Hoopla [Hardcover]

Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Author), Warren Berger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2006

They’ve been called “visionary” by both Newsweek and Time, hailed as “the ad world’s most talked-about agency” by USA Today, and dubbed “the next big thing” by Business 2.0. They launched the Mini car craze in America, took on Big Tobacco in the controversial Truth campaign, sexed up Virgin Airlines, and made Burger King sizzle once again. And they did it with bold publicity stunts, infectious viral marketing strategies, funny masks, folding paper, outrageous Internet hoaxes, and a weird, garter belt–wearing chicken who became a cultural sensation. And this random madness has a very sound method to it: Hoopla.

In Hoopla, the secret inner workings of this freewheeling, break-the-mold idea factory are revealed for the first time. Veteran journalist Warren Berger, who has tracked and reported on the CP+B phenomenon over the past decade, fully examines and deconstructs the methods that lie behind the agency’s seeming madness, while the striking images throughout the book (captioned by the CP+B creative team) provide insights into the logic, intuition, mischief, and passion that leads to the creation of Hoopla. The result is a fascinating journey into a realm of unbridled creativity.

See the madness. Read the method. Hoopla.

Hoopla also includes practical, step-by-step advice on how to find and promote big ideas (even on a shoestring budget), and how to generate excitement and hype in today’s cluttered, noisy communications landscape. If you’re a marketer, a communicator of any type, or anyone who needs to get out a message and generate some buzz, Hoopla will change the way you think about the art of communication.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

In the last five years, a small Miami advertising agency called Crispin Porter + Bogusky progressed from relative obscurity to being hailed as the top creative agency in the U.S., and arguably the world. The work of CP+B has consistently redefined advertising and changed an entire industry’s definition of the term “media.” CP+B uses a media-agnostic approach, producing work that is challenging, irreverent, hilarious, shocking, and always compelling—so much so that it often feels more like great entertainment than advertising. CP+B’s clients have included the anti-tobacco organization Truth, MINI Cooper/US, AND1, Burger King, Molson USA, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Google, IKEA, EarthLink, GAP Men’s, and MAXIM. In 2003, in an unprecedented sweep of the foremost awards in the world, CP+B took Grand Prix at Cannes, an O’Toole Award for Overall Creative Excellence from the American Association of Advertising Agencies, as well as the grand prizes at the CLIOS, EFFIES, Kelly’s, OBIES, APG awards, and the One Show. The agency and its work have been profiled in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Fast Company, Time, Newsweek, Advertising Age, Creativity, and Archive. In 2005, CP+B was named Agency of the Year by both Advertising Age and Creativity.

Warren Berger has written about advertising for the past 15 years, as a contributor to Advertising Age, ADWEEK, Communication Arts, Graphis, and other industry publications (he first began writing about Crispin Porter + Bogusky in the early 1990s for Ad Age’s Creativity and CA). His writing about advertising and media has also appeared regularly in mainstream consumer publications such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Wired, Reader’s Digest, and Business 2.0. He is the author of the acclaimed book Advertising Today (Phaidon, 2001) and co-author, with Lee Clow and Jean-Marie Dru, of Disruption Stories (TBWA, 2005). He is the founder and current editor of the quarterly magazine One, published by the One Club for Art & Copy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: powerHouse Books (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576873129
• ISBN-13: 978-1576873120
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 1.2 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For full info on me check out http://www.warrenberger.com and my ezine http://GlimmerSite.com.

I'm a longtime journalist (The New York Times Magazine, Wired, GQ, Reader's Digest) and book author who has written about a variety of subjects over the years--creativity and innovation being particular favorites.

A few years ago, I set out to find a good answer to the fundamental question: "What is design?" Design is a fascinating subject in that everybody's interested in it, but very few have a clear understanding of what it is and how it works. The goal of my book, GLIMMER (retitled "CAD Monkeys, Dinosaur Babies, and T-Shaped People" in the U.S. Penguin paperback), is to take the best thinking and principles of the world's top designers--and make those ideas accessible to everyone and applicable to any challenge, personal or professional.

I discovered that the more you learn about design, the more you begin to see that it is relevant to, and has an impact on, just about every facet of our world and our lives. It's been a fascinating journey.

I'm currently working on a new book on creativity, as well as several other co-authoring projects. My previous books are Advertising Today, Hoopla, Nextville (co-authored with Barbara Corcoran), and No Opportunity Wasted (co-authored with Phil Keoghan), which appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. I'm also the founding editor of ONE, an international magazine focusing on advertising and design.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good book by some of the most creative people in America today, April 18, 2007

By 

Dave Lakhani (Boise, ID United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hoopla (Hardcover)

First a little criticism, I have to agree with others about the cover of the book, it is made from sandpaper which I find very cool, but the problem is that it gets white scratch marks all over it right away and it is abrasive if you set it on your wooden table for example.

That said, the cover and the layout are some of the most endearing qualities of the book. They give you an inside look at the minds and ideas of Crispin Porter. They also give you many ideas.

The book is not a fast read, it requires that you digest it to get the full value of what is there. This is not a traditional advertising book that is going to give you five steps to anything, it is something quite different.

This book will set your mind ablaze with new ideas and wonderful thoughts. I love they way they shun political correctness.

I also truly enjoyed reading the thinking behind some of the campaigns and seeing others that I had no idea belonged to them.

This book belongs in every serious creative's library, as well as the libraries of admen, adwomen, serious entrepreneurs, and marketers large and small.

Take some time with this book, you'll need it.

You'll also profit greatly from it.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Crispin, Porter, and Bogusky's Hoopla leaves room for improvement, July 8, 2007

By 

Pseudoreid (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hoopla (Hardcover)

A well intentioned book meant to profile one of America's leading advertising agencies ends up leading the reader on a confused journey lacking clarity, consistency, and organization. What could have been a prolific view into the creative process behind some of the most successful advertising campaigns eventually leaves the reader scratching their head wondering what the hell the point of the book was. Although the book graces some of the insights and strategies that were leveraged to develop the creative idea, most of the narrative hinges on a self indulgent and narcissistic viewpoint of how great CP&B thinks they are.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hooplariffic!, September 27, 2007

By 

Rich Gould (Moncton, NB Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hoopla (Hardcover)

This book is awesome and depressing at the same time... As I read page after page of the ground breaking creative ideas that have come out of that shop, I am continously reminded of my insignificance in the ad world. Nevertheless, this is still a cool book and a great read, full of inspiration and motivation. And... it's sandpaper cover has really come in handy removing some of the unsightly rust spots from my VW.