Jan 30, 2010 0
This video has gotten a lot of mentions in blogs this week, and now I see why. All I can say is “WOW!”.
If you can watch this spot and not get a lump in your throat or feel any emotion, …then you are a cold heartless robot and you really don’t need to wear a seatbelt anyway.
Jan 30, 2010 0
The related Tank Bunnies video game apparently hit a few snags and is still in beta…
Jan 26, 2010 2
Recently a friend of mine asked me to provide some answers & advice to her niece who is an undergrad considering a career in advertising.
I said “Sure!” of course, and shortly thereafter I received a nice email from “The Niece”. Apparently, The Niece is a sophomore in college currently and she is studying journalism as a fast track pathway to a career in advertising. She seems to have it all quite a bit more figured out than I did when I was a sophomore in college. In fact, The Niece already has some career related options lined up for this summer that she is debating …either intern for an agency in London OR go on a class field trip to Cannes Festival.
At this point my “summer options” jealousy has kicked in and I am pretty sure that I hate The Niece …also I developed a working theory that she is mixed up in some sort of hush-hush co-ed scandal.
After getting over the internship envy and dismissing her alleged co-ed scandal, I looked over The Niece’s list of questions and prepared an email response and hoped that it will be helpful to her.
As I looked over my response before I hit SEND I realized that some of this information would be helpful to anyone who is thinking about pursuing a career in Advertising.
Here is what I wrote:
Hello ["The Niece"],
First, congratulations on your difficult summer options. Between Cannes or London …those are both excellent work experience options. I would need to know more about the London option in order to truly compare it against Cannes and make a recommendation. Assuming your London option is to work as an intern at a quality agency/ shop >> my gut tells me that this would be the most helpful experience to your future. The Cannes thing will be an excellent opportunity to network and make contacts, but you will work your butt off and learn as an intern dropped into the mix of the normal agency operations.
Now, to answer your list of questions:
How did I get started in Advertising? By accident. I got out of college (undergrad) with a lot of ambition, but no clue about what I really wanted to do for a career. I graduated right in the middle of all the dot.Com craziness and worked at a startup. At this startup I was in sort of a hybrid sales & marketing role, and I quickly discovered that I loved two things; The Internet and Marketing/ Advertising. After that startup flopped along with most of the dot.coms of that time I worked and held leadership positions at a couple different smaller agencies (web design agencies) for several years before joining a large digital agency in Dallas. During this time I also went to grad school and earned an MBA which has been helpful in my career advancement. After a couple years at the large digital agency I left and joined my current agency, The Martin Agency (traditional agency), and am helping them build their digital capabilities & integrating digital better into their work for clients.
What do I enjoy about The Martin Agency? The people & the brands. I have an opportunity to work with some of the biggest brands out there, and do so while standing side-by-side with some of the most talented and humble people in the advertising industry. There are several really great ad agencies out there today (Goodby, Crispin, R/GA, W+K…to name just a few) but The Martin Agency is a little different than all of them. Maybe it is because they are all based in the big cities of NYC, LA, SF and we are in Richmond, VA, but the culture here is quite a bit different than many of the agencies out there today. People come here because we are one of the best agencies forsure, but unlike everywhere else where the tenure shelf life is like 2 years …most people here at Martin stay for 7 – 10 years or even (gasp) longer.
My advice for you as you enter this industry. I am not sure which part of advertising you are pursuing a career in …copywriter, art director/ creative, producer, or account person …so there are definitely tweaks on my advice to be appropriate for each. That said, I would advise that you follow the guidelines that I have listed below (no particular order):
- Understand Digital & Social for Advertising: Do not, I repeat do not try and come into advertising with only print or TV skills. You will be lucky to find a job and if you do you will be asked to do digital work anyway and will get fired if you cannot hang. So, while I do think you need to understand print, TV, outdoor, etc as part of your base of marketing understanding ….if you would like to start off on in this industry on the right foot then you should position yourself closer to the digital side. By position, I mean know it inside and out as a marketer & also as a consumer/ user of digital media and social media. For today, and for how things will be in the future this is probably my most important point to you.
- Go to Grad School or Advanced Degree: Depending on which (creative, account, etc) applies to you I would advise that you get a graduate or advanced degree at some point in your career. My personal opinion is that you are better off going to work at an agency straight out of undergrad, then going back before you are 30 to get a grad degree …but I know that some advertising-specific advanced programs piggyback right ontop of undergrad so if you have that option I would take it then. Either way, a graduate degree will set you apart from 95% of the rest of your peers that stop after undergrad.
- Experience a Nice Mix of Big & Small Agencies: People who have only worked at big agencies grow up in their career cacooned in their own silo area (creative, account) and clueless about most everything else. On the flipside, people who only work at small agencies never know what it is like to deal with the good and bad of large agency operations, nor do they ever gain adequate experience with major brands and multi-department clients. My advice is to not be afraid to spend a nice mix of small and big agency in your career ultimately ending up in the setting that fits you best. Either way, you will better off if you get experience from both vantage points.
- Try on Different Hats: This sort of goes with the Big Agency vs Small Agency thing. Most people who only work in big shops get blinders on with their specific role. Bad idea to have blinders. Find out what other people on your teams do …understand their role & the knowledge they have to have. Occasionally you should work on some projects where you take on a role that is a bit outside your skillet so you can learn it and be more rounded.
- Join Local Advertising Networks/ Groups: It will pay off to know people outside of your own company & personal connections. Find a couple things related to advertising that you are REALLY passionate about (social media, word-of-mouth advertising, ad club, whatever) and look for local networks, clubs, and/ or groups that meet regularly. Join a couple of these and be active in it. Don’t just go, but be active and sit on the board and be on committees, etc. You will find entirely new opportunities and paths that you would have missed this way.
None of this advice is earth shattering new information, but I think it is solid direction for anyone who is thinking about starting a career in Advertising today so I thought I would share it.
I would love to hear from anyone who follows this blog about what you think about my list of advice for Ad Newbies …make comments on my recommendations, disagree with me and tell me why, add some recommendations of your own.
As for The Niece, …I expect to hear from her in about 10 years when she is kicking ass and taking names in what will undoubtedly be a VERY different Advertising industry (proof that a nasty college scandal can be overcome).
Jan 25, 2010 2
At the very end of 2008 an opportunity knocked on my door & I took it. I made a very tough decision to leave IMC2 to pick up my family and move them halfway across the country (literally) to join The Martin Agency. Although my family is ravenously homesick for quality Mexican food and we still have our subscription to D Magazine, …I think I made a wise decision.
The Martin Agency — Agency of The Year 2009
Now, can someone tell me why the hell East Coast people have not learned about real queso?
Jan 23, 2010 0
If you grew up on MTV music videos like me (…they actually used to play music videos on MTV btw), then you will love the Palladia. I am not crazy about ALL of their programming, but the concerts and MTV Unplugged series that they show are amazing …great footage, 10801 high def. I watched The Killers and Muse concerts the other night and now I am hooked.
As I was watching it, I realized that they are missing a huge opportunity to leverage social media to gain a deeper engagement with their existing audience & gain more fans by letting their existing base’s SMEDIA activity spread the word.
I am definitely NOT recommending that they clutter up the incredible concert footage by streaming tweets onto the screen or anything. Don’t mess with the best thing about the channel. I am however, recommending that they do a better job of using social media to connect the people who are watching a concert or anticipating one that is coming up.
A few suggestions…
The last recommendation has nothing to do with social media, but everything to do with Palladia not making the same mistakes as MTV. Keep it focused on the concerts and the great footage, and under no circumstances should Jersey Sbore ever make into the programming.
Jan 15, 2010 0
Their patented Warrant Streamline Program is revolutionizing the Bail Bond industry one deadbeat dad at a time. Like other paradigm shifters before him (Jobs, Gates, Ford …) D. Spence was not satisfied with the status quo and did something about it. Kudos sir!
This nugget of local badvertising greatness was found on one of my favorite blogs MTLB (Make The Logo Bigger). If you don’t already follow the blog you should.
Jan 9, 2010 0
Considering that most movies about popular 80’s TV shows do more damage to the legacy than good …the upcoming A-Team movie seems destined to ruin a show that the 10-year old me considered a masterpiece combination of brilliant writing and well timed ‘SPLOSIONS!
The A-Team legacy is BA Baracus’ (aka Mr. T) source of money, and nobody messes with BA’s money and lives to tell about it. The director of the movie better hope that BA can parlay the movie hype into some dollar bills or he is in for an ass kickin sucka.
Who knows though, it has Liam Neeson (credibility) Jessica Biel (extreme hottness) and that dude from The Hangover (humor) so maybe this one has a chance.
Jan 7, 2010 0
Thanks to BrandFlakesForBreakfast I found a cool new online service called Flavors.me that allows you to aggregate your social feeds (Twitter, Facebook …).
You are probably thinking …”So what!?“ There are a hundred social media aggregators out there (TweetDeck, Brizzly, etc).
True, but this one takes it a little bit in reverse and is akin to your social buzz business card. It pulls in all your various outbound feeds and aggregates them onto a simple splash page that you can personalize with an image background.
The site is still in beta, so there are a few issues with it currently. The Facebook feed seems a little buggy, and it is missing several social partners (LinkedIn…) that I would have expected to see in the setup options. The admin for your personalized page is very simple/ intuitive, so the overall setup took me maybe 10 minutes.
Great potential with Flavors.me so go check it out and apply for an invite to participate in their beta.
Jan 6, 2010 0
I am and always have been a history junkie. I can nerd-out for hours on the History Channel, and prefer fiction that weaves the story seamlessly within a historically accurate depiction of life at the time. So, I was thrilled when I stumbled across this fantastic blog called Shorpy. It is an photoblog, and the person who runs it has been able to collect some of the most interesting pictures of random life in 1900 – 1920s roughly. It is fascinating …if you are a history nerd like me.
After geeking out with this amazing site for several hours over the holiday, I began to think about how this blog is a product of one of my favorite benefits of the social web. More specific, I love that where the internet has evolved to today is a vast platform that allows great sites and blogs like Shorpy to surface and become a magnet for niche tribes to come together.
Clearly there are other history nerds out there (or there would not be a History Channel), but even within that larger group of people there are smaller groups that share common passion for very specific types or periods of history. These are the niche tribes that I am talking about. Groups of people that always existed prior to social web, but were too hard to connect …or more likely were below the threshold to where they realized there were others out there like themselves.
What is interesting is that there is a correlation between true happiness or passion levels & the more niche the group is. So, a member of the United States Civil War History Club = 5,000 people of moderate dorkiness and happiness utility levels. However, a fan of Civil War Confederate Saber & Musket Photography Club = 10 guys who have never had a date but go off the charts with personal happiness whenever a new photo is uncovered.
People are not just in one tribe. They are simultaneously in hundreds based on what they do for a living, what they are passionate about, things they are affiliated with.
If you had to think about yourself and make a list quickly.
Jan 3, 2010 5
In the spirit of New Years Resolutions, goal setting, and all of the self-improvement statements filling up pages and blog posts this week …here are my goals for 2010 (apparently pronounced “Twenty-Ten”).
As a disclaimer, these are mostly personal improvement goals …and not the “increase client X profitability by 10%” professional type goals. That being said, many of my personal goals will have a direct influence on my professional goals so win win I guess (Side Note — Avoid using the term “win win” in 2010 since it is extremely lame and makes me sound like a douchey account guy).
1. Procrastinate Less (…off to a bad start since I did not write this post until Jan 3).
2.Avoid credit cards like the plague & eliminate my existing bad debt.
3. Complete at least two internal projects (organizational improvement, research study, etc) in addition to client work at The Martin Agency.
4. Complete at least one DYI project at home (one seems like a low goal — but then again I am a terrible handyman).
5. Blog more. At least three posts per week.
6. Go to church.
"Hmmmm? Haven't seen you here since your son's baptism sinner."
7. Reduce Starbucks addiction from 7+ per week to 3.
8. Teach my son how to ride a bike w/out training wheels.
9. Train for and run in at least one 10k.
10. Make my wife be selfish for a change. A girls trip, photography class, a spa day …anything as long as it is something just for her.
11. Attend at least one advertising, digital, or social media conference.
12. Purchase a few quality sports coats — I will embrace my entry into middle-ageness (35) with class …but still young enough to rock those coats out with jeans.
13. Take my family on a trip to NYC via train.
14. Purchase a quality pair of rain/snow boots. We are not in Dallas anymore.
15. Join at least one extracurricular group or activity for work — social media club, VCU Brandcenter, something.
So that is it. I will check back to this post in 6 months to see how well I am sticking to my goals.
