Creative Skirts

All Hail Susan Hoffman

I was in the mood for something uplifting today, so I went in search of a woman to inspire us all.

The search didn't start particularly well—on Adweek's full credits list of the top 10 ads of last year, only one woman was credited in any sort of creative role. ONE. 

But the one was Susan Hoffman, and she's plenty enough inspiration for us all. Here's some of her work as partner, ECD, and 8th employee of W+K Portland:

 

 

  

The spot she did with Janet Champ that made me go into advertising:

 

And finally, a few wise words from the woman herself:

 

Cheers, Susan Hoffman. And thanks for the mid-week pick-me-up.

Mad Woman

Inspiration for the day:

A WOMAN copywriter sold the “I <3 New York” campaign in the 70s. She was working at Wells Rich Greene at the time, and worked with graphic designer Milton Glaser (who did the work pro bono, thinking it would only run for a few months) to get the campaign sold to the city.

Her name was Jane Maas, and she’s also written a book, Mad Women, at the spring-chicken age of 80. (check it out in hard copy or iPad-style)

Makes me think I’ve got plenty of time …

The 3 Things You Have To Do For Yourself

Sheryl Sandberg has a fantastic TED talk that covers some fresh ground on what keeps women out of leadership positions. 

Most talks on this topic rely on the same community-focused ideas (mentor younger women, vocally support female colleagues, build businesses that support flexible work hours, etc.), but Sanberg focuses on the 3 things we have to do for ourselves:

1. Sit at the table.

A senior government official came for a meeting with Sandberg and other execs in Silicon Valley. Sandberg arrived and took a seat at the table the meeting was to be held around, as did the government official. Two women who were travelling with the government offical, and were pretty senior, chose to sit in chairs along the edge of the room, instead of at the table.

"Why does it matter?" asks Sandberg. "Boy, it matters a lot because no one gets the corner office by sitting on the side, not at the table."

2. Make your partner a real partner. 

"I’m convinced that we’ve made more progress in the workforce than we have in the home. The data shows this very clearly. If a woman and a man work full-time and have a child, the woman does twice the amount of housework the man does, and the woman does three times the amount of childcare the man does. So she’s got three jobs or two jobs, and he’s got one. Who do you think drops out when someone needs to be home more?"

3. Don't leave before you leave.

"From the moment [a woman] starts thinking about having a child … she doesn't raise her hand anymore, she doesn't look for a promotion, she doesn't take on the new project … she starts leaning back.

I'm here to tell you, once you have a child at home, your job better be really good to go back, because it's hard leaving a child at home -- your job needs to be challenging. It needs to be rewarding. If two years ago you didn't take a promotion … you stopped looking for new opportunities, you're going to be bored. Keep your foot on the gas pedal ... don't leave before you leave."

 

18 minutes that are well worth it:

Sally Hogshead: It's Time to Upgrade to You 2.0

From AdAge. Published months ago, but there are some friendly reminders in here.

Think You Don't Work in Digital Media? Guess What: You Do. Here's Your Guide to Translating Your Skills From Traditional to Digital

By Sally Hogshead
 

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.

STOP RESISTING IT

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.

THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE, YEAH, BUT YOU STILL NEED A MESSAGE

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.

EXPERIMENT MORE

Digital marketing is written in code, not stone. Constantly try new things, tweak formulas and take more risks.

GET READY FOR  OBSOLESCENCE

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.

QUIT BITCHING ABOUT FASTER TURNAROUND TIMES

Immediacy is a key advantage for clients. Make it your advantage, too.

STOCKPILE NEW SKILLS AND  EXPERIENCE

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."

LIMBER UP YOUR BRAIN

The most successful people in digital marketing can mentally multitask. Stay flexible. Don't get married to any one solution.

BE CONVERSANT  WITH A VARIETY  OF TECHNOLOGIES

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.

DON'T WORK IN A COMPANY THAT  DOESN'T EMBRACE DIGITAL MEDIA

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.

PERFECT THE ART OF THE SELL

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.

CREATE A "FIRST"

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.

DEMONSTRATE  DIGITAL PROWESS THROUGHOUT ANY JOB SEARCH

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.

GET OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE

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.

EMBRACE  TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE

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.

FINALLY, KNOW WHEN TO SKIP THE DIGITAL AND GO OLD SCHOOL

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.

Morgan Shorey Interview

I ran across this interview with Morgan Shorey after reading she was the new CMO at Merkley & Partners in NY.
It's an old interview, but I still found it interesting.

(In an interview with Oz The Journal of Creative Disciplines)
Morgan Shorey - Founder and Co-Owner, The List

Morgan Shorey will never forget the day she was handed her boss's photo portfolio to take to a client. She was new to the photography business, and eager to do whatever it took to succeed. "I was handed the portfolio," Shorey notes, "because I was a girl and was dressed best." Not one to miss an opportunity, Shorey ran with her golden moment. Suddenly she was traveling to cities like Washington, D.C., Miami and Memphis, representing the studio. Thanks to her top consultative and selling skills, she became a partner in the studio, helping Arrington Morgan reach the top 5% in the nation in revenue.

By the time she hit 30, she was ready to make her own move. And she had an idea. Over the years, Shorey had bought scads of lists in her search for prospective customers, always thinking she could do better. She set out to discover if she could, creating The List, a well researched roster of folks who buy creative work. "People wondered whether or not there was a market for a $300 customer prospect list. My gut said there was."

Even though Shorey felt confident as a woman in the workplace, it's interesting to note that she created a business card with a very masculine feel, something she really hadn't noticed at first. "I guess I thought if the card was frillier, I'd have to work harder to prove myself," she says. "As it stands now, people think I'm a man until they meet me. To be honest, it felt good to present a strong, masculine identity. By the time clients get to me, they've already got an image in mind so when they discover I'm a woman they say, "oh" and proceed.

Shorey believes there are a few advantages to being a woman in the workplace. "The key to success for us is being able to build relationships instantly so we can get information about who's doing the buying over the phone. I think defenses come down when it's a woman doing the asking."

Shorey also believes in the strength of a woman's intuition. "I think there are two voices people hear," she cites. One is in the head and one is in the stomach. "The head voice might ask whether this prospective employee can type 60 words per minute. The stomach voice asks whether this is someone I can trust. I think men ignore the voice in the stomach. Women are more prone to listen to it. I think that's why I've never had to check references. My gut instincts are typically right on."

Not to say that there haven't been struggles as well. "When you're a business owner and a wife and mother," she adds, "everywhere you go, someone wants a piece of you. 'There's no toner, I need posterboard for a school project, I want dinner.' It's never-ending. Either you build up the mechanisms to make it work or you have to have help."