Things Connected

An Idea: Nikon PictureCrew // PictureSchool // PicturePark // PictureTrip

Faris has been tawn bout strategy & creative work as continuous processes - not flights and limited campaigns.  It kind of reminds me of Miguel Luciano's characterization of social change work as "The Forever Project" ... there's no 'end' to either business or social problems (well, there won't be until Sweet Minty comes and takes us up to play Draw4 with Moses); success in business and social endeavors = consistent effort and constant, incremental progress ... it's a hard reality for type-A problem solvers who like instant gratification and want to put an end to whackness (like yours truly), but the truth nonetheless.

So...I'm still on this "give people creative tools" idea & was thinking this morning... the next level of Picturetown would be so very cool.  Why not give more and more people the opportunity to experiment with a creative tool and experience the D40 in real life?  Why not turn the campaign into a mission?  Why not continuously find more and more small groups of people to document and engage with?

IfIRanIt, I would give a D40 to...

PictureCrew:  The Voguers

PictureMuse:  Chris Mann & Nikki Jean Leary

PictureSchool:  The High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media

PicturePark:  The Highline Development

PictureBiz:  Tom Szaky & Terracycle

Image via Rocco Kasby on Flickr

Good Design & Art Direction are a Portal

From about 1994 - 1996, when I was a 'tween' - and had no car & fewer adult 'worries' - I loved walking around the used book & cd store.  In Chattanooga, it's called McKay's. 

I would walk around the store for HOURS...inspired to pick up a book or cd only by either:
-  an intriguing title or
-  interesting cover art.

The 'if it looks cool on the outside, it MIGHT be cool on the inside' test introduced me to artists and work that I am STILL feeling, like:

Jamiroquai 'Return of the Space Cowboy' 

                                                                                                            

               Brendan Benson, One  Mississippi (he's now with The Raconteurs)

and, a book of photography of the Big Sur Coast + Robbinson Jeffers poems that the Sierra Club published in 1965 called 'Not Man Apart' that still completely explains my personal philosophy.

It's a little obvious...of course, the purpose of ads and cover art is to draw people in, make them curious, and use style to attract the like-minded.

I guess it's just been a while since I've spent time in a store with no objective, patiently waiting for something interesting to catch my eye...and, I can't remember the last print ad that made me take a second look...

<<enter Parish, stage left>>                                          

Act as you Believe, or, Advice to the Advertising Community after attending the Future Marketing Summit, March 5 & 6, 2007

Overall, some interesting questions/ideas put forth. 

Overall, lacking in connecting the dots and attempting to talk about the answers/implementation.

At some point, I’ll do a detailed summary, but here are my big questions/takeaways:

“We can no longer talk at consumers, we have to engage them in conversation”

So why is this conference a series of lengthy panels where people who supposedly ‘have the answers’ are talking AT us, instead of facilitating a conversation WITH us?

“In the future, agencies must collaborate – we can’t be great at everything so we have to work together”

Why aren’t agencies sitting down, right now in small groups talking about how we can better work together? 

“Talent is the most important factor in an agency’s success”

Where in the hell are the people under 30 (other than the VCU AdCenter students who were the brightspot of this conference)?  If we’re talking about the FUTURE of Marketing, why didn’t every executive in that room bring a junior member of his or her team?

**Best piece of information from Andrew Benett, CSO at Euro RSCG:  Management Consulting firm, McKinsey spends 12,000 USD annually on its employees development and training.  Guess how much the ad community spends, on average?  Less than $100.

"Agencies are going to need people from all sorts of disciplines to be able to approach brands in a multifaceted way."

Why do you still need a book to get a creative job?  Why aren’t the activists and engineers at the creative table?

“Agencies need to solve business problems, not just be suppliers of communications, let’s be involved in the conversation at the start of the brand building”

Let’s think about whether agencies have the credibility to do this?  Can we be McKinsey or Bain?  Do our creative teams have the training and knowledge to do more than create commercials and quirky viral videos?  Can an Art Director solve business and social problems?  Do agencies invest enough in talent so that they can keep the good folks?  If so, how can we prove this to clients


A few suggestions:

- The Future Marketing Summit should be a series of roundtable conversations, whereby attendees and thought leaders (from a range of disciplines, not just ad agencies) have conversations with the purpose of coming up with solutions, not just talking about ideas.

- Advertising needs to shift its focus from the singular BIG IDEA and to the INTEGRATION of the IDEA and its APPLICATION.

- If advertisers are going to gain credibility and solve business problems, the agency model needs to be seriously reworked to include talent from disciplines outside traditional communications fields.

- Agencies are too top heavy and need to invest more in grooming and nurturing junior staff.