1) I recently read an article by Nadya Powell called “Dear John: a breakup letter to the advertising community.” Nadya writes about how creating campaigns in response to the data is killing advertising. We’re racing to the bottom.
To an extent, I agree with her because I think a lot of advertising is playing it safe these days. We’re feeding viewers what we think they want to hear instead of challenging them. I got into this business to shape culture, not to react to it. When we get boards that push the envelope and embrace creativity, we fight for them like our lives and livelihoods depend on it. They just aren’t common anymore. I’m not sure who to blame – data, the clients diversifying, or the amount of content needed now to feed the beast – but we need more fearless creativity. I believe in the revival of the advertising golden age.
2) I hear the statement “I don’t see why I have to choose” play in my head a lot after watching Daniele Anastasion’s “Run Mama Run”. The ESPNw series tracks runner Sarah Brown as she trains for the Olympic trials while pregnant. Daniele’s series resonated with me because it asked “can we build our careers and our families at the same time?” Advertising and commercial production life aren’t known for being family friendly. Overall, stories like Run Mama Run have made me more aware of work-life balance with my team, because I think it’s important to grow ourselves at home and in the workplace.
3) The kind of adverts that make me emotionally invested in a character are more likely to stick with me. But they don’t have to be heavy hearted stories necessarily. I recently watched Erich and Kallman’s “Grumpy Old 4th Graders” campaign and felt for the 4th graders as they watched the 3rd graders have it easy. I gobbled up all 4 spots one after the other because I could relate to the aging 4th graders – and they were just incredibly funny. They touch on a simple human insecurity and poke fun at it, while selling Gogurt. Brilliant.
4) On the agency side, I think longer format story based advertising is becoming more common. It allows the brand to maximize their production dollars and receive assets for all media platforms. In addition, it makes them more competitive to turn around content quickly and make more impressions on their audience across the multiple platforms.
5) The awards show winners tell us that story is still king. They also show a new support for female voices in an industry that is still learning to listen for and develop those voices.
6) We’re constantly trying to be more collaborative remotely via the cloud, using programs like Dropbox, Google Docs and Slack (though I’ve had to work on that one). This cloud-based working culture allows us to be more accountable from wherever we are and act quicker. I’m not tied to an office, which I love.
