Advertising Week is in full swing and is already full of surprises. On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released the details of its updated Green Guides to attendees of the National Advertising Division (NAD) Annual Conference, before even announcing it to the press – talk about a scoop! It was exciting for all who were there and who work in developing environmental marketing claims. We have been eagerly awaiting the new Green Guides for over 2 years. With thousands of comments from industry groups, environmental advocates, academics and others during the review process, there were certainly a lot of people watching and waiting. The FTC is trying to put out guidance that set a balance between the firmness needed to help reduce “green washing” and the flexibility needed to allow advertisers to develop new and novel claims as environmental sciences and technologies advance in ways we cannot yet anticipate.
Continue Reading New FTC Green Guides Signal Change Ahead for Marketers

Advertising Week is to the advertising industry and brands what the Emmys are for the television industry and what the Oscars are for the film and entertainment industry. I’ve had the honor of knowing the brainchild behind Advertising Week since its inception. Now in its ninth year, Advertising Week is bigger than ever – with five days of high-level programming hosted by and featuring some of advertising’s biggest names, including those agencies and brands who are leading the charge in innovation and creativity in our industry.

The Way I See It

  • I see the industry’s biggest leaders gathering in New York City to share and discuss the latest ideas, creations, and technology that is shaping the future of the industry.
  • I see a broad representation of an industry that has spread its web far beyond Madison Avenue. A map of the venues and the packed agenda reminds us of the growth and innovation that the industry has adopted and achieved.
  • I see an annual opportunity for the most creative and innovative minds from across the industry and across the world to gather in one place and focus on the industry’s hottest topics: mobile, data, social media, privacy, creative, technology, and the future of advertising as an industry.

The Way The Industry Sees It


I sat down with Matt Scheckner, the founder and creator of Advertising Week, to give you the inside scoop on what Advertising Week 2012 has in store for attendees, what is different this year than in the past, and what is in store for its upcoming Tenth Anniversary.

It’s hard to believe Advertising Week is in its ninth year. How has the program changed since its inception and how has it stayed true to the foundation it was built upon?

We’ve changed just as the industry has and continues to change. That’s the great constant and we work very hard to not only address what’s going on in the industry now, but we try to look to the future.
Since we think this way, we’ve stayed very true to our foundation of being an advocate for the industry and its wonderful people. We’re about education, inspiration, connection and celebration.

There are many industry hot topics that are the focus of numerous programs throughout the week. What topic do you think will define this Advertising Week?

We’re seeing this in the specific tracks that we’ve created. Mobile, social, education diversity and the convergence of Madison Avenue, Silicon Valley and Hollywood (which we call MASSIVE) are all on the tops of minds.  Additionally, with The Advertising Week Experience (AWE), we’re realizing that there is some profoundly important technologies that marketers really need to know.

Continue Reading Backstage Pass: Advertising Week 2012

To anyone in the industry, Madison Avenue is more than just a street on the bustling grid that is Manhattan:  it’s a global industry that exists in every state of the union and every country of the world. It stands for passion, creativity, change, challenge, innovation, and opportunity. The birthplace of ideas and work that have made us laugh, cry and think, while we have been entertained and informed. The industry that has helped to shape the world we live in today. 

Madison Avenue has long been synonymous with the world of advertising, marketing, and communications. It’s our Hollywood, our Silicon Valley, and our Capitol Hill. Advertising and marketing – the industry – is not just agencies, it’s marketers, clients, media, content providers, and technologists who today are all part of Madison Ave. Madison Ave is not a geographic location – it is the moniker, the advertising industry’s Tiffany blue – our brand, our logo.

The Madison Ave Insights blog will bring you into the industry – you’ll meet the people shaping our world, driving change, innovating the present, developing rules, and laying the foundation for the next big thing. Each week, I’ll be addressing the topics on everyone’s minds – mega-trends, challenges, developments, advertising. If you’re thinking about it, I’ll be talking about it here.

I’m Ron Urbach, Chairman of the preeminent advertising law firm Davis & Gilbert LLP. I’ve been both behind the scenes and out front of the most critical industry developments that have fundamentally transformed the industry and the profession – the latest campaigns, the hottest new technologies, and the most innovative new business practices — Davis & Gilbert has been doing it for over 100 years.
Continue Reading Welcome to Madison Ave Insights