tomatolounge

A good creative brief can be therapeutic. Bear with me here. You walk into a meeting thinking you know exactly what your brand challenge is and how to fix it. You just need the agency to execute. Then, you get to talking.

You realize that your brand challenge is stickier than you thought. Or, that you really haven’t mined all the cracks and crevices of a particular opportunity before plunging into a plan of action.

Here’s where a stellar creative brief comes in.

Ideally, the creative brief is a conversation, not an email. You sit in a comfy swivel chair and talk about big, hairy brand challenges and audacious dreams, not headcounts and budgets. You say to your agency, “I want my peers and customers at this industry event to want to have a long-term relationship with my brand. I want them to call my brand late at night just to talk. I want them to hang out with my brand in the cafeteria. I want them to see us and want to be or work with us.”

This is vague, but a good start. A good agency will listen carefully, nod and jot down notes. Then, get to the core of the challenge or opportunity.

They’ll ask probing questions that will uncover new insights. “Why don’t your customers want to call your brand just to talk and who are they calling instead? Why do you want these particular peers to sit with you in the cafeteria? What tangible or intangible benefits can you offer peers and customers at this event? What’s the first thing you want them to think, feel and do when they see your brand? And, when they leave the event, what do you want them to remember about your brand?”

These questions will lead to healthy conversations about your brand. Each and every creative brief — no matter how large or small the project — is an opportunity to dream (and plan) big. Unfortunately, most creative briefs get bogged down in logistics, scope, budgets and timelines. They leave little room for fearless dreaming.

But the creative brief can, and should, be more than a Word template. It should give the client clarity on a specific brand challenge or opportunity. It should also remind the agency of its Hippocratic Oath: We vow to do what is creative and right for your brand.

There is a lesson to be learned from Google’s Internet war with China. The region has more than 250 million people surfing the web, and Internet censorship practices that prevent “subversive” material from influencing the masses. Google has recently challenged (and put pressure on) China to change its censorship practices. The brand is threatening to pull out of search and other potentially lucrative business dealings if the Chinese government continues to force the company to operate within censorship laws.

Let’s face it, Google is a veritable force and verb to be reckoned with. Imagine that — a country where people can no longer Google.

Some argue that Google is using its mighty business and brand (though it is less ubiquitous in China than in other parts of the world) to take a political stand. It will be interesting to see if after on-again-off-again political talks between the U.S. government and China, Google’s brand and business move will prevail. (The U.S. government, by the way, is staying out of Google’s negotiations with China.)

But, Google isn’t taking a stand against China. It’s simply defending its brand promise. The hacking attacks (traced to China) that targeted Google were evidence of a much larger threat against the brand. The company is, and has always been, in the business of liberating information for the masses to consume. Google responded to these attacks by defending its business and brand promise.

Even cynical customers are disappointed when brands break their promises. There’s an age-old lesson brands can all learn from Google’s war with China. Even when tested, a brand promise worth making is worth keeping.

Here is a quick snapshot of the material we conceived and produced for a Telecom Event in Hawaii this week. the entire theme revolved around defying gravity to illustrate the message. As part of this strategy different pieces were produced for the event; Cocktail hour, electronic banner, print ads, posters, on-site signages, invitations, note book, even music compilation,  all had variations of elements or situations that revolve around the theme.

I have to contribute to the new Accenture Ad campaign freshling unveiling in 100 and so airports today with my take on the animal based concept. It  was too tempting after noticing the forced ommission of the tiger in the animal-based line up. more seriously, I Would have given the agency an extra two weeks so they could come up with something more unique than the sure-fire animal theme for a global campaign. I am sure they had some great ideas that all probably went down in the month long focus group.

Accenture remixed by Laurent

Workplace squabbles over promotions or cubicle space are typically negotiated behind closed doors. But what happens when the employee is a brand? They may take their causes to the airwaves. Conan O’Brien did just that. After being screwed out of his Tonight Show time slot, he submitted his resignation letter… to the New York Times blog.

The power of Conan, the brand, is that he can rally viewers around a cause they can all relate to — the employee who worked late shifts all the way to the top only to be slighted in the end. (When I read Conan’s blog, I couldn’t help but think to myself: Go Conan, stick it to the man.)
Of course, Conan isn’t one of the masses. He’s paid a helluva lot more than the masses. But, he has a brand story that will resonate — he’s one of us.  If I was Conan’s boss, I’d be worried. When a brand has a good story to tell, it/she/he can move the market.

But, most employers aren’t NBC execs. They don’t have to worry about their employees becoming the brand. Or, do they? The fact of the matter is: employees are the nuts-and-bolts and spirit of the brand. The institution that is Nike began with a tight-knit group of diehard employees who allegedly had the swoosh tattooed on their bodies. They were the brand. The same was true for Ben & Jerry’s, Snapple and Whole Foods. The best companies to work for are often the best companies to buy from.
As employees become more powerful, through the same interactive tools that enable customers to drive and deride brands online, companies will need to shift their mind-set. First, companies need to view their employees as part of their brand, not HR, strategy.  Second, companies need to relinquish the idea that they can make brand-shattering decisions behind closed doors. After all, we all know how to google. The powers have shifted. The employee and customer are no longer people companies and marketers can “talk at.” They are empowered big mouths and want to be respected as stakeholders who invest time, talent and money into brands.

So what should the execs at NBC do? Duke out a supposed-HR matter through mass media? Yes. As a woman born and raised in a capitalist and democratic society, I say let the market and the people choose. And, by the way, the market is the people. Perhaps in an age of consumer- and data-driven marketing, we, the people, should vote online on who holds the much-contended and coveted 11:35 pm NBC time slot. We vote for our president. Why not vote for Conan?

This is quite possibly the smartest piece of viral film-making I’ve seen.

It seems like the latest media debate is who really owns social media – the agency or the client? Obviously there are benefits and negatives to one or the other running the show. In my opinion the answer to the question is BOTH the client and the agency should be in charge of social media.

My thought process is if a brand is working with an agency for their marketing needs than as an arm of the marketing process, social media must be addressed on both the client and agency sides to ensure that all messaging is aligned. Due to social media relatively “new” presence in the marketing and branding processes many clients find it time consuming and do not feel that they have the ability to take it on and be considered relevant without a dedicated resource. As the Director of Social Media, this is where I feel a person in my role can be most beneficial to a client – I have both the knowledge of the social media platforms and the understanding of the clients messaging (which is handled by the rest of the firm) to work hand in hand with the client to create an agreed upon social media message and strategy that matches their existing marketing efforts.

This article from MediaPost is a great read on the subject – http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=119450

In case you haven’t noticed there is a pacman trend in typeface and branding going on lately. from the Museum of Art and Design identity ( Pentagram) to the Mobile service venture between TATA and Docomo (Ollins) the Pacman typeface is everywhere