Search Results for 'Something New'
Going up?
Is it the era of the mea culpa for marketers? Could it be that, forced to start a conversation, some marketers have learned that they have some apologizing to do?
In rapid succession, McDonalds, American Express Open and J.C. Penney have all joined the mea culpa trend.
Here’s the story, and a few thoughts on where, when, how and how not to apologize.
J.C. Penney just launched this video on Facebook, under the theme JCP Listens.
It was a good idea to start the conversation, a good idea to listen, and a very, very bad idea to go beyond the first couple of lines of this treacly video.
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Tags: advertising, american express open, brand, JCPenney
Clients shouldn’t have to wait months to see returns from an agency engagement.
We often deliver incremental revenue in the first 30 days. And we don’t sacrifice future success to do it either.
We call it Two-Track Planning.
You’ll find this works in most situations:
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Tags: advertising, clients, mark dimassimo, strategic planning
You wake up on a speeding train, in a bubbling landscape, on a fragile orb careening through space. You open your eyes, and you try to make sense of your predicament. There are other eyes. And they come with explanations. The explanations conflict. If you’re lucky, you learn how to make yourself happy. And then you’re happy with your own explanations, and nearly all the new that occurs to you gets filed in the established folders. (more…)
Tags: advertising, Desire, mark dimassimo
If you read what people are writing about display advertising, you will be tempted to think that the answer is, “Hardly anyone.”
It’s not that people – consumers, users, surfers, people – hate banner ads. It’s the people who make them and use them that hate them.
(more…)
Tags: advertising, banner ads, branding, mark dimassimo
Jeff Pundyk, CMO.com
In my last post I suggested that one way to let new ideas in was to partner with those who have capabilities you admire. Partner to learn, I said. But there’s a precursor that I should have mentioned. Before you can partner to learn, you must learn to partner.
(more…)
Tags: change, cmo.com, DIGO, jeff pundyk, mark dimassimo
Happy short week! Enjoy this week’s social updates!
1. Leaked: Myspace Master Plan to Relaunch as a Spotify Killer
2. Facebook Social Jobs
(more…)
Tags: facebook, mark dimassimo, mashable, social media, twitter
More than a few years ago, an advertising colleague told me a great Bruce Springsteen quote I often think about. I can’t remember who told me the quote and I can’t actually remember what the quote was, but I can assure you it was great. He said something to the effect of this: when you go on stage, you have to think like you’re the biggest rock star in the world. At the same time, you have to remember you’re not saving lives out there; it’s just music. (more…)
Tags: advertising, bruce springsteen, change, copywriting, mark dimassimo
Any agency worth its salt has a ping pong table. It’s a pervasive phenomenon, but why?
As David Ogilvy said, “When people aren’t having any fun, they seldom produce good advertising.” There’s definitely been research to back that statement up; one study from Australia showed that cruising the internet just for fun during work hours increased productivity in employees. As the study author put it: “People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration… Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the Internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days’ work, and as a result, increased productivity.” (more…)
Tags: advertising, change, david ogilvy, mark dimassimo, marketing
Are you a student of advertising? Do you absolutely love it? Are you soaking up all the cases, reading all the sites? Are you doing this so much that you leave little time and focus for your own work? This is a challenge many of us face – how to make time to keep up with all the incredible content that can help us do our jobs better, while making the time to focus on doing our jobs, on creating our work. (more…)
Tags: advertising, cannes lion, change, dan heath, mark dimassimo
You know, it’s just not that complicated. Whatever it is that you’re selling – and you’re always selling – it always comes down to something pretty simple.
People want to feel more alive. (more…)
Tags: change, growth, Leadership, mark dimassimo, marketing
THE DIGO STANDARD: HOW WE SUCCEED TOGETHER
PART 01 ABOUT US PART 02 HOW WE ACT PART 03 HOW WE WORK PART 04 HOW THIS WORKS
01 WHO WE ARE.
While we can be considered a thriving independent strategy/ research/ brand /design/ innovation/ advertising/ direct/ digital /social marketing agency, we prefer this handle: brand-driven growth network. We make things grow, from product innovation to every facet of promotion.
We’re Here to Make Things Grow
Movements. Ideas. Products. Brands. Companies.
If we can’t get excited about growing them, we shouldn’t be working on them. The work we do has a purpose and fits into a larger whole. By maintaining that perspective, we make success more difficult. But in facing the extra difficulty, we earn our integrity, self-respect and market value.
Why Do We Say Client Fulfillment?
Because clients who are really fulfilled-fulfilled as people, professionals and clients too- will become lifelong clients and in turn, recommend us. That’s how we grow. Great Clients, Great Work and Great People.
Each of us is Responsible for Our Own Inspiration.
Don’t settle for less. Find, ask, challenge, orchestrate, search, revisit…do what it takes to get inspired to do your best.
We Are Smarter Together Than We Are Alone.
Bands are more successful when everyone knows their part. Let your band mates play their part.
The First Rule of a Judgment is Business.
We have an obligation to share our point of view, regardless of its popularity, both internally and externally. But once a decision is made, we are equally obligated to support it.
We Exist to Inspire
Our clients, consumers, one another, the world around us.
Clients need to feel our passion and enthusiasm for ideas that can build their business. We didn’t sign up for boring cubicles and never-ending meetings. Let’s make the time our clients spend with us meaningful, fun and inspiring.
We Are all in business development.
We provide value to clients and should charge a fair price. And should not be shy or subtle about it.
We Are a For-Profit Company.
We provide value to clients and should charge a fair price. And should not be shy or subtle about it.
Partnership
It’s what comes from investing in people and relationships, valuing them above short-term gain. Make your clients, your partners, your people feel that true partnership is possible. Invest beyond all calculation in people who inspire you. Be an honorable and generous partner at all times.
We Are One.
We are one firm: We have many different brand names on our business cards. We may work in different departments. But we are all responsible for the success of our clients, either directly or indirectly. There is no success apart from common success.
02 Listening is More Important Than Talking.
Remember That People Come Here to do and be more.
Don’t put yourself or anyone in a box. Expect creativity from “account people.” Expect strategic smarts from “creative people.” Expect management smarts from everyone. Collaborate with everyone you can. We play roles but if we wanted to be limited by them, we would be someplace else.
Clients Are People.
If you can get them to feel that you know that, the rest of your job gets easier. Treat them like part of the team, rather than a boss or an obstacle. Tell them what you really think. Joke and confide and take the risk of feeling comfortable around them. Challenge them to inspire you. Challenge yourself to inspire them. Be big enough to celebrate when they have a big idea.
We’re all smart (or else we wouldn’t be here) and it’s not a contest. Speak up when it’s right and listen well and actively.
If You’re Here, You’re Smart.
Don’t hold back. There are no bad ideas or dumb questions. Only the ideas you held back and the questions you should have asked but didn’t.
If Things Go Wrong, Speak Up.
If you need help, ask for it. It’s far better to raise an alarm before disaster strikes than after. Together we can solve almost any problem. Communicate early and often.
Great Work Wins Business. Great Relationships Keep Business.
We proactively work on relationship building. What are you doing this week to build and strengthen a client relationship.
In Running Meetings:
Start on time, end on time. Have an agenda and stick to it (unless there’s good reason not to). Agree to next steps and follow up.
Promise Wisely and Then Over-Deliver.
Make no commitment without consultation. Give clients something they didn’t ask for. Sometimes, deliver ahead of deadline. End a meeting early and give colleagues, vendors or clients the gift of time.
03 It’s the Work
While not every project presents an opportunity for greatness, every one is an opportunity to practice your craft. In the long run, those who work more, who try it more ways, who do something good and then do something better, who crank, will accumulate many years’ more practice more than their less prolific colleagues. This confers upon them an unmatchable advantage.
Take the Word Brief Seriously.
Let’s not ever make each other guess which part of brief is the important part. Let’s include the important part. Let’s make sure our briefs are simple, compelling and crystal clear. Nothing in an agency is more sacred.
Like + Trust = Business.
People hire people they like and trust. It really is as simple and profound as that.
Over-Collaborate.
Especially at the beginning of relationships, while you are earning the trust and admiration that will smooth the inevitable bumps down the road. While figuring everything out, and layering the groundwork for success. Get on more planes. Provide more options. Ask more questions. See the factory, meet the workers, go to the research, talk to the sales force, get a demonstration, sample the product, talk to a board member, brainstorm with the client. Over-communicate. Over-collaborate. Over-deliver. Time and energy invested in relationships pays us back in better work, business and results. Oh, yeah, and better relationships too.
This is a Relationship Business.
We’re small enough that we can manage personal relationships. So, honor personal relationships. Treat your commitments as sacred. Communicate. Never leave your colleagues in the lurch. Be the colleague you wish for.
Think.
A problem, project or opportunity well-defined is half solved. More time is wasted not thinking well at the beginning of projects than can ever be made up by speed, efficiency or piling on staff later.
Design In Context.
The context is the user’s or the audience’s experience. Design in context. Present in context. Evaluate in context. The first rule of design. And remember that everything that we do is design.
Agree on Strategy, A Budget and A Schedule.
Simple, yes. Always followed, no. Let’s remember the basics.
Meetings, When Necessary.
We’re in an over-meeting culture. Let’s make sure we really need a meeting before we schedule. If we do, let’s show up on time and focus. Time is valuable.
Great Presentations Tell a Story.
One thought per slide. Tell a complete story, with insights and ideas.
When Presenting Big Ideas, Don’t Sell Executions.
Countless ideas get killed because the client sees execution too early. We sell big ideas first. Then the execution. We like simple descriptions and key visual to buy a big idea. Nothing more.
Creative Work is the Product. Get Behind It. And Be Ready to Defend it When Necessary.
Choice is good. We almost always have three options to choose from. And never one we can’t get behind.
Client Presentations Are as Important as New Business Presentations.
No understudies on presentation day. Casting is important.
04 We Are All Responsible For Holding Each Other to This Standard.
When our colleagues succeed, we all succeed- so help one another exceed the standard. If a colleague is not living up to this standard we have an obligation not to let it pass. If you have an issue with a colleague, deal with it directly, privately and professionally before you escalate. If that is unsatisfactory, get help. Professional expertise is given around here; modeling the standard is the true path to success.
At DIGO, we have a standard to live up to. It’s part of our quest to build a great brand. Since a brand is an experience you can repeat, we need to be able to deliver an experience that is predictably great. That doesn’t happen by simply hiring great people and letting them do whatever they do. Yes, we hire great people. Absolutely, they get a great deal of responsibility and the latitude to do great and surprising things. But they do them within a framework that we all understand. A framework that says what we’re here for. Our why. And some of our hows too. The DIGO Standard.
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Tags: the digo standard
My earliest memories involve shops. My grandparent’s beauty salon. My paternal grandfather’s clothes factory. My father’s laboratory. Thomas Edison’s workshop, just a short walk from that beauty salon in Menlo Park, then and now part of Edison, New Jersey.
I remember the statuettes lined up – all the awards my Grandfather had won for his hairdressing – so that they could be noted or admired by patrons on the way down into the salon proper. My grandfather was the old master by then. The awards seemed dusty and old to me. Something about the salon seemed forlorn. Old ladies flying down from Canada to have their hair done by the one man in the world who they trusted to do it right (more…)
Tags: advertising, change, hair salon, mark dimassimo
When I started my agency, I reached out to someone I had been working with to gage his interest in being my partner. At the time, he said he was intrigued, but was just not ready to make the leap.
I would have liked to start my business with a partner, to share the weight and to make the growing easier. But, I knew that partnership was like marriage, challenging even with the best match, so I decided to make a start as a sole proprietor (more…)
Tags: advertising, change, growth, mark dimassimo
Q: Let’s start with the name. Proove.
A. Proove is our twist on prove, which is a value we live by. It is a hard word for some people to commit to…I mean it is quite a word to live up to. That’s why I like it. It says everything we are: accountable, actionable and measurable. And we’re willing to prove it, not just say it. We live and die by our performance, and we’re willing to commit, right there in the name — in the very first thing you learn about us — to standing behind our work. And the extra “O”, that’s because it’s not all science. There’s some magic required too. Some art.
Q: Accountable, actionable, measurable. Can you tell me more about how you do that?
A: What got me excited and challenged about Proove is how we can not only provide service but also drive differentiation. Here is an example: our reporting that we deliver to our clients is robust, but we’ve taken it a step further. We look at factors outside of paid media that could potentially impact media performance, which typically leads to unique insights into our clients business. It’s about the story behind the numbers, the real story. We believe in numbers but we want to go beyond the numbers and offer actionable analysis.
Q: The media landscape is changing so fast. There’s the rise of social, the ever-changing world of SEO, new media outlets, shifting demographics, the rise of mobile and other connected devices and on and on. In the face of all this and more, how should a marketing executive view the planning process?
A: The planning process doesn’t change, but the consideration set when evaluating media channels certainly does. A key piece to staying on top of the landscape is to be aligned with the latest technological and targeting advancements that are being introduced. I don’t want to tell a client that he or she should be doing social, SEO, mobile, etc., just based on content — that was what happened 1-2 years ago and agencies are still making these broad recommendations. I want to tell the client that he or she should have media presence across mobile, social, etc., aligned with relevant content & with “X” level of targeting across these tactics. The cutting edge targeting advancements is what is exciting and what to pay attention to. The planning process will stay the same as the landscape evolves, but targeting is what is truly evolving. We develop a matrix of channels, targets and understand how they work together in an integrated fashion. It’s not just the channel that changes but the messaging needs to be aligned both for that channel, for the target and for the way the channel fits into the target’s life.
Q: You spent many years working at some of the world’s biggest agencies. Why did you start Proove with DIGO Brands, a mid-size firm?
A: Large agencies have their own model, which works for certain clients. I am excited about being at a mid-size agency because we are able to respond to our client’s needs with more nimbleness, flexibility and speed. In my first few months here, I’ve witnessed many examples of creative work, problem solving and innovation happen much faster than the large agencies. I’ve seen things that take literally 6 months at a big agency happen here in a matter of a couple of weeks. At a firm of this size, we’re able to bring our best minds to the table and to think proactively about the client’s business, not just their media. It’s a completely different mind-set and level of customer service.
Q: What keeps you up at night?
A: There is a popular advertising phrase that goes: “half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; The trouble is, I don’t know which half”. Proove is about putting that cliche to rest. We are here to eliminate the waste and being able to show the client exactly what happened. We’re not offering guess work. We’re offering to Proove it.
Tags: adam lutz, digital media, media, proof
How the relatively new phenomenon I’ve called “Cultural Whistle Blowing” is rocking giants and creating opportunities for virtuous midsized companies – Cheetahs – to take share!
Today we read two telling and purposely public resignation letters. The first is from a high level executive at Google, the second from a Managing Director of Goldman Sachs (more…)
Tags: change, goldman sachs, Google+, mark dimassimo
All of us. We are taught what it should be, but we’re not taught what to do about it.
Jason Fried, founder of 37 Signals, the little firm behind revolutionary products like Ruby on Rails open source programming language and BaseCamp, writes in his wonderful book REWORK, “Start making something.”
He quotes director Stanley Kubrick’s advice to aspiring filmmakers:
“Get hold of a camera and some film and make a movie of any kind at all.”
Kubrick knew that when you’re new at something you need to start creating. The most important thing is to begin. So get a camera, hit Record, and start shooting.
Tags: camera, change, mark dimassimo, stanley kubrick
Tim Tebow is currently the hottest property in the sports world, but he is fast becoming Hollywood’s hottest property as well. The New York Jet is signed to the sports division of leading Hollywood agency CAA, following an alleged battle between the top agencies, who all wanted a piece of Tebow.
But could all the Tinseltown-type attention jeopardize his game and wholesome Christian image? (more…)
Tags: branding, change, christianity, nfl, Tim Tebow
Why do some people almost always get better advertising?
In a word, it’s the BRIEF.
“Now hold on,” you may be thinking, “I’ve heard this before.” But stick with me, and I’ll share some hard-earned knowledge that changed my creative output and, yes, my life. Seriously. (more…)
Tags: change
Nothing speeds things up by solving multiple problems at once like a BIG idea. Here’s how to get more of them.
BIG ideas are different. They don’t so much defy logic, as go beyond it. They challenge the illusion of costless compromise. If you are competing with, or trying to reinvigorate a large organization, you need to be able to green light the big idea.
So, what is a big idea? What does it look like before it becomes a big idea? How can you recognize an opportunity (more…)
Tags: change, howard schultz, ideas, marketing
PostSecret is the Haiku of the web. And it’s long been a very highly trafficked site. It’s so simple. People submit postcards, which conform to simple guidelines, sharing their secrets. PostSecret posts them online, and perhaps ads a bit of the comments they inspire.
What can you learn from PostSecret? To give people a simple art form, with rules that make success more likely. Discover something that needs to be expressed and give them the chance to express it.
DIGO did this when we created, “Talk Back To Cancer” for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. We knew people had an intense relationship with their cancer, so we built a simple social outlet for them.
It worked.
Tags: change, marketing, post secret, social media, web application
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