Arriving in Richmond

I left Chicago Sunday afternoon amid some crazy storms. Luckily the flight was only minimally delayed and I got to Richmond by evening. Checked into the hotel and got a few things taken care of before some morning conference calls.

The crazy weather I left behind in Chicago is complemented by crazy weather in Virginia. It was over 100 degrees here today, and humid. In case you haven't ever actually been to the desert to experience 103 degrees– its hot. So hot that people don't go outside, as if there was some sort of military-imposed curfew. And in the rare occasion when you do see people outside, they have a look on their face like they're being punished. It was one of those days in Richmond.

Things don't really get going until this evening, so I have a chance to get some work done and kill some time. Thus, this blog post. More to come soon.

Monday Keynote: Brian Collins

Monday night the conference kicked off with a cocktail party and dinner followed by the keynote presentation by Brian Collins. Rick Boyko opened the presentation with an entertaining explanation of some of his career stories, and how he came to wind up as the director of the VCU Brandcenter. In a previous life, Rick didn't really do much, other than work at ad agencies like Leo Burnett, TBWA Chiat/Day, and eventually became Chief Creative Officer and Co-President of Ogilvy & Mather North America. For more on Rick, click here.

After welcoming us all to the program, Rick then introduced his comrade, designer Brian Collins. Brian and Rick worked together at Ogilvy, where Brian headed up the Brand Integration Group (BIG). He now heads COLLINS Design Research. For more on Brian, click here. Now that you're totally impressed by these guys, I can tell you about what Brian had to say.

Brian is a designer in an advertising world. As someone such as myself who's background is that of a graphic designer turned art director, I had plenty to appreciate in what Brian had to say. Often, art directors in the advertising industry preoccupy themselves with things other than those focused on by graphic designers. This, in my opinion, is a mistake. The understanding of visual communication embodied by designers, the nuance of typography, imagery, and subtlety of elegant composition is something all advertising art directors should embrace more readily. But that's just me.

Brian's presentation showed how, as the advertising industry changes, design becomes not only an increasingly more important part of it, but the fields are inextricably linked. As the advertising experience harnesses storytelling as its central vehicle, it becomes more about great design, and experience design specifically. From a BP Station in LA to the Hershey store in Times Square Brian's work showed that the design experience is a part of a greater brand story.

The most compelling story Brian told was that of the Target prescription redesign, led by his former student, Deborah Adler. The story was compelling, not only because it exhibited the dramatic impact design can have on our everyday lives, but that it was based on a real, true, human story involving a problem faced by the designer's grandmother, and that it is a story that everyday people become linked to and involved with the next time they pick up a prescription.

Brian left us with some encouraging and inspiring thoughts about where advertising and design are headed, together. As the advertising industry continues to diversify the definition of what advertising is, design and innovation are leading the way.

Inside VCU Brandcenter

This morning, Rick Boyko greeted us once again, this time to take us on a tour of the brand-spankin'-new facility that the VCU Brandcenter moved into recently. Around the time when Rick arrived and took over the program at VCU, he led the charge of converting an old carriage house into an absolutely amazing academic facility for the Brandcenter. Posted below are some shots of the tour:


The "Yahoo Big Idea Room" (sponsored by Yahoo!)
Student work on display


We didn't have classrooms like this in school




My first instinct when I saw all of this was, "Great, you've got all these students thinking this is what all agencies look like. Too bad for them when they face the real world." Unfortunately, very few ad agencies can claim they're this cool and amazing of a work space. I was reminded of the "F@*K Cubicles" party we had at DraftFCB earlier this year.

Rick was quick to point out this very fact: "I know that we're setting students up for a reality check when they get out of here, but hopefully, we're instilling a sense of understanding that this is what a creative workspace CAN be, and hopefully they'll push for change in the agencies to move toward a more creative and collaborative environment." Point taken. Maybe they'll be hosting their own "F@*K cubicles" parties.

Being a Pirate: Rick Boyko

After taking us on a tour of the facilities, Rick Boyko delivered his thoughts on the creative mindset in the advertising agency world. To a roomful of creatives, it was riveting, like some kind of professional pep-rally. To a roomful of non-creatives, like account executives or clients, a lot of people would have felt nervous.

But, as Rick emphasized: that's a very good thing.

As Rick explained things that brought success in his professional life, he pointed out the importance of building a creative culture. Advertising agencies are in the business of selling a creative product: ideas. Therefore, the creative product must be the top priority of the agency. A creative culture is how we establish and maintain that sense of priority. It also becomes contagious and can infuse creative thinking in other areas of the business. A creative culture must permeate all areas of the agency in order for it to be successful.

Rick also talked about the importance of the agency/client relationship. He pointed out that it is just as important for the creatives to have a good relationship with the client as it is for the account management teams. An understanding of the brand's business and a mutual trust between parties is how the best work gets done. It's very easy for creatives to feel as though they don't need to know the inner details of the brand: that's for someone else to worry about. But in order for us to have true insights in the creative, we must have deep understanding of the brand and the challenges it faces.
And as for the title of this post, it comes from one of my favorite parts of what Rick told us creatives: "It's our job to be the risky ones. If the agency is a ship, we're not the Navy. We're the pirates."

Working Successfully to get Successful Work

Caley Cantrell is a communications professor at VCU, although previous to life in academia, she did tours in the account management and strategy side of agencies in New York and San Francisco before coming to the Martin Agency in Richmond. Strategic planning is her area of expertise at the Brandcenter and it was the focus of her discussion. Here are some of the things she talked about that got me thinking:

The Preconceived Notions Meeting: Caley laid out the proposition that maybe before we creatives ever start working on a project or new brand, we should have a preconceived notions meeting. Before the brief, before anything, we just purge all those ideas that we have about the brand we're about to work on. Whether those preconceived notions are right or not, there might be something there.

The Planner/Creative Relationship: I think in many cases, the creatives might overlook the value of a great strategic planner. This is too bad because more and more, it seems to me that planners make the creatives' jobs easier. When you see some of that amazing work that out there, sometimes you can't tell if the creatives are really that good, or if they just happen to work with a great planner.

The perfect brief? Caley talked quite a bit about the brief writing process. It is a crucial part of the process for sure. What I realized as she showed examples of various "winning briefs" is that there is no single "right way" to write a brief. But I still hold firm to the belief that its not really a "brief" if its longer than one page. Caley talked about the "Need to Know" vs the "Nice to Know" insights that can come from a planner. I myself am an information gatherer. I like to know lots of information before I delve in. But here's the thing: I want a brief to be brief. Limit it to the "need to know info," and make the "nice to know" stuff available somewhere else.

So I had plenty to learn about how to work with planners most effectively. Now to get back to those preconceived notions I'm so good at coming up with...

Mike Hughes of The Martin Agency

When someone mentions a guy named Mike Hughes you might first think of your next door neighbor or your real estate agent, but when you work in advertising and someone mentions a guy named Mike Hughes who is President and Creative Director of The Martin Agency, you sit up and take notice.

For those outside the advertising industry who are reading (Hi Mom), let me frame the Martin Agency in terms more familiar: Geico (the cavemen, the talking gecko), UPS, ESPN X Games, Discover Card, those strangely catchy Free Credit Report.com ads, and of course, Walmart, whom the Martin Agency inherited from... ahem, DraftFCB.

Those are just some of the recent pop-culture nuggets from an agency that has been around the block, and has been impressively strong throughout its existence. So what of the guy who's the creative head of that agency? He's a remarkably normal and humble man.

Mike Hughes began by letting us democratically choose what we wanted him to talk about from an assortment of topics. No agenda. No ranting or longwinded lecture. He let us determine what was important. Of much interest to the group was the topic of clients. Creatives tend to rail on our clients, despite the fact that they pay our salaries. Mike notified us that despite all our bellyaching, you can make a great client without them ever realizing it. Once we come to terms with the fact that clients may not always want what we consider "great work" we can embrace that they will always be interested in effective work. The challenge is connecting "effective" with "great creative" in their minds. Once we get there, we have a great client. I was struck when he pointed out that early on, Geico was not exactly a gem in the Martin Agency crown. They directed them to their direct mail department and intended to be done with them. Years later, they are one of the agency's most widely recognized clients. With time, they were able to create a great client relationship that produced great work. It's not impossible.

I'll finish this post with Mike Hughes in his own words. The same sentiment he shares in this video is one he shared with us. Once ALL clients and agencies are seeing it that way, there will be a lot less bad advertising out there.

Workshop with Ted Royer of Droga5

Day three of the conference began with a workshop led by Droga5 Executive Creative Director Ted Royer. One thing that this conference can't be criticized for is a lack of power players and heavy-hitters from the agency world. Here was Ted Royer, whose familiar face is perhaps most recognizable from appearing on the cover of Creativity Magazine's 2007 Agency of the Year issue.

The workshop began with group presentations of an assignment for a plan to reinvigorate Amtrak in America, as Ted interjected with thoughts and observations on each group's ideas. The second portion of the workshop was an opportunity for us hear more from Ted about the trajectory of his career path, as well as some of the key insights that he thinks are crucial to success in the advertising business.

Ted stressed the importance of taking preemptive measures with clients. It is our job as creatives to be proactive in immersing ourselves in an understanding of the clients business, or perhaps more importantly, in our clients business problems. Experience the brand for yourself so that you're not just imagining the brand in a concepting session in an office somewhere. Creatives need to reach out to the client for no reason in particular sometimes so that a mutual sense of understanding can be established.

While talking about the unexpected turns his career path has taken, Ted noted that the arc was not always upwards. Certain opportunities that were the most exciting weren't always the most lucrative. Some of the most rewarding work came from unexpected situations. On the topic of creative leadership, Ted pointed out something that many creatives are probably a little afraid to admit: being a creative leader doesn't mean you have to be a better creative than everyone else around you. It means you bring out better work from those around you. Creative leaders help others achieve better work.

Making Sense of the Digital Agency

Of particular interest to me at this conference was Robert Rasmussen's presentation about creating for the digital environment. Because my background is interactive, I was curious to hear what Robert would have to say, and to see whether or not I agree with his point of view in terms of the roles and interplay of "traditional" agencies and "digital" agencies. So bear with me: this post could be a long one.

Robert Rasmussen is an executive creative director at R/GA, where he oversees their work for Nike. Before arriving at R/GA, Rasmussen made his way through Wieden + Kennedy and JWT New York. Like most everyone else at the conference, he's won lots of awards for his work, but perhaps more importantly, he's led and been involved in a great deal of highly integrated work that spanned television, web, print, direct marketing, mobile, and retail.

Initially, there was some discussion about how "interactive" and "traditional" have collided in the advertising industry. I don't think this was a revelation to anyone, but it led to Robert indicating where the sweet spot lies for digital content as far as how consumers engage with it. That sweet spot lies somewhere near the intersection of information, community, utility, and entertainment (I think I would have included "storytelling" in there too, but he left that out). That's a lot to consider beyond the "storytelling and entertainment" role that a lot of more traditional advertising tends to take.Robert's presentation focused largely on explaining the way R/GA structures its creative department so as to illustrate how that varies from most agencies, and how it can lead to a more collaborative creative process. According to Rasmussen, the creative team at R/GA can, and often does, include an art director, copywriter, interaction designer (information architect), visual designer (graphic designer), technologist, emerging media specialist, video content producers, and perhaps even a retail specialist. Its an indication of the unique kind of creative process that takes place with an interactive project. Food for thought for those who think that a creative team includes just a copywriter and an art director.

Another thing that Robert pointed out is that R/GA doesn't really employ account executives or project managers. I was pretty surprised to hear that. My first thought was "Doesn't that make your organization more like a production company?" Which leads me to what I saw as the crux of the conversation: what is the future of an interactive agency versus that of an interactive production house? While there have been very few "traditional" agencies that have proven they really know the interactive space, there have been just as few "interactive agencies" that have proven they can really do much more than interactive work. The leaders of the industry are those that know it all and show how great, truly integrated work comes from a big idea, executed flawlessly in a variety of media.

As more and more agencies become all-encompassing service centers for brands, the onus will be on interactive shops to truly become agencies in the broader sense, or else focus specifically on the interactive craft and take a role alongside the broadcast production companies that do such great work bringing ideas to life in their respective discipline. It seems many interactive shops have a chip on their shoulder about the idea of being a production company. I don't understand this, since I've never known anyone at a broadcast production company to take this kind of an attitude. As I said, they are the people the industry goes to in order bring ideas to life in the best way possible. They are the creative partners who's vision can be incorporated with the vision of the idea in order to make it better.

Rasmussen assured us that R/GA is an interactive shop that is blossoming into an agency in the broader sense, beefing up their staffing for broader media offerings, and pursuing client relationships that are based on more than digital work. I have faith that R/GA will be one of those leaders in the industry that can and will make the metamorphosis. I'm not so sure there will be a ton of other interactive shops that will be able to claim the same thing in two or three years.

Presentation, Presentation, Presentation

The old expression says that the real estate biz comes down to three things (all together now: location, location, location). In the ad business, it's presentation. Peter Coughter is a professor at VCU Brandcenter who specializes in presentation and communication skills. He regularly advises agencies like Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Goodby Silverstein, Taxi, Butler Shine & Stern, and many others on how to continually improve the effectiveness of their creative presentations.

I realize that Peter's dinner is paid for by giving his presentation skills workshop, so I won't recount what was covered in great detail. I will however, recommend his workshop to everyone in the advertising business, and offer up a few tidbits that are worth thinking about. Consider these some "highlights:"

During a presentation, the Human mind processes:
Words: 7%
Tone of Voice: 38%
Visual: 55%

Target the Amygdala: over 90% of all decisions are made emotionally.

Hara Hachi Bu: What does a Japanese dietary principle have to do with how you present? Google it, think about it, and then sign up for one of Peter Coughter's workshops.

Client Partnerships that Work

It's unfortunate that advertising creatives spend a lot of time complaining about their clients. But that's because it's unfortunate that more client-side marketing executives aren't more like Kerri Martin.

Kerri Martin began her marketing career at Harley-Davidson before moving to BMW where she oversaw BMW motorcycles and later, launched the now famously successful Mini Cooper in the U.S. After the enormous success of the Mini work, Kerri became the Director of Brand Innovation at Volkswagen in 2005. Since then, Kerri has started Goosebumps, a consulting company focused on improving the way marketers work with their agencies to create the best possible results.

For a "client," she had a lot of not-very-client-like points to make (things like "just say no to focus groups," or "efficiencies don't lead to effectiveness," and "media is creative and creative is media"). It was very interesting to hear her talk about not only some of the most celebrated advertising work of the last few years, but to hear her talk about the process, and the way things came to be through her client/agency relationship with Crispin, Porter + Bogusky.


At the core of her discussion was the notion that there needs to be such a strong relationship between a client and agency that a "third culture" is created. In this third culture, there is no longer a divide between the mentality and goals of the client and those of the agency. A sense of trust, collaboration and understanding of the business creates a new dynamic that is unique to that client and agency. How does this happen? It certainly takes commitment from both sides, but Kerri offered a few thoughts:

• A client must be willing to assess their corporate culture and adapt it to become more agile for the needs of the brand.

• An agency must immerse themselves in the brand and become a part of the brands culture. It makes it a lot easier to speak the language of a consumer when your creatives are that consumer.

• A client needs to be transparent with the agency by sharing as much as possible about their business challenges, and the agency needs to seize on that opportunity and reward the client for being open. Which leads to the final thought...

• Trust is perhaps the most important attribute of the third culture. When the client can truly trust the agency that their ideas are right for the business and for the brand, the relationship will thrive. When clients trust in the agency and are prepared to take risks together, great things can happen.

The Account/Creative Partnership

Early in the week, during one of the previous sessions, someone asked "How many of you struggle with your account people?" Every creative director in the room raised their hand, except one. That guy worked at Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners.

It made sense then, that Mike Shine and Patrick Kiss came from BSS&P in Sausalito, CA to talk to us about how they create partnerships between their account services and creative teams. The two talked about the relationship they have with one another, and how by working together as close partners, they not only learn from one another, but create a relationship model for the rest of the agency. Often, the creatives and account folks are considered to be polar opposites, and when you look at the two of these guys next to each other, you can begin to see where that comes from. But as we listened to them describe the interplay between them, I realized they were truly partners in crime.

The two talked about the kinds of things they have to remind one another of as they go about getting great work done. Here are just a few examples of those reminders:

The brief is not written in stone
Account folks need to remember that a brief can (and often should) evolve. We know a lot of work went into it, but the evolution of a brief can make it stronger. Be glad when creatives challenge it. It means we care.

Establish unbreakable bonds with the senior clients
Creatives need to establish strong relationships with their clients in order to find success (see previous posts about clients trusting their creatives). The account people don't want to just be messengers between parties. They want creatives to help forge a great relationship with the client.

Account people need to be as courageous and creative as the guys writing the ads
Anyone can be a doormat to the client. Doing so is not helping anybody get great work done. It doesn't help the agency and it doesn't help the client. Account folks need to understand they're going to bat for the agency, and that they work in a creative field. They're here because they should be creative thinkers too, and not because we want them to serve as a middle-man who simply gives in to the client's impulses.

Clients care about their business, not awards shows
Its easy for creatives to get upset because the client didn't buy the "best" idea. But we have to ask ourselves: was it the most effective idea? Our client's priority is that the idea grows their business. We need to make sure that's our goal too. Besides, the best awards shows recognize work that really makes an impact, not just because it was funny or pretty.

Don't just be a note taker. Interpret.
Stenographers can tell you exactly what was said in a meeting. Good account people can tell you what it all meant. Creatives need your help making sense of the clients.
There were a lot of other things that Mike and Patrick shared with us, but when it's all said and done, one of the most important points is that at Butler Shine and Stern, they actively train their account people to instill a strong understanding of what their role is, and how it fits as a crucial part of the agency's culture. When that culture is indoctrinated, the working partnership between creatives and account folks can thrive.

Understanding the Client Mindset

It was the final day of the seminar, and it had been a pretty exhaustive experience so far. With all the discussions, workshops, and presentations we'd absorbed, some of us were beginning to feel a bit drained. But then there was Don Just's workshop on understanding the client mindset.

We had all been given a team assignment earlier in the week to work on and devise a solution. The first portion of Don's workshop was the group presentations of that assignment. It proved to be one of the most challenging presentations to give and some of the most entertaining presentations to watch all week.

Now, I don't want to give away what the assignment was nor do I want to disclose what were presented as solutions to the challenge. This particular assignment is used with the students as well (God forbid some VCU students google the project for class next year and find me giving away vital information). But let's just say Don Just played tough.

First, let me say a little bit about Don. Don Just is a former bank president turned CEO of the Martin Agency. He took the Martin Agency in 1982 from a small ad shop to one of the most recognized and successful agencies around in about 10 years. Since then he has gone on to pursue a variety of consulting opportunities. He is a business man who seems to get the ad industry, but he gets it in a way that is unique to creatives. He sees it from the "effectiveness" side.

In the workshop, Don simulated the realities of client presentations, and drove home some of the key points we all need to keep in mind with respect to how we work with our clients:

Clients are looking for solutions. Clients tend to think in terms of finding business solutions to their problems. Agencies have a tendency to think in terms of marketing executions. That is a conflict.

The agency must be prepared to respond to any and all objections from the client. It's pompous and foolish to think they're going to be enamored with our work and ideas. We have to earn that scenario by answering all of their concerns.

The agency must be a strategic partner, not an executional partner. If the relationship is the latter, the relationship has gone bad and must be re-established or terminated.

Clients are about mitigating risk. Agencies are about taking risks without rationale. Agencies need to rationalize what they're proposing. That way it looks a lot less like a risk, and a lot more like a good idea.

Don shared many, many valuable insights (too many to list here), but what he provided most importantly were some eye opening examples of what agencies fail to realize when dealing with their clients. Seemingly simple observations centered around really understanding the clients business and how that goes so far in creating not only a successful relationship, but successful business solutions.

The Ravings of a (M)Adman

The final sermon, er... seminar of the week came from the delightfully cantankerous Mark Fenske. Now a professor at VCU, Fenske is a man who's made a mark in the advertising world. His career has taken him to a number of agencies around the country, including a stay at Wieden & Kennedy in Portland where he worked on Coke and Nike. Fenkse has also had an ongoing teaching relationship with schools including the Art Center in Pasadena, Creative Circus in Atlanta, and the W&K experimental school in addition to the VCU brandcenter.

Fenske is not just a guy who writes ads; he has won MTV music awards for writing and directing Van Halen's "Right Now" video in addition to contributing voice-overs for a variety of advertising projects. For the wide variety of things Fenske has done over the course of his career, one legacy that proceeds him is a relentless, blunt, and brutal insistence of creative quality. He seems to be known among students at VCU as the harshest critic of work, and often one of the more controversial professors around as a result.

I have to admit I was intrigued by his personality and presence as he presented his thoughts and advice to creative directors. He spoke in a short, direct, yet dramatic way, and while he cut things short on the basis of folks having to leave to catch flights home, he did manage to impart some valuable wisdom on a career in advertising. Here are a few:

To solve problems at work, recognize that the problem is most likely a relationship problem. We try to solve relationship problems with work solutions, and this will never work. Recognize the problem for what it is and give it the proper treatment.

To solve advertising problems, write the problem down. Sometimes the answer is in the words.

To make an agency more creative, recognize that the decision to make an agency truly creative has to come from the person who's name is on the door. The person who owns the agency decides whether they're more about being "cost-effective" and "increasing margins" or whether they're about world class creative product and truly valuable ideas. Others in the agency can encourage creativity, but only the person who writes the business plan can make it the core of the business.

For more of Mark Fenske's unique brand of blunt insight, check out his blog here.

A Look at The Jefferson Hotel

As the week wrapped up, I wanted to make sure I shared some shots of the Jefferson Hotel, the truly amazing hotel most of us stayed in during the conference. It is not only a beautifully maintained hotel, but it is a national landmark, steeped in history. It was one more reason the week in Richmond was so memorable.






For more information about the Jefferson Hotel, check out the website.