Local TV Spot Goodness: Cleopatra's Jewelry

Having a limited marketing budget can be a challenge. This is especially true for small local retailers. Many times they have to work with a local cable provider or an individual with limited experience to create and produce a spot. 

Sometimes magic happens. Yes, inadvertent magic, but magic nonetheless.

That is how this incredible spot for a now closed local jewelry store in Kansas City, Missouri came about. Heck, even the mall has been demolished. 

After you watch this video, I dare you to try and get the song out of your head. Just try. 

Enjoy...   

  

*Video Courtesy of the greatest Media Planner and Buyer the World has ever known. Jennifer Nugent. 

Your Cure For Writer's Block

From time to time we all struggle with the dreaded writer's block. Those who write many column inches for a living struggle with it, and so do us branding and marketing types. For me it is concept creation and short form creative copy. My clients look to me for the next "big idea." They expect something that will stand out, fit their brand and be clever and creative. All of those things are what they should expect of course.

However, being creative and relevant to a brand in an on demand fashion can be taxing. Ideas don't work 9 to 5. That is why there is the handy Moleskine. One travels with me at all times, and one stays on my nightstand. They get filled with ideas. Some of those ideas eventually become workable solutions to a client challenge. Some become dreams for future work and some are simply terrible. The edible bike helmet "dream" for instance seemed great at 3am.

So, what do you do when the ideas are are clogged up somewhere in your head and just not flowing? How do you get those ideas going again? I have already mentioned that watching some TED talks gets me going. A little Spotify music helps. Taking a walk. Finding inspiring  work in unrelated fields, such as architecture and fine art. All help me to break the cycle of a creative block. But there is one other little secret that I would like to share and that is the New Yorker Magazine. Specifically, their cartoons.

You may not know this, but they have a weekly contest to write the headline to a published cartoon. It is a fun weekly challenge and blends a visual idea with short form copy. 

The Caption Contest is certainly a fun secret pleasure of mine. Though I have yet to win and have a caption of mine appear, it is a fun challenge to try and meet. Go give it a try and see if it works for helping to break your writer's block. 

I would love to hear what other ways people have for breaking their creative block.

I will update this post as people send me ideas.   

Last Lecture by a Legend and Mentor

Dr. William Bondeson recently retired after teaching philosophy, medical ethics and humanities for 50 years at the University of Missouri. He truly defined the term Renaissance Man. Words cannot express the impact that this man had on my life and my career. The University of Missouri Honors College is truly a hidden gem, and among the greatest academic programs in the country. When I was considering colleges, Dr. Polansky, the recently retired Director of the Honors College, took me to Shakespeare's Pizza (how appropriate) on a high school campus visit. Dr. Bondeson happened to cross our path on the way and joined us for lunch. The conversation that ensued was unlike anything I had ever heard. The topics spanned the upcoming basketball season to the pasta served at the University Club with a healthy serving of philosophy and literature sprinkled in.  My college decision was sealed after that meal. 


Over the years at Mizzou, I was lucky enough to have Dr. Bondeson for six courses. He invited his students into his home, chatted with us on campus and invited theatrical performers for us to experience. I returned often, I volunteered at every chance to help recruit the best and brightest to Mizzou. I stayed passionate about the things he taught us. In short, he helped inspire me to care about gaining knowledge for knowledge sake. This emphasis on breadth of knowledge has served me better than any other specialty class or training.  


The following lecture is long, but well worth the time. I will leave you with one thought. 
Understanding the origins of ideas, the ideals of man, the philosophy and values through history and the role that the arts play in all aspects of our lives is the single most important knowledge you can possess. That knowledge allows you to understand the world around you and simply makes you better at anything you do in life. There are things you can memorize. There are things you can learn. Then there are things you must experience.   

The unexamined life is not worth living. -- Socrates

Hopefully you have had a mentor like Dr. Bondeson in your life. If not, soak up a bit of the wisdom of Bill and then seek our your own  great mentor. Enjoy... 

The Best 5:49 of Your Day: Jeff Tweedy Sings Black Eyed Peas

Happy Friday everyone. Celebrate with a little Jeff Tweedy and, wait for it... the Black Eyed Peas.
Indeed.
He took the stage in Chicago recently and Time Out Chicago was there to report on this epic event.
For those of you not in the know, Tweedy is a former founding member of Uncle Tupelo, and the current front man for Wilco.


Kick off your weekend right... 





Special Bonus since I love you all. Here is Mr. Tweedy with his rendition of My Humps.



Jeff Tweedy recites "My Humps" from Jasmine Davila on Vimeo.

The Best 4:27 of Your Day: How to Make a Splash in Social Media

This is a story about Mr. Splashy Pants. The whale that hijacked a social media and web campaign for Greenpeace... and launched a movement. It is a very entertaining talk by Alexis Ohanian of Reddit.com. His talk reminds us of some very important things to remember when you are marketing or promoting services on the web.

First, while deep pockets help, the Internet and social media is still one of the most level playing fields there is. A great idea, story, photo or simple message can gain traction and become a movement a meme or a t-shirt slogan.

Second, Be genuine, be yourself and have a sense of humor about it all. This is especially true for brands and companies. If you give your fans a bit of ownership and flexibility while also engaging with them you will come out ahead. You can't always anticipate how even the most well thought out campaign will unfold on the Internet, but if you monitor, engage and adapt while maintaining a sense of humor, you will come out ahead.

These are lessons that our friends at Kansas State University should have learned from their recent EcoKat PR disaster.

This is a fun one people. Enjoy Mr. Splashy...

Alexis Ohanian: How to make a splash in social media

The Best 17:52 of Your Day: On Being Wrong from TED

There is little better than ending the week with another incredible TED talk. This one by self described "Wrongologist" Kathryn Schulz. She makes a compelling case for not just admitting, but embracing our fallibility. I think that understanding why we refuse to admit when we are wrong not only impacts us as individuals, but also how we work and live.
It certainly has impacted our political process and, as I will comment on later, our entrepreneurs.

This one should generate some comments. Let me know what you think. I'll try not to tell you that you are wrong. 

Take a few minutes today, enjoy Friday, and embrace being wrong...

Kathryn Schulz: On Being Wrong

Bulletproof Art+Copy Pecha Kucha Redux

In April the good people at the AAF-KC hosted an event called Bulletproof. It is the advertising community version of the popular Pecha Kucha. In short you are given little to no direction in creating a 20 slide presentation about most anything. Then the slides advance automatically every 20 seconds. Thank goodness beer is served and cursing encouraged.
This is the result of our first attempt at this. The subject is a recent trip to China.
I am looking forward to taking another stab at this great event in the future and step up my game.
The competition is great here in KC!


Art+Copy Presents BULLETPROOF 2011 // Megan Stephens, Willoughby Design, and Jon Stephens, Rockhill Strategic from AAF - Kansas City on Vimeo.