Anyways, we sat down and talked about it and Tim showed us the bottle. It was cone-shaped. Different from the rest – and we like different. We could tell it was also a product that actually had a differential advantage – the fact that it is bottled water with just caffeine and nothing else. We were geeked! We had Brian and his CFO, Fred Gardner in for a discovery meeting right away where we learned about how the product idea started in Brian’s dorm room when he used to put caffeine pills in bottles of water and shake them up to get through studying.

The chemistry in the room was electric: this was obviously a great team. Over the months, we’ve helped with label design, package design, pricing strategy, distribution strategy, the sales process, brand strategy, consumer research, helping calm Brian down when he’s worried he’s going to run out of money, and oh, yeah, a web site. The kick-ass web site also features cool videos. Today, The Columbus Dispatch (kudos, MediaSource) featured Brian on the front page of the business section. We are proud to be his partner. This is a product our entire agency is behind, cheering on. What a great opportunity and relationship to be a part of.

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You know the drill: media commissions, people wearing all black and funky glasses, “creatives” vs “account people,” all the typical stereotypes that you think of when you think about advertising agencies doesn’t have to exist. Hell, an ad agency doesn’t even have to exclusively produce ADS. It doesn’t have to hire ad “people.”

In Hoopla, we learn that Chuck and Alex were freelancers who had no idea how an agency was supposed to operate. That ignorance proved to be bliss as they went on to hire other “mutts,” – others who lacked agency experience. “Experience matters only to the degree that the future is going to be like the past,” Porter says. “From day one, our hiring priorities were brains, talent and passion. Everything else you can teach.” In keeping with that philosophy, CP+B ended up hiring people who had no previous experience and no background related to advertising at all. Think: former surfers.

What’s your agency do to be un-agency-like?

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They were offering me the opportunity to connect with them on Twitter (they already have over 3,000 followers), Facebook as well get RSS feeds. Use the widget on their home page to link to their stories.

Several issues. First, the McKinsey clients…has McKinsey determined that their clients are using these tools and they should too? Second, are they trying to figure out how to monetize the social media and creating their own case study experiment?

But most importantly, are we in the communications world again going to step aside and let McKinsey help clients figure out how to derive benefit from Social Media? Thus once again leaving implementation up to us? These are the same guys who hijacked strategy from the agencies.

I’m convinced the social media phenomena is not a minor shift, it is a big change in the ways we communicate. I also believe that those of us in the communications world have a better understanding of what is going on in the social media world and are best suited to figure out how to make it work. However, we are once again at risk, unless we focus on connecting social media to business goals.

This is not about making Facebook pages and designing blogs, it’s about figuring out how to create strategies that connect social media to business goals.

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I guess you could say I’m a sucker for emotional advertising with great music. They nailed it.

How can you beat the copywriting and line reading by Kate Walsh here:

So with all this negative talk in the auto world and with GM, I figured I would talk positive. I love these ads.

What’s your favorite ad campaign of the last five years?

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This is where the leadership part begins - what changes will the organization have to make to take advantage of today’s reality and where are the risks out there that need to be reviewed. Of course at the moment, most have focused on the risk, not the opportunity, but that’s another time.

Part of that outward focus has got to be what we now call Social Media. I personally have limited knowledge, but I know we have that outside understanding in our organization. And we see opportunity. Along with the folks at dynamIt (web specialists) and Brian Link (of Digg fame) we see there is opportunity to help the “C’s” and others in the executive suite learn what they need to know about this world and then help them figure out how and if this new internet can help support their corporate goals and strategies.

It seems to us that when hundreds of millions of people start talking to each other about everything from their love of combs to their passion for carpet swatches it’s important to listen to what they’re saying about you. And figure out if you can learn from the conversation and interpret whether that conversation can assist the organization or if the organization can assist the “talkers.”

Should be interesting and fun.

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Name them with me:
Minneapolis? Miami? Portland? Dallas? Richmond?

I’ve always been fascinated by this, and, being the book worm that I am, have researched it from time to time. There are some common points of focus they shared at the time they were incubating, and the stories are both fascinating and inspiring. Over the next few days, I’ll post stories about these agencies we admire and pepper in some of my own experience with b&a. We’ll start with the most important and the most obvious, first:

Turning Point #1: Do. Great. Work. Every. Single. Time.
This is obvious. It’s painfully clear that this is what our focus should be. But the CP+B’s, the Fallon’s and the Goodby’s of the world really did just that. They took even the smallest of campaigns, the most miniscule of budgets, and they made them GREAT. The ideas were worthy of buzz and praise. The work actually worked for the client.

In Juicing the Orange, we learn that Fallon used what it calls Creative Leverage with even its first client, a local barbershop called 7 South 8th for Hair with zero money for production (yeah, barbershop with no budget for hair models or even a photographer). The campaign centered on the unexpected: instead of the typical fashion ad, the campaign featured pictures of famous people with bad haircuts. Now, 28 years later, you can see the idea behind the campaign is a fantastic one primarily because we can all relate to the truth it gets at: no one wants a bad haircut. A great example of doing great work, even with no budget.

More to come . . .

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1. Quality of research will generate more knowledge about what works and doesn’t in advertising.

2. There will be a renaissance in print advertising.

3. Advertising will contain more information and less hot air.

4. Billboards will be abolished. (Seems we’re still waiting on this.)

5. The clutter of commercials on tv and radio will be brought under control.

6. There will be a vast increase in the use of advertising by governments for the purposed of education, particularly health education.

7. Advertising will play a part in bringing the population explosion under control.

8. Candidates for political office will stop using dishonest advertising.

9. The quality and efficiency of advertising overseas will continue to improve - at an accelerating rate.

10. Several foreign agencies will open offices in the United States, and will prosper.

11. Multinational manufacturers will increase their market-shares all over the non-Communist world, and will market more of  their brands internationally.

12. Direct-response advertising will cease to be a separate specialty, and will be folded into the ‘general’ agencies.

13. Ways will be found to produce effective television commercials at a more sensible cost.

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My brain is a roller coaster. On a Monday I’ll wake up ready to change the world one campaign at a time. And then on Tuesday I have a tough time getting focused. On these days I stare at my inbox all day, bite my fingernails and think a lot about how uncomfortable my socks are. I know, this is strange.

A scatter brain like me always needs fresh ways to get inspired and motivated to focus. My ability to focus thrives on getting inspired. I have a few places that I regularly turn for inspiration, both on and offline. I push myself to find things outside the realm of marketing and advertising. Often times, this content is what pushes me the most or frankly just clears my mind so I can focus. Some of my online staples:

1. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference

   Each year, the world’s biggest thinkers get together and challenge them to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. To attend you must have a coveted invitation. However, TED has an amazing site with an unlimited supply of videos to push your mind a little. The videos from the 2009 conference last week have just started appearing on the site. Check them out here: TED Talks

2. Accidental Creative

   I love how author Todd Henry articulates the struggle of staying creative. The world we live in is counter to creativity and Todd gives you a guide to thrive in that world.

3. Springwise

   Ever have that “wish I would have thought of that” moment? Springwise will give you plenty of these moments featuring “new business ideas from around the world.”

Help me out. Where are you getting your inspiration?

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Ogilvy on Advertising – David Ogilvy. “I read Ogilvy on Advertising to prepare myself for my first interview at b&a. This 1983 publication is still very relevant today.” ~ Tim

Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands – Kevin Roberts. “Roberts tells a story of lovemarks, which can’t be owned by the business creating the product, but instead are owned by those who love them. His thoughts on emotional connections being built through advertising have helped me immensely.” ~ Tim

*Personality Not Included – Rohit Bhargava. “Brands have personalities and *PNI gives great examples and tips on how to express brand personality and avoid the dreaded faceless company. I read *PNI last summer and it’s inspired me to think deeper about what brands really are.” ~ Tim

Blink – Malcolm Gladwell. “I really enjoyed Blink by Malcolm Gladwell because it put such a fascinating cautionary tale for how we evaluate the meaning of advertising testing and research. Take the story about testing the Herman Miller chair, now the most popular and copied chair design on the planet, but one that tested terribly. It’s a perfect example of how ‘different’ doesn’t always equate to ‘bad.’” ~ Holly

The Brand Gap – Marty Neumeier. “Very brief and easy to reference that gives a lot of smart ways of thinking about how to bridge the gap between strategy and design.” ~ Rebecca

Juicing the Orange – Pat Fallon and Fred Senn. “Lots of great case studies that are organized by problem. For example, ‘revitalizing an old brand.’ Good reference when we’re facing a new problem and it gives good ways to look at it.” ~ Rebecca

Truth, Lies & Advertising – Jon Steel. “Good reference when writing briefs and designing research studies.” ~ Rebecca

Perfect Pitch – Jon Steel. “Excellent book about how to make presentations powerful, impactful and inspiring. A good outline of the hard work to get there and shows ways to do them without PowerPoint.” ~ Rebecca

Groundswell – Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. “This book is easily the best book about social media that I’ve read. I love it because it thinks about social media strategically, rather than just a bunch of tools and technologies. Plus it’s loaded with research data.” ~ Billy

Small Giants – Bo Burlingham. “Changed my perception of business success. Great storytelling about companies that focus on amazing quality rather than volume and dollars. In a world of greed, it’s a nice change of pace.” ~ Billy

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David Armano, author of Logic+Emotion is great at thinking visually and his examples prove it. You can check out his Flickr set to see some of these awesome examples. David recently released a presentation on visually thinking. In it, he outlines 6 steps to thinking visually:

1. Empathize: See the world as a child
2. Memorize: Commit thoughts to memory
3. Analyze: Take a step back
4. Synthesize: Filter signal from noise
5. Visualize: See it, then do it
6. Materialize: Make it tangible, make it stick

I’ve started putting some of this to practice and have been amazed at how quickly I’m able to expand on ideas. For now, it seems promising. I encouarage you to give it a shot and please share any other techniques you use to expand on and communicate ideas.

Here is David’s presentation on Thinking Visually:

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