A little perspective:

I’ve never been much of a truth-seeker, though I have known those who are. They are always finding a way to push them selves to the extreme, whether it is in sports, business, or religion. I imagine they do this to strip away all of the options available to deceive one’s self. For my truth-seeking friends, I have a new extreme sport: After you lose the anchor client of your small business, have an unexpected third child, and move into a new apartment that needs a gut renovation; look for a job during the worst recession since the great depression while your industry is in the midst of a fundamental transformation. In this perfect storm, truth becomes your constant companion. You’ll find out if you married the right woman (I did). You’ll find out if you can project a normal façade amidst unrelenting uncertainty (you can). You’ll find out if you can separate your view of yourself with your success in the marketplace (I’m working on it). The current jobless rating is 9.5 % and getting worse. Some say it is actually 14% and getting worse. In any case, when you apply for a job, there a lot of other talented folks applying for the same position and in these hard times, employers are using an electron microscope to screen candidates. The best strategy for this environment is the truth. Sure there are plenty of jobs that seem to be worth applying for because you are kinda, sorta qualified, but don’t waste your time. That job has plenty of hyper-qualified candidates applying for it. You may feel like this is good time to explore your professorial proclivities. Join the club. The TRUTH is that you are good at something and if you are going to waste your time, do it with you kids. I am an advertising creative director—one of the best. I have some pretty heavy design experience and an extremely eclectic background, but it all adds to one thing: I'm a practitioner of the dark art of persuasion. Right now the industry is dealing with the internet so it wants a certain kind of technically proficient html designer or something like that. This disruption, like all disruptions in the universe will return to the natural order where the guys who are better at the technical side will gravitate toward perfecting and refining that, and people like me, who can turn design into concept and find the customer’s G-spot, will once again be what employers are clamoring for. Just not in this week’s job listings.

persuasion.com

Keep Swinging

While going through some boxes in storage today, I came across a folder from the summer of ’99 marked, “Internet Ideas”. Inside, I was impressed to find some well thought out business plans for unrealized websites. Admittedly, there were some not-so-good ideas as well.

My favorite though, was BigBag.com. The name is now taken (since ’03 it appears) by some crap company, but if only I had been able to secure the financing and if only the technology was in place ten years ago…

It worked like this: BigBag was to be a virtual shopping hub for all of the world’s famous shopping districts. From Piccadilly Square to Rodeo Drive to The Magnificent Mile, you could select where you wanted to shop – and what time of year you wanted it to be there – and voila! You were plopped into that environment in 3D fashion. Even if it was the middle of July, you could stroll up and down Newberry Street in Boston at Christmastime. All the shops dressed in their festive yuletide gear. A light snow falling. Carolers passing by. And up and down the street you could casually stroll.

When you found a shop you liked, you would go up to its door and click on it. This would be the link to the shop’s actual website. If it didn’t have one – and most back then did not – we would build it for them. There would be an exit back to the street and BigBag world from there, of course. But you could browse and order stuff securely while there.

The trick would’ve been getting every store in every famous shopping district to sign on. My lawyer expressed dire concern over that hurdle. The other glitch was the technology. One VC insider told me I was about ten years ahead of the curve, since such a site would require so much memory to operate, it would undoubtedly crash users’ computers and create a frustrating experience instead of the intended pleasant adventure.

I recently came across a couple of variations on this idea. One is referred to as “Augmented Reality” and I believe it is the way of the future for shopping online. The other takes about ten years to load, but is an offering from New Zealand and is a virtual mall.

Ah, Edison. Your quote (paraphrased) is so true: “I haven’t failed a thousand times – I’ve just found a thousand ways to NOT do it.”

Augmented Reality

Virtual Mall

Underdogs, Long shots and Ne'er-do-wells

Daly sporting orange a couple of different ways.

I’m a John Daly fan. Always have been. Always will be.
Here’s why: He’s real. And he needs some fixin’.

Tiger, on the other hand, is not real. Tiger is as close to perfect as you can get. Perfect leaves little room for improvement.

John’s story has been the antithesis of Tiger’s, wouldn’t you agree?

Loving parents, including a strict and visionary father, raised Tiger. He went to all the right schools, camps, etc. And he’s won just about every tournament he’s played in since age 9.

John, on the other hand, had a rough childhood. He was a wild and rowdy, out of control young man. And then a wild and rowdy, out of control grown man. And John did not come from anything more than meager beginnings. John has wrestled with demons most of us will only read about. And continues to do so.

About the only thing these two have in common are their college colors and the fact that they both smack the shit out of golf balls.

Here’s why I bring this up: I’d rather have a John Daly brand to work on than a Tiger Woods brand.

The John Daly brand isn’t afraid to admit it was irresponsible, passed-out in front of Hooters and needs to make amends. It needs to make some serious changes in its behavior and lifestyle. Because, like it or not – there are still a multitude of people out there who believe in this brand. And even more on the sidelines just waiting for it to get its act together, wanting to buy in.

Obviously, the Tiger brand needs no help. Which is why it is inextricably linked to other great brands. Namely one with a swoosh.

The thing that really makes the John Daly brand unique though, is its believability. You really believe it can change. You find yourself actually pulling for it. And when it stumbles, you let out yet another sigh and think, “Come on, John. You’re better than that.”

Now, imagine if GM were capable of that type of thinking. Imagine the change that might come about for its brand image.

GM reminds me a lot of John Daly.

Except not as ready as John to make real change.

While at FCB, we tried to get GM to admit they passed out, but they were still in denial.

Excerpts From The Hinterland

These are ACTUAL INTERVIEW CONVERSATIONS I’ve encountered in the past year. I won’t name names, but 90% of these ACTUAL INTERVIEW CONVERSATIONS took place at smaller, more regional shops. Enjoy.

THEM: Nice work. You’ve touched some fairly large and recognizable brands.
ME: Oh, thanks.
THEM: Our only concern is whether or not our client roster will be… challenging enough for you.
ME: Getting up in the morning is a challenge for me.
THEM: (Nervous laughter) Well. We will reconvene and get back to you. Thanks so much for taking an interest in us. We’re flattered.
ME: Thank you. Can I have that water you mentioned earlier?

* * * *

THEM: Well, you’re certainly qualified for the position.
ME: Oh, thanks.
THEM: Probably over-qualified.
ME: But wouldn’t you want someone to raise the bar? Qualified keeps the bar at the same level, don’t you think?
THEM: Well. We wouldn’t want you to get bored and leave us.
ME: Who said I’d leave?
THEM: O.k. then. We’ll be getting back to you. Do you mind taking this personality test before you go?

* * * *

THEM: Well, I’ve decided to go with someone else.
ME: Oh, o.k. Why?
THEM: Well, it’s not you because you are definitely capable and talented and your qualifications and references are top notch.
ME: So then why go with someone else?
THEM: It’s a gut call. One of those ‘intangibles’.
ME: Intangibles?
THEM: Yes. It’s ‘nebulous’.
ME: So a nebulous intangible has prevented my getting the job?
THEM: Ha ha! I love your sense of humor. Let’s keep in touch, hear?

* * * *

THEM: Do you have anything against prayer?
ME: Prayer?
THEM: Yes. We are sorta religious around here and sometimes pray before big meetings and pitches and such.
ME: I do, too. No, I have nothing against that.
THEM: Well, sometimes it can get a little animated.
ME: Um, I’m at a loss for words.
THEM: It’s o.k. The Lord hears your thoughts.
ME: (Thinking) God, get me out of here.


* * * *

Then there’s those super comfortable phone interviews…

THEM: So roll the film five years down the road, Chuck. Where have you taken my agency?
ME: Exterior. Sunny beach in the south of France.
THEM: Huh?
ME: Cannes. I’ve taken us to Cannes.
THEM: Oh, right. Of course. Cannes.
(PREGNANT PAUSE WITH SOME WHISPERING ON THE OTHER END)
ME: Hello?
THEM: Yes. We’re here. Just awaiting your response.

* * * *

This time between jobs has begun to feel like the wait I endured for the last Doves album to come out.
Pray with me.

One of those brands I touched. (Although the client re-touched this campaign)

No matter how bad it is,it could always be worse.

I’ve been thinking about the creative comrades we left behind still slogging it out at the big agencies. Working our hours as well as theirs—knowing that a whole lot of folks would jump through fire for the chance to work tirelessly without any hope of a raise. I tip my hat to thee. As do I to your oppressors. No one in our business has fought to retain staffs and treat employees with honesty and respect like they have in the Newspaper business but look where that got them. We have no union to protect (let alone obtain us) pensions like the auto industry but look at where that got them. Our business is more akin to the investment banking business; ruthless, hardcore, brutal, but look at where that got them; Goldman just posted the richest quarterly profit in its 140-year history and, to the envy of its rivals, announced that it had earmarked $11.4 billion so far this year to compensate its workers. I don’t really want to hang out with the people running our business, but God bless them. Instead of reviling big agencies we could be eulogizing them like the Boston Globe. I remember a few years ago when everyone from Creative Artist Agency to everyday consumers were supposed to take over creating advertising content and Google was going redefine media buying with online auctions. Neither materialized. Not even close. Maybe they were just bad ideas, but I like to think its because we out hustled them. Big agencies bought every small boutique and media business that even smelled like competition and let a controlled Darwinian process sort them out later. We are all tired, beat up and scarred, but let’s face it, the Internet has been truly transformative in a rather painful way to a lot of people, and our industry is still in the position to be a master instead of a victim. And if there is anyone who can find a way to actually make money on the most disruptive force in our lifetime, it’s the same bastards that are making you work long hours and freezing raises. When they do figure it out, there will be enough left over for us and it’ll be back to the good old days. Oh, I’m sorry, you were probably looking for a little sympathy. Awwwww.

An Effie award winning campaign I did for BusinessWeek a few years ago. The entire magazine operation is now for sale for $1. No kidding.

I can think in digital, I can think in analogue,I can think.

I have an interview lined up with the hottest interactive agency on the planet. When I first came to know them, they were a film production house brimming with hot new computer graphics technology and talent. Apparently they also were endowed with foresight. First they jumped into interactive design with both feet when everyone else was testing the waters, and then they developed an agency structure that foresaw the collapsing of the digital and traditional agency into one agency structure. All without compromising the incredibly high standards they started with. I can’t begin to tell you how impressed I am with them. They may not feel the same way about me but I am going to meet with them anyway. God knows I’ve learned how to take rejection and I believe that the smartest people in the digital industry may actually be the most fertile grounds for my own personal message: “It’s still about the customer”. Clients are enamored with new media and interactivity now but they are fickle and ruthless crowd when we aren’t moving whatever they are selling. While technology may be tough to learn, it ain’t nothing compared to learning the dark art of persuasion. I cut my teeth with Sal Devito, Bob Reitzfeld, Ralph Ammirati, and David Altschiller when they were the cutting edge. It was a less gentle time in the workplace back then and they bereted me and belittled me into thinking fast and thinking smart. I’ve never lost that desire to live up to their expectations—regardless of the medium. Every new tool I add to my tool-chest is an extension of what I learned from them, not a replacement. I am not going to pretend that producing stellar interactive work is simply a matter of having a good creative mind but it is the foundation upon which all else rests. After serious effort and a few missteps, I recently turned the corner with regards to my digital understanding and developed some new ideas based on new technologies in the new media space that I would walk into one of my old bosses office with. The thinking is up to my own creative standards and on the conceptual level of the company I’m interviewing. They will be expecting more digital work but I’m not going to show it. If I’ve learned anything in this business, don’t show really smart people anything but really smart work.

Thinking in Digital

Thinking in Analogue

Thinking

The Golden Process














By the grace of God and a former creative partner,
I recently got a one-week freelance assignment.

It was at half my normal pay rate, but it was an opportunity
to create something out of thin air – an act I hadn’t performed
for a long time – so the pay cut didn’t matter to me.
Besides, beggars cannot be choosers.

When I opened the PDF that was the brief, I had to sit back
and take a deep breath. I wanted to soak the moment in.
To relish what I might not see before my eyes again for who
knows how long. To recall how I had become somewhat
jaded and ungrateful for the previous dozen or so briefs
I had opened before it.

I read it once. I read it twice. I read it a third and fourth time.

I thought about the authors. And all the meetings they had
to orchestrate both internally and with the clients. All the
passionate pleas they must’ve made and all that time they
had to sacrifice along the way to realize this beautiful,
one-page wonder.

I turned several things over in my head at once; the target,
the reasons why, the mandatories, the insights.

Then I walked away from it.

I took my 8-month-old baby boy for a stroll.

I began to think about my old friend Mark Fenske and his
description of what we do. He calls it, “The Golden Process.”

I first heard him call it that a dozen or so years ago. It really
stopped me in my tracks and made me appreciate the idea of
how it’s bigger than any one of us or our flawed egos. How it
can and will go on with or without you. How you’re a part of it,
or you’re not. How it’s an honor bestowed upon a relative few.
And finally, how it can at times be excruciatingly painful –
yet equally rewarding.

It all depends on how you approach it.

When I was finished with the stroll, I placed my son on the
floor near my desk and uttered a sentence I’ve never spoken
in my life: “Daddy has to write now, buddy.”

And therein, I found a whole new appreciation for what we do.
And how it is indeed, The Golden Process.

You can make it anywhere:

Yesterday, I interviewed for a job in the midwest. And when I say interviewed, I mean interviewed; 11 people in a full day marathon. Exhausted, I got on the plane back to New York and asked myself, “Was I really willing to go through all that to live in the corn belt! Am I really considering leaving New York—the Mecca of advertising? The grand poobah of commerce.” That is when I had my Galileo moment; New York is no longer the center of the advertising universe—the Internet is. First of all, because you have to capitalize it, just like New York, and secondly, because it is the center of every decision made regarding everything that is important to our business now and in the future. You can be in Indiana, Iowa, Illinois or Idaho and be next to the beating heart of our business. In fact, interviewing with a client instead of an agency owned by some holding company based in New York was rather refreshing because they don’t have profitability issues with the Internet. The social networking campaign I created for the movie "The Good Heart" was what my interviewers were most intrigued by. Once we started talking about what I could do for them through the Internet, my experience creating million-dollar commercials and global print campaign faded into the background. Does that mean my experience went unnoticed? I don’t think so. Ultimately, they will still be doing mostly posters, publications and traditional advertising, but if they hire me it will be because I was the guy who’s eyes lit up when I talked about my social networking campaign. I was the guy with traditional experience that was taking classes in flash and spoke to them about the possibilities of Acrobat 9. Not because I am the guy from New York.

What got them excited.

The War Is Over. The Geeks have won. Now they need our help.

Bill and I like to joke about the day when they finally merge YouTube, Twitter and FaceBook. It will have to be called, “YouTwitFace”.

For the past 10 years or so, a battle royale has raged between what’s become known as the “Traditional Guys” VS the “Digital Guys”.

Overnight, writers and art directors became classified as being in one camp or the other.

Producers, too.

As well as accountniks.

Somehow, our collective talents/abilities turned into a freakish impromptu game of DodgeBall (or, DidgeBall. Sorry).

The wall went up. A nation was divided. And East became aware of West.

To wit; in the three agencies I’ve worked at during that time, both camps were in separate spaces – if not on separate floors altogether.

They usually didn’t attend the same meetings.

Somehow, even the briefs were different.

Don’t even get me started on the award shows.

And so on.

And so forth.

Hmm.

The whole evolution of this has always bothered me to no end.

Not because I was jealous of or threatened by the “Digital Guys”, but instead - because I saw what was coming: A day when TV and print would be declared dated outlets for advertising. And that the only true, relevant marketing tool would be all things digital.

Well until there are the afore-promised flying cars, I’m not buying this line of thinking.

I guess my point is this:

It’s time for our industry to stop differentiating between digital and traditional thinkers.

Great ideas are media agnostic.

Digital is simply another tool in the toolbox.

I mean, if having to know how to create in the interactive space is somehow more disciplined or different than the traditional arena – imagine how hard creating in the pharma interactive realm must be (jk, lol, wtf).

I humbly submit that ours has always been a business in a constant state of flux.

And all that’s really happened in the past decade or so is that we’ve added more touchpoints for consumers.

It’s no different than in the 1930’s when the guys jamming on radio spots were suddenly confronted by that godforsaken new evil called, television.

In closing, consider this Taoism:

Tools

Thirty spokes meet at a nave;

Because of the hole we may use the wheel.

Clay is molded into a vessel;

Because of the hollow we may use the cup.

Walls are built around a hearth;

Because of the doors we may use the house.

Thus tools come from what exists,

But use from what does not.

http://www.loudbell.com

Replenishing the reservoir

Looking for work is like searching for a diet. No one wants to do it so you find yourself doing all kinds of crazy shit to avoid it. Not very productive for an unemployed accountant, but for creative professionals, it is an opportunity to get your groove back—shake out all of those buzz-kill encounters with the real world. Laughing, crying, soul searching, avoiding reality is the fuel of the creative mind. Though we feel nervous and somewhat guilty about going to MOMA on a Wednesday or picking up our kids from school at 2:45 and watching helicopters land, we are, in fact, building a library of words, images and ideas. This blog is all about a cathartic understanding ourselves, our business and, oh yeah, getting an intimate understanding one of the hottest marketing tools in our industry. When I was working 80 hours a week, I didn’t know my wife, my children or even the city I lived in. Now I have a much more centered and positive view of the world. Which one of me would you rather have creating your advertising? Ultimately, being an unemployed creative makes you a better employed creative.

Some of work I've done since I stopped working.

The New Age of Enlightenment

My wife and I hosted a barbecue this past Saturday.

It was a gentle affair – 3 couples, 4 babies, small talk and some burgers.

It was the name of the recipe for the burgers I prepared that actually began a larger conversation about the six degrees of separation and how we’re all tied together.

I’ll get to the significance of that in a moment.

But first, the burger recipe is this:

2 lbs lean ground beef

1 egg

Paula Dean’s garlic salt blend

1 cup of diced onion

Ω cup of red table wine

Mix ingredients together. Makes about 8 patties.

Enjoy with a cabernet like Olema or Bridgman.

It’s a simple recipe, really.

But they taste out of this world.

That’s why I call them, ìAwesome Burgersî.

And I first made them back in May, 1992. In NYC.

I had just moved there to work at JWT as an art director and was staying with a young couple whilst I searched for an apartment.

The wife of the young couple was also the little sister of one Warren Spector, former big (bad) decision maker at Bear Sterns.

In ’92, he was a rising star at Bear Sterns. He came to the dinner I prepared that late-May evening at their small Sutton Place apartment.

Unfortunately, the beta test for my burgers didn’t go so well.

He wasn’t impressed and in short order, had to run off to meet his boss, Jimmy Caine, for an evening of bridge.

Warren thanked me for my efforts and joked that he hoped my ad career turned-out a little better than the burgers did (still TBD).

I didn’t really like the guy and couldn’t say why except maybe that I’ve never taken to Wall Street types.

Then he was gone and I never heard of or from him again.

Until the Fall of 2007.

His name and face popped-up on CNBC one morning in October of that fateful year.

Turns out his cooking wasn’t that stellar either. Cooking of the books, that is. His department apparently had been running rogue ops that hid huge, risky loans that were being bundled in with good mortgage loans.

They were called, subprime loans.

Years of doing this had put Bear Sterns on a dangerous, slippery slope and down they came.

Spector was lucky.

They fired him before he hit the bottom of the hill and the indictments came down that saw several of his underlings go to prison. He got a golden parachute somewhere in the neighborhood of $35 million bucks.

Now, here’s where that connectivity thing comes inÖ

Bear Sterns is widely thought of as Ground Zero for the subprime loan mess.

Those loans infected the global economy and moreover, cost me my job.

How?

Because banks tightened credit as foreclosures rose.

People who normally would refinance and use some of that money to buy, say, a Chevy Silverado could no longer afford to do so.

As Silverados piled up at dealerships, profits fell sharply and subsequently, ad budgets began to get slashed.

Slashed ad budgets meant agency trimmings and the reshuffling of “resources”…

We’re all familiar with the rest of the story, because most of us are those “resources” on the other side of the glass right now.

However, there is a bright spot in the telling of this story;

Had I not grown tired of the likes of Spector and his Wall Street cronies, I probably wouldn’t have left NYC for Detroit.

And that would mean I wouldn’t have met my wife at the agency we were both at in Detroit.

Which, in turn, would sadly mean we wouldn’t have had the beautiful baby boy we now have.

Nor the barbecue this past Saturday that began the conversation of connectivity in the first place.

We’re all wired together.

Even without the Internet.

Hmm. JPMorganChase bought out Bear Sterns. And I worked on JPMorganChase. See? All connected.

Our Competition

If you had a recruiting agency that only handled mid-level Interactive Art Directors you would be poor but very busy. These kids are the Chinese of the advertising labor force. Client’s want free advertising on sites like Facebook and dog gonnit, agencies are going to give it to them. No one seems to care much about the quality of the message or strategy or if the agency can make more than fifteen cents. Just as long as it’s “something-like-that-thing-that-the-phone-company-did-in-the-london-train-station-that-got-all-those-youtube-views”.

Oh all right, we’re whores too. Here’s an example of a social networking campaign Bill created for a movie. (profit: $0, but at least the idea came out of the product.)

The Good Heart Social Networking Campaign

# of keys = degree of burn

This was my garage back in Birmingham, Michigan.

Before The Fall...

The Fall of Wall Street.

The Fall of the housing market.

The Fall of my own puny fortune.

One day, everything just went into a free fall.

The car on the left, I sank about $12,000 into. I had to sell it for $4000. The car on the right cost me about $1200 a month. I traded it in for a used 750i and reduced my payments by about $400 a month. Whoop-de-fucking-doo. Now the 750i is about to be repossessed.

More falling.

The vehicle not seen in this shot (taken in the driveway of the $3500-a-month leased house, btw) was a 2007 Chevy Silverado LTZ with all the trimmings.

It fell out of my view last January when I had to turn it in because I could no longer afford the payments.

Moral of the story?

Something a good and wise friend of mine back in NYC once said to me as I began to accumulate things... He was studying my key ring at a bar one evening and holding it up in the dim light he said, “Be careful how many keys you own, for they will own you even more.”

Silverado Campaign created during more flush times.