Hasta La Creative!

High Jive had a reaction to the BooneOakley job posting bit.

When it comes to hunting for talent, agency executives with hiring authority tend to fish in a limited, exclusive pool. In this case, the pool has been sucked even smaller with the requisite CA Annual and One Show credentials. These honors are arguably prestigious, yet neither is particularly inclusive.

Why does an industry that allegedly embraces breakthrough and unconventional solutions never apply the bravado to selecting new employees? Why do we go for the most expected, clichéd and obvious choices?

High Jive’s grinding the diversity axe, and it’s one that clearly needs sharpening. But, for me, it’s not just about promoting racial inclusion. There are also clear business reasons for reaching well beyond one’s comfort zone.

Consider the pace at which our media environment is reinventing itself. I’m not convinced the team with a Gold Pencil is up for the real challenge of the day–reaching customers on their own terms, not the brand’s terms. Also, I don’t believe award show judges are looking for, nor measuring these things.

The fundamental question is how engaging is any well-crafted print campaign? Any TV spot, any radio spot, any piece of mail, any email, any Web site? I’d argue not all that engaging, and I’m talking about the best work here. It might be engaging for a creative director who needs a new team, but what about the consumer leafing through Rolling Stone? Will the One Show-winning double-truck hold the reader’s attention? Will it motivate purchase?

It’s not my place to say who BooneOakley ought to hire. I can only say the only award show concept I’m comfortable with, is one where the audience gets a voice. I don’t care what other creative directors think. I care what customers think.

I’ve always argued that the great majority of agency personnel who add value to America’s biggest brands are grossly underpaid. The thought is that the copywriter, art director or account person who consistently delivers million dollar ideas to the brand(s) in their care, rarely sees that fact alter their own compensation in proportional ways.

Of course, none of that applies to this bunch. They’re getting paid.

[via Ad Age]

Sally Hogshead writing in Ad Age says “there’s no such things as the idea.”

If you can break out of the mind-set that you have to create that one almighty concept, you can stay more open to client feedback, integrate other media platforms and forage outside of your comfort zone for creative thinking.

This is good advice. Too many times I’ve watched in horror while creative staff impaled themselves on a sword for their precious big idea. It’s not necessary.

What is necessary, is the inner knowledge that ideas are infinite and your ability to create them unparalleled. Get to that place and you’re free.

I’ve been looking at lifeiscarbon, from ad man Nicholas McLean, for a few weeks now. I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on there, but this post helps spell it out.

For less regular readers of lifeiscarbon® or those who may be new to the website, we thought it worth quickly restating what we do and why we do it. At it’s simplest, lifeiscarbon® is a way for us to raise awareness and interest in Scandinavian Aesthetics and particularly in the art, design, fashion and music from the region that we happen to love. Why? Partly because it provides useful research for a number of The Carbon Foundation’s own ventures (ie carbonislife® –retail concept, carbonphotography® – commercial photography, ordinaryeverday® – fashion brand and lifeiscarbon® – print edition) but more importantly because we want to help local talent. Sadly, we’ve had the privilege of knowing too many talented individuals and companies from the region who simply don’t get the critical and financial return that they deserve. This website is one of the many small ways in which we try to help them.

One reason I’m taking note of this is the geo-cultural nature of McLean’s focus. As the world becomes more global and exchange happens on the personal and community level, we see how important local culture is. That, in turn, says to us maybe our own local culture is also important, and worth supporting. What do you think, is your local culture worth supporting?

Regarding Hugh MacLeod’s latest doodle, Rob at Six Sentences only takes three words to say, “Delicious. Awful. Accurate.” What say you?

Stuart Elliott is in Dana Point for the 4As Conference.

He heard some top people at TBWA distance themselves from all the wallowing about change.

“Stop whining,” Lee Clow told the estimated 380 attendees. The new realities “shouldn’t be scary,” he said, because they offer “a huge opportunity for us” to become far more useful to marketer clients as they seek more effective ways to sell products.

“If you want to participate, you’ve got to start hiring young people,” Mr. Clow said, “and don’t tell them what to do — ask them what to do.”

“We should just stop talking about what was,” Tom Carroll, president and chief executive at TBWA Worldwide, said.

“It’s like driving in the fog,” said Mr. Carroll, who is also the chairman of the association, known as the Four A’s. “You’re not sure what’s ahead of you, but you have to keep driving.”

“All industries recalibrate themselves,” Mr. Carroll said, illustrating his point with a rhetorical question, “How’d you like to be in the CD business?”

Speaking of the CD biz, did you hear Coldplay is pulling a Radiohead?

Eric Karjaluoto of Ideas on Ideas interviewed Kevin “Lovemarks” Roberts, a.k.a. Saatchi Kevin, Worldwide CEO of Saatchi.

I like his answer to the following question, even though I don’t believe Roberts is a soothsayer.

Eric: With the rapid changes occurring in today’s media space, do you believe there will be room for traditional agencies in ten years time?

Kevin: No. “Traditional” anything will be under threat. Progressive ideas-driven, consumer-focused digital communication agencies will thrive.

Would you trust this “joker” with your brand?

According to Creativity, many big time brands do just that.

By the way, Andrew Bancroft, a copywriter at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, is a former member of of the San Francisco-based sketch comedy group, Killing My Lobster.

“My words are my pearls!” -Steffan Postaer

It’s refreshing to see a well known Executive Creative Director speak freely about the creative process and how fraught with humanity it is.

Coming up in the creative ranks at Leo Burnett my partner(s) and I had to compete with any number of teams looking for the same outcome: the agency’s recommendation. And then it was the client’s turn to debate and decide. This process was and is a brutal tournament. The odds are almost always against you. Even the best of us lose more than we win.

It’s a humbling journey necessarily fraught with politics.

Maybe the creative director has somehow seen his work rise to the top…again…at the expense of your work…again. It’s called cherry picking.

Maybe the client is predisposed to buying junk work and the agency, craving revenue, is obliged to give it to them. The cheesy “B” team is more than happy to provide. The copywriter has his eye on a new bass boat. The art director wants her kids in the British school. They know pleasing the client equals pleasing bonuses. Your brilliant work is left to rot behind the dead plant in your office.

My favorite culprit: the brilliant presenter who gets the nod even though her work is undeserving. Your campaign is superior but Kimmy is a better dancer. I’ve been on both sides of this one.

I’m not sure why creating ads is “necessarily fraught with politics.”

One thing I say on the job a lot is “Let’s not make this difficult.”

At its purest, making ads is hard but it never needs to be difficult. That is, it’s hard to find the perfect expression of a brand’s best attributes. But it’s difficult to put up with all the internal and client-side bullshit. The more you can quiet the noise, the better you can concentrate and consistently deliver your best work. As a creative director, I feel like it’s my job to quiet the bullshit (to the best of my ability) for the benefit of my team.

Can you get rich working in advertising? The answer is yes, if you start a company and someday sell it for millions. Of course, there is another answer—ascend to the top of a big time holding company and make millions each and every year.

According to Media Daily News, Michael J. Roth, Interpublic’s chairman of the board and CEO, received $1.1 million in base salary for 2007, only about a 3% raise from 2006. The company reported his total compensation–including stock awards, options and incentives–at $8.9 million, about a 16% increase over 2006. But an Associated Press calculation from the filing determined that Roth actually took in $11.1 million during the year–a 28% increase from 2006.

John J. Dooner Jr.–chairman and CEO of McCann WorldGroup, which includes Universal McCann–had a higher base salary than Roth at $1.3 million, also about a 3% raise from 2006. His total compensation, according to the filing, was $5.9 million–about 9% over 2006.