Tuesday Event: Interview to the Top

Interviews are first dates. You have to sell yourself and make a good impression to get to the next step.

Once your book entices people enough to call you in for a meeting, you're half way there. All you have to do is show that you're smart, awesome, funny, great to work with, an asset and an all around amazing human being. Super easy. 

I've written about it here 

Interview Dos + Donts 

Things Recruiters Love + Hate 

What's So Special About You

Make People Remember You 

And now, I'll be joining a panel of awesome people (who definitely know more than me) on Tuesday July 24th to discuss interview tips and more. 

Register and stop by and say hi.

 

Aaaaaand one lucky Creative Wannabe will get a free ticket to come out if you comment on this post and tell me why you need to go to this panel.

Interview to the Top

 
Date/Time : Tuesday, July 24, 6:30 pm
 

Address: AOL HQ, 770 Broadway, 6th Floor
 

Dress: Business Casual
 

Tickets: Students $10, Recent Grads $15, Young Professionals $20
 

RSVP: nycreativeinterns.com/interview

Refreshments will be served.

We’re sure you’ve been told what you should do on an interview, but do you really feel prepared? Whether for a phone interview or a chance encounter at an event, you should always be prepared to show some strength – when talking about yourself. NY Creative Interns is here to help you learn the interview skills you need to land your dream job or internship.

Panel includes speakers from AOL, Polo Ralph Lauren, Suka Creative, and Publicis Modem.

What's Your Two Cents?

Warning: Shameless plug below.

My agency has nominated me for the AdColor Rising Star award.

Apparently I've been doing something right. (Afro-Wearing and Looking Like a Bag of Skittles)

There is a tumblr where people have been sharing what those two things I'm doing right are. (Blushfest 2012)

Neishaisarisingstar.tumblr.com

If you have anything to add, please email neishaisarisingstar@gmail.com 

I'd really appreciate it and mention you to God in my next People Who Deserve A Unicorn For Christmas list.

If you don't, that's okay, too. I just can't promise that I won't put you on the People To Swat If They Get Reincarnated As Flies list. I'm sure you understand.

Things Creatives Do When They're Bored

Creatives get bored. We need side projects and outside stimulation. Advertising is amazing and exciting, but truly creative people need other outlets.
Here's RC's story.

(Side note and portfolio school plug: One of the best parts of portfolio schoo is the people you meet. For example, Caroline, who is now one of my best best friends. And RC, who I haven't seen since 2006, but follow on Facebook, Twitter and his blog. Not because I'm obsessed with him (not like with Cullen Jones) but because I'm entertained and inspired by him. 

Hopefully you will be too.)


COOLNESS GRAPHED by RC JONES 

Who are you?
RC Jones, Senior Copywriter, Chicago, Wunderman

Creator of coolnessgraphed.tumblr.com 

Why did you start this tumblr?               

A tweet I wrote in the spring of 2011 was the inspiration for the first coolness graph. "Whoopie cushions are cool, but I'm pretty sure that an entire Whoopie couch would be awesome." My friend/coworker Dave Theibert stopped by and said "Yeah, but Whoopi Goldberg wouldn't be cool at all." I added that to the graph, and what started as a silly one-off idea has transformed into a hobby that helps me express my creativity in a way I'm not necessarily able to at work. And best off all, I have the only say and the final say. I'm both the creative AND the client, and there are no restrictions.

In December 2011, I decided to create CoolnessGraphed.tumblr.com and began uploading graphs. For the first two months, I would get a couple of comments, likes or reblogs with each post. I didn't think many people were looking and that was fine. I wasn't looking for creative validation, I just wanted to have a place to collect and show the graphs. 

Where do you get your inspiration? 
Conversations are probably my number one source of inspiration, followed by TV shows and movies, pop culture, Twitter, The Onion and the Internet. My wife, coworkers, and friends are big contributors, whether they realize it or not.

How often do you work on it? How do you keep it going?

I post anywhere from 1-10 graphs a week depending on how much time I have to draw, scan and upload them. I have an ongoing list of ideas still to be graphed. As long as I stay curious and keep my eyes, ears and brain open I have no doubt that I can keep this going for a while.

What do you hope people would gain from it?
Laughter, entertainment, a break from the day, a different perspective, money for college (my son)

What feedback have you gotten? 
Tons, and it's all been positive.

Around Valentine's Day I shared a graph on Twitter about cool and uncool places to declare your love. Nick Seaman, a friend and follower, unaware the graph was mine, sent a tweet to the guys behind "I Love Charts." One of the creators of that site then wrote an article about Coolness Graphed on Forbes.com. I was blown away, and my graphs were no longer known to only a handful of people. Along with Forbes and I Love Charts, a number of other sites have written about the Tumblr, including SNAP! Magazine,  Pleated Jeans, and The Fail Blog. One graph has been liked or reblogged over 30,000 times on Tumblr alone. A couple are in the 100s, some are around 50 notes, but most range from 4-20 reblogs or likes.

Does this help or hinder your work?

Both. When I feel I've hit a wall on an assignment I can take a couple minutes, make a graph, and come back to it with a fresh perspective. It's a release. If an idea for a billboard or radio spot gets killed I translate it into a graph and redeem the idea. Likewise, I’ve written copy based on ideas from graphs I’ve made. At the same time though, in less-than-entertaining meetings I find myself brainstorming graphs only to realize later that I might have missed some important details.

What's next? 

More graphs. I've had a number of people tell me I should make a book of them. Or try to syndicate them. We'll see. I'm not sure which of those things is cooler.

What advice do you have for creative wannabes?

Look, read, walk around and take in the world. Do things that seem like they have nothing to do with creating. Not only are those healthy habits, chances are they'll provide insights you can draw from. Your brain is a well, and the more you fill it up the more you can draw from it.

Make what you'd like to look at. If the copy you're writing, photo you're taking or layout you're creating doesn't interest you then chances are it won't interest anyone else. Make something you like and at least one person will dig it, the most important and critical one you know: yourself.

Don't worry about not being known when you start. Or for awhile. It's okay to be obscure. Do good work and people will notice. In the meantime, you can work out the kinks and develop your style and hone your craft. By the time people catch on, you'll be better than when you started.

Play nice with others. There's no reason to be a jerk. Any creative field involves collaboration and being easy to work with and open to others' ideas and opinions, and able to build on them, will take you far. Besides, it's a small world and word'll get out if you're difficult to work with. Be kind, be a breath of fresh air to those around you. Be a lamp or a ladder or a lifeboat. (I read that somewhere.)

Also, get a candy bowl. That's great for making friends.

The Most Creative People In Advertising

What can you learn from these folks?

Start taking notes.










The 25 Most Creative People In Advertising 
from Business Insider

1. Gerry Graf, Founder/CCO of Barton F. Graf 9000

Screengrab Video

When three separate big agencies nominated Graf as one of the most creative people in advertising, we knew he had secured this spot on the list. The veteran has spent time at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, BBDO NY (on two separate occasions), TBWA/Chiat/Day, and Saatchi & Saatchi NY—until he left his job as CCO to start his own shop. Graf takes creativity seriously. So seriously, in fact, that when Colleen Decourcy was on a panel with him at Creative Week and announced that she thought "creative departments are shit" (but she's cool with the people), he stormed off the stage, never to return.

Why:
The entire advertising world is watching what BFG9000 is up to. Graf is known for his absurd, laugh out loud work. He created the "It's time for E*Trade" campaign (remember the monkey?), did the Skittles ad where everything a man touches turns to Skittles, and has done work for FedEx, Red Stripe Beer, Kayak, and Mayor Giuliana's "New York Miracle" campaign spot after 9/11.

2. Elvis Chau, Executive Creative Director of JWT Shanghai

JWT

Chau has become one of the biggest names in Chinese advertising, which was solidified when he brought home the country's first-ever Cannes Lion in 2008 and then Cannes Lion Grand Prix in 2011. The Thai creative has worked for TBWA Shanghai and three different branches of JWT: Singapore, Thailand, and now China.

Why:
Chau is known creating ads that are visually detailed and stunning. His print ad for Samsonite (next slide) called "Heaven and Hell" garnered wide critical acclaim and received a bevy of prizes, including the Grand Prix Lion. Chau also won awards for his Adidas Chinese Olympics campaign. Chau modestly told Campaign that "advertising has no value after one year...That’s the sad thing about it. It doesn’t have the longevity of movies, art or books.”

3. Mark Fitzloff and Susan Hoffman, Executive Creative Directors at Wieden+Kennedy Portland

LinkedIn and YouTube Screengrab

Fitzloff and Hoffman helped push W+K Portland to be the critically aclaimed advertising house that it is today, reeling in some of its biggest clients yet.

Why:
We can all thank Fitzloff and Hoffman for one of the best known ad campaigns to date: Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Can Smell Like." They (along with Iain Tate, now at Google Creative Labs) are the reason why Isiah Mustafa was in the spots and is now a household name. "The executive management team in Portland oversees every piece of creative from our office," their colleagues say. That includes Chrysler's poignant "Imported from Detroit" Superbowl campaign as well as Levi's "Go Forth."

4. David Lubars, BBDO North America Chairman and CCO

According to Lubars' colleagues, "David has been, by far and away, the most successful creative leader in our industry whose name is NOT on a door." He helped build Monahan, Fallon, and BBDO, proving that he could adapt to small, medium, and large-sized shops.

Why:
Lubars has recently done highly recognizable work for the Superbowl: Betty White shilling Snickers, and the recent introduction of M&M's Ms. Brown. Furthermore, "his “BMW Films” series is legendary.  But at BBDO, his HBO Voyeur multimedia program was the most awarded piece of work at Cannes in 2008.  That was followed by another breakthrough effort for HBO, “Imagine,” which was similarly applauded at Cannes two years later.  For Starbucks, he conceived the “Love Project,” which set a Guinness Book World Record for the single largest global live event." He has won multiple Cannes Grand Prix and Emmies.

5. Stephen Goldblatt, Executive Creative Director at EVB

EVB

Goldblatt moved from doing creative at Goodby to making award winning social at EVB "while still rocking traditional creative" his colleagues mentioned.

Why: 
While at Goodby, Sliverstein and Partners, Goldblatt did the creative for Subway, Comcast, Saturn, and HP—for which he co-created HP's award-winning "hands" campaign starring Jay-Z, Jerry Seinfeld, and Serena Williams. More recently, he has done particularly noteworthy social work for Skittles ("Mob the Rainbow"), Altoids ("Curiously Strong Awards"), and Juicy Fruit ("Serenading Unicorn"). These did well at Cannes as well as Facebook's inaugural advertising awards.

6. Nick Law, CCO of R/GA North America

Nick Law, R/GA North America's executive vice president and CCO.

As CCO, Law is responsible for the creative vision of R/GA. He has two decades of agency experience in the United States, UK, and Asia and has assumed many roles, from design to traditional advertising to digital marketing.

Why:
Law blended the aesthetically pleasing and artistic with the technologically advanced when designing the Nike+ Fuelband, a social platform that allows users to track their fitness goals and progress on cool-looking wristband. This earned R/GA two Grand Prix at Cannes.

 

7. Linus Karlsson, Chairman and CCO of McCann NY and London

McCann NY

Karlsson has already had an illustrious career in the advertising agency. He began in a Swedish start-up agency called Paradiset that later got acquired by DDB. He then moved to Fallon and then opened the doors of Mother NY as a co-founder in 2003. He joined McCann from Mother, named Creativity's 2009 Agency of the year, in 2011.

Why:

His colleagues told us that "Linus Karlsson leans into the future with his big conceptual vision about how brand experience needs to be created in today’s technology world." He has a reputation for transforming creative shops and has done innovative work for big name clients including: Target, Stella Artois, Coke, BMW, MTV, and NBC. Karlsson made waves as CCO on the first K-Y ad to star a lesbian couple (normalizing, rather than tantalizing, their sexual preference) while at Mother and more recently put Charles Barkley in a dress for Weight Watchers at McCann.

8. Mark Gross, executive creative director at DDB Chicago

DDB

Mark  Gross started his career in 1990 designing movie titles and logos in New York City. He was a junior art director at Chiat/Day in 1991, creating work for MTV, Reebok, and American Express, and then landed a gig at DDB Chicago as an art director in 1994. Oh, and he flies a Cessna in his spare time.

Why:
Gross currently oversees the creative on Skittles (you know, those strange ads where kids have skittles growing off their bodies?), Starburst, Cars.com (he did the Superbowl ad that starred a guy with two heads), and Bud Light. The creative famously penned Bud Light's "Real Men of Genius" radio ad and has won almost every award in the book from Clios, to Grand Prix, to an Emmy for "Outstanding Commercial."

9. Jose Miguel Sokoloff, President and CCO of Lowe SSP3 Colombia

Lowe and Partners Global Creative Council

Sokoloff's colleagues told us that "Jose Miguel is of that rare breed – a creative leader who is also a great business leader. He is brave and constantly innovates." He goes beyond creating traditional ads and is dedicated to big picture campaigns to achieve social justice.

Why:
Sokoloff headed a campaign called "Operation Christmas" for the Colombian Ministry of Defense that aimed to fully demobilize the FARC guerrilla terrorists from a war that has was waged over 60 years).  He got investment from the Colombian government to launch a clothing line called "Chance" that would be made and designed by former guerrilla fighter. The line launched at Bogota Fashion Week in May 2012. "Jose Miguel made Operation Christmas one of the most awarded campaigns in the world in 2011 and 2012, winning more Grand Prix in effectiveness and creativity than any other agency in the world," his colleagues said.

10. Jenny Nicholson, Associate Creative Director at McKinney

McKinney

Nicholson joined McKinney as a proofreader in 2004—a year later, she was creating integrated campaigns for Travelocity and Sony. Her colleagues told us that Nicholson's work "often blurs the lines between campaign and conversation, whether she’s inviting consumers to sexy text with Virgin Mobile or challenging people to play a game about homelessness."

Why:
Nicholson is all about creative multimedia campaigns. She has put the Travelocity gnome on Chatroulette, created a Twitter enabled "Terrible Towel" that spun around whenever a fan tweeted #steelersnation, and created "promiscuous txt" training sessions called "Let's have Txt" for Virgin Mobile on Valentine's Day. Nicholson says, "Along with a team of trained operators, I personally spent 14 hours a day for almost two weeks posing as the fireman, the housewife, the nurse, the secretary, the plumber and the cowboy. As a result, I've got a vocabulary of euphemistic puns you wouldn't believe. Let's just say, it's quite sizable."
She most notably created a Clio award winning interactive game for the Urban Ministries of Durham called SPENT which tests users' abilities to survive homelessness and poverty.

11. Colin Jeffery, Executive Creative Director of David & Goliath

David & Goliath

Jeffery has hopscotched from agencies around the world—Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore, King James Cape Town, TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg, Arnold in Boston—before settling in as executive creative director at David & Goliath.

Why:
If you've seen the ad with the Party Rocking hamsters driving Kias, then you're familiar with Jeffery's work. He's won a slew of Clios, Cannes Lions, One Show, and Effies. Jeffery's creative goes beyond traditional advertising and into user engagement. During NBA All-Star Weekend, he was responsible for Blake Griffin slam dunking over a Kia Optima.

12. Neil Heymann, group creative director, Droga5 New York

Droga5

Formerly at CP+B, where he worked on award winning campaigns for Burger King (remember "Simpsonize Me" and the "Whopper Sacrifice"?), VW, and Coke Zero, Heymann moved to Droga5 in 2009 to do digital work.

Why:
Heymann was the creative director of Jay-Z's campaign for his book, Decoded. Heymann "hid" blown up pages from the book in cities across the U.S. and, with a cross-promotion with Bing, set up an interactive treasure hunt which led fans to the pages. The winner got a lifetime pass to Jay-Z concerts. Heymann's colleagues told us that "Neil's background in interactive and years spent at advertising agencies has made him an industry leader in cross-media integration.  That, combined with his belief in the power of interactive media to connect emotionally with an audience, has seen him develop award-winning campaigns." 

13. Lincoln Bjorkman, chief creative officer for Digitas North America

Digitas

Bjorkman has worked at Digitas since 2004—he was previously at Y&R and Brand Buzz—and has been a strong part of the agency's evolution. He has a list of over 30 clients and his colleagues told us that "creative: An all-around creative, strategic athlete, Lincoln is a welcome disruptor and admired leader."

Why:
Bjorkman has developed work for clients including GM and Comcast, but one of his most recent claims to fame is his role as CCO (with Rob Reilly and Jeff Benjamin) on American Express' "Small Business Saturday" campaign, which effectively mobilized consumers to frequent stores owned by small businesses. "Small Business Saturday" won Facebook's inaugural advertising prize along with a Lions Grand Prix at Cannes.

14. Wade Alger, Creative Director at The Martin Agency

Screengrab Vimeo

Wade Alger has the self-proclaimed "least manliest dog on the planet": a schnoodle named Ginger. He's also a creative who has panned quite a few memorable ad campaigns. Alger has worked at TM Advertising, GSD&M, and joined Martin in 2008.
Why:
Alger co-created the "Life Comes At You Fast" campaign for Nationwide Insurance while at GSD&M and has created other award-winning campaigns at Martin, namely for Geico. His colleagues told us that "His comedy writing for GEICO is best showcased in the “Rhetorical Questions” TV campaign. Not only is the premise funny, but the punchlines are LOL. And his real-time re-creation of the 1969 moon landing for the JFK Presidential Library is considered one of the best digital experiences ever, winning more awards than any ad campaign in 2010."

15. Youna Chung, Yeonjoo Lee, Youbin Bang, and Misu Yi; copywriter and art directors at Cheil Worldwide

Campaign

These four women make up a creative varsity team at Cheil Worldwide in South Korea. They were the first creatives to bring a Cannes Grand Prix to Korea in 2011.

Why:
Together, these women made up a team that came out with "Tesco's Home Plus Subway Virtual Store" which swept the awards show circuit last year. Basically, the campaign brought the grocery store experience into a subway station by blowing up an image of a super market fridge along with QR codes where the prices should go so that people can make real purchases with their phones. If one buys the items, they will be delivered by the time they get home from the subway. This mixture of ambient design and mobile commerce increased the store's online sales by 130 percent from November 2010 to January 2011.

16. Rei Inamoto, Chief Creative Officer, AKQA

Twitter Screengrab

In the words of his coworkers, "Rei Inamoto is one of the most influential individuals in the marketing and creative industry today." He has experience in advertising, technology, and design and has worked in Asia, Europe, and the U.S.

Why:
Since joining AKQA in 2004, Inamoto has worked for big-name clients including Google, Nike (featuring Lebron James), Kraft, Xbox, and Visa. But he has also made a name for himself by giving back to the community. He oversees the annual Future Lions global student advertising competition, was the driving force behind "Creatives Unite for Japan" (following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami), and did the creative for nonprofit Pencils of Promises' "Made with Pencils" campaign.

17. Doug Fallon and Steve Fogel, creative directors at Grey NY

Grey NY

Although Fallon is a Grey veteran, Fogel came to the agency two years ago after working at Devito/Verdi and DDB. They first partnered up for a Dairy Queen campaign.

Why: 
This creative team is the brains behind the DirecTV ads in which everyone's lives goes completely to hell for not having ordered the television service (don't have a grandson with dog collars, reenacting scenes from "Platoon" with Charlie Sheen). Heck, they're even Bill Clinton's favorite ads on television. Fallon told Creativity Online, "The nice thing is we write pretty much everything together. And we both find the same shit funny. We'll feed off each other and keep working until we feel we've got it."

18. Jerome Austria, Freelance

Deutsch LA

Before Austria entered the advertising world, he fueled planes at an airport, collected carts in Costco's parking lot, and helmed the night shift at a security guard. Since then he has worked on award-winning campaigns at R/GA, AKQA, Wieden+Kennedy (building a 20 person interactive team from scratch), and most recently Deutsch LA. But a wild soul can never be tamed: Austria is currently on an advertising break and taking a four month surfing trip around the world. He'll be back in freelance capacity soon enough though.

Why:
Colleagues describe Austria as "easily the best hybrid creative in advertising... Jerome has been able to consistently and seamlessly integrate old school brand storytelling with cutting edge technology to produce some of the most original and innovative creative ideas that the industry has ever seen." He has worked on Coca-Cola's account, brought Dwayne Wade to Brand Jordan, created an interactive Nike commercial featuring Rihanna, and most recently created Volkswagen's 16 million view Superbowl teaser "The Bark Side" in which dogs bark the Imperial March. He continues to do great work for VW.

19. Carlo Cavallone, Creative Director/Writer for 72andSunny

Carlo Cavallone's headshot.

Born in Milan, Cavallone is an ex-cartoonist, comic book translator, fanzine publisher and rugby player. He worked at Wieden+Kennedy as Nike, EA, Heineken, and Coca-Cola writer for nine years before he moved to Los Angeles to work for 72andSunny in 2010. He is now in the Amsterdam office.

Why:
In the words of his employers, "Cavallone's creativity lacks method. He keeps it quite stupid, naïve and follows his instincts. It is a very emotive process and never a rational one. He hates repetition and always approaches every project in an experimental way, not knowing what will happen at the end. He believes in taking risks and they usually pay off." His Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions for his work on Benetton's controversial UnHate campaign—featuring various politicians kissing—is proof that the risk is worth it.

20. Mark Lewis and Matt Fitch, creatives at BBH London

Matt Lewis and Mark Fitch, as they like to see themselves on their joint personal website.

LewisandFitch.com

Lewis and Fitch have been friends since they were 12 and worked their way from VCCP to BMB to BBH, London.

Why:
Lewis and Fitch are the creative force behind numerous big-client campaigns, like last year's outdoor ads for Google Voice Search that showed phonetic spellings of tube stops in stations throughout London. But they've most recently made headlines for the Cannes Lion-winning "Three Little Pigs" campaign for The Guardian. The epic two-minute spot shows how print, broadcast, online, and social media coverage might shape news coverage of a fairy tale if it occurred in real life.

21. Geoffrey Hantson and Katrien Bottez, executive creative directors at Duval Guillaume

Twitter Screengrab

Duval Guillaume is an "idea-centric" communications agency that has become famous for its guerrilla marketing campaigns. The stunts merge the ridiculous with the real world, and the videos regularly go viral.

Why:
Hantson and Bottez have been the creative directors of many of Duval Guillaume's best viral videos. They are the brains behind TNT's "Push to Add Drama" stunt (which got 3.3 million views days after it was posted), campaigns for a parenting hot line in which children sang profanity-filled carols in a shopping mall, and Carlsberg's "Bikers" videos.

22. Rhett McLaughlin and Charles "Link" Neal

Screengrab YouTube

Rhett and Link have been comedy duo collaborators since meeting in the first grade at Buies Creek Elementary School in North Carolina.  The comedic duo also stared in IFC's reality TV show Rhett and Link: Commercial Kings.

Why:
Rhett and Link are famous for making hilarious local-style ads for real companies, like Ojai Valley Taxidermy and Red House Furniture, "Where black people and white people buy furniture." They seem to have found the key to creating viral videos, Rhett and Link currently have approximately 875,000 subscribers to their YouTube page and supplement their video-making by selling sponsorships on their page.

23. Jimmy Smith, CEO and CCO of Amusement Park Entertainment

Screengrab Bloomberg TV

After spending years working at Wieden & Kennedy, BBDO, and TBWA/Chiat/Day LA, Smith decided to break off and create his own agency. Smith now runs Amusement Park Entertainment, which has a mission to create branded content for everything from film to action figures. Oh, and he has a "No Assholes Allowed" policy—it's a sign on his door. He's scooped up incredible talent, including Donna Lamar. EXPLAIN

Why:
Smith has served as creative director for Motorola, Nike (he wrote the MTV documentary "Battlegrounds"), and is best known for his work for Gatorade. He oversaw "Replay," which allowed high school sports teams to "relive their glory days," and re-branded Gatorade as just "G." Even though his new company is still developing, Kraft and Nokia are interested

24. Sara Rotman, Founder, CEO, and CCO at MODCo

According to her website, "Following a stint at what she refers to as “The Death Star” (known to the outside world as Saatchi & Saatchi), Sara came to the realization that she was no longer able to work where good ideas are unceremoniously shelved to make room for the banal and cost-effective. Thus, eleven years ago this spring, she started “My Own Damn Company” [MODCo]," a quickly successful branding agency.

Why:
Rotman, who literally has "Boss Lady" on her card, leads the creative force that deals with high profile, luxury clients. Some of her most recognizable work was for Tory Burch: She designed the iconic Tory Burch logo, the original store design, and the packaging. Rotman has also created the brand images for Vera Wang, Zales, Kohl's, and David's Bridal

25. Glen Hilzinger and Bob Veasey, Creative Directors at Leo Burnett Detroit

Bob Veasey (left) and Glen Hilzinger (right). Both wearing glasses!

Sometimes ads actually make the world a better place. Creative partners Hilzinger and Veasey created one of those campaigns and swept every award ceremony this year as a result.

Why:
Last year, Michigan's Tory Public Library was at risk of getting shut down when Tea Partiers began to lobby against the library's budget. A vote would determine the fate of the library, which their kids actually use for school projects. To generate buzz and boost voter turnout, Hilzinger and Veasey created "The Book Burning Party"—a deceptive ploy that invited people to a book burning party on the day after the vote (making people equate voting against taxes with voting for book burning). After putting up signs around town and a Facebook campaign, the community and media were fooled. People showed up in record number to save the library and the hoax was finally revealed.

 

Storytelling: Told In Tweets

Happy Monday!

I came across this article in the Wall Street Journal this weekend and fell in love.

First off, it's in tweets - which I think most good ideas should be able to be expressed in 140 characters or less. (Reread: Keep it simple)

Second off, it's about storytelling. Whether you're an art director or copywriter or just a writer, you need to know how to tell a good story - whether it turns into a TV script, radio script, banner ad or manifesto, your job is to weave wonderful stories.

This article is chock full of tips, advice and ideas to help make your stories better.

Now get to work.

Tweets From Pixar's School of Plotting 

Emma Coats, a storyboard artist on the movie "Brave," on bringing Princess Merida and other animated characters to life.

For the past five years, Pixar has served as my film school. As a storyboard artist, working mainly on "Brave" but more recently on other projects, I had the privilege to collaborate with an incredible creative team.

As we hashed out the details of our narrative, I learned a lot about the basics of storytelling, and I have used Twitter to share them with others. Here's some of what I've road-tested from my work trying to bring Princess Merida, other Pixar characters and my own creations to life. 

1. You admire characters more for trying than for their successes.

2. Remember that what's interesting to an audience can be very different from what's fun to do as a writer. 

3. Theme is important, but you won't see what the story is actually about until you're at the end of it. Now rewrite.

4. Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You'll feel like you're losing valuable stuff, but it sets you free.

6. What are your characters good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

8. Finish your story and let go, even if it's not perfect. Move on, and do better next time.

9.When you're stuck, make a list of what wouldn't happen next. Often the material to get you unstuck will show up.

10. Pull apart the stories you like. You've got to recognize what you like in them before you can learn from them. 

11. Putting an idea on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, you'll never share it with anyone.

12. Discount the first thing that comes to mind. And the second, third and fourth—get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

13. Give your characters opinions. Passive, malleable characters might seem likable to you as you write, but they are poison to the audience.

14. Why must you tell this story? What's the belief burning within you that feeds your story?

15. If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

16. What are the stakes? Give us a reason to root for your characters. What happens if they don't succeed? Stack the odds against.

17. No idea is ever wasted. If it's not working, let go and move on—it will come back around to be useful later.

18. You have to know yourself: Learn the difference between doing your best and fussing. 

19. Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

20. What's the essence of your story and the most economical way of telling it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

—Ms. Coats recently left Pixar and now works independently doing storyboard for animation as well as writing and directing live-action films. Follow her @lawnrocket on Twitter.

The Curse of Being Creative.

illustrated by Ian Kloster

Been having one of those weeks where everything I touch turns into gold flakes and then a gust of wind comes and scatters it all off to Texas.

Sometimes it's just like that. It's the curse of being creative.

You can give 284% and end up with one dusty pellet of goodness.
You can work 90 hours and only have one semi-presentable thing to show.
You can fall down, get back up, fall down, get back up then fall down and get back up again, only to fall down shortly after.

Being creative isn't easy.

(I've talked about it all before: There is always The Circle of Rejection, and Hard Work Doesn't Always Pay Off, so you have to learn How To Accept Feedback and suck it up or just Don't Get A Job In Advertising - because the bottom line is, There's No Crying In Advertising.)

The good news is, there's always tomorrow.

A new day and a new opportunity to start over and try again.

Maybe I'll fail. Maybe I won't.

Either way, I'll learn and grow. And then there'll be another tomorrow to try again. 

I like what Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love says during this TED Talk On Nurturing Creativity. My partner passed this on to me today and it was really what I needed to hear.

Hope it inspires you too.

It's Okay To Be Lazy. Sometimes.

 Working smarter, not harder, is always going to be the path to success. Also, doing what you say you're going to do (Your word is everything. And if you're a writer, all of your words are everything.)

Personally, I have no respect for laziness. If you're going to do something, do it. And do it well. Don't half-ass or phone it in. That's a waste of everyone's time involved. Go hard, or go home. 


But then I came across this great article that puts an interesting spin on being creative, and how it could help you work smarter at the end of the day. 

And I will admit, sometimes putting my pencil down and going to do something that has absolutely nothing to do with advertising either helps me get closer to finding that solution or at least helps me unwind and stop stressing myself out.




The Creative Pursuit Of Laziness
BY Jeffrey Paul Baumgartner

You start a new job with a new company. There are two employees in similar positions. They have both been with the company for several years. One is clearly hard working. She is constantly busy, juggles numerous tasks successfully and often stays late to get work done. The other seems much more relaxed. Indeed, she is often sharing jokes with her colleagues! She does not appear to work very hard, finishes tasks seemingly too quickly and is usually one of the first to leave the office at the end of the day. Which one should you emulate if you wish to do well in the company?

The seemingly lazy one, of course. Both have been with the company for some years, so you can assume that both are doing their job well. More importantly, you can assume that the apparently lazy one has worked out how to do her job efficiently, allowing her to work in a more relaxed way and go home at a reasonable hour daily.


CREATIVELY SEEKING THE EASY WAY

In my experience, this is something creative people are very good at, particularly if they work in organizations which do give them new creative challenges on a regular basis. They use their creative skills to find short cuts in performing regular tasks and improving the efficiency of their area of operations.

In truth, it is not just creative people who are lazy. Humans are programed to be lazy and this is a good thing. When our prehistoric ancestors were hunting and gathering, the less work expended to kill and skin a mammoth or to collect fruit, the better. Even today, it is sensible to ask why you should spend four hours performing a task that you can complete sufficiently well in an hour.


FOLLOWERS OR THINKERS

At work, when a new employee is shown how to perform a task, she will normally continue to do it in the way she was taught. This is not surprising. Most of us are taught to follow instructions, especially when a superior at work or school demonstrates tells us to do so.

But the creative individual is always questioning things and considering alternatives. She cannot help it. That’s how the creative mind is wired. She will try performing the task in different ways. Of course there are risks involved. An alternative approach to performing a four-hour task could prove more complicated than expected—and eat up eight hours of her time. She may be reprimanded by her superior for not doing the task in the prescribed manner. Worse, her method might not work at all, forcing her to start all over again.

However, this is normal for the creative person. Her curiosity and desire to explore alternatives is stronger than her sense of following instructions. Over time, she will try out various ways of performing tasks and will soon find the most efficient methods.


LESSONS TO BE LEARNED

As I wrote initially, if you are new to a company, do not look to the workaholics for advice on how to do your job well. Look to the laziest people. They will almost surely be able to show you the most efficient way to do your work well.

If you are an employer, on the other hand, those apparently lazy people are probably your most creative thinkers. When you need people with ideas for improving products, services and processes, be sure to include them in the teams responsible for developing these ideas. Moreover, be sure also to allow them to perform on these teams as they do on their tasks: let them try out ideas, see how they work, dispose of failed ideas and try out new ideas. This is how the creative process works.

Friday Treat: Skittles & Rainbows

Some of my friends say I walk around with cartoon birds and a laser that spews rainbows (You may not know this from reading the blog because of all the tough love and cussing lol) and some say I dress like a bag of Skittles. I'm pretty partial to all things sunshiney and colourful - so even though I don't eat Skittles (I love my teeth/ stomach/intestines/future children/life too much) I love advertising for Skittles.

This is what people think about when they think of advertising. Random and irreverent candy and beer ads. (Sadly, it's not real life, but we can all dream, right?)

Happy Friday! If you're in New York, Happy Heat Wave! If you're on vacation, Eff You.

Your Friday Treat:



p.s. Justice for Trayvon.

LinkedIn: You're doing it wrong

How perfect that I ran across this article today. (After my post earlier last week)

7 Things You're Doing Wrong on LinkedIn

From INC

Flickr/Coletivo Mambembe

Today, LinkedIn is the No. 1 social media platform for professionals. Estimates of professional participation in LinkedIn are as high as 83%.

But when I talked to one of my friends--social media expert Alexandra Gibson from OttoPilot Media--she told me that she sees too many professionals making a lot of mistakes. Here are the seven she sees most often.

1. You only use it if you need a job. I can usually tell when my friends are on the job prowl because all of a sudden, a barely existent LinkedIn profile is revived. The truth is that you'll be much better served by keeping your profile and connections current, rather than just reaching out to people when you need something.

2. You have an incomplete profile. A bare-bones profile does not do you (or your company) any favors. Add all important companies and a description of the results you achieved in the past. Don't forget to optimize your profile for search--creating a keyword rich profile will help people find you and your company.

3. You don't belong to the right groups. There are more groups out there than there are seconds in a day, so it can be difficult to decide which are most important. If you join no other groups, join your alumni groups (college, prep school, grad school, fraternity or sorority). Industry groups--both for your own company and your major customer market segments--are a clear next step.

4. You're not sharing valuable content. When you publish a great blog post or your company creates a valuable white paper, share it on your LinkedIn feed. Also, share content in your feed from other sources besides your own. Post in your groups to judiciously share articles and links if you feel that it would be of interest to that audience. This will help show you as a thought leader--and, if the content is on your site, can generate quality leads directly from LinkedIn.

5. You're not building out your connections. Again, don't wait till you need something: You should be constantly adding and accepting connections from people you know professionally or personally. I do not recommend trying to connect with people that you don't actually know: You want this to be your real professional network, so if someone says, "Hey, I see you know Jim Smith," you can say that you actually worked with him at a project at a previous company and not that you were just padding your connections number. 

6. You're not utilizing LinkedIn Answers. The underutilized LinkedIn Answers section is another valuable place to show your expertise and provide value. People ask questions and, if you know anything about the topic, you can answer in a forum. Add links to important content that backs up your answer, especially if it's content from your site that fits with the question. One of the best things about LinkedIn Answers is its staying power--unlike other social media sites (think Twitter), the section gets visited by people with similar questions over time, so it can generate leads even a year later. 

7. You haven't brought your team/staff along. Sure, it might be a bit much to require your CFO to join Facebook--but since LinkedIn is a professional network that focuses on individual, professional connections, it you should emphasize its importance to your entire team. Think of the power you could tap into if, the next time you go to pitch a company, you check LinkedIn and see that Mary Ellen in accounting is already connected to the chief marketing officer.

Author, speaker and consultant Tom Searcy is the foremost expert in large account sales. With Hunt Big Sales, he's helped clients land more than $5 billion in new sales. Click to get Tom's weekly tips, or to learn more about Hunt Big Sales. @tomsearcy

Article: Stop Worrying About What Others Think

This is great advice for your professional and personal life. I needed to read this today, hope it strikes a cord with you too.


STOP WORRYING ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THING. 
from Design Taxi

Do you often walk away from people thinking, “Did I say the right thing”; “Did I offend someone”; “Should I have said or asked…”?

Do you frequently hear that ‘little voice’ in your head saying: “What will they think?”?

Do you often feel you need to be a certain way and you can’t just be yourself?

Most of us are concerned about what others think about us, and we say and do things just to get the approval of others. These thoughts and behaviors seem to be so much a part of who we are and are so common in others that we assume that they are just part of being human.

In fact, however, you can eradicate these thoughts and behaviors forever.

How? By eliminating the beliefs that cause them. Although this problem can be caused by different beliefs in different people, there is one specific belief that anyone with this problem almost certainly has: “What makes me good enough is having people think well of me.”

Today, I’m going to tell you how this belief is formed, why so many people have it (maybe even you) and how getting rid of this belief will transform your life.



HOW NEGATIVE SELF-ESTEEM BELIEFS ARE FORMED

Early in life, many of us form negative beliefs about ourselves like, “I’m not good enough”. (Almost every one of the 13,000 clients we’ve had from 34 countries around the world has had this belief.) Because most parents expect children to do things that are unrealistic for their age (such as, be neat and quiet, and come when called at the age of three or four), and because most parents get frustrated, annoyed or angry when their children don’t do what they’re told, most children conclude “there must be something wrong with me” if mom and dad are upset with me so often, or “I’m not good enough”.

Because our beliefs about ourselves are usually formed during the first six years of life, most of us already have this belief when we leave our homes and go out into the world of teachers, other kids, school, etc. Obviously a belief like this would make us think as we start school: “How will I get people to like me and how will I make it in the world if I’m not good enough?”

And those thoughts, in turn, would lead to us feeling ‘not okay’ about ourselves and anxious to some extent.

And then one day a solution appears. We do something that our parents (or perhaps a teacher or coach) like and they give us a very positive response. How does that make us feel? Happy and very good about ourselves.

The first few times that happens we feel good but don’t make anything of it. And then after this progression of events occurs a few times we conclude: If I didn’t feel good about myself, and then after getting praise and/or positive attention I do feel good about myself, what that means is: “What makes me good enough or important is having people think well of me.”

This is a very special type of belief. It is a belief that tells us what needs to happen in order to experience being okay. And when it doesn’t happen we don’t feel very good about ourselves.

Well, if we don’t experience being good enough the way we are and we need something outside ourselves to become good enough, how often would we want that outside something to occur? All the time! Anytime anyone doesn’t like us, rejects us, or thinks poorly of us, we have lost our “survival strategy”, our method for making us feel good about ourselves. At that point the underlying belief: “I’m not good enough”, is uncovered and stares us in the face, leaving us feeling not good enough and producing some level of anxiety.

As a result, the need to have others think well of us is experienced like a drug addiction by many people. When they achieve it they feel good for the moment, but it’s only a matter of time before they need another “fix”. At that point they become obsessed about getting it.

There are other “survival strategy” beliefs, such as “What makes me good enough is doing things perfectly”; “what makes me good enough is being successful/wealthy” (can you see now see why some people are obsessed with this?); and “what makes me good enough is taking care of others”. And it’s possible to have more than one. But based on our experience in our private practice, “having people think well of me” is the most common.

It now should be clear why so many people are obsessed about what others think about them: Most people have the belief “I’m not good enough” (or some variation of it) and “having people think well of me” is the remedy most of us have found to cover up the anxiety that stems from having that belief.

If the obsession about having people think well of us is a direct result of having several beliefs, the way to get rid of the obsession is to get rid of these beliefs.

What's your process?

A friend recently text me, asking what my process was. I drew a blank at first. 

Then I wrote back: It involves a lot of questions.

I often start off with:

What if it were blue? What if moms used it? What if people didn't have it anymore? What if, what if, what if...

Then when I get a few ideas, I ask:

Why would anyone care?
Can any other brand say this?
And has it been said/done before?

Then I ask myself:


Is that true?
Would normal people care?
How can I make that better?

And sometimes (most times):

How can I make this award-show worthy?
Or at least something that everyday people will love/do/use?

And when things get really serious, I start thinking:

What's the insight? (What's the human truth in the way people relate to the brand/product?)
What's the idea? (What's the overarching concept for what I'm trying to say?)
What's the execution? (How will I make it happen?)

And then I go back through everything and pick out the ones that passed my initial tests to share with my partner. And it starts all over again.

There's no prescribed path to come up with good ideas. The more you do it, the better you'll get.
The more you ask questions, the better you get at filtering out the BS.

Always ask questions. Always ask what if. Always go big or go home.

Oh, and "I don't know" is never an answer.