Archive for March 2014
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Last we looked, it was 2014. We can “binge view” entire
seasons of our favorite shows at once, listen to radio stations calibrated to
our individual taste, and wear one-of-a-kind shoes that we designed on our
laptop yesterday.
It’s the age of the customizable buying experience.
Yet advertising agencies remain “one size fits all.” CMOs pay for holding company overhead they
never see, posh offices they seldom visit, and salaries of senior management
who never touch your ads.
That’s why we invented Ad Hoc.
We’re a group—we like the term “guild”— of experienced,
award-winning advertising professionals who solve marketing problems on an
as-needed basis. The guild can expand or contract to fit any project.
What Do we Do
What kind of
work do we do
Glad you hypothetically asked:
Product launches.
An
opportunity for your company that’s been languishing in a desk drawer.
A fresh
perspective on a tough problem that your current agency hasn’t been able to
crack.
Once you’ve identified which project you need help on,
contact us. We’ll identify the right people for the job and give you a price to
complete it.
Who We Are
Who are these
“professionals”? Will Ad Hoc be populated by “ad hacks”?
See what we did there? We beat our
competitors to the easiest joke imaginable. So if they employ this
lowest-hanging-clunker of a yuck, they’ll look like hacks, not us.
But we digress. You’ve probably read a book or article about
the burgeoning, entrepreneurial creative class who’d rather sell their skills
to the highest bidder than to an industry whose business model requires work to
be performed by junior employees in order to turn a profit.
We’ve read those books and articles,
too. So we reached out to Effie-winning strategists, Cannes-winning creatives,
planners versed in the fragmented media landscape, and seasoned account people
who can wrangle everyone toward a common goal, on time and on budget. They’re
all part of our guild (love that word) and we can access any of them based on
your needs.
And after we deliver fresh ideas and
turn-key creative, the guild members making up the team for your project will
disband—and you stop paying, unless you want us to produce the results. We can
do that at the highest level, too.
Web designers, planners, social
media experts, Super Bowl TV writers, directors—you name it, we’re connected.
And if we don’t have the right people for your project, we probably know who
does, and we’ll refer you to them.
What's this Guild Thing?
That's a good question.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a Guild as an organized group of people who have joined together because they share the same job or interest; especially : an association of people who made or sold goods in the Middle Ages.
That's a pretty good description of what we are (except the bit about the Middle Ages).
An even better question would be Who are these “professionals”? Will Ad Hoc be populated by “ad hacks”?
Bob’s had the pleasure of
working with Jon Stewart, Bob Newhart, Steve Carell, and the Coen brothers (not
on the same project), riding shotgun in a Daytona 500 pace car, pitching ideas
to Jerry Bruckheimer, and filming on one of Sergio Leone’s original spaghetti
western sets. He loves the Missouri
Tigers, strong coffee, and a well-prepared but competitively priced piece of
halibut.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a Guild as an organized group of people who have joined together because they share the same job or interest; especially : an association of people who made or sold goods in the Middle Ages.
That's a pretty good description of what we are (except the bit about the Middle Ages).
An even better question would be Who are these “professionals”? Will Ad Hoc be populated by “ad hacks”?
See what we did there? We beat our
competitors to the easiest joke imaginable. So if they employ this
lowest-hanging-clunker of a yuck, they’ll look like hacks, not us.
But we digress. You’ve probably read a book or article about
the burgeoning, entrepreneurial creative class who’d rather sell their skills
to the highest bidder than to an industry whose business model requires work to
be performed by junior employees in order to turn a profit.
We’ve read those books and articles,
too. So we reached out to Effie-winning strategists, Cannes-winning creatives,
planners versed in the fragmented media landscape, and seasoned account people
who can wrangle everyone toward a common goal, on time and on budget. They’re
all part of our guild (love that word) and we can access any of them based on
your needs.
And after we deliver fresh ideas and
turn-key creative, the guild members making up the team for your project will
disband—and you stop paying, unless you want us to produce the results. We can
do that at the highest level, too.
Web designers, planners, social
media experts, Super Bowl TV writers, directors—you name it, we’re connected.
And if we don’t have the right people for your project, we probably know who
does, and we’ll refer you to them.
Some current members of the Guild are:
Richard Cran
Tyson Brown
Bob Merlotti
After earning an MBA from Northwestern,
Bob has gone on to a successful writing and creative director career in Chicago
and Los Angeles. He’s earned a string of national and international awards for
his advertising work, including Cannes Lions, Clios, and recognition for several
top Super Bowl ads. Bob served as executive creative director at Grey
Advertising and occasionally directs online content.
Joe Feldman
Joe Feldman is an LA-based
brand planning and communications consultant with over 20 years in the field.
Agencies consult with Joe on a wide range of strategy needs, including new
business projects to brand creation, brand reinvention, product launches and
creative quantitative and qualitative research. Joe has worked with most
of LA’s top agencies, including TBWA/Chiat Day, Deutsch, RPA, Secret Weapon
Marketing. His brand experience includes cars (Nissan, Infiniti, Volkswagen,
Hyundai, and others) QSR (Jack in the Box, Taco Bell), branded response
(Hotwire, eHarmony, 21st Century Insurance) and retail and destination
clients.
Dave Gassman
Dave got his first break
in advertising when he was hired by ad legend Ed McCabe. There he
wrote and art-directed his first campaigns for Swarovski Crystal, Maxell,
Hebrew National, and Vetta Sports. Dave then moved to Los Angeles and did
tours of duty at Houston Effler on Kirin Beer and Herradura Tequila, TBWA/Chiat
Day on Infiniti and Nissan, Deutsch on DirecTV, and Secret Weapon
Marketing where he spent five years working on Jack in the Box,
Activision and Ikea. Dave then moved to Chicago to take the post of
Vice President, Creative Director at DraftFCB where he headed many brands for Kraft
foods, and led projects for Qwest Communications.
Dave is back in LA where he's been freelancing for just about every agency in town. He has been recognized at Cannes, The One Show, National Addys, The New York Festivals, Radio Mercury Awards, and Communication Arts. Dave's wife is an animation writer at Disney and an author. They have a beautiful daughter named Sadie, and a dog named Bronx who eats couches. Dave holds a BFA from Parsons School of Design, and an MS in Communication Strategy from Northwestern University.
Dave is back in LA where he's been freelancing for just about every agency in town. He has been recognized at Cannes, The One Show, National Addys, The New York Festivals, Radio Mercury Awards, and Communication Arts. Dave's wife is an animation writer at Disney and an author. They have a beautiful daughter named Sadie, and a dog named Bronx who eats couches. Dave holds a BFA from Parsons School of Design, and an MS in Communication Strategy from Northwestern University.
Steve Obrien
I started in advertising at Ground Zero in
Venice, CA. Over 10 years I was able to create award-winning work for ESPN,
California Dept. of Health, Atlantis Resorts, American Lung Association, End
Hunger Network, and more. After GZ, I spent time at Goodby, Silverstein
and Partners before hitting the freelance trail, working for Saatchi, Team One,
Deutsch, BBDO (ATL), CP+B, and the NBC Network. I then settled in for 3+ years
at Innocean in Huntington Beach, CA where I worked on Hyundai.
Martin Hennessy
Martin Hennessy is an
enterprising and resourceful leader with 30 years of experience in brand
development and management. He has been responsible for leading brand
repositionings, which have included asset redesigns and communication overhauls
for brands like Taco Bell, Pepsi and Frito-Lay. Additionally, he has managed
large teams with accountabilities for strategic business planning, product
development, advertising, social media, public relations, brand affairs and crisis
management. Martin has a BFA from
Southern Methodist University and is an avid surfer. He lives in Laguna Beach,
California with his wife, son and daughter.
Mara Tardy
Mara Marich Tardy is an experienced and dependable creative resource,
focused on building strategic actionable solutions to creative tangles. She
began her career as an award-winning advertising copywriter on four continents,
before joining the high octane world of MTV New York's famed on-air promotion
department, graduating as an Emmy-nominated writer, director and producer. As an in-house Writer/ Producer at MTV, she
dreamed up new and enticing eye candy to make the masses salivate on a daily
basis. Since then, she has successfully
launched her own creative shop and continued an international career spanning
traditional and digital advertising and content. Mara is fluent solving
problems for many cultures and audiences. She has launched web havens,
television channels and shows in New York and Taiwan, and managed digital,
film, video and print projects worldwide, including London, Sydney, Hong Kong,
Paris and Los Angeles. Mara enjoys collaborating with others and listening to
clients, to unlock the best strategy for messaging. A hands-on talent who
operates as both videographer and photographer, she works closely with the
subject matter. Mara is comfortable handling project management from A to Z and
thoroughly enjoys the challenge of simplifying complicated subjects to find
optimal solutions. )
