Speaker Series: Perry Merkley

Our speaker for this week was Perry Merkley, who worked for Ogilvy on their famous American Express advertisements before starting his own agency in North Carolina. Much of his talk was spent showing us clips of his work for different clients such as Amex, BMW motorcycles, OXO, Champion, Bell South, Mercedes and Citigroup. In one of the Bell South commercials, Merkley pointed out that Britney Spears is playing a little girl on a swing.

Overall, the two messages that I got from Perry Merkley were:

The creative idea and the strategic idea must be the same idea. Work that is creative but not strategic is usually indulgent.

The best clients have both vision and clout.

Speaker Series: Mike Henry

Our speaker today was Mike Henry, a writer and character for Family Guy. Mike plays Herbert the Old Man, Cleveland, Cleveland Jr. and Death among other characters. His voice, while not any one of theirs, has aspects of all of them, which made his talk quite amusing. During his time with us, he focused on a few things:

The making of Family Guy
The Family Guy Theory of Comedy
His biography

First, he talked about the making of the show. He told us that when creating an episode, the writers keep in mind that they have 22 minutes to present a three act piece. For that reason, they start their storyboard with one simple idea: being fired up about being an American, day labor, etc. After choosing a main concept, the show unfolds as the writers focus on sandwiching emotion in humor. To make each episode is a three month process that goes something like this:

Whiteboard
Outline
Seth McFarland looks at it
50 page script is written
50 page script is torn apart in meetings
Table readings
Fix jokes that don't work
Record
Fix jokes that still don't work
Animation
Color screening
Rewrite again
Sound mix with 30 piece orchestra
Put the show on air

Second, Mike talked about the Family Guy Theory of Comedy, which he summed up as "make Seth laugh." He pointed out that most shows focus on getting the whole audience to laugh. If a joke won't appeal to almost the entire audience, it's out. At Family Guy, they don't agree with that idea. Mike pointed out that if everyone is laughing at every joke, the jokes are probably too broad to be memorable. Instead, the writers at Family Guy believe in what they call 10%ers: jokes that make 10% of the audience laugh really hard. In short, if it's funny it should be in the show. One thing that I found particularly interesting is what 10 out of the 14 writers do voices on the show. That way, the show remains pure -- comedy is heard the way that the writers intended, as there is no middleman.

Lastly, Mike talked about his history and how he met Seth McFarland. Mike Henry originally started in Advertising on the account side. He worked at Martin and found himself uninspired to the point where he spent his time making prank calls to his boss and making fun of clients. he moved to Hollywood, took classes and did standup for threee years before discovering that he needed a reel to get anywhere. And so, he moved back to Richmond where he did radio vices, produced and worked with some small agencies. After building a reel that way, Mike moved to New York. At that point, his brother was a student at RISD, and kept asking Mike to be in his film projects. His brother also happened to be a friend of Seth McFarland's. The three of them became friends, Seth created Family Guy, and Mike has had a job ever since.

Mike's final advice to us was that side projects can keep you alive creatively. He taked about taking time off from Family Guy to get some perspective and do other things, working on his own films in his free time, and always envisioning new things rather than just relying on Family Guy to fulfill him creatively.

Speaker Series: dennis Ryan

This week's speaker was dennis Ryan, Chief Creative Officer of element79partners. dennis was a fantastic speaker and gave us some extremely practical suggestions. It was especially fun for me to see his talk, as dennis was my nextdoor neighbor when I lived in Evanston, and then moved near to my family in Winnetka as well. As a little kid I had no idea what he did, but I remember thinking that he and his wife were possibly the coolest people to walk the earth. Years later, he's still pretty cool.

dennis' talk was about getting and keeping your first job in advertising. In brief, his suggestions were as follows:

1. Make the agency value you.
2. Make the agency value your work.
3. Set on a path to keep growing.

To make your agency value YOU, dennis suggested a few things:
- Work hard.
- Focus on creativity. Creativity is not the dominion of a select few. It is a mindset, not an asset; and if you work in an agency in any job, you should always think creatively. It produces better results and it's "the fun part" -- in all realms.
- Prove that you are a valuable person by being enthusiastic and curious. Smart, cool, exciting, fun thinkers who have excitement about their ideas are capable of selling those ideas. Enthusiasm is key. Curiosity is equally key (and is the foundation of the element79 culture). Have a constantly questioning mindset.... Why (question)? Why not (scepticism)? What if (inspiration)!
- To get that first job in advertising, make sure that you bring yourself to the table in your book. Be you. Don't murder the differences -- they influence your work.

dennis' suggestions for making your agency value your WORK:
- Advertising is the only team sport that operates without a play book. Nothing is done by yourself so play well with others.
- Always remember that this is a confidence game. Not a con game. Take pride in your work and have the confidence to speak up for it and showcase it.
- 'The work' is different than 'selling the work.' There will be compromises, and the client cannot be the enemy. In order to keep the integrity of your work intact, consider the following: What compromise will kill your idea? Have you truly done your best to persuade people, and do you understand the art of persuasion? Are you dealing well with the people around you who have influence?
- Learn to sell to your boss first.
- Figure out different people's problems. Understand and empathise with people. It will better your work and relationships.

To GROW in a job, keep the following in mind:
- There is so much you don't know when you start -- that's okay. Take experience where you can get it. Learn fast but don't pretend to know it all when you get there.
- The editor shapes a story. Know new music, know the editor.
- People are interested in learning and sharing their experiences. Ask.

Parting thoughts:
- When researching, focus on ideas rather than execution.
- Give context and persuade. People have a hard time getting outside of themselves.
- You are always answering to someone.
- Build trust with your clients. The best client allows you to take chances, isn't a pushover, helps to shape ideas, and lets good ideas get in.
- Clients should focus on finding an agency that they trust and knowing that the agency cares.

element79partners Info:
- At element79 you will work harder and get paid less... but they're nice.
- Visit www.e79ff06.com to keep yourself fired up about ideas.

I am not an art director

This post is dedicated to Devika, who likes to encourage my artistic expression.

In my heart of hearts, I would love to be some kind of do-it-all strategic art director. But alas, I just used photoshop for the first time today and am not quite accomplished at the whole concept of the 'layout' yet.

For my quant/qual course, my assignment is to write a brief for a product for which I am not the target. I chose to write about Earth's Best organic baby food. This was an interesting assignment for me in two ways. First, Earth's Best is something I had tried to write a brief about last winter, for the purpose of building my own book. Second, part of the assignment was to do your own art to prove that the brief was usable. It was interesting to see where my brief was last year, versus where this one is now.

In the end, I came up with the following two brilliant art pieces. One ad for a parenting magazine and one iasle ad for a grocery store. Don't laugh too hard.

Positioning before communication

First Ideas are rarely great. And so, try to keep the following in mind:

Is my thought big enough? (big ideas are frightening!)
Am I describing it enough?
Is it motivational, evolvable and the soul of the brand?

Things to remember: talking to clients

About Yourself:
You are a brand
Life is not like Las Vegas -- things get out

About your Clients:
If you want to increase the level of trust, know your clients and their business
Give them a chance to talk about their company -- you might learn something, as well as earn respect
Save people from themselves... respectfully

About Agencies:
Industry change rarely happens from within
Good ideas are often watered down by bureaucracy, among other things

In General:
Trust gets lost in translation

Creative brief writing 101

When writing a creative brief, try to answer the following questions in a creative, inspiring, truthful, to-the-point way:

1. Why are we advertising at all?
2. Who are we talking to?
3. What do we know about them?
4. What should we be telling them in our advertising?
5. What is our brand position? (in 10 words or less)
6. What are our brand values?
7. What can we offer to support our message?

Ethics

We talk a lot about ethics in my Business of Advertising class. It becomes more and more clear to me that the difference between a white lie and a major misrepresentation is actually quite small. It also becomes more and more clear to me that in corporate situations where big money is involved, people often rely on the "it's not that bad" and "everyone else is doing it" methods of self-testing to decide if their personal ethics are high enough.

I feel that I am a pretty ethical person in general. And yet, ethics in a sterile room mean very little. What would I do if my job was on the line? My promotion? My reputation? And so, I am beginning to develop a series of questions to help me guide myself ethically, should I ever need them. Here is what I have so far:

Why do I feel that it is necessary to do this?
How will it change someone's perceptions of me and of my capabilities?
Can I prove (in a timely manner) that I actually have those capabilities?
What will I gain?
What will the other person(s) lose?
Would I feel at ease telling my friends what I did?

Thoughts for the day

Inspire, don't direct

Integrate creativity into accountability

Don't be satisfied with the status quo

Dave O'Hare

Our guest teacher in Creative Thinking today was Dave O'Hare, current freelancer, former copywriter at Goodby and Chiat. Dave O'Hare was quite intriguing, as he got into this business after graduating from USC, selling a screenplay, and then having it stolen. He became enamored with the Apple launch ads and began to send their agency pieces once a month to showcase his copywriiting skills. Fabulous.

Aside from being a cool person to talk to, Dave has some interesting insights into the ad business. In list form, because I am tired, here they are:

- Advertising is a game of connect the dots. Get people to participate.

- There are not many unique distinguishing factors in products, so make people like you better.

- Understand the power of perception and of participation.

- We have a responsability to be respectful.

Speaker Series: Caroline Hadlock

Caroline Hadlock came to the Adcenter as a representative of Young and Laramore in Indianapolis, Indiana. In her introduction, Peter Coughter highlighted that she was here to prove to us that advertising happened in places outside of New York.

The offices of Young and Laramore are in a rehabbed elementary school, which looked very neat. Lots of open space and a youthful/learning/endless possibilities look. She first pointed out the power of editorial, explaining that Y and L had formed in 1993, but had been recognized by Creative Arts in 2005, which had done wonders for their business and reputation. She describes Y and L as being in the business of taking clients from local to national.

Caroline pointed out that we need better/braver clients. Clients have huge pressures on them. The average CMO's tenure is 23 months. In that impossibly short amount of time they are supposed to make their mark and make major changes. Creative people need to keep that in mind when designing campaigns. We now have a shorter time to establish ourselves and gain trust. Clients are also enamored with their products. They live and breathe them, and forget that not everyone else does as well.

Be intentionally ignorant. That, in a very small nutshell, is Y and L's process. Formally, they call it the 'unlearning curve' and will not take on a client without the agreement that they will all follow that process. In the unlearning curve process, client problems are looked into with no preconceived notions and by getting deep into people's lives (ethnography). The two to three month process goes something like this: go where the customers are, listen to what they say and what they mean, preconceptions start to fall away, creative work can then begin.

Other Y and L methods include showing only one campaign and not allowing the testing of their creative.

Caroline made a very good point that I think many people overlook. She encouraged us to start the agency process by talking to anyone who can say 'no' to the work. By doing that, you get to meet people you never would have met otherwise, get an upfront buy-in, earn the respect of your client, get new perspectives, and bring those powerful people into your process.

Lastly, she tried to impress on us the following ideas:
How you present is as important as what you present
Be multi-sensory
show don't tell

More Peter Wood thoughts

People are overloaded.

We rely too much on infected information. People change the questions to suit their answers ... listen carefully.

Reposition the wheel.

Be aware of other messaging out there.

We refine things too much -- leve room to breath.

Open your eyes in a new way.

UBUNTU: "I am because you are."

Consider that there are different levels of truth.

Ask yourself two questions: 'has it been done before?' and 'how story true is it?'

And lastly, a book suggestion: "20 Something: 20 essays by young writers in their 20s"

An update to 'Speaker Series: John Bell'

Part of my today's procrastination included looking around Vox. I checked to see who else on vox lists advertising as an interest and was excited to find that John Bell, who I discussed in a previous post, is a vox user. I'm not surprised given his line of work, but it's still fun.

If you're interested in hearing more of his point of view, check out his blogs at:

johnbell.vox.com and johnbell.typepad.com

And lastly, his official bio:

Here's the work bio: Managing Director/Executive Creative Director 360° Digital Influence John is always scouting the next wave of innovation that can help business, advocacy groups or social marketing causes build stronger, more genuine connections with people. He heads up the global 360° Digital Influence team - Ogilvy PR’s latest interactive discipline designed to manage brands in an era when anyone can be an influencer and we are all influenced in new ways. It connects our brand-building PR expertise with insider’s knowledge of new digital trends. This team of Digital Influence Strategists uses the power of personal media and technology and social innovations to create a comprehensive approach to all things interactive. He has developed strategy and executed award-winning programs for clients including Lenovo, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, and the National Institutes of Health. The first wave of innovation was Interactive Television in 1990. Isn’t that where everyone started? John headed up the Visual Design Studio at Downtown Digital, a joint venture between Viacom and AT&T to create the most futuristic vision of interactive television anyone could imagine. He created programming for kids, gamers, fully interactive versions of Entertainment Tonight and fantasy sports. Turns out they were a bit ahead of their time but began a legacy of innovation. He created the first Interactive Advertisement for American Express during that ITV trial. John went on to form Media Circus Interactive Advertising in New York during the 1990’s. He found effective ways to use CD-ROMs including designing the first interactive advertisement on Launch, then a CD-ROM zine, for Sony Electronics. He also created the first I-Spy CD-ROM for Scholastic extending the brand into the electronic space and pushing the limits of what an interactive experience could be. At the same time the Internet was exploding. he designed and built complicated transaction sites like Gateway Computers ecommerce site and wild experiments like MTV’s Web service that connected “stringers” all across the country reporting on the music scene in their community (sound a bit like blogging? It should and the year was 1995). Discovery Channel was one of the first media properties to really experiment with the Web. John was brought in to transform a single Web site into a network of 14 Web properties known as Discovery.com. They had live, online expeditions from the field. Reporters would post stories, audio and video from Australia in search of giant spiders and from the bottom of the ocean where we explored the Titanic wreckage for the first time. All while the events were happening. He designed and built online experiences for TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery Kids, Discovery Health, Travel Channel not to mention a host of digital TV network sites and global sites. His experience creating an online adventure service for kids with Discovery Kids, inspired him to join a startup called HiFusion committed to building a unique school-to-home Internet service for the K-12 community. There, he created full-service portals with every communication function under the sun – IM, mail, message boards, even an voice-to-text alert system that would reach you on all of your devices. They had a nationwide team of education professionals working to bring the service into schools and communities everywhere. But it was 2000 – a pivotal year for Internet-based business. They sold the company to Sylvan Ventures and moved onto the next adventure. For him that next adventure is Ogilvy. Where did he get his schooling? John graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in European history and a minor in communications spending a lot of time at the Annenberg School of Communications.

Peter Wood thoughts

Get into space. Have and hear the natural world.

Details --> thinking in a different way.

Don't think in terms of piles of facts and figures. Ripple out, not in. Drop the pebble, see what happens. Be an island -- and be prepared to fail.

Form and function come from truth.

Think about the impact that you have with your thoughts.

Peel back and get to th essence instead of just adding another layer.

We need standards, not standardization.

We are all begging for simplicity.

Ask: what can I add to make it healthier?

Instead of waiting for perfection, run with what you've got and fix it as you go.

Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination ... and then make it better.

"Its not where you take things from -- it's where you take them to." -- Jean-Luc Godard

Look at detail as it is relevant to humanity.

Speaker Series: Brian Hurewitz

This week's speaker was Brian Hurewitz, VP, Senior Art Director/ACD at Green Team USA. Green Team describes their mission as guiding their clients into the hearts, minds and homes of Awakening Consumers. They aim to do great work while advancing society and the environment. I think the concept is very interesting, especially considering their client list, which is not your typical Smokey the Bear environmental type stuff. I had never heard of Green Team before this speaker event, so if you're in that boat I urge you to check out their website at www.greenteamusa.com.

Brian spoke a lot about his journey from Florida beach bum to the advertising world. He was one of the more humorous speakers we've had to date. However, instead of focusing on that aspect of his speech I would rather spend time talking about Green Team's secondary site, www.afterthesemessages.com.

After These Messages gives everyday people like you and me the opportunity to view and review current advertisements. After you answer their questions, they will show you on a four-square diagram where you rated the advertisement (one axis is heaven vs. hell, the other is hack vs. genius) and where other people rated it. If you rate enough of them, you win points and get prizes. Aside from the fact that there are rewards attached to this site in the form of pencils and jewelry, I think this is just a generally cool idea. In my many hours of free time, I plan to review some ads and see how my views measure up.

Overall, what I got from this speaker was the concept of acting responsibly, as a consumer, a client and an advertiser.

Today's semi-obviou statement

Having a great idea is not good enough.

Executing an okay idea is not good enough.

Executing a great idea might be good enough. It's certainly a better bet than either of the other options.

Speaker Series: Jason Whiting

Today's speaker was Jason Whiting, Managing Director of AKQA Washington, who gave a talk called "Digital Out of the Ghetto." AKQA does interactive and digital advertising only. For offline work, they partner with other agencies. They are the largest independent interactive agency in the world.

Consumers spend 30% of their time on-line
Advertisers spend 5% of their marketing budget on-line
TV viewing has fallen by 1/3 since 1985
70% of DVR/Tivo users regularly skip through ads
57% of American teens are content creators
Over 1/2 the on-line population uses an on-line social network
87% of kids 12 - 17 are on-line
80% of people 18 - 40 are on-line
70% of people 40+ use the Internet

Virtual is reality.

With sites like Myspace, flickr, wikepedia and second life, consumers have become creators. You can now customize messages on M&Ms, make a music video on You Tube and buy pass along your favorite content to anyone with Internet access. In short, it is a more level playing field. Advertisers must now go from saying to doing, from interuption to engagement.

Thought for the day

Have a PROCESS. Things don't just happen.

Simulcasting

Simulcasting Assignment from Nina DiSesa of McCann-Erickson:

In this day and age, people have multiple identities. Figure out the different pieces of yourself (actual contact points) and give them to your partner. Their job will be to figure out two ways of getting a message to you based on your simulcast.

Speaker Series: John Bell

John Bell, of Ogilvy's PR division, came to speak at the Adcenter today. He gave a talk entitled "How trust, technology and social media changes marketing and communications.

Bell discussed blogs and wikis among many other digital medias. He pointed out that the internet feels extremely personal to most people, and that advertisers are currently trying to connect with consumers in a way that doesn't spoil that feeling.

Words I need to remember: digital services, microcasting, digital advocacy, syndication, email, online media, social computing,

A large portion of the talk was devoted to the issue of trust. We trust different people today than we used to. Trust in advertisers and marketers is down, trust in the media is diminishing. On the other hand, peer-to-peer recommendation is trusted above most other forms of communication.

Another subject was micro-niche markets. The internet has made it extremely easy for people who share beliefs (no matter how niche those beliefs are) to find and communicate with eachother. Micro-niche markets are eating away at TV. TV is being replaced by more personal forms of media like blogs, photo blogs, wikis, search/tagging, computing, growing communities, message boards and opinion sites. Currently, 60% of available video content on the internet is on YouTube ... how can we use that knowledge more strategically? To look into blog statistics, visit Technorati.com or the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

Steps to take to become part of the digital world:
1. start reading by using an RSS aggregator (myyahoo, bloglines, pageflakes, etc.)
2. go to http://blogfeeds.ogilvypr.com.
3. join the conversation at blog.ogilvypr.com.
4. create a digital influence strategy for a client
5. start a blog, make a podcast, creat a flickr galery, use del.icio.us ... etc.

Sites to remember:
rocketboom
secondlife
88slide
boing boing
execrtolux design lab
turn here: videos of places

Nina DiSesa

Today's Creative Thinking teacher was Nina DiSesa, chairman of McCann-Erickson NY. She is currently in the process of writing a book titled "Seducing the Boys Club." It hasn't been published yet, but I think it might be quite an intersting read.

Notes from Nina:

How you present is often more important than what you present.

Communication requires awakeness and emotional connection.

Be likable, be trustable.

Make a connection

Today's Mantra

Don't settle into the background.

Don't be a quite chair.

Don't be a wallflower.

Notes from Business of Advertising class

I just reread my notes from today's class and had to laugh when I saw what I wrote down. All by itself with no explanation, I scribbled the phrase "Professor Just wants my soul."

My First Win

Before now, the only thing I had ever won before was a free Diet Coke (which I never redeemed).

But today, I found out that I won one of the AICP Directors Scholarships at alloted to the Adcenter. It's a very small amount of money, but I'm really honored, as well as excited to have the opportunity to add the word 'scholarship' to my resume.

My Application (be warned -- it's quite sappy):

The day that I met Libby, a strategic planner at Y&R in Chicago, I knew my life had changed. Eating salads with her at the China Grill, I had the kind of feeling that made me suddenly understand what priests were talking about when they discussed their “calling.” I vividly remember listening to her speak about her job, her daily routine and the people she worked with. All I could think was, “this is what I need to do with my life.” It may sound cheesy -- the way that being called by God had often seemed to me – but I can’t think of any other way to express my need to fulfill this strategic planning dream.

At the time of my conversation with Libby I didn’t know if I could be a great planner or even a good one, but I had a hunch that if I could manage it there would be no career better suited for me. Two internships, one grad school application and eleven months later, I am confident that I have chosen the right path for myself. I have come to the Adcenter to learn how to delve deeper into people and what makes them ‘tick’; to use that information to make advertisements and build brands in a way that is more creative, relevant and focused; and to kill my fear.

I am a big fan of the phrase “times change.” People, ideas, technology, priorities and morals may change, but time only changes in relation to them all. It is my view that the job of the planner is to keep up with the changing times by understanding all of the things that change them. A planner must ask ‘why’ until he or she gets to the highest level of the problem, and then must use that knowledge to deliver ideas to people in a way that makes them actually listen and consider.

For many years advertising has numbed people with its frequency and monotony. There have been great ads, great campaigns and great brands built, but not enough of them. I believe that one major, extremely basic reason for this is the fact that advertising has not changed at nearly the rate that time has. As advertisers, it is time to recognize and fully grasp the fact that consumers are now in control. We can no longer expect that people won’t change the channel or switch the station or avert their eyes from our messages. Instead of wallowing in sadness about Tivo and Sirius and people’s general distain of bad advertising, it is now time to put down the megaphones and focus on truly engaging the people that we are trying to reach.

I am at the Adcenter to find out if I have what it takes to encourage and actively participate in changing the way that advertisers think about their consumers. I believe I do. I am at the Adcenter to stretch myself, to learn all that I can from the professors here and to remember their ideas as I try my hardest to be a part of the movement to bring advertising up to speed with its audience. I believe I can.

I believe that my commitment to making advertising more focused on the people that it is meant for and my willingness to really work for that change are what make me an ideal candidate for a scholarship at the Adcenter. I will not be just another person to pass through here. I plan to learn all that I can and to use that knowledge to create change, interest, and ads that people can stand to watch.

Speaker Series: Marty Cooke

Marty Cooke of SS+K came to speak at the Adcenter today. His talk was entitled "Building Brands and Opinion In A Fractured World."

Cooke talked a lot about integration, referencing SS+K as a truly integrated agency and not just one more shop capitalizing on the buzz word. From the website and the video he showed us, SS+K seemed like a very interesting place to work -- they produce a lot of alternative media pieces and seem to collect employees with a broad range of backgrounds. I was saddened to hear him say that he generally didn't hire people right out of grad school but looked for people who had a few years of agency experience first.

He called the process of building brands and opinion in a fractured world "asymmetric communication," which I thought was an intersting term.

Cooke shared with us his agency's beliefs on the idea of 'Noble Truth.' Cooke explained that a Noble Truth = Consumer Truth + Brand Truth.

Lastly, he suggested showed us the website www.secretwebsite.org, which was very neat.

Oscar the pug

Oscar the Pug: a creative thinking assignment gone wrong

We were assigned the task of making Mike Lear's 6 year old pug, Oscar, famous. The only two rules were that the dog could not be harmed or killed, and that harming or killing the dog could not be integral to your plan.

The rules were broken on a myspace page, which has induced the wrath of Rick Boyko, Mike Lear and a VCU Dean. The whole thing is rather odd.

Someone (possibly a student, possibly not) wrote on a myspace blog that they were going to kill Oscar. This being Richmond, the police and the ASPCA both got involved and we students got a talkin' to.

Currently, the Oscar story is being covered on several news stations, in the Richmond Times Dispatch, in VCU's student newspaper and in multiple postings on Craigslist.

Lesson for the day: There is a difference between making something famous and making something infamous. Making something infamous is much easier.

Mike Lear

Today's Creative Thinking teacher was a Sr. Copywriter from the Martin Agency, formerly of CP+B. I thought one of the most interesting parts of his class was the time that he spent talking about the more personal side of the business. Mike was very candid with us and talked a lot about how he dealt with having his ideas thrown out time and time again. A Mike Lear quote to remember: "Those who stew let the venom get to them."

He recommended a few books, which I will read someday ... perhaps this summer once Don Just and his immense workload no longer haunt my dreams.

"Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg
"Hey Whipple Squeeze This" by Luke ______________
"Cutting Edge Advertising 2" by Jim Aitchison
"Hooplah" by CP+B

Lear's advice: read those books in that order.

My addendum: I may have butchered several of those authors' names. My apologies, but I'm too tired to look them up at the moment.

Entertainment brands

goal: to be a cultural touchstone.

Speaker Series: Jonah Bloom

Today was the first lecture in the Adcenter speaker series. To kickoff the school year Jonah Bloom, editor of Adweek, came to speak to us. His talk was entitled "Marketing is Dead, Long Live Marketing."

Bloom suggested that we read the following books:
"A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink
"Advertising is Dead, Long Live Advertising"
"The Substance of Style" by Virginia Postrell

The three big words in his presentation were Asia, Automation and Abundance.

Bloom talked about the fact that outsourcing and commoditization were forcing people to try to make products either better or cheaper (which is now almost impossible, in the case of cheaper). People no longer want for anything anymore. At this point America is in a search for meaning: we aren't any happier jsut because of what we have. Bloom noted that P&G now has more designers than engineers. Marketers are now understanding the importance of aesthetics.

A large part of his talk was on the shift from pure function to meaning. It has become necessary to add meaning into the things we sell. Axe deodorant has become a status symbol and toilet brushes are now made by designers.

Marketing has had to become more honest because the consumer is in control. Communication channels are endless and marketers don't know where they will catch consumers. Bloom mentioned two models of marketing: the push and pull models. In the Push Model, consumers will be there waiting for you. In the Pull Model, consumers have to want it. They must be accurately targeted if you want to attract them to your message. In the Pull Model, the best advertising is inseparable from the best content.

New Tools:
1. Search Marketing
2. The use of Smart Databases

Bloom continued his speech by talking about consumer creation and co-creation. Agencies are now trying to get consumers to co-create marketing messages, sometimes with success and sometimes not (in the cases of the Burger King mask videos and Chevy Tahoe commercials).

In terms of measurement, Bloom spoke about the fact that companies were more and more interested in the idea of ROI. As marketing bcomes talked about it becomes more disputed. Brand Officers have to answer serious questions from their companies and shareholders about how money is being spent. Measurement is no longer about tiems seen, it is now about times clicked, considered, gone to store, etc.

Media musings

Media must balance. This helps regulate clutter.

Six major networks, 60-70 cable networks, 73,898 radio stations, 1500 daily newspapers, 550000 outdoor locations, etc., etc., etc. What does this mean? Marketers can no longer reach 90% of the population by playing a commercial on the big 3 networks simultaneously. Consumers have more choices, consumers are in control.

Collaboration between strategy and media is essential. It is the job of the agency to manifest the objectives by way of creative and strategic execution.

Peter Wood

Today's Creative Thinking teacher was a freelance art director named Peter Wood. A fascinating man -- very different, extremely interesting and totally comfortable with himself. All in all it made him easy to listen to and a very appealing teacher. He spent a lot of time focusing on presentation with us, which was nice.

Check out his website at www.woodpeter.com.

My first Don Just experience

Notes From Class

This is the toughest class here. Just fails more people than any other professor.

You must over achieve in order to meet expectations.

1/2 the class will be failing 1/3 of the way through.

Branding is an emotional connection with the consumer, not a pure science.

No whining.

To be successful in this business, you must manage the differences between clients and agencies.

Books To Read

"The Brand Gap" by Marty Neumeier
"All Marketers are Liars" by Seth Godin
"Teams That Click" Harvard Business School Press
"Positioning: How to be seen and heard in the overcrowded marketplace" by Al Ries and Jack Trout

Our craft

Strategic Planners plan, conduct and analyze research. They turn information into insights that inspire great creative work.

... just in case you were wondering.

One week down, 59 to go

I've made it through my first week. Orientation and my classes were a blur. As usual, I've been having trouble remembering everyone's name. Proper nouns were never my forte. I've already been told several times that brevity is key around here, so to summarize my week:

Orientation: Very neat to see everyone together. We're the largest Adcenter class yet and have already been yelled at for not knowing what a PVR is. What is the difference between a DVR and a PVR? Holy Boyko!

Creative Thinking: Any class that starts out with the analysis of a poem is good with me. It soothes me to know that the teachers here believe in and practice the idea that creativity beyond advertising is important to discuss as well. My teacher, Mark Fenske (www.markfenske.com) made it clear that those who showed up to class late would get peed on. His words, not mine. As Professor Fenske has gone back to working at Weiden, our class will be taught by a series of guest teachers.

Media Research & Planning: Donna spent a lot of time talking about how this course would be a review for most people, which worried me. Trust me Donna, they don't teach HUTs and PUTs to Drama majors.

Business of Advertising: Wow. Don Just is exactly the man that rumor states him to be. He requires business attire to be worn in class and is quite striking really. What presence -- a bit scary, but quite admirable. As Professor Just stated in his own words, he IS the bar at the Adcenter: he sees every students and weeds out the weak. I must be strong.

Quantitative and Qualitative Research: I wasn't excited for this class ahead of time but it actually looks quite cool. Again, this is a course that is a refresher for all the advertising and marketing undergrads, but a totally new subject for me.

Fenske suggestions

Read the poem "Great Blue Heron: Fishes With Beak" by Ted Kooser

Read Business Day in the New York Times

Give people permission to enter your world

Carry a pen and a notebook

Follow these websites: www.whatiheardonthephone.com, www.overheardinchicago.com, www.overheardinnyc.com, www.eavesdroppingindc.com

Look for what's not there

Keep in mind the following idea: Fosbury Flop

Know what a concept is

Don't tell us something we already know

Remember the following Paul Arden Quotes:
"It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be." and "Whaterver you think, think the opposite."

Welcome to your new life

Welcome to my new life at the VCU Adcenter. I am a 23 year old planning-hopeful, embarking on what has the potential to be the journey of a lifetime. One year ago I hadn't even seriously considered strategic planning as a career option. Today, I begin orientation at the most competitive planning / advertising school in the United States.

For more details, check it out at: http://adcenter.vcu.edu