Anti-Advertising Agency Interview

Murketing has a great interview with Steve Lambert, CEO of Anti-Advertising Agency. AAA is on a mission to combat the growing pervasiveness of Urban Spam and has co-opted the tools and structures of advertising and PR industries to do it. Murketing caught up with AAA to find out a bit more about their goals, philosophies and even toss around the idea of collaborating with Christian Evangelicals.

Responding to which AAA project has had the most success, Steve had this to say:

I don’t really know for sure. Our goal is rather tough to measure — to cause the public to re-examine advertising and the role it plays in public space. But I think we reach that goal with anyone who spends more than a moment looking at our work. It’s some measure of success if they look at it at all. And if they do, how much do they take away? This is what I dwell on when I think of “success.”

The image I often have in my head is of the Trans-Theoretical (Stages of Change) model. I won’t go into it too much, but basically the idea is that everyone has to move through certain steps to change their behaviors — and you can’t skip steps. For example, you can’t adopt a new behavior without first being aware that there is an alternative to what you are currently doing. Once you are aware, you need information on how to change that behavior. Once you have the information, you need motivation to start. Those that have adopted the behavior need support in maintaining it. And on and on.

So part of the measure of success for me is not just how many people saw this, but did I move them along on a step? Did this piece really make a difference in this person’s life? Did it have a profound effect on their thinking? Did it change their perspective on the world? Will it change their behavior in the future?

Great read. Check out the rest of this hearty interview over at Murketing.

Murketing: Q&A: Anti-Advertising Agency CEO Steve Lambert