Right now the “Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity,” which is of course a big cushy self-congratulatory bash for advertisers, is in full swing. And so Tumblr founder/apparent Mad Men devotee David Karp is in town, wooing potential clients.
He took the time to toot Tumblr’s own horn and trash its rivals. The Guardian reports that in a seminar, he condemned follower counts (you listening, Twitter?), which he finds just so déclassé:
“We don’t share stats, so your follower counts, your performance isn’t published to the world. You can make little bets and try something small and experimental and not feel any sense of shame if you have only 2,000 followers that sort of thing, which I always think is really gross.”
He’s also laying it on thick for advertisers: “You guys are more talented than any one in the Tumblr office or in Palo Alto or Sunnyvale,” he told the crowd during his time on the main stage. “We’re constantly in awe, constantly in service.” No doubt the hard-working employees back at the home office appreciated that one!
Tumblr’s doing more than deploy La Karp to impress advertisers, though. The New York Post says the company is sponsoring late-night shenanigans at the Gutter Bar (exhibit A) and “ferrying ad executives by helicopter to St. Tropez for meetings.” Head of sales Lee Brown is there (and posting selfies with Jack Black). Must be nice having a corporate sugar mama.
Don’t worry, though, because Mr. Karp carved out a little time for fun during his charm junket.
He told the Post that while his friends have been going to Gutter Bar, “I have mostly been waving from across the road, sitting under a palm tree.” Nevertheless, he was spotted “surrounded by women as he downed bottles of Dom Perignon Lumiere at jet set club Gotha, where Diddy spun records and performed until 4 a.m.”
Don’t spend it all in one place, David.