Now accepting nominations for the Future of Advertising Award
Don Draper, Bill Bernbach, Cliff Freeman, Bob Greenberg. Who's next?
I know, the last thing advertising needs is another award. And yes, it’s a little pompous to think this blog is entitled to award one. But the above visual seems like too much fun to waste. So on the eve of SXSW, Creativity_Unbound announces its call for entries for the first quarterly “Future of Advertising Award.” The idea is that every three months (advertising changes way too fast to wait for an entire year to pass) this blog and its readers (that’s you) will bestow the honor (?) on someone whose efforts epitomize positive change, innovation, new ideas that inspire us, or even miserable failures that teach us valuable lessons about how to move forward in the digitally-driven, consumer-controlled, social media world.
Winners could come from the ranks of doers, thinkers, creators, technologists or teachers. The one thing they’ll have in common – the picture offers a hint – is that they are leading us forward or inspiring us to lead ourselves forward. People who represent what comes next in the evolution of an industry that goes all the way back to J. W. Thompson in the 1800s.
The modern ad person probably begins with Don Draper, or Darren Stevens, take your pick. The species continues with Bill Bernbach,who gave us the creative team; Cliff Freeman, representing the height of TV commercials; and currently Bob Greenberg, among those who’ve led the industry’s transformation from analog to digital. But who comes next? That’s what we want to identify, encourage and celebrate. Emphasis on we.
So please leave your recommendations in the comment section below. The panel of judges (to be named soon) will consider them all and float some out ourselves, then let you know who prevails. At which time you can agree, debate or call us clueless.
The winner, of course, will receive a beautiful print with their face on the body standing tall at the front of the line. Suitable for framing, of course.
Who do you think should win? Someone already famous: Ben Malbon, Faris Yakob, Mike Lebowitz, Ross Kimbarovsky? Someone almost famous: Adrian Ho, Jordan Kretchmer? Or better yet, someone we’ve never heard from, but will?
My SXSW plans: crowdsourcing, iPad, streaming video
As ReadWriteWeb reminded us this morning, SXSW will be overwhelming. Just scrolling through the schedule, even after you filter and refine, leaves you wondering how to clone yourself or otherwise choose among all the options happening at the exact same time. Granted some of the best learning, interaction and conversation takes place outside the numbered rooms of the convention center and the lettered rooms of the Hilton, but there’s an awful lot of stuff worth putting on your schedule and adhering to. Here are a few of the sessions that I have planned.
The Era of Crowdsourcing: Guiding Principles
Digg’s Jeffrey Kalmikoff and Behance’s Scott Belsky are leading this one. They may not be Jeff Howe, but I’m assuming there will be the creative perspective – much debated – and ideas and suggestions for how to make crowdsourcing work for both the content seeker and the participant. Not sure who the other panelists are, as they’re not listed on sxsw.com, but it’s too important a topic to pass up.
iPad: New Opportunities for Content Creators
There’s no shortage of speculation. Book publishers, the print media, production companies and ad agencies are already working on how to take advantage of the iPad. A panel that brings people together from publishing, video games and the interactive space could be inspiring. Wish Big Spaceship’s Michael Lebowitz were on this panel, but I’m assuming the collective group will offer at least some new insights.
Improving Social Media With Live Streaming Video
No doubt live video will play a huge role in the next phase of brands using social media to connect and engage; whether it’s to broadcast news, conduct a weekly show, inform a sales force, rally a community, or simply bypass traditional media to get the word out. There is still a sense of “now” when we’re watching something and know that others are experiencing it at the same time that streaming video puts in the hands of a content creator. Ustream’s Brad Hunstable leads this one and promises to share some real results from users.
Monkeys with Internet Access: Sharing, Human Nature, and Digital Data
Clay Shirky has yet to announce his actual topic, but if you’ve read his book or his blog, you know he’s worth an hour of your time. If you don’t know who he is, click on his name for a bio. And if you can’t get there, do yourself a favor and read any of his posts or books. Even when they’re a few years old, you’ll learn something.
Story.Next — Narrating the Crowd
Anyone who’s seen one of my presentations or heard my talk knows that my view of social media and advertising is all about inspiring others to tell stories for us. Or as Faris Yakob says, “”Rather than having ideas that are content, have ideas that create content.” (More coming on that topic in a future post.) Clearly there’s a great opportunity to take what StoryCorps is all about and embrace the approach in the social space. Everyone wants to share his or her story. Even those that are about the brands we work on.
I have dozens of other events on my schedule, a long list of old and new friends to see, and some smaller gatherings planned. No shortage of inspiration, information and excitement to be had. What are your plans? And if you see anything missing from my schedule, feel free to recommend. Hope to see you there.
Content without walls: what comes next
In an industry that loves buzzwords and handles, this is the new one for 2010: content without walls. It’s a fancy (or succinct) way of saying that your brand needs to live wherever and whenever a consumer wants or needs access to information or entertainment.
After all, our media habits have become increasingly complex. We get our fix of content from books, ads, podcasts, magazines and movies. And we access it from smart phones, tablets, TV sets, and digital billboards. Not to mention search, shared links and social media.
So what does this mean for content creators, advertisers, brands? Does this suggest that we simply make sure every TV spot also gets posted to YouTube and a brand’s Facebook page? Is it all about the many different places we can put a piece of content so that it lives on every imaginable platform, ubiquitous and impossible to avoid? Is it merely about portability from one device to another?
Content can live anywhere, but is that enough?
“Hey, we can put our spot on cable, on smart phones, embed it in a tablet ad, or play it in back of a taxi cab. While we’re at it, why not project it onto the sides of urban buildings, too. Let’s leverage that production budget.”
That may work in some cases. I watch at least as much TV on my iPhone as I do on my Samsung flat screen. And I probably sit through far more ads on YouTube than on television. (That way I get to pick only the good ones.) But the expression “content without walls,” could, in some cases, make us lazy if all we do is place the same idea in lots of different places.
I much prefer the idea of “engineering your presence,” a term I first heard from Michael Calienes. It suggests you need to be everywhere, but not always with the same content. Chances are pretty good that customers don’t want the same thing on a tablet as they want on TV. The information that appears on your packaging is unlikely to double as an iPhone app. And while an honest to goodness testimonial — inspired by an effective conversation strategy — might work from a blogger you actually trust, or a friend on Twitter, it typically makes for some pretty boring advertising.
Instead of starting with the content we have, we should consider what our customers want. We should write strategies and creative briefs that offer insights about a customer’s relationship to media, content and community, not just to the brand, product or category. Does she want to be entertained or informed? Is she interested in listening or sharing or co-creating? Is she influenced more by friends or trusted bloggers? Are we creating a series of messages we hope will get noticed? Or are we producing applications we know will get used?
Sticking a TV spot on YouTube no matter how many views it gets may be content without walls. But it probably won’t break through all the barriers standing between you and a loyal customer.
This post inspired by a great conversation with my brilliant colleague John Moore.
Photo by: Alex Webb
Surprise. Moved to WordPress
Just moved by blog to WordPress. Squarespace was a great platform, but seemed better suited for other things. If you subscribed to the old version, please update our RSS here as the other feed won’t work anymore. I’m getting a few bugs out and learning some of the differences between WP and SS, but eventually this should be better. Stay tuned for blog roll, links to content and work, and presentations. Oh, and let me know what you think. Change is good. Finally, the new site is Charfish design with a little help from my friends at Men with Pens.
Two worthy Snag Film documentaries: one old, one new
Snag Films lets you put a mini movie theatre anywhereI would have loved to get to New York this month to take my kids to the International Children’s Film Festival. Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen. But poking around on the web and looking at the scheduled films I noticed that the main documentary at this year’s festival, Circus School, was available for free in its entirety at Snag Films. That inspired me to post it here along with another old favorite, Inside John Lennon, which you can also find at Snag.
Circus School is a Chinese news documentary exploring the grueling training of young acrobats. The Lennon movie is a refreshing, captivating portrayal told in the words of the people who knew him best.
If you can get to New York, the International Children’s Film Festival runs from through March 15. If you can’t you can certainly get to Snag Films where you’ll find lots more documentaries all available for free viewing.
If you have your own favorite documentaries, share them here. And if you’re finding the posts here at all interesting, click the RSS at the top right hand side of the page and subscribe.
