Adam Hanft Explained

Adam Hanft is an American brand strategist who also writes and speaks on business and cultural trends for a variety of print, television and online media. His blog SpinSeason.com,[1] which analyzes politics in a cultural context, is a partner blog of Salon.com.[2] A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of New York University's College of Arts and Sciences, Hanft serves on the Board of Directors[3] of Scotts Miracle-Gro, the world's largest marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products.[4] He is also a strategic adviser to Conduit, Israel's largest Internet company,[5] LaunchBox digital, an early stage venture capital firm;[6] to Luminoso,[7] a text analytics firm that was incubated in the MIT Media Lab; and to Keas, a provider of wellness solutions using game mechanics.[8]

Obama for America[9] cited Hanft as an early "tech leader" who endorsed Obama in his 2008 run for office. He went on to be an unpaid digital adviser to the campaign. Hanft also advised the FCC on its "Future of Media" initiative.[10]

Strategy and brand consulting

Hanft founded Hanft Projects in 2010 as a strategic consultancy that develops marketing and communication solutions for consumer brands and business-to-business companies, as well as consulting and venture firms. The firm's clients have included McKinsey, Microsoft, Conduit, Barnes & Noble,[11] Match.com, Citysearch, Vinfolio, Aviary, borro, City Light Capital and Ribbit Capital.

Advertising career

Hanft is a copywriter[12] who started as a comedy writer, working for Garry Marshall.[13] Hanft has worked at Jack Tinker & Partners, and Wells Rich Greene (WRG), where he wrote the "Flick Your Bic" advertising campaign, named one of the 50 best campaigns of all time by Entertainment Weekly.[14] [15]

Hanft left WRG in 1980, and started Slater Hanft Martin, which eventually became Hanft Unlimited, Inc.[16] The New York Times described the firm as "A small advertising agency that is every large agency's nightmare."[17]

Hanft's clients have included Sony,[18] Procter & Gamble,[19] Match.com, and Chemistry.com, for which the firm won an Effie for marketing effectiveness in 2008.[20] He also created and orchestrated the $60MM 'It's Okay to Look' campaign for Match.com.[21]

Saddam Hussein

In 1992, Hanft's agency referenced Saddam Hussein in an advertisement for a client that delivered financial information. The advertisement was headlined "History has shown what happens when one source controls all the information." An Iraqi diplomat protested.[22]

Journalism and cultural criticism

Hanft writes on a variety of political and cultural subjects for media that include The Daily Beast,[23] Salon,[24] Huffington Post,[25] CNN,[26] Wired,[27] The Atlantic[28] and AOL News.[29] He has also been a frequent commentator on public radio's Marketplace,[30] and has appeared regularly on TV including The Daily Show.[31] For five years he wrote the back-page column "Grist" for Inc. magazine, where he served as a Contributing Editor and Marketer-in-Chief. [32]

Dictionary of the Future

Published in 2001 and co-written with Faith Popcorn, Dictionary of the Future is described a collection of words and terms that have not yet entered mainstream dictionaries.[33] Wired called the book a "memetic encyclopedia of what's to come, an engaging crash course in bleeding-edge ideas and debatable issues".[34]

Many of the concepts and predictions published in "Dictionary of the Future" went on to become culturally-relevant phenomena, including: free-range children; ego-surfing;[35] Internet sentiment research; infographic design; locouture (local fashion); crowd-sourced new products[36] combat drones; data fasts,[37] and "online learning experts" as a job of the future.

Notes and References

  1. http://www.spinseason.com Adam Hanft's SpinSeason
  2. http://www.salon.com/author/adam_hanft/index.html Adam Hanft - Salon.com
  3. http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/company-news-story.aspx?storyid=201001211823rttraderusequity_1834&title=scotts-miracle-gro-shareholders-elect-adam-hanft-to-board-effective-immediately---quick-facts Scotts Miracle-Gro Shareholders Elect Adam Hanft To Board, Effective Immediately - Quick Facts
  4. http://www.scotts.com Gardening & Lawn Care Advice for Enthusiasts - Scotts Miracle-Gro
  5. Web site: Conduit's Website. Conduit. 29 May 2013.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20121007113557/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=6891211&privcapId=1851432&previousCapId=322121&previousTitle=SCOTTS%20MIRACLE-GRO%20CO-CL%20A Adam Hanft: Executive Profile & Biography - BusinessWeek
  7. Web site: Meet the team . Luminoso . Luminoso . 30 May 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140627055050/http://www.luminoso.com/team.html . 27 June 2014 . dead . dmy-all .
  8. Web site: Meet Team Keas . Keas . dead . 30 May 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130530064656/http://keas.com/our-team/ . 30 May 2013 .
  9. Web site: TECH LEADERS ANNOUNCE SUPPORT FOR BARACK OBAMA. George Washington University Press Release. 15 Nov 2007.
  10. Web site: Kaplan. Andrew. Can News and Information Be Appealing as Virtual Goods?. FCC Reboot Website. FCC.gov. 29 May 2013.
  11. Web site: Contributors . Review Contributors . Barnes & Noble . dead . 30 May 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130603182211/http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/custom/page/page-id/contributor/user-id/134 . 3 June 2013 .
  12. http://smallbusiness.aol.com/2010/10/08/what-are-the-best-and-worst-company-logos/ What Are the Best and Worst Company Logos? - AOL Small Business
  13. http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Grin-Tonic/A-Doctor-s-Notes/ba-p/3216 A Doctor's Notes - The Barnes & Noble Review
  14. News: ADVERTISING; Slater, Hanft Gets Bic Pen Account . The New York Times . Philip H. . Dougherty . 21 December 1982.
  15. http://www.jiffynotes.com/a_study_guides/book_notes_add/emmc_0001_0001_0/emmc_0001_0001_0_00037.html Bic Corporation
  16. News: THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING -- ADDENDA; Several Agencies Make Structural Changes . The New York Times . Claudia H. . Deutsch . 26 March 2004.
  17. News: THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Small Shop Benefits From A Big Client . The New York Times . Randall . Rothenberg . 6 December 1989.
  18. News: THE MEDIA BUSINESS: Advertising; More Companies Assigning Projects to Outside Agencies . The New York Times . Kim . Foltz . 21 February 1991.
  19. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=53096 MediaPost Publications Match.com Retools Image In New Campaign 12/28/2006
  20. http://www.effiejournal.com/effieawards/2008ea/?pg=32#pg32 Effie Awards – 2008
  21. Web site: Match.com Repositions from 'Relationships' to 'Image' - MarketingVOX . 2010-12-06 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110927225954/http://www.marketingvox.com/matchcom-repositions-from-relationships-to-image-026243 . 2011-09-27 .
  22. News: THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Rising Caution on Using Celebrity Images . The New York Times . Eben . Shapiro . 4 November 1992.
  23. http://www.thedailybeast.com/author/adam-hanft/ Adam Hanft – The Daily Beast
  24. http://www.fastcompany.com/user/adam-hanft Member Profile Page | Fast Company
  25. News: Adam Hanft. Huffington Post . Adam . Hanft .
  26. News: Ten most memorable political ads . CNN . 3 November 2010.
  27. News: Hanft . Adam . The SXSW Aftermath: How Startups Can Truly Brand Themselves Post-Austin . Wired . 2 April 2013 . 30 May 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041415/http://insights.wired.com/profiles/blogs/the-sxsw-aftermath-how-startups-can-truly-brand-themselves-post?xg_source=msg_appr_blogpost#axzz2PJkf6J00 . 4 March 2016 . dead .
  28. Web site: Bio Page. The Atlantic. 29 May 2013.
  29. http://www.politicsdaily.com/bloggers/adam-hanft/ Adam Hanft – Politics Daily
  30. http://find.publicradio.org/search?site=mkp&proxystylesheet=mkp&client=mkp&output=xml_no_dtd&filter=p&sort=date%3AD%3AS%3Ad1&q=hanft Marketplace Search Results: hanft
  31. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-august-3-2005/house-of-ill-recruit House of Ill Recruit - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 8/3/2005 - Video Clip | Comedy Central
  32. https://archive.today/20060321041824/http://www.inc.com/resources/marketing/columns/hanft.html Adam Hanft – Marketing Strategy Article – Marketing Column
  33. http://www.americanwaymag.com/adam-hanft-hyperion-faith-popcorn-napa-valley-st-martins-press Adam Hanft hyperion | Faith Popcorn | Napa Valley | St. Martin's Press :: American Way Magazine
  34. Wired 10.01: Street Cred. Wired .
  35. Book: Dictionary of the Future. 0786866578. Popcorn. Faith. Hanft. Adam. 12 December 2001.
  36. Web site: Cornella . Alfons . Ke!625 - Diccionario del futuro: innovar palabras para proyectar futuro . https://archive.today/20130629124039/http://www.infonomia.com/articulo/ideas/7114 . dead . 29 June 2013 . 4 Oct 2002 . infonomia . 29 May 2013 .
  37. Web site: Faith Popcorn. bhgoo.com. 29 May 2013.

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