Integration. Integration. Integration. A low-fi expression.

Hello and greetings from the Midwest (now a little further south).

 

I’m in a pitch where the RFP states “We want to see Integration, Integration, Integration.”

Okay. So they want integration, that’s pretty clear. However, when you dive into it, clients have different meanings of integration. Mostly, they have a very uninformed idea of integration, which I call “Matchy-Matchy” or “Matching Luggage.” See the attached photo of matching luggage.

Not only is it pretty uninspiring (I chose something ugly ), but all the pieces of luggage pretty much do the same thing, they hold your stuff.

If you are someone more experienced at building integrated campaigns, you realize a better expression of this might be something like this photo of a grilling set.

 

All the pieces look somewhat similar, right? But every single piece within the set is designed to do something very specific (much like all of our media channels available to us today).  All of them used together hopefully deliver something very successful (& tasty).

So if you’re off to design some integrated marketing campaign, it’s best to understand what each medium is best at doing and don’t try and make each medium do everything… or the same thing (like luggage). Try to strategize around making your campaign act differently in different media and leverage the strengths of each. And please don’t try and make everything look exactly alike, because if you're clients are smart, that's all you get credit for.

Wishing  @Jess3 could make an amazing info-graphic to explain this better? Hollah if you want to work on it together. @bartonow

 

 

SXSW Preparedness Kit

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A.    A golden ticket to all the knowledge in the world, and thus, ruling it!

B.   Go Go Juice

C.   Name identier (Hi, this me and the gang I’m in)

D.    Hotel key (Dear hotel, please next time put the room number on it so when it’s 3 in the GD morning I know where I’m going)

E.    One of 10K useless QR-Code thingies (that didn’t link to anything good)

F.    Sci-Fi thumb drive (instant geek street cred)

G.   Hipster-collegiate smokes (which made me look and smell stupid)

H.   Rag for cleaning my hipster glasses

I.      Lifeblood (Please Apple make a battery that lasts even longer)

J.     Analogue writing utensil (didn’t use these at all)

How's your mobile app going?

So I did a quick poll of 20 random people here at SXSW last night and today.

I asked, "How is your app going?"

7 out of 10 responded, "It's going awesome!" and they proceeded to explain the intricate details of their app. (they were all lacking in elevator pitch skills, btw there's a panel on that today).

Keep in mind, I had no idea if these random people had an mobile app or not. It seems if you don't have your own app these days, then maybe your not quite on the cutting edge. And lately, ad creatives have been getting more credit for their side-project apps, than the apps they are making for their clients. Which the more I think about it, it's awesome. It's people just making stuff to make stuff.

Like this app. It's a side project, but could be altered and modified and just really cool for some client:

http://bit.ly/i5KKZL

So, get that Objective C coder friend. Buy him/her something they like, like maybe an XBOX, or a boyfriend/girlfriend. And go make that app! Don't delay!

props to www.peterskitchen.net for the image

If you are a client picking an agency...

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There are more types of agencies around today than ever before. All this dang technology has turned everyone upside down and more specialist agencies popping up every day. I personally would like to create a specialist agency that only advertises on urinal pucks and in skywriting, I think this is the wave of the future.

 

In short, if you are a client, here are my invented categories of agencies that exist today.

 

The Biggs

These agencies are so freaking huge that they employ entire cities. They take up 15 floors in massive skyscrapers. They do everything, especially eat funky smaller agencies for lunch. What do they stand for? Being big. Their budgets are bigger than many small countries. Do they “get” digital? No. They don’t have to because they will just acquire the expertise… and stay big.

 

The Nebulous

This agency has funny titles in its structure like “Alchemist” or “Talent Magnet.” They do Creata-strata-digi-social type of things. They will wow you with wizardry. They will say things to you like “digital ninja.” They will do a boatload of work for you Mr. or Mrs. Client and will charge you a lot of money and you will have no idea what to do with it.

 

The Designers

Immaculate. Pristine. They create work that is so precious, it hurts. They will suffer over your annual report until their eyes bleed. They will give you 52 options for the logo and you will never pick the right one. They do great work. And they still won’t be happy about it.

 

The Dangerous

These agencies are smart. They will always be smart. They are usually mid-sized. They can really see the future. They change before it gets here. Whatever they do, it’s usually better than your work. They are rarely afraid. They keep being smart, but they are even smart enough to not turn into one of the “Biggs.”

 

The Consultants

Usually coming from a deep technology background, these agencies literally process you into submission. They make charts and graphs and talk about such deep technology issues that it leaves most IT guys breathless. Creativity isn’t their forte, process is. It’s not about the product, it’s how they get there that will make you, Mr./Mrs. Client, feel at ease and hire them. These places will turn Creatives into robots.

 

The Scrappy

Production minded. Constantly hungry. Will out-hustle your agency 10-times over. They can concept shit and make it, too. They have one guy in film, one guy in digital and one guy in sales. They do the agency production work, but also have their own clients. They are fast and connected. But they don’t have a good account guy to grow anything or get a big client.

 

The Web Barn

C’mon down to the web barn! We’re fast. We’re cheap. And right now we have a 2 for 1 special on HTML E-mails. We do HTML, XML, FLASH, AJAX, Animated GIFs. We do it all. Creative? You want it fast right? Well, we don’t get creative on our stuff. Just look up at our board here, pick what you want and we’ll get it right down to ya!!

 

The Too Cool

These guys are so cool and so small that you’ve never heard of them. They did that one thing just recently, I don’t remember exactly who it was for, but it was so cool! Oh, and their logo was awesome. I don’t remember their name… wait, what happened to them? They’re gone? They were so cool!

How your agency presents itself

Recently I was on an interview and meeting with their HR represetative (who was very nice). She was trying very hard to succinctly explain to me the current success and forward trajectory for this agency.... and this is how she decided to explain it:

"We are an agency that went to bed as a girl and woke up a woman. And we discovered that we have breasts growing, but we don't know how big they are going to be. So, we are having a hard time to know how big of a bra to buy."

Where do I sign up?

 

11 Amazing Digital Advertising Predictions for 2011

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11 amazing digital advertising predictions for 2011, as I see them.

 

1.    Google will start buying your recycled emails for $1 a piece.

 

2.    Groupon will offer a Groupon to buy Groupon.

 

3.    Zynga will grow virtual crops through Farmville to feed worlds’ hungr.

 

4.    New film “The Social Not-Work” will be made about Friendster.

 

5.    Social Media Experts will lose more friends in 2011

 

6.    Microsoft will release a new multi-platform reality game called “work.”

 

7.    More traditional agencies will discover (insert useless shiny object here) and sell this cutting-edge technology to clients.

 

8.    Google will own every idea you haven’t thought of yet.

 

9.    Crowdsourcing creative will directly increase the amount of hazardous gasses released in the atmosphere, thus speeding up global warming

 

10.  Augmented reality will cause millions to flashback from earlier acid trips.

 

11.  Second Life will make a huge comeback.

Beat this Case Study

I've been making integrated advertising case-study videos for awhile. After this one, this is the only kind of marketing I'm really interested in.

 

Art>^<Break: Fugazi

Enuff Advertising. Enuff doing stuff for money. Enuff impressions. Enuff ROI. Enuff Technology. This is an art break. Doing something for the fuck of just doing it. Music for music. Music for saying something more than a sale. Music for making a movement. To me in the late 80's early 90's, Fugazi was gospel. Here are the top 5 Fugazi clips on YouTube just as I see it (in not particular order).

Waiting Room

Turnover

Margin Walker

Glue Man

Oh

HTML. We're back.

So here on the forefront of digital advertising. It's becoming official, at least for the work I'm creative directing for a certain CPG company. No Flash on sites. OR, all sites created must have just embedded SWFs and an alt. jpg image so it can be viewable on other devices.

There's such a huge push for SEO from our clients (not to mention some other devices that can't see Flash), that were back (or forward?) to creating sites solely through HTML, Javascript, or some crazy AJAX (whatever happened to that shiny object?). Digital Production agencies are telling me, don't worry about HTML5, yet.

Anyhow, I've seen some animations that aren't that bad done with just straight HTML, I mean, it's definitely not FLASH ... but I still wanted to report, that it feels like were out of the mostly-Flash site business. At least in my neck of the SuperWebs.

What's the FWA going to do?

Shiny Object Alert: Projection Mapping

It's not a new business forcasting tool. It's filiming on objects. And it's pretty dang cool. There's been quite the influx lately of projection mapping on cars, buildings and now shoes. A great technique that could be used on a lot of things.

I'm going to do a projection mapping film on my Thanksgiving Turkey this year.

 

 

 

Mobile Agency Sites Done Right (ish)

Mucho props to Nick Jones (Interactive AD) and his exploration of the "agencies of the future" and their "futuristic" mobile site FAILS. That blew my mind. If you haven't seen the post, it lives here.

Of course, then, I thought, who is doing it well? And what's the expectation of a mobile site for an agency of the future? What info do I really need from it?? And who's the audience???

I find there's 3 categories of distinction when it comes to agency mobile sites:

1. Download Flash. FAIL.

2. Squint & pinch approach. Normal site viewable. Platform agnostic.

3. Refreshing. Designed for mobile. IMHO.

TOP 10 MOBILE AGENCY SITES DONE RIGHT(ish)

See the full gallery on posterous

I don't know how many clients are hiring agencies based on their mobile sites. But if they are, we should be ready!

 

Laying Golden Eggs: Only People Matter

I had scanned a blog post by ex-BBH strategist Ben Malbon about some things he had learned while at BBH. And it was uber-refreshing to hear him articulate one of the same creative philosophies I've had for a long time.

PEOPLE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ASSETT A CREATIVE AGENCY CAN HAVE

Many times I hear agencies (including my own) talk about the importance of the work, "It's all about the work," "We must do better work,"... And while, yes, ideas and the work that goes around creating them is why we have jobs and why agencies exist, and I get all the importance that goes around that.

But how many of us have worked at a place where the work was the only thing that mattered? Where the quality of life of the individuals was always secondary, always put behind "the work." It's not very inspiring, did it make you want to do better work? Probably not.

I believe "the work" is important. I belive "ideas" are important. But those amazing ideas and award-winning work only happen when the right (and talented) people get together in an environment that fosters great thinking.

What a lot of pro sports teams and creative teams begin to forget is that the people matter most in the equation of coming up with ideas or better performance. Granted, we all need to be cohesive in our approach toward a common goal, but that also can't be overshadowed by the "health" of the group striving to get there.

I had a creative director, who I thought was a brilliant leader, he told me once, "My job is to make the nest so all my creatives can lay golden eggs."

I couldn't agree more. As a creative director, I view myself as an enabler of great thinking... (part guide, of course, too)... and many times I have to put myself between the corporate regime and the people trying to do the work, to protect those just trying to come up with great ideas.

I think if more agencies switched their focus to "from great people come great ideas," they'd have a lot more success. People would want to work harder, they would feel valued (a common human truth), and align more quickly toward the common goal.

What if you worked at an agency that said, "we want to build great people" instead of "we want to do great work"... how would that make you feel? Would you feel more empowered? Would you be more dedicated toward your craft? Would you try harder to push beyond what you think is a good idea? Would you have more trust with your agency?

Think about it. I think it's true. Maybe someday I'll start something with that philosophy in mind. In the meantime, keep laying Golden Eggs.

 

The Fish Sandwich Principle in Advertising

 

The fish sandwich principle is based on the idea that in a vacuous environment (void of anything), the FIRST object placed within that environment will be the only thing that's considered "true" or "real." 

One time, in a galaxy far, far away; I had this client that was fairly new to digital work.  Along the path, they hired this Digital Guru, who was actually a guy who knew just enough about the digital space to be dangerous... and wrong. This guy comes in with a huge presentation to the entire company and spreads his version of Digital Gospel. And he shows awful digital creative, but deems it as excellent and effective.  This POV reigned supreme and there was no room for any other opinions.

This is the Fish Sandwich Principle. Because this guy came in first and said, "Your digital strategy is FISH SANDWICH!," the clients would have believed it.  Honestly, the guy could have said anything and the client would have eaten it up.  "Everyone should start clicking their mouse with their feet," and the sheep would have been nodding in agreement. 

 

 

 

 

5 fans. 5 phones. 1 amazing Radiohead concert

So my super-music friend KevLilly tells me about these 5 guys that take their phones to a RadioHead concert in Prague and film the whole thing from 5 unique vantage points. Radiohead catches wind of this after the guys posted their edited film. RadioHead says, "Hey, we'll give you the soundboard audio to synch up to it, but you can't make any money off of it." The 5 guys say, cool! And the result is pretty amazing.

I love the idea of technology enabling basically anyone to make art quickly, dynamically and then influence others to do the same or get on board... in this case, Radiohead.

 

 

My entry way

Art imitates life.

the "VP iPad effect" or "the importance of your secondary audience"

Maybe you've experienced this. I'm in the middle of developing a fairely hefty iPhone app for a CPG company. While in the middle of development for the app, we were alerted to the fact that an iPad version was going to need to be developed as well (same timing). Much to my dismay, we were told to just "resize the iphone app to the iPad dimensions." Obviously, no one thought about actually how much more real estate there is to play with and how we should completely design a different experience just for the iPad. Fortunately, we sold through our POV on designing specifically for the device.

Ok, the whole point of that laborious setup is this: OUR TARGET IS PROBABLY NOT USING AN IPAD. The people that ARE using the iPad are the VPs of this CPG company and they just want to be able to see the app on their iPad. It's the total "make something for the VPs" effect or the ever popular, "secondary audience"... you make something for the people, and also for the people who are paying for it :) I'm happy to be making an iPad app, it's awesome to begin thinking for that device, but I'm guessing it'll have about 10 downloads :)

Took this pic on a walk. Why the hell would I want a wig like that?

http://www.cornpops.com/popduction