Since Steve Jobs posted his “Thoughts on Flash” in April 2010, a lot has been talked about with regards to the future of Flash. With Adobe’s recent announcement that “Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores.  We will no longer continue to develop Flash Player in the browser to work with new mobile device configurations (chipset, browser, OS version, etc.) following the upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and BlackBerry PlayBook.”, I felt there was one voice we still hadn’t heard from, that of the people in the industry who actually have shaped Flash in the last 10+ years and those who will shape the future. Those who make the work.

I contacted 50 of the top FWA award winning agencies and asked them:
“After Adobe’s announcement of no more Flash player dev on mobile browser and the hysteria it is whipping up, I thought it would be a good idea to get some thoughts from the people that actually make the work.”

Here’s what they had to say…
Continue reading →

Check this video out. I thought it was hilarious. Incorporating cat videos with advertising is ingenious, but so true. Animal humor… who can beat that.
Continue reading →

(BLACK PR WIRE)–PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Comcast today announced it has selected Burrell Communications as its agency of record for its African-American consumer market advertising. The Chicago-based agency will provide advertising and media services to help Comcast reach African-American consumers, and also support Comcast’s digital and social media efforts. “Burrell has a strong track record of creating award-winning campaigns that produce results which made them very attractive to us during our agency search,” said Dave Watson, Chief Operating Officer, Comcast Cable. “We are excited to be working with Burrell on our outreach to African-American consumers and on communicating our innovative products and services to this very important audience.” “As we celebrate our 40th anniversary, we are thrilled to be joining the Comcast team,” said Fay Ferguson, co-CEO of Burrell Communications. “We look forward to a long and productive partnership, which strengthens the Comcast brand and builds business among our consumers.” Since its inception nearly 50 years ago, Comcast has had a longstanding commitment to diversity and focuses its efforts on four key areas: attracting and retaining a multicultural workforce; developing a diverse supplier group; pledging significant community investments; and offering a wide selection of multicultural programming. About Comcast Corporation Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the nation’s leading providers of entertainment, information and communications products and services. Comcast is principally involved in the operation of cable systems through Comcast Cable and in the development, production and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and other content for global audiences through NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential and business customers. Comcast is the majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations, a major motion picture company and theme parks. About Burrell Communications Burrell Communications is a full-service marketing communications company with offices in Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles. Now in its 40th year, Burrell is a leader in understanding and motivating consumer behavior in the African-American and Yurban® markets. The agency’s client roster includes: McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, General Mills, American Airlines, Illinois Lottery, Walt Disney World Resorts, Eli Lilly and Supervalu. For more information, visit http://www.burrell.com.

The content and opinions expressed within this press release are those of the author(s) and/or represented companies, and are not necessarily shared by Black PR Wire. The author(s) and/or represented companies are solely responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the content of this Press release. Black PR Wire reserves the right to reject a press release if, in the view of Black PR Wire, the content of the release is unsuitable for distribution.

Twitter is ready to declare success in its initial revenue-building efforts, and casts an even wider net by launching limited-time deals feed @earlybird, which provides time-sensitive offers from advertisers.

Disney has signed up for the first offer: a two-for-one ticket promotion for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which debuts in the U.S. today. The tweet takes users to a Fandango page to purchase the tickets with a discount code.

via Twitter Sees Sizable Ad Business.

Consumer Reports said Monday that — after testing three different iPhone 4s — it cannot recommend buying Apple’s (AAPL 257.82, +0.54, +0.21%) latest gadget. The magazine confirmed there is a reception problem with the antenna, which surrounds the phone, adding that the problem does not exist on earlier iPhone models or on other devices sold for AT&T’s network. See full story here.

Google said it plans later this year to launch the Chrome Web Store, the online equivalent of Apple’s App Store. Sports Illustrated has signed on as one of Google’s charter partners, and at present is the only publisher involved in the new venture.

via Google to Launch Chrome Web Store.

Putting a specific value on Facebook communities is a matter of some debate. Vitrue is hoping to shed some light on the subject with a new tool that evaluates the earned media worth of brands’ Facebook pages.

If you buy into the social media specialist’s underlying thesis — and even Vitrue concedes it’s not capturing the entire picture — the popular Starbucks Facebook page is worth $20.7 million.

via Putting a Value on Facebook Communities.

Flash doesn’t work on the iPad, pretty much making online video advertising a non-issue. But leading video technology provider Brightcove says it has a solution.

The company has announced that it will soon begin assisting its partners in delivering video content and advertising using HTML5, the Web site technology format which, as an alternative to Flash, enables video to be viewed on iPhone, iTouch and iPad devices. That’s potentially big news for brands that advertise on the Web via video — particularly given that Apple has already sold 1 million iPads — mostly to a highly desirable, early-adopter consumer base.

via Flash: Brightcove Plans iPad Video Assist.

General Motors hired Joel Ewanick as vice president of U.S. marketing just two weeks ago, but he’s already making a mark.A month after GM consolidated creative duties on its Chevrolet brand at Publicis Groupe’s Publicis, the automaker is undoing that decision by shifting lead duties on the brand to Omnicom Group’s Goodby, Silverstein & Partners — Ewanick’s agency when he led marketing at Hyundai Motors America — and rehiring longtime Chevy shop Campbell-Ewald to handle retail and sponsorship ads, according to sources. It was not immediately clear if creative duties on Chevy trucks also would return to C-E, a unit of Interpublic Group.

via Chevy Enlists Goodby as Lead Shop, Rehires C-E for Retail.

RadioShack has selected WPP Group’s Mindshare to handle its media planning and buying after a review, according to sources.When it launched the search in January, the client listed its full-year ad expenses for 2008 at $215 million. Annual spending for media placements going forward is estimated at about $150 million, per sources.

via RadioShack Picks Mindshare.