IDEAlism

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.