This is advertising in its purest form. Love it.
Finding this led me to ask, “what is this Project 10 business?” And now I must know. That is how my brain works, once the question arises I can’t say no.
26: A bit of lingering inspiration
It’s been a long time coming, and I guess I needed a bit of a hiatus from social networking. I’ve been trying to harness my inspiration lately and simultaneously trying to broaden the scope of my thoughts. I know it is relentlessly cliche to refer to movie quotes, but this one from the movie Like Crazy (2011) which was directed by Drake Doremus has some gems. My favorite is…
” I thought I understood it, that I could grasp it, but I didn’t, not really. Only the smudgeness of it; the pink-slippered, all-containered, semi-precious eagerness of it. I didn’t realize it would sometimes be more than whole, that the wholeness was a rather luxurious idea. Because it’s the halves that halve you in half. I didn’t know, don’t know, about the in-between bits; the gory bits of you, and the gory bits of me.”
25: One step at a time
2012 seems to be a year of firsts for me. First blog. First Twitter account. First true attempt at stepping out of the University bubble and into the real world. And now, my first portfolio website.
24: What Creative Strategist taught me
These past two months have been some of the most overwhelming, stressful, and eye-opening of my entire life. As they say, “t is the beginning of the rest of your life”.
1. Look at the world with fresh eyes – every part of my life is inspiring, I just have to open my eyes and appreciate everything around me. Nothing is too small or too insignificant to go unnoticed.
2. Don’t ever be afraid to try – the world is my oyster. There are so many things to see and do, it is just a matter of overcoming my fear of failure. If I don’t try, I’ll never know what I am capable of.
3. The work is never done – no one is an idea industry master. Yes, there are brilliant minds and creative geniuses, but there are always new things to learn and discover.
4. Set goals – both personal and professional. When the stress becomes overwhelming, schedules and goals are an easy way to sort out the madness.
5. Give myself the credit I deserve – never sell myself short, regardless of the obstacles I encounter.
6. I am invaluable – I just have to believe it.
7. Everything around me is part of the idea industry – the best part about working in advertising is that the research is out in the real world. Every place I go and person I meet is valuable.
8. The world is a big place – and I am prepared to take it by storm.
All the thanks in the world to Deb Morrison and her Creative Strategist class for helping to teach me all of these invaluable life (and industry) lessons.
23: Happy belated 108th birthday Dr. Seuss!
In honor of Theodore Seuss Giesel’s would-have-been 108th birthday, here is some of his most memorable quotes. I grew up reading Dr. Seuss books and ultimately they taught me many great lessons.
22: To Sheen or not to Sheen
Who exactly is making the advertising decisions for Italian car company Fiat? And an even better question, what is their motivation? Fiat’s recent campaign that starred Jennifer Lopez driving around “the block” was lack-lustre at best. The criticisms ranged from “too feminine” to just plain ridiculous. The message that glamorous Jennifer Lopez is actually the exact same girl as booty-shaking JLO or Jenny from the block didn’t exactly stick when she is driving around the Bronx in a candy-colored toy car.
As a rebuttal to the less-than-successful Jennifer Lopez campaign, Fiat decided to go in another direction. A very strange, very surprising direction. Enter, Charlie Sheen. The commercial itself isn’t bad, but Charlie Sheen, really? My idea industry instinct tells me that hiring someone with a notoriously bad reputation to represent your brand might be a bad idea. Granted, the presence of Charlie Sheen will get the attention of consumers, but I have a feeling it will be more useful in terms of shock value than actual quality advertising.
For more information, read Stephen Williams’ article on AdAge.
21: The best things stick with you
It has been nearly two weeks since Scott Bedbury came and spoke to our class about branding, karma, and reputation. It would be quite pathetic to become the kind of person who is in love with their work at age 20, but it appears as if that is happening to me whether or not I like it. I think that one of the best things about learning about journalism and advertising in particular is that nearly everything I am learning carries over into every facet of my life. In Scott’s lecture about brand karma and making sure companies and brands do the right thing, it became clear to me that everything he said made sense in my personal life as well as my professional. I was very inspired while listening to him and took copious (although haphazard) notes. I will share them here, because I have a feeling that I learned something really important that day and it would make sense to mark the occasion.
20: Resume + Infographic = Brainchild
It seems that once you pass the half-way mark on the college adventure, the future becomes a very daunting reality as opposed to a far away fantasy world. One of the bonuses of this change in attitude is the near constant focus on preparing students for the real-world. Everyone wants to help. Professors, grad students, parents, and friends all have some idea of how to help in preparation for the daunting task of finding a career. One of the most pressing topics is of course, the resume.
Because the idea industry is such a creative world, it isn’t surprising that the resumes required to attained one a job in this area might differ slightly from the traditional CV. This is a hard concept to explain to staff members at career workshops or parents who insist on editing all of my material. HELLO? If I need a blog, Twitter account, and Pinterest obsession to become an invaluable employee; I probably need a resume that is a little bit abstract as well.
When I had the opportunity to meet with some of the staff members of Portland-based industry Sandy Montana, I was lucky enough to hear some industry insight on the modern resume. It seems that with the influx of popularity of job and resume-building websites such as Linkedin, the traditional CV is becoming a thing of the past. Having said that however, it can still be a valuable tool in marketing yourself for potential employers (in addition to Linkedin, personal blog, etc.).
Knowing that the resume needs to be different, creative, relate to the idea industry, and balance traditional thinking with modern flair, leads me to this question. What is a girl to do? The answer to simple – INFOGRAPHICS. Which really are the answer to everything, aren’t they?
For more information and other great examples visit Vizual Resume.
19: Oscar-worthy mention
I don’t want to name names or point fingers, but this year’s Oscar awards ceremony really didn’t do it for me. Having said that however, I did very much enjoy the presence of Ellen DeGeneres in the multitude of JcPenney‘s commercial spots. For the past few months I have noticed a change in direction in this department store’s advertising campaigns and I think that it works. This collection of commercials set in ancient Rome, the 1950s, and the Old West are all a collaborative brain-child of director Bryan Buckley and agency BrandAdvisors. Together they worked together to highlight JcPenney’s new brand strategy to make shopping less confusing and more enjoyable. The way it should be.
For more information, visit AdAge and Creativity Online.
18: Subaru
At the beginning of this term we had a big discussion about what separates good brands from the bad. One of the “good” brands that we examined was Subaru, and there are many reasons that separate Subaru from the crowd. I grew up in Anchorage, where the Subaru reigns supreme. Alaskans love the reliability and quality that accompanies owning an Outback, Legacy, or Forester. In addition, it seems as if the consumer knows what they are buying when they purchase one of these vehicles. They know what kind of company they are making a partnership with; in terms of customer care, quality assurance, and reliability.
One of the reasons that people feel so comfortable buying vehicles from Subaru is because of their impeccable brand karma. Everything about their reputation is squeaky clean; from their charitable obligations to their feel-good advertising campaigns.
