El Gaffney

Inbox of Immaturity is Back…Kinda

Sure, it’s nice to have a handful of time-wasting links in one place; however, I started to find that by the time I posted them the links were old news. Therefore, I think I’m going to resurrect the Inbox of Immaturity on Twitter.

But given it’s a snowy Friday morning, I figured I’d give you a couple cozy videos. Plus, I wanted to ask (in an accusatory way): How have none of my “friends” told me that these exist? Natalie and Rashida. Come on. Sure, there’s funnier stuff on the site but seriously. My favorite of the three:

As for one of the best series of videos on FoD, Zach G. is back with his third installment of “Between Two Ferns.” This time with John Hamm. So you know, it gets a little inappropriate at times but the “Websites” part is classic.

Tags: actors, comedians, funnyordie, ioi, zachgalifianakis

And Boom Goes The Holiday Party

You irresponsible motherfuckers.

Advertising. While holiday parties are being canceled, scaled back, etc., it reminds me of all the other holiday parties I’ve been to in my 6 years in the biz. Every year some of the geezers (original MadMen) of the industry and even some of the old guys (30-40 year-old’s, that is) talk about parties past. The wild times without worries or inhibitions. The excess. The skinny dipping. The drugs.

No. I don’t want the drugs. But we didn’t get our good ‘ole days or our dot-com boom. People my age came in at the bust, enjoyed a few normal years, and now have to deal with this crazy recession.

So. Realize this: We don’t want to hear about your stinkin’ glory day holiday events. And realize what we’re thinking on the other days when you tell us to pay our dues: “Why? We’re already paying for the mess you’ve made.”

What we’d actually prefer to do is roll up our sleeves and get to solving the problem. What we don’t want to do is roll up our sleeves and do the bullshit work while you get to “take a stab” at solving it.

You taught us this top-down model. AAE to AD eventually. A good idea can come from anywhere in the creative department. You value our understanding of “the digital life” enough to hear our explanation of how we use social networks but not enough to put us in the room with the potential client, to whom you’re selling that understanding.

And not just in the ad industry. You taught my Banking friends that it’s normal to work 90 hours a week, be unhealthy but filthy rich. You taught the Asset Managers to manage relationships, you’ll take care of the investments. You taught my friends in Fashion to sell on shows, showrooms, and parties. You taught those working for Magazines and Newspapers to worry about content, not the medium/delivery mechanism. You taught new Teachers to stick to the curriculum and focus on preparing students for standardized tests if they want tenure. That this is just the way it is; that we should just deal with it. We fell in line and look what happened.

You taught us to respect our elders. We say, “Earn it.”

It’s time for new ways.

[This rant was inspired by this fantastic post by Charles Frith, a responsible "old" guy in advertising (which there are many others including Gen Gifted on right sidebar), who used the word "party" in the title of his post. My title inspired by this.]

Tags: genY, party, rants

B-fore You Go to B-School, Consider This

Here’s an interesting idea that seemed worth a post rather than just a delicious bookmark. Seth Godin is offering an alternative to Business School - spend 6 months in his office. It’s an “apprenticeship/not-internship/graduate school/charm school track-changing opportunity.” Yes, apprenticeship slash grad school…and not the other way around. And yes, that Zoolander reference probably wouldn’t fly in an application to his program or any of the prestigious universities from which he may steal talent. More probable than getting the MBA-seeking to reconsider, he’s created something motivating for the entrepreneurial path-changer. The idea is great, the timing is even better, and the price is best—it’s free. If I hadn’t found something real and if I wasn’t so into keeping it real here at W+K NY, I’d definitely give it some serious consideration.

UPDATE: My buddy, who is likely headed to a top ranked business school next Fall, passed on this site to get prospective B-schoolers take on Other Seth’s offer. Also, note to planners, the Business Week Business School forums are usually filled with great opinions, emotion, and insight. Last note, my friend did not want a “shout-out” on the blog because he’s “trying to stay as much under the radar online as possible until this whole silly business school process is over…interviews and such.” Now there’s a new, FREE perspective for us bloggers.

Tags: ideas, mba, school, seth godin

Finding Something Real

This is a response to Clay Parker Jones’ Longing for Something Real.

I was just alerted to Clay’s latest post via Twitter. He sets expectations upfront that it’s introspective, focused on the job of a strategist in the world of communications, and a bit long. I will do the same. This is my initial reaction, also focused on the role of an account planner (another term for strategist), and I have no idea how long it’s going to be.

As I started reading, I found his honesty refreshing and many of themes he touches on relatable—at least to another 27-year-old in the advertising industry. Though I’d imagine much of what he’s offered will be less than foreign to older strategists and anyone looking for professional satisfaction. Anyway, somewhere around his third paragraph, I realized I was going to comment—most likely, “good stuff, brother.” But then when he started tackling his second question—Can strategy be fulfilling?—I started taking notes. (Yes, buddy freehand first - just like your pops taught you.)

I was compelled to write…

You may be surprised (if you haven’t been already) how many people don’t know what to do next, what to do now. Yes, that goes for job searching. However, I’m going talk about marketers. They just aren’t sure what to do for their “brand.” (This is the last time I use the “b” word in this post.) They don’t know what to do say about their companies, its products and/or services. They don’t know how they should be saying it or where. Often, they don’t have know who they should be talking with. A few steps back, they don’t have a clear sense why they want to “communicate” in the first place.

We are problem solvers. And sometimes the most important work we do is helping people (our clients) define the real problem they want to address.

We are storytellers with discipline. And though we don’t create the ads, we can blend strategy and creativity in weaving together a story that’s rooted in a deep understanding of people (our client’s current and/or potential customers) and how we can actually offer value to them.

We, as Denzil Meyers put it, help people find the best way to move forward.

Without us there would be less differentiation, interestingness, and effectiveness. There would probably be less respect for the people many of our clients and co-workers still call “consumers” as if they are waiting around ready to hear about the company’s latest and greatest. Even if now they’re not only sitting on their couches in front of a TV but also at their desks in front of computers, online.

They still need someone to explain the social aspect of communications. Because many have only been broadcasting out for their entire lives as marketers. That worked. It’s all they had to do. They understand the two-way nature of conversations in theory but not necessarily how to practice it. With regards to the respect you brought up and I just mentioned, they are respectful individuals but don’t always practice respectful communications. This respect has to manifest itself online as well as in communications meant for traditional media.

Take the recent Motrin headache. (Yeah, I know hundredth person to go there.) Do you think it matters that it was an online video rather than a TV commercial? Hells no. It’s a piece of communications that showed a lack of understanding of the people they wanted to talk to—moms. To be fair, it’s possible they we’re looking to talk with, or engage, these moms in dialogue. But I’m quite sure this is not the “we get you” takeaway they were hoping for. In short, some moms found the ad to be disrespectful. Yet now they have a community that’s bigger than their yoga class, brunch group, or (insert modern mommy stereotype here), more easily connected, and has a stage to respond. (They weren’t going to buy a TV spot in the past and a strongly worded letter probably would not have made the splash a group of bloggers and Tweeters and YouTubers did.)

Marketers need to understand the expectations of their companies, not just for speed of apology. I feel like it’s more important than ever that they have someone helping them dig down to their essence, truly get to know the people they want to sell to and support, find their voice, and keep them honest while not losing their specialness in communicating with others.

As strategists/planners, this is our job. And while I don’t find it fulfilling every day, on the whole, it’s pretty damn sweet.

Ironically (?) not having written anything on planning in a while has had me feeling less fulfilled. So thank you for putting something out there that made me think and type out more than a half-assed comment.

Also, just so you know, I already consider you a “thinker-doer.” In fact, I have that as a label in G-Mail for convos I have with you, Mike (who you shout-out), Noah, Eric, Chet, Johanna, Amit, Kevin, Leland, Adrian, Paul, and a few others. No joke. I agree I will only be adding more planners and ex-planners to that folder.

And one more thing…Brands! Ah, that felt good.

Tags: blogging, clay, friends, planning

Work and The Work

I’ve pretty much been ignoring this blog save a few running for charity and starting a non-profit posts.

What a good guy!

But truth is, most of my time has been spent trying to get you people (especially the sports fans among ya) to feel a deeper, stronger connection to ESPN. I do this primarily, as many of you know, by developing interesting strategies for their variety of properties. These ideas serve as platforms for our creative work.

That’s what we call what you call “ads” here at W+K, the “work.” I wanted to use this post not only to make an excuse about being super busy with work but also to show you the most recent work I have been a part of bringing to life (in my own small way).

When most sports fans think of ESPN’s advertising, they think “those SportsCenter commercials.” And that’s a good thing because most of them ‘em. I do too (even if they don’t require a “planner” and brief). When we set out to announce the start of SportsCenter going live in the morning, however, some strategic thinking was essential. Planning’s role (my role) was as much about tonal approach as it was about message. The news itself was not wildly important news to sports fans nor would it have a huge impact on the show, so we had to be honest, transparent even, and make the campaign the news/entertainment. The tagline (as it often does) encapsulated our strategy “More work for us. More better for you.” You seen it (and my handwriting) here already.

In addition, I am particularly jazzed (yeah, I said it) about latest work we did right after the Olympics. Our clients smartly wanted to be proactive about making a statement that celebrated this global event (which of course ran on NBC, not ESPN). We framed the challenge to figure out a way to be true to our personality without being self-serving. We turned the work around within a week and the response to our ad in the Sunday New York Times has been great.

Also very recently, we launched our campaign for Monday Night Football on ESPN. The idea is simple, Monday Night Football helps you get through Monday. Was this a planning breakthrough? Hells no. But it’s the truth, and in my career as a planner, I’ve found some of the campaigns I’m most proud of working on have started with identifying a clear truth like Mondays suck or You need a vacation (Bahamavention). Back to the MNF campaign, I’m really happy with how it turned out…and only partly because MC Hammer is in one TV spot. (Whose beeper keep beepin’ and beepin’!?) Check out Creativity’s nice write-up.

Other than that, I’ve been working to get our office’s blog in full swing, updating my Tumblr, and of course wishing I was responsible for the brief that led to this work.

Tags: espn, mnf, olympics, wk