Your job is killing you.
According to The Huffington Post, hours of sitting motionless in front of computer screens are driving us all to truly motionless positions in satin-lined boxes. The long hours, the sleepless nights, the junk food, the stress, it all adds up in a big way. A permanent, and often premature way. (more…)
As you’ve probably heard, national hero Neil Armstrong passed away on August 25th. The first human to set foot on the moon, not only was Armstrong smart, he was apparently a great writer. His immortal words: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” have gone down in history as one of the greatest quotes of the twentieth century. It’s well deserved—was that not the perfect thing to say? Imagine trying to come up with a tagline for space travel; I can’t imagine a better one. To think, what if Buzz got out there first? And all he said was a loud, “Eat it, Russia!” The moment could have gone an entirely different way. (more…)
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…)
On Fast Company last week, Baratunde Thurston, comedian and former Director of Digital for The Onion, recounted a social media anecdote that would make any digital marketer squirm: he mistakenly activated a 3rd party tool for Twitter that spammed The Onion’s entire following every time they got a new follower. While his story may give me nightmares for weeks, the portion of his piece that really stood out was the importance of brand authenticity within the social space:
“For companies that see this new frontier as a marketing opportunity (and that’s basically all of them), it is a thin line between relevant and creepy stalker. You want to be where the conversation is and join it in an ‘authentic’ way, but just because someone is talking about your product does not mean he wants to talk about it with you. (more…)
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…)
Stuck? Blocked? Or worse, mediocre? Boring? Average?
Maybe you’re hanging out with the wrong ideas. You see, your best ideas aren’t going to be found in a crowd of professionals all dressed for the office. The great idea isn’t the guy wearing the cooler tie. That crowd can’t help you now.
Your best ideas are where you might never think to look. They are right there in the middle of the crowd of your worst ideas. They are with the rude, the preposterous, the angry, the unpolished, and the infantile. (more…)
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…)
If you want to see why growth-stage companies have such an advantage, read this little post from Seth Godin about the values of decision-makers in larger organizations: (more…)
