ATT Hurts Apple Customers. . . Again

It appears, via twitter, that the general consensus is AT&T’s new data plan is terrible. With the recent release of the iPad, Apple customers were lead to believe that with the 3G model they would get a relatively low cost unlimited data plan. After all, with the launch of the first iPhone, unlimited data was free standard which was bumped up to around 30 dollars a month with the release of the 3G model. Now AT&T is not only capping the amount of data in a two tiered plan, they are only extending the limit to 2gb well below the relative standard of 5gb that was expected.

The question that has been floating around for quite some time is, is this effecting sales of the Apple devices and (more importantly) is this effecting the perception of the Apple brand negatively? One thing is for sure, if and when apple allows multiple carriers for iPhone and iPad there will be a mass exodus of consumer from the AT&T carrier.

Ad of the Week: Target

One of the more interesting experiments, as of late, in advertising is the attempt to make traditional more conversational. It brings up the question can a TV ad truly be conversational?

While watching the finale of Lost, I saw three excellent examples of being conversational through tv. They were a series for Target by Wieden + Kennedy. They simply featured an aspect of Lost and tied it to an everyday product including this one with the smoke monster. The reason I feel it is conversational is it’s making an ad to specifically speak to a target audience of Lost fans in their visual language. Paired with their tagline “Life’s a moving Target.” it creates a meaningful link to their target that makes one feel like Target understands me. It was so successful in fact that already the next morning there was a few great Target ad spoofs including this one featuring a kiss between Kate and Sawyer.

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy

Ad of the Week: Levi's

Much of success in advertising is dependent on those that are extremely talented mixed with a client willing to take a risk and, in some ways even more so, being in the right place at just the right time.

When the Levi's account was won away from BBH by Wieden Kennedy, I was a little worried because BBH had done some notable good work for Levis especially with one of their last pieces, Strange Love. Yet with Wieden Kennedy's release of this series of two ads including this first anthem, America. It was clear the WK was putting a very unique stamp on the Levi's brand that should prove fruitful for quite some time.

As always from WK, it's excellent art direction, great writing, cohesive branding, good music and a distinctive voice. The reason I feel these ads were released at such a perfect time is that they are keying into the same audience that Pepsi and Coke have attempted to with Refresh Everything and Open Happiness, the young generation that looks at all the issues in front of us as the human race and has a positive viewpoint of what they can do to improve it. Its keying into the new generation of "pioneers" looking to explore and put their unique stamp on things and all of these emotions and aspirations are now being housed within the Levi's brand. The ads themselves went live shortly after Obama had stepped into office. It was a time when many Americans had come off of the high of the political campaigns and now felt refreshed making history with one of the first african american president's in history.

Yet, with anything, the consumer and the dollar is the true judge of wether this campaign is successful or not; but, I wouldn't be surprised if this helped increase sales over the next few years.

Agency: Wieden Kennedy

It Just Feels Good to Rebrand

I've missed a few blog posts as of late because I took on a fun side project that I've been wrapped up in, rebranding myself.

Like most creatives, we can often get sick of our personal brand quite quick and want to redefine it with something fresh and new using some of our latest skills. Above is a screenshot of the homepage of my new site currently in development. You can click through the entry and loader screens here if you like. I'll be updating the look of my blog and other materials soon.

Keep on the look out for some new work and a new brand coming in a few weeks.

Ad of the Week: Topicana (Canada)

One of the strongest pulls, for me as a consumer, is an ireverant ad that is working towards making a positive impact.

BBDO made this strong brand ad for Tropicana and not only hit all the marks of great art direction, copywriting, event planning, concept, song selection and post production; but they created a unique moment that was well conveyed in this 60 second spot. Although it's not an ad to be remembered for decades to come, it is one of the important ads to take steps towards making branded consumers that truly believes in Topicana as a "do gooder."

Although I never tend to be one that champions pr or give-aways on their own as a way to drive attention to a brand. Coupled with this feel good ad, their donations to local charities in the area to bring them "a little sunshine" and the healthy pr pick-up across a number of the provinces in Canada really helped make this ad a successful one.

Agency: BBDO Canada, Toronto

Art Director: John Terry

Copywriter: Adam Bailey

Song: "The Great Escape" by Patrick Watson

Advertising with A Conscience?

One of the biggest lessons that my mentor at MCAD, Nancy Rice, taught my classmates and myself is: How do you seek out and work on only those that are doing good?

By this she meant intentionally not working with companies that you considered to be immoral whether that be a tobacco company, a company built on exploitation or one that is knowingly harming the environment. She brought up an example of a client that had approached her at her agency Rice & Rice that she had created after she had left Fallon Worldwide (then called Fallon McElligott Rice).

It was a pesticide intentionally created to not deteriorate, meaning that it would sit in the soil for virtually ever killing specific kinds of bacteria and bugs. Being from a farming background, Nancy knew the harm this could create on the environment and respectively declined the invitation to pitch for the work. Half a year later the company was unable to sell that product and was moving into an environmentally friendly sector and specifically sought out Rice & Rice for their ethics and passion for doing right by the environment.

Stories like these coupled with Nancy’s mantra of, “Never tell a lie no matter how much they are willing to pay.” is something that has stuck with me for quite some time. Although it is a difficult proposition for any new agency to turn down work there are some successful agencies that have been known for only working on clients that do good and I feel they are all agencies that we should aspire to be more like. A few of them include Fame Retail, Green Team, Mono and Olson.

For some cool eco-friendly design inspiration hit up the inhabitat blog.

My Day of Brands

This is a recording of my interactions with various brands in a single day inspired by a similar post by Melanie Linehan on her blog, MLinsight.

I awoke. Showered with Old Spice and Every Man Jack. Prepared my clothing with Sunbeam Iron & Target ironing board. Filled my tummy with Archer Farms bread, toasted in a Michael Graves Toaster and All Natural Archer Farms Peanut Butter and washed it down with Archer Farm’s Organic Nonfat Milk. I prepared my face with Wahl trimmer & Gillete Mach 3 Turbo shaver followed by Every Man Jack, prepared my mouth with Colgate, Oral-b & Listerine, sprayed on some Old Spice and dressed in Target, Express for Men & Cole Haan.

Drove to work in my Toyota while listening to MGMT, Keane & Phoenix on my iPhone. Stopped at Starbucks for my daily Venti Misto. Got to work opened my Swiss backpack, plugged my MacBook Pro into my Mac Keyboard, Mac Display and switched on my Mac Wireless Magic Mouse. Fired up Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Mobile Me, Tweet Deck, AIM and Yahoo to connect with the world and began work on Word, Powerpoint, Adobe CS4 and Entourage.

Lunch break with Kashi meal and glass of water in a Coca-Cola glass while flipping through NOTCOT, Ads of the World and Tweet Deck. Back to work: Mobile Me, Adobe CS4, Word, Entourage. Meeting. Break for the second Starbucks Misto that I fetch in my Toyota. Work Work Work.

Break to head to coffee with a friend in my Toyota to Common Grounds for a White Chocolate Mocha. Conversation.

Drive home in my Toyota. iPhone, Bowflex, Genius List, Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Mobile Me. Read The Fountinhead by Ayn Rand, check my Google Analytics and sleep.

The overall winners in my book are Target, Starbucks and Apple.

The Underdogs of Inspiring Blogs

Like many other young art directors, designers, creative directors and the like, I follow a lot of blogs to help jump start my creativity or simply to see how others are pushing the boundaries in my field.

There of course are the staples of NOTCOT for design & art, Ads Of The World for advertising creative, FWA for digital design, Agency Spy for ad gossip and It’s Nice That for design inspiration. Yet there are quite a few, unsung heros that I follow on a daily basis and wanted to spread the love.

1. Inhabitat: Green Design Blog. The thing I love the most about this blog is it isn’t preachy. It simply showcases some of the coolest green solutions for every area of design. It gets your noodle going in a uniquely green way.

2. The Dieline: Showcase of Packaging. I have always been a strong believer that a true designer can design anything (sans math integration without proper training) be it a website, poster, motion graphics, typeface or a piece of packaging. The thing I love about packaging inspiration is it pushes the boundaries of your thought process in both 2D and 3D.

3. Birds of A Feather: One A Day Picture Blog. I use this blog as a picture a day to keep the block away. Some pictures are good; but, the majority are awesome. Keep this one on the rss feed.

4. Change The Thought: A.D.D. for Designers. This blog is all over the place in an incredibly fantastic way. You get about 3-4 blog posts a day of random awesomeness be it industrial design, photography, motion graphics, screenprinting or a good old advertisement.

5. Thought Bubbles: The View from A Young Copywriter at Mullen. From the Mullen agency that lovingly brought us the brand bowl (in tandem with radian 6) comes the view of a young copywriter at a pretty cool agency. Allison tends to simply blog about the things she loves, all of which has proven to be pretty interesting.

6. Christine Vo: The View from a Young Digital Designer at Wieden + Kennedy. From the digital stuff she makes at W+K to the design stuff she makes on her own. All in all some pretty cool work and interesting pieces of inspiration.

7. Conscience: The View from A Creative Director at the Martin Agency. Although Joe doesn’t post too terribly often, when he does it is always really cool work from the Martin Agency who, as we all know, has recently been winning new business pitch after new business pitch after new business pitch.

All in all a pretty cool group; but, if I’m missing any good ones out there leave a comment or drop me a line on twitter.

How To Network

Being a Minneapolis native, I was spoiled with constant opportunities to network with individuals in advertising, design and other creative fields. When I came to Arkansas I had to learn to seek them out.

I network because I’ve found that through sharing with people in the industry, you get a good gauge of your level of work, are among the first to know about new job opportunities, you can feed off of one another’s ideas and you get your name out there with people that could share your work in their network.

When coming to Arkansas where there is no advertising, design or creative community I found I had to rely more on social networking to connect.

1. Blogging. Although I never had been one for blogging initially, I have found that through this blog I have made a number of connections when a post inspired debate, discussion of work or simply having them look at my personal site after reading my blog. I’ve been able to receive a lot of feedback that has inspired me to revisit my portfolio and refresh my personal brand.

2. Twitter. I’ve always been one too much prefer a face-to-face conversation to 140 characters of exchange. Yet, I’ve found that through sharing the things that I like, I’ve made connections with like-minded people that has progressed to longer conversation and collaboration over messaging and emails.

3. Linked In. Many have a profile; but, few see the value in it. I’ve found that it has been useful in two distinct ways. One, it allows for me to bookmark the people in my profession that I made a valuable connection with. Two, through using your few free emails to target individuals in your industry asking for feedback, I’ve found I’ve fostered strong connections and received great constructive criticism on my work.

Although this is by no means the only ways to connect, and not the only ways I’ve tried, I’ve found that through blogging, twitter and linked in I’ve achieved the best networking results so far. Yet my biggest piece of advice is, if you currently live in a hub of advertising and design use those networks to meet people, you’ll be glad you did.

The Perks

Although being in advertising is a ton of work, and sometimes yields only small rewards, there are a few perks that make it awesome. A few for more me are:

1. Having the chance to come in and question everything everyday. Although you get varying degrees of this from agency to agency, this is by far one of the biggest pay offs for me personally. I love the chance to come in, see what a client has, do the research, collaborate, ideate and present concepts that could revolutionize a client's business or potentially even their sector of industry.

2. Free food. The nay sayers always proclaim, "There is no such thing as a free lunch." But for me, if no money immediately came out of my wallet, its free in my book. And for some reason, the freeness makes food taste all the more delicious, can I get an amen?!

3. The chance to be relevantly creative everyday. I'm the type of creative that needs to create for a purpose and one of capital gain satisfies both my creative and business sides.

4. Getting to see the best of the best. Having the chance to have artist or production house representatives pitch the best of their film, sound, illustrators, photographers etc. Just this past Friday I received a set of free photo and illustration books from WRKBK that have some awesome portfolios of work. I HIGHLY suggest you check them out. (Photo from the work of Neil Duerden)

So in conclusion, if you love to work your butt off, creatively challenge everything, enjoy free food and love seeing what others can do, advertising is certainly for you.

The Agencies with A Bright Future Have: -insert-

I’ve found that the agencies with the brightest futures have a strong sense of comradery through the aspects of humility, positivity and healthy levels of competition.

What inspired me to think about this was when I was looking back at an old youtube video of the group of Lucky 13 interns, (posted above) that I was fortunate to be a part of, and remembering how we seemed to accomplish the impossible by having a healthy environment set by Campbell Mithun.

One the most important pieces, especially for young creatives, is the aspect of humility. By having the opportunity to work with senior creatives and directors that take the time to give direct feedback and collaborate on solutions creates a great sense of trust and respect. The killer of this at agencies can easily occur with a prima donna. I’ve found the ego quickly kills creativity.

The second most important strength seems to be having a great sense of positivity that doesn’t bleed into nieve. By remaining positive in the face of a client review, a rethinking of a campaign structure or simply staying late to get the work done at a high quality, is such an important piece to finish strong. Those that try to lead with fear often see the best within their ranks leave for a positive work environment in order to produce good work.

Finally, the most important piece (and most difficult to balance) is encouraging the right amount of competition within your ranks. By pitting a new creative against one that has been at an agency for a long period of time can lead to strained relationships and allows for the lack of communication to fester. Yet, to strike the perfect cord of inspiring competition within teams to produce the big ideas; but, allowing for a healthy amount of collaboration, can produce some of the best ideas hoped for.

Yet, the real conundrum seems to be that each individual responds to stimuli differently and what is appropriate for one isn’t necessarily for another. Thus the search for the perfect fit of agency and creative individual continues until the best creative work that one can produce comes to fruition.

Blog Post Number 50

I made it, this is blog post number 50.

I started this blog not really knowing for sure where it was going. I knew I wanted to write about advertising, my views on it and sprinkle in some of my own journey as a young art director trying to make it in the rapidly changing ad world. All in all I'm fairly happy with the content that I have been able to put out.

Yet I’m surprised with the effect I’ve had through my blog, website and single day facebook ad campaign. My blog currently stands at having had a little over 400 unique hits last month alone primarily in Minnesota, Arkansas, Texas, California and New York. Through my digital efforts, I got the job I have now at Rockfish Interactive, have had the chance to chat with a number of people at some cool agencies and more surprisingly, to me, was having an effect on other people with my posts.

A number of my posts inspired conversations with coworkers at work, friends & agency people in other states and even inspired an old classmate from MCAD to blog about my blog. Yet I think the thing that I’ve learned the most is the power of digital and social media along with how to maximize the effect of it.

I’m excited to continue to see where this goes and look forward to any and all new conversations it will inspire. Feel free to start a conversation with me through twitter or through email: taylor.snyder@me.com

Ad of the Week: Nike

It's a new thing for me to post about; but, every week there is an ad or two that refuels my love for what I do and shifts the way I think about advertising, design and/or branding.

For my first post I'm glad that it is such an excellent ad, Nike's: Human Chain. The piece that makes this ad stand out for me is the simple message, "Everybody gets knocked down, how quick are you gonna get up?" which speaks to me as a type "A" personality. It speaks to not just athleticism; but, also the drive in each of us to want to be successful and push ourselves beyond all constraints and it reinforces the simple message in the well known nike brand, "Just do it."

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland

Art Director: Ryan O'Rourke

Copywriter: Jason Bagley

Music: "Ali in the Jungle" by The Hours

The Need to Brand Yourself

Could marketing yourself yield the same results as advertising/branding a major company? Yes.

In fact, one of the strongest lessons they pushed at my college, MCAD, was the necessity to treat and market yourself as a brand. Although this made some students a bit skittish, it is important more than ever to treat and market yourself as a brand.

Many people believe that with the rise of social media outlets such as twitter, that significantly shorten our attention span, as proof that brands are dyeing when it is quite the opposite. When you have 140 characters to push a complex aspect of a product or the sleekness of a brand, the necessity to push the brand to keep it short, sweet and repeatable is impartially important.

Treating one’s self as a brand forces you to consider truly what makes you different and what your true selling points are. It allows you to create your paired down elevator pitch, and with repetition, gives you the chance to attribute those aspects to a recognizable logo.

So it than no longer is a question of to brand or not to brand and it turns into what is unique about your brand?

The Asset of Being You

One of the hardest lessons for me to learn, as a young art director, was that your personality and quirks often can prove to be an asset.

I began my working career at Target and Starbucks. Both are good places to work and both are pretty strict corporations that ask that you leave your personality at the door and put on the brand face. When taught to, on a daily basis, remove your personality when at work, it becomes difficult when asked to express myself regularly at an agency.

Although not every career expressly wants you to be yourself on a daily basis, no one wants to work with someone that is dull or rude. When interviewing for design and art director positions at agencies, I’ve found that the agencies that were always heavily interested in me were the ones in which I was very relaxed and simply being my normal, odd self. By being someone that is naturally happy and spreads humor to others I have an asset outside of my ability to create good work and pitch it well to clients, I have the ability to help create a stronger team through being myself.

Yet, the hardest lesson to learn for those that have radically different or unusual personalities is the necessity to do what I call, “Easing people into your crazy.” By with holding much of your personality initially to gauge others, find your niche and allow for your personality to gradually come out, you become a natural fit. On the other hand, being extremely out there from day one can often create apprehension, unease and the feeling of being ostracized from the group.

So in the end I’ve found the best practice is to show your personality, craziness and all; but, don’t jump the gun (ease people into your oddities).

It's Not The Choice Itself Thats Important

Like most people, I get on kicks and as of late its playfully threatening to shank my co-workers. I was asked by a close coworker why I have such a violent sense of humor and the first thing that shot to my mind is, “Violence is the way to live life.”

Not literally of course; but, I feel there are two ways to live life: violent or secure (with most people living somewhere in the gray between).

The violent ones are the ones that are incredibly passionate and narrowly focused on what it is in life that they love and seek. They will take ballsy risks in persuit of what they love and are willing to give up some everyday luxuries to get it. These people either burn out fast or rise to the occasion and achieve what it is they are pursuing.

The secure ones are those that put a greater emphasis on family, security and an everyday life well lived. They also may have a passion they are going after; but, choose to do it in a far more calculated and methodical way. Although they may not create the sweeping change the violent ones create they also don’t run the same risk of burning themselves out before they achieve their goals.

It’s not that one or the other is good or bad it simply is a choice and my choice is to live violently. The film Revolutionary Road does an amazing depiction of the struggle between these two extremes in a married couple.

My Super Bowl Ad Picks

The Super Bowl is, in comparison, the British Television Advertising Awards for the U.S. It has historically held some of the best advertising in the current market.

I would agree with the common sentiment that this year, due to the economic climate and waning interest, the ads didn't live up to the usual glory; but, there were still none the less some gems in the mix. Here are my picks for the 2010 Super Bowl:

1. Dove: Journey to Comfort/////Ogilvy

Although I felt the voice over was a little off, it had a relatively original, funny approach to selling a men's skin care product without making men appear to be unintelligent. I also love the reference to the scene in A Clockwork Orange with the use of music, content and cuts.

2. Cars.com: With Knowledge Comes Confidence/////DDB Chicago

Rarely does a serious ad seem to hit the mark on the Super Bowl; but, this in one of two that really did. It wasn't too preachy and had just enough dry humor to make it memorable. The best part though, it drove home it's main selling point, be confident with the knowledge you get from cars.com.

3. Google: Paris/////???

Again I was surprised with how memorable this simple ad was. It was one of the more innovative concepts, to tell a story through a simple search box and it seemed to target the 40% of female viewers that most ads ignored or openly offended.

4. Motorola: Megan Fox/////Anomaly

Although most ads featuring a half naked woman tend to be mindless and forget to talk about the product, this is one of the rare few that was very funny, sexy and left you with a clear idea of the product motorola blur.

5. Intel: Jeffrey the Robot/////Venables Bell & Partners

The first sweet and funny ad I've seen that is part of the larger excellent re-branding efforts of intel (putting faces to the name). I also feel that this is another great ad that was talking to the 40% of female viewers that most of the ads ignored.

/////

Worst Ad of the Super Bowl

Boost Mobile: Shuffle Dance/////180 Los Angeles

I would have to say this ad was terrible from the post production of trying to make it look dated, to the terrible copywriting and finally the horrible editing that destroyed the jokes. The worst part, everyone was so distracted with what was going on that they completely missed the message of the Boost Mobile's cheap rates.

/////

Best Social Media Ads

Brand Bowl///// Mullen & Radian 6

The sixth highest trending topic on twitter and a great way to stay on top of the winners on twitter in real time.

Squawq/////Colle+McVoy

Beautifully designed and a great analysis of the brand winners on all of twitter.

That wraps up the 2010 Super Bowl Ads. The biggest surprise this year, for me, was how memorable and well done the serious ads were over the funny ones.

My Greatest Source of Inspiration

When looking back at my previous blog posts, I’ve found that I talk a lot about inspiration.

In the end, as a creative person inspiration is key to continuously moving, reaching for the nearly unattainable and getting you going. Often that inspiration will come from a related field; but, I’ve found, for me, that some of my strongest inspiration comes from outside of advertising.

The individual that has inspired me the most is the writer/philosopher, Ayn Rand. She wrote a lot on the behalf of supporting laissez-faire capitalism, the positive attributes of selfishness, anti-religion and being pro-individual. Yet, the thing that consistently grabs me the most is simply that she clearly and ardently fights for her point of view.

In a sea of being politically correct, speaking between the lines and passive aggressive culture, she consistently cut to the core of what was being discussed and eloquently stated her point of view. She never backed away from her ideals and never apologized for her position on issues. Even though she wasn’t a native English speaker, she worked herself to death writing and rewriting drafts until she produced Fountainhead (read by my most American high school students) and Atlas Shrugged which has been judged to be the second most influential book in human history (second only to the bible).

Yet, with even a figure that I so deeply admire, I still wonder to myself how much of it is the ideals themselves and how much of it is simply excellent persuasive writing?

Always Meet The Team Before Accepting The Offer

When helping a friend think of advice to give to ad students three things immediately jumped to mind. They are what have and will continue to guide me on my career path:

/////

1. “Start your career at a small agency, it is incredibly chaotic; but, you get your hands in everything and can learn skills that will help your later career flourish.” –Brian Collins, CEO at Collins

2. “Always plan your agency path three moves ahead. If you can’t get into your top agency of choice find out where most of the creatives came from and go there. You can gain the skills that the creative team will look for having come from a similar career path.” –Tim Brunelle, Co-Founder & CEO at Hello Viking

3. “Always meet the creative team before accepting the offer.” –Kathy Umland, Director of Creative Operations at Martin Williams

/////

For most students who are lectured to be choosey when selecting agencies to go after the thought is often: I wish I had that luxury.

Yet, the thing you rapidly learn in the industry is that it isn’t a luxury it truly is a necessity. If one works at an agency with a poor reputation, often the creative industry will have a predisposition to think less of you. As a result, you have to work much harder to prove yourself to that agency later in your career.

For a student using that advice as a guiding principle more than set in stone needs, it can prove to be quite fruitful. In the end, I was surprised how I had followed all the advice unconsciously starting at a small agency, Rockfish Interactive, where I have had a chance to have my hands on everything including the pitch, I’m gaining the interactive experience the big agencies are looking for and before I accepted I drove to Arkansas to meet the team.

My advice as a young art director is: “Never underestimate anything. Do what you want and prove yourself the most on the 'throw away' projects, they are what earn you the clients you want to work on.”

The Necessity of Collaboration

One of the hardest lessons for me to learn, when attending MCAD, was the necessity for collaboration.

Like most new advertising students, I started my education with little information and a massive ego. When we received a new client to work on, be it a live or hypothetical, I would delve into research surrounding their product, the market, potential targets etc., I would look for what I thought was the perfect mixture and attempt to sell my partner on why we should head in that direction. As a result, there was a lack of collaboration.

I was lucky enough to attend MCAD where a healthy mixture of Nancy Rice, my fellow students and the live clients taught me the strength of partnerships. It is a fundamental truth; but, many creatives struggle with collaboration. If you look at history for examples, some of the best advertising creatives jumped at each project as if they had to prove themselves yet again and openly collaborated as a result.

No matter the drive on each project, having that approach of humility and openness to new ideas from any creative is paramount. Yet the most difficult part about collaboration is a strong foundation of trust. If you can’t trust your partner to put in the hours, to have the skills to rise to the occasion or give honest critique, the partnership will fail. Yet, if one can find the elusive creative partner that makes a great fit, the work that they produce together can literally be ground breaking.

The question is how does one determine who that partner is and can it only be found through trial and error?