Thursday, April 23, 2009

"More with Less"

"More with Less." Clients say it, bosses say it, the Media says it. And we all feel it.

These days were asked to go to the well more often and in a quicker time frame than ever before.

But it's not just the work load. Agency employees are expected to be able to fill in gaps as others are laid off and new technology emerges. If you're not learning the newest media and technology, you're not ensuring your value to your employer.

Today, we can't expect our employers to send us to a conference to get smart on the latest technology. We must develop skills ourselves and be able to display knowledge or at least an opinion when a boss or client asks, "what do you think about Twitter?"

This isn't all bad. If you're reading this, you must be a curious person. And there's never been a better time for the curious to set themselves apart from crowd. So learn how to program flash, become a Twitterati and find out how to produce digital. You'll make yourself more valuable and keep yourself engaged at the same time. That's what I'm doing. Keeping the portfolio fresh just isn't enough anymore.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Good thoughts on media and Twitter. Even better response to Dowd

Great comeback to Maureen Dowd's moronic assault on Twitter. Unfortunatly, he could give an education to many of America's ad executives. It's not that folks don't care about it. Clients are asking. And agency types are formulating responses. Unfortunately, much of it negative. "Why would anyone care what you're having for lunch?"

Geoff hits the nail on the head we he says it's a new media that people have the possibility to do whatever they want with it. Maybe Maureen is just angry cause her media is evolving, withering.

I'm a fan of Marshall McLuhan and a point he makes is that different media create different perceptions of the communicator and also have different effects on individuals and societies. One example he used was once a person gets in a car, to another driver the person has become a car (yes, he belived a car was media). Remember saying, "that car just cut me off."

OK. I'll get to the point. It's just that Twitter isn't just a new version of a ballpoint pen or a typewriter - it's a new way of relating to one another that's not fully understand. The telephone bent time and space. Twitter is fracturing social boundaries, creating conversations and distributing information in a giant global conversation.

Don't believe me. Spend some time with it. Really spend some time with it.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Super Cool Video

What do you get when you attach a video camera to an eagle? Some really cool video.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Oh, Anderson

You just can't write this stuff. The clients won't buy it.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Twitter Can Make You Immoral? Well, where the heck is our moral compass?

In our rush to get brands in front of eyeballs sometimes we miss the implications of the media we use. As Marshall McLuhan said, "The Medium is the Message."

This isn't to say that Twitter could make a brand immoral, but it Twitter or Blogger no doubt alters the perception of a brand by a consumer. Something we need to be aware of when crafting messages.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Good luck enforcing this

Seems the FTC is considering regulation bloggers. Ha.

The same way illegal down loaders have been cracked down on?

It should be noted, that the most influential media is media that is trusted by consumers. This is the same for blogs.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

A few great points about the unbiquitos iPhone app concept

Guess you marketing directors sure are seeing a lot of iPhone apps in presentations these days. It funny how when when creatives types are asked to think outside of the box, we often go to the same place.
"Let's hire some actors"
"Let's paint something on the street"
"What you really need is a Facebook Application"
"Are you on Twitter?"
"I've got it, a flash mob"
All are valid ideas if done correctly and for the right reasons.

Hope

Writing like this gives me hope there will always been someone in need of another copywriter out there.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

It's the economy stupid

How can we innovate out of this one?

For starters, I'm going to Twitter. Not really sure how it's going to sell any more cars for my clients but damned if I'm going to be accused of being a Luddite in today's market. Anyway, we creatives need to realize it's our own brand we need to worried about these days. Right?

Also, I'm refreshing this blog. Blog were all the rage in 2001 when I created this thing. Not so "hot" anymore. But it can't hurt to be on last years cutting edge.

I was thinking about creating my own site. But isn't that so last year?

Better yet, maybe I could create my own iPhone app.