to clients. In fact, isn't this how agencies have long referred to themselves - as "full service" agencies?"

Very well said theo.

This industry is more full of horse apples these days than ever. It's run by charlatans mindlessly repeating the buzz word du jour like ROI or Consumer-centric. WOW, consumer-centric - what a great notion - keeping your consumer in mind when advertising to him. Omigod.

Then these grandstanding showboats make career headlines for themselves by doing cross platform deals where they go to a media company and instead of just buying TV, they also use some of their magazine and Internet properties. Well whoopeefkngdoo. In the old days that used to be called media planning. The only difference was with media planning you weren't unneceessarily confing your effort to the properties that your media "partner" owned. You had much better choice.

OH, and as I think of it, that word partner, as in "marketing partner" is another one of the oversued nouns in the charlatans' bag of bullshit.

Of course my favorite this week is "Change Agent", which another poster so perfectly defined as Bullshit Artist. Yup, JR is better termed a BSA than a change agent, unless one is specifically referring to how often her underwear comes on and off in a night's work.

[Kurt]

The official marketing blog site at the Association of National Advertisers just came out today applauding LINKEDIN, which is of course where Julie Roehm is now keeping the world abreast of her plans. The blog is at: http://ana.blogs.com/maestros/

The ANA blog starts off by indirectly referencing Roehm's dismissal. Then instead of dispensing advice as to how to avoid pitfalls like Roehm's, it essentially advises what to do if you're fired - and that is to use Linkedin. We all have a lot to learn from Julie Roehm.

There are no reader comments as of yet.

[George Parker]

Guys
All good stuff, I'll comment on it in my next post, within 30 minutes or so. I agree with all of you that the so-called ad press is a joke though. But if you consider that virtually all the editorial staff have never actually worked in advertising, it's not really surprising. As for "Linkedin" it's nothing more than a yuppie MySpace. Wouldn't be surprised if it's owned by "The Wizened of Oz!"
Cheers/George

[Bob]

//But if you consider that virtually all the editorial staff have never actually worked in advertising, it's not really surprising.//

Great point, George. I think we ad wankers forego the ad press for an obvious reason: it pays like crap.

That said, Noreen O'Leary is a GREAT writer.

[HighJive]

Bob,

Well, she may be a great writer. But her writing about advertising leaves much to be desired — mostly relevance. At least to anyone who joined the business after 1970.

[Bob]

Come on, Hih Jive. I joined the biz in 1989, and I find her very relevant.

Of course, the last few years, she's only been assigned to the "big" interview stuff.

But I can tell your from personal experience (yes, yes, she's a friend of mind) that she knows more about the ins, outs, and frigging stupidity that goes on in advertising than any other "ad journalist" I know.

That's because she hangs out with regular ad people, not the Drafts and Donnies of the world.

She writes what she knows. Which is precisely why George's blog is so good.

Plus, she happens to be an incredibly nice human being. And in advertising, that has to count for smething.

[HighJive]

No doubt she’s an incredible human being. No doubt you’re biased by your friendship.

I’d challenge you to take the following two-question poll to all Gen X and Gen Y adpeople.

Question 1: Ever heard of Noreen O’Leary?

For the handful who answer yes, Question 2: Do you think she’s relevant?

[Bob]

I bet the vast majority of Gen X and Y music people have never heard of John Doe, either.

Doesn't mean he's not good (or relevant to the current music scene).

[Bob]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Doe_%28musician%29

[George Parker]

Hey... High and Bob
Relax, it's all a joke... Plus I joined the biz in 1889. I used to pour molten lead to make the type and print all the ads on my Heidelberg laptop. Sometimes I even got to ride in Howard's Calistoga wagon after free beans and bacon at the Ranchero NoBu. Those were the fucking days.
Cheers/George

[arkansasbob]

George, being a former resident of Napa Valley, I must tell you it is Connestoga wagon. Calistoga is a city in the northern part of the valley that got it's name when Robert Louis Stevenson, drunk on Napa Valley wine, tried to call the area "the Saratoga of California" except he was so drunk he said "the Calistoga of Sarafornia" and the name stuck. A little trivia for you.

[George Parker]

Arkansas
That's fucking brilliant. Is it true, or are you bullshitting me? Either way, I shall claim it as my own... Just like everything else. And I knew it was Connestoga, but like RLS, I was shitfaced while I was typing it. Well, that's my story, and it's my blog!
Cheers/George

[Pam Bond]

Would like to correct the information left by Arkansasbob:

"Conestoga" is spelled with one "n", and it wasn't Robert Louis Stevenson that gave the name to Calistoga, it was Sam Brannan, the first California publisher and the first California millionaire. Brannan purchased more than 2,000 acres near the hot springs hoping to create a spa like the ones in Saratoga, N.Y. (Originally from Maine, Brannan came to California from N.Y., being sent by the Mormon Church to convert and control San Francisco. He came around the horn with more than 240 other church members and when their ship landed in San Francisco, they tripled the population!) The rest of the story is true - he had been drinking when he gave the speech detailed above. While Sam Brannan was not the first to find gold in California, he is credited with starting the “Gold Fever” of the “Gold Rush.” In 1849 he waved a bag of gold in front of crowds in San Francisco, and then published the news of the discovery of gold for the rest of the world in his San Francisco paper the “California Star.” The rest, as they say, is history!