Logitech Goes Back to Bacon

I just saw the new Logitech Revue TV spot with Kevin Bacon and I love it! Of course, I don’t have a freakin’ clue what the product does. But here’s what the creative does:

• They used a celebrity in a fun and interesting way. How often does that happen with celebrity endorsers?

• They used the perfect celebrity. We’re all six degrees from Kevin Bacon.

• They used the perfect mix of charm, message, and creepiness to make me want to watch it again, and pray that more spots will be coming our way soon.

The potential downside, like I mentioned earlier, is that the spots don’t do a great job of explaining the technology. But they put the product on the map and very much in the discussion by playing up the benefit to the average consumer without bogging us down in details. Would anybody email you a techy, descriptive TV spot?

Add it all up and it’s one more formula for going viral (assuming they get a working link up on the internet. I can’t find one right now).

Creativity Starts With Rhythm

Like most people, I don’t do my best creative thinking on cue. The unfortunate fact is that usually my best creative thinking doesn’t even happen at my desk/computer. Here’s where my creativity seems to spark regularly:

Running: I prefer to run outdoors, and I usually don’t listen to music.

Washing Dishes: This includes loading/unloading the dishwasher and washing the non-dishwasher safe stuff too.

Showering: Basically, Murphy’s Law states that my best ideas happen anywhere I can’t feasibly grab a pen and immediately write it down.

Doodling: Technically this is me in concepting mode. But I prefer to continuously put pen to paper rather than twiddling my thumbs while I wait for brilliance to strike.

What do all of these activities have in common? They’re all mundane and repetitive activities that enable me to keep a rhythm. These are the moments when I’m not putting pressure on myself to be creative and I’m not distracting myself either.

As an advertising creative, we need to each recognize our own personal rhythms and use them to our advantage. It’s also important to discover your personal rythym around your workspace, because most deadlines don’t wait for your moment of creative zen.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta hit the shower because I have a big assignment due later today.

Top 5 Freelancer Seating Arrangements

I’ve freelanced at all sorts of advertising agencies: big and small, hip and stodgy, spacious and cramped. I’ve found that these are the Top 5 locations where freelance creatives get seated (in no particular order):

Next to the Copy Machine: It’s loud and noisy, so it’s tough to concentrate. There’s plenty of foot traffic, so you’ll meet everybody you’re seated near. And obviously the copy machine breaks down constantly, so you’ll learn to make small talk with the repair guy. But the biggest downside is you could eventually become this guy.

Near the Bathroom: Why not put the “temp” where nobody wants to sit. This is another location where you can meet just about everybody in the office. This spot brings out the Sociologist in me. I keep an eye on who are the most frequent visitors and who spends the most time inside. These people rarely make eye contact with me. When I’m seated here, I make sure to keep handy my old school track coach’s stopwatch.

Out in the Open: When things are going well for an agency, they start running out of space. This usually leads to lengthier freelance assignments, but includes longer stays at undesirable work stations. When you’re out in the open, you’re usually set up with a makeshift desk, second-rate chair, and no cubicle walls. You are basically an exhibit at the zoo, only it’s more like a petting zoo. People can sneak up on you from any direction, and your every movement along with your computer monitor is on display for the world at all times. This location has killed many a freelancer’s fantasy football team.

Corner Office: Everybody in every company wants to sit in a corner office. You’ve got privacy, great views and Feng Shui up the ying yang. So when a bigwig retires or an agency trims some excess fat salaries, the corner office rarely gets filled immediately. It’s so valuable it requires consideration from the Executive Committee. In the meantime, it’s the most logical place to seat a freelancer when they come in. Warning: this seems like a freelancers paradise, but it actually makes it more difficult to ingratiate yourself with the team.

The Edge of Somebody Else’s Desk: Truly the last resort. Nobody wants to share a desk with you. If you find yourself in this situation, I’d recommend bringing your own pens, paperclips and other supplies. And for the love of all things decent, if this is your situation, don’t ever eat a tuna sandwich at your workstation.

Good luck freelancers. Be safe out there.

Really, Microsoft? That's Your Insight?

Microsoft is about to unleash Windows Phone 7 on the world. And they’ve already started teasing us with commercials for the world’s newest Smart Phone. There are two that I’ve seen. If you haven’t seen them, watch them HERE and HERE.

They’re beautifully shot, well executed, simple and cool. I can’t say enough about them. But in my opinion, there’s one glaring problem here. The human insight that makes these spots go, just isn’t true. Kind of makes the creative a moot point.

Here’s the rationale from David Webster, chief strategy officer in Microsoft's central marketing group. I just pulled this quote off the internet without really checking my sources. I’m not a journalist, so cut me some slack here.

“Our point is to say that the right phone design can allow you to get in, get that done and get back out, which is really what I think most people would strive to do if the phone didn't interfere with that by making them do too many steps, go down too many silos, switch paths too many times.”

Well sir, I disagree. Sure, iPhone and other Smart Phone users might be annoyed about the number of steps (by my estimate, it takes three touches just to get to the phone keypad on my iPhone). But we don’t walk around staring at our phones like zombies because they’re slow or technologically cumbersome.

We’re staring at them because we’ve never held so much information in the palm of our hands before. This is new to us. We’d rather be engaged with our new toy than the world around us. In fact, I’m most zoned into my surroundings during the 30 seconds while I’m waiting for my Scrabble app to load.

I’m surprised Microsoft would build their creative campaign around this insight. Haven’t we learned anything from the other technological advances over the years that were supposed to make our lives more efficient? They don’t make life easier, they just bring on more work, longer to-do lists and tighter deadlines.

Now that’s a strategy I would love to see a strong advertising agency tackle. Really.

Mentors: The Career-Maker

I’m convinced that you need two types of mentors in your professional life. One is the more seasoned person who rose through the same ranks you’re trying to navigate, and the other is a collection of professionals that might come from a variety of different areas of expertise.

Most people truly only consider the first one their MFL ("Mentor For Life", trademarked by yours truly). Somebody who has been there and done that. A person who is not only sitting where you hope to be sitting one day, but also living their life the way you want to live yours. Do they stay late? Do they take extra long lunches? Did they change their identity after the Korean War and regularly cheat on their wife who was stuck at home with two young children plus an infant? It’s important to consider how your MFL got where he/she is.

But don’t discount all of these other people that can help you. For advertising creatives, this means getting to know your Account Supervisors, planners, media gurus, and even your junior-level colleagues. Everybody brings a learning nugget to the table. They have a professional perspective that you can’t get from your immediate supervisor or MFL. If you want to be successful in your current role while fanning out your good karma to agencies across the country, start by recognizing that everybody knows at least one thing that could be of benefit to you.

With the right combination of people that you respect looking out for you, your career will stay on track. And more importantly, you’ll always have somebody with whom you can eat lunch.

Want to get your foot in the door? Don't put it in your mouth.

Freelance creatives and job seekers are constantly trying to get people to look at their portfolio. My recommendation is to know what you’re dealing with before putting on the hard sell.

Here’s how I approach the various types of people that I want looking at my work:

Junior-Level Creative: Tell a junior copywriter you’d be happy to re-art direct some of their spec work. Tell a junior art director you'd improve some of the headlines in their spec book. You’ll be in their office within 24 hours.

Creative Assistant: The gatekeeper to the creative department. Pre-stalk them on Facebook to learn about their bio and interests, and tailor your message accordingly. Keep the tone of your message casual and personal, and not overly professional.

Executive Creative Director: email is the best introduction here. Doesn’t really matter what you actually say in the body of the message; mention somebody important that you know in the Subject line of the email.

Associate Creative Director: Let them know that you know they’re in a leadership position. Tell them how much you’d love to work for them. Make sure they know that you know their opinion actually matters within the creative department. Really lay it on thick. Conclude your interaction (email, phone or face-to-face) with something like, “I hope to work FOR you someday.”

Copywriter: Be careful if you’re a writer writing to another writer. Ask if they know about other teams at the agency with writer needs. Don’t make the staff copywriter think you’re trying to replace him/her. If you’re an Art Director, this isn’t the right time to send that amazing logo you made. Rather, forward along a couple samples that make the headline the hero of the campaign, but require very little body copy.

Recruiter/Resource Manager: The key here is quantity. Regular messages will keep you front and center. But prepare yourself for a continual one-way conversation with yourself. Your work will (eventually) be seen, but prepare yourself to write a bunch of email openers like this: “Dear Recruiter, I hope your Good Friday was better than good.”

Art Director: Finally, an email that doesn’t require you to re-read what you’ve typed in order to look for spelling and grammatical errors. You have two choices here. One is to just pour out your heart in a stream of conscious and then immediately send it. The other is to just say it very straightforward without any capital letters: “dear art director, i’d like job at you agency. ken i show you mi book!” Remember, don’t use the default font on this email.

Good luck creatives!

Hey Creatives, I'm on my high horse

Have you seen the big plunge Old Spice has taken into the world of Social Media? Here’s a behind the scenes look at what it’s all about.

And here’s an interesting quote from Iain Tait, the Global Interactive Director at Wieden & Kennedy: “If the message that comes out of this is that you can make TV commercials in 30 minutes, then we're all out of a job.”

Of course, that was said a little tongue-in-cheek (but just a little). But I actually think the success of this campaign is some of the best news in a while for traditional creatives and those trying to find their place in a constantly evolving web 2.0 (or is it up to 3.0 now?).

Here’s why:
• This was a collaboration of SM-savvy talent with traditional creative. They both needed each other and leaned heavily on each other’s skills.

• Whether it was designed and put together in a day, a week, or had been in the works for months, this was professionally produced, TV-quality work. Strategically, its not much different than the “Subservient Chicken.” But executionally, it has nothing in common with a webcam.

• This campaign started as a traditional creative campaign. The viral way it exploded owes to the internet, but it had the head start of a high profile TV debut.

• Most importantly for copywriters such as myself, from the original TV spot all the way through the 87th video, the success depended on a specific type of copywriter. One that’s funny, full of ideas, works quickly, and has such a complete understanding of the brand voice that they can speak for the brand through a unique character.

So creatives can only hope that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I’m not looking for Starbucks to say “I’m on a horse.” But I’m looking for agencies that work with great brands, and those that aspire to be great to start seeing the value of the full spectrum of skills required by their brand messengers.

Will Soccer Ever Be the "It" Sport?

“Soccer is the 'now' sport for a variety of timely reasons.”

When do you think a U.S. sports executive uttered these words? Last week? During the 2002 World Cup when the Univision “Goooooooallll” announcer burst on the scene? Try 1977.

With the World Cup starting this weekend, expect to hear a lot more quotes like this one and others that have been said over the past 30 years. But for some reason soccer continues to be the sport of tomorrow here in the States, while never being the sport of today.

Oh sure, it has grown. But rather than in a burst, its making a Bataan-like march towards popularity.

And every time soccer’s popularity gains here, you can’t help but notice how far behind we still lag from the rest of the footie-fanatics all over the world:

• During the past few weeks, ESPN has been promoting this year’s La Copa Mundial by showing us the incredible passion other countries have for this sport? These spots make me feel guilty for presumably thinking about sex at some point over the next five weeks.

• Saturday’s U.S. game is arguably the most anticipated US game ever. But that didn’t stop MLB and the NBA from scheduling games this weekend, or movie studios from releasing ”The A-Team” and “Karate Kid.”

Soccer is now the 5th most popular sport in the U.S., based on attendance, TV contracts, and cultural zeitgeist. I expect it to overtake hockey very soon. Beyond that, the smartest thing U.S. Soccer leaders could do is to continue moving slowly, smartly, and strategically. Tomorrow will eventually arrive for soccer, but regardless of how the U.S. team performs in South Africa, it won’t be today.

First Day Jitters

Did I pack everything I need? Who will sit with me at lunch? What if I can’t find the bathroom?

The first day of a new job is very similar to the first day of school. For a freelancer like myself, the first day of school comes a few times every year (hopefully). But it doesn’t make it any less nerve-wracking, perspiring and exhilarating. We don’t truly know what to expect in terms of team dynamics, project expectations and dozens of other less important pieces of minutiae that can stress out all but the most savvy, veteran advertising creative.

I figure this is a good thing. It means I still care. It means I know there are still things I need to learn. And there are still goals I want to achieve. Guess that’s why I do what I do.

Creative Ways for Creatives to Persevere

I just read that Tina Fey pitched this amazing commercial spoof many times over a number of years before it finally was produced.

In her case, she believes it gathered dust because men dominated Saturday Night Live’s writer’s room. And the reason it saw the light of day was because more and more women who got the joke slowly found they’re way into the sketch pitch meetings.

Reflecting on this story, it’s easy to think the lesson here is that creatives should never give up. But advertising creative is different. This type of perseverance doesn’t often pay off. The expiration date on great ideas can change at any moment. Maybe the strategy changes, maybe you switch accounts, maybe a different agency executes a similar concept. But certainly, your creative director, account director and client don’t want to hear the same idea twice.

So what’s an advertising creative supposed to do when their best ideas don’t make it beyond the internal pitch meeting? How can we persevere?

Some go the spec route, which I only recommend for your absolute best ideas that have to be unleashed on the rest of the world. For the rest of your good ideas, my philosophy is to move on, but never forget.

I have a folder for all of my favorite broadcast scripts and headlines. When I hit a creative roadblock while concepting, I’ll dig out those old scripts for inspiration. Maybe I just need the ego-stroking reminder that I’m funny, insightful, and quick-witted (and gosh darn it, people like me). Or maybe the creative formula that just fell short for one product is a perfect fit for a different one.

So my dream of producing a radio spot involving a pool boy and a stay at home mom will never happen. But who knows, one day it might just inspire me to develop a completely different idea for one of your clients.