TIMES HAVE CHANGED

Ahh, the memories. I read with interest yesterday Al Kelly's idea to fuse all the Fallon placards and trophies in his office into a big sculpture. It reminded me of how much things have changed in the ad business and how much time has passed.

I remember starting out in the ad business back in the early 1980s looking at all the great work Fallon did along with other companies of the time like Hal Riney.

Jamie Barret's DM packages were always enjoyable. Those days were the hey day of tv and print advertising. The work inspired a generation of creatives.

Now, so much has changed. Now that the digital world has usurped the traditional one, the legacy agencies like Publicis' Fallon have been overshadowed by agencies like North Kingdom, Daddy and Far Far, Deep Focus, Albert Ken on the other extreme. In addition a new breed of agency has been born out of the bedrock of the legacy Fallon brand - start up entrepreneurial agencies like Persuasion Arts and Sciences led by Fallon mavericks Mark Johnson and Dion Hughs, Brew, Adrian Ho's firm, not to mention Toy. There are great memories connected with that time in the 80s.

There is a great quote: “The richness of life lies in the memories we have forgotten.” This fun stunt by Al brings a lot of that back.

As we built StrawberryFrog in early 2000, our yardstick shifted away from the legacy agency of the past and towards new kinds of silicon valley firms, ideo, and more dynamic efficient companies. But the legacy agencies have played an important role in establishing that yardstick.