New Class, New blogs

So this week's assignment is to read some advertising blogs and write about my experience reading them. I've decided to do mini-reviews on each one I read.

Adrants.com
Yawn. Sure, some of the content is kind of cool, like a coke machine that had a person inside who dispensed not just coke, but also pizza, flowers, and a submarine sandwich. But there was no insight into why this machine was a great marketing idea, or what coke could have done differently. Adrants.com is a blog where some guy writes 6 postings a day that give updates on new ads/marketing ideas that have been released recently. How about instead of 6 posts a day, the guy focuses on writing complete sentences and using spell check. It's poorly written and doesn't really give me anything tangible. Also, the layout and user interface is brutal (I shouldn't have to open a new page to see comments posted, and then click "back" to get to the original page with all of the posts on it)

Adblog.com
Loads a "contact us page" instead of a blog...?

Adverlab.blogspot.com
On first impression, this blog looks amateur. The content is on a plain white background with the content justified exactly along the left side of my browser window. Upon reading the first couple of posts, I saw this quote: "There will always be some group of people who want to block ads for personal reasons. But if we do a good job on the advertising side, people won't want to block ads. People will find them actually useful." Was this guy sitting in class with us? I have a feeling I might really enjoy reading these blogs. The next post is about product placement in relation to the blossoming of 3D animation as common place now. The post is brief, but he get's the point across that product placement may soon be useless, since the depth of field in 3D is so minimal.
Brief. Informing. Insightful. I like it! (although this guy could also use a proof-reader)

PSFK.com
While I still have no idea what PSFK stands for, I find it pretty interesting. It's not just about advertising and marketing; it's about industrial design, and current popular culture trends. Posts are written by several different contributors, and I enjoy that. It's better than just one person's opinion all the time. While it's not especially insightful, it's a neat blog that demonstrates innovation and brilliance. I also didn't notice any typos in my time on the site.

sethgodin.typepad.com
Seth Godin is a very smart man, so I'm not surprised that I love this blog. It's human, it's insightful, it's entertaining. Seth Godin has a lot of insight, which makes me happy to see that he has a blog. He takes many otherwise blah things, and makes a life lesson about them. For example, his post about Tim Burton's failures. Seth talks about Burton working constantly on new projects, several of which have never made it, but it's all of those (still current) failures that have made him as successful as he is. Moral of the story: if you never try, you'll never win. Life lessons aside though, Seth Godin has a lot of knowledge in relation to marketing and advertising, and I'm glad he's blogging it. Oh, and since he's an accomplished author, he can write. I appreciate that.

So of all the blogs listed, I think I'll likely read Seth Godin and adverlab, and I'll pass the link to PSFK over to my brother and my dad. They'll love it.