And now let's talk about me

Bon Jovi and Tony Danza didn't make it into most Advertising Week speeches, which could be one reason they were, for the most part, dry and uninspiring affairs. Samsung marketing chief Peter Weedfald, however, broke the mold earlier this week at the OMMA Conference during Advertising Week. Unruffled by eMarketer CEO Geoff Ramsey consistently mistaking his name, Weedfald came with his own video introduction set to The Who’s “Teenage Wasteland,” showing Samsung products and charitable endeavors, interspersed with video of Weedfald. The keynote speech ran 15 minutes over its allotted time, and was a tour de force of high-level vocab —“sinecure” and “promulgation” got a couple of mentions—and interesting takes on Samsung’s Web strategy. One statement that raised more than a few eyebrows—including those of Google vp of sales Tim Armstrong—was the revelation that Samsung does not buy any search advertising. (Armstrong later slipped Weedfald a business card after they appeared jointly on a panel.) Then, the video came back out, a four-minute affair set to Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life,” (OK, the company has done work with the band) with more cameos by Weedfald, including a shot of him appearing with an oversized check for charity on The Tony Danza Show. (The shot pictured here is from another delivery of an oversized check—he's the guy in the middle of the back row.)

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

September 30, 2005 in Morrissey | Permalink