The bartender looks up and says, "Hey, we don't serve your kind in here." The agency, obviously insulted, responds, "What's the big idea?" Indignant, the bartender replies, "I guess we'll never know." How is it possible for an agency, owned by a corporation, to remain an independent agency?

Had a great lunch meeting yesterday with one of my favorite young entrepreneurs (no names please), that ended with a brief debate: What's the projected lifespan of Facebook, five years or 50? I love these kinds of discussions. They are right up there with "What is Robert De Niro's best movie" or "Will Peyton Manning be starting for the Denver Broncos next season"?

After 10+ years of passively accepting amazingly sub-par services from Wide Open West (WOW!) I finally decided enough was enough. After all, I am paying the absolute maximum a customer can pay for the absolute minimum amount – and quality – of service.

Without question, "Dieselgate" is a dramatic and traumatic event. Lots of vehicle owners are feeling pretty screwed right now. Lots of employees are feeling pretty embarrassed. Lots of investors are feeling a sense of abandonment. To say it is all unfortunate is a bit of an understatement.

As a follow-up to Jennifer's recent post, I wanted to share my personal experience of traveling to Corsica and spending two amazing weeks on a tiny island floating on a beautiful blue sea centered on a rock hurdling through space (Crystal's preferred description).

It happens every day. Ad agency reviews, media agency reviews, PR agency reviews… On any given day, a billion dollars in business can go up for grabs. Companies want to cut costs, see fresh creative, hire new CMOs or fall out of love with their agency; the reasons are plentiful.

This is some crazy branding game Greg Creed is playing with the KFC chicken brand. In essence, he is telling the world he doesn't care if you love us or hate us, just so long as you pay attention to us.

In one form or fashion, I have been a customer of KeyBank for at least 30 years (probably closer to 40, but who wants to admit that?), dating back to a warm and fuzzy institution known as Cleveland Trust. And while that relationship started out as a very personal and enjoyable association, the past 25 years have been cold, heartless and less than enjoyable.

I had a fleeting conversation yesterday with one of my favorite colleagues (and ex-employees) who is a skillful young media planner and buyer with a fairly big agency serving a lot of very nice clients. Out of curiosity I asked her what she found to be driving most of the client campaigns in her agency these days – the creative or the media.