Toellner Tells it

How to be Creative

I've been reading the Gaping Void for a long time...but one of the problems with not picking up blogs on day 1 is that sometimes you miss some of their really good early stuff.

This is a post from 3 years ago on how to be creative.  Great words of wisdom.  Great examples.  And applies to pretty much everyone in any industry.

1. Ignore everybody.

2. The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to change the world.

3. Put the hours in.

4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.

5. You are responsible for your own experience.

6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.

7. Keep your day job.

8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.

9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.

10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

Read the rest here...

The King

  In a rare moment of weakness, I watched the people's choice awards on VH1 last night.  Not my usual viewing pattern, but I figured any excuse to keep up on pop culture would be good for me.

Burger King was obviously a sponsor -- from "The King" (who still is creepy to me and looks like the guy on the King Vitamin cereals -- pictured).  Burger King also used this as an opportunity to promote their video games for $3.99 per game featuring "The KIng". 

I'll tip my had to Crispin again for their funny, catchy work.  Having the King in the audience was an excellent touch and the video games are obviously at the center of current youth culture.  But at the end of the day, I question whether or not any of this will work for Burger King or Crispin.  Sure it's cool -- that's what Crispin does best.  But is it effective?

I ask because all of this seems so contrived to me...and I'm no more or less cynical than the consumers they're trying to reach.  I just feel like consumers are seeking companies with authenticity...this doesn't feel authentic at all.  It feels forced.  It feels like a stale burger place trying to make itself seem cool.  And while they seem to be making the creepy King cool somehow, is it making Burger King cool?  I dunno.  But I think they're lacking the authenticity that will lead to long-term success.

1740 Main Street

Today was the first day in our new building at 1740 Main Street.  There was nothing wrong with our old space.  In fact, I loved it.  But the new space has an excitement to it.  You could tell it from everyone.  Sure, not everything is perfect.  There is still carpet to be laid.  Some walls were still being painted.  But the aura of excitement was definitely there.  The feel of an agency that is getting ready to grow.  To explore.  To break new ground.  It's exciting.  It's cool. 

Public Companies

I'm a stock market dabbler.  I don't really have enough money to truly invest, but I dabble, and buy stock in companies that I think are doing the right things, that I like to shop at, and that I feel good about their future. One company that I've invested in is Whole Foods -- as I think they are a responsible company and I believe that our future is headed toward more organics.

However, this morning, Whole Foods announced that they expect 6-8% increases in their same-store sales -- in spite of averaging double digit growth in same store sales over the past 3 years. The conventional markets have become more competitive," Chief Executive John Mackey said on a conference call on Thursday. "Competition is tougher. No question about it." Mackey pointed to increased competition from smaller places like Trader Joes and larger grocers like Wal-Mart getting into organics. 

This is not news, really. Wal-Mart announced their entry into organics months ago and Trader Joes has been around for years. Yet, at the sound of the "news", Whole Foods' stock price has dropped nearly $17 -- which is nearly 30% of its stock price.

It's just kind of silly.  Their projections are STILL FOR GROWTH.  And honestly, the core Wal Mart consumer and the core Whole Foods consumer are not the same people...in fact, the core Whole Foods consumer (I'm one of them) wouldn't be caught dead in a Wal-Mart.   And yet, the market over-reacts.

I say this because this is an example of why I would not want to work for one of the large advertising conglomerates.  The market does not tolerate changes that are good for long-term growth, but bad for the short term.  Independent companies have for flexibility to make adjustments that may hurt a bit in the short term, but stage themselves better for the long term.  Barkley is going through one of those phases right now...we're making a lot of changes to put ourselves in a great position for long-term growth.  It's exciting.  It's a bit scary.  But it's the right thing to do.  And we can only do it because we are an independent company.  I wouldn't have it any other way...

We needed a study for this?

A new study was released yesterday and the Headline reads: "Study Reveals New Commercial Avoidance Culprit: Talking"

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=49703

I can only ask, "We needed a study for this?"

There has been a lot of talk the last couple years about technology leading to commercial avoidance and that people are skipping our commecials or engaging in other media during commercials.  The reality is, that for as long as we've had other people in the room, refridgerators, remote controls, magazines and bathrooms, people have been avoiding commercials.  The only differences are a) we can now measure avoidance and b) networks have continued to add more commercial time -- thus turning off consumers and c) advertising is becoming increasingly mediocre and unworthy of consumer attention.

Anyone who lives at all, and watches any tv can observe that people as a whole dislike advertising.  It's our job as advertisers to create something that viewers will want to invite into their lives and is worthy of their time.  If we don't, they will, and should, avoid us.

"Repetition does not break through the clutter.  It escalates it" -- Joe Duffy

How much entertainment can we afford?

It was bound to happen. At some point, we all knew that there was going to be a tipping point of how much money Americans would be willing to spend on media.  With Americans spending hundreds of dollars monthly on paid media forms: Internet access, cable/satellite TV, cell phone service, wireless/mobile internet, satellite radio, magazine subscriptions, online content subscriptions, DVRs, etc.  Americans are now spending over 15 hours a day with media.  At some point people were just going to run out of time/money to spend on more media options.  Either they would quit adopting technologies, or, they would have to weed out old forms of media.

Mariane Matera reached her tipping point in a "column" this week.  http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2006/10/12/ESSAY-Matera%20paper%200541.doc.aspx

Because she found herself spending less and less time with newspaper (a growing trend nationally) she finally took the money and the time and decided to completely dedicate these resources elsewhere.  I did the same thing several months ago and signed up for the RSS feed for what pieces of the local newspaper I actually tried to make time for. 

I think it's becoming increasing evident that the future of traditional newspaper is very bleak...but it's demise is very practical from a consumer's standpoint.  There is only so much time/money that people have to spend on media.  As we continue to add new technology, other media may have to go. Keeping up with the trends of how people are moving is imperative to the performance of our clients and our brands.  If the last two years have told us nothing, it is that these changes can happen very quickly -- and will continue to change exponentially faster. 

The Changing Media Landscape

We all know that consumers are utilizing media differently than ever before.  We also know that there is increased fragmentation and that instead of reaching people with a mass message, we need to hit people in niche audiences.  We all get that.

The one thing that is not being discussed in agency and client circles is what this really means for planning purposes.

According to a recent statement by industry guru Erwin Ephron, he currently estimates that there are about 1.125 Quadrillion media options out there for media planners and buyers to choose from to reach their respective audiences.  That is 1,125 followed by 12 zeros -- or 1,125,000,000,000,000. That's a lot of media options.

Now I can assure you that because the number of media options has grown so big so quickly, there is not an agency in the country that is staffed to evaluate over a quadrillion media options.  Nor should there be, as a lot of them aren't viable. 

However, a great many of them are viable.

And yet, as agencies and clients, we are mostly stuck in 1995 in terms of the staffing that we expect to pay for in media departments. 

At some point, some client/agency combination somewhere is going to figure out that in order to effectively evaluate the huge amount of media options out there, and that to effectively reach a large number of tiny niche audiences, it's going to take significantly more staff to do it right.  And they will, and they'll reap the rewards on the backside with better, more targeted, more meaningful media buys.  However, until we realize that most media departments are understaffed to handle the quickly growing number of media outlets that exist, we will continue to get media plans that are include mostly national TV buys.

Look at the media plans of any large conglomerate and you'll find that a huge portion of their budgets are spent on broadcast tv in the upfronts. This is happening in spite of dying tv ratings, audience fragmentation, and increased media costs.  But they continue to do it because it's easier.  And when you don't have time to evaluate everything effectively, you default to what you know, and what is easy.

We're working hard to staff to do it right...and we never do it easy.  Easy died about 5 years ago....it's time the industry catches up.

My one thing

So, when Sally Hogshead made us determine what our one thing was, what was mine?

The one thing truly unique about me is that I'm the guy people stop and ask for directions.  It happens all the time.  I get stopped almost every time I'm on vacation, or walking around in the city.  I was walking to my car at the Farmer's market 2 weeks ago, a woman stopped me and asked for directions to a church she was going to for a funeral.

I've been stopped in Kansas City many times, but also twice on the same trip to LA, in Montreal, in Italy, in Orlando, Atlanta, at a truck stop along I-70, etc.  I get stopped a lot.  Strangely, I've had pretty good success even knowing where things were in the cities where I was only visiting. 

So why am I the one who people stop to ask?  Do I look like I have a map?  Or do I look local? 

I think that it's because I look approachable -- like someone who might know the answer, but am not intimidating to stop and ask.  I look....nice.

So what does that mean for my job?  I work as a media planner.  Media is almost undoubtedly the part of advertising that most clients know the least amount -- and they KNOW they know the least about it.  It can be intimidating.  I think I somehow make media approachable for them...and they like that. Clients know I'm going to know the answer and point them in the right direction. 

That's my one thing.  Maybe a little weird, but it's what I offer that I don't think many others can.

Showing up

On Wednesday nights, I volunteer at a place called the Hope Center.  The Hope Center is a place where inner city kids go to learn more about developing good character, and to help improve their reading/writing skills that the inner-city schools seem to be failing them at teaching.

One of the most important things about working with inner-city youth is that there is very little stability in their lives...parents may go in and out of their lives, they may move regularly, change schools regularly, etc.  One of the biggest things that you can do when working with them to build a relationship with them, is show up.  Making the effort to show up, and be consistant, is an important part of building the trust and relationship.

I think our society has spent too little time emphasizing showing up -- being a consistant presence for clients, for your coworkers, for bosses, etc.  It's important to just be there. 

There is a guy running for City Council in the 4th District of Kansas City, Ezekiel Amador.  Ezekiel shows up at everything...neighborhood crime meetings, the neighborhood homes tour, a fundraising activity in our neighborhood park.  Many people in the neighborhood like him primarily because he keeps showing up.  If anyone is going to take that type of interest in the neighborhood, they're willing to vote for him.

I'm not necessarily endorsing him for the Council seat (in fact, I also very much like one of his opponents) - but I think he is a great example of the power of showing up.  Showing up builds trust---with inner city kids, with neighborhoods and in the workplace.

Passion

Nothing can spark a career like passion.  And nothing is better than seeing someone who does something that is their passion.

My next door neighbor Clifford got laid off from his job a few months ago.  Since then, he has been spending his time painting -- mostly landscapes, but also on-site painting of many of the homes in the our historic area.  This past weekend, Clifford had art on display at our neighborhood homes tour.  He has several people now who want to pay him to paint their houses also. 

I've lived next to Cliff for 2 years. While always one of the most likeable people I've ever met, I have never seen him happier than he was this weekend -- discussing his art with other artists or with other people who owned historic homes in the neighborhood.  He was literally glowing. 

Wouldn't it be great if we could all have that glow when we were working? 

Sally Hogshead spoke at our creativity symposium last week.  She had the group force us to identify what we were better at than anyone else on the planet...and finding that, and how we could relate that to our careers, would be a key to our happiness, and career longevity.  If we're truly happy, that will show through in our work, which would undoubtedly show through in great career success.

Clifford is there. Are you?