Welcome to the KPC blog! Here you’ll find fresh commentary on all things marketing and research, from historical anecdotes on marketing and research to the latest in advertising today. If it strikes our fancy, we’ll be blogging.

Ah, Paper

First - yes, I am alive and no, I haven't been ignoring marketing for the past, oh, two years. I just haven't been writing about it.

But now I'm back, for today at least. And why, you ask?

Because of The Office. Obviously.

Last night's episode was all about advertising and I loved it. The "ad guys" were spot on, looks-wise (though I wish they'd gotten more face time) and the corporate ad was so cheesily perfect. Classic cable spot.

Michael's ad was, I thought, really kind of sweet and charming - despite all of the racial stereotyping, of course. From a writing standpoint, I thought the ad did an amazing job of summarizing his character's strengths and flaws, all in one quick spot.

But what prompted me to post was my realization that even after three years NOT at an agency, whenever I watch a commercial, my instinct is to immediately look for strategy. My first thought after the episode ended was "yes, but the corporate strategy of comparison to big boxes was probably more appropriate than Michael's lofty, HP-like approach."

And then I thought: WOW I suck the fun out of everything.