I’m going to take the next two weeks off from blogging and take some time to hibernate.  In the meantime, I’ll be crafting some year end posts that I’d like to get out around January 1st.  The two posts I’m working on are as follows:

1. 7 Trend in Advertising We’ll See in 2011
2. New Years Resolutions

I have some pretty high expectations around the first, whereas the second will be a bit more personal.  Regardless, I’m excited about continuing the momentum of this blog well into 2011.  I’ve gotten over 21,704 (13,000 of which were from a well optimized World Cup post) site views over this past year.  I couldn’t be more impressed with this number.

Thank you for all of your supports and your continued views and visits.  Happy Holidays and please check back in January for the posts mentioned above.

P.S. I’ll still be busy over at Popcorn Jury watching movies and writing reviews.  Please continue to stop by the site as you look to head to the movie house over the Holiday.

Best regards, 

Michael Buffa

I’m not a hard guy to impress.  The most powerful thing to me is passion, and not just having passion, but actually taking that passion and applying it to something.  I think if you’re a good writer, you should write, if you’re a good designer, you should design, and if you’re a good thinker, you should think (and do something with those thoughts).  

In the age of the Internet, it’s easier than ever to impress.  I get that there’s only a certain amount of time in the day, and that as you get older, you get more responsibility.  At some point in everyone’s life you’ve got to give up the Dell in exchange for a diaper.  Trust me, I really do get it.  Regardless, I’m still inspired by those out there doing something special, something unique, something that only they may see, and only they may be proud of.  Creativity is a weird thing.  It comes in different shapes and forms.  Sometimes you’ve gotta search for it, but with the Internet, it’s always out there.  

Without further adu, here’s one of the most impressive, unique things I’ve seen all year. 

Matt Roeser is a graphic designer in St. Louis, Missouri.  He works for a pretty rad design firm that’s making quite the name (and trust me, they’ve got quite the name) for themselves in the Saint Louis ad/design community.  I’ve never met Matt, and who knows if I ever will, but what I do know is that regardless of what he’s doing at work (which I’m sure is great), it’s the stuff he’s doing on the side that is truly beyond impressive.

Matt designs book covers in his free time. He’s not getting paid, he’s probably not getting a ton of exposure, and he’s probably spending a ton of time on each design, but he’s creating something unique, something memorable, and something worth sharing.  I think this is the future of the creative community.  It’s not going to be about what you’ve learned or done in the past, it’s going to be about what you’re currently doing and how you’re continually improving upon your craft.  How do you become a better designer?  You design.  How do you get hired to design a book cover?  You design books.

Far too many people think they’re entitled to something because of their education or their work history.  I find people less impressive who rely on that as their claim to fame.  I’m interested in those activity pursuing a passion.  I’m interested in those that realize in the age of the Internet, we shouldn’t be worried about hiding what we’re bad at, we should be showcasing that in which we're good.

View all of Matt's design on his New Cover blog:

http://newcover.tumblr.com/

This was a summary write up for last month's REBUS that never quite saw the light of day.  A month old, but still completely relevant, check out the recap from what I consider a pretty powerful presentation on the evolution of an ad agency-- specifically Schupp Company.

Evolution, reform, progress, transformation – call it what you want to call it, the advertising landscape has changed.  With every new medium, employees must get smarter and agencies must work harder to stay ahead of curve.  On November 16, Schupp Company opened their doors to REBUS to shed some light on how their agency has adapted to changes taking over the industry and how these changes have affected copywriters, account managers, interactive designers, and media buyers on an individual basis.

Jim Mayfield, senior VP, Executive Creative Director, kicked off Schupp Company’s presentation with a brief background on the evolution of their agency model.  “When we started, everything in our agency was separate, including digital.  There was advertising, direct marketing, sales promotions, public relations, and digital.  Now, all those elements still exist, but they’re all connected together by digital.”  He also touched on a variety of other subjects centered on agency evolution such as the importance of engagement (over simple exposure) and the idea that media is now just as important as the message. 

Next up was Brian McLaughlin, Associate Media Director at Schupp Company.  Talking about his role, he stressed the importance of media planning early on in the creative process and using media as a building block for ideas, rather than just the outlet to carry them out.  Touching on elements like social media and blogs, he stated, “It’s a new world of opportunity that’s not just about GRPs, reach, or frequency. It’s about how brands, media and society work together.”

Sara Bremehr, an Account Supervisor at Schupp was next in line to discuss how her role in account management has changed over the last few years. She stated, “Today, it’s far more important to be a strategic marketer than simply a relationship manager.  There’s tremendous pressure on AEs to be a “Jack of all trades” and quite frankly, to be successful, you must strive to fit that role.”

Chris Douglas, Interactive Creative Director and Anthony Simmons, Senior Creative Director rounded out the presentation by touching on what it takes to be successful in today’s creative environment. Simmons opened up with “Everyone is a writer; but it’s up to actual writers to create successful consumer engagements that provide unique opportunities to start a conversation.”  Douglas finished with the following advice, “Roll up your sleeves, embrace technology, and most importantly, create.  A true creative is always creating.” 

The evening ended with some networking, a play by play of Schupp’s latest on-premise promotion “Bet on Taste”, and a casual tour around the three story office complete with pool table, beer vending machine, and indoor basketball court.  For those in the industry, it’s easy to imagine evolving when the environment alone does nothing but stimulate the senses.

Thanks to Schupp for hosting and thanks to everyone who attended the event.  Stay tuned to the REBUS blog to find out which agency will be hosting next month’s event.

Last week I was able to attend a presentation on Belief Dynamics from a man by the name of Jack Bruemmer, the Executive Vice President of D’Arcy (1959-1995), one of the most famous STL ad firms from the Golden era that now makes up a good portion of Leo Burnett.

In the presentation, he discussed the following:

“Strategy, what we do before we create ads, is more important, interesting, and is worthy of more attention than we've been giving it.”

As for belief dynamics, it can kinda be labeled as the following: a clear, useful philosophy of how advertising works and a discipline to make it happen.

Belief Dynamics provides a better way to understand the consumer.  It helps to avoid false starts and wasted creative efforts.  It helps to create advertising that influences consumer behavior.  At the heart of belief dynamics?  The fact that great advertising is always built on customer insight.  Always.  And that insight can always be manipulated.  Always.

It’s important to identify what you are selling and what the consumer wants to get from your product.  For instance, Kodak originally thought they were selling cameras.  Then they decided, they were actually selling film.  Sure the camera is the first step, but the film is how they maintain the relationship.  Years later they truly identified what they were selling.   They were selling memories.

Looking at other big brands from the golden era further expands on this idea.  For example, Michelin became a huge tire brand back in the day.  They didn’t get huge by selling tires (technically) they got huge by selling safety for one’s family and one’s children.  Crest did the same thing with their “Look mom, no cavities” campaign that didn’t sell toothpaste, it sold the key to being a good mother.

In the scenarios above, we can look at it like this: the IT is the actual product a brand is selling.   So in the Michelin example, the IT is expensive tires.  The ME is what the consumer is buying (in theory) so, in this case, the consumer is buying something that qualifies them as a safe driver and a good parent.  The THEM is all of the other influences that affect the decision making process, so in this case, the idea that this brand of tires is the only safe option for my family, my friends, and those that depend on me.

All behavior is based on beliefs.  Beliefs “program” behavior.  To change behavior, you must change certain beliefs.  Advertising works to create, strengthen or alter beliefs to make people behave the way advertisers want them to.

IT beliefs engage the mind.  ME and THEM beliefs engage the heart and soul.  IT beliefs help you understand.  ME and THEM beliefs make you care.

Whatever your beliefs, one things for sure.  Strategy is more important than ever.  What we're selling isn't always what it seems.  And changing beliefs is always a necessary step to change a behavior. 

Sorry this is cryptic, it's a tough idea to wrap your head around.  I wish I had the presentation because it was definitely worth posting.  The folks at D'Arcy were on to something.  I wish I woulda been around sooner to understand just what it was.

A lot of people would argue that time spent on Facebook and Twitter while at work is a waste.  I’d say that depends on who you’re talking to and what you’re talking about.  I’m a big believer in the humanization of brands.  I believe that if I can be a credible resource of information on Twitter, those individuals that follow me, and actually pay attention to what I post, will in turn believe that the company I work for is a credible resource within the industry.  If I’m on there tweeting about the newest Taylor Swift album, yea, I’m wasting company time.  But if I’m sharing insights on the next great campaign or an interesting article from Ad Age, that’s not a waste of time, that’s a good use of time, quite possibly even a good use of time that should be encouraged amongst all employees.

David Armano created a model for this type of engagement.  He refers to it as the Ambassador Ecosystem.  In it, he talks about employees, advocates, and partners, and outlines each of their roles in the engagement process.  He’s not telling employees to keep their mouth’s shut, he’s encouraging company’s to leverage what their employees have to say.  He’s not telling companies to shy away from social networks, he’s recommending a company spokesperson, someone who can use social networks to leverage the growth of the company and their brands.

Ever since I started following @LenKendall, I’ve looked at Golin Harris in a different light.  Same goes with @EdwardBoches and Mullen and @Armano and Edelman.  If these folks weren’t “wasting their time” at work, I wouldn’t know of their company, I wouldn’t know what they work on, and I sure as heck wouldn’t be able to share their names and the company information with the hundreds of people that I engage with everyday on Twitter.  

The mindset that social media isn’t work got thrown out the door a long time ago. 

If you’re still not a believer, just look at it like this:  social media is the new smoke break. Everyone’s entitled to a few minutes a day.

Going through high school, I remember trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to do when I got older.  To be quite honest, advertising never really crossed my mind, but looking back I do remember making a :60 tv-spot for Galyans Sporting Goods (now Dicks) and I remember it being a whole lot of fun.  The most fun part for me was always adding the music in at the end.  I feel like I was always genuinely good at that part.  

My love for music in advertising never did fade, but it did take a slight turn in a different direction.  For the longest time I wanted to be a music supervisor for a television show.  It started with the O.C. featuring tracks from Bright Eyes, Death Cab, and of course, Phantom Planet.  The scene where Marissa shoots Trey literally began my obsession with Hide & Seek by Imogen Heap:

When TV started to fade, the next gradual step for me was movies, and I for the longest time wanted to be the guy who picked the music for the movie trailers.  How good of a gig would that be.  I mean seriously, no one knew how badass the Fray was until this was released:

So let’s just say I was very excited to see that there is in fact a role for someone who loves music in an ad agency.  Trust me, I by no means aim to have the position, as my interest in music has slightly skewed downward over the past few years, however still, this dude pretty much has it made.  His name is Gabe McDonough and he’s a Music Director at Leo Burnett.  The highlight from his interview, which can be found here, is below:

All-time best use of music in an ad?

Well, you know all the old chestnuts… “Revolution” for Nike, “Pink Moon” and all that, but I’m also a massive fan of local carpet and mattress store ads. They always have the CATCHIEST jingles and can somehow lodge their phone number into your brain. Today, I’m also liking this one.

Me?  I still like this one:

What are you favorite examples of the influence of music in either television, trailers, or advertisements?  Leave the Youtube url in the replies.

A prime debate in the world of digital media is whether or not to create your own platform for sharing media or use one that already exists.  A prime example of this would be whether to create a blog where you review local restaurants in St. Louis or  simply post your reviews to a popular restaurant review site like Yelp or Open Table.  In my opinion, it all depends on how much time you have, but I will say that I find it quite important to own content, rather than simply renting space to put it on.

The debate doesn’t have to go much further than renting movies or buying music.  If you rent a movie, it’s often easier, cheaper, and more convenient, but at the end of rental period, the movie is no longer yours.  Same with music.  If you join a streaming service, you can listen to as much music as you want, but rest assured that right after you terminate that agreement, that music is gone.

With the advent of sharing platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and IMDB, the shelf-life of important information has been greatly shortened.  That’s why I find owning content is so important.  It lasts and it’s yours and the shelf-life can be as long or as short as you’d like it to be.  Let’s look further.

Instead of posting content to Popcorn Jury (my movie review site) I could simply write reviews for IMDB (a popular online film database).  The problem is, the minute I turn that content over, it’s there’s to do with how they want.  Within a matter of minutes, it’s approved and live online, but then what?  What did I get out of that relationship.

Same goes with Yelp.  Sure I try and post reviews of local restaurants for the benefit of the community, but the minute I write that review, I’m handing the content to them and getting nothing in return.  With owned content, your investing in something that’s yours, something that’s infinite, and something that’s unique to you, not to be overshadowed by thousands of others like you on other existing platforms.  

That’s not to say that sharing media on existing platforms isn’t important.  Trust me, a review that I post on IMDB will get at least twice as many hits as something I’d post on my own site,  but I’ll be honest in saying that I never post to one without copying the post to another.  That way, I’m getting the reach, but owning the content all the same.

This same theory applies to Twitter and Facebook too.  Sure, if something is trivial, but entertaining, I’ll simply retweet the link or share the url, but if the content is engaging or worth reading, I’ll blog about it.  Why?  Because people don’t pay as much attention to content shared through social networks.  Your tweet?  Very few people click on it.  Your Facebook post?  Hundreds of things appear on the newsfeed every minute.  It goes in one ear and out the other.  That stuff on your blog?  It’s there to stay and people will find it.

In a recent Ad Age article, researchers studied the infamous McDonalds Happy Meal and the effect that it had on McDonald’s sales and revenue.  A spokesperson for the brand stated that Happy Meal sales accounted for less than 10% of the company’s revenue.  While this may seem great, in reality, that means Happy Meal sales alone generated more revenue for McDonalds than every meal on the menu at Panera, IHOP, and Dairy Queen stores nationwide. 

That’s huge.

In more alarming news (for the Health nuts out there), Technomic’s 2009 Consumer Trends Report states that “37% of kids choose McDonalds as their favorite restaurant, with an overwhelming 87% of those kids claiming the toy was their biggest reason for choosing so.”

So what’s the good news?  The trend report also claims that Subway is the second favorite choice among kids, offering a much healthier menu for parent and child alike.  

My advice to health food chains: Start offering a toy and a fun place to play.