All posts tagged Creative director

The intrigue! The drama! The rumours!

Around this time last year, I was beginning to feel like I wasn’t loving life.

Or my job.

I was Vice President and Executive Creative Director at the Toronto office of a well respected international network, Euro RSCG. What was not to like? It was, and remains, a great gig. I absolutely loved my bosses, colleagues and clients. I had a department of talented and fun people. And to top it all off, I had practically grown up with founders Bill Sharpe and Tom Blackmore. Hell, I wouldn’t even be in advertising if it wasn’t for them.

Still I was feeling like I had to make a move.

Simply put, I was frustrated. The industry was rapidly changing and I personally wasn’t doing enough to change with it. So, after much deliberation, I just decided to leave so I could figure it out.
In true Sharpe / Blackmore fashion, the fine folks at Euro gave me a new title, an email address and an office when I needed it. It was all unpaid but little things like that are more appreciated than they ever appear.

So, I set out on a quest much like Karl Pilkington’s An Idiot Abroad.
(Only without the mumbling British accent)

I met with network programming people.
I met with TV producers.
I met with entrepreneurs.
I met with media sales people.
I met with media planners.
I met with content publishers.
I met with senior clients.
I met with junior clients.
I met with academics.
I met with creatives.
I met with agency management.
I met with recruiters.
I met with developers.
I poked. I prodded. I asked. I listened.

And now, I’m almost ready to talk. 
Look for an exciting announcement in the next couple of weeks.

There are already some floating around so let’s add to the rumours. What do you think I’m going to do?

Don’t be a Polaroid.

I still remember the day.

I was wearing Montreal Alouette sneakers, a hand-me-down Adidas T-shirt, short-shorts, and an Expos hat on top of a homemade Lego haircut. It was the mid-70s and my mom gathered us four kids to take a picture. But she wasn’t just using a camera.

She was using a Polaroid.

I know, I know.. many of us consider Polaroid a retro brand who’s claim to fame is inspiring the Instagram format and the odd Outkast lyric.

But before you write it off, think about life BEFORE polaroid.

Your camera was horizontal Tetris piece and the flash was a vertical tower of power that connected to the top. It featured 12 little flint flashes that individually burst into flames when initiated. Then, you had to GET IN YOUR CAR and drop off your film to a pimply faced teen who sat in a Fotomat (fishing hut) in the middle of a mall parking lot. 2 months later, after a lab in russia developed them, you got your photos. 

Then Polaroid showed up.

Talk about a life-changing innovation. It didn’t just make life a little better. It drastically changed consumer behaviour. People no longer had to drive. Labs no longer had to develop. And photos could be enjoyed instantly (well, almost instantly – first you had to shake it, shake it…)

What a wonder! What a truly brilliant innovation! What a company! What a brand!

Polaroid has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Twice.

Sure, they were saved by a private equity group, have adequately licensed their name and currently feature a range of products including everything from sunglasses to printers. Hell, they even hired Lady Gaga as Creative Director. But I think you’ll agree that they literally (and legally) are a shell of their former selves.

There’s an important lesson in there:
It’s one thing to innovate. It’s quite another to keep on innovating.
The hot thing (and the profits that go along with it) may be great today but it can be one line of code away from being replaced by something else that makes consumers’ lives even easier.

It also applies to people.

You may be flying high and on top of your game one day and be obsolete the next simply because you didn’t change, adapt, or learn. People – not just brands – have to continue to innovate.

You may want to be many things. I just hope you don’t want to be a Polaroid.

We’ve made a horrible mistake.

Yup. “We’ve made a horrible mistake.” That’s how Nancy Vonk, Co-Chief Creative Officer at Ogilvy described the ad industry’s approach to training and development. Nancy was part of a panel I gathered to discuss the lack of training in our industry. Also joining the conversation were Anthony Kalamut, Leslie Ehm, Jeff Potnikoff, and Suzanne Filiatrault. It was all part of XChange, a new online show that I launched in partnership with Cartilage Digital, Marketing Magazine and Dx3.

As you’ll see, the discussion is lively and the content is rich.

Thanks to our panelists for spending the time. And thanks to you for watching.

I welcome your comments and suggestions for topics to discuss or panelists to feature in the future.

Don Draper is dead.

Bye Bye Mad Men (It's going to Sky)

Image by mrrobertwade (wadey) via Flickr

There’s a lot I like about Mad Men. The characters, the art direction and naturally, the brilliant one-liners from Roger Sterling:

 “She died like she lived. Surrounded by the people she answered phones for.“ (Season 4, Episode 9)

 “Well, I gotta go learn a bunch of people’s names before I fire them.” (Season 4, Episode 12)

As brilliant as the Roger character is, Don Draper gets most of the attention. In fact, when someone outside of the business finds out I work in advertising, they’ll innocently ask, “Who are you on Mad Men?” I can see them waiting in anticipation, hoping I respond ‘Don Draper’ so they can pull out tired jokes about his philandering, binge boozing, and heavy addiction to butts.

The reality is this: Don Draper doesn’t exist anymore. (Hell, he hardly existed in the 60’s).
And it’s not because smoking is prohibited or because the only drinking allowed is the 10am shot of Diet Coke. 

No, being a Creative Director is a pretty tough job these days. Here’s a couple of reasons why. 

The Left Brain Coup.
Whether it’s an endless parade of focus groups or an expectation of specific ROI, the left brainers have a lot more clout these days. It’s not right. And it’s not wrong. It’s just different. On one hand, a Creative Director is expected to deliver original, breakthrough ideas that have never been done before. On the other, ROI forecasting is only possible when you measure ideas against everything that has been done before.

Diverse Clients, Diverse Needs.
Draper had it easy. He only had to master TV, print, and a couple of billboards. As a trusted consultant, a CD in 2010 should be able to advise clients on the latest opportunities and how to best leverage emerging channels. But it’s tough to be an expert on anything when one client needs a DM piece and another needs an Android app. 

The Economy
In 2010, clients cut budgets as they responded to economic realities in North America. That put a lot of pressure on Creative Directors to sell more, push more, win more, and accept more. As a good friend and Creative Director of an international agency said to me recently, “I’ve never worked so hard for so little.”

Tune in tomorrow and I’ll share a couple more.

+ Be sure to read more about this in Jeromy Lloyd’s piece, “Rumbles in the Jungles”, in the upcoming Marketing Magazine.
In addition, I’m hosting a panel discussion of some of Canada’s top Creative Directors on the subject, “It’s not really fun anymore.”
It’ll be available in video form next week through Marketing. If you have any questions that you’d like me to ask them, leave them in the comments below.