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.

Another Smart Quarterback Decision

Tom Brady is now the highest profile endorser of Under Armour. Seems like everybody universally agrees that this is a good thing for Under Armour. Off the field he’s no Peyton Manning, but considering who he is, there should be plenty of creative options for the advertising agency. Brady is a handsome winner with a high Q Score and an adequate amount of acting talent (for an athlete).

But it seems like nobody has voiced an opinion whether or not it’s a good move for Tom Brady to leave the behemoth known as Nike. Well, I’m here to say it’s a great move for him. Here’s why:

MONEY: Yes, of course this was a financial decision. But there’s more to this story.

OWNERSHIP: He was given a small piece of the company, so this is really just another way of saying A LOT of money. But now he’s personally invested. If Under Armour were to ever opens a new flagship store on Michigan Avenue, guess who’d be there at the Grand Opening signing autographs and tossing the ball to an adoring crowd? Everybody wins with this one.

LOST IN THE SHUFFLE: Until this week I didn’t know that one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time was even on Nike’s roster of athlete endorsers. It’s Tiger, LeBron and a bunch of other great athletes. Brady is bigger than all the other athletes, but he’d never eclipse Tiger and LeBron when it comes to moving Nike merchandise. So if you can’t join ‘em, go somewhere else and beat ‘em.

PAST HIS PRIME: Technically, he’s still in his prime, but it seems like Tommy Boy is starting to think about the next phase of his career. Most of our greatest athletes fall off the face of the earth after they retire. And those still ekeing out endorsement money, are slumming it compared to their heyday (I’m looking at you Joe Montana). Tom Brady just started doing Xfinity commercials this season, and I think it’s the first time he’s shown his personality on camera, rather than just being a pretty face associated with the brand. I expect more of the same once we start seeing his Under Armour creative. As Jules from “Pulp Fiction” said, “Personality goes a long way.”

UNDERDOG STATUS: Hard for a handsome, 3-time Super Bowl champion who’s married to a Victoria’s Secret supermodel to claim underdog status. But in my opinion, switching from Nike to the underdog Under Armour brand, helps makes him seem more likable and relatable. It evokes the imagery and reputation that he had when he first burst on the scene.

Add it all up, and Tom Brady is definitely thinking about his future He sees a great life beyond the football field, which may help explain why he begs the referees for Roughing the Passer penalties every time one of his opponents breathes on him.

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.

Should McDonald's Serve Billions and Billions on Twitter?

I stumbled across the verified McDonald’s Twitter account (@McDonalds) and an unverified sight that seems to be the official Burger King Twitter account (@BurgerKing). As of 9/21/10, @McDonalds has about 47,000 followers and @BurgerKing has about 1100 followers.

These numbers are hardly a reflection of the overall Social Media strategy for my two favorite restaurants from 1980 through 1998. But it leads me to believe these two rivals have two different approaches to Twitter.

With a little bit of unscientific research, it seems like McDonald’s reach is much broader and more intensive. They have a PR team that also tweets under the umbrella of the Golden Arches. Each member is semi-focused on customer and franchisee satisfaction, as well as the general interests of their core consumer. Basically, it’s a textbook strategy for a method of communication whose textbook is still being written.

But BK (again without too much of a deep-dive research effort on my part) seems to be taking a bit more of a laissez-faire approach. They’re responsive to the customer, but with only 1100 followers, I can’t imagine they’re aggressively seeking to grow this number. There are also quite a few localized BK accounts; I assume these are their franchisees. It’s an interesting and exciting move for the franchisee committed to PR.

I think both McDonald’s and Burger King recognize that the Twitter community is comparatively a small part of their target, and most of their true fans probably already follow them on Facebook. But does BK have a Whopper of a Twitter problem? And is 47,000 McDonald’s followers a satisfying number for a company that loves to tout the fact that they’ve served “Billions and Billions?”

There are plenty of ways for both to grow Twitter followers exponentially (for starters- hire creative copywriters in order to give the King his own Twitter feed and give The Hamburglar a new lease on life online). It may not be their most pressing need today, but it wouldn't hurt. After all, you never know when Google will start optimizing their search engine by total of Twitter followers. Or some other such business nonsense that continues to keep us all on our toes.

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!