In this week’s Advertising Age it was reported that Cold Stone Creamery had embarked on a venture to compete in the self-serve, you weigh it and pay frozen yogurt category. http://bit.ly/fjmmXR . You remember Cold Stone Creamery don’t you? They were a darling for a few years and then not so much. In 2009 Cold Stone Creamery did U.S. $ 429 million in sales, but those sales were flat year over year.

My wife and I live in a town in Connecticut that has a small ice cream store with a couple of small sit down tables. Back in 2000 we thought about opening a Cold Stone Creamery which at the time was a relative newcomer (we remember Steve’s Ice Cream from Massachusetts and then New York from the 1980’s with the concept of mix-ins). We ended up passing on the idea because we were concerned about how the store would perform in the dead of winter. Cold Stone Creamery is a one trick pony.

A recent story on franchising on CNBC http://www.cnbc.com/id/39911155 outlined how Cold Stone Creamery franchisees (who have to purchase EVERYTHING from a company set up by – Cold Stone Creamery, were having difficulty making money – even those that were near the top in gross sales. Cold Stone denied much of the story. But the move to enter the Frozen Yogurt bar area suggests that the management of Cold Stone Creamery is uncertain as to what to do next.

Cold Stone Creamery has a brand – a pretty good identity at that. Rich tasting, indulgent and expensive ice cream treats/confections. If you remember the young people that did the mixing would sing while they worked – supposedly for tips. Now they are moving away from that concept entirely yet under the same brand umbrella.

I for one do not get it. Also noted in the Ad Age story is that Cold Stone Creamery spends $ 3 million on average in measured media. And now they are offering a completely different concept so there is a need to inform the consumer that what the perception of Cold Stone Creamery has been has changed. The management of Cold Stone Creamery acknowledges that Americans have moved to serve-yourself yogurt bars. So they are reacting by joining in the newest rage.

To me Cold Stone Creamery does not have any idea what to do next and is reaching for a solution and will come up empty. The next thing you might see them do is float out an IPO.

It’s too bad. I thought they had something that could have been built upon.

How about you? Have you gone to Cold Stone Creamery recently? Ever? What do you think?

Just today in Ad Age http://bit.ly/dwcqW4, an article was written on Alex’s new career as a consumer advocate. It notes that he is starting much the way Ralph Nader did 50 years ago. And we all know how loved and admired Ralph Nader has been all these years. But just as it was with CPB this is all about Alex. And we’ve seen this movie before.

Did his agency do good work while Alex was as the helm? No doubt. Do the ends justify the means? I believe that can be argued. Can you even name anyone else on the creative side of the agency? Didn’t the people on the team contribute? Of course they did and I am betting in a big way. Why no credit for them? Why don’t we know anything about the others on the team?

Recently the Colorado office of Crispin Porter (sans Bogusky) has been reduced in staff and rumors are that it may close entirely and many remaining creative folks have high-tailed it back to Miami. I cannot imagine these people don’t feel personally violated, even if they learned important things from their not-so-fearless leader.

Our agency is expanding and adding some wildly talented and experienced folks so that we can become a better agency for our clients and better support each other. As someone that has been the founder and leader of the charge for the past nearly 15 years I am so ready to cede some control by bringing in a host of people who are smarter than me in so many ways. And that’s just part of my ‘new’ job.

What I’ve found and what makes me so excited is my new role in the organization – to facilitate everyone else’s success. In my view this will enable our team (Kristie, Nancy, Carrie, Michele, Shawn, Kristina, Greg, Nader, Jessica, Dona, Melanie, David, Dany, and Larry to mention them by name) to do our very best work on behalf of our clients AND have a really good time doing it.

Don’t think for a second that we are not desirous of being named ‘Agency of the Year’ 13 or more times in the trade press. I just don’t want to be a ‘slash and burn’ leader of a clearly dysfunctional team that only has the solace of awards and accolades but no recognition outside of the group leader. You see from my perspective it’s all about creating a healthy culture and environment in which to work.

Sorry Alex if perhaps I am misunderstanding what really happened but it does not look so good from my view.

How about you – what do you think?

My thoughts as I headed out to San Diego centered a testy proxy fight between a DMA board members and the DMA board itself. Many of our clients and my colleagues decided not to attend this year for various reasons, expense being the primary reason given. I think that those folks should regret their decision not to attend.

The DMA still has its feet firmly implanted in direct mail and old habits die hard. But the leadership of the DMA has recognized the move to new marketing channels and has made strides in making information and learning on new marketing channel a focus. The proxy fight was settled and I for one was happy with the points brought up and the resolution. The DMA is an organization that can well use some pot stirring. And the exhibit hall while a nice place to see old friends and associates but walking around the floor makes me feel like I am caught in my own ground-hog day moment. It’s not working and feels outdated.

We direct marketing folks like to cite the measurability of the direct marketing process. We are even a bit smug about it. For what reason I do not know as the rest of the advertising world has always considered direct marketers red-headed stepchildren as long as I have been involved. But I did hear a lot of honest talk (particularly at the DMA Global Leaders Forum held on Monday) questioning if direct marketers are measuring the right things when it comes to web analytics and e-commerce in general.

It’s fine to have all these cool tools but if the wrong things are being measured or the measurements are not indicative of what is really happening we are drinking our own Kool-Aid. I think it is great that these kinds of questions are asked and answered – or at least they are trying to be answered.

I read Ad Age, Adweek, DM News, and occasionally Brandweek, and more and more the stories are similar. All marketers and marketing agencies direct and otherwise are trying to do the same things for their clients –help acquire and retain more customers. The marketing world has been turned on its head in the past nearly two years. Lower marketing budgets, higher accountability and demand for better ROI have changed the landscape for ever more. I am more optimistic that the DMA is heading on the right path and can and will remain a relevant organization.