getting it right [sorta]

What I've seen of Hermès shoppers at the South Coast Plaza store, I can't imagine that any of them would care for this video. Despite the idea being a bit off target, I do give credit to the brand for nailing-it with the execution and choreography of the skateboarding moves.



It's almost as nice as this one from Nissan a few years ago. Lesson here: If you're going to borrow interest from board sports like skateboarding, surfing or snowboarding, do it right. Or end up annoying some people.

[via ThreeBillion.com]

a shiny new toy in the bag-o-tricks

3D Projection mapping on buildings.



On cars.


On snow.


And now on shoes.



Projection mapping is the new flashlight painting. It wasn't that long ago when we were all in love with the Pika Pika light painting made popular notably by the folks at Sprint. These visual gimmicks seem to come and go with some initial buzz and excitement for the brand that brings it first to market. But what about the others that follow thereafter? Are they doing anything that makes the technique better? Are they adding anything to the brand narrative? Or better yet, are they doing anything that adds tangible value to peoples' lives? Or perhaps, are these new shiny, digital, "techie" things created, just another way to create some interactivity and dialog with our audience? If not, then I'd say they're just poor imitations that has no purpose other than having something shiny to add to someone's reel and not really addressing a challenge in a creative way.

planning with purpose

Planningness Recap for interTrend Comunications

View more documents from nguyen duong.

a recap of two presentations from the "Planning-ness" conference that has the most relevance to my day-to-day here at our little asian-american ad shop, interTrend Communications. i've borrowed a lot of thinking and slides from people much smarter than me in putting this little recap together. for more in-depth smarts go to these 2 links here and here.

this was the most well organized and productive conferences i've ever been to. kudos to Mark Lewis and Claire Grinton on getting us all excited to make things. Looking forward to the next Planning-ness

the relationship

[photo]


The relationship of a client to an agency, is like that of a surfer to a shaper. Like most relationships, it is one that is built on communication and trust. But what makes some relationships so rich and prolific that it creates just tons of awesome? When the relationship between the two entities creates a culture, rather than just commercials for it's clients, or how about heaps of world titles and constantly pushing the boundaries of surfing with innovative board designs?

I believe it's an open and honest dialog between surfer/shaper and client/agency that yields the most rewarding ideas. I've had a few custom boards shaped for me over the years. With each consult w/the shaper, the best ones have come out of exchanges when the shaper asks all the questions to understand my surfing style, experience, and the conditions where I most often surf. This is when you [as a surfer or client] check your ego at the door and provide as much honest feedback as possible so that the shaper/agency can craft the appropriate board/idea for your needs. Most of the time, whether you're a pro or weekend-warrior like myself, we all want that "magic" board that does it all for us. however, we really don't know how to articulate the shape/design of what that "magic" board should be. Enter the expertise of the shaper. the best shapers are the ones that can understand the strengths/weaknesses of the surfer, the wave conditions, etc to craft that "magic" board. there has to be a dialog and trust between the two for it to work. And also, the good shapers don't talk over the heads of their clients either. they both have to be on the same "wavelength".

So there has to be a collaboration and mutual respect of each other's talents. How many times has a client tried to cocktail napkin a layout to their agency partner? Or, when an agency exaggerates how in love they are with a client's brand, just so that they can win the business? Respect. Respect what each person brings (e.g. assets/skills) to the table and work on creating a mutually beneficially relationship. The more a shaper gets to understand the surfer, the better the boards he/she can make for them. And in turn, a more prolific relationship where both get what they want. Better boards, better business.

Yes, there's also an exception. Most amazing surfers or clients can do almost anything despite the quality of the board/creative that is made for them. But those are probably few and far between. Hold onto the clients that you have and work on building the trust and confidence to experiment, innovate, and grow. I'd really like to think that we nurture those client/agency--surfer/shaper relationships so that we continue to elevate the work that is being created. Oh, and another thought...I think this analogy can also be made between the role of account planners to their creative partners as well. As planners our briefs that we produce for creatives should also be a collaborative process that includes honest communication and respect for each other. and just like the surfer who has an on-going dialog w/the shaper to create that "magic" board, and so should us planners w/our creative partners in developing the idea. yeah, agree? what say you?

transmedia & advertising

Transmedia & Advertising

View more Microsoft Word documents from Ivan Askwith.

the matrix, lost, BMW's "the hire" and more. all these have stories have been told and shared thru a variety of media. each one inherently special among the community of people already having conversations there. a solid preso from @ivanovitch at Big Spaceship on the idea of sharing our brand narrative across multiple platforms.

no cheesy pitchman harmed in the filming of this infomercial

update Fri. June 5th: in the 4 days since the release of this video... 1.5MM views, 7100+ ratings, 2400+ comments. Make cool shit that people will want to see and share. How hard is that? ;)

Brand Engagement thru Participation Slideshare

View more PDF documents from Nguyen Duong.

engagement through participation

“The key is to produce something that both pulls people together and gives them something to do.” - Henry Jenkins, Dir. of MIT Comparative Media Studies

i came across the above quote over at faris' blog. there's a great discussion going on over there. after reading thru his post and the comments, the little bulb in my head flickered on and i wanted to share these thoughts on two pieces of communications that i believe are powerful ways to get people to interact with your brand.

the first is an interactive sign that does exactly that... it gets people, [in this case, tourists in a high-traffic area] to interact. a simple practice i'm sure most of us who have traveled on vacation, can always relate with, the "kodak moment" when we photograph ourselves at a particular landmark. McDonald's took that cultural observation and created an opportunity to allow vacationers at Piccadilly Circus to be a part of the brand... experience.



the second video already covered by other fine folks here and here, is more recent and is getting a lot of blog coverage. this one is pure and simple joy to me. i've seen it a bunch of times now, and it still makes me feel good inside. [yes, i'm a sappy dork]. unlike most other branded buzz events where companies have hired actors to recreate a flash-mob stunt, this one for T-Mobile's "life's for sharing" campaign, gathered people into Trafalgar Square to take part in a sing-a-long of the Beatle's song, "hey jude." how simply beautiful is that? and it hits dead-on w/the tagline and strategy of T-Mobile about sharing life experiences w/the other people. bravo! i'd love to see more of this from companies. how about you?



thanks for your time.

bs our way into a strategy

and perhaps a job or a dept that perhaps isn't needed?

this is probably a topic that has been debated before, so forgive me if this sounds like a broken record.

what is the role of planning in advertising? (i'm looking to you creative folks). Planners, we can bullshit our way into an answer (either for ourselves or the client). ;)

a few weeks ago, i overhead this convo between an art director and a planner: "you guys (planners) are only telling me what i already know, but just make it more complicated"

then a recent post from the Ad Contrarian: "I'm tired of strategists" had me thinking a bit about the value and purpose for planners. read the comments, good debate.

a fellow planner in sweden posted this analogy of the role of planning

a lot of agencies like to talk a mean game about "turning insights into action" and great creative. before planning came around, where did these insights come from? who did the work to uncover them? who provided the inspiration? was it just some BS to get clients to feel better about the work we were gonna sell them?

or is planning suppose to help create? collaborate w/our creative partners? are we to find truths and opportunities that the creative team may not have realized or observed on their own? or should we just get the hell out of the way? do i find myself struggling with my recent decision to move into planning from account service? no. i've found my home. this is what gets my ass out of bed everyday.

are we necessary to the process? I'd like to think that we are. We are partners to our creative friends. we all in it to help solve our client's business problems. and today, more than ever, our clients are looking to us for more than just that :30second piece of film or page 4/C ad. we all need to be in the business of creative problem solving. in addition, as planners we should challenge not only our account folks but also our clients into solving for the right problems. we need to work closely w/our clients to define the business strategy, ask the right questions, observe, uncover, ask more questions and eventually inspire and create a launching off point for our idea creation folks. this is the role and the value that i see planning provides. it's the real deal insights, ideas, inspiration, or strategy that will help us connect w/relevance and a point of difference. sure there's probably a few exceptions out there w/the types of planners and what they bring to the table, however, like anything else, it all depends on how much the client and agency embrace planning and how much value you deliver, no matter what the title on your business card says. am i full of it? off base? i open the floor to you.

peace.

photo via: The Planning Lab

be interesting

when i first started out in advertising, i used to think that it was the best job in the world. not in a sense that i was doing something that was making a big difference in people's lives, but more of the feeling that, "hey i'm surrounded by a lot of cool and talented people, doing some fun and interesting things with just words and pix." i used to surround myself with just ad people. all of my good bros (that i also surfed with) just happened to be in advertising. so yeah, i was pretty happy with my career choice and with the close knit group of friends around me. i had found my tribe. i also noticed that i was talking about ads all the time. there was no escape from it. my poor then girlfriend, now wife, had to endure so many get togethers, BBQs, cocktail parties, and company functions with the same type of people...ad people. but that was then, many years ago. today, i think i've matured and become comfortable in the skin that i'm in. not as an ad guy, but as a husband, a father, a son, a bro, a surfer, a cook, a photographer, a snowboarder, a fashion whore, a gadget geek, and probably a few more, but after all, i'm really just a person. the work that i do, does not define me. it is certainly a part of me, but it's just a part of my collective 38 years of experiences that has clumped onto me like different grains of sand, from different beaches, that stick to the wax on my surfboard. with each new beach that i surf and every fresh layer of wax that i rub onto the deck, i'm building more grip and traction to the board and therefore allowing me to surf with surefooted confidence. a lot of different experience = more confidence in who i am. i should be proud of the life and work experiences that i've had so far and carry that confidence into each interview. if i were an employer, i would bring in interesting people into their organizations. people with a variety of skills and interests that can bring that traction AND friction to foster a dynamic work experience. i wasn't planning to head down this path when i started to type this, but it just naturally went this way. so go with it.

what i really wanted to talk about was this tweet by @jasonoke this sunday right before the superbowl. the tweet read: "Why people care about SuperBowl ads: it's the one day a year the brief is "be INTERESTING", not "be on message." Let's do that more often." i couldn't agree more. BRAVO! so many times, we get trapped in the box of coming up with ideas that deliver a very clinical, 1-way message to people. the notion of "being interesting" can easily get lost in a poorly conceived strategy, or an ill-defined business problem to solve for. at the end of the day, it becomes just noise to the rest of us, especially the rest of us that ARE NOT in advertising. people who don't do what we do, don't read into ads as much as we do.

so by now, most of us ad folks have seen and talked about the Cadbury Eyebrows spot. what i loved about this ad, was that it was simply entertaining. it was interesting. and i also have to agree with the post over at Influx about the 9 reasons why cadbury's eyebrows are a hit, and especially if the idea "can spawn derivatives - people can try this themselves and post videos" which is clearly evident here , here , and here. these appear to have been created by fans of the idea, not ad folks who've taken an interest in this darling of spot. i also have my buddy clay who's not an ad guy also post the spot to his facebook profile. when i asked him about how he found this, he told me he saw it on his other friends facebook profile and he wanted to share it. now isn't that what it's all about? let's come up with ideas that are interesting, and not always be about force fitting some brand manager's positioning statement into a target audiences' head. so going back to jason's original tweet, i am inspired to challenge ourselves to come up with interesting ideas, that'll hopefully inspire others to share the work we create vs just being on message.

Focus on What Matters

Focus on What Matterspost layoff message

i want to connect

note: this is a rant that i'm hoping to steer into some helpful insight. Here's my beef: rushing jobs thru and treating the creative brief as a "check-the-box" thing to do vs. having thoughful discussion and understanding around what is it that we're trying to solve for, is NOT how it should done . if you treat the work as if we were machines cranking the shit out, i might as well be working in a factory stamping out cogs.

in my years as an account guy juggling multiple clients and jobs, it seemed like all i was doing was making sure deadlines were met, projects w/n budget, clients happy, herding cats. that was my job and i did it with focus and determination. However, it sometimes bothered me when i sensed that other people on the team, didn't put their heart into the work. we all have our drivers and motivations in our roles, however, ultimately we ALL have a part in the creative process and the finished product. and, for me, i believe it starts with the client briefing. and as the result of that client discussion, we should be able to produce a well-crafted creative brief. we should sweat it out from the beginning to get the brief right, where everyone is in alignment vs. "just write something up for me and we'll send it over to the creatives." it should be a collaborative and living process, and most importantly, the brief writing process should be fun and have passion behind it. it should'nt be a mechanical, fill-in box #4 with this target audience info, and box #7 with this brand tonality. the brief should be a well written story that will lead and inspire.

so if our jobs as planners is to tell that story, what is the physical manifestation of that story? is it a word document where we fill in the boxes? is it a visual brief, one with images and copy? or is it a video brief, moving images that move us? or perhaps, is it taking the creatives out of the agency surroundings, go offsite, have a beer and a chat about ? think about the people who really connect with you whenever they have something to share. are they reading off a document? probably not. they share with you what they know, what they believe in, what they have heart for.

the brief is more than just carefully crafted words on a document, that only a handful of people can understand. it should be written in plain, everyday english, and be shareable, relateable, no matter what function you have in an agency. it should connect.

and if the brief is able to connect, then it'll stick and it can be shared. tracking w/this? if the story sticks, you don't have to be a planner to tell it. the creative team should be able to re-tell that story to the client when they present the ideas. the client should be able to re-tell that story at their national sales mtgs when the shiny new tv spots are shown.

the brief should be a labor of love, not some process where we're just cranking shit out. if it isn't, you might as well be working at Spacely's Sprockets. one more thing. i'm a fan of friction. it worries me when i present a brief for the 1st time to the team and no one has any questions or challenges to it. bend it, flip it, tweak it, it's helps create a better brief that everyone has a part in developing.

peace out.


"hey Nguyen, what's your beef (noodle soup) about?"

etnies pours some PBR holiday cheer for adidas

this is such a punk idea. i love it. there hasn't been much cool shit that i've been stoked on lately, especially from the surf/skate/snow industry. most of the time, the ideas are pretty weak, with the exception of this. my neighbor works for etnies, will have to find out more from her on what response they've gotten so far from adidas. read more about it here.

leave the talent, take the idea

this idea is not new to some of us in the promotional world. there have been plenty of meet 'n greet, driver ride-a-long, experience of a lifetime claims before. like most of these promotions, they blow their wad on securing the talent that they don't have any dough left to produce a quality idea. or perhaps they settle on the notion that just having the big name alone will get us to take notice? it's a self-gratifying, ejaculatory ad filled with big logos and contrived studio shots, just for yourself, and no one else. and if you are going to use a big name athlete, do it in a way that stays true to that talent and what they're all about. find synergies between what you're trying to say with how that talent would interpret that message. if there isn't any...next time, leave out the talent, and take the better idea.

get over it

i felt inspired tonight to post a thought after going for a couple rounds discussing the observation over at Deceptive Cadence regarding the lack of originality in the ad biz. we ad folks need to get over ourselves sometimes. it's just advertising. i never talk about advertising when i'm w/my friends and family. well. maybe just only 1 time out of the year, and that' when we're drinking heavily, enjoying chips 'n salsa, and watching some dudes bash each other's heads in over some pigskin.

we can certainly take pride in our creative work, discuss, analyze, critique, praise, hate, whatever. we're talking to ourselves. i've been hearing a lot of discussion around changing up what we do as an industry. rather than creating ads for the sake of increasing transactions, why not create "ads" that create relationships and conversations? and even better, why not create ads, or conversations that DO GOOD. there are a lot of brilliant thinkers and agencies out there, that are on this tip right now. when we do get to that place, maybe my wife would want to have a chat about ads over dinner and drinks w/me instead of talking about the scandalous wedding that we're going to next weekend. yes, i'm using the same image again from a few posts ago, but, hey, i like it and it's still relevant.

yeah, it's kinda like that...

like giving birth to a baby. slightly amusing spoof on what it's like to "give birth" to an idea and take it thru the developmental process at an agency and with clients. i'm giggling a bit inside. This one had me more in stitches tho. now onto more pressing matters concerning tacos and bubbly sugar water.

via Brand Central Station

theater of the mind

Working offsite, remotely in la la land, 3000 miles away from my agency counterparts and clients, I find myself having to sit in a lot of conference calls. most of the time these calls occur at a 6am local time. nice huh? anyways, been doing it for over 5 years now and i think i've gotten pretty good at communicating effectively...over the phone.

where i think this skill has to be tight is when ideas are being presented. presenting concepts to clients in person, at a meeting, you've got the ability to read the room, calibrate the presentation and most importantly present in a much more dynamic and sometimes even expressive ways. presenting in person allows for creating that "theater of the mind" before you ever set a concept or layout in front of the client. it's certainly helped me in the past. i'm able to get clients seated, in the theater, lights down and curtain drawn. the show's about to begin.

when you're on the phone you're at a handicap, as a presenter. and then add in the challenge of having to send layouts before the conference call, you're doubly screwed. honestly, will anyone heed the warning "hey, don't look at these concepts until we've taken you thru it on the call." Presenting ideas on conference calls blow. sure, there's tools out there like webinars and videoconferencing, however with the turn/burn and high frequency of client presentations, it's a pain in the ass to set-up for the tech-challenged. yesterday i had a someone ask me how to copy and past a slide in powerpoint. o_O

my tip is this: watch, listen to how other people present their ideas, be it in person or on the phone. watch the good ones, listen to the bad ones. take mental note and create your own style. most importantly when you're presenting the idea, create that theater of the mind, and you've got yourself a captivated audience.

photo cred to

looking in all the wrong places

i think sometimes i've been trying to hard to find that data point to bring out an insight...a truth. if i'm working on a job that has the luxury of time, i'll get so caught up in scouring thru decks over decks digging, looking for that gem of an opportunity. lately though, the turn 'n burn 1-day projects that i've been working on doesn't really afford the time to get really smart. so, in my immersion into planning, i've had to think quick on my feet, be observant, be resourceful and be insightful w/o the benefit of research. so far, i've lucked out. is it dumb luck or is it that the clients don't really care or don't understand? or i'm i not looking in the right places? most of the time, i feel that i'm just putting a new shade of lipstick on the same pig. does it have to have a data point or some quantifiable research to tell the most compelling story possible for your brand? or is it more about having a simple and honest understanding of the brand and being able to communicate that in the most relevant and interesting way that no one else has done before you? to me this Levi's spot is honest. did the insight and truth come from research? or did it come from a basic understanding of the brand, the consumer and the culture? i admit, i've been busted once, maybe twice for looking... and observing. is it wrong? or is it part of my job to look in all the right places...to observe (thru all the nooks and crannies), understand and help communicate in the most compelling way possible? i'm so busted.

killing time

while waiting for a conference call to start, the on-hold muzak started to get really annoying. so i started to drift off and play around with this little distraction. make your own here




via twitter update by the herdmeister

why i won't miss being an account guy: herding cats

i don't find myself doing much of this these days. i really am enjoying it. it used to frustrate the hell out of me and i'm sure with the rest of the people in the agency, to have to be the pain in the ass, on your shit 24/7, account guy, following up after every meeting with the call report, emails, phone calls to ensure that "we're all on the same page", and impromptu swing by your office chat again about the next steps.