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/

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.

Little Debbie is putting a lot of faith into Facebook.  Much like last year’s promotion that sent cupcake wrapped smart cars around the U.S. for product sampling, this year, they plan on sending an Airstream trailer to 20 cities across the U.S. where consumers can sample products and share pictures that will eventually (and inevitably) live on Facebook.

Last year’s promotion carried their Facebook fan count from 5,000 to 500,000, so naturally they’re looking for big numbers with this new campaign in hopes of topping the one million mark shortly after the end of the year.  What do they plan on doing with these newly acquired fans?  That’s the interesting part.  “It’s more about building relationships with consumers than trying to drive sales at this point,” Mr. Anthony said. “We’re thinking about Facebook as rich territory for developing future campaigns and for general ideation for all sorts for brand activities.”

I think this is pretty cool.  Hell, I’d love to work with a client that would spend 2.95 million on a social media campaign.  I’d love to work with a client that cared more about brand relationships than sales goals.  BUT, I’d also want to make sure that client was getting back the same investment they put in.  I’d want to have data that measured the amount of Little Debbie products purchased every so often from a Facebook fan vs. a non-engaged consumer.  No social media metric is impressive unless there’s data to back it up, no matter how high the number of fans or followers.  I’d want to make sure that I had skilled professionals monitoring those conversations, and mining the data for category trends and behaviors and tailor promotions towards them.  Most importantly, I wouldn’t focus on the number of interactions, I’d focus on the quality.

Do I think Little Debbie is moving too fast to reach scale rather than substance?  No.  I think they’re doing good.  Am I going to monitor this campaign and the future engagement they get out of it?  You bet. Kudos Little Debbie for branching out. 

Hostess, are you a believer yet?

Original article featured in the New York Times.

Where are you right now?  Chances are I don’t have to look much further than Facebook to find out.  My friend Marissa is currently at the St. Louis Chinese Christian Church.  A guy I used to go to school with is at the Bouley Upstairs.  Someone else I know is at the Playoff Sports Bar.  Do I care?  Not really.  But it does beg the question: does sharing our location really make the world more social?  

I’ve written a ton of articles about Foursquare and I do believe that it is a social platform for the future.  It has revolutionized the way some people act and will be a great platform for location-based communication and loyalty based incentive programs down the road.  So why did Facebook enter the marketplace?  Because it can.

On the week of August 16, Facebook launched a new functionality called Places.  It’s only available on mobile devices and is used primarily to check in at different venues and share your location with friends and family who may be in near proximity to you. The video below says it best.  (Note the very apple-esque  nature of the video.  I applaud them for the effort.  It sells me with its style).

Now without further adu, the main competitor Foursquare, and the video promoting their service.  (Note the very fun nature of the video.  Not a huge fan, but the service has been around for a while now and it fits the brand and the style of the company).

As an avid fan of Foursquare I won’t lie and say that I welcome Places with open arms.  Luckily however, I don’t think this will change the game.  At this point, Foursquare has a one-up on innovation and ideas for usage.  You get badges, rewards, leave comments, receive promotions, etc.  Trust me, I know Facebook has plans to do all of this and more, and believe me, with the amount of users on the platform, they will do it with ease, but I won’t be giving up on the underdog just yet.  Plus, there’s still a very small minority of people who want to share their locations (ie. moms currently out of the equation).  

Will Facebook places make the world more social?  Maybe.  But it doesn’t change the fact that without a reason to check in, people won’t check in, without hi-speed Internet on their phone, people won’t check in, and without a guarantee that their privacy is protected, people won’t check in.  However, the fact remains: it’s a fun idea with a whole lot of substance.  What I hope for is this: a world more interested in sharing insightful information on particular places.  What I hope for more than that: that people won’t be posting info on their late night trip to McDonalds or their good night’s sleep at the Hampton Apartment Club. 

Here’s to wishful thinking.

What you do you think of Facebook Places?  Are you going to remain loyal to Foursquare?  Will you stay away and keep your location private?  You should leave your comments below.

Related Articles

Less About Now...More About Later | My Take on the Future of Foursquare

Foursquare:  A Social Media Playground for Internet Addicts