Sisters are doing it for themselves

Monday saw Shesays holding the first of it's 'TEDx' style events at The Hospital Club for SuckerPunch - all about women making a change in how business is run.

Pamela Ryckman, journalist and author of The Stiletto Network, really set the tone for an energetic and motivating evening. In her book, she has researched and discovered mini networks of women all over the States and UK, gathering together and becoming a force to be reckoned with.
 She told how formidable ladies from a range of industries, formed natural friendships, through meeting for dinner, then going on to either provide support or form strong business relationships. These meetups were informal, friendly and open to whoever was interested. In an organic and female way. Women were genuinely seeking to help eachother out, form bonds, trust and create a more balanced working society.

She realised this was happening all over, with small groups thinking they weren't doing anything out of the ordinary, not realising they were part of a growing phenomenon.
By creating this sort of interaction, women were now feeling empowered to set up on their own, or challenge themselves in the workplace, not being afraid to move up the ranks. They now had someone they could call on they could relate to. Women could be professional, yet feminine - without trying to conform or fit into a male orientated industry. It became a strategic support network. She cited examples of the likes of Kim Moses - Founder of one of the most downloaded apps for Warner Bros, and other female leaders now at board level in their companies.
Pamela explained, by achieving this sort of status, women will change the way business is run. They have a different attitude. A different way of looking at things, and a different approach to business. they are the ones writing the cheques. They will invest in other women. They will donate time and energy to female related causes. They will push forward laws that see a more equal balance in the workplace, and in society. Women will change the world.


"We’re moving away from the corporate model. We’re coming into an era where women have the skill sets and core value systems. Being collegial, collaborative, leaving your ego at the door… being able to work in a non-hierarchical environment, listening, attuned to intuition." -THE STILETTO NETWORK


And this is exactly how Sarah Bradley and Karla Morales-Lee of The Art of New Business, approached eachother and came up with their company idea. Meeting through twitter, they found through a shared viewpoint and experience in various advertising and design agencies, that there was a massive yet obvious gap in the market when it comes to how agencies approach clients for new business. They found hours of sifting through client lists and cold calling was alienating and not the kind of strategic approach they would take. Their background knowledge, and cries from fellow new business professionals across the net all agreed things had to change. Targets cannot be met when you just bowl into a company and brag about how great your agency is, and how they should work with you. Even in this fast paced, changing industry, it seems inside agencies it is all still the same. And CEO's and board members aren't even concerned; in fact, they admit that their own self branding, marketing is crap. But why? Clients are even noticing it now. In a competitive market where budgets are tight, you'd think companies would be more strategic in their approach to new business. How can you boast your creative offering when your own communication is tired and blends in? Sarah cited W+K's attitude to new clients as an example. Neil Christie, MD of the London office has revealed to them how they approach new clients by really understanding their product, their business model & what needs to be achieved. They then present to them a unique creative offering in the form of a a personalised book, video or magazine. This way, clients really feel special, and above all, understood. 
Sarah and Karla have tapped into this, and now run workshops and events providing professionals with a better understanding of what needs to be done to make a change in their agency. They encourage networking, and helping others much in the same way as Pamela mentioned; this being a more fruitful way to get ahead.
If clients are conversing with each other & requesting case studies of effectivity, MDs really can't afford to change their ways. And financially, with the UK ad industry spending almost £780k PER PITCH - our economy can't afford it either!
So it's time to approach new business as an art form, and no longer a numbers game.

The third lady making a change for the better in the design industry is Emma Sexton, founder of Make Your Words Work. Her consultancy aims to show clients that design is not just there to 'make things pretty' as an afterthought, but that it really is necessary for adding value. We are visual beings. And we're surrounded by thousands of images on a daily basis - and we respond to those visuals on an emotional level much more than words. Through her design expertise and interest in psychology, Emma ensures businesses talks to their clients in the right way, using language they understand and using beautiful design in a meaningful way. That's not to say content still isn't king - it should just be captivating and inspiring so that people remember you.

As an art director who has worked on many a pitch all of this really rings true. the number of times I am asked to just drop in the 'creative' to a 50 page powerpoint presentation, that to me, just goes on and on. Don't get me wrong, strategic thinking and storytelling are key but MDs & planners really need to step back every so often & look at the bigger picture. No wonder clients in the pitching process are waiting for the 'exciting' creative bit. The whole thing should be creative surely? Being freelance it has not always been my place to say - however the sheer confidence of these three women has certainly inspired me to go forth and speak my mind. For when you really have seen it over & over & it's staring you in the face - it's time to make a change. And there's no reason why it shouldn't be the women driving that.

When I think words may be better than pictures

Ok, so the latest trend going around is all this visual notetaking at conferences and seminars. Cool huh? Well yes and no. Take these done by Eva Lottchen at The Story 2011 that I attended. These are quite detailed and beautifully presented; in fact they save me on reporting on what happened since I haven't written up part two of my notes yet!

However, looking at some of the notes on Ogilvy's new 'notes page' where people can upload their visual notes, and I can't blimmin' understand them. I wanted to find out what had been going on at the SWSX conference everyone's tweeting about, but check this - it all look's more interesting than a page of writing, but I can't make head nor tail of it. It is some else's shorthand and summary of the day - perhaps a great reminder/ nudge for those who were there, but to the outsider, not the best solution.

Nora Herting

So as an avid visualiser and illustrator I'm still on the fence about this. Maybe I need to watch last year's seminar on how to do Visual Notetaking to understand why it's so great. Let me know.
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The Golden Stiletto 2010

Delayed report back from last week's Golden Stiletto Awards: An evening dedicated to recognising top female talent in the digital communications industry, organised by Shesays. Entries had been submitted by various individuals who work in agencies across the globe, showcasing their proudest and best work. The winner of the now coveted Golden Stiletto was a team at VML London who created a complete digital experience of A History of the World, in conjunction with the BBC and The British Museum's extensive collection of found objects spanning 2 million years: A complex yet vital project. Another runner up was the Chrome Fastball game created by BBH which allows users to to play whilst crossing the various platforms of google such as You tube, google maps, twitter - inviting the player to interact and learn about each service as they go along.


Yet for pure entertainment a brilliant expose of human behaviour, my favourite had to be Dare Digital's campaign for  Sony Xperia handsets. "The Product Institute" gathers together focus groups consisting of Glamrockers, Senior citizens to surfers and Models performing simple tasks on the phones. The actor conduting the groups is superb, with his non-plussed reactions and dry wit. I can't decide which is my favourite so here are the toddlers & Senior Citizens, but visit the mini site to see the whole lot.

Mindblowing

Another successful industry event! Wow, was I inspired or what? I found as the day got on my mind was racing with ideas and my hand couldn't write fast enough, with all the notes I was taking. (All the more reason for me to get one big huge Wacom tablet methinks, then I can literally use it as a layout pad). The event lasted afternoon to evening with ten top speakers showcasing some of their interesting work to date, including some top secret ideas in progress. Ranging from social media, interaction, brand strategy, online gaming to digital design, my eyes were digitally opened. There's almost too much to mention in one post, so I'll tap into individual projects in future, but to summarise, here's what I learnt:

• If you want to try something new and innovative & you're being constrained by those in fear - do it anyway. You never know what opportunities it'll open up in future, and you'll probably end up impressing those who doubted you in the first place.
  
  
• Information is there to be SHARED with others. Most people have a creative side and will undoubtedly receive your knowledge with open arms, and you'll always get something back in return.
  
  
• Partnerships in agencies are becoming more important. The Agency preaching to the supplier is fast becoming a dying model, as both parties prove to profit from collaborating and meeting clients needs in an ever changing market, with tighter budgets and greater expectations.
  
  
• Data capture via twitter: the possibilities are endless*
  *I have many an example to post here later
  
  
• Data capture doesn't have to be Big Brother - it can actually be very useful & important in changing services and preventing serious accidents.
  
  
• I'm bored with my portfolio. All this new media is so exciting, I'm going to work on my own briefs next week!
  
  
• Familiar objects are now not what they seem: TVs are four dimensional, poster's talk to you, radios are weather vanes, fridges work for Weightwatchers and plants are very demanding!
  
  
• If you have the right creatives on board, you could remotely control your boyfriend
  (thanks to Nicola, Nikki & Jules for some fun brainstorming. Watch this space people..)
  
  
• Clients should always have a crisis plan. There are too many creative, witty, computer geeks out there that are quick on the mark to be anti-brand.

So there we have it. I feel like I've been playing catch-up, and by the time I research all the various sites mentioned yesterday, there will be thousands more great ideas developing, but it has definitely made me less fearful of venturing into the unknown, and very excited to work on new briefs in this way.

I'm Notworking

So I went along to my first glug event the other night to see what it was all about. It's one of these growing trends of 'meetups' where online communities encourage members to meet face to face with like-minded individuals - like the good old days of networking before the rise of the internet. I'm all for this as I'm a real people person and you just don't gauge what someone is like just from an online conversation. (besides I'm much faster at talking than typing!)

Glug meets once a month in London to bring together designers, creatives, clients and friends to chat, watch talks and glug down a few drinks. It was set up by Ian Hambleton of Studio Output and Nick Clement of Made Studio and seems have have grown enormously over the past year or so. Last night was more of a general eet strangers and have a good night, as it was primarily aimed at Graduates in collaboration with the D & AD New Blood ceremony earlier in the day. However I had a great time chatting to randoms and meeting members of Glue, Wyld Stallions animators and the illustrations of Agency Rush doodling away throughout the night. I expect there'll be photos and more on their site here - see you at the next one!

The Big Idea - you'll get there in the end

I went to a really interesting talk last night hosted by the She says gang. It was all about the psychology of getting an idea, and how to allow yourself to get to the eureka moment. The evening consisted of four speakers all with fascinating nuggets of information to share.
One speaker, Dawn Sillet of Creative mastery mentioned something quite interesting about how the brain works. She said that as human beings we are inanely structured to solve a problem. And that if we allow our brain to, it will come up with the goods in the end. Rather like when you forget what you wnet going upstairs for, but remember when you get back down. Or when remember the answer from the pub quiz, when you are on the way home two hours later. That is often why we get our best ideas in the bath or on the loo. it is hwile we are relaxed, and our brain subconciously makes the connections, and solves the problems that we've been struggling to earlier. So when you see Creatives mucking about on the Foossball or lounging about, it is actually work. It is good to allow the brain time to breathe. That said it is all about balance (as with everything). So we need stimulus, challenges, deadlines, motivation, stress, calm, wacky ideas and logic to come up with the best ideas.
So if you catch me running around naked, hollering like a red indian, then stopping to do a suduko, you know why.

Ads that think they are witty writing in the headline kind of ads.

Confused? yes the use of English in this style of writing is getting really annoying and overused. What I'm referring to is those ads that describe the product in a witty sentence, ending with the product. Example:

Grrgh! It's not funny, it's not clever and it's quite difficult to read. Think of a better way to say it.

While I'm in the mood for criticising work, another one got me last night while I was on the tube. I thought it was my drunkeness that affected my ability to understand this ad, but this morning, no, still don't get it.

Why use a visual of DIY instructions to say recycle? Am I missing something. Someone please enlighten me.
They've got a great line to work with 'Keep London Beautiful', so show beautiful recycling! (origami newspapers/ flowers made of newspapers/ beautifully shot recycling bins??)

Finally, to show I'm not all bad, here's an ad I did like. Clean, simple, no small print or confusing headline, no idea that is completely irelevant to the product. Well done BT/agency people.

Eurostar - More like Eurotrash

me, and it's been sitting on my scanner since


Forgive me, for this post is not exactly up to the minute, since this ad for the new Eurostar was of course released when King's cross unveiled it's new platform two weeks ago. But I ripped this out because I didn't like it at the time, and it's been sitting on my scanner since. In my sorting out, I almost chucked it but I thought no - I'm in the mood for a good rant. I've looked at it again, and I still don't like it. Yes it's edgy and daring, but without sounding too much like a Daily mail journalist, I think it does a lot to damage an already loutish image across the European border. The poster shows a skin head peeing into a teacup, alluding to the Belgian fountain, ' Mannequin pis', along with the headline which translates to 'Attention! London is around the Corner'.
Eurostar has said that although Belgians love the royalty, they also like the edginess London street life has - it is a celebration of all things British. I'm sorry but have the Creatives at Hurrell and Dawson been out on the streets of London in the past twenty years? It's like looking at a tourist book that still tells you to visit Carnaby Street for the crazy punks and anti- establishment fashion. if they are trying to promote tourism they should try and be more realistic and not hold onto dated stereotypes that many cause many of the cosmopolitan Europeans to avoid visiting. As for his shaved head and painted back - Have we not got enough problem with football hooligans being 'around the corner'? I just feel it doesn't relate to the very modern image that the architects and designers of King's Cross were aspiring to and have achieved.

The whole "Art 'inspires' Advertising" fine line.

The 'Hot' copies:

• Lowe's John Lewis ad vs Noble and Webster (See other replicas here)

• Honda 'Cog' vs Fischli & Weiss

• Sony 'Play doh' vs Kozyndan
  
  

Generally I think all creatives agree that they are inspired by, and interested in Art and Design (just look at all the links to my blog!). Especially if you are an art director, visually you have to have an artistic eye. As a creative team, your originality should be in the idea. That is, solving the problem of the brief, and thinking of a unique way to sell the product. If in the next stage you reference an artistic style in history I don't think that it's a problem. But if your ad is either influenced by or remotely resembles another piece of art that has gone before I think it is time to admit defeat and go back to the drawing board. We are supposed to be creative and so our ideas should be disposable. I know in some cases creatives may be unaware of work that has gone before them, as it is impossible to keep track of art everywhere and ads worldwide. But I think we have a responsibilty to our profession to try and keep things fresh, and not forget that if your gut feeling is 'it feels done before', then it probably has been. Replicating work means artists lose out, and the brand/ ad agency gets credit for great work that the public may not have seen anywhere else before.
Advertising may be a business, but the creative dept is the exciting bit, so lets keep it that way.
Read more of this debate on CR blog here.

Facebook now dominating online advertising

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Cartoon by Dave Walker

I know this isn't the latest hot topic, but I'd still like to get my spoke in - after reading a bit more into it and discussing it with my new blogging friends of the breakfast club.
For those not in the know, Facebook has launched its new initiative - facebook ads and business pages where brands/ companies can now target customers more directly, based on what interests they post in their profile. to the marketers these sounds like a dream, especially with online advertising being more quantifiable.
however as a user of facebook, I am some what sceptical and put off by the whole idea. I mean I am used to flashing ads and banners on sites and if you respond to these then you are more likely to respond to the FB ads. However, it is the invasion of my interests that I dislike. For me facebook began as a nice way of communicating with friends old and new, and setting up nights out with the odd poke here & there. Now it is overloaded with games (at least it is all for fun) but when the ads start to appear inviting you to this page and that it will get in the way of what I essentially use it for which is to chat to my friends, NOT inform them of the latest gadget out or top to buy. What if my friend isn't interested?

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of the site assures, "The ads are going to feel like content to a lot of people." I can't help but feel used for being a marketeer for the brand instead of a consumer - can I get a percentage of their income from the link to their ad?
I do admit it is a clever system. The amount of data on the site that everyone has very openly volunteered must save thousands in focus groups. Plus as Zuckerberg puts it,
"Social actions are powerful because they act as trusted referrals and reinforce the fact that people influence people."

So the new system replaces the cold feeling of advertising messages broadcast by large companies to warmth from that of a recommendation from a friend. Advertisers will also be able to tailor messages to users via information they have received about that person from a friend. This is all getting a bit big brother isn't it - except it feels like your friends are snitching on you without them even realising.
I don't know, I see the potential for tailored advertising, but I don't believe it will ever take off as consumers are ALWAYS in charge of their choices, no matter what you put in front of them.


Quotes from full article on Portfolio.com

Make my logo look bigger

Here's an amusing vid I spotted on creative social blog if any of you don't already go there. Clients will get their way in the end!