Come see me: NY event

Come see me Wednesday night at Madison Browne Fellowship's one year anniversary extravaganza (I may be exaggerating. A little.) I will be speaking on a panel, mingling, sipping wine and smiling a lot. It should be fun. And a great opportunity to network.

RSVP here

Past, Present, Future: Paying your Dues + MBF's One Year Anniversary! Wednesday, February 29, 2012 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (ET) Deutsch, Inc. 111 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10011

Event Details

Join us on February 29th, as we celebrate Black History Month AND our 1 year anniversary at Deutsch where it all began. Network with familiar faces and new ones, view a special exhibition of work submitted by MBF members and join in a special discussion entitled "Past, Present, Future: Paying your Dues" with a panel made up of charismatic advertising professionals as they talk about their personal journey's to success in the industry.

Panelists:

Vann Graves- EVP, Executive Creative Director, McCann Erickson New York

Desmond Hall- Executive Creative Director, Global Hue

Neisha Tweed- Senior Copywriter, Publicis

Piper Hickman- Creative Director

See you there!

The MBF Committee

Felicia Geiger

Tiffany Edwards

Julius Dunn

RSVP here 

YouTube's Most Viewed Ads of 2011

What were your favourite ads of 2011?

I find people in the industry often make ads to entertain people in the industry and not necessarily to engage the target market they are supposed to be selling to. A lot of what wins at award shows, while jaw-droppingly awesome to me, goes right over the head of the average consumer.

It's kind of like that with your portfolio. You're creating to appeal to Creative Directors and Creative Recruiters, not necessarily grandpa who needs Centrum Silver or Joe Farmer who needs a John Deere.

If you're good though, really good, you can appeal to both. You can show that you understand the market, you know the target and you can create something creatively mind-blowing that consumers can relate to and that will make a CD salivate.

That being said, check out YouTube's Most Viewed Ads of 2011. Check them out and see what's creative, strategic and relevant to the target.

How can you create campaigns that CDs and consumers will love?

Is your idea big enough?

How does your idea work across different mediums?

How can you take your core thought/benefit and express it as many ways as possible and still engage people?

It's not just about making a big splash, but being able to make the same big splash in several different areas and different ways.

Here's a really interesting campaign mixing mediums and technology.
(Read more at Mashable)



If your idea can't turn into three or more print ads, a few TV spots, radio, online engagement (Facebook/Twitter etc), mobile engagement and out of home then you're idea isn't shit.

Start over and think bigger.

Sex sells

This might be old news to you. Especially seeing how Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton are famous.

When it comes to advertising, using a hot supermodel or half-naked soccer player can definitely catch people's attentions, but in your portfolio it just looks cheap and tawdry. (Kinda like Kim K)

I love/hate this Liquid-Plumr ad (I almost wrote Drano, which is very bad for them because I remember the ad but not the brand. Beware of this problem with it comes to parity products.) Anyway, back to the ad. It's heavy on innuendo and product benefit but the sex may overwhelm the message.



I applaud the brand for taking such a big risk, but I'm warning you, when it comes to your book, avoid innuendos and anything overly sexual. Too easy Drill Sergeant.

Enter this: The Core77 2012 Design Awards.

In my quest to help you be great, I came across (aka got emailed about) another competition you should check out.  It's for everyone, every discipline, every level - so if you have a good idea, take it here and see if you can win something.

You never know.


Register here

Calling all design practitioners, educators, students, researchers and writers. Submit your best work from 2011 into the most inclusive and celebratory design awards program of the digital age: The Core77 2012 Design Awards.

It's half time in America

I jizz for great copywriting. I missed the SuperBowl (sleep snuck up on me and had me in a choke hold) but when I finally caught up with the ads, this moved me and made me simultaneously excited and envious. I love well done work. Kudos to the team.



Some readers requested the info on this great spot. Enjoy.

Agency:Wieden + Kennedy Portland

Client:Chrysler

Director:David Gordon Green

Creative Director:Aaron Allen

Creative Director:Michael Tabtabai

Creative Director:Joe Staples

Copywriter:Kevin Jones

Copywriter:Smith Henderson

Copywriter:Matthew Dickman

Art Director:Jimm Lasser

 

When you see work you like, take note of who did it, where they work, where they used to work, where they went to school, what other work they've done, what their social security number and blood type are and do your best to emulate/stalk/be inspired by them. 

 

P.S. If you ever want to know who worked on a spot - check Creativity Online and Ads of the World.

Creative New Year Resolutions

2012 is the Year of [insert your name here]. I'm not into making resolutions but let's start setting some ground rules for how we're going to operate this year. You have a lot of things you want to accomplish, so stop being a whiny brat and get to work. 

Say it after me, "This year, I WILL:

If you’re in school:

* Stay up to date on every and anything going on in the industry

* Network with classmates, graduates and working professionals.

* Enter as many competitions as possible

* Never give up.

* Push all my ideas to be award-winning, quality, conceptual and artfully-executed pieces.

If you’re looking for a job:

* Research the people, places and clients I want to work on and reach out to the appropriate people to make it happen

* Always write thank you notes

* Update my book as often as possible to keep it current and keep myself busy

* Push, push, push and push.

* Make looking for a job my job and put in several hours a day into emailing, calling and meeting with people.

If you already have a job:

* Collect and keep all the files of things I’ve been working on. Produced or not. Just in case.

* Update my book at least twice this year.

* Find a work mentor and a work ally to help me grow

* Impress my boss and coworkers

* Work harder than my boss and coworkers

* Look at every project like “This is my chance to be amazing.” And I will find a way to make it true.

Everyone

* Always do my best. Always.

Infographic: Designing the Perfect Blockbuster Movie Poster

To all my designers and movie lovers.

Taken from AdFreak

Infographic: Designing the Perfect Blockbuster Movie Poster The psychology behind the creative By Tim Nudd

You think you just randomly ended up in that movie-theater seat watching things explode? No, that was the end result of a meticulously crafted propaganda campaign by the movie studio, utilizing all the persuasive powers of graphic design—as wonderfully elucidated in the infographic below, from Colour Lovers, examining the posters from the top 10 blockbusters of 2011. There are lots of interesting tidbits—note the preponderance of sans serif fonts and all caps, and the various textures and sight lines utilized. Did these factors alone fill theaters? Of course not. It helped that almost all of these movies were sequels—expanding on the equity built up in previous ad campaigns. Via Fast Company.

 (click to zoom)

Back2Work: Creative Wannabe Work Commandments

BABY FOOD FOR CREATIVES: Back2Work: Creative Wannabe Work Commandments: Whether you're an intern or junior, there are certain rules you need to conduct yourself by to make people like you and want to work with yo...

Win this YouTube competition

Yet another way to show you're amazing.

Advertising is all about storytelling (and lies and propaganda) so start developing your story telling skills.

We all love YouTube (who doesn't love ninja cats and people falling?) Well now you have the chance to be a YouTube sensation and win some $$ in the process.

Enter the YourFilmFestival. 

"The global search for the world's best storytellers.

This is Your Film Festival. You have until March 31st to submit a short, story-driven video. There's no entry fee. It can be any format - short film, web-series episode, TV pilot - and any genre. In June, audiences around the world will vote, sending 10 deserving storytellers to open the 2012 Venice Film Festival where a Grand Prize Winner will be be rewarded with a $500,000 grant to create a new work, produced by Ridley Scott and his world class team."

Get on it.

Win something

Here are some online contests you should check out

Click here now

Challenge yourself.

Win something and make me proud.

watch your step at the front desk

Rule #298: Don't be rude to the man/woman by the front door.

I recently had a friend and her partner come in to interview at my agency. My friend stopped by early and came to my floor to hang out for a bit first and told her partner to meet at my desk.

They interviewed and left. The creative recruiter liked them and said she'd be probably be in touch.

A few minutes after they left, the security guy at the front desk called me and told me that my friend's partner was horrid and has a nasty attitude. Apparently she had been extremely rude to him when she came in to see me.


He said in no uncertain terms that he does not want people like her at this agency, no matter how good she is.


Thank God I wasn't the creative recruiter or someone who could hire her, or she'd be f*#%ed.


So just a friendly reminder to you - be nice to all the little people. They know the people on top.

50 Things Every Creative Should Know

I love helping people and I love people that love helping people. Thus, I love this site -  tweetable tips for creatives of all ages. The 50

I hate excuses

So I won't make any. 

The blog is back. I'm back. Spring is kinda back. (Until Wednesday) (jerk) 


How have you been?

Any topics you want me to cover?
Anybody you want me to interview?
Any prayer requests?