strategy is sexy

make facebook friends with brand strategists

2007-08-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

if you're already on facebook, send a friend request to brand strategists.

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i'll find something to put here.

account planning conference notes and pics posted

2007-08-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

a brand strategist posted all of his notes and some of his pics from the 2007 aaaa account planning conference in san diego. i can't make much sense of them. maybe you'll have better luck.

if you'll send your notes from conference sessions he didn't attend to brandstrategists@gmail.com, they'll appear here too. you're also invited to leave your conference comments here.

the conference posts are made possible by st. domenico, the patron saint of strategy, and by the holy people at lowe, jetblue, in-n-out and apple.

closing remarks

2007-08-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

by conference co-chairs

sir ken talking about the relationship between intelligence amd creativity started the conference on a note of optimism for the role we can play in the business

there’s never been a more exciting time for planning

the times are challenging, but the opportunities are endless

we start with a wishlist of speakers. when we have a conversation with these people, they believe that what we do has the chance to change culture

recognize the power we have to do that

take that responsibility and actually push it

take conrol. redefine it before it’s redefined for you

every brand could be a belief brand. have a brand with a purpose. change culture through our brands

next time, we will have recycling bins at our conference

if we take the bigger picture into consideration rather than focusing on the weeds, we can make a difference

think about the new business process differently. it’s not that insights aren’t important: it’s about using those insights more broadly

continue the conversation. participate in the conference blog at www.aaaa.org

a really big thank you to a whole lot of people

think a little bigger and broader to think a little different

we’ll see you next year

the power of social media for brands

2007-08-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

mike murphy, vice president, media sales, facebook

agenda
1. the value of social media to people
2. opening your platform
3. a working model
4. the new roi

what is social media?
social media is active sharing online

the filter factor
massive amounts of content
friends/community are the filter

140 people define what products, what’s news

the influence of friends

facebook: a trusted environment

authentication

mark zuckerberg, a 19-year-old from harvard founded facebook

privacy control: must exchange permissions to see more info about me

one vast network of 50,000 networks

more and more value the more your friends use
creates value for everyone

make brand part of a network
opens brands to entire community

hackathon: engineers present their ideas
best idea gets pushed to the site

number 1? photo sharing site

f8 platform
30,000 developers and over 1500 applications

behavior benefits for marketers

very vocal community
more passionate when they know that the opinion they share changes something

how do you leverage the brand around handraisers?

survey
1,000 respondents in 29 minutes

403,211 consumers have victoria’s secret pink in their profile
16,293 consumers have levi’s in the profile

taking 200 words that best define your brand for people who are closest to you

every 48 hours, users are updating their profile
using a brand to help define your brand

there’s a lot of noise in the marketplace about viral marketing
there’s a lot about why; there’s not a lot about how

a working model

1. create
2. seed
3. connect
4. spread
5. discover

a great idea wins

“i don’t hate advertising. i just hate advertising that sucks”

advertising is a four-letter word

if the content becomes so meaningful, it’s no longer a cost: it’s a benefit

pepsi: design a can campaign
target: catalog distributed to college students

smile state
crest whitestrips
50 universities closest to a wal-mart
premiere screenings and concert for biggest community around this
exponential growth in sales at the wal-marts

2. seed the content
make it available and hope that it takes off

each connection creates 260 viral impressions?

the power of share is so valuable

discover a richer environment to collect data and insights

gender, age, geography, network type, graduation year, activities, interests, favorite music

the new roi: return on involvement
creative involvement: connect with people who identify with your brand
trusted referrals: give a reason to share
go viral: watch your message spread
discover more: get new consumer insights

leverage what comes out of it

3. best practices

be a part of the experience. don’t scream from the sidelines. don’t be disruptive; be inclusive. it’s a great experience to share your brand

maintain a daily dialogue. over 50% of our users are on our site every day

instant information from a qualified group of people

it’s not everything to everybody. it’s a snapshot

create a panel

the community polices content

the difference between a myspace user and a facebook user
facebook: info flow for people you know
myspace; profile for people you’ll never meet

we have the ability to approve or reject advertising

we think it’s better to turn away business than for it to have a negative effect on the community

what is web 3.0?
web 2.0 + mobile 1.0
there’s an amazing opportunity to create collective intelligence

pick of the litter winners

2007-08-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

carlos vasquez, miami ad school

see the pick of the litter winners at pickofthelitter.info

jay chiat planning awards--grand prix winner

2007-08-08T10:45:00.000-07:00

axe click

did this paper push our industry?
is there an insight?
is there a leap in creative and strategic thinking that we’re envious of?
was the work famous?
was it great, effective work?
was it a compelling story that we’re proud of?

click was an idea that could have only happened by thinking different about planning.

the start point is not the brief. the start proint has to be in the npd process

in the mating game, guys are competitive. the game doesn’t have to end with getting the girl

click was not an advertising idea. it combined the product and the communications idea in a way that could not be separated

the clicker was a brilliantly simple piece of communication

can we please have more papers next year so we don’t have another axe grand prix winner?

massive change

2007-08-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

bruce mau, chairman, bruce mau incorporated

there is no outside the city

a commitment to a global open world
it’s not going to be solved by a single individual or a single company

there’s a new political axis that is not left and right

so much of that debate is about left and right. when, in fact, we need solutions

we need a new political axis that’s about progression as opposed to retrograde. we need leaders as opposed to laggards

they need a vision of an advanced future

it’s not about left and right, this region versus that region, this relgion versus that religion. left and right are both dead ends

a courageous, global effort

massive change 2.0

bmau@brucemaudesign.com

we’re looking for people who want to do this with their life and their work and with their business

cities are the solution not the problem. new york is one of the most sustainable cities on the planet because of the density

we’re 6 billion, and we’re going to 9

what we have to do is design solutions

beaches are closed because our systems flood and put the sewage directly in the water

in toronto, on one of the greatest fresh water reserves, you can’t swim in it because we pollute it

we need to make the investment because we have the resources. the world is awash in cash

civilizations don’t murder. they commit suicide

we are now a network society. we have a much higher elastic strength in terms of dealing with crisis

in jared diamond’s book, societies that ran their course didn’t have the tools to understand the implications of what they were doing

when we imagined the car, we didn’t understand the number of people or the mechanics we would eventually create

we are 6 billion going on 7 billion because we’ve been successful at confronting hunger

if you want to do something for the environment, educate a woman

in-n-out

2007-08-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

in-n-out is just two brief bus rides away from the san diego planning conference site.

dinner

2007-08-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

live earth--inspiring a global movement

2007-08-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

kevin wall, ceo, control room; founder, live earth
interviewed by willow duttge, reporter, conde nast, portfolio

a webcast of this interview is here.

jay chiat planning awards--gold winner

2007-08-07T16:45:00.000-07:00

axe click
gavin may, bbh

jimi hendrix
bringing freshness to what you do

the presentation
fresh approach to comms development
most successful ever new variant launch
a global youth craze

our hendrix moment
freshen the npd process
hardwire consumer insight and comms thinking into the product idea

fresh promise
centred on guys interaction with guys, not girls
fresh creative idea

the challenge
new variant launches were in decline
make this the most successful launch ever

1. freshening the npd process

the old npd & comms development process
product name & packaging developed by client
>
planning develop conceptual product idea, based on insight into the mating game
>
creatives briefed with this name and product idea
>
creatives produce comms idea and advertising

we can’t keep using this same process and get a different result

flipped the first two:
planning develop conceptual product idea, based on insight into the mating game
>
product name & packaging developed

2. freshening the promise
not just getting the girl
getting knowing glances
still equally valued

the product idea
moments of instant connection
>
click (short and snappy, translates well)
>
girls will click with you when you wear axe click

how competitive guys could be, particularly when it came to girls

what we also observed
guys are competitive with each other—they like to keep score
>
about guys & guys, not guys & girls
>
score more clicks than your friends

guys love stats
in the mating game, that’s particularly true

keep score of girls they kissed or slept with

guys were smirking in the corner in agreement

the creative brief

3. a fresh creative idea

a clicker

addictive to play with
a sense that guys would love them too

getting these into guys' hands
a more powerful means of communicating

the campaign ambition
the clicker
keeps score of your clicks
>
create a clicking craze

something that resonated globally
groups and friendship pairs
what kind of things do you keep score of?

validating the idea with young guys

4. freshening the plan
local markets had to have the right tools to create a craze

task based campaign plan
seed>make the clickers desireable and seed the idea of keeping score
inspire>establish the campaign idea and communicate the product promise
involve>get clickers into guy’s hands and create forums for them to get clilcking

social currency around them

clickmore.com

results
objectives
create the most successful new variant launch ever
biggest ever selling axe new variant
double digit growth globally

comms objective: create a craze
4 million clickers distributed
11 million visitors to website
2 million pounds of free pr

standard way new variants are developed

blogging the agency

2007-08-07T15:15:00.001-07:00

ed cotton, butler shine stern & partners
aki spicer, fallon

seven deadly sins

2007-08-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

gareth kay, modernista!
mark lewis, ddb san francisco

people against lazy

“i’m just surprised that no-one’s thought of a better idea yet.”
stephen king on planning

success?
“in most categories, a brand’s market share is stationary”
4 our of 5 categories seen as inceasingly homogeneous
less than 1 in 10 ads seen as different
4% response rate successful in dm
0.5% average click-through rate for banners

we think we’re changing, but we are what we do
old assumptions>old models of communication>old behavior>misplaced action

deadly sin #1
living by old, unchallenged assumptions

is this it?
awareness>interest>desire>action

isn’t the way things work

we’ve based our thinking on an anomaly in the history of communication: tv

tv: passive, monologue, centralized, image, money, what ‘we’ do
other communication: active, dialogue, decentralized, substance, stickiness, what you do to what we do

deadly sin #2
we care about the wrong objectives

the usual suspects are wrong
awareness: when meaning and familiarity matter more in our world of overchoice
attitude: attitude and attributes, adjusted for size, don't change
image: doesn't shift until after behavior

the real objective
the world is made of energy
the world is electricity
there’s a lot inside of you and there’s a lot inside of me
the world is synchronicity
(the apples)

when something has energy, we can sense it’s movement

it’s not what you got, it’s how you use it

what we should be focusing on is energy

how do we give a brand energy?

ye can ney break the laws of physics jim

low entropy vs high entropy

deadly sin #3
our craving for simplicity and order of outcome

embrace complexity
randomness creates energy

information predictability . . . or information entropy
the more random the source of info is, the higher it’s entropy and the more info it has

more random>more information>more energy

collection of experiences and beliefs with a product or about a product

how does this fit?
brand onions

“consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative”

if we put the chairs out>marketing today

culture craves complexity
“it takes a thousand voices to tell a single story”
native american saying

steven johnson
everything good is bad for you

from dragnet to the sopranos
complexity
great energy
a sense of energy
people crave that now days

wired
snack culture!

twitter richer sense of who that person is
small things adding up to a sum bigger than its parts

the thrill of the new
keep cool with coolidge
the coolidge effect

we as human beings are addicted to the new

best brands do lots of new things all the time

john grand and the molecule
better coffee mission
xm
barista culture

we’re told to keep it simple
that’s not the case anymore

deadly sin #4
what’s the main message?

old model: linear

everything in its right place
a one-way view of information

the reality is everything is intertwingled

imix

reality is more ambiguous
there is no one meaning anymore

why does there have to be a main message on a brief?

seeing what other people do with info

obesity is a social disorder
when our friends gain weight, we gain weight

knowledge versus information
we work hard to find the right message, for the right target at the right time

from thinking to doing

some of the old tablets of information are perhaps wrong

deadly sin #5
self-importance

we think what we do really matters

“people look at what interests them and sometimes it’s your ad”
howard gossage

“often our biggest mistake as managers is believing that, in general, customers care a lot about your brand. they do not”
patrick barwise

it’s about having a social mission, not just a commercial proposition

to get a marketing literate and resistant culture enthusiastic about your brand, then your brand needs to have an enthusiasm

real beauty, not moisturizer
¼ moisturizing cream

heart health/cholesterol, not margarine

encourage messy play
americaneedsdirt.com
messy=fun

good design is a right, not a privilege
ikea

method
people against dirty
not a clearner home, a cleaner world

deadly sin #6
it’s the big things that matter

the world of fat tails

the bell curve

the black swan

the bell curve doesn’t describe a lot of social phenomena

phase transitions
change is never smooth, continuous or instant
it’s a big, big change that happens very fast all of a sudden

we live in complex systems, not unstable ones

why are we overcomplicating the input and oversimplifying the outcomes?

individual actions of small things

we live in an unstable world. we don’t want to believe that small things make a big difference

a chaotic, unpredictable effect between cause and effect
the reason for conspiracy theories

there is 2% difference in the dna between monkey and man

we spend too much time looking at the big things and not enough looking at the small things

a change in x results in all kinds of other changes

we’re all susceptible to small things that make a big difference

deadly sin #7
learn then do

the world is a very unpredictable place

doing then learning then doing again

elf yourself
that was one of 20 viral campaigns

the 1 in 20 rule
only 5% of new products succeed
only 5% of species survive

we still believe we can do one thing and predict the outcome

topshop
disposable fashion

topshop style advisor
recommend the best clothes for you

get away from this mentality that one thing is going to work and go out and try multiple things

seven ways to make brands and their communication matter again

start predicting less
go out there and try things

transmission is not the only way

planning for uncertainty
a linear process>a continuous process of creation
presenting to clients>co-creating with clients

you are never finished
you are always on

energy does not equal noise
it’s not about getting noticed. it’s about demonstrating motion

thank you
and be very

garethkay.com
planning-outside-in.blogspot.com

challenge your boss every day. they’re not always right

there isn’t one way to do planning. there isn’t one way to solve a problem

think of lots of little ideas and bring them to bear

be a sponge for knowledge. learn about that stuff and get involved

if the world is unpredictable, who’s to say it’s going to work twice?

how do you learn in a random world?

the act of research changes the world you are studying

are there some common rules?

some brands have been pretty consistent

google lives in beta
they put stuff out before it’s ready and keep improving it

not enough randomness in what microsoft does. apple much more

coca-cola
the world should be optimistic helped rebuild the brand

energy has to happen to propel a brand forward

strategic consistency
molecule
embrace a bit of chaos in things

zeus jones
not about looking the same. believing the same

the brand isn’t about me. it’s about them

don’t think about 20 executions
think about doing 20 very different things, and one may catch hold in the culture

brands should be trying to focus on a territory. think of it like a field--a field without fences
progressing continually

the strongest brands have lots of breadth of execution

new business success: treating your agency as a brand

2007-08-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

kristin cavallo, the martin agency

planners know how to ask questions and listen well and how to be persuasive. these skills help in new business.

new business is all about the persuasion business.

from how not to come in second: the art of winning business pitches by david kean

“persuading people of our point of view and getting them to back our judgement with their money is what makes the business world go around. and the sharpest end of the persuasion business is the new business pitch: that intense and brief period when you get to make your case to the potential client.”

where they need our help is selling the idea in

let’s talk.
why winning matters.
one agency’s story.
using planning to fuel your agency’s growth.
new opportunities for your personal growth.

why winning matters.

(cycle)
win > p.r. > clients call > confidence grows > win more > "hot" > talent magnet > clients buy better work > confidence grows > produce better work > win

richmond, virginia, is comfortably an hour and a half from everything, so it's harder to leave, and there's not a lot of turnover at the martin agency

martin has had geico account for 13 years
the client had to follow the agency around the curve

geico = government employee insurance company
campaigns have multiple storylines

you need the win to get the p.r., but you need the p.r. to get the win.

clients
tlc
barely there
geico
hanes
ups

our industry uses new business as a barometer of an agency’s success

agency report cards

what are we selling?
a process?: a necessity but it’s parity
a strategy?
a big idea?
a creative solution?
a communications plan?

90% of the time, the pitch idea isn’t produced

an agency belief system
they’re deciding to back your judgment with their money

repeatable success
they need to know you can do that again

an agency they can trust to lead them around corners

greatest tenet of leadership
colin powell
“when people are willing to follow you if only out of a sense of curiosity"

strength building.
uncover your greatest areas for growth.
build around your satisfactions.
ask your clients insightful questions. listen well.
build, don’t destroy.

you cannot turn your weakness into a strength. you can turn your strength into a selling point.

the key to selling yourself is believing in it and being passionate about it.

we looked at things we did our best at

which ones have been the most fulfilling? what brings us the greatest joy?

13 years ago, no one wanted to work on geico

ask loyalists: why you love the brand you love?

do current client interviews. ask: why did you pick us? why do you stay?

we don’t have a house style like crispin and wieden do.

the martin agency's solutions are completely different.
that’s its greatest strength: you can help clients be their best selves.

your agency has had the success it has because you're good at some things.

what are we really good at that we can expand on?

identifying our brand opportunity

opportunity
core compentency: we are structured to put fewer boundaries on ideas than any other agency in the country
current equity: creative agency, collaborative, nice people outside major metro area
consumer insight: we enjoy working with brands that sell everyday products to everyday people in not-so-everyday ways.
business dynamics: clients are seeking a new agency model, one that brings agencies and brands together differently.

i don’t want units. i want people

the martin agency has been around for 42 years.

under one roof.
ownership team: advertising, direct marketing, interactive marketing, sports/event marketing, design, media, branded content, product publicity, consumer intelligence, data analytics

where you place it can be more important about what you say or how it looks.

team of 4 to 6: account person, strategist, creative director, media person

part of your bonus is whether your client met their business goals.

what is it that the client needs to do in the business world?

the client can call any one of the people on the team, and they usually sit together.

it wasn't about changing who we were. it was about selling better who we were.

opportuinity: we aim to create game-changing brands—brands that transform categories, consumers.

ways to change the game.
business definition: transforming your definition of the business you’re in: ups
category dynamics: transforming how businesss is done in your category: geico
target definition: transforming the definition of your target audience: tlc
consumer perceptions: transforming the perception of your brand among your current audience: barely there

game-changing results
ups: nonshipping revenue has more than doubled, ranked #1 in supply chain management
geico: phone inquiries and sales quadrupled in the last ten years
tlc: tune-in for new series triple the norm, moved from #5

our journey.
new business wins

0%/2004
didn’t have the curiosity to lead them up a hill

65%/2005 lost marshalls, office depot, bmw
there is no such thing as a total loss in new business. if your perspective is to look at new business as r&d

for marhalls and office depot, we were studying the retail space. time is not the biggest motivator in deciding where to shop. for wal-mart. we were pitching five brands at once because the people are different.

bmw pitch: we won over a consultant.

there are 7 wal-marts within 15 miles of the martin agency.

our journey.
discover, Sirius satellite radio, bf goodrich, cruzan rum, tlc, x games, burt’s bees, barely there

sell who you are today with what you have today

make lemonade out of lemons

create the perception

geico
take the testimonial and give it a twist

what can brown do for you?

(the martin agency reel of pop culture clips)

wal-mart was the strategic challenge of the decade.

if you make it to the finals, you’re in adweek.

the best christmas ever.
dec 15: call for round 2
dec 21: final presentation in bentonville
dec 23: wsj debuts new look, geico as lead story
jan 2: ad age best agency list
jan 6: new ups campaign launches
jan 12: wal-mart win announcement

implications.
21 new accounts in 24 months
100 new employees in 6 months
repeatable creative success
broader awareness

a better, stronger, more confident martin agency

the world didn’t need another crispin. the world doesn’t need another goodby. at the end of the day, all the martin agency would be is a worse crispin or a worse goodby

what we needed was a better martin agency.

an agency belief something more than anything else

“there are years in which nothing happens and years in which centuries happen.”
carlos fuentes

if you don’t know the geico caveman, maybe you’ve been living in a cave

starting an advertising evolution

location advantage: more in touch with average person

will let us swing and miss

i interviewed search consultants. you need to make sure you deliver so they don’t look bad

every time you pitch, it’s a huge amount of money and time

the martin agency sent a quarterly mailing to search consultants.

what’s the difference between the role of new business

new business will come up with a strategy for how we’re going to win

the martin agency is in two reviews: one where we’re the largest agency, one where we’re the smallest

will a very large client crush our culture? not if everyone knows what we’re about

it costs a lot to move someone to richmond. hire people based on referrals

if you’re coming to richmond, it’s because you want to work at the martin agency

draft
bar none they did the best at getting to know the client. the whirlwind had to do with the mistakes of the few

martin buzz video set the mood of the reel

listening for the wish: if you listen hard enough, you will hear what the client’s seeking

what a client wants is not always what they say they’re looking for

the future is open--free your agency

2007-08-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

john partilla, president, global media group, time warner

a webcast of this presentation is here.

symptoms of a crisis: general dissatisfaction, conflict and frustration, more reviews
=
fewer long-term partnerships

agencies: before 1990
protected by commissions, decades-long incumbency and expertise in a more limited media marketplace

what has changed?
the corporate client + the cmo

in the ‘90’s, we became a consumer-driven economy. the consumers are in charge. they’re driving, and we’re listening.

self-inflicted commoditization
people started to look at this business as incredibly commoditized.

there’s erosion. there’s an opportunity to reinvent. there’s a chance for planners to take a critical lead here.

planners helped people consumed with the day-to-day stop and see.

we (media) have to be an inch-deep, mile-wide business.

we are complementary to each other because we need guidance about where the business can go.

we create unique ideas to help drive business growth for our client partners, horizontally leveraging time warner’s premiere assets from the center.

diy and ugc
there’s just too much stuff out there. to the collective you: most of you suck. just because everyone has a kitchen doesn’t mean everyone can have a restaurant.

agencies have communication expertise, creative expertise, alliance expertise, filtering expertise and consumer expertise. you know the consumers better than anything.

tommy means
nike plus (motivation) campaign
20-person shop beats out nike roster agencies around the world to win the job. he’s now created his own preferred-access relationship.

the clock is ticking. for us, change is constant.

time is the enemy and the ally. people don’t have enough time in the day. people have to bet against known talent.

it’s not transforming an industry. it’s transforming your agency.

copywriter–art director partnership. it's not wrong if it’s working, but media has to be a part of that conversation along with people who are expert in design.

eric ryan, founder, method

2007-08-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

eric used to be a planner until he got smart.

a webcast of eric's presentation is here.

my biggest fear is that i’m going to inspire everyone to get out of advertising.

to get rid of the client, become the client.

creating a revolution
competitors spend $2.7 billion.
method spends $3.1 million.

in 2006, competitors spent $15 million on toilet paper compared to our $3.1 million in advertising.

combine style and substance.

the best brands out there have tension.

we started as two friends with one idea. westarted looking at cleaning because it was so big, yet it was all the same.

white space

what is the white space? how could it be different?

rulee #1
cleaning is a price-driven, low-interest category

home is high interest.

the products were problem-solution commodities.

rule #2
the experience doesn’t matter.

cleaning is a connection to your home, your family.

nike: to most people, running is a chore.

products fulfill needs. experiences fulfill desires.

cleaning naked is more safe with method.

rule #3
deep clean is the battle ground.

problem-solution products
under the sink
only come out when there's a problem

where does your home end and you begin?
make a cleaner beautiful enough you can leave it on the counter. more emotional

why do we pollute when we clean?
why do we use poison to make our homes healthier?

the more successful we are, the more children we’re going to harm.

rule #4
eco-cleaners are a niche category.

we had to grow the category.

we needed to redefine “clean” + “environment”.

that headache probably means something.

planet to self

revolution and lifestyle

dirty little secret: fabric softener is animal fat

design for the environment u.s. epa

we’re dark green on the inside
We’re light green on the outside

method
detox your home

home as your space

rule #5
you have to segment by product and be all things to all people.

targeting the most valuable groups-—not the biggest
a smaller audience

method on flickr

“ have a method home”

p&g and unilever can’t bring their products together and create synergy.

we’re in our own little world.

inspire a happy, healthy home. combine style and substance.

design
fragrance
happy
healthy
sustainable

a few thoughts on how to build a “belief brand."

a belief brand stays ahead by being episodic.

why are we called a belief brand?

“for the record, i’m a huge fan of method and was engrossed in your products this past summer as i was interning at unilever in the laundry business—-i was actually part of the all small & mighty launch and of course, looked to method as a guilding light in the concentrate world.”
unilever intern

p&g is a marketing company. we are a product company.

two revolutions a year
we launch into two product categories a year.

omop
swiffer $12
omop $25

think about packaging as media.

convenience cleaners
floor love
porn to sell soap
easy to do

bloq
what was in it vs. what was not in it

it’s not selling too well

a belief (brand) treats design as media.

looking at how we engage

a huge opportunity to bake our message into products.

design and packaging is media.

flickr and look at method bottles

a belief brand owns a share of culture vs. share of voice.

from paid media to earned media
paid media > earned media

hired hollywood talent agency caa to help us to seed it into culture.

all of our competitors are dead. adam and i are still alive.

how dated the category is

ideas = share of voice
ideals = share of culture

create story value
book: detox your home
get people to spend $15 to buy our ads

a belief brand creates advocates, not consumers.

we mail our advocates pr kits with free samples.

1% household penetration

instead of trial
focusing on building loyalty

events with out

detox your city

blurring lines between what is marketing and what is media

a belief brand brands from the inside out.

there's a disconnect between the brand manager and who they’re creating for.

hiring people who are passionate

we sell a philosophy, not products. actually . . . we sell a culture.

10 rounds of interviews
do a homework assignment

people who are passionate. people against dirty.

we are people against dirty. we create for people against dirty.

get people to change the way they think.

be more visionary vs. asking a question

3 offices
all look and feel exactly the same

elevator

branding inside out

"this is exactly what i expected."
it changes the way you look at things

look at a product in the context of the office

pod is a business

sit as a business unit

packaging engineer

wiki wall
everything we’re working on goes up on the wall

industrial designers

yes but vs. yes and

yes, yes, yes

be inclusive. allow everyone to share.

we’re a fun brand, so we’ve got to be a fun company.

method studio

taking traditional people and helping them to think different

integrated communications require integrated cultures.

to chiat: we need you to be an extension of our team.

never tested on actual bunnies.

assume goodwill.

when you’re a belief brand and a challenger brand, you’ve got to make it work really hard

we hired an outside agency so we don’t breathe our own exhaust.

meetings with no structured agenda

a writer comes up once a month.

agencies start placing planner onsite. you can change so much more internally than you can being 200 or 1,000 miles away.

"you’re not building an ad campaign . . . you’re building a piece of the culture."
nate pence
method creative director

methodology
(aka the quote-unquote method operating principles)
is there sytle?
is there substance?
is there something to talk about?
does it create an advocate?
does it keep method weird?
you always need an “odd” number of questions for a successful list

resident advocate planner needed
eric@methodhome.com

really good balance of being entrepreneurial but grounding with a people perspective

build more of an internal planning department

taking planning to the next level

partners in innovation

2007-08-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

penry price, director, north american sales, google

we really believe in the moment of relevance.

how we can be more relevant to the planning community out there?

our core business is connecting people to what they care about and marketers to people they care about.

how we got here
1998 build it and they will come
1999 everyone’s search engine
2002 world’s largest ad network
2004 create new apps beyond search
2007 . . . be a trusted platform

through collaborating, we become more powerful. ideas come from everywhere.

innovation, not instant perfection.

a lot of our products are still in beta. constantly innovating.

we are listening. we are building a virtuous user cycle. consumers are the focus of everything we do; the cycle hinges on satisfying their needs.

a trusted process
interrogate > debate > decide > create > push > wait
focus on each step of the planning process.

what’s happening in the collective culture?

brands have multiple personalities.

interrogate vs. follow and anticipate

google trends: understand search query volume
it's a good place to look at what might be interesting for culture and to understand the collective wisdom of crowds.

keywords trending upward
metabolic syndrome
gyrogym: on gma
vegoose

social networking vs. the experts
yelp vs. citysearch
what does traffic look like?

yelp: user-generated review site

yelp passed zagat in late 2006.

google search predicts box office gross
86% correct
opening weekend box office gross x searches, 3 weeks before opening day (log)

sin city vs. cinderella man
good information with time to do something about it

more information in interrogation process

debate vs. generate hypotheses
gets you to an idea or multiple ideas.

mining insights can outline interests. evaluate advertising concepts with google trends.

google trends + google blog search

testing multiple creatives

decide vs. prioritize
a brand can have multiple personalities. you can have multiple stories going on at the same time. there are a lot of people around the world. you can go with multiple—just prioritize.

testing concepts
financial services
humor, safety, value, prestige

having them interact with your brand the entire time. information in real time about all of your concepts and ideas

doesn’t mean you have to throw them out: you just prioritize a little less.

create vs. create with instant feedback
instant feedback is really important.

what works?
click-to-play video ads
a user actually has to start it to watch the ad.
cadillac: all of the car images scored very low

don’t give all the answers upfront.

push vs. push-to-discover
interesting, risk-taking thing
instead of pushing media, pushing to discover
how are people going to interact with this information and what are they going to do?

thermacare
men with cramps
make it irresistible
p&g and digitas
take the risk to try to discover

wait vs. continuous thinking

new tools, new possibilities
from
interrogate > debate > decide > create > push > wait
to
follow and anticipate > generate hypotheses > prioritize > create with instant feedback > push-to-discover

contant tinkering

officemax presents schooled

8th grade class at school
you have to pass crazy tests or you’re going to 8th and a ½ grade.
program on abc family

they saw what was happening to certain individuals on the program, and they switched out creative on their websites.

moving forward together
1. powerful data creates an idea meritocracy
2. planning is both an art and a science
taking more risks because you have some complementary data to help you do that
3. the multiple personalities of brands are now leverageable
you don’t have one story because you don’t have one constituency
you have the ability to have multiple discussions at the same time
now you can tell stories about every asset of that brand
4. optimizing on the fly is a promise of the future and is possible today

everything is happening in a digital space.

jay chiat planning awards: gold winner

2007-08-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

rozerem
“your dreams miss you”
cramer-kresselt

the good news
1st innovation in sleep aids in 35 years
targets the normal sleep-walk cycle
allays biggest category fear—getting hooked

competitive context

it all looked the same
showing people blissfully going to sleep

challenges
heavy competitive spending
highly regulated industry
delivering clear benefits and risks while engaging the consumer
consumers suspicious of pharmaceutical advertising
a highly regulated category

government was telling us what we could say and what we couldn’t say

our opportunity
help people to let their guard down toward sleep aids

insomnia is deeply emotional
talk to them
interviews and focus groups just trying to understand what it is that’s causing them not to be able to sleep
their feelings were deep and emotional and really raw
people were desperate to do anything to go to sleep
felt extremely frustrated
felt extremely jealous
envious of co-workers who were refreshed and feeling great
up at night
alone and desperate
alone with fears and alone with thoughts

but they had major fears about taking a sleep aid, fears that rational response alone couldn’t alleviate

we needed another way in, and we found it in dreams

we couldn’t be rational: we needed to be emotional

mantra: to be more like a friend

we needed to go back and talk with them about dreams

“my dreams are like movies”
“i have a wonderful dream life”
“if you can’t sleep, you can’t dream”

they wanted their dream life back

talking about different paths in
not looking at dreams from perspective of insomniac
but looking at dreams from perspective of dreams

creative genius came from turning the lens . . .
thinking about what our dreams do when we can’t sleep

late at night
want to reach people who can’t sleep

theymissyou.com
out of home reach them when feeling the effects of not being able to sleep

when getting their daily dose of caffeine with coffee sleeves

able lincoln and a beaver?
people love random, disjointed nature of dreams
should be empathetic and genuinely miss the insomniac

motivate people to do something about insomnia

we got people talking
what’s the meaing of able lincoln?
is that a badger? beaver? muskrat? mole?
what does the beaver represent?
what’s up with the astronaut (deep sea diver)?

and gained cultural relevance
people having fun with campaign
rather than making fun of campaign
simpsons, jay leno, sopranos

lessons learned
glamourless categories can be a blessing
leave room for the consumer to play along
don’t connect all the dots for consumers
it’s okay if not everybody gets it
embrace polarization
quirky rooted in insightful human truth is powerful
have fun

xs energy drinks: innovative growth through stratetic disruption

2007-08-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

david vanderveen, founder, xs energy drink

if you're trying to be innovative and disruptive, traditional market research will never get you there.

your facts come from your questions. your questions come from your assumptions.

if you assume you have to do the same thing everyone else did, you may be wrong.

once a market has grown to two or three national players . . . it’s very hard to be the fourth player into the market.

traditional research never would have got us there.

innovative growth through strategic disuption

xs thinking

"a little rebellion now and then is a good thing"
-thomas Jefferson

all the energy drinks taste like crap.

brand innovations
xs has led the energy drink marketplace way with:
taste: first energy drink to focus on flavors in the market
nutrition: first sugar-free formula with real vitamin doses
demographic: first brand to capture family purchaser by the case, rather than single can sales to young males. first brand with significant purchasers over 35 years old
distribution: first brand to leverage online, direct sales versus traditional mass sales

focus on mom: person who buys for the household
case quantities

all of the energy. none of the “evil” sugar.

high fructose corn syrup has become the new cigarettes.

sell by the case to moms at safeway and costco.
"what’s in it? how much is a case?"

young guys
"how much caffeine does it have? i hope it has more."
"this is pretty good. can I have more?"

everything we did had to be effective.

sample
nobody wants to take a risk on something they don’t know where it is.

costco roadshow

amway quixtar
600,000 distributors in the u.s.
50,000-100,000 who are very active

no sugar. no carbs. no bull.

simple, incremental story

xsgear.com

building and developing the action sports and snowboarding stories

take your business to all new heights
xs energy drink

email campaign

jamilah star for going xxl
differentiation

keep the brand cool enough that teens love it but give moms a reason to buy it.

film: unsalted: a great lakes experience
two surfers after a blizzard in january

the brand story
krakoosh: new adventure and entrepreneurship magazine

men’s journal
june 2006

do you set trends rather than follow them?

unique and disruptive marketing distribution

where are the big holes? where are the things that the reports aren’t telling anybody?

we’ll have a lot of fun or we’ll do something else.

we spent a lot of time in the marketplace. surf industry, skate industry. i go on surf trips with guys from quicksilver. how can we be integrated in the stories that are being told or not being told.

we get the story because we’re in the middle of it.

compelling stories and images. products are natural background.

if we were targeting moms in our marketing, teens wouldn’t like it.

opportunity is stepping into diet sodas. everybody needs innovation.

in-n-out

2007-08-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

when in southern california, eat at in-n-out every day.

mckinney party

2007-08-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

at the mckinney party, i meet my strategy hair twin from butler, shine, stern and partners.

dinner

2007-08-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

jay chiat planning awards: gold winner

2007-08-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

axe
the gamekillers

objectives for 2006
grow the business
re-create perceptual distance: be more credible

the product shift: do something game-changing: a leap

communication alone could not do the job. to be different, we needed to focus on a different product

2006 was the year of the stick

make this sexy

not sweating does not get you the girl

looking for different insights. girls had never been attracted to guys because he was not sweating but had not been attracted to a guy because he was sweating

building on learning from research
role of product: mental cool vs. physical cool
role of brand: keep the girl vs. get the girl

the brief and briefing
axe dry: keeps you cool under mating game pressure

speed dating venue
models were harsh and combative to creatives trying to get the girl

the gamekillers

on presentation day, 32 gamekillers to present

engagement principles
1. go long: spend an extended amount of time with brand. let gamekillers personalities breathe. One hour-long mtv special
2. go where game is killed. gamekillers comedy tour. guys could hear firsthand at bars, restaurants, clubs, schools
3. let guys own and contribute. knew precisely who they were. online obituary generator

to beat thy enemy, one must know thy enemy

drama queen, man with dog, sensitive, one upper, early man

keep your cool. axe dry

3 million viewers
4th in all of cable
mtv ran 11 times
on mtvoverdrive.com
gamekillers.com
character bios
obituary generator

gamekillers 101
28.5 million media impressions through pr
pop culture phenomenon
97% of axe growth sticks
3% sprays
highest ever market share
outgrew category by 10%
an additional 5 episodes of gamekillers are being produced
myspace 74,000 friends
brand tracking
leadership, innovation, cleverness and cool

from sea to summit--a filmmaker's retrospective

2007-08-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

greg macgillivray, president and co-founder, macgillivray freeman films

take audiences to places they can’t otherwise go. not a film but an experience.

imax: clearer, sharper, brighter

8 sound is 6 channels, 12,000 watts of power
7 imax projector light bulb is 15,000 watts
6 film reels weigh 11 pounds and hold 3 minutes of film
5 400 giant screen/imax theatres worldwide: 75% in in america
4 $500 million dollars box office a year
3 65 million people come every year, 10 films a year
2 films made in 3d
1 imax takes an audience to amazing places they can’t go on their own

inspires people to think, to learn more

the rolls royce of film formats
1976 first imax film
films have grossed over $900 million

over 25 million people see our films each year.

five summer stories showed people what it really felt like to be a surfer.

try to put the audience in the action. make them feel like they’re really there.

to fly! played in the smithsonian, was sponsored by conoco.

the library of congress named to fly! one of the 100 most important films in the first 100 years of filmmaking.

every museum director wanted an imax theater.

1994
the living sea
meryl streep narrated. sting provided the soundtrack.

all life on earch is a celebration of the living sea.

the film carried my mission, my message to the masses.

everest
everyone was telling me I was crazy to think about it. re-engineered the camera to do it.

$5 million sponsorship from polartec.
11,000 people received a free making-of dvd from lands' end.

polartec put a 30-second spot at the head of the movie. a low-key branding effort. the film is dedicated to heroes everywhere. no complaints about the advertisement were received.

polartec took a huge risk, we took a huge risk. everest grossed $135 million, the highest of any imax film.

our well-educated audience is different from your hollywood audience.

imax: image is so big and beautiful, it affects you in a different way.

launch is more like an event than a film opening.

top speed
sponsored by porsche

new possibilities for you and your brands

hurricane on the bayou
katrina
showed what it was like to be there in the wetlands

environmental and cultural heritage
grand canyon adventure 3d
1 in 5 people lacks access to clean drinking water

grand canyon adventure 3d
sponsor: teva

there’s no other medium that does the same thing as well. impart positive messages.

i've ridden the largest wave.

imax filmmaking is a passion.

the future for planning and planners

2007-08-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

adrian ho and rob white, zeus jones

we placed a bet on the future of business.

value has migrated from tangibles to intangibles.

businesses now need to create new possibilities.

exceeding expectations isn’t enough.

you can reinvent yourself.

opentable.com
zillow
loopt
oops i’m late

marketing as a service.

flip video

adding new experiences to household goods.

the great news is
the future of business = the future of marketing = the future of planning

voice of consumer
advertising midwife
????

theodore levitt in marketing myopia
"what business are you in?"

this industry is a customer-satisfying one not a goods-producing one.

it's not just planning that's at crossroads. advertising is at a crosroads.
planners helped reform uk advertising in the 60’s.

imagine planning as an industry.

who is the customer?
client
growth

clients want to create new experiences that xcite their customers.

please use creativity and innovation to imagine a more exciting future.

planners expcted to be a brief writer.

sometimes a creative director is not the best one to judge the business-building potential of idea.

zeus jones

thru actions not words. actions speak louder than words.
experience designer.
reckless disregard for boundaries.
no departments.
no walls between strategy and creativity in how we work or what we deliver.

our first lesson.
take resp for creating value for clients, not just briefs.

no barriers to ideas.
no part of the client’s business is out of bounds.

yugma
immuno-viva

marketing in a boundary-less sense

nordstrom
satisfying the customer

anything and everything that can help build the business.

our second lesson
shared accountability.
project-based with bulk of fee tied to achieving business results.

our third lesson.
get involved in the compensation negotiation. find ways for the agency to get paid for helping build the client’s business.

the future looks good for planners.

planning as an industry can thrive, but planners must become more vocal and involved in broader agency and industry debate.

“i’m just surprised that no-one’s thought of a better idea yet.”
stephen king

we believe in being tied to financial metrics.

create a bus that didn’t grow just because we hired more people. we stay 6 to 10 people but just make a lot more money.

solve problems. get rid of barriers. i haven’t even considered the possibility that this might not work.

if you’re marketing based on offering people something brand new, there’s not a lot of research that’s required.

most of our clients are not spending any money on traditional media.

don’t start with premise that you’re trying to solve a communications problem.

what can you do for customers? versus what can you say to customers?

if your own compensation is tied directly to the success of the client, clearly you’re being motivated by helping the client achieve their objectives.

ideas that lead to actions that help grow business. business-building ideas.

nordstrom: their media are their stores. they philosophically don’t believe that advertising adds.

compartmentialization of marketing into a tight bucket makes no sense.

i just walked out of this alternate reality. it feels much more real.

it’s going to be a slow and painful next ten years for the existing entities.

this is a time for entrepreneurialism.

the traditional creative department is what is wrong with advetising today. it limits innovation. it’s one of the things that drew us together.

the third eye--seeing opportunity

2007-08-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

adam morgan and mark barden, eatbigfish

challengers don’t talk about innovation a lot. they seem to talk instead about a different kind of concept. they seem to talk about opportunity.

howard schultz: starbucks

most of us have to create our own opportunities.

the future is filled with opportunities.

ebay: we are pioneering new communities around the world built on commerce.

so what is the difference between the two words and their underlying associations?

innovation versus opportunities

innovation: technical, specialist, product, functional (a process)

opportunities: entrepreneurial, everyone, anything, emotionaand functional (a way of seeing)

our clients say they need three things: more consumer insight, greater creativity in communications, stronger product/service innovation. oh, and a new media model.

but perhaps what we all really need more of is being open to opportunity.

most of us think we are, but we are innately grooved in our thinking.

in reality . . .

insight>business model>implementation

6 kinds of insight
reflection: the way the consumer/market/brand relationship is now
opportunity: the way the consumer/market/brand relationship could be
foundation: why the company/brand started
success: why it was/is successful at its most successful
product: interrogate the product until it confesses its strengths
staff and culture: if you want to understand a german car company, talk to the engineers

3 examples of insights of opportnity
consumer: zoom in on a micro target as category future
category promises: flipping a core premise
innate qualities and associations with brand: leaning into the negative

zooming in: seeing in a “special interest” consumer target the future of the whole market

perhaps we should operate on the basis that we are all “disabled by modern living": one-handed, distrated, hard of hearing, confused of thought.

a convenience market, a convenience world

why did mcdonald’s start the first drive-thru? military men couldn’t stop to order.

take an apparently restricted consumer and see the future.

1. look at a micro target and see the future
2. flipping: inverting a basic category premise
dirt is bad to dirt is good
3. innate qualities and associations with brand: leaning into the negative
kissing the shadow

malt whiskey: can’t sell it until 10 years old
very young
still young
almost there

arnold schwarzenneger
from builder to premium european builders
more work, better work, at a higher price

so why is it that challengers seem to see these kinds of insights and we don’t?

we are all gorilla-blind. our clients are focused on quarter by quarter by quarter. we fail to meet gorillas of opportunity.

4 key examples of limits on our ability to perceive the opportunity
1. bounded awareness: limits on potentially relevant data points that are used at all
2. selective attention: only focusing on certain things within that available data set
3 functioanl fixedness: limiting preconception about how something (product, medium) is to be used
4. environmental distortion: food psychology and plate size

how do we see each component of our business model?

business assets, category, user, product/service, distribution, key criteria for choice, usage, key measures, sourcing/manufacturing, strategic partnership

business

chicago 1880’s. soap oromotion involving chewing gum.

stacy’s pita chips. pita chips free while people wait for sandwiches.

perhaps the things we are giving away free are the future of our business.

category
reframe
eric ryan: method
where does your home begin and you end?
a home is a second skin.

i’ve completely recast your relationship with the category.

product/service: towels that can be bathroom curtains

key measures: gross national happiness

sourcing/manufacturing
ikea purchased from people who are throwing away wood, giving value to something valueless.

1. keep your door open, and welcome the people who knock at it.
red bull

“schools are welcome to innovate in any way they like as long as they have advance permission in writing from the ministry of education."

2. develop some extra pairs of ears. 1000 is a good number.
barclays: through these doors walk the loveliest people in the world
a pull model rather than a push model
everybody wants it.
a ripple within the bigger culture.

3. don’t rely on them seeing your logic

2 kinds of opportunity organization

dial-up
swot chart
once a year
closed doors
wait for ideas
processes in place
gatekeepers to experimentation

always on
mindset
every day
open doors
. . .

marketing and innovation

opporunity is the third eye. marketing and innovation are the other two.

marketing
innovation
opportunity: business, category, assets, brand, service, product, usage, user

jwt invented the right hand ring.

opening our third eye
when was the last time we systematically looked for insights of opportunity?
When was the last time we really looked for opportunity within the key assumptions of our business?

when you start your own business, you have to create opportunities.

encourage it in yourself
1. realize it is there
2. understand the basic dimensions and scope
3. develop habits that feed it in yourself
4. repeat these in your immediate team
5. build it into your annual planning cycles
6. create a culture that rewards, rather than stifles it

what does this mean for us as planners?

a. help our clients
- surface the different kinds of limits on “seeing” (bounded awareness, selective attention, functional fixedness, environmental distortion)
- bring to life how changing each of these could impact the way that they think about their business
- timing key: their planning cycle, your own response

b. help our own organizations
- are we currently geared to deliver this?

c. but first, look harder at ourselves
how “functionally fixed” are we as planners, for example?

for example: the role of broadcast comms is to communicate the brand positioning.

some other possible roles for broadcast comms
create a justifying narrative for the opportunity idea (de beers)
get news coverage for the viral idea (dove)
build a community (doritos)

functional fixedness about role of packaging:
differentiated standout at point of purchase
treaat it as a piece of dm—how would you get a 12% response rate?
wired into language and culture of briefs, processes, planning cycles

and even for the leader
bill clinton’s speech to the labour party 2006 points to a poll in the guardian newspaper suggesting that 70% of people believed it was time for change

“you should say: of course it is. i’ts always time for change in a great and dynamic nation."

lunch

2007-08-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

disruptive thinking

2007-08-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

carisa bianchi, president, tbwa\chiat\day la
rob schwartz, executive creative director, tbwa\chiat\day la

carisa

now is one of the most interesting times to be in the business.

how do we create new markets?

the world is changing. are you?

it’s about possibilities. it’s about thinking about what can be-—not what should be.

now more than ever, this world needs creative thinkers.

one of the biggest issues we face is time to expose ourselves to new ideas.

the goal: get unstuck.

we must constantly look at things in a different way. strive to find your own voice.

break out. look around you. dare to.

let’s inspire ourselves

3 themes
1. disruptive thinking is happening all around us.
2. our industry will be in a state of perpetual change.
3. we must never be satisfied with what is, we must strive for what could be.

we have to take risk—-a lot of risk.

the power of belief. livestrong.

for me, it made me run a marathon. for others, it helped them do other things.

lance armstrong won the tour de france because he believed. he partnered with the doctor who said, “you’ll ride your bike again.”

the $100 laptop. every child should have a computer. every child should be able to tap into this new economy of technology.

saving the world. an inconvenient truth: a global warning. san francisco banned plastic bags. san francisco and salt lake city banned bottled water. a powerpoint presentation and a man who believed.

new york city. now entering a trans fat-free zone. our foods are fried in trans fat-free oil.

we’re going to change things. we’re going to do things differently.

google: beyond search engine. media mogul, ad exchange, the better internet
fundamentally changing the landscape.

take risks. some of it won’t work, and that’s okay. some of them will work.

cultural snacking: disruptive audience behavior. bite-size entertainment. explore the new world of entertainment.

emerging art forms. the story so far. wii microgames: when a quickie is all you have time for.

we have to start thinking this way. not what is but what could be.

it doesn’t always have to be media.

take the limits of the roof off.

disruptive partnerships: tactical strikes. nike and itunes. google maps.

we’re going to get together now and figure it out later.

take 1 + 1 and it equals 4.

brands thinking disruptively.

visa greencard. made of corn not plastic.

sustainability is a profitable way to go to market.

brands thinking disruptively. ikea. boklok. pre-manufactured homes for $290,000.

i’m not satisfied with what i’m doing. be bigger and better and more creative. add value to lives.

disrupting community. what if every glass of water you drank quenched someone else’s thirst? tap.

all of these ideas are simple: they addressed a problem and solved it in a simple way, and they share a passion and a belief that we have a responsibility to do more.

the viscerable reaction when the phone guy sang. people want to be moved.

this industry is full of a lot of interesting people.

rob

disruptive planning in action case study
a 30,000 foot view

planning
planning 2.0
planning 3g

what if? time now.
it’s not about what is but what could be.

what’s on clients’ minds?
spreadsheets?
will my boss like what i’m doing?
will i be fired?
will this work?
can i really trust the agency?
should i have gone to law school?

planning to the rescue.

the secret.

what we (creatives) need from planners
1. cultural anthrolpology
the car culture, beverage culture, bra culture
you have to bring the culture to us. dig up the anthropology.
2. clarity
the briefs have to be bone simple. just write it simple. the more simple.
example: make teens make mom get ball park.
3. media insight
be where they are in the way that they are

i don’t know what to do with it, but i know it’s always cool.

tragedy, celebrity
the only time our eyes are on the same thing.

convention for hot dogs: moms.

disruptive brand content: a mad look a hunger.

ball park: hunger gets what hunger wants

not satisfied with hot dogs as a commodity, set out to make ball park a cultural phenomenon with teens.

the more could-be talk you bring to creative people, the better.

the secret revealed. again.
1. cultural anthropology
get out of the office. shoot some stuff. get some film.
2. clarity
keep those briefs bone simple: guys want to get laid, so they need to clean up.
3 media insight
organize the closet on media.

common sense is the least common of all the senses.

“it’s better to be the pirates than the navy.”—jay chiat

channel your jay chiat.

you guys are a vital asset to this industry.

jay chiat planning awards: announcement of gold, silver and bronze winners

2007-08-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

william charnock, jwt
murray hardie, fallon

these awards are for creative thinking more than creative.

what are we looking for? five things.

1. pushing planning: the progress of planning—pushing forward
2. insights: not used before for communication
3. strategic leap: step that inspires a leap of creativity
4. famous creative: some sort of impact creative work has on the marketplace
5. a really good story: has to weave together all of these elements

we need to get better at telling the stories.

we're going to run some online workshops and give more time to do that.

gold winners
axe lynx click
axe the gamekillers
rozerem your dreams miss you

silver winners
becel/flora
bahamavention
kleenex
barely there
playstation 3

bronze winners
partnership for a drug-free america infected by meth
honda element and friends

greg coleman, evp, global sales, yahoo!

2007-08-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

interviewed by suzanne powers, executive directory of strategy, tbwa\chiat\day new york

a webcast of this interview is here.

every speaker has to work in paul mccartney.

today the marketplace is changing.

we (yahoo!) are working with marketers in search. the search team and the display team are separate teams. we are integrating our teams and going to market in a holistic way. the best way to deliver value is to be platform agnostic.

the customer is most important thing. the cmo is probably not responsible for search. all elements of the marketing mix need to be together.

digitas is pulling together all of the pieces of the digital world in a large global ad agency.

we don’t call it an end state. we call it a future state.

in 1999, customers would go to a car dealership six times before purchase. now, it's 1.5.

the world is changing. try to figure out how to capitalize on the changes that are happening every day.

you have to take a time out and see how things are changing. people are shifting behavior. this is a new world. there’s a new way people behave and purchase.

kids live on facebook. my daughter was suspended for drinking beer because a picture of it was posted on facebook.

my kids say they’re uninterested in seeing any commercial messages online.

an innovative doritos campaign ran on the superbowl. a cmo of an important brand could fired if it didn’t work out well.

this is an example of people thinking differently about creating a campaign.

we advertise to move product.

work in concert with five agencies: user-generated content could put agencies work in harm’s way.

doritos' live the flavor had a $24 dollar budget including two bags of doritos.

after 1100 commercials, doritos's needle moved tremendously.

it’s about creativity. it’s about people taking a chance.

thinking outside of the box is something everybody talks about.

on yahoo! jumpcut, you can edit all kinds of content.

the marketing director for doritos is now a star.

many creative ideas have many failures before they reach the promised land.

are regular people going to start making our commercials for us?

the goal of agencies today is to figure out how to tap into them.

go to film schools. talk to kids.

there has to be a connection between creative and media.

we still have a long way to go.

video advertising online—-repurposing 30-second spot—-is not the answer.

the value proposition of each part of the agency must be developed.

some agencies are clearly not getting it in the digital world. get them to produce a few campaigns only digitally.

great teams embrace change. agencies that don’t embrace change are having the most difficulty

trends in the next five years include bringing customers into the targeting conversation, finding ways to get customers to opt in, giving customer value as well as offering marketers a particular piece of information.

74 million people are on yahoo! groups. how are we marketing to those people?

opt-in doesn’t give mass, but it gives people who really want it.

how can search, display and offline are work together?

what happened to my search capabilities? did it do anything in search? did it move the needle? did people take an action? tie these pieces together to see how to make it work better.

:30’s are going to be around forever on tv. online, creative has got to be smarter.

leading a culture of innovation

2007-08-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

sir ken robinson, author, out of our minds: learning to be creative

creating possibilities has helped create america and a lot of the world's culture.

we're not in a transitional state. we're now in a permanent state of change.

we're caught up now in a revolution comparable to the industrial revolution. we have to think differently about how we use our own talents and the talents of those with whom we work.

there's a climate crisis in natural resources and human resources. we fail to capitalize on some of our best resources: human resources.

innovation and creativity are imperative. creativity is ideas that have value.

all adults think they're not creative. all children think they are. we are educating people out of their creativity. most people think there's a space between creativity and intelligence. creativity and intelligence are connected.

technology is having a rampant effect on the culture.

singularity is the point at which we may blend human consciousness with intelligent machines. within 5 years, the most intelligent computer may have the intelligence of a 6-month-old. computers may begin to learn. they may rewrite their own operating systems. it may be possible to use our bodies as broadband receivers. it may be possible to exchange files just by holding hands.

our brains have 100 billion neurons. we may sit before a computer with the same power.

we need to have good ideas all the time. it needs to be a strategic imperative rather than a happy accident.

we wouldn't describe someone as creative who never did anything. to do something, you have to have a medium. people who do their best creatively find a medium they love best: singing, painting, calculus.

innovation is applied creativity.

machines don't have imagination. people do.

the human mind in tremendously interactive. women's brains may be more interactive than men's. women tend to be better multi-taskers than men, who get very focused.

intelligence is distinct. it's not "how intelligent are you?" but "how are you intelligent?" it's not "how creative are you?" but "how are you creative?"

we must find individual talents of everyone in our groups. a great creative team models the human mind: diverse, dynamic, distinct to its task.

paul mccartney (of the beatles) went through the whole of his education hating music. no one thought john cleese (of monty python) had a sense of humor. they found teams that took everybody's game to a higher place.

two things that define the culture of an organization are habits and habitats. habits are the mode of behavior that characterize different social groups. habitats embody the culture of the organization. they do or do not stimulate minds.

we create our institutions, and our institutions create us. human organizations are much like human organisms. relationships are what make organizations breathe or die.

you can't make anybody be creative. you can create the conditions where people can be creative.

the plant grows itself, but climate control and climate change affect it.

people need time to think and to germinate. it's a living process. it takes time and attention and care.

we do not know what the future will hold and what may redeem us.

watch sir ken's similar speech.

opening remarks by aaaa account planning committee co-chairs

2007-08-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

catrina mcauliffe, director of brand planning, senior partner, carmichael lynch, inc.
suzanne powers, executive directory of strategy, tbwa\chiat\day new york

the conference theme is creating possibilities.

creating possibilites is about change. change denotes the transition that occurs between one state and another.

we know we’re in the middle of a transition, so let’s seize the possibility.

a stimulus or force causes change. we are the stimulus that will create the force that will create the change.

this conference will feature speakers who are willing to change the status quo.

planning is changing. hopefully we can help it change in the right way.

let's use the place we’re in (san diego) to stimulate ideas. you (planners) are a big piece of stimulus yourselves.

we put together the best people for the best outcome.

creating possibilities is about making the unlikely seem likely.

paul potts is an unlikely cell phone salesman who sings opera and becomes famous.

an official aaaa blog about the conference is here. there's not much there.

welcoming remarks by president-ceo, aaaa

2007-08-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

o. burtch drake is retiring as president-ceo of aaaa.

it's about time.

conference countdown

2007-08-06T02:22:00.000-07:00

the 2007 aaaa account planning conference starts in 7 hours.

planning conference adventures coming soon

2007-08-03T02:03:00.000-07:00

the aaaa account planning conference in san diego kicks off on monday, august 6.

check back here then for conference adventures.