Ms. Adverthinker

I recently completed the book “The Accidental Creative” by Todd Henry. It is not a self-help book; at least, that is what I am telling myself to feel better about loving it so much. But it kind of is a self-help book for those with creative pursuits, specifically in the advertising business. The author has a background in agency business and it felt like he was talking directly to me and only me, the experiences and stories were so dead on.  And, I am a not a “creative;” I work in account management.

As the readers here know, based on an epiphany and an encounter I had in April, I have taken on a mission to recreate the account management department at our agency to act, and be perceived by their peers, as more than notetakers and communications conduits between clients and creative teams. There are a lot of aspects to this shift, but one major piece is that the account managers have to think of themselves as creative and thereby contributors to that creative process and output. To quote the book:

“While a designer will solve a problem visually, a manager may solve it by developing a new process. But they’re both using the same creative tools and wrestling with many of the same obstacles.”

I have been doing a lot of work against this effort, mostly in the form of research and notes, without much implementation yet. I believe this  book can explain to my team how important their creativity is, that they are all creative, and they just need the right attitude, approach and plan to be creative in their contributions to the agency, their teams and their lives. To that end, I am going to ask everyone on my team to read this book. (Don’t worry, I’ve learned none of them read this blog, so I am not spoiling any surprise for them by posting it here. Although, if my boss wrote a blog about our business, I would definitely be reading it regularly. Perhaps that is a post and vent for another day.)

The book starts by walking through the hinderances to creativity, especially those in an ad agency. Then, it takes the reader through recommendations for overcoming those obstacles. I am not going to outline them for you here, you have to read the book. Some of the recommendations seems so obvious, but none of us our doing them, making the time to even attempt to do them or thinking twice about skipping over the obvious steps to creativity just to check something else off our to-do list. Other recommendations are easy to accomplish, it is just a matter of setting out to do them and getting them on the calendar.

So, why is this book my new “life guide”? “The Accidental Creative” it also about leadership, team work, time management and life happiness. To quote the book again:

“It is more and more difficult in today’s world to segment your life into buckets like ‘work,’ ‘home,’ ‘relationships,’ hobbies,’ and so on. Every area of your life affects every other, and a lack of engagement in one area will quickly infect the rest. As you implement these practices, you will find that your newfound creative energy will infiltrate not just your work life, but other areas of your life as well. A rising tide raises all boats.”

This book is a definite recommend.

Have you checked out turntable.fm yet? While music is in my life everyday, I am not very knowledgeable about or good at finding the stuff I like. Let’s just say I don’t have an exceptionally discerning ear, but I know what I like when I hear it. And I like being around people who know more about than me and are willing to teach me.

Turntable is that online version of being around people who know more and are teaching me when an in-person lesson is not an option. The reason that I am talking about here is the social and gaming aspects of site participation are interesting:

• Anyone can set up a room and DJ to a theme of their choice. Up to five people can DJ in a room and the control rotates between them.
• Anyone can join the room and “vote” on the song playing as “lame” or “awesome.” When you vote “awesome,” your avatar’s head starts bobbing to the music. You can see how the song is fairing on the lame/awesome meter while it plays.
• The more people that favor your song, the more points you build as a DJ. With more points, you can change your avatar (choices open up at different point levels). Every visitor can see your score.
• There is a chat column in each “room” and visitors talk about the music.
• The name/title of the song shows and there are built in features for sharing the song to your social networks and saving the song to your music player of choice.

CNN recently called it the “cool kids’ Pandora” and offered some spinning tips for the new visitors.

I am loving it right now. Check it out.

I was recently asked about popular apps for business people.  Here are some more details on the apps I discussed, plus some others that I particularly like and use regularly.

Productivity

Evernote

Evernote is an app that you can download on your phone, tablet and computer, set up one account and it automatically syncs across all the devices. It stores text documents, photos, audio files and attachments, organized as individual files or in notebooks. It is really like your mental file cabinet, scrapbook and notebook or binder combined into one digital app.

I have used Evernote for a while now, but several weeks ago I left my actual, physical notebook at home and was lost for the entire morning until I could go home and pick it up at lunch. Since that day, I never travel or go to a meeting without pulling all my work documents needed for reference into an Evernote notebook so they are accessible on my phone and tablet for easy reference. I hope to never be dependent on a piece of paper again.

Wunderlist

That same day that I left my notebook at home was the day I set out to find the perfect to do list app (my to do list was a strip of paper with sticky notes attached and stuffed in the back of my notebook). And in my search, I found Wunderlist. And it is indeed perfect. So much so that many of the staffers at Stone Ward are now also using it.

Like Evernote, Wunderlist can be downloaded across multiple devices and using one account, the user can sync the to do lists. Multiple lists can be created (for example, one for personal, one for work, one for travel, etc.). The list can be sorted, scheduled and annotated. Additionally, you can share the lists and even add items by email. And there is a checkbox to mark when you complete the item, if you need that satisfaction of checking something off your list. No more sticky notes.

Travel

TripIt

I love this one so much, it has its very own review on Ms. Adverthinker.

Instapaper

With the introduction of iOS 5 and it’s new features in Safari, Instapaper may become extinct. But until then, it is great for travel when on planes or in areas without Internet access. Instapaper is an app that you can download for you phone and tablet, as well as bookmark on your desktop browser. When you find articles you want to read, but simply don’t have time, or want to save it for later, click the Instapaper bookmark in your browser.  When you open the Instapaper app on your phone or tablet, the articles sync to that device and make them available without Internet access. Then through Instapaper, you can save the article to your favorite social bookmarking provider or share via social channels once you have had a chance to read it. The social integration feature is brilliant and may keep Instapaper alive once iOS 5 launches. Tip: remember to launch the app and sync before you get on the plane, while you still have Internet access!

Presentation

Keynote

Keynote is the alternative to PowerPoint, and it is so much better. It is easier to use, creates more beautiful presentations and nicer transitions. However, it is only available for use on Mac computers. And it is now available on the iPad and iPhone. Through the app, you can create, edit and present. For those with these devices, but no Mac computer, you can now experience the difference between Keynote and PowerPoint. You will never want to go back to PowerPoint again.

Remote for Keynote

This app syncs with via Bluetooth with your MacBook to control your Keynote presentations. No more remote needed. And every presenter can sync their own iPhones to control their individual parts of the presentation. It is both handy and impressive.

Staying Current/Education

Twitter

Twitter has its own app that allows you to view all links, photos, videos and follower details right within the apps sliding windows. The interface is friendly and gorgeous. There is no reason to use another third-party Twitter app.

Reeder

I am a huge Google Reader fan. I scan my 100+ feeds throughout the day on all of my devices through Reeder. It pulls them seamlessly in through the categories I have set and syncs across the devices so it knows which ones I have read already. Additionally, it has a built in sharing feature, so I can bookmark the ones I want to reference later through my Delicious account, save them to Instapaper, share to Facebook or Twitter, among many other options.

TED

I am addicted to TED videos. The topics are always interesting and thought-provoking, and never longer than 20 minutes. The TED app is just as beautifully designed as the website, allows for easy search and access to all TED talks.

Public Radio

Public Radio is simple: local NPR stations streamed through an app.

iTunes

The iTunes U podcasts are an amazing resource. Free to download and listen at your convenience and from the best schools in the country. My current favorite series is the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders podcasts. Check them out now and thank me later.

Convenience

Starbucks Mobile

This one is just cool to use. Register your Starbucks gift card through the app and when you are ready to pay at Starbucks, simply pull up the app and scan the barcode that appears on your screen with the scanner at the register. The amount of your purchase is automatically deducted from your card balance. No more fumbling with payment; it is all on your phone. You can reload the card or add the balances from other cards to your account through the Starbucks website. Love it.

Wordbook

It is a dictionary. I am a terrible speller and I am always concerned that I am mispronouncing words, so I use this app frequently. The definitions include an audio pronunciation.

What are your favorite apps?

This week I talked to Roby Brock at Talk Business about technology IPOs, specifically social media IPOs. Although not a social media company, Square is a technology company that is much talked about of late and one to keep an eye on for future growth.

Square, founded and run by Jack Dorsey (also co-founder of Twitter), is a product and software that allows any smart phone user to accept credit card payments through their phones. The company announced late yesterday that it had raised $100 million in venture funding. “The new round of funding means that Square’s value has jumped more than 6x in the last six months.”

It seems that Jack Dorsey has been everywhere lately. He was recently honored in Fast Company as one of the 100 most creative people in business for 2011. And, he has a great talk available through the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders podcast series.

Keep Square and Jack Dorsey on your radar for great things to come.

I travel pretty frequently for my job at Stone Ward. So, I am constantly on the search for the best suitcase, toiletries bag and laptop bag for Eloise. None of these things have been secured as the perfect fits yet, but I can firmly recommend a travel app for iPhone users: Tripit.

I have been using Tripit now for several months and recently upgraded to the “Pro” version for the added features. I don’t know how I traveled without it before.  Here is why Tripit rocks:

• Forward my email itineraries in whatever format they come to me to the Tripit email address and all the travel details are automatically uploaded into the app: flight, car rental, hotel, confirmation numbers, and maps.
• Check into flights directly from the Tripit app.
• Push notifications of delays and gate changes.
• Automatic sharing of travel information with the people that you put in your “inner circle,” like family, friends, co-workers, etc. This is my favorite feature. (Now my dad doesn’t have to write down all my travel on his calendar; he can just access it in his own Tripit app.)

I love that I can pull up Tripit and see all the details for the four upcoming trips I have booked without having to search emails or shuffle through files and papers. If you are a traveler, definitely check it out.

Another trending topic at South by Southwest this year was the incorporation of game dynamics into social media, communications and generally any type of task where people need to be motivated to participate. The big question, however, was how are marketers going to leverage this idea and trend in their communications. We are now starting to see some experiment with game incorporation. Here is a round-up of examples:

Subway

Subway has partnered with Scvngr to promote adding avocado to its menu. Twenty-five Scvngr players can win two free tickets to the premiere of “The Green Lantern.” Other players can receive free tickets to see the movie in their local theater. “Scvngr players can win the tickets by earning points with the following game-like activities: ‘Superhero Fuel’ points will be rewarded to players who create their own sandwich with avocado as a central ingredient. ‘Quote It’ points can be accrued by users expressing their favorite Green Lantern quote. ‘Flex for the Camera’ points will be rewarded to those who take a photo of themselves next to a Subway logo, while flexing their muscles.”

Sears

“The retailer is offering shoe discounts to Scvngr players who check in at stores, complete challenges, and upload content to the app. The challenges include: snapping a photo of sneakers/shoes; picking three sets of colorful footwear and taking a picture; and telling a brief story about where the player would like to walk to if she could go anywhere in the world.”

New York Public Library

I love this one! Not only does the New York Public Library have its own Foursquare badge, but in May they launched a promotion that allowed a limited number of participants to sign up and spend the night in the library to go on a scavenger hunt. The promotion appeals to the younger, tech-savvy target and gets them into a place that rarely need to visit anymore: the library. Smart.

“’Find the Future: The Game,’ devised by renowned game designer Jane McGonigal, is a series of ‘quests’ delivered via an app on players’ mobile devices that can be completed at the Library’s 42nd Street location. … The challenges are designed to encourage players to explore and reflect upon the objects from the library’s collections. A player might be tasked, for instance, to scan a QR code located at the Declaration of Independence, and then respond to a creative essay prompt. Once enough quests have been completed, they will be “unlocked” for the public, who can begin playing the game online May 21.”

There is even a video to go along with it:

Snoop Dog Fragrance

Through Facebook, the more people that like the Snoop Dog fragrance, the cheaper the price gets for the fans to buy it. Kind of fun.

Buffalo Wild Wings

Earlier this year, Buffalo Wild Wings partnered with Scvngr to allow “customers [to] complete challenges on their smartphones and win prizes, like Buffalo Wild Wings and Coca-Cola, which are redeemable on the spot. Such challenges, like snapping a photo with a fan of an opposing team, earn fans points that go toward winning the grand prize of a trip to see the NBA finals with Scottie Pippen, formerly of the Chicago Bulls.”

There are many other examples brands experimenting with game dynamics floating around out there, and most of them seem to use Scvngr as their partner in the efforts. While results remain to be seen, the approaches seem on track and look to be engaging for customers.

This spot gave me goosebumps, so I couldn’t resist sharing.

Google Zeitgeist offers data displays of how the world searched in 2010.  I could spend days playing with the charts and information.  But for non-geeks, Google has a great video that recaps the year:

Over the past two days, I have been reacting like one of Pavlov’s dogs to a bell every time @oldspice tweets a new video.  The Old Spice “Smell Like an Old Spice Man” commercials are viral hits online.  As a result, fans have shared, commented, and clicked play many times over the last several months.  For the last two days, Old Spice has capitalized on that popularity by creating (so far) almost 200 response videos, in real time, to its fans.  The videos are often less than 30-seconds, but in each one, the Old Spice Guy personally addresses a commenter (from Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo, Reddit) and provides a clever quip, thereby endearing the brand to that commenter (as well as all their friends).  The videos are coming so frequently and are so funny, it is quite easy to find myself clicking through to each one as it is posted.  (And so are many, many others: YouTube’s servers are having trouble keeping up today.)

This idea is brilliant because it exploits the basic premise of social media: two-way communication and sharing.  And it leverages the benefit of digital media: immediate communication and sharing.

As brilliant as the idea is, I am most impressed with the production coordination that must be going on behind the scenes to keep up the posting pace of these videos.  I wonder how many people are monitoring the web for comments, then mining those comments for potential humorous responses?  And, how many copywriters are standing by to write these hundreds of 30-second scripts on the spot?  And, the clients must be on the set to approve on-site.  Then there is the actual video production crew, shooting and transferring the video straight to the web.  And there must be a person/people posting the videos and tweeting them out.  This must be one large and fun team, but I bet they are getting tired.  The production turnaround is impressive: I would love to see a behind the scenes/”making of” video after this stunt is complete.

This has been a successful scheme for the Old Spice brand: everyone is talking about it.  Quite a brilliant idea, indeed.

Here are some of the responses I have enjoyed most:

Several months ago, there was a video released revealing social media stats.  Now there is a new one – see it below.  These stats change so fast, we could have entire different video to watch next month. So, don’t get too attached to the numbers here. They will be greater next month. Social media is definitely not a fad.

Here is a cool Facebook infographic shared over at Mashable.

[Source: Online PhD Programs for MashableMashable.com]

This infographic shared on Mashable a couple of days ago has me thinking about innovation in business today.  It wasn’t just the device that drove the iPod into the only MP3 player of note, it was the iTunes store and the simplicity and functionality of the iTunes application for managing music.  All so clean and bundled together.   So smart.  We know this, but it is good to remind ourselves of it every once in a while.

[Source: Online MBA for MashableMashable.com]

With the Internet’s ability to reach worldwide for the brightest talent, we are starting to see an increased use of crowdsourcing to create the best products.  Check out a great example of crowdsourcing a choir:

Thanks to @blakerutherford for pointing me to this. Yesterday, I wrote about brand-sponsored music done right. Today’s example is film. Spike Jonez, of Where the Wild Things Are fame, has released a short film (30 minutes) titled I’m Here that was paid for by Absolut Vodka. Although the brand has no representation or product placement within the film, the Absolut brand has prominence on the website where the film can be watched online and had 230,000 unique visitors just last weekend. While it may be difficult to understand why a brand would make this kind of investment, with the historical success of Spike Jonez Absolut could feel that not only would the investment generate a creative and profound product, but that people would seek it out.  And ultimately, Absolut endears themselves to consumers with support of arts like this film.  It is brand-sponsored film done right.

Here is the trailer:

This video is way cool, but did you notice the State Farm sponsorship?  OK Go is a band mostly known for their videos (remember the one with the treadmills?), and I had the opportunity to sit in on a panel session at South by Southwest (SXSW) where Damian Kulash of OK Go talked about the making of this newest video and working with State Farm.

The band’s record label didn’t have enough money to pay for the video, so OK Go reached out to State Farm.  Kulash talked about this being scary for them because the band did not want to be in the business of making advertising.  But, he said that State Farm was surprisingly hands-off and understood that they are not content creators.  When they first formed the relationship, State Farm requested that the video be available only on the State Farm website for the initial launch.  OK Go, a band that understands the power of the internet, refused to do this: there is no sense in trying to control where people go on the internet as they will always find a way around the limitations you put on them.  Ultimately, State Farm agreed and the video was posted everywhere.  To give State Farm their money’s worth, the brand as made part of the story, with no attempt to hide the relationship (remember, the internet is about transparency).  And, the video is so interesting that people watch four or five times.  State Farm managed to relinquish control, introduce and endear themselves to a whole new set of consumers, and come out unscathed.  There are even positive comments on YouTube about the brand and the sponsorship.

This is a good lesson for brands looking to expand their audience base in new and interesting ways.  To tap into consumers beyond the brand’s existing reach, sometimes it is necessary to play by the rules of those consumers.  Attempting to force corporate rules on potential new consumers can have disastrous effects (see Nestle’s Facebook meltdown).

Interesting facts about the development of the video:

• It took 65 takes to get the entire sequence shot.
• They actually made it all the way from beginning to end three times.
• 60 engineers worked on the project.