Does a Madison Avenue address truly matter?
AOL’s move to New York City certainly says a lot about the company’s priorities. To me, hinging high hopes on the move seems, well, a bit lame for a company that once really was on the cutting edge. After all, the ad-makers of Madison Avenue are enduring their own share of disruption, particularly in traditional media. Edgy agencies far from the Big Apple seem to be doing just as well, and in some cases better, than the old-school ad stalwarts. Take Richmond, Va.-based Martin Agency, which has grabbed a lot of attention with its highly successful Caveman campaign for Berkshire Hathaway’s GEICO. It’s also been tapped by huge companies like Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT ) and UPS (NYSE: UPS ) . In addition, traditional print ads and TV spots are now being joined or supplanted by simple word of mouth, online social networks, and other forward-looking ways to draw people’s attention. AOL’s current rah-rah attitude toward advertising may also seem overblown to those of us with relatively long memorie
