Since becoming involved with the internship program board two-and-a-half years ago, it has quickly become one of my favorite duties of my job, as well as a very rewarding professional experience.  Doe-Anderson is very supportive of our internship program and it shows.  The company realizes how important their knowledge and enthusiasm is to the agency’s evolution and I’ve seen firsthand the exuberance and “life” they can bring to the office.

And though they might not be as seasoned as the rest of us, interns have a lot to contribute to an agency, corporation or non-profit organization. What exactly can we learn from our younger counterparts?  The answer:  Plenty.

 1.   Share their enthusiasm.  Remember how excited you were when you landed your first internship?  My first internship was with a non-profit organization that focused on education.  I eagerly accepted any assignment my supervisor gave me, whether it was editing a press release or helping out with a research project.  We should approach our jobs with the same zeal as a brand-new intern.  Remember—a positive attitude can carry you to a higher place, but a negative one will always land you in the gutter.

2.  Be willing to do your share of grunt work.  I don’t care who you are or what professional level you are, you still need to know how—and be willing— to build a media list, assemble a press kit or make follow-up phone calls to the media.

3.  You don’t know everything…nor will you ever.  No amount of classroom work can prepare you for the workforce.  Case in point:  Prior to my second internship (at another non-profit organization), media relations was a fairly foreign concept to me.  Sure, I had read about that segment of public relations, but honestly, I had no clue how to actually do it.  Even today, I’m still learning new skills, such as figuring out the intricacies of CisionPoint.

4.  They can offer a unique perspective.  Sometimes when you’ve been working with a client for years, or even decades, it can be difficult to generate new and interesting ideas for taking their service or brand to the next level.  You know the client so well (after all, it’s your job to be their go-to expert) that sometimes you can get lost in the everyday happenings of the account.  Learn to look at your client with a fresh set of eyes.

5.  Ask questions. It’s a good thing to have an inquisitive nature, especially in this industry.  One of the greatest attributes a PR practitioner can have is being able to look at something from many angles.  This can be related back to point #3:  No matter what age or where you are in your professional development, there’s always room to learn. 

6.  Follow the rules.  Interns are usually on their best behavior; after all, they’d probably like to get a full-time gig out of this experience.  It’s the little things that matter—showing up to the office and meetings on time, following company protocol, and being polite to all employees (no matter where they fall on the totem pole) can take you to the next career level.  We all get a little lax from time-to-time, and it never hurts to be reminded of the rules.

7.  Take initiative.  Though we’ve had many different types of personalities among the students in our program, the top interns always stood out because they were self-starters.  They weren’t afraid to approach employees in different departments, call the media to pitch a story, or ask to be included on new business assignments.  Drive and eagerness can go a long way, and they are qualities that even the most experienced PR professional should possess. 

As the summer draws to a close and interns from across the country return to their respective college campuses, I hope they know how much we appreciate their efforts, even if at times it doesn’t seem that way.

When you see that fresh-faced intern sitting in the lunchroom, take a minute and get to know them.  You just might be surprised at what you could learn.    

Last semester at university, I took a Promotions and Advertising class, where conveniently, we reviewed and dissected Super Bowl advertisements.  Although the Doritos and Budweiser ads captured the majority of the class’s attention, I was more interested in the new campaign for Old Spice, where the consumer is in a shower, on a boat and riding a horse, all in one commercial. So why was I most attracted to the ad with the tagline “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” when clearly I am not the intended, final consumer of this product? Maybe it’s because in a roundabout way I am the target.

Since its inception in 1934, Old Spice has aimed to target middle aged to older gentlemen. And recently, Old Spice has had to work diligently to combat product competitors, for example Axe, whose target market is also males, between the ages of 12 to 34. A need for new, transformational advertising was initiated when Mark Fitzloff, a copywriter at Wieden + Kennedy recently remarked, “if you put Nikes on your feet, you’re making a statement. If you are using Old Spice, you’re not.”  That is the old spice. 

Now, 76 years later, the target market has polarized, and Isaiah Mustafa is the new spice. Ladies, specifically those in relationships with men, are now the brand focus. For men, Mustafa may just be a familiar NFL star back on the television. But for the new target, he’s the handsome, influential, driving force to the store.  Old Spice was meticulous in producing this ad with females in mind because, stereotypically, the female in a household drives purchase decisions, particularly for male toiletry items. And interestingly enough, the first product ever produced by Old Spice was a body wash for women.

Not only is this ad catchy and memorable in terms of content, but it was also produced very creatively. It can take three days to shoot a 30-second commercial, but this was done in one single shot. Check out the video for production secrets of this commercial directly from Wieden + Kennedy’s Craig Allen and Eric Kallman. You may find yourself whistling their jingle for the rest of the day, or even better, running to the store so you can smell like a real man.

Like any other agency-client relationship, it’s important to set some parameters before you begin working together.  Drafting up a scope of work is crucial—it helps to manage the agency’s workload and meet client expectations as well.  Everyone’s time is valuable, and the client deserves the very best efforts from its agency.

The good thing is there’s no shortage of deserving non-profit organizations that would benefit from working with an agency.  The trick is finding the right fit for your business.  I know of one agency that gets feedback from its employees about potential pro bono clients.  Employees feel like their opinions are valued, and the client will have people who are truly passionate about their cause working on their account. This can also help tremendously when assembling a team for these types of projects.

As I said before, pro bono projects are an excellent way to do some truly unique creative work.  It’s also an opportunity to gain some additional visibility for the agency and its employees.   Many non-profit organizations I’ve worked with are more than happy to try something new, whether it is a social networking strategy, an in-your-face print campaign or a humorous radio ad.

I know many others on the agency side have experienced working with pro bono accounts, and I’d love to hear about it. And, as always, if I’ve left out an important tip, let me know in the comments section.

The rich traditions of Spanish language and culture have always attracted me as a student. Now, as an intern, the concept and growth of Hispanic marketing in this industry has perfectly married my educational and professional interests. In past decades, the Hispanic population has been considered a minority group in the U.S.; now it has become one of the fastest growing groups, accounting for almost 46.9 million residents (as of 2008). With such a drastic demographic shift in the U.S., not only geographically, but socially and culturally, a new form of marketing is surfacing: Hispanic niche marketing.

Although the Spanish language is the binding characteristic of Hispanics, they cannot be considered a homogeneous group, because of the regions and cultures in which they include. Thus, targeting a person becomes more important than targeting an ethnicity, as a whole. Not only knowing the statistics of this group is critical, but also knowing how to effectively communicate, market and advertise to our fellow consumers. After researching Hispanic advertising agencies, I ran across some staggering statistics from the Olé Advertising Agency in New York City. I read that the average U.S. Hispanic spends 20% more time online, with the majority of the sites visited in Spanish.  They also use the internet more than 17 hours a week, making the use of the internet greater than the use of television.

Many U.S. companies have created separate entities, such as Tapestry, the Multicultural Division of Starcom MediaVest Group, in order to effectively target this rapidly growing group. One of the best examples of multicultural, Hispanic marketing comes from a research study conducted by the Yaris sector of Toyota, which was used to promote their vehicle to this new market. Their task began with one-on-one interviews in the homes of young Hispanics, asking questions particular to their culture, heritage and lifestyles, avoiding the conversation of cars. As a result of this study, Toyota researchers and marketers determined that Hispanics are attempting to break free from the mold and stereotypes assumingly established in this country. In the end, Toyota introduced the “Mundo Yaris” (roughly translated to Yaris World), so that the Hispanic population can be portrayed as “trendsetters” in the U.S., thus leading to the Yaris becoming the most recognized sub-compact vehicle among Hispanics.

As I transition from the school environment to the grown-up adult world, I cannot even begin to count how many job postings I have scoured online.  And although I do have a minor in Spanish and consider myself a fairly good conversationalist, many of these jobs will only accept applicants who are fluent in Spanish. This new employment requirement serves to magnify the concept and importance of targeting these affluent individuals in our country.

To me, it is an exciting thought that the industry I am jumping into is radically changing not only its methods of marketing and advertising, but also in the people in which they are targeting. I think we could all benefit from learning about cultures different from our own.  Plus, it’s important to stay ahead of the game, because we never know what’s coming around the corner, or in this case, around the world.

I coined a new phrase the other day. Digital Drift. It’s our industry’s shifting focus from what we call “traditional” advertising to more explicitly digital media. It’s also the impetus for the recent proliferation of smaller digital boutiques that seem to be popping up everywhere. And, ultimately, it has the potential to (and in some cases has) take(n) its toll on a fair share of business, leaving many on the traditional side of our industry a little leaner.

But in lean times, we get hungry. And when creatives get hungry, sh*% happens. Really good sh*%. Like PleaseFeedTheAnimals.com and Lemonade. I highly recommend becoming familiar with both of these, because they are beautiful testaments to the will of the creative spirit to survive through just about anything. And they’re an inspiration to those of us who are all too familiar with the ugly side of what we do – the ever-looming layoffs that have unfortunately become an expected and accepted hazard of doing business in our fickle little world.

I’m not going to bore you with further analysis of these links here. That would be boring. And besides, if you’re anything like the average person, you’ve probably stopped reading by now anyway.  But, in case you’re still here, go check the links out for yourself. You won’t be sorry.

FX: smoke fills the air as blog post comes to a screeching halt.

Image by kevenlaw via Flickr

In a nutshell, the traffic department helps make the most of the time and resources we have at the agency. We monitor a job from inception through its completion. Our days are never the same, because we never know what will come up on any given day.
 
Inherently, the job requires good multitasking and communication skills. It also involves the ability to know when to do what – when to knock out the little jobs so the big ones can keep moving. When to move or reschedule jobs so that more pressing things can get done in time. When to force kickoffs or change creative teams so that client expectations can be met. In traffic manager fantasy-land, every single job would be anticipated and scheduled on a nice, neat, linear timetable. But we all know that doesn’t happen. The traffic department helps manage the unexpected.

I’m passionate about making other people’s jobs easier. So if an account manager wants me to review a creative brief for readability and clarity, I’m happy to do so. If I need to help an art director research the background on a job or search for an answer to a production problem, I’m happy to do that as well. My MAIN task is to physically move jobs through the agency  - route work for signoffs, remind folks of upcoming deadlines, keep files of signed paperwork. But my ANCILLARY tasks are many. Ultimately, if I anticipate a problem before it becomes a problem, then I’ve done my job well. And in order to anticipate problems, I need to be involved in the job. The more entrenched your traffic manager is in the job (specifically) or the client (generally) the more likely we are to foresee and solve problems.
 
So, in answer to the question above, your traffic manager do a lot for you. You just have to let them.

 We offer three types of internships:  interactive, creative and client services.  Our client services interns rotate through the account services, public relations and media departments during their time at the agency.  The program is a great way for students and recent graduates to explore several different paths of the industry and see firsthand how an ad agency works. 

Image by moriza via Flickr

 Doe prides itself on treating our interns like entry-level employees, which means we have them do real work, like assisting with media placements, writing press releases, interacting with clients and performing competitive research. 

 So if you’re interested in spending the summer with us, it’s best to apply early.  The first step is to check out our website and see if the program is a good fit for you.  And we love it when candidates apply directly to the site.  Good luck!

If you aren’t a fan of the National Football League, then you probably are unaware that after posting the best record in the regular season of any team, the Titans lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Baltimore Ravens.

The lesson for me in my career was not that the Titans lost, but how they lost. In this game, the Titans were clearly the stronger team. They dominated time of possession. They marched up and down the field like the Florida A&M Marching 100 band. Yet, when the final whistle blew, the Ravens held the advantage on the scoreboard – 13-10. Millions of Titan fans like me were left pondering how this loss could have happened. The only person who appeared more perplexed was Jeff Fisher.

He had put together the right team. He had thoroughly prepared them for the game. He devised a brilliant game plan. And he had the home-field advantage. Virtual lock, dead no-brainer, put the trash in the can and shut the lid.

Haven’t we all been there as marketers? We did the research. We secured adequate funding. We developed a branding strategy and executed the creative flawlessly. Even more to the point, we hit all the touch points, staffed up to meet record demand and waited for the phone to begin ringing wildly. What happened next? The sound of crickets chirping.

I’ve often recounted the story of facing Sid Bass in the conference room of Tradecast Securities. Sid was a principal investor in the software/on-line brokerage firm for which I was the Chief Marketing Officer. The $15 million investment in marketing which we had undertaken had just broken to mixed results. Advertising recall was off the charts. Brokers were using a catchphrase from the commercial on the trading floors of their firms. We successfully conducted a nationwide trading demonstration courtesy of Hughes Satellite and Peterbilt trucks and a group of 20-something guys who lived in a sleep-deprived state for 120 days. It was glorious victory … in every area other than than the scoreboard.

Our expectations of 100,000 new customers diminished as quickly as a fifth of Maker’s Mark in a trendy New York City bar. So as Sid compellingly took me to the woodshed and demonstrated his prowess with a paddle, I was left to consider how my efforts so painstakingly crafted had left me so exposed. Ten years later the lessons continue to ring true.

1. MANAGE EXPECTATIONS: Our vision was grandiose. Unfortunately, so were those of E-Trade, AmeriTrade, TD Waterhouse and ten other firms offering similar services. Too many people fishing in the same pond makes for a poor trip. We knew that the obstacles were great. We simply failed to communicate realistic expectations for our program’s efforts.

2. KEEP THE GUNPOWDER DRY: Like a bad Texas hold ‘em player, we went all-in too early in the game. If funds had been held back, we may have been able to make course corrections that would have allowed us to get closer to the goal over a more protracted period of time.

3. DON’T BE IN SUCH A HURRY: Sure we were caught up in the dot.com frenzy. In truth we were never a company built to last. We were built to be sold at maximum multiples. But time is a marketer’s best friend. Competitors stumble. Market conditions change. Opportunity is always just another few feet down the road. Keep driving.

4. THE DEVIL REMAINS IN THE DETAILS:We didn’t make a colossal blunder. There was no “if we had only done this differently” moment. We simply were nicked to death by a thousand small paper cuts. As marketers, we tend to get swept up by the “big idea” when in truth 100 little ideas may have ultimately generated greater success.

5. BE TRANSPARENT: Marketing directors live in the glass fishbowl. It’s likely the only job in the company that everyone from the receptionist to the billing coordinator feels confident that they can evaluate. For me it was the software programmers from Bangladesh that were my barometers. Twenty-four hours after getting their work permits, they were experts in their judgment of our promotional efforts. I chafed.

I look at the experience differently today. I should have welcomed their input. I should have given ownership of the program to every Tom, Dick and Manmhet interested enough to comment on our activities. I should have embraced their comments and made it clear that every idea expressed was considered and factored back into the effort. I should have made them all the Chief Marketing Officers. United we stand divided we fall.

At the end of the day, Mr. Bass doubled his investment in the company within 12 months at sale to Ameritrade. I had the statistics, but Sid held the scoreboard. Not a mistake I intend to make a second time in this career.

Got thoughts? Please share them in the comments.

IMAGE: Scoreboard by dmperkins on Flickr.

It’s the unresolved issue of the day that deprives me of sleep:  “What will work to grow our client’s business in these uncertain times?”  Not, what do I think will work, not what I hope will work, but with absolute certainty, what WILL work.

Having a healthy understanding of the distinction between “what must be done” versus “what would be nice to get done,” here are my Top Ten must-use marketing tactics in 2009.

1. Re-fall in love with your current customers.
   There is no better determiner of the future of your business than the relationship you have with today’s most ardent supporter. Chase them off and you’re done.  If you wonder if that’s true, try and buy an Oldsmobile.
2. Shut up and listen.
   If you’ll spend time talking with your current customers, and not behind a focus group screen, they’ll tell you exactly what you need to know to hold their loyalty and, if you have any sense about you, what you’ll need to say to attract others to the brand.
3. Ignite people’s curiosity.
   Truth is you can’t bore people into being interested in what you have to say or sell. Think about it, the people who you’re most attracted to are the ones who piqued your interest. The friends you keep are the ones that keep you interested.
4. You can buy a transaction but you can’t buy loyalty.
   Look, you can get anybody to do anything if the price is right. Think “Indecent Proposal.”  The effort should be spent in figuring out how to reward loyalty. Loyalty is built over time and it delivers you two crucial things: Forgiveness when you screw up and resistance to competitive pressures. Loyalty, like a good personal relationship, takes time and commitment.
5. Fall out of love with brand awareness.
   It’s nice that people are aware of your brand. But the true value of your marketing is when people TALK about your product.  If what you’re doing doesn’t create buzz then the odds are it won’t create recommendation and recommendation is the most powerful weapon you have.
6. Think groups, not target audiences.
   We are a society of demographic mutts and our passions and actions define us far more clearly than our demographics.
7. Stack groups to build a brand community.
   People tend to form communities. Their interests define their actions.  When we can track consumers’ DNA into a few confined cells — for instance: go to church, play golf, bilingual — we can sharpen the message to people who share those same interests. Their touch points become far more relevant. And the message can become more specific so that its chance of igniting curiosity and TALK is much greater.
8. Don’t brag.
   The guy who always boasted about how many “girlfriends” he had is also the guy who couldn’t get a date to his senior prom. Prove that it does what you say it will do. And better yet create an environment where third-party recommendation becomes the proof. Wonder if that works? Think of all the products sold under the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.”  We know of one spirit brand that went from virtually nowhere to the largest super-premium vodka brand in the world with no more than being declared the highest in quality by The Beverage Testing Institute.
9. Never, ever underestimate the power of a handshake.
   There simply must be some form of high-touch effort in your marketing plan.  Getting into new buyers’ heads often requires putting the product in their hands. More than that, consumers want to touch the manufacturer, not just the retailer.  Physical touch is as critical to a brand relationship as it is to an interpersonal one.  Create events that allow for trial, discussion and contact between manufacturers, retailers and prospective purchasers. That level of personal contact can and should be a key driver in creating buzz and recommendation. Mind-numbingly expensive, crummy ROI and a budget dogfight every year, but the truest way to form a bond with consumers new and old.

   One of my personal favorite commercials from the 90s was a spot done for American Airlines. In it, a troubled CEO handed out airline tickets to his senior management team and exhorted them to get out from behind their computers and go press flesh.  Activating a brand takes more than a promotional coupon or a sales event. Activation requires human connection.

10. Focus on the moments of truth.
    Point of sale.  Point of use.  In a tight economy when the competition for each product sale is a dogfight, make absolutely certain that your brand has put its best foot forward at point of sale. Be particularly diligent about your brand message remaining consistent with your retail messaging.

    Point of use is critical for more than the obvious reason (walking the walk).  Advertising isn’t dead. It’s a strategic tool complementing your other marketing resources.  My recommendation to you is to bring your advertising message in closest proximity to when/where it is most frequently used. That moment is when receptivity to your messaging will be greatest.

Let me take this moment to wish you and your company all of the best in 2009.  We believe that well-positioned brands will thrive despite the economic downturn.  I would love to hear what marketing tactics you are moving ahead with in the new year. Please let us know what you think in the comments below.  Let me know what resonated with you or where you think I came off point.

I would love to learn from you.

All the best in 2009.

And yes, we also did some phenomenal work for The Healing Place, Skier’s Choice, (Ri)¹ Whiskey, Independence Bank and Norton Hospital. I think it’s fair to say we made the absolute most of our opportunities when it came to producing award-winning creative this year. With that said, what I really consider to be our best work for ‘08 may be a campaign that won’t win many (or any) awards at all – the Medicare campaign for Humana.

See, when you have an understanding with a client like Maker’s Mark, producing great creative is expected. That’s not to say it’s easy. But Maker’s wants radical, edgy, sometimes even controversial work, and we deliver it. They don’t mess with it, and the work is very effective. It’s a relationship any creative dreams of, and it just gets better every year. With Humana, however, we were working with a client we didn’t know very well, an insane deadline and a category (Medicare plans for seniors) that’s a breeding ground for boring, truly forgettable advertising. Still, the client bought into a campaign concept that some on their team weren’t all that comfortable with, and they let us run with it. They trusted us, they worked with us, they gave us what we needed to make it happen. And in the end, the work reflects all of that. Yes, some creative concessions were inevitable, but the work still stands out in the category. More important, it’s been one of the most effective campaigns Humana has ever run. We’re proud of that. We should be.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Of course, some of the best work we did in 2008 hasn’t even run yet. But we’ve got all of 2009 to talk about that.