We need a new verb. When someone calls you, your phone doesn’t just ring (although it can if that’s what you choose). It sings. It raps. It turns on a lightsaber. It NomNomNoms. It tells you to “Sashay Away.”

It also is a personal declaration. It announces to everyone in hearing distance that you like Family Guy, Star Trek, and the Simpsons. It says you’ve got Gangnam Style. Hearing a quirky, weird, funny ringtone makes you want to meet someone –– or not. Haven’t we all been in a crowd of people and just had to get a look at the person behind that Chewbacca howl, Sexy and I Know It (never who you’d expect), or Jingle Bell Rock (in June)?

I’m sure you’re all wondering what this has to do with Jigsaw –– and here it is. We have new people. New clients. And new readers of our blog. And we figured the modern version of a calling card just might be a ringtone. We invite you to get to know us by knowing what’s on our phones.

Eoghan, Front End Developer
What is your ringtone?
I use different ringtones for all of my friends and/or co-workers and/or arch-nemeses.
This helps me add flavor to my communications.

By the way, this is what he uses for his nemesis:
The Big Payback – James Brown
http://youtu.be/lnPtf8WO73g
Don’t mess with Eoghan.

Steve Marsho, Partner
What is your ringtone?
Old phone
What inspired your pick?
It reminds me of my youth. It’s comforting.
What does your choice say about you?
I’m old school. Why do I need an annoying ring tone that chirps?

Steven Wold, Partner
What is your ringtone?
Crickets chirping.

Rachel, Interactive Project Manager and Steve Marsho’s newest ally
What is your ringtone?
Old phone
What inspired your pick?
It was between that and the “Duck” option.
What does your choice say about you?
I like to keep it simple.

Sue, Strategist
I’m so boring that I don’t even want to answer this. My current ringtone is Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, Thunder Road. I was inspired to choose it by my love of Bruce Springsteen, which says that I’m middle-aged and boring and really love Bruce Springsteen and every time I’ve heard him play this song live, I’ve cried like a baby. That said: I’ve been shopping for Phineas and Ferb ringtones, like “Doofenschmirtz Evil Incorporated” or the Perry the Platypus “dooby-dooby-doo-wa” theme. Which says that I’m a middle-aged Mom and we also REALLY like Phineas and Ferb. It makes us ROFLOAO.

Anne, Art Director (with a logical answer our Strategist can appreciate)
Well, the ring tone itself doesn’t matter. I picked my text and ring tones based on being able to hear them. So the noise is higher pitched and always at max. I have to be able to hear my phone in my purse in another room…right? Or when I’m out at a noisy restaurant, mall, grocery, etc. But this is all counterproductive because the ring and text tone is so annoying that I’ll turn the volume all the way off, say, at work or where I’m somewhere I don’t want the phone to interrupt a conversation—then I forget about it and find out I have a bizillion missed calls. LIFE IS HARD!

Beki, Art Director
What is your ringtone?
-Tron soundtrack “Derezzed”
-Florence and the Machine “Dog Days are Over”
-Nirvana “Heart Shaped Box”
What does your choice say about you?
I’m a dork and from the 90′s.

Jen, Associate Creative Director
What is your ringtone?
Marimba
What inspired your pick?
Its superiority to the Glockenspiel.
What does your choice say about you?
Despite my German heritage, my past life must have included African roots.

Joanne, Print Production
What is your ringtone?
The standard ones that came with the phone.
What inspired you to pick that tone?
My unfamiliarity with smart phones.
What does your choice say about you?
Catch up or get left in the dust!

Dione, Senior Writer
What is your ringtone?
Theme song for “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” or RuPaul’s “Cover Girl”
What does your choice say about you?
In a past life, I was a Kim Novak/Ingrid Bergman/Grace Kelly impersonator.

Eric, Intern Extraordinaire
What is your ringtone?
My current ringtone is called Mr. Simple, which is ironic because there is nothing simple about it. If I were to sum it up I’d say it’s this crazy little techno beat that is very high energy.
What inspired your pick?
I chose it because it immediately got my attention –– plus its sounds really cool. It’s meant to get you excited and pumped-up, which always comes in handy.
What does your choice say about you?
It says that I am unexpected, I like to have fun and I am always up for a little excitement.

Craig, on the other hand, is not.

Craig, Account Supervisor
What is your ringtone?
Whatever came on the phone.

So loyal readers, what’s your ringtone? And what does it say about you?

For years, retailers have been putting up in-store holiday displays earlier and earlier. It’s not uncommon to see fully decorated trees weeks before Halloween. This year, the holiday creep has spread to on-air and online advertising. Target is jumping ahead of the rest of the retail industry with its TV and video pre-roll ad that features its Bullseye dog and a promise that “The holidays are coming, and they’re gonna be big.”

This early holiday push is in contrast to the retailer’s strategy in years past. According to an Ad Age article, in 2010 the company postponed running holiday-themed ads until the week after Thanksgiving. The article quotes then Chief Marketing Officer Michael Francis: “Guests really tire of these messages when they’re started too early in the season, and it doesn’t align with where they are in their lives. They look at Thanksgiving as family time … and aren’t yet ready to get into the frenzy that defines the Christmas shopping season.”

Even the hosts of NPR’s Morning Edition seemed incredulous that holiday ads were running six weeks before Thanksgiving.

What changed in two years? The economy for one. In another Ad Age article, Target’s CEO Gregg Steinhafel said: “Guests are feeling better about finances and are more comfortable considering larger purchases.” Feeling bullish about consumer confidence and ability to spend, Target is further tempting shoppers with REDcard discounts, Free Shipping, Holiday Price Match and Easy Returns –– all in hopes of capturing more of consumers’ holiday spending.

Time will soon tell if Target’s holiday advertising strategy is a success. I wonder if this early push for Christmas sales will be at the expense of Halloween sales. Christmas gets a lot of attention from retailers, but Halloween spending is no joke. This year, it’s estimated that consumers will spend $8 billion getting their spook on.

What do you think? Will early holiday advertising cannibalize or boost Halloween spending at Target?

And do you think these early ads will influence you to shop earlier (Target sure hopes so)? Or does all this premature holiday talk have the reverse effect and make you want to avoid the perceived hassles of holiday shopping for as long as you can?

In just a few days, Mad Men is (finally) returning with new episodes. As we get ready to travel back in time to the 1960’s, I started to think about what’s changed in the world of advertising and what’s stayed the same. Has the advertising world of Mad Men ever really gone away?

What’s changed?

The rise of billable hours
In the 1960’s, advertising agencies made most of their money from media commissions. Today, agencies increasingly depend on billable hours to keep the doors open and paychecks from bouncing. Which leads us to…

Drinking
You can’t do a full day’s work after a three-martini lunch. That’s not a big problem if you get big media commissions. It is a problem if agency revenue comes from billable hours or value/performance-based billing

The elements of a campaign
The very act of reading this blog on our agency’s website illustrates a fundamental change in advertising since the 1960’s –– even since the early 1990’s. In the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Creative Department, a campaign consisted of television, radio, print and outdoor. Today, our campaigns have all of those mass media elements plus online components, social media strategies, smart phone apps, experiential marketing and guerrilla executions.

Don and Peggy were creating one-way communications that pushed information out to people. Today, thanks to technology, we are creating two-way conversations. Now, we both create content and curate content created by consumers.

Support staff
When we first entered the world of Sterling Cooper, everyone in creative and account service had a secretary. (Can you picture Don Draper making copies?) Today, it’s increasingly rare for even a partner to have a personal assistant. It’s the DIY era.

Overt sexism
Thankfully, overt sexism has gone the way of Joan’s girdle. Today, women aren’t let go when they get married or have a baby, and the majority of us are not called “Sweetie.” Now, women of all ages and family status make valuable contributions in almost every agency in every discipline, and some agencies have women in top leadership positions.

Advertising has made huge strides in improving gender equality, but, like every industry, it still needs to improve. For example, women are not equally represented in the top creative leadership roles or in judging panels at award shows. This equally applies to minorities.

What’s stayed the same?

Personalities
Advertising is still a competitive field that attracts some of the same personality types represented on the show. You’ll still meet Pete Campbells who will do just about anything to get ahead. We still have Joans who understand the system and masterfully work every angle as much as they can. We still have Peggys –– young, ambitions, smart women who defy traditional gender roles. And, as the grapevine can attest, we still hear whispers of illicit affairs. (Then again, what industry doesn’t?)

The fundamentals
I found a conversation with Berny Brownstein, Chairman and Chief Creative officer of the Brownstein Group, about what’s changed and what’s stayed the same since the Mad Men era.

At the most fundamental level, advertising hasn’t changed. Berny Brownstein said it best: “Our job is still to motivate people. We motivated through creativity, emotional copy and dramatic graphics. That is still prevalent today.” Hear the whole interview at:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=865288981842