a comfortable calm

Just a week in the Oval office, and Obama's feeling at home - a changing one, that is.



I love the example he sets. If someone asked me right now, who's a person in history with whom you want to have a conversation? I would say Barack Obama. Damn.

Hal Curtis: Creative Director

"Brand Heroism: Advertising As a Force For Good" was the topic of the evening. Beforehand, I made some notes about what immediately came to mind with the topic: Planning For Good, Likemind, Do the Green Thing, (RED), Egg. The nights' introduction talked about how ethical issues can be interwoven through the creative (and strategic) work. For most of advertising's career, this "good" work has been pro-bono, but a new era is emerging where this work is done first-hand with intention and (financial) pay-off. It's kind of like Google doing everything it does for "free" > providing a service beyond rational benefits, but inherently being a good brand that we trust, love, and are loyal too in return.

Google is deeply, radically purposive: they won't compromise much, if anything, to achieve the goal of changing the world for the better. - writes Umair Haque of the Havas Media Lab (check out more of his writing)

Anyway, Hal Curtis, who has worked on Nike and Coca-Cola at Wieden & Kennedy since 1997, took "heroism" in a different direction. He got me to think outside-the-box. He made me fall in love with advertising (again).

The spot below was not done by WK, instead, Curtis showed it after a spot they'd done for CareerBuilder.com. He compared the spots and said we should strive to do more work like the one below. Check out the incredible spot:



It's this sort of healthy-advertising that Curtis says, we should have out there. In this sense, advertising is heroic > it lifts us up, it makes us feel, it transforms an ordinary day into an extraordinary experience. Not only does this level of work do a great job of inserting itself into the minds of customers, but it does a great job of inspiring better work from the industry it comes from.

Do good work. Strive to make it great.

What Not to Wear

I'm giving a plug for my friend Addie who will be traveling to New York this weekend to continue filming WNTW.
She has a great perspective on how image can/should be communicated and cared about. As a copywriter at The Statesman, her colleagues are supporting her transition.

'Tis true that everyone enjoys their own 15 minutes of fame here in America. Happy Friday.

change the way you see celebrity

In a period where the latest news with Britney Spears and her child custody problems is aired alongside the morning traffic report, Iconoclasts presents a nice alternative context for celebrities.

• Join twelve of the world's leading visionaries as they share surprising revelations and insights into their creative process and unyielding quest for excellence. Take a journey inside the lives of these remarkable individuals through the eyes of their fellow iconoclasts and forever change the way you see celebrity.

This relatively new series (in its 3rd season) from the Sundance Channel is garnering wonderful brand affiliation too: I was reminded of the series while flipping through Wired Magazine. And Grey Goose Entertainment (yes, the Vodka brand) is behind the show in the spirit of artistry and innovation. It will be a neat counterpoint to Star, Ok, Life&Style, InTouch, UsWeekly that compete for the majority of our attentions while in the checkout line.

Some celebrity pairings that have been celebrated are: Howard Schultz (Starbucks) & Norman Lear (All in the Family); Mike Myers (Austin Powers) & Deepak Chopra (mind-body specialist); Robert Redford & Paul Newman; Sean Penn & Jon Krakauer; etc.

The show will remind us that celebrities are people too; some extraordinary people with visions and goals, who have fallen into an extremely commercial and often times soulless industry. Good people are all around; Sundance is showcasing them and bringing them into our homes. Cool.

talking with a screenwriter...

about telling a [brand] story. Michael Hauge is super great and took time out of his busy L.A. life to tell me the art of a good story.

• A story has three elements: a character (Hero); desire; and conflict. "You have someone who wants something and have to overcome certain obstacles."
  
• A good story creates empathy with the Hero so then we (the audience) are experiencing the same emotion because it's happening to us. "You become the character."
• There are five key ways to be relevant with an emotional/psychological connection.
  

1. sympathy
   
2. jeopardy
   
3. humor
   
4. power
   
5. likability
   

Michael said they talk about ads all the time in their business; "they're like little movies. But, ads are different from a movie because the way to your goal is always through the use of the product." ok ok.

• In every Nike ad, there is a character we identify with. The ad positions the product as helping the character achieve their goal. In this case, the product is Hero.
• We identify with the goals of the character in the ad, and if we want to be like them, we need that product.

Ads offer empathy (this is where knowledge of the human condition comes in); they need to be relevant to the consumers' condition. This is where strategy and planning come in. It's all about knowing what's really going on with your audience so you can make a product pitch that they're likely to pick up on by making it relevant. So go find your emotion and then start telling a story.

harnessing your chi

this post is inspired by Scott Goodson's Feng Shui Marketing. this would be considered a strand maybe...off of that information. would the techys out there concur?

he emphasizes the essential balance between marketing elements so that energy flow is accentuated. This flow affects consumers and ultimately, he says, to engage in a full dialogue, consumers need to be rewarded with this energy.

i would like to add on to that with the notion of chi. Shoot, just checked wikipedia and i've been mis-spelling 'chi'. it's Qi for cryin out loud. :P Qi is a good term to use when describing how elements come together to produce a positive outcome. In a marketing/advertising sense it means that all the elements should work together > harmonize them.

1st - it's good to know what elements you need in the mix, just throwing random stuff in isn't going to help you organize how they should all interact. Focus.
2nd - prioritize. i think this is where media planning might come in...if a message needs more emphasis or play then make sure it's in the right medium.
3rd - think about the outcome; the feel; the big picture. what should the result of our efforts be? align the elements.

maybe this sounds hokey pokey (and it does, a little bit) but as i'm typing it, my chaotic brain is already feeling more relaxed about putting ideas into action. and isn't that what PLANNING is all about? oh yeah, and a little classical music now and then doesn't hurt. :)
for some more in-depth help harnessing your qi > whatever it be: more energy, desire to be happy, time management, etc > check out Steve Pavlina's blog and website. For a warm-up, ponder what he has to say about productivity:

• The sad truth is that most people are so incredibly bad at managing their time that rock-bottom personal productivity is simply accepted as normal. (so is half-ass, bad advertising) So anyone who can consistently invest 80% of their time each day in intelligent, productive activities is going to look like an overachiever by comparison. The average college student in particular is probably operating at only 20-30% of their capacity.

thinking different

"i wasn't pushing you away, i was pulling me toward myself."




i stole the quote above from someone's myspace page. i like it. the problem with it though (dar, problems) is that even though the person speaking says she isn't trying to offend the other involved character, that's what they took from it. the lesson here is to think different but make your thought process accessible to others. make your thought process juicy and engaging and interesting...so that others want to get involved. that sounds fun...doesn't it?

now, searching for a job, i'm looking for the right fit, not looking for a job, but looking for a situation.

David Terry with BBH said "planners should be a little off." Quirky is ok, but what (i think) he means is 'think different.' I wonder what Apple meant by this tag...

*picture from Jennifer Coates: 'master of the incidental moment' (pretty neato, says me.)

congratulations fellow planners

High fives go out to:

David - took a planner position with Publicis-West, working with Steve Le Neveu. Awesome!

Julie - took a position as a strategist with Another Anomaly in NYC. This is a branch agency from Anomaly, which is doing bomb creative, experiential stuff with brands like Coke, Enviga, and soontobe Virgin America.

Elisabeth - accepted a position (several weeks ago) with Interbrand in their verbal identity department; an interesting take on what branding's role is when it comes to changing names and product features, packages, etc.

Go team!

Miranda July

love her! she just came out with a book and check out her f'n cool website. It sparks curiosity and engages the user in a completely innovative way.

if you recognize her name, maybe you remember "Me and You and Everyone we know" that came out in 2005. Brilliant movie! and if you don't remember the movie, maybe you remember the symbol is made famous: >>--<< "back and forth forever" i was reminded of this funny movie moment by a security-protected wireless connection today in Portland that went by the same name.

miranda july is a new type of artist. i welcome her talents and am in aw of her originality.

Miami Ad School

The Account Planning Bootcamp was fast-paced. We had a project each week for which we had to incorporate each week's learnings to come up with an awesome creative solution to a business problem. Each teacher emphasized a different aspect of planning in order to give us a holistic understanding of what we need to do.

Jen Urich - pay attention to a mindset/lifestyle
Jamie Webb - be innovative with your creative solutions
Kerry Stranman - you've got to be a people's person
James Fox -put your strategy in context for a new business pitch
Marta LaRock - dig deep, listen and ask good questions to find your Gold Nuggest insight
Domenico Vitale - think about the experience of a brand; how will it change behavior?
Eric Bruno - you need to have a toolbag to tap into your creative-side
Christopher Owens - Play with the creatives; get excited about the process


THANK YOU!!!!!

Fred Fannon

• show new inventive ways to do things: Be innovative
• study as much as you can: Learn
• there is a huge emotional part of this business: Tap into them
• always acknowledge other people's opinions: share ideas