Main point: It helps create concepts you can sell.
I head a small creative team inside a larger ad shop in LA. We use the adcracker to brainstorm and concept campaigns. (I bought it myself about a year ago) It's pretty good for that. And honestly, we have never had any problems with the CDs or the customer service. The things I use the most are 1) the creative briefs … especially the advanced brief, it's brilliant. 2) the concept generator, which we use to start brainstorming sessions. Funky but effective. 3) Both the direct response and the branding sections have little multimedia “workshops” that help cover all the bases. We do a lot of digital direct on my team. But you need to express the brand when you do. For creatives it's a sweet tool. Linda the “Rizzie” Assoc Creative Director, Los Angeles
Pros:
Not a whole lot of cash for a lot of stuff you can use for a long time
I'll just say it lubricates the creative process
Cons:
Easy to forget to use it
It comes with an ad annual but no way to just buy the latest ad annual
Just want to say a good word for adcracker. I bought the CD set about a year ago, then 3 weeks ago one of the disks got chipped. I took a pic, sent it to adcracker, and they sent me a free replacement set, no questions asked. The product is better than i expected - so is the service!
Pros:
Lots of no-fluff content. Really helps me get ideas I can sell to clients. Overall
more than I expected ... and they were so nice to replace a disc I damaged
Pros: 1 - Lots and lots of excellent, current examples – TV, gorilla, ambient, print, digital, viral, social media. You can make really nice presentations, too. 2 - Lifts your thinking to the next level. Now when I sit down with a client I can talk about “strategic creative branding” etc … which impresses. Cons: some clients are stubborn or don't give a damn what you bring to the project. But in all you should be able to charge more and get bigger projects, depending on your clients. sorel mumford copy & design
We had the online version at Red River CC. Offers a complete approach to developing copy and visuals. The best “teaching” thing we had because it is “real world” Now I have a subscription to help my freelancing career. Good value for the coin
I ordered my first AdCracker Creative Director CD in january 2011. With the CD I received a free 1 year online account. 1 year later, that was this January, I wanted the latest version of everything and ordered another CD set.
As soon as I placed the order I got an email from AdCracker / Rita, who told me I already had the latest version of the CD and unless I was buying it for an employee, or as a gift, that I did not need the new one.
She offered to refund my money, which they did in full. And she comped me a free 1 year online account so I could see the new Ad Annual 12. They could have let the order go through, made $88 and and I'm not sure if i would have even noticed.
Wow!
I'm DD. My business is Copy that Clicks. And I am a part-time instructor at the Art Institute of Phoenix.
I use the AdCracker CD as a reference tool for teaching and in my professional work.
Pros:
Useful product
ethical customer service
Cons:
Could make it more clear when the new versions are released
We bought the AdCracker CD when it first came out. Since then, well it’s not the only way, but it has become the best way my creative teams get ad concepts, promo ideas, and even outside the box marketing ideas. Paul Von Kutter, Circular Systems, Worldwide.
We have the manager's cd set. That's the set with the 3 seminar presentations, the creative director and the ad annual.
We had some difficulties with one of the CDs on the Macs when we first got them – turns out we had to re-start the computer with the CD in the machine, but after that it was fine and runs without a hitch now.
The CDs have huge video files and they play better when copied to the hard drive esp on the older PCs.
If you manage an agency creative team, or marcom group like me, you're going to like this product.
The creative philosophy very much matches what you find at a major agency or in-house shop, such as Apple. It covers the entire development spectrum, from creative briefs to branding, from techniques to direct response.
Compared to other staff development activities it is VERY inexpensive.
I could go on, but I'll just say that for our in-house marcom group, we're glad we have it, and it earns it's pay. I give it an overall 5 because I don't think there is anything comparable.
It's good - not better than oxygen - but really very go
Creatives tend to get in the habit of approaching ads in the same way. In time, this can result in stale ideas. That's where AdCracker helps me – with fresh ways to get ideas. I've been buying the adcracker upgrades for 5 or 6 years. I'm on #3 now. When I first got this most recent CD set there was an issue on my new MacBook, but not any of my older Macs. Rita at AdCracker responded to my issue via email in a few hours. They FedExed a new CD set immediately, and offered a full refund. So my experience has always been positive. And the technical issue was easily solved. I'm a British creative director working in Germany at present. I use the adcracker creative briefs and the workshop / idea gen tools in every section. Can I give it a 4.5?
Pros:
Keeps your ideas fresh100s of contemporary examples
Just one tip, if you pitch a lot of work you can use the creative manager workshops – the handout / worksheets – to create complete campaigns. What we do, just start off with things like getting a consumer insight, writing a brief, then go to the brand or direct sections etc, skipping the things you don't need. We've had impressive results wih this.
Pros:
Great for training and creating campaigns. And well organized
Our AdCracker came on a customized Flash drive in a metalic box. Something of a pleasant surprise as it was not exactly what we were expecting. Got it on Tuesday and I used it to make a creative brief presentation to the account team on Thursday.
It's fast, easy to nav, and loaded with gigs of primetime examples of every kind of creative communication you can imagine. Downside it that one of the presentations was not as good as the others – it looked “older”. But have to give the whole package an A.
The staff are awful, not replying to emails, even when you're trying to pay!
I tried to order Creative Director CD but Tika didn't bother to reply to my emails when their payment system failed. My bank refused to accept their payment verification as they do not use a simple security mechanism banks here require.
I have emailed Tika and the rest of the team several times and get NO reply!
This is a worthless product. I had the worst buying experience of my life. The content is weak. The customer service at the customer is horrible. They play games with their guarantee offering a money back if you aren't happy. I am currently in dispute with my bank over the charge. Adcracker has accused me of lying and have taken cracks at my website. Really bad mojo. And to top it off the product sucks. Way overpriced for the content delivered. It's generally pretty basic marketing information. And if you want to do advertising that actually sells a lot of what they talk about is not relevant. It is relevant if you are a big corporation or ad agency. Not for entrepreneurs or small businesses. I have never had a worse buying experience. They were real nice until I gave the tiniest bit of negative feedback about their product. Then they told me I wasn't qualified to judge their precious product. Steve McNamara is a joke. Ken Hoffman, Madison, WI Order # H021311
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Review came from Netherlands.
Review came from Germany.
Review came from United Kingdom.
Posted by Nicolette (8 years ago) 
Review came from South Africa.
