ideasaurus.

What's next?

2011-04-08T18:46:00.002-04:00

Trends are so elusive. "But what's next?" I always wonder.

Here are some of the more popular trends I've noticed over the past year, re-imagined with my own obscure filters.
Instead of dream catchers, intended to protect children from nightmares, allowing only good dreams to pass through, how about God's Eyes symbolic of the power of seeing and understanding mystery, or rather that which is unkown and unknowable?

Instead of beautiful forest creatures like owls, deers, rabbits and squirrels, how about the aliens of the deep sea where there's still so many creatures to be understood and discovered yet?

Instead of soft, earthy gems and stones made by mother nature, how about man made spikes, studs and metal rivets?

Instead of whimsical faded sweet florals that feel vintage and romance you, how hard lined geometric vibrant patterns that pop and spin you dizzy?

Instead of crumbly, French, pastel macaroons that place you in foreign cafes, how about odd, wiggly, neon jello molds that remind you of grandma's house?

Instead of patterns and images inspired by stars, supernovas, and the galaxy, what about patterns and images born out of the world wide web? It's our more relevant, more personal, more everyday universe and of our present day lives after all.

Jusssst thinking...

The New Normal (circa 2010)

2010-11-29T13:36:00.003-05:00

This video has been floating around my office and the twitter and blogosphere now for a few weeks. It's one of the most beautifully done/packaged research bits I've seen. Informative and easy to watch.

We All Want to Be Young from box1824 on Vimeo.

Here are the points I found most interesting and why:

1. Gen X was the boss of their bedroom. This wasn't a huge point in the video and you could have missed it easily. But just this past weekend as I was visiting my parents for Turkey Day, I read an article in my hometown newspaper, The Richmond Times Dispatch from The Wall Street Journal titled, "Who's the Boss? Sorry, Kids. It Isn't You." by Jeff D. Opdyke. It was about the power today's tweens have.... more and more they are empowered key decision makers among their family. Perhaps then, if Gen X was the boss of their own bedroom, Gen Y is now the boss of the entire house. An interesting shift. This car commercial for the 2011 Highlander really gets at the driving the new TWEEN decision making paradigm. "Just because you're a parent, doesn't mean you have to be lame."

2. Gen Y is more hyperbolic. It's never been easier to fit in but it's certainly never been harder to stand out. It's an interesting balance that continues to be difficult for teens/tweens to deal with. But is this true? Or is it that there have always been hyperbolic tweens/teens and now, more than ever, they are getting our attention through various forms of media... Is it a certain type of kid that seeks out the attention of media and thus has that innate capacity for hyperbole and "acting."

3. Gen X was more competitive. The web has arguably taught us the importance of and power in collaboration. I think the West Coast Jerkin' movement proved that Gen Y really understands the concept of collaboration.

4. Being normal has become boring. I guess they will all become advertisers huh? Kiiidddding. I'm not exactly sure what normal ever really meant but I guess in many ways it meant being conventional (however that was prescribed by your geographic region or high school cliques). It is interesting and fascinating that Gen Y is exposed to more ideas, more people, more concepts, more cultures, etc. etc. And as a result, as the video said, their identities transcend where they are from and it's now cool to know and be various things at the same time. That isn't just Gen Y though. Technically I am Gen Y and that certainly wasn't the case when I was in high school. Also, this concept makes me wonder what does that mean for tribes. While out of vogue, are they dead forevermore? They say things are cyclical. Is this another instance of that? Or do they still exist in certain capacities? Still thinking through this one through...

5. Gen Y is uniting work and pleasure. This is so true. We did a Brooklyn field trip at work and people are seriously making things. With platforms like etsy and the web at large, it's never been easier to combine work and pleasure. Levi's and Jeep got it right in their recent campaigns (we are all workers and the things we make, make us). PBS has a special I accidentally watched one night called Roadtrip Nation that calls itself a movement designed to inspire teens/tweens to "define your own road in life." Here is a video about it but the point is, you see this spirit everywhere right now. I think Gen Y grew up being told they could do anything and be anything if they worked hard and put their mind to it. Only seems natural that they would want and seek to blur the line between pleasure and play.

The Power of Social Media

2010-11-10T09:59:00.004-05:00

People have opinions and they aren't afraid to share them. This Lebron Nike spot and consumer generated response is the perfect example of the power of social media... Note the consumer generated piece has garnered about as many impressions as the original spot. I think this is a good thing for Nike and Lebron. They've started a dialogue, which can be hard to do although the situation makes it a modern day drama and let's be honest - people love and are attracted to drama (it's why reality shows do so well of course). In this case, Nike has instigated a conversation and now I'm wondering how Lebron/Nike will keep the conversation rolling... or if they even will. Can't wait to see what comes next. Better than a soap opera I say.

The original:

The consumer generated response:

Food is the Center of Culture

2010-11-04T15:15:00.004-04:00

I once wrote that in one of my notebooks.

Americans are currently engaged in a Food Revolution. We think about the sourcing, the ingredients, the environmental impact, the health impact. We are curious. We are tired of our frozen dinner, lunches and on the go everything. We want to learn about foods and food systems, we want to oogle at beautiful food displays and preparations and we want to be the artists of our plates at home. Chefs are the new celebrities. Urban farmers are the new trend masters.

It's fun to see it happening all at once. I think we're at the tipping point. Sierra Mist is even changing it's formula to be more, natural, more real, more like food.

Barney's is in on the trend too. It's such a diversion for high fashion to talk about food. Their holiday campaign is called, "Have a Foodies Holiday." YUM! This NYTimes article explains it all but I love this explanation of the concept by Barney's Creative Director:

“I’m interested in the dissonance between fashion and food. Whenever we do an event, the fashion people say, ‘No food please. Let’s just serve vodka.’ But our customers are much more interested in Bobby Flay and Keith McNally than in Lindsay Lohan or the Kardashians. Chefs are definitely the new celebrities.”

Wild Trend Alert

2010-11-04T13:51:00.009-04:00

There's a new mini-documentary that's been released online called Influencers. It's all about trend setters. People who express themselves in ways that others want to listen to, react to and engage in. As one of the interviewees put it influencers emerge from places where people assemble based on passion.

Here's trend that takes the Pioneers concept that Levi's is touting to the extreme: RE-WILDING.

Here's a write up about it (more can be found at Green Anarchy)

Rewilding and reconnecting with the earth is a life project. It is not limited to intellectual comprehension or the practice of primitive skills, but instead, it is a deep understanding of the pervasive ways in which we are domesticated, fractured, and dislocated from our selves, each other, and the world, and the enormous and daily undertaking to be whole again. ... Rewilding is the process of becoming uncivilized.

Supposedly Re-Wilding communities are popping up all over like this one called Wildroots in NC.

The photographs are bye Lucas Foglia and I found them through the blog Animal.

I think it's an interesting concept that reflects the desire that we all sometimes feel to get away from the hub bub and hectic lifestyle. To unplug from it all and escape. A pro-active choice to live a simple kind of life. Perhaps not too far from the urban gardening trend. These groups just took that desire and multiplied it by 1000.

What I find amusing is that they use the Internet and other modern technology to promote themselves. Ohhhh the irony.

Fascinating non-the-less. And even more importantly, a very raw glimpse at an innate human need, a very real, even if suppressed desire to get back to nature to rediscover simplicity. Something that society at large is aching for, even if only now and again, in our ever advanced, complex world today.

We should all be digital planners

2010-10-26T15:53:00.005-04:00

I think it's silly that planning is broken into so many specialities. Connections planning. Channel planning. Account planning. Media planning. Brand planning. Strategic planning. Cultural planning. Digital planning. And the newest kid on the block - Propagation planning.

What is with the titles? Can't planning just be... planning?

Call me crazy but last time I checked our job was to find the right problems to solve and then solve them. Any and all of them. We should be ideas people. Smart on consumers - their behavior and their opinions. We should be students of what they want - able and eager to decipher what they say they want and what they really want.

I don't want to be a dinosaur (although I do want to be an ideasaur). I don't want to think only about the relevant TV and print message. I want to study people and the way they think and behave in their entirety. And then I want to help come up with ideas to help clients sell stuff to them. Help ideas spread to them. Help them spread ideas. Help messages reach them. Help better their lives. Help them impress their friends. In short help cool ideas make it to as many people as possible while still affecting the bottom line be it a corporate entity or a non-profit. I want to be about ideas. And I don't want my ideas and my contribution to be limited by my title. The end. Is that so much to ask for?

I think we need to stop segmenting planning, stop focusing on titles and stop trying to come up with the latest and greatest discipline within our discipline. Instead, we should use all that brain power to come up with the simple things that we should ALL, as whatever planner, be good at anyways, regardless of what media is involved... and that is, finding the right problems to solve and then helping figure out how to solve them.

Sorry to any digital, connections, engagement, etc. planner if I've offended you in any way.

I think technology is to blame for all of this. It's undeniable importance is what keeps spawning all of these new, emerging types of planning. The secret is, the digital world is SO integrated into consumers lives. We should all be digital planners if we are planners at all. We should know how our consumers behave in this space and be comfortable with what's going on. As the sweet spot of marketing grows older, our main consumers will soon be digital natives anyways. We should all be ready.

The info-graphic to your right is what lit a fire in my belly to finally write this post I've been contemplating for some time...

the ad that spoke to ME

2010-10-19T17:41:00.003-04:00

I was walking around Union Square the other day. As I skipped by the Puma store (jk, grown women don't skip... or do they?), I saw the window ad version of this:
This is what went through my mind: "Humans against hibernation? How do they know I hibernate in the winter? How do they know me? Did someone from ad land hear me talking on the train last winter about hibernating? There are more like me out there in the world? Are they talking to me? Do their coats generate thermal heat? Is it a new technology? O M G!"

What a great insight to leverage. I hate how lethargic I feel in the winter. I hate that I don't want to leave the house and 85% of the conversations I have are about a) how cold I am at that moment, b) how cold it will be in the next few days, or c) how much I can't wait for it to not be cold again (re: when will spring get here already? is it summer yet?)... The only thing is, for those of us from the South who are phobic of the cold, Puma taps into a very real (and emotional) insight and gets our attention but leaves us wondering... do their products deliver a function of superior protection from the innate and compelling desire to hibernate?

Setting aside the answer for now, I love that they use the word hibernate. It's the fun, actual, real way people acknowledge their laziness and hate of cold weather.

It's super smart... but along with trying to sell me winter jackets, I wish they would extend their offer to include trips to the Caribbean! People who seek a warm, resort get-away is a definitely a human against hibernation!

Meat Dress Makes History

2010-10-13T10:40:00.007-04:00

It's not that I'm late on this, it's just that I think I just realized its significance...

I was on the train last night and I heard two fashion students talking about THE meat dress worn by Gaga. I remember the flurry of headlines when it first happened and these students were talking about some assignment that revolved around the concept and the meaning of the meat dress.

The one guy kept saying, "This assignment is so stupid." But the girl he was with exclaimed in frustration, "DON'T YOU GET IT, THIS IS HISTORY! H-I-S-T-O-R-Y!"

I thought back to the Met exhibit, "American Women: Fashioning A National Identity" and realized that 10 years from now, the meat dress might just make its way into the exhibit.

It was such an outrageously shocking outfit that made headlines for being SO controversial (PETA protests), making such a statement, and having many supposed meanings ("red dress" on the red carpet, gay rights military political statement, prime rib of America = equality, etc.).

For so long celebrities have worn t-shirts to make statements. This took it to a whole new level. I wonder if the message she was advertising with the meat dress made the impact it was intended to...

Bubbly

2010-10-13T10:06:00.004-04:00

I love taking bubble baths. They are relaxing, they help me fall asleep, they allow me time to think, gather my thoughts and just unwiiiiinnnnndddd.

I just moved into a place with a "soaking" tub (re: ginormous tub). For the first time since moving to NYC I went to purchase bubble bath. Not just any bubble bath. Organic, natural bubble bath.

But there is no such thing for adults. Organic, natural bubble bath lives in kiddy-land.

It's hard to believe and I know you might think I'm exaggerating. I'm not. I consider myself a master at "the Google." But I've Googled the hell out of organic, natural bubble bath and my final purchase was for 100% pure Strawberry Ice Cream Bubble Bath.

I see a hole in the market that I want to fill. Get ready for my Organic, all natural bath product line. It's already in the making. Ingredients have been ordered. Brand names have been considered!

Advertising that works...

2010-09-16T10:03:00.007-04:00

Recently I've been thinking a lot about the advertising that really works for me... and not advertising that I like b/c it is creative, but advertising that drives me to actually look something up on the Internet or purchase one product over another. Here are a couple of examples from when I "caught" myself:

1. Standing in the tea aisle, trying to purchase my 16th box of tea (that I probably won't remember to make b/c I will inevitably put it on the high shelf in my kitchen). I couldn't figure out which pack of tea to purchase. That pack looks pretty, that pack says all natural... what to buy, what to buy... and on and on. I ended up going with the one that was pretty in packaging (obviously) but also said "CERTIFIED ORGANIC" (even though it wasn't my usual brand). I realized that those little labels really work. They act as a standard of quality and help consumers wade through the millions of choices staring back at us on the shelves. It makes the exasperatingly long (and frustrating) selection process a wee bit easier.
2. I was walking down 10th Ave and passed a bus stop with an ad for Piperlime. I am a frequent visitor of online shops like ShopBop, GiltGroupe, ShopStyle and etc. The ad copy read something like this, "We can do better than T-shirts." And immediately, I was like, "YES! we can"... I thought to myself, "I want to do better than t-shirts but it's more expensive, do you have a solution for me?!" I ended up looking up the ad campaign online and realized that it has had polarizing reactions. Ad Age wrote an article on the campaign and it looks like there's some other fun (or just poking fun) copy in the other ads that I haven't had the pleasure of seeing just yet. One reads, "Say no to sweatpants," and another, "If the frienemy sees you out in public in your TV-watching clothes, the frienemy wins." (note: I also learned it was done by Butler Shine. Kudos. I love it.). It got my attention, my consideration and drove me to the website.

Sport is now social. Love it.

2010-08-11T18:54:00.001-04:00

Copy Power

2010-05-20T15:20:00.003-04:00

Hi there-

There are two ads I love right now.

The first as is - a billboard for Heineken that read: Sometimes Saturday is better on a Tuesday. It does a great job of selling the category. Not sure why it is unique to Heineken specifically but at least it says something and gave the brand personality. It made me chuckle. It speaks to a laid back, care free person and helped me say, "I know the kind of person who believes that. I believe that. Heineken believes that. I identify."

The second is a Chrysler ad. It was found in a magazine. The copy is beautiful but it's long for a print ad and it's hard to read. I think you could literally cut out the copy, make it a viral video and use one single line for the print ads: "Let's make cars people want to make out in again." Love it. It's big, it's lofty, it's nostalgic, it's happy, it's a romantic, emotional notion and nod to the past.

I am going to try to take pictures of and scan in these ads to share with you. Enjoy!

2010-05-13T17:44:00.002-04:00

"Great stories agree with our worldview. The best stories don't teach people anything new. Instead, the best stories agree with what the audience already believes and makes the members of the audience feel smart and secure when reminded how right they were in the first place."

- Seth Godin

What is planning about?

2010-05-13T17:41:00.003-04:00

Most people say the why. Ask why, dig deeper into the why. But what about the how? The how is important. The why makes us better thinkers. Deeper, more insightful thinkers. But the how is action oriented. It says, "Maybe there aren't many new ideas. But there are new things you can do with old ideas." Planning should be as much about the how as it is about the why.

"If you can't tweet it...

2010-05-13T17:38:00.002-04:00

It's not a big idea."

Read that quote somewhere. I like it and believe in it. The murky waters of idea-land are difficult to wade through.

Irreverence Wins Super Bowl.

2010-02-10T12:03:00.005-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about the Super Bowl. Yay for the Saints. Everyone knows though that the commercials have their own bowl during this time too.

I just read an article in the New York Times about NOSTALGIA being the common thread in the ads (In Super Bowl Commercials, the Nostalgia Bowl) and while I think that's true, did anyone notice the kind of humor just about every single ad played too? IRREVERENCE.

While some of it was funny, I felt like I was being hit over the head with a bat of bad humor. Maybe because I'm not the typical male consumer but there were plenty of groups of women where I was at with no men taking down pitchers of beer and eating wings.

So there were lots of babies, lots of people without clothing, lots of nostalgia and lots of irreverence. I enjoyed a good laugh or two courtesy of snickers and the T. Pain voice changer Bud Light spot.

I thought there were two ads that really cut through the nostalgia and irreverence clutter and while they didn't make me laugh, they left me thinking of them still now days later. Google's ad that was a love story (my friend Tristan Smith from grad school wrote) actually received applause from all the ladies at the bowling ally where we were watching (bowling for the Super Bowl... get it? cute). And the NFL lift off commercial stopped everyone speechless. Kudos to them both.

Time: Idea I don't Believe in Right Now... or now...

2009-12-23T00:22:00.005-05:00

Look how embarrassingly long it's been since I've written something for this blog. Not good. My apologies to any 5 people that pay any attention to this blog. Work picked up full steam ahead and I seemed to have lost track of thinking about anything but the fire burning RIGHT THIS SECOND that needed to be taken care of RIGHT THIS SECOND. In fact, the best way to describe how I felt was that I was being SHOVED through time. Hopefully that will change in the new year. Now there's an idea...

Loofah! Love this ad.

2009-11-24T13:18:00.004-05:00

Found it on Fast Company. Viral video for Method. To the point but really fun. Chemical residue is lurking but aren't those bubbles so cute? Loofah!

The Death of the Average American

2009-11-03T14:36:00.005-05:00

In Adage there's an article about the death of the average American. It's called "New U.S. Census to Reveal Major Shift: No More Joe Consumer."

It's about how fragmented our society is. It indicated that no household type will neatly describe even one-third of households, in the two largest states (CA and TX), the nations traditional majority (white non-Hispanics), will now be the minority, and finally, no racial or ethnic category describes a majority of the population.

WOW.

That is awesome and fascinating news to me. To lose "average American" from our cultural lexicon is monumental in ways that I am not even able to wrap my head around now.

The interesting thing is, while the article says that the census will be missing the average American, I think it's more correct in saying that we're missing Joe Consumer. I think based on this news, for the first time, we are becoming even more American. Isn't that what we, as a country are based on? The blurring and convoluting of demographic norms. Isn't that our founding ideals? And now finally, in 2010, we are truly beginning to see those ideals play forth in a way that embraces, accepts and lives out those notions of diversity, freedom of choice and one nation. I love the idea that we are more fragmented than ever yet perhaps it is our fragmentation that will unite us together.

Maybe this is the beginning of the end of groups of people fighting against something personally negative vs. uniting for something holistically positive. The end of me, the beginning of we. Because we are all so different, we can be confident in our uniqueness and don't have focus on striving toward differentiation. Instead we can move past me, confident in our freedom and expressions of innate individuality and strive toward a greater "we". It makes sense because my generation and the generations under me are part of something decidedly more philosophically and morally cohesive as they are the beneficiaries of what previous generations were fighting against.

The implication for marketers are huge. We have little to fight against and everything to unite for, positive change and the expectations of big corporations to stand for something bigger than their bottom line and to show transparency will only be demanded more.

So maybe I am projecting my own visions, idealistic as they may seem into this one census but I think its possible and hope you do too!

CULTURE DUNK: Knicks vs. Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv

2009-10-22T13:38:00.008-04:00

Basketball is a sport I genuinely love to watch. I attribute it to the fact that I used to dance for the UofR Spiders SpinnURs dance team at every home basketball game and not to my 6th grade bench sitting days. I loved the energy (even though UofR is a small school) of the game and really felt it as a result of the up close and personal relationship I had with the sport. I was court-side every game, had spirit in the face of major exam crunch times, and got to see and feel the sweet, sweaty determination, competitiveness and camaraderie of the team.

That's why I went to see the Knicks play pre-season. I had NO idea what I was in for. I knew they were playing another country but I obviously had no idea the implications or what that meant.

The game wasn't that good but the atmosphere definitely was. I was completely out of my element which always leaves me inspired and awe-struck. There were more Isreali fans than otherwise and the rabbi that gave a speech during half-time lead the congregation of sports fans in a traditional song. I have never been to synogague and grew up with ZERO Jewish friends so all of this was new to me (Where did I grow up? Think more along the lines of Southern Baptist Small Town Sit on Your Hands and Shut Your Mouth South). The stadium was ready for their consumers and had kosher meals to replace the typical concessions. For perhaps the first time in my life (with perhaps the exception of the symphony/gamer event I went to... maybe), I felt like the minority, the outsider to the odd man out. What an incredible gulp of reality and opportunity to gain empathy and insight.

It made me think about culture and more specifically about creating culture. Some culture is so old, so ingrained, so loved, so big that it cannot be compromised. It is meaningful and a wellspring for identity with true depth and layers. Can we as marketers ever really create that kind of culture? Maybe, I don't know... Is that what the green movement and mentality is inspiring? Or are we just creating trends that at minimum tack themselves onto existing culture and at best help propel it along instead?

Inspiration Anywhere: Messaging and Research

2009-09-30T14:51:00.005-04:00

You know what I love? Reading an article unrelated to my career that has parts that inspire my career.

Like today, I was reading the Sept. 29th article in The New York Times by Robin Marantz Henig called, "Understanding the Anxious Mind." It was about the psychology of anxiety (you inferred that from the title I'm sure), which was fascinating altogether (that's a permalink up there if you want to read it!). BUT there were two different things that inspired my thinking of strategy.

The first was a line the author wrote that feels like a great strategy, copy or message for healthcare clients or maybe even other brands. It was brilliant. She wrote these words, "draw conclusions about trends but not about destinies." I just love that. It's along the same philosophy as more than a number or more than a statistic, but it's got a unique twist and I've never heard it put that way at all.

The second was description of research that I really appreciated. The author describes two types. Here is the quippet: "There are two kinds of great research,” Susan Engel, a developmental psychologist ... told me... “There’s research that is counterintuitive, that shows you something you’d never guess on your own, and there’s research that shows you irrefutably what you had an intuition about, something you thought was true but didn’t have evidence to support.” Kagan’s research was of the second type, she says: “a beautiful, elegant experimental demonstration of an old intuition.”

In strategy, the best creative is typically a byproduct of research of the former but look at how energetically she describes research of the latter. It makes me wonder in what ways we can use such research to inspire and appeal to consumers.

Redesign This:

2009-09-23T12:43:00.004-04:00

So I realize this is the second red sauce in a jar that I've called out. Shows you what kinds of foods I eat hunh? This isn't just about Tostitos either. It's about the jar that salsas in general come packaged in...

Here's what got me thinking. I recently took up a love of fresh pico (with the just diced tomatoes even though I thought I hated tomatoes). It's now hard for me to eat canned or jarred salsa. There was a time in my life, however, that I consumed a large amount of this stuff. My roommate and I in our undergrad years kept a jar around and snacked off of more chips with a hint of lime and salsa than I can to admit. Because we were in a dorm we didn't keep around bowls. Salsa looks beautiful in a bowl but let's face it, there's a ton of people doubling dipping straight from the jar as they share. Or maybe there's not. I've never done research but if we were doing it, we surely weren't the only ones.

The problem was, when you get to the end of the jar, you end up with what I like to call salsa hand. That liquidy ring of salsa from the edge of the opening as you strive for the last bits of salsa on your chip. It was gross.

But what if you were to create salsa that comes in a jar that's like a bowl so you just take off the lid and can eat it straight from the container without the negative side effect of salsa hand. It's really a simple idea, but I think consumers would dig it.

Salsa, used as dip for chips lends itself to that kind of sharing anyways.

Dentyne: So I'm a Little Late...

2009-09-15T17:46:00.005-04:00

BUT better late than never to share. I just saw this gum ad from Dentyne that rolled out in 2008 that was striking and that I LOVE. I love it because it makes perfect sense and nods to the relevant culture of technology in a way that makes a statement without making a fuss. It's bold but it's got grace. That's cool.

What's interesting however, is this idea of attaching brands to relevancy. Everything communicates so the ad obviously says something about the brand regardless. The ads that attach themselves to relevant culture stand out, but the question is, to they successful differentiate themselves?

This ad makes me a believer in chewing gum, but I'm not convinced it makes me a believer in chewing Dentyne gum. On the other hand, as I walked to lunch today and saw the enormous point-of-purchase for gum along the check-out line at the local cafeteria/restaurant I find myself eating at way too often, I took notice of Dentyne for the first time in a long time (Trident Cool Colada has been the only object of my gum affection since it's introduction into the market) and thought to myself, "Aw." That "aw", while the frequency and longevity currently unknown, means something worthwhile.

Anyways, here are the ads. Enjoy!

Shock Value. Scare Tactics.

2009-09-01T17:41:00.005-04:00

Effective or not? For me yes. The horror and grossness of this drink pouring into a glob of fat sure has made me feel revolted by still I find myself reconsidering that drink this morning. New Yorkers and her visitors- expect to see this ad from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in the subway for the next 3 months. Read the full story in the New York Times here.

Strategic Thinking Humor.

2009-09-01T11:19:00.004-04:00

For relationships.

Quote of the Friday.

2009-08-21T14:34:00.004-04:00

(http://media.photobucket.com/)

"YOUR CLIENTS ARE IN TROUBLE. THEY ARE LOOKING TO YOU TO SAVE THEM. THE AD INVENTORY THAT HAS BEEN SOLD FOR THE LAST 50 YEARS NO LONGER WORKS, AND MARKETERS HAVE STARTED TO FIGURE THAT OUT. IN THE PROCESS, YOUR CLIENTS WILL FIRE, HIRE, FIRE, AND HIRE AGENCY AFTER AGENCY ... SEEKING SOMEONE, ANYONE! -- WHO CAN HELP THEM PERHAPS ON WHERE TO GO NEXT."

- John Stratton, CMO Verizon Wireless (pulled from Anomaly's website)

Realism vs. Aspirationalism

2009-08-11T11:41:00.011-04:00

Let's talk about consumers for a second. There's what they say they want to hear in messaging and in pictures/photos that will make them buy and then there's what will actually make them buy. Talking to consumers through my job has made me more aware than ever of the divide between realism vs. aspirationalism (I'm making that word up and coining it for my own thank ya very much!).

It's what Dove tapped into. They probably heard enough consumers say, I want to see real people so they advertised with real people. It made people feel good about the brand but I've heard beauty clients before say they are skeptical that it actually sold more Dove. People felt motivated to be more confident in their own skin but not motivated to dish out the dollars to Dove products necessarily.

It happens in other categories too across the board. People are desperate for transparency and realism but the question is, how attractive is that really? Often times, the hard, ugly reality of things is well... just that. And even though it's easier to relate to, we as, people are a society of progress and we enjoy envisioning ourselves with better skin, straighter smiles, whiter teeth, fitter bodies, better lives, etc. because truthfully, even if we can't relate to it, we want it. We all aspire.

So while you might hear your consumers saying, we want to see it real, we aren't perfect so give it to us like it is, be transparent and be true. Don't always listen to them. While it might be okay in some circumstances (b/c there are always outliers) and maybe more true in beauty, health, sports, wellness, apparel, and home categories, mirroring who and what they already are gives them nothing to aspire to and leaves your brand a bit in the dust. They may get warm-fuzzies from your brand but they may not feel like they are given the opportunity to better themselves and thus buy from you.

Mascara and fashion sells completely based on aspiration. Especially true for mascara, you know that you won't get eyelashes that look like that photo, but if you could even have eyelashes that look 1/10 as good, you'd be happy. That may be an extreme and is probably true b/c it is so appearance/image driven which doesn't hold as true or as much weight in other categories. So, I will also admit that there must be a nice middle ground somewhere out there that hybrids real and aspirational- a small bump up from reality without a total seismic shift.

Amusing Headline Copy

2009-07-28T17:06:00.003-04:00

"For the Body-Conscious, It's Now the Ankle That Rankles"

From the Wall Street Journal, July 23. I'm surprised this is the first time someone has made marketing around cankles. That word must have shown up in enough consumer insights by now that it just couldn't be ignored any longer. I guess I never realized there were exercises to reduce it, so I'm amused it's coming up in fitness/gym ads. I always thought it was just one of those things you accepted. And the lengths some women will go to have surgery to eliminate the problem. Wow.

Visual Thinking.

2009-07-05T14:57:00.004-04:00

Before starting my job I was spending a lot of time with my family. I LOVE my family and the older I get the more I appreciate our quirks and eccentricities. Aw.

Anyways I was thinking about who we are as a family and I realized there was a beautiful way to display my conclusion through a venn diagram, a popular tool strategist often use. Enjoy.

Brandcenter Strategist Brains- Hollaaaa!

2009-07-03T16:39:00.005-04:00

Here's an update:

My fellow classmates Culture Standpoints paper can be viewed HERE. So proud of them all! It looks great and has some really smart, cutting edge ideas, opinions and thinking represented.

In previous blogs you may remember me mentioning da Vinci Center for Product Design and Innovation. It's what I did in place of my Cultural Standpoint. Here's an update on that: we were invited to present to the Sweedish team. Whoop. I start my first days of work so I can't be there to present but I'm proud of my group and know they will do exceptionally well. If the Sweedish team likes it, there's a chance they'll pick up our innovation idea. So cool! Fingers crossed! Too bad I'm legally bound and can't talk to anyone about it (although, it's completely understandable)... Here's a picture of the product we worked on for a nice tease and eyebrow raise :) It's called the Alfie 500 and I know an absurd and amusing amount of information about this product's design, functionality and market opportunities, the industry it operates in and everything there in between.

Quote of the Friday

2009-07-03T15:32:00.003-04:00

Without having a goal, it's difficult to score.

-Paul Arden

image credit: toptenz.com

Please Redesign This:

2009-07-02T23:55:00.009-04:00

image credit: defendingwomen.com

I've carried this clunky thing on my keychain for the past 3 years now. Luckily I've never had to use it. It's one of those love-hate relationships. I love that I feel safe with it. I hate what it looks like. It's clunky, it's obvious and on display for the world to see. If people weren't fascinated by pepper spray, it would be borderline embarrassing. More importantly, I find myself thinking it would be hard to use if I was presented an actual situation in which it would serve its functionality.

The point is, I think there needs to be a redesign. I did some online digging and found these "redesign" examples. Seriously?! Pink, a gun, a ring, a carry case (Do explain who has the time in the midst of being attacked to take their mase out of a carry case?), a crystal, blinging one, and a miniature.

I suppose many women love the one with crystal/bling. I see the fun in it as well. It's not really my style but I get it (the DIVA, is a bit much for me, but again, that's just me). It's been featured in many news stations so I'm assuming it's popular? Anyways, I appreciate the company, Pepperface, (www.pepperface.com)'s, valiant attempt to make this product better, less clunky, less embarrassing and less of an eye sore. This is appealing for a lot of women, but me, I'd just like something simple. The problem with this is that I just want something unobvious and the clunky one I carry is obvious but so is this studded one.

My favorite out of all of them is the very last one, the miniature, which is a product from Malaysia. It's cutesy but at least it's fun and cheeky... and not clunky.

image credit: mase.com

image credit: defendingwomen.com

image credit: ubergizmo.com

image credit: notcot.com

image credit: kaboodle.com

image credit: pepperface.com

image credit: alibaba.com

There must be a more ergonomic solution to safety... Maybe one already exists and I missed it. If that's the case, please enlighten me!

Healthy Mouths Trump Healthy Smiles.

2009-07-01T23:42:00.008-04:00

Let's be honest. Some innovation is just marketing gimmick to sell more in emerging markets. Fine. It has to be done. But some innovation that probably was meant for just that reason (to sell more) turns out to be something really, incredibly useful and appealing to consumers.

Here's my favorite example:

The toothbrush, as one dental hygienist put it to me, is just another accessory for your mouth. It was made as a WAY to get people to brush their teeth.

Everyone uses one. They've got all kinds of twists, bends, blue coloring that fads when it's time for a new one, grips, grooves, spins, and bristle shape and softness, etc. They've really learned how to soup up a toothbrush in so many ways. There's a lot of research and innovation being done in this area obviously.

BUT about a year ago I started using a toothbrush with a tongue scrubber attached to the back of the head (see photo below). Really smart! The packing was done well. No, it wasn't eco friendly BUT, it had a sample of the tongue scrapper on the outside that interested consumers, like me, could touch. It sure helped me make up my mind to make the purchase. All the sudden, instead of just cleaning my teeth, this toothbrush was helping me clean my entire mouth more thoroughly. We all know how ticklish the tongue is when using the regular bristles and it made it unappealing to brush the tongue that often. Soon I started seeing this across brands. I'd love to know who started the trend and when the first toothbrush of this kind was released.

Recently, however, I tried to get a bit too frugal and went for a toothbrush without the tongue scrubber/scrapper on the back of the head. I realized after one brush with this inadequate, ill equipped toothbrush, that I'm a lifer for toothbrushes with tongue scrubbers on the back of the head. I actually missed the utility and functionality of my more expensive brush equipped well enough to bring me a healthy mouth, which I consider, even one step better than having just a healthy smile.

photo credit: drugstore.com

Update.

2009-07-01T23:15:00.006-04:00

Wow. So it's been a while. I've been beating the pavement in NYC looking for a job. I got one! whoop whoop :) I'm excited b/c it dabbles in strategy, branding, messaging, innovation, new product development annnnnd I'll get trained as an ethnographer. It's a fairly new place and I love that it has an entrepreneurial vibe. So good.

Anyways, I've sucked at updating because I've been moving and packing and am all over the place.

Finally in NYC. Expect new post to come soon :)

Picture Credit: http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

CULTURE DUNK: High Art Society

2009-06-16T14:43:00.005-04:00

The Dia: Beacon

Located on the banks of the Hudson River in Beacon, NYC. this museum houses 1960's to the present major collections. I didn't really know I would be going here and it wasn't my idea but it was a great escape from the concrete anyways. My oldest brother was a successful and very talented fine artists (before he opened his own business that dabbled in a separate hobby), so I have an appreciation for the craft and a fascination with the history and concepts that revolve around it all.

However, in all honesty, I sometimes have a hard time really understanding the kind of art that is more about the process than it is about the piece. It's so important to read the pamphlets at that kind of museum to understand the significance of the work because so much of it is about how it was done. It's a bit easy to make fun of because it stems from such lofty, esoteric ideas but as a philosophy minor in undergrad I suppose I find the mental exercise just enjoyable even if tinged with a bit of, "I could have done that too." I suppose the point is, I didn't do it, huh?

Anyways, there is one great room with a series of similar (difference caused by contrasting colors) paintings by Warhol (not pictured). There were 4 big smooshy sofas in the middle of this huge, great, open room and I have this fond memory of all the natural light coming in through the ceiling while all the people in the room sunk into the sofas to think about or not think about who knows what. It seemed like soothing place to be quiet, to stop, to hold time still for a couple of minutes and to smell the roses (or just soak in the color and the paintings). Serenity!

The New York City Ballet: Romeo & Juliet

I've danced my entire life and I worked at a ballet company. I love dance. I understand the dedication, the way the body marries itself to the music, the adrenaline, the beauty, the work ethic, the practice, the hours, and everything else in between. I'm fascinated, moved, and enamored by the poetry, the story, and the beauty that takes place on stage- usually to the point of tears. It just moves my soul and I crave dance as corny as that probably sounds.

But the point of this post is that i finally got the chance to see the world renowned New York City Ballet. I've never seen Romeo & Juliet performed and it was spectacular! The Lincoln Center is gorgeous and I loved seeing all the people dressed to the 9's in honor of this art form. The night was clear and it felt like I was in the middle of some fabulous 1950's movie.

Thinking about the Romeo & Juliet story, I realized for the first time that it must have been so new and so incredibly moving to see it performed back in Shakespeare's day (even if not ballet). It's complex and it's heart-wrenching! And it's amazing that without words, a story, drenched in poetic descriptors and known for its iambic pentameter can be conveyed in an equally as compelling way without using any words at all and replacing it with expression and movement instead. How cool! That's the power of a good story and I think it says something about the importance of good stories- it doesn't matter how they are told as long as they are.

Anyways, seeing the crowd at both of these places was yet another reminder that while newer, bigger, better, and faster is certainly good and often sought out, there are still people out there that crave history and appreciate the stories of a yesteryear retold from occasion to occasion. I guess some things just never get old!

I'm a sap.

2009-06-03T23:34:00.008-04:00

Confession: A State Farm insurance commercial just brought tears to my eyes. It's very moving. I love it! As I always say, make me laugh or make me cry, just don't waste my time :)

Wacky Inventions.

2009-05-28T15:56:00.007-04:00

I think it could be fun to start posting some of the crazier inventions I come across and hear about.

Here's the first I heard on the news the other morning: The Dog-O-Matic.

It was invented by Frenchman Romain Jerry and has gained popularity enough in his hometown that he is looking to expand to Britain.

When you look it up, there's a ton of debate about the process and a lot of concern about the ethics. Some say it's a dog's worst nightmare and you'll even read a line or two comparing it to water-boarding for dogs.

I can't help but wonder what the insight was that ignited this idea. I guess he'd heard one too many persons talking about the amount of time, expense and inconvenience of washing their dog(s). There's obvious, sincere concern about the safety which would no doubt be a barrier when entering a market like the US where pets, especially dogs, get treated like another member of the family.

I have no idea... but from what little bit of digging I've done, it seems to have been set up with the safety of the dog in mind.

Beating the Pavement.

2009-05-28T15:46:00.004-04:00

I've been away interviewing and have had hit and miss Internet opportunities.

One quick mentionable:

While sitting at JFK waiting for my delayed Jet Blue flight I noticed a small but pleasant, almost unnoticeable, copy change that resonated with me rather well. Instead of, "Last call for boarding," the overhead speaker now offers, "Last opportunity for boarding," instead. It's subtle but it's nonetheless new. I like it.

Ok, until I land somewhere, look forward to updates soon!

A Master Looking for Job.

2009-05-18T12:03:00.007-04:00

It's official. I'm a graduate of the VCU Brandcenter. Two years of tears, a bit of sweat and some blood in the mix. Those paper-cuts and humid Virginia weather. So much for a Sweet Virginia Breeze...

Anyways, I've learned a lot. Heard a lot of people talk about a lot. Formed a lot of opinions. Met a lot of people in the industry. Pulled a lot of all nighters. It's all been a lot.

But a lot isn't enough. It's time to get a job.

Here's my thoughts:

The people are more important than the place. I want to work for someone who wants to see me grow, wants to hear my ideas and values my opinions. I also want to work for someone who believes that some rules were meant to be broken and has a renegade, risk taking spirit. Most importantly, I want to surround myself with people who are inspired by their jobs and carry that energy with them throughout their day.

There's so much out there it's almost hard to focus. There are design firms that need planning, consulting firms that dabble in management, traditional advertising agencies, brand development agencies, experiential brand firms, firms that specialize in all things digital, product development firms that are human centered, research arms of companies, branding arms of companies, non-profits that need marketing, trend tracking firms, and qualitative consumer research firms.

I'd be happy to put my foot in any one of those doors so long as the people who work there are interested in and actively trying to infuse their company, culture and end product with innovative services, products, philosophies that push creativity and provide end users with utility.

Hopefully I'll find what I'm looking for. Wish me luck on my job search!

Quote of the Friday.

2009-05-15T14:47:00.009-04:00

The man who knows something, knows he knows nothing at all.

-Originally said by Socrates, arguably sung better by Erykah Badu

*In honor of graduating with a Master's Degree tomorrow, this is my favorite quote and something we should all remember no matter how smart we think we've become, or how much we think we know.

Feeding the Brain.

2009-05-13T00:25:00.000-04:00

In the past week, I've been catching up on entertainment that I've missed out on in the past two years while at school. I'll call it feeding the brain with interest that lay outside of advertising for now. It's important to have a vast set of interests to keep oneself interested and interesting. It's hard sometimes when you're engulfed in one discipline as intensely as Brandcenter kids are for 24 months. Anyways, I'll try to share what I'm doing to stay dynamic here and there and maybe even link it to brand where relevant (lucky, lucky you!).

Anyway... This past week I've feed my brain by watching the following:

The Great American Trailer Park Musical: An off-broadway theater production. A comedy for the sake of comedy. If you grew up watching Married with Children and The Simpsons and find Southpark and Family Guy funny, you'll enjoy this backwoods musical. It's funny if you like that "perpetuation of grossly exaggerated stereotypes for the sake of hilarity" kind of way. The program said it was about community and how we can find commonalities with the people we least expect. I think that it's a bit of a stretch to find seriousness in a play seemingly meant to be pure entertainment. Perhaps the beauty of the play is not found in the larger lesson, but that there really is no larger lesson to be learned.

The Wrestler: Darren Aronofsky, the producer who also did Requiem for a Dream, has some twisted artistic expressions that come from a place dark enough to ignite tears in anyone really paying attention. He's obviously coming from a dark place. I didn't expect to cry as much as I did but this movie was SAD. And, it made me wonder how anyone could support professional wrestling considering the way these people treat themselves and their bodies. It's almost as if you support self destruction when you support them. I'm sure a lot has changed since the days of Randy the The Ram but still.

Planet B-Boy: A 2007 documentary on The Battle of the Year, b-boying, aka break-dancing's, International stage. It follows the stories of some of the young men from Korea, Japan, France and America who partake in the world competition held in Munich. The feelings about dance expressed are so spiritual and so soulful, they will inspire you. It inspired me, but I'm pretty biased given dance is a passion of mine. Nothing too raw or rough around the edges with this documentary. Instead you'll watch an outpouring of passion, soul, thoughtfulness, pride, will and honor. Here are a two of my favorite quotes from guys representing Korea and Japan respectively: "I am not dancing to make money, I want to make money to dance," "The reason I dance is to explode and feel free."

The Future of Food: A horrifying 2004 documentary on the genetic engineering of food. It will make you angry, it will frighten you to eat certain foods and it might even be the thing effects you so much you promise to only buy all natural and change where you grocery shop forever more. I had NO IDEA what was going on with agriculture, food, science, corporate America, greed, politics and cover up that affects this issue. We have no clue what we are putting in our bodies, scientists have no clue what the long term effects are and researchers have no means to find out. It's a horrible, screwed up system that is sure to make you question just how messed up the world must really be.

Ideas In The Raw: Single Servings.

2009-05-12T12:58:00.004-04:00

Here's a problem I have. I am a single person household and I waste so much food and money having to buy such large portions for myself. Take for example, spaghetti sauce. I've never used a full jar. They make them so huge. The smallest size you can usually get is around 9.5 oz. It goes bad before I can get to it. Now I realize this isn't a HUGE problem in life but I hate being wasteful.

My solution in the past has been to a) freeze it (so much for fresh), b) cook it all at once (and I still end up wasting it) or c) throw out the rest. Sacrificing dietary variety is the only surefire way to assure I eat it all within its expiration date often times.

But here's an idea that centers around packaging. Make single servings for us singles. Please! You can sell a two pack of 4oz jars. They make single servings for people who have health concerns but the packaging industry could meet the needs of other people following that same concept with a different spin.

If any of you packaging people out there have the urge to take my recommendation, please apply the concept to bread too. How many times has that huge loaf molded before I can eat 4 sandwiches?

Peace One Day + Google.

2009-05-11T01:50:00.006-04:00

A couple of blogs ago, I wrote about a pitch presentation one of my branding classes gave to Google about Peace One Day and how they could participate. Out of the eight presentations, my group's was chosen by Google as one of two finalist to give the pitch to Peace One Day.

We present today via phone conference. Wish us luck! In the meantime we made a video to capture the campaign idea. It's a little long and a little rough but you get the point. Enjoy!

Campaign Video for Team Orchestra's Peace One Day Pitch from Tristan Smith on Vimeo.

On Vision Statments.

2009-05-10T12:29:00.010-04:00

Last week was finals week and I saw 5am at least 3 times. I'm back and feeling great now. I'm about to be a master after all. But onto the topic at hand...

In the past couple of weeks I've done a ton of thinking about brand vision. I first learned about brand vision in my Leadership in Organizations class in undergrad at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. During my first year at the Brandcenter, the topic came up in one of my classes and it has played an even larger role in my experience branding during my second year.

Here's my opinion: I don't think a company should ever change their brand vision. I think it should be that one thing that is so lofty and so elevated it would be a mere dream to actually achieve. I think it should be set in stone, inspired and give meaning to the brand, but also to employees and everyone who experiences the brand and the company in any way. It should be the heart and soul and reason for being.

For example, I worked at the Richmond Ballet for a year and their vision statement inspired me so much that I taped it to my computer. It was, "To uplift and awaken the human spirit for audiences and dancers alike." I loved reading that every day. It gave my job meaning and made me believe that the company was committed to doing extraordinary things. It was big and it felt good to associate myself with just an elevated cause. I think I would be heartbroken they ever changed it.

Walmart is another great example. They went back to Sam Walton and his original intent for the company in order to revive and refocus the brand. There, at the company's inception they found their reason for being, the vision. It worked. Save Money. Live Better. might be the tag, but it's also an inspired vision.

I have been adamant in my beliefs about brand vision but it has been difficult to maintain confidence at the Brandcenter with so many differing opinions flying at me at all times. There are definitely people, even some professors at the Brandcenter who generally disagree with my opinion on this topic. In fact, I was feeling most deflated about the entire concept of the vision being the unchanging heart and soul of a brand after one of my professors recently casually mentioned that my ideas on the matter were immature thinking on my part lead by lack of experience. It felt personal and I don't know when opinions became immature, but I know she meant well and she is obviously entitled to her opinion too.

The good news is, I stopped feeling deflated after I sat in on a presentation by the brilliantly inspiring Dan Cherry from Anomaly. He is a partner and strategist with a degree from the prestigious Wharton School. In his presentation, I saw my rejected thoughts (questionably immature thoughts) realized in his own philosophies. I must admit, it felt good.

One of the most passionate points in his speech was about Brand Conviction (just another way of saying brand vision). He said at the top of every Anomaly brief was Brand Conviction. It's what should be etched in stone and is unchanging. He said that brand conviction is a brand's most basic belief philosophy, their reason for being that influences process, service and general brand behavior. He mentioned that Nike's is Human Potential and that typically you can find the brand conviction from the visionary who started the company.

I'm sure we all have our own opinion on what a brand vision should be. Those differing opinions are what makes this industry interesting after-all. Hearing Dan speak gave me renewed confidence in what I have always believed a vision statement should be. Now I realize, the only thing immature was me questioning and losing confidence in my own philosophies, and allowing someone else to make me feel like my ideas were immature just because of their personal and differing opinions, ideas, and critique. Lesson learned. Thanks Dan!

CULTURE DUNK: Gamer Enthusiasm

2009-05-03T10:20:00.008-04:00

For me gaming was something that I did when I was 8 years old in my brothers room on a bean bag in front of his play-station. It was my sole goal in life to beat Sonic the Hedgehog and I must admit, I wanted to be Chun Li. In fact she made her way into my third grade novel where a prince had to choose between a princess and Chun Li. He picked Chun Li. Obviously. But that's another story.

Since the 6th grade or so my only interaction with gaming was buying Christmas presents in the form of video games for my 30 year old brother. I neither understood nor empathized.

That's why, when I heard the Richmond Symphony was playing a special show of only video games called Video Games Live, I jumped at the opportunity to attend and understand once and for all the fascination. Its original intent was to attract a different audience, including young kids, to help them appreciate the symphony. As a person who already appreciates the symphony, my intent was to appreciate gaming and gamers instead. They are an important segment and gaming is an important, growing, media channel.

The crowd was full of children, pre-pubescent boys, and also, a lot of other more middle aged couples. The show was a bit interactive. There were projectors that showed the video games, a chorus and the symphony that played popular scores. I have NEVER seen the Landmark Theater so packed in all the different shows I've attended.

I've actually never been around such an energetic, enthusiastic, participatory crowd. I had no idea what was going on but there was humor and drama and stories and nostalgia and innovation. I enjoyed the music and the energy from the crowd was infectious. I actually almost cried once. It was really incredible.

I won't be a gamer anytime soon but I will be able to appreciate this important segment a bit more.

Culture Dunk.

2009-05-02T00:50:00.002-04:00

In the creative industry you always hear how important it is to stay on top of culture. To engage in, to immerse yourself in, or to simply observe culture.

I think it's best to do that with culture outside the one that you call your own. To make yourself uncomfortable in one situation just to learn how to be more comfortable in all situations is an incredible exercise in developing and cultivating empathy, a must for strategists.

I've decided to include culture dives, immersions and observations I conduct like the aforementioned in this blog in a series called Culture Dunk.

Be on the lookout!

Quote of the Friday.

2009-05-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

"If you always do what you've always done,

you'll always get what you've always got."

-unknown

Word of Mouth Reminder

2009-04-28T21:41:00.005-04:00

I've been meaning to blog about a lot of things lately. Today, however, I can't help skip over some of those important posts to discuss my most recent word of mouth reminder.

Over the past few years there's been SO much talk about word of mouth and how important it is to branding. Most of the time we talk about it as if it were something only friends, family and co-workers pass on to one another. I've never had a discussion about the prospect of word of mouth from one stranger to another when not associated with a blog or the Internet in some way.

But just today in the supermarket I was on a mission to buy my first ever package of whole wheat spaghetti. As I stood there I felt so confused. Pasta is certainly a saturated category. The aisle is long, there are multiple versions of whole wheat, not whole wheat, shapes, sizes, you name it. It's confusing.

Who came to my indecision rescue? A complete stranger.

I was on the phone and mentioned to the person on the other end how hard it was to pick a pasta when there were so many choices. The stranger must have overheard me and pointed to a pasta and mouthed that it was really good. He looked fit so I trusted him.

And I bought that very pasta.

Big Day At Brandcenter

2009-04-22T03:13:00.007-04:00

Today is Part I of the Brandcenter's recruiter session.

Hello to all of you recruiters reading this!

Welcome to the Brandcenter and thank you for coming.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to you at some point over the next couple of days. In the meantime, if you have a moment, scroll through this page to check out what I've been thinking and writing about.

When You Have History

2009-04-20T22:11:00.012-04:00

I recently went to one of the most amazing weddings ever. On the plane ride home, I ran out of magazines (I'm one of the few left who still love the printed word). So I reached into the back pocket of the seat in front of me, as if it were a grab bag, ready to dissect whatever Sky-mall-esque magazine I pulled out.

American Airelines-American Eagle's American Way publication from April 15, 2009 was the lucky winner. There are all kind of random tid-bits and articles but I became engrossed in "Riffing on a Legend" by Jack Boulware. It was about the C.F. Martin acoustic guitar.

The entire article was about the brand, its heritage (Vienna born immigrant in 1833), its heyday ('70s with 22,000 units), its fall ('80s with 3,000 units), and its rise again (now). Two days ago if you asked me, "What is a C.F. Martin?" I would have stared at you blankly. Now I know that it's the holy grail of guitars. Every famous musician ever, has played one of these guitars made in Nazareth, PA. Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Beck, Neil Young, John Mayer, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, Sting, Kurt Cobain, Paul Simon, the Dixie Chicks, Woody Gutherie... just to name a few. The article described it best, "One guitar has thoroughly saturated music's landscape." Talk about a cultural icon.

One of the most compelling parts was about the fall of the brand and how management (family operated-six generation style) made a hard decision and decided not to sell even though they were barely making enough to pay rent. As the article says, "It would have been an ignoble end to a long legacy." Instead, they decided to just make the best guitars they could even if they only sold 3,000 per year. That, my friends, is commitment.

I don't even play guitar but I felt a pang rush over me at the thought of this legend becoming muddied by a big buyer. I can only imagine how (notice I didn't say if) the brand would have changed. The brand has, at its core, a commitment to a seemingly old-timey craft, that has deeply seeded itself in culture. That's the kind of value that becomes inherent, that you can't make-up through messaging or experiential branding or PR. It's a value achieved only by longevity. It's a kind of value only brands with history on their side can ever really have. When I think of others, the firsts that come to mind are Coca-cola and Campbell's.

It's just really interesting to think about. We constantly hear and read how we (as a society in general) are always looking for new, bigger, better, faster. I don't disagree. Technology and innovation and newness catch our eye as a general rule. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing either. But come to think of it, thank god someone and some brand, is still out there, maintaining the old, carrying on history, craft and legacy. I never really realized how something so old and done, could be so refreshing and seem so, well... new.

Quote of the Friday.

2009-04-17T10:35:00.000-04:00

"Ideas are about what could be done, innovation is about getting it done."

-Andrew Hargadon of the blog Harga-Blog in his post Prototypes R us.

Creating a More Creative Agency

2009-04-14T14:52:00.006-04:00

I had a really strong reaction to the first concern of John Adams in my previous post. It was about creativity. I thought I'd share my thoughts.

It's true we don't know enough about creativity.

Perhaps it starts with the fact that we are an industry at the intersection of creativity and business yet only a certain group of people in our agencies are called "creatives." This is even more appalling as we admit and acknowledge good creative can come from anywhere or anyone. It's a term that silos us without even really meaning. It's language and simple semantics that shape the way we act in ways we don't even realize. It's why women fought for him/her, fighter-fighters vs. firemen, and other such simple changes that make great differences. I've always believed you are whatever you say you are (even Eminem, the rapper believes in that one). We should all be calling ourselves creatives if we work in the industry no matter what our job title. It's that kind of thinking and ownership across the agency that will inspire and cook ingenuity across disciplines.

Also, I wholeheartedly buy into the notion that creativity is a muscle. I think it can be exercised. People are made to believe that they aren't creative because of x, y, z reason. Either they are not in the habit of being creative, they have formulated a definition they don't quite fit into (such as I have to be able to produce to be creative) or maybe were even told at one point they weren't creative and have tagged themselves as just that and accepted it as a fact. Most people need to be pushed to have the confidence to be creative. It is a risk to put yourself and your ideas out there afterall. They need to be given time and opportunity to develop the abstract relationships between people, things, places, etc. that lead to unexpected thinking (aka creativity). I think it's a human resources activity worth investing in because even the accountants should believe themselves to be more creative than accountants who work in other fields (cough, but not in sneaky creative accounting ways!).

For agencies looking for creative people, there are actually tests that determine who is and who isn't creative. Currently I am part of a group at VCU called The da Vinci Center for Product Design and Development. We had to take one of those tests. I was really happy with my results. I'm not technically or traditionally a creative, but that test indicates I am creative. Maybe tests like these should be adopted by agencies.

Finally, another way I think agencies could find creative people across disciplines for hire is to do something very simple, but very telling. Instead of relying on polished books and savvy interviewers putting on a show, here's what you do: Give a person a blank sheet of paper and a pencil and tell them to inspire you with just that. It takes a brave person to even attempt to follow through with the exercise and a creative one to do it well. Whatever they do with that sheet will be telling of what consumes their thoughts and how creative they really are. Anyone can spend hours practicing and polishing a portfolio and personal interview skills but no one can practice or polish up for a test like that. It's too raw. If I'm ever in a position to hire in this industry, that will be my test. I came up with the idea from an experience in high school when I once auditioned for a play (yes, I was in improv theater for 4 years). The only assignment during the audition was to frighten the director on the spot. So simple, yet so very, very frightening (ironically) and difficult. I choked, but I learned a valuable lesson.

Words of Wisdom from John Adams.

2009-04-14T13:53:00.007-04:00

At the Brandcenter we get the pleasure to hear a myriad of people in the creative industries talk, theorize and hand off advice.

The other day we had the pleasure of hearing John Adams (see below), CEO of The Martin Agency, talk about what does and doesn't keep him up at night when it comes to this ever changing industry of advertising.

I won't go through what doesn't keep him up but I will go through what does keep him up. His speech was delivered masterfully and was incredibly compelling and provocative. Please know this is a gross summarization. Anyways, here's what he said:

1. We don't know enough about creativity. We don't know how to identify or how to teach it. With the industry changing we need it more than ever.

2. We need to be better relationship builders. We need to understand that there are no business relationships, only people relationships. The basis of all relationship breakdowns in business and between people are resultant from poor communication (ironic given we are in a communications industry), changes in priorities, and lack of commitment. We need to find a way to bring to the forefront of these relationships that awards and results are not separate or competing.

3. We need to realize we have a bigger job to do. We are focusing on the trees when we should be focusing on the forest. We work as a service for corporations which are the dominant part of our civilization. People don't trust them and we tend to not like them. We have a responsibility as to help shape the corporate social responsibility endeavors of our nation.

Fresh Thoughts.

2009-04-11T17:03:00.006-04:00

The other day I went grocery shopping.

It got me thinking about the word fresh. It was only after working in an agency and helping on a grocery client, that I began to understand the importance of that one word. I remember thinking at the time that the word is one with no real dimensions. I was wrong.

The dictionary describes fresh as recently made or obtained; not canned, frozen, or otherwise preserved.

While I think that's (obviously) true, I also think that fresh has been given new meaning in recent years. The popularity of natural and organic have really changed the the meaning of that word. Here's why:

While at the grocery store, I purchased the freshest mozzarella. Ever. Stark white, wet, salty. I also purchased organic salsa.

My not canned, not frozen, not otherwise preserved mozzarella made and obtained recently was obviously fresh. I walked into the store with the intent to purchase fresh mozzarella and did just that.

But I realize while standing there looking at all the salsa options on the shelves, I have come to think, in recent years, that organic, even in a jar, is more fresh than the same product in a jar without the word organic attached.

So now not fresh grocery items, those that are canned, frozen and otherwise preserved, can be fresher than their counterparts (as in the case of salsa). That means that fresh grocery items can also be fresher than their counterparts. A fresher fresh if you will. There's freshly grown strawberries and then there are fresher freshly grown strawberries that are organic.

While organic can't own fresh, it can own fresher. The idea of pesticides and chemicals on anything takes away from our old notions of fresh.

I wonder if other consumers think the same and how that effects the marketing of grocery and the highly competitive fresh wars that pepper the category.

Quote of the Friday.

2009-04-10T20:01:00.004-04:00

Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.

-Picasso

Turning into yourself.

2009-04-09T00:00:00.001-04:00

Market Research Must Get Real, Not Ideal, Social Scientists Say, March 31, MarketingDaily

Dr. Robert Deutsch, an anthropologist and founder of marketing firm Brain Sells, speaks up about brands. He says that people act rather than think; yet another nod to the irrationality of purchase decisions and behavior by the everyday Joe.

While the entire article was interesting, what really got me thinking was the part where he talks about power of a brand is in the way it helps a person become more of him or herself. He suggests that brand loyalty is actually just self-loyalty in diguise. He says, "There is no such thing as product loyalty; that's commodity-based. Attachment leads to self-loyalty. It looks like product loyalty, but it's not; it's 'through you I become more of me.'"

People buy brands to become more of themselves and to tap into self-loyalty huh? I believe it. It's all very wrapped up in identity. It's easy to see in the fashion category. I like how J. Crew does a relaxed, smart, private school prep. I went to UofR. Private and prep describe the school. Polo would be a front runner. But Polo doesn't capture relaxed and smart to me like J. Crew does. It's more money and I'm more comfortable. See the connections?

I started to think that maybe it's harder to see this relationship, "through you I become more me" in the parity product category like toilet paper (although I don't doubt that it's there). I started to think about the reason I buy certain parity products. Typically I buy whatever is cheapest across any category. If it's on sale, it's going in my basket by necessity. I have to trade down EVERYWHERE in EVERY category so that I can feed my passion for fashion. When it comes to fashions I still buy on sale BUT I try to make sure it's a sale that is brand name.

Still, as hard as it was to come up with an example, I did. Here it is- I have German heritage and so I buy NIVEA over every other lotion simply because I remember my Oma using it and it makes me feel true to me and my story. Every-time I use it, I think of all my relatives over seas. They probably don't use it, but it's meaningful for me. Truth be told, I think it's a little bit thick but I keep buying it anyways because of that emotional connection. I also will buy a particular kind of chocolate from Belgium that Oma used to stock up on it too.

Anyways, you get my point. The article is worth reading but if you can't get to it, this is the conclusion:

Marketers should throw out purchase funnel models "and consider brand attachment as the yellow brick road -- "a journey I make with you that fills out what's already latent in me," Deutsch says. Great marketers are therefore shamans."

Understanding Behavior.

2009-04-08T14:32:00.012-04:00

Behavioral Science is nothing short of fascinating.

I think as planners we could all learn a thing or two about planning by studying the trends in this field encompassing psychology, economics and change. How we act, why we act the way we do and what can influence these things is connected to purchases decisions, strategy and marketing for obvious reasons.

This article in TIME magazine about the topic is so interesting I've read it 3 times already. It's about Obama and his team of behavioral specialists, his campaign for presidency and for change at large. Click here to read.

The article references a handful of books about the topic of behavior. Here is the list:

Influence
Predictably Irrational
Nudge
Freakanomics
The Wisdom of Crowds
Animal Spirits

Fun with Fish Fillets.

2009-04-06T17:13:00.004-04:00

I have a confession. Actually make that two.

1) I used to LOVE McDonald's fish fillet as a child. 2) My family definitely had a talking fish toy in our home (embarrassingly enough).

But those are precisely the reasons why I love the new McDonald's commercials spreading around the web. I recently commented to a friend about the number of fish sandwiches being advertised in the past year. Either more were being advertised, all were being advertised more feverishly as a result of some bizarre behind the scenes fillet o' fish business wars, or I was simply paying more attention to them all.

Arby's was advertising a fish sandwich and Wendy is still steadily telling me that it's not fast food, it's food fast and it's fresh as well. "What's the difference other than the bun?" I kept thinking. I still have no idea although Wendy almost had me convinced for a while there. BUT I do know that the McDonald's ads stand out in this category. They are funny, which makes them fresh. They are nostalgic, which calls back to culture of yonder years and helps consumers welcome the commercial with a great big huge. AND it gives us something to talk about: "Oh yeah, my family had one of those (squished face, blushing with embarrassment and a giggle.) Didn't yours?!"

As a result, instead of sending this viral just my friends like I normally do, I've now sent it to my parents too. They'll get a kick out of it even if they don't order a fish fillet at the drive through their next go-round.

There is actually an article written about this in USA Today. Check it out here.

Digital Media Cool School

2009-04-06T16:24:00.006-04:00

I keep joking that I might as well go back to school if I don't get a job. Joking was the key word until I read an article in Fast Company called Hyper Island Grooms the Next Generation of Digital Media about a school in Sweeden called Hyper Island. Okay, so I won't really be thinking about going back to school, but if I did, this would be the place.

Click on the link or just read the article in full here:

MATTIAS HANSSON, 40, helps train 1,300 students a year in digital media, interactive art direction, and digital business management in Stockholm and on a former prison island off the coast of Sweden. Graduates are hotly recruited by such firms as Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Ideo.

"Look into the eyes of the creatives you know and ask them: If they could choose, would they pick the traditional academic world or an opportunity to learn by doing real stuff such as building e-communication solutions for MTV, Ikea, and others. We don't have classrooms or auditoriums, and we don't focus on grades. We don't educate people to become something. They have to decide that themselves.

Great talents get an opportunity to boost their skills while they are with us, and then they become very sought after. Every student has at least five job offers from top international agencies. The student with the most this year got 56 job offers. Around 80% go abroad. We're more of a household name in Manhattan, Paris, or San Francisco than in Sweden."

I haven't fully researched it yet but it was way too cool not to share.

Quote of the Friday.

2009-04-03T17:50:00.011-04:00

"It's better to live one year as a tiger than a hundred years as a sheep."

-Madonna

Independent Street Innovation Inspiration

2009-04-01T18:04:00.004-04:00

The Wall Street Journal's blog Independent Street is one of my favorite resources even if I don't check it as often as I should. Sometimes, I write down words of wisdom, bits of inspiration or that which makes me think from the articles in the blog. Here I'll share a few of my favorite I find myself revisiting often:

Want to Create an Innovation Culture? Here's How. Nov. 20, 2008

"Successful innovation can't just be small incremental innovations- it must be 'disruptive' or radical innovations that shake up the status quo." and "The largest gains in business come from more daring innovations that challenge the paradigm and the organization."

What Innovation Means for Small Businesses. Nov. 24, 2008

"From our perspective, innovation is three things: empathy, creativity and execution - and you have to have all three. Empathy is about getting employees out in the real world. If you work for company that makes kitchen tools, you should go hang out with the chefs that use those kitchen tools."

I think these are quotes are helpful reminders that it's not THINGS it's the WAY WE DO THINGS that make the biggest impact and cause societal shifts and trends when it comes to innovation. "Things" themselves often help us change the "way we do things" for sure. But when you're ideating, innovating or whatever you want to call it, it seems necessary to first think of the process that needs changing and then solve it, perhaps with a thing if need be.

Oceans, Circuses, American Idol and more: A Look at Culture, Remixed

2009-04-01T18:03:00.017-04:00

From the article: Ad Age March 31, 2009, Rethinking 'Blue Ocean Strategy' in a Down Economy.

"Value innovation was defined as creating a leap in value for consumers while lowering costs and increasing revenue for the company. [...] A prime example was Cirque du Soleil, which took traditional circus acts and infused them with Broadway-style creative productions to increase customer value and ticket prices, while simultaneously cutting the largest cost item of the circus: the animals. Cirque du Soleil reinvented the circus and today maintains its dominance in a largely uncontested market space."

That article excerpt got me thinking a about remix culture. (My friends Ben Alter and Katie Fitz at Brandcenter also just recently wrote and published an article that touches on one aspect of the topic. View it here.)

Cirque du Soleil is AMAZING but at the heart of their reinvention is taking something old, and remixing it with current culture to make it something fresh, exciting and new. To invent for them was to REinvent and that meant to remix, not start from scratch. Poof, a new relevant cultural obsession was born from an old concept given new meaning, execution and production.

Thinking about it that way, I concluded once and for all that Adam Lambert (the LA 26 year old) will win American Idol this season. I'm not a regular American Idol viewer at all. In fact, I've never watched any other season before but I started hearing so much buzz about this one contestant and his innovative ability with music. I started watching JUST to see what he'll do next. He blew my mind with his Middle Eastern version of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" (which I've obviously already downloaded from iTunes). He's taking old songs, remixing them and making them into something modern and amazing. Look him up on iTunes or watch here. He's reinventing the wheel through remix.

This got me thinking about brands of course. Right now, there's a lot of talk about creating culture as a way to build equity and engage consumers. It's so sexy to say, "let's create culture," but what does that really even mean? I'm not convinced any of us have it figured out exactly quite yet. Creating something cool works, yes, but it's pretty hard to predict what's will be cool and what consumers will latch onto.

Perhaps brands could take a cue from Blue Ocean Strategy, Cirque du Soliel, and Adam Lambert. Maybe creating culture isn't pulling consumers completely away from the old (sounds a bit like shock therapy if you ask me). That tactic seems to lack a reference point and even an emotional pull. Maybe instead, one of the best practices in creating culture is taking what's familiar to consumers and giving it a new twist, easing them slowly, but safely into unchartered territory.

Brilliant Edible Ideas.

2009-04-01T18:00:00.016-04:00

Have you ever noticed how much innovation goes down in the food industry?

First there were 100 calorie packs that revolutionized our urge to devour entire boxes of [name your favorite] snacks. Then there were chefs nationwide telling us delicious bacon was not only for breakfast, it was also a savory addition to our favorite desserts (like the bacon chocolate chip cookie to your left there). Many, many thanks to that genius. Any reason to eat bacon is welcomed.

New about to come out are Cheetos the size of ping pong balls (not good for beer bong) and Oreo's that are shaped as straws to sip milk through call Fun Stix.

Check out the explanation behind the giant Cheetos and Oreos Fun Stix in this article, "Don't worry, buy happy: Cheerful stuff is selling well" by USA Today. Supposedly in this economic climate, it's the little stuff that makes the everyday person happy and thus sells well. The article mentions that when we're stressed, we revert back to the things that comforted us as kids. I must either stay stressed or I'm still a kid because Oreos never stopped comforting me in the first place. Just saying.

Anyway, I wonder what's next? Maybe a gummy bear edible doll house so I can play with my gummy bears before I eat them. Then I would really revert back to being a kid. Ok, maybe not.

Make us laugh. Make us skinny.

2009-04-01T10:59:00.010-04:00

Here's the list of drinks I consume:

1) always water 2) sometimes sweet tea 3) occasionally Vitaminwater.

Rarely do I drink soda or coffee. I'm afraid I'll get addicted like my mother.

Water is good for me; it flushes the system. Sweet Tea is nostalgic and reminds me of my childhood, sunny days and porch swings with my grandma. Vitaminwater is just good... and the brand has such personality. Who doesn't want to be part of that conversation? But I rarely drink it because the calories scare me away. I could be having a tea...

The New York Times recently released that they will be coming out with a Vitaminwater10 with 10 calories per eight ounces that will compete in the low-cal beverage category and is aimed at, people, just like me. Cool.

BBH is doing their ads and they will be funny. The agency's sense of irreverent humor melds well with funny in today's culture. Here's the article: With Humor, Glaceau Vitaminwater Introduces New Low-Calorie Beverage. Here's the a subway ad the article features:

I'm sure I will end up trying this drink. But artificial sweeteners have the most distinct taste. Coca- cola has seen incredible success with Vitaminwater and leveraging the brands name to market a healthier option is a terrific idea. They will be using Stevia as the sweetener which is supposed to be natural. I know nothing about sweeteners but I look forward to trying the product and appreciate Vitaminwater continuing to develop new products to expand its target in spite of this economic downturn.

A nice idea.

2009-04-01T09:57:00.004-04:00

"Don't be yourself, be someone a little nicer."

-Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1996

When I first became interested in advertising/branding/ideating I was told to watch out for all the snarky, mean people I would encounter.

Growing up with two older brothers I felt like this would be easy. People who were picked up by their head, who aren't traumatized, can typically handle even the most obnoxious people after all.

Here's what I've come to realize though. It's not that people are mean, it's that they are wildly opinionated and brutally honest. You must have tough skin and an opinion to keep up. THAT I am okay with. THAT I can handle. THAT I actually enjoy. I love a challenge.

The problem is, that some people in this industry use the fact that the industry is brutally honest as a free pass to be an asshole. THAT I am not okay with. This certainly doesn't apply to everyone or even most everyone. It's just something I've been thinking about for a while now.

Why? Well, leadership studies was my undergraduate major and as a result I am hyper sensitive to managerial and leadership styles. One of the lessons I learned early on- People like to be challenged BUT only by nice people.

Now, I realize nice doesn't have the best brand image. It's got an unfortunate reputation for being weak.

So here's an idea- as an industry more in tune with branding than any other, let's re-brand nice. Let's continue to be the critical, hard-working, tough loving, brutally honest people we know ourselves to be... but let's charge ourselves to find a way to inject nice in their too.

IDEAlism

2009-03-31T12:42:00.004-04:00

Yesterday my International Branding class had the pleasure of presenting to Google. Very cool.

Google is partnering with Peace One Day, an organization that promotes Peace Day, September 21st. Peace, a concept very esoteric and idealistic, is given a bit of grounding and made a wee bit more rational as a result of emphasis placed on one single day.

The goal is to get 1 billion people to know about and perhaps even participate in the day. Talk about a goal! If anyone can do it, however, Google can. The day and the organization currently have a larger presence in England, with little awareness in the states. The day is legit though. It's backed by the United Nations and it's even succeeded in getting the rebels in Afghanistan to drop arms on this day to allow medical supplies to pass through the region to those in need.

Our day was spent pitching creative campaigns and creative media tactics with a digital emphasis. It's amazing the amount of ideas that surface in such a setting. So inspiring. Almost frightening. The things you can do, or will be able to do with Google is nothing short of incredible.

I don't think I can say more at this point besides mark your calendars for Peace Day, September 21st.

Brand You.

2009-03-30T11:00:00.001-04:00

Recently I read an article in the New York Times called Putting yourself out there to buy. It's about a journalist who has been told that she must brand herself and she struggles to come to terms with this act of selling. She went into journalism so she wouldn't have to sell anything after all.

I think it's interesting that the idea of branding yourself has permeated the mainstream career market. There are even "experts", making a living solely off of helping you brand you. There's even a new book coming out about the topic. It's called, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Branding Yourself" and its due out in May 09. You would think at a school for branding, VCU Brandcenter, we would talk about this all of the time. The truth is, it hardly ever comes up.

This lead me to two thoughts. First, as juniors how should we brand ourselves in an industry saturated by creativity? Second, who out there has done a great job of branding themselves?

Addressing the first point: As juniors, it's hard to set ourselves apart.

But we try so very hard to prove ourselves through our portfolios. Our sizzle causes such smoke that it shadows a pretty thin steak, that is if it isn't smothered with cheese from the get go. I am so skeptical about portfolios. It's easy to get sidelined by the look. This is important for art directions and even for copywriters but what about for planners? If I was in driver seat of planning department I would want people who are so smart they intimidate me, armed with so much gumption and grit they would be invited on anyones 3 on 3 bball pick up game, and with so much positive energy they run circles around even a Jack Russell terrier. How do those things translate to a page? I'm not convinced they do. They can however be translated through stories of experiences held in conversations.

Addressing my second point: The person who I have always thought does a great job of branding themselves is Kimora Lee Simmons owner of the Baby Phat label.

I will admit, I have watched a grotesque amount of the Style network and have most likely caught every episode of her reality show Life In The Fab Lane. She is the living, breathing epitome of her brand. They are one in the same. She is unapologetically wed to her label and its ehtos. It's authentic, it's transparent, it's anything but forced and its her. It's why she's a mogul.

I guess that's the key- be authentic, be transparent, be you. Don't be gimmicky, and have the kind of sizzle that sears a steak just right without engulfing it in a poof of smoke. And let's be honest, any really good sizzling steak would never, ever need cheese anyways.

Houston, let's find the problem.

2009-03-07T02:11:00.000-05:00

Here's a question:

Are the best ideas actually solutions?

It seems like having a problem is the best way to generate a great idea. If you have a problem and you generate a solution, you've seemingly got a great idea.

Take for example the Post-it Note. I remember reading an article in Fast Company a couple years back about the guy who invented it all. He had a problem: He was at church and the bookmark that he used in his hymnal would never stay in place. He was working at GM and they were looking for something to do with a less-than-tacky adhesive they had made. Voila! The pos-it was born as a solution to his problem.

Or how about the Got Milk? campaign.

They taped into a very minor, but very real problem everyone experience when eating a pb&j sammy- it sticks to the roof of your mouth. Voila! The now famous campaign was born as a solution to this problem.

What happens though when you asked to create big ideas when there is no problem? Do you create a problem? Or does everything have a problem so you better dig deeper?

This got me thinking. As a strategist, maybe the best insights are actually problems. Instead of looking for the insight, maybe we should be looking for the problem instead. What do you think?

Who Really Cares?

2009-03-03T00:10:00.001-05:00

NOT CONSUMERS. They are drowning in sea of ad clutter. 300 to 5000 messages per day. Media channels are expanding and becoming more fragmented. Consumer segments are getting more niche and becoming more fragmented. Fragmented media plus fragmented consumer segments equals a big fragmented mess. It's amazing that we can cut through it at all enough to connect with even one person much less persuade any person to actually give a damn.

But here's a thought... maybe it's easier than ever. Maybe with the right messaging and the right target, this digital wave is crashing to shore during the perfect storm. As consumers rid themselvesof as much traditional advertising as possible, they are still engaging in the things they love and are finding new ways to interact with information. They Internet, previously thought of as the eye of the storm, the thing causing the shifts and disruptions in the advertising world might actually be the floatation device we should be giving our consumers instead. They have shown us they want a voice, they want to co-create, they love ideas, inspiration, experiences, culture, and motivation. And they are A-ok if brands are the people who are bringing those opportunities to them.

As it stands now, traditional advertising isn't dead... yet. Perhaps it never will die completely. Our industry is changing though. Like it or lump it. Media is changing, the way consumers interact with each other is changing, the way they interact with brands is changing and the way they consume culture is changing. That means our role as planner is changing too. It's not enough to understand how consumers act today. It's not enough to understand what they want today. We need to be actively forecasting, anticipating and understanding how they will act and what they will want tomorrow.

It's an exciting time to be a planner. It's a challenging time as well. It's calling for bold, creative planning. I'm bracing myself. I'm getting ready. Are you?

hello.

2009-03-01T17:58:00.001-05:00

I think inspiration can come from anywhere, even the most mundane and unexpected.

For example, when I was a little girl my family ate at Cracker Barrel... a lot. The only inspiration I should have received from these arty clogging, weekend morning experiences was to not wear a fanny pack as a roadside tourist. I successfully learned that lesson, but I had more substantial, life changing epiphany at age 8 as well.

I remember reading a quote in their shop: "Small minded people talk about people. Average minded people talk about things. Great minded people talk about ideas."

Now, I can't say I've never talked about people but I can say I've made a conscious effort to talk about ideas more. In fact, I'm trying my best to make it my livelihood.

After all, who doesn't want to be great minded?

So let's get this convo rolling. I've got a lot of bad ideas and a lot less good ones. They come from any and everywhere. Feel free to share, comment or accuse.

In any case, bring it and enjoy.