This week we got a lovely note from Lisa Prescott, founder of design studio agency:collective.
Quite the resume she has--started off as one of just a few female animators at Imaginary Forces, then went on to get her MFA from eh, Yale, and later started her own firm. Agency:collective is now doing everything from experience installation pieces to TV show intros.
Man, their work used to be so good. It was original and daring without resorting to lowbrow stuff.
This, however, ruins all that. Don't forget to read the body copy!
Thanks to AgencySpy for mocking it.
I really like Angela.
But I really wish this was a better spot.
Found on officetally.com.
Jergens has a new blog out there for 'tips, tricks and advice to help save your skin.'
Maybe it's just me, but as a consumer I am annoyed anymore with social media that's so overtly branded. It's cool that they want to help me and my skin, but throwing in Jergens product mentions in posts is a huge turn-off. I am also seeing it a lot on average Joe blogs, where Joe has clearly been bribed by a brand to do a write-up on some cheesy event or whatnot. Do people really fall in love with your brand because a blogger is unnaturally waxing poetic about it?
And does every campaign have to have a facebook page and youtube channel?
I'm just wondering when saturation will strike.
I don't think I've ever seen Lipton do a good spot.
And maybe they never will in the U.S.
Lipton Europe, however, charmed me with this.
It's not the best post-production ever, and it doesn't need the voiceover-- but overall, it works.
From DDB Paris.
The Girl Effect work from W+K Portland has been nominated for a Webby in the "Best Website - Activism" category, and also in the "Best Use of Typography" category.
Props to team Jessica Vacek, Ginger Robinson and Julia Blackburn.
In People's Voice voting, "The Girl Effect" is under the "Society" category. Registration for voting is quick and simple, so get to it. We'd love to see this win.
I laughed.
And I secretly want to try the stuff.
From Pink and Poodle, Amsterdam.
(Contrary to their name, this is not a lady-driven agency..."Olaf" wrote this spot.)
If you're curious about what kind of jobs are out there in the booming social media world, here is some fantastic inspiration. Meet The Gamers, The Bloggers, The Entrepreneurs who are bringing some sass to the tech world.
The Most Influential Women in Tech
From the February issue of Fast Company.
In a new venture, Creative Skirts is taking on book reviews to help you weed out the good from the bad in two minutes or less.
Our first is a rather unlikely pick, I must admit. (But I didn't realize that until after I read it).
How to be a Geek Goddess by Christina Tynan-Wood is the modern chick's guide to technology. There's a chapter for every question you could possibly have about all things computer-related--and as a rather late adopter of newfangled stuff, sometimes I do fall into the 'could use a guidebook' category. Or so I thought. Turns out after reading this book, I actually know a lot more than I thought. I'd say this is more of a previous-generation resource--for like, the reeeally late adopters who don't know what Skype is or how to back up files. And sadly, all the detailed computer tips and instructions in the book are geared toward PC users. Hrmmm.
I did learn about some new Web sites to find great deals on random stuff, and I learned that the little RSS feed icon is called a chicklet (cute). And the book is written with plenty of lighthearted, you-don't-need-a-man-to-help-you-with-that charm. But I don't think I'll be pulling this one back off the shelf any time soon--at least not for me, anyway. The next time my Mom asks me what the Internet is, however, I'm so wrapping this up for her.
We do have to give props to author Christina Tynan-Wood though. She's the only woman to have written regular columns for both PC World and PC Magazine, which might be tougher than becoming a chick creative director. You can check out her blog (which echoes a lot of the book content) at geekgirlfriends.com.
It seems men have been receiving a disproportionate amount of pink slips during this downturn. It'll be interesting to see how this affects women, their career paths and their relationships.
During my Bravo TV marathon this afternoon, I was delightfully interrupted with a cartoon woman working up a sweat with the Thighmaster as she chanted, "bikini...bikini...bikini..."
And I watched for a couple minutes I think, realizing that this was not your 30-second product-shilling commercial. It was a short film of four little cartoon ladies I had never met before. And it was pretty funny. While a little product placement of Flat Earth chips snuck in, the whole thing seemed geared solely toward my entertainment (I know better, but still, I was entertained).
A visit to awomansworld.com revealed this is a Frito-Lay effort, to promote their "chick snacks." They're producing several webisodes, much like In the Motherhood did last year with Suave and Sprint (which is turning into an ABC sitcom, if you can believe that).
I'm all for cartoons and speaking to women with a sense of humor. So far, I'm kinda impressed.
The next time I can't convince an art director to design some words more than one measly way, I'm going to politely sit him in front of this slideshow.
We'll watch it together. It'll be nice.
In the next year or two, you'll be interviewing for a new job. So will I. So will your coworkers. So will your boss, your client and your competitors. Digital media is changing advertising so quickly, so radically, that we'll all have new jobs in a couple of years, and our careers will depend upon our ability to use digital media to our advantage. It's not just the creative department or media; it will drive how every person in the company creates and operates, from human resources to accounting. Today, digital is not a department -- it's a competitive advantage.
Bad things happen when people don't upgrade their skills. About 15 years ago, when computers entered the creative department, most art directors quickly adopted them. But some resisted, especially "senior" ones (read: those over 40), who continued to rely on the studio. Their argument -- quite noble in theory, actually -- was that they should be hired for their brains, not their wrists. Unfortunately, nobility doesn't live long in agencies. Within a few years, most had been replaced by younger (and cheaper) wrists/thinkers who'd never dream of art directing from the back seat.
Let's avoid that unpleasantness, shall we? Translating your skills and experience from traditional media to digital isn't as hard as you might think (at least, assuming you had strong ideas and strategy to begin with). Below, your guide to navigating this transition.
It's happening. Or should I say, it happened. No longer is digital a "department" within an agency -- it's an essential competitive advantage for everyone in the company. Time to get on with it.
It's not enough to slap up content and expect it to get hits. For every Dove "Evolution" there's a burial ground of failures.
Digital marketing is written in code, not stone. Constantly try new things, tweak formulas and take more risks.
Even as you launch a digital project, the clock is ticking on its countdown toward clichédom. Things change so quickly in digital space that 2008's breakthrough will be 2009's yawn.
Immediacy is a key advantage for clients. Make it your advantage, too.
Collect as much digital understanding as possible. Boost your learning curve by attending conferences (and not just for the boondoggle). The best way to turbocharge your worth in the digital marketplace is to work alongside the best, so work with digital superstars even if you don't get paid for it. As someone once said, "Aspire to be the dumbest person in the room."
The most successful people in digital marketing can mentally multitask. Stay flexible. Don't get married to any one solution.
It's always a bad sign when someone on a digital assignment isn't familiar with Facebook, SMS, Skype and other key digital technologies. Learn about the main players and understand their implications. You don't need to read the TiVo owner's manual to understand the implications of DVRs.
Your career will take a hit in a culture of Luddites. Digital media mirrors a modern career: Constantly changing, fast-paced, occasionally frenzied and always filled with new possibilities. If your company becomes outdated, your work for it will, too.
As if selling great work to clients wasn't difficult enough before, now there's the added complexity of explaining unfamiliar media. If your client isn't fully versed in a recommended form of media, boost your odds of selling the idea by boosting his or her learning curve in advance of the presentation.
It was easier to discover new lands back in the days when guys like Christopher Columbus could accidentally bump into continents. Today, countless uncharted digital territories still await. Now's your chance to conquer one.
Find new ways to sell yourself. Describe case studies you've been part of. Have a website built and become active on LinkedIn and other professional social-networking sites. Creatives should have a DVD with examples of all forms of experience, including traditional media.
The best way to get smart about the digital space is to constantly expand into new forms of media by actually working with them. Take on assignments outside your area of expertise. Become a generalist in thinking, with specialist application as needed.
You shouldn't spend life tethered to a BlackBerry, but you also don't want to become known as the slowpoke who can't access e-mail out of the office. Don't allow personal resistance to technology to become a pain in the ass for the people you work with. In this case, it's not OK for the cobbler's child to go barefoot.
When sending a thank you, skip e-mail in favor of handwritten note. When giving a presentation, don't read PowerPoint slides verbatim; instead, tell stories. Get up off your butt and go talk to people across the office. Be a human. Not an avatar.
This is why we have planners.
People that help you REALLY know your audience...what will resonate with them, and more importantly, what will really piss them off.
Exhibit A: the latest campaign for Motrin from TAXI NY.
Personally, having worked on a mom brand for a long time, and having to rewrite many an "insensitive" mom headline, I am pretty blown away this made it to the airwaves. It doesn't even sound remotely authentic if you ask me.
And apparently it didn't to thousands of moms out there.
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