Exciting news today. As of April 1, 2011, The Hangline is now a subsidiary of Advertising Age. We’ve been in talks with them since January, and all the pieces have finally fallen into place. In fact, the ink isn’t even dry yet. Seriously, I have smudges on my hand. Apparently, they’re quite impressed with our writing style, niche and traffic (over 100,000 daily visits).
So what does this mean for our readers? First, more frequent posting. We’ll be hiring a staff of 5 writers to research and critique, and 18 photographers around the country to snap pics of the great billboards we see everyday. Second, you’ll be inundated with industry news such as the hirings and firings of Sales Managers, Account Executives and Bill Posters. That type of content alone will probably account for 13,000 new posts each week. We’ll also be adding in an entire “small town local staff” that consists of “women with the gift of gab” to fill us in on all of the “controversial” local advertising that’s getting everyone’s panties in a bunch.
Big things in the work for the future: An award show to rival OAAA’s OBIE Awards. We’re thinking about calling it the Bully Awards (short for bulletin), but that has yet to be nailed down. Also, an iPhone app (maybe Android if they’re lucky, but definitely not Blackberry) that will allow users to take pictures and automatically submit them to The Hangline. Through Google Goggles image-recognition technology, client and agency credits will automatically be included in your submission.
And finally, the thing you’re most concerned about. What’s going to happen to Todd and Chad? Well, with the massive buyout money, we’re going to do a couple of things. First, do something disgusting to our bosses’ offices. Second, quit our day jobs – an inevitable result of step 1. Follow us on Twitter to see pics of these events. I’m 99% sure Ad Age wouldn’t like us to publicly post what we’re about to do.
