Ponderings Ponderings

Faith In Humanity Restored: Cheerios

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VifdBFp5pnw]As a stark contrast to my last post, I thought I'd end the week with something a bit more positive. I'm sure you've all seen this by now. It's an interview with kids - about 6 to 13 years old, regarding their thoughts on the controversial Cheerios commercial that was aired with a mixed race couple. Spoiler: the kids had absolutely no idea that people could be against mixed race couples. Once they were made aware of the negative comments via the YouTube video, they were completely outraged and thought anyone who would spend their time spewing racial hate, was a loser and should be banned from YouTube.

I love when interviews of a random sampling brings more color to a quantitative study that's already been done. Back in April 2012, JWT published a report, Gen Z: Digital In Their DNA. While the report focused on the digital habits of Gen Z, it's findings show that their digital habits might explain their worldview. I've always found fault with separating digital strategy with account planning. As planners, we have an obligation to understand how digital technology effects our very being and we should use digital tools to gain these insights. Thanks to the ubiquity of experiencing life through Instagram, we now all have constant FOMO - a term coined in the mid-80's but only now coming into common use. Parents are cautioned against giving their children too much iPad screen time for fear it will effect their cognitive abilities and make them more prone to ADD. And on the more positive side, children can now use digital to gain a more personal view of their counterparts from around the world through social media - way more revealing than the hand written pen-pal letters of the past. Without barriers such as geography or even social exclusion, children have learned that the kid on the other side of the world might have a different reality, but at their core, they are dealing with some of the same set of problems. They can no longer be taught to fear "the other." In fact, JWT found that:

"One consequence of this hyper-connectedness will be Gen Z’s multicultural and globally oriented mindset—much like Millennials but further amplified. Kids are Skyping with peers on the other side of the globe, and they’re taking part in initiatives like the Face to Faith program (part of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation), which uses technology to connect students of different religions and cultures. Expect even more linguistic and cultural borrowings and consistencies across distant nations and regions."

So as us New Yorkers deal with the extreme heat, still reeling from some of the sadder and maddening news that started off the week, we can find comfort in the knowledge that there's reason to be optimistic about our global future.

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Ponderings Ponderings

There's No Straight Answer

I'm currently reading Baratunde Thurston's How To Be Black. "But wait," you ask, "why would this very white girl from New Jersey care about issues of black identity?" A few months ago, while meeting with one of the most thoughtful in house agency recruiters, I was asked to explain what interested me about account planning. I told her that I have always been interested in how people's backgrounds and culture shape who they are."That's interesting," she responded. "So Molly, how would you describe yourself on those terms? How has your culture shaped who you are?"

I thought about this for a moment and then realized that despite outward appearances, I'm the product of two very different cultures. When asked what my religion is, I proudly proclaim that I'm a Jewthuran; Jewish and Lutheran. If the person asking is Jewish, it is almost guaranteed that their next question will be, "Who's Jewish, your mother or your father." To which I respond, "My mother, but her parents were practically Atheist while my dad's religion played a more prominent role in my upbringing." Occasionally they'll say in a satisfied, matter of fact tone, "You're Jewish." At which point I'll role my eyes and change the subject because I find the idea that someone else can declare you a particular religion somewhat absurd. I think back to my confirmation classes, bi-annual church visits and fantastically cooked Jewish holiday meals and realize that I still haven't determined which religion I ultimately will choose.

Just as Baratunde grapples with pre-conceived notions of what it means to be black, many of us have aspects of our own identities that fall outside of what is expected. And sometimes the realities of who we are contradicts the perception of who people think we are.

Recently, I decided to wear my hair curly. I usually make some attempt to straighten it because it's more predictable. The choice to let my hair go curly often feels like I'm embracing my Jewish heritage. Which in itself is an interesting discussion. Is Judaism the only religion that is both a religion and ethnicity? As I waited for the train with my abundant curls framing my face, an elderly man came up to me, asking me a question that I couldn't understand because it was presumably in Hebrew. I explained to him that I didn't speak Hebrew because I wasn't Jewish. He looked at me like he knew I was lying, because I was, or at least not telling him the whole truth. Because I am Jewish, at least partially by ethnicity. I'm also Norwegian, French, English ... but like a second generation American immigrant, my apparence allows me to navigate between two world while never feeling a full part of either.

So as planners, when we look at who our consumers are, we must look at them in the context of their culture. Did they grow up in an urban environment, exposed to a myriad of cultures and influences? Are they second generation Chinese whose only indicator of their ethnicity lies with their appearance? Self-made or family money? Private school or public? Artist or doctor? Gay or straight? What information do we need to tell the whole story of who these people are? Because until we get the whole story, we run the risk of speaking to them in a language that they don't understand.

With these questions in mind, what cultural influences have shaped who you are? 

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Digital Strategy Toolbox

Just stumbled upon this very helpful Slideshare Deck, Digital Strategy Toolbox created by Julian Cole of BBH and Amber Horsburgh of MTV. They go through the process of digital strategy; i.e. consumer and category research, discourse analysis and environment using Holiday Inn as an example. Because planning processes tend to vary so much between agencies, it's great to get a sense of their process and tools. Amber is also teaching a Skillshare Class which you can check out here.[slideshare id=15164027?rel=0&w=427&h=356&fb=0&mw=0&mh=0&style=border: 1px solid #CCC; border-width: 1px 1px 0; margin-bottom: 5px;&sc=no]

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Miami Ad School Account Planning Tips: Part Two

Since graduating Miami Ad School's Account Planning Boot Camp back in December 2010, I've gotten a considerable number of emails from people about to attend the program, asking for advice. So, I thought I'd create a Part Two to answer their questions.Check out my original post from February 2011 that outlines some basic advice on what to do before and during the program. Then peruse some of my posts under Advice. Apologies for the missing pictures but they got lost when I switched blog names. I give advice for doing job searches and general networking, but I encourage you to read [amazon_link id="0385512058" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]Never Eat Alone[/amazon_link] by Keith Ferrazzi. You should also check out the videos under the same category done by PSFK and RedScout.

If you don't come from an advertising background, immerse yourself in all things advertising. Sign up for newsletters from Ad Age, Ad Week, Creativity and even PSFK. I find the free information particularly helpful and anything else - I usually don't have time to read. You can also check out Junior Strategy for more information specifically about planning.

Clean up your online presence and make sure it's professional. How would you brand yourself? You had to brand yourself for the application and now think about your Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram profiles. I found these social networking tools were a great way to meet future employers. Figure out what your "secret sauce" is. Are you a fantastic writer? Do you come from a film background and can emphasize your storytelling abilities? Are you a digital and social media wiz? Employers are looking to easily say, "oh, so and so is great with quant" rather than finding the jack of all trades.

It's been two years since I attended the course and I can't be sure what the current curriculum is, but be sure to remember that the world of strategy extends beyond being an account planner who briefs creatives to make print, web and television commercials. You could be a brand strategist, a social media strategist, content strategist, community manager, innovation strategist.. the list goes on. Make sure these possibilities are addressed in your program.

While the Boot Camp gives you an extra edge, it's no guarantee to getting a job right away. Generally you're surrounded by teachers from top agencies and taught the idealized version of planning where difficult clients, budgets and regulations don't apply. But when you graduate, you have to start somewhere and you're better off taking an internship, junior planning position, or planning position at a less desirable agency than waiting for the perfect job to open up. International students will have a harder time finding a job in the U.S. because they'll have to convince employers to sponsor them, but I suspect employers like having an international perspective from their planners so at least that works in their favor. Employers seem to want people who are young, fresh out of school and willing to intern or work for less money especially if it's a big or hot agency. Those who've switched careers and are in their late 20s/early 30s have to carve a more unique path to finding a full time job; one that might involve more contract work or taking a decent salary cut.

Finally, be incredibly proactive in your job search. Have an idea of what agencies you want to work for beforehand. Start going on informational interviews with recruiters and agencies. Keep them posted on your graduation date and make sure to follow up. The advertising world is rapidly changing as budgets move more towards digital and clients expect measurable results. Consider working on the client side, working for a startup, or in other strategic capacities that utilize skills learned at ad school. You're about to pursue a coveted job in a very competitive industry but the possibilities are endless so get cracking.

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advice advice

Planning: We Bring The Divergent Thinking In From The Outside by Heidi Hackemer

Just stumbled upon this presentation given by former BBH Strategy Director, now freelancer and dare I say, life-liver, Heidi Hackemer. Like many planners who've reached a senior level, she had a crisis of faith in the traditional planning model realizing that the linear career path, reliance on focus groups and online reports and value placed on "busyness" were not conducive to inspiring the best work. The presentation offers invaluable advice for planners.

planning, creativity & planning for creative campaigns [slideshare id=12558713?rel=0&w=425&h=355&fb=0&mw=0&mh=0&sc=no]

View more presentations from Heidi Hackemer
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advice, Interviews advice, Interviews

Interview With Farrah Bostic: Advertising Women 2.0

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Farrah Bostic is a Group Planning Director at Digitas whose insightful blog Pretty Little Head covers everything from brands to innovation and creativity. In addition to digital innovation, she's passionate about elevating women's status in the advertising and technology industries.The tech world is full of exciting new and innovative mobile and web products. How relevant is the tech world to planning?

The tech world is hugely influential to the best & brightest in planning in New York. For one thing, start-ups took over our bars (Sweet & Vicious and Tom & Jerry's)!  For another, the industry is transforming in favor of digital, social and mobile experiences, and the thought leaders in our field (planners) need nerds to play with who really deeply understand these technologies and concepts.  Those who actively experiment with them and build businesses out of them are our best partners for this kind of thinking.  The tech world is shaping how people behave and interact, and offers a myriad of ways for us to develop better knowledge about these behaviors and interactions, so we can then develop better understanding of how it affects our clients' brands and businesses.

So many of the major companies that dominate our world like Apple, Foursquare, Twitter, etc. were created by a team of men. What are some examples of great products or websites created by a team of women?

There are so many unsung female heroes in digital!  The one most often thought of is, of course, Catarina Fake, who co-founded both Flickr and Hunch.  Emily Hickey, co-founder of Hashable, helped drive the pivot from a finance site to a networking app that was one of the many favorites at SXSW this year. Dina Kaplan cofounded Blip.tv, which is an awesome, newly-relaunched online channel for original video content created for the web.  I'm watching about three new series there these days, now that all the network shows are in the off season.  Birchbox is a terrific business started by women with a female technical co-founder.  A lot of people talk about fashion sites like Fashism and advice sites like HonestlyNow, or food sites like Foodspotting; but I think there are some great female-founded businesses like Slideshare and Layar that are lauded as businesses that transcend the more 'obvious' female businesses.

And there's hope for people in the ad biz!  Cindy Gallop (ex-BBH) has created two businesses online: Ifwerantheworld.com, a site that helps transform intention into action through small steps, and creates a social profile based on what you do rather than what you say; and Makelovenotporn.com, a site that is helping change the conversation between men and women about sex, and is promoting female friendly pornography.  Ale Lariu's work with SheSays.com is a fantastic example of a now ex-ad-woman building a business online that leverages her expertise in advertising and her advocacy for women in the business.

Above all of this, there are the advocates and change agents: two of my favorite ladies, Rachel Sklar and Emily Gannett at ChangeTheRatio - promoting women in startups; and the amazing Shaherose Charania and Angie Chang at Women 2.0 & Founder Labs who are actively incubating women founders.

I'm already inspired! You've recently started listing women in the advertising and tech world who have broken through the glass ceiling and are an inspiration to us all. Aside from their success, what other characteristics do these women have in common?

They're all doing ground-breaking work, driving business results, inventing new technology... and not getting nearly enough credit or attention for it.  The main reason for starting the list was to recognize these women in a way that obviated the constant conversations about how hard it is to find women to speak at conferences or judge awards programs.  As I've compiled this list, I've been amazed at the generosity of the people who've contributed great women to it, and shocked at how reluctant those same, equally accomplished women are, to nominate themselves.  These women work hard and smart and creatively, and then they forget to or avoid taking some of the credit. I think it's that nice, smart, creative people who make things, tend to be generous with their effort and their praise.  For women, this generosity of spirit can seem to conflict with credit-taking.  So I've been happy to be the one giving that credit.

There are so many different women's networking organizations in New York. Which ones have you found to be particularly helpful?

Change The Ratio has been a life-changer for me - I went to one event and everything changed. I made amazing friends, I was inspired to start the list on my own blog, and it's continued to fuel my desire to express my own entrepreneurial spirit.  Women 2.0 was the next group I encountered, because of some things I wrote after getting involved in Change The Ratio - and they are amazing: vibrant, growing, making change for women, fostering real businesses. But I think the tech scene is much more democratic than the VC dollars and TCDisrupt speaker lists would indicate: a lot of the best, most productive networking I've done here has been through Digital DUMBO (female co-founder!) and through StartUp Weekend.  I encourage more women to attend - you meet those nice, smart, creative people who make things, and it's incredibly inspiring.

I often find myself full of ideas, wanting to create something but need a partner to keep me on track. Can you recommend an organization that can help me find a future business partner.

Women 2.0 and Founder Labs! 5 weeks from nothing to a business - it's an amazing process, with fantastic mentors and a great track record.  Despite the name, they seek balance in the founder teams they assemble - 50/50 female/male, 50/50 business/tech.  It's awesome how they pull that diversity together.  Tech Stars is also an excellent program with committed mentors and founders.  But I also wouldn't discount StartUp Weekend - you meet a variety of people on the Friday, some who are committed and driven, some who are curious and dabbling.  But by Sunday, everyone is serious about making something and transforming that something into a business.

Keeping up with email, blogging and contacts can be an all-consuming process. What tools do you use that have helped you juggle all these tasks?

I'm a bit of a mess when it comes to all of this, but I have a few tools I love.  At home I use Sparrow as my mail client, but I'm only just getting used to it; the labeling options allow me to keep track of things relatively easily - but on the go, gmail is my savior. It's very good at knowing what actually is urgent to me, and the ability to star items helped keep this email, for example, on my radar.  But the truth is I do most of my communicating on a one-to-one basis in Twitter - through @-replies and direct messaging I can carry on a lot of conversations... Of course,this isn't appropriate for everyone, or everything, but it does keep the ideas pithy. :)

Blogging is tough - I probably didn't blog for about six months, until my boyfriend wrote a piece of middleware for me that allows me to favorite items in Twitter, and it goes through those favorites, scrapes the links, and deposits those linked sites/articles into ReadItLater, which I then go back to on my iPad.  I also use Evernote at conferences and as a place to save quotations or scraps of the articles I've read.  I always have something to write about, now.

Contacts... my iPhone holds everything, and increasingly I'm using Hashable and Twitter to capture contact information. When it comes to the list, however, we're building a CMS for that - I hope we'll finish it by the middle of July.

Was there a particular moment in your career or piece of advice that inspired you to get to where you are today?

I've had a few, I think.  My dad was a network consultant in the early '90s and installed the network at Wieden + Kennedy; he told me that this was the kind of environment I should work in.  When I was in college at University of Oregon, I took a copywriting class; the instructor, Ann Maxwell, did a mid-term check-in and told me that while I said I wanted to go into account management, I was a talented writer and should pursue a creative career instead.  She had Clios and gold pencils in her office, so I decided to believe her.  The next was when I was struggling to find work in an agency after the startup I worked in began to falter and sacked me; the head of the Apple account at Chiat/Day, Sean Hardwick, said that I belonged in an agency like that, and that while he didn't have the *right* job for me, he had a job, and that he was going to offer it because he didn't want to get in the way of my dream.  Who says things like that??

It was at Chiat that I saw what planning was really all about, day to day, and made the transition to that role.  A planner I worked with there, Elena Hale, told me that planning was about making advertising effective, and I really warmed to the power of that idea.  And then Robin Hafitz, my mentor and friend, hired me to be a brand strategist; I could see myself in her, and I suppose she might have seen a bit of herself in me.  She's been an amazing advocate.

Rachel Sklar inspired me to make the list - with her energy and generosity and advocacy for women.  Cindy Gallop told me that an idea I had was too big to be 'just an app' and that it could really improve people's lives, which really energized me but also raised the bar for my own goals.  And the London-based agency, Made by Many, who I met through my great friend and champion, and entrepreneur, Noah Brier, has inspired me to think about innovation and strategy and digital/mobile/social experiences through the lens of the Lean Startup.

I think our lives are a series of these kinds of moments.  For every one of them, I've also been told something negative - that I'm commitment-phobic, that I 'can write, but not think', that I can give up if I want to, that I should just get a job in sales, that I should've taken the bar (I went to law school), that I'm cynical, that I push too hard or work too independently or give up too fast.  The trick, I think, is to keep people around you who you trust to be honest, who love you because of and despite your faults, to love them and trust them back, and to seek what you really want.  And if you don't know what you really want, knowing what you really DON'T want is useful, too.

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advice advice

Too Many White Men?

During my internet travels, I recently came across this great blog, Pretty Little Head by the planning director of Digitas New York, Farrah Bostic. Her recent post containing a list of inspiring women in technology and advertising. I've already worked with at least two people on the list and hope to work with more. Have you had the opportunity to learn from any of these women? Click here for original post.

Creatives

  • Mary Beth Adduci, Creative Director, DDB Chicago
  • Susana Albuquerque, Creative Director, Lowe Lisbon
  • Sofia Ambrosini, Partner Creative Director, WLF Milan
  • Suzanna Applebaum, ECD, Strawberryfrog
  • Federica Ariagno, ECD, AUGE Milan
  • Rosie Arnold, Deputy ECD, BBH London
  • Vicki Azarian, Group Creative Director, OgilvyOne
  • Sarah Barclay, ECD, JWT
  • Kim Bartkowski, Group Creative Director & Creative Lead – Mobile Practice, Digitas
  • Mariandreina Behrens, Creative Director, Vapro
  • Serena di Bruno, Creative Director, 1861 United
  • Katrien Bottez, Creative Director, Duval Guillaume Brussels
  • Rebecca Carrasco, ECD, Colman Rasic Carrasco
  • Tobi Carvana-Moore, Associate Creative Director, Matlock Advertising & PR
  • Chiara Castiglioni, Creative Director, McCann Italy
  • Janet Champ, Creative Director/Writer, Switzerland
  • Fiona Chen, Creative Director, Ogilvy Shanghai
  • Valerie Cheng, Executive Creative Director, JWT Singapore & XM-Asia
  • Marian Cohen, Creative Director, Inbar Merhav Shaked Tel Aviv
  • Vida Cornelious, VP Group Creative Director, GlobalHUE
  • Susan Credle, CCO, Leo Burnett
  • Augusta Duffey, Freelance Creative Director
  • Katerina Esslin, Creative Director, Olympic DDB Athens
  • Isabela Ferreira, Associate Creative Director, Energy BBDO
  • Paola Figueroa, Creative Director, Ogilvy Mexico City
  • Marie-Claude Garneau, Global Creative Director, DDB WW Paris
  • Helene Godin, Creative Director, Sid Lee Montreal
  • Alison Gragnano, Global Creative Director, Saatchi NY
  • Carolyn Hadlock, Principal/Executive Creative Director, Young & Laramore
  • Nancy Hartley, Joint Executive Creative Director, Sapient Nitro Brisbane/Sydney
  • Frances Hatzipetrou, Creative Director, Fortune Athens
  • Barbara Hernandez, Creative Director, BBDO Mexico
  • Susan Hoffman, ECD, Wieden + Kennedy
  • Jennifer Hu, ECD, Ogilvy Taipei
  • Heather James, Director of Learning Services, Acquio Ireland
  • Maria Carolina Jaso, Creative Director, ARS DDB
  • Judy John, Managing Partner & Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Toronto
  • Laura Jordon-Bambach, ECD, LBi London
  • Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO/Chief Creative Office, Kaplan Thaler Group
  • Pamela Kaplan, Creative Director, BADJAR Ogilvy Melbourne
  • Kerry Keenan, Global Director Creative Content, Y&R
  • Kris Kiger, SVP, Managing Director Visual Design, R/GA
  • Elke Klinkhammer, Creative Director, Neue Digitale
  • Tiffany Kosel, VP Creative Director, Crispin Porter + Bogusky
  • Becky Kozlen, Creative Director, DDB Chicago
  • Natalie Lam, ECD, OgilvyOne Shanghai
  • Jodi Leo, UX & Design, The Barbarian Group
  • Elspeth Lynn, ECD, Profero
  • Gerry Killeen, Managing Director-Creative Services, Kaplan Thaler Group
  • Amy Markley, Creative Director, Tom Dick & Harry
  • Kammie McArthur, Group Creative Director, Publicis West
  • Suzanne Molinaro, Deputy Head of Interactive Production, BBH
  • Charlotte Moore, Creative Director/Art Director, Switzerland
  • Monica Moro, ECD, McCann Madrid
  • Judite Mota, ECD, Y&R Lisbon
  • Mehera O’Brien, Creative Director, AKQA New York
  • Eleftheria Petropoulou, Group Creative Head, McCann Athens
  • Christine Pillsbury, Creative Director, Beam Interactive & Relationship Marketing
  • Suzanne Pope, Creative Director, John St Toronto
  • Claudia Portela, Creative Director, Y&R Lisbon
  • Katja Rickert, Creative Director, Scholz & Volkmer
  • Fernanda Romano, Global Creative Director – Digital & Experiential, Euro RSCG
  • Consuelo Ruybal, Creative Director, Kaplan Thaler
  • Mariana Sa, Global Creative Director, DM9DDB Sao Paulo
  • Catherine Savard, Creative Director, Cossette Montreal
  • Bibiana Segura, Creative Director, Global Link Communications
  • Jennifer Shreve, Creative Director, Razorfish
  • Stefania Siani, ECD, D’Adda Lorenzini Vigorelli BBDO Milan
  • Liz Sivel, Creative Director, R/GA London
  • Eloise Smith, Creative Director, Euro RSCG London
  • Nina Thelberg, Creative Director, B-Reel Stockholm
  • Marianella Torres, Creative Director, TBWA/Venezuela
  • Elizabete Vaz Mena, Creative Director, Grey Lisbon
  • Isbelt Venegas, Executive Creative Director, Publicis
  • Gabrielle Weinman, Group Creative Director, Ignited LA

Strategists & Media Mavens

  • Ingrid Bernstein, Digital Strategy Director: Experience Department Head, JWT
  • Farrah Bostic, VP Group Planning Director, Digitas
  • June Cohen, Executive Producer, TED Media
  • Mimi Cook, Director of Creative and Brand Strategy, Mekanism
  • Emma Cookson, Chairman, BBH New York
  • Mel Exon, Managing Director, BBH Labs
  • Amber Finlay, SVP Global Engagement Planning, Arnold Worldwide
  • Robin Hafitz, Founder, Open Mind Strategy
  • Brenna Hanly, Mobile Strategist/Catalyst, Mullen
  • Katie Harrison, Head of Planning, BBH New York
  • Sarah Hofstetter, Senior Vice President: Emerging Media & Brand Strategy, 360i
  • Natasha Jakubowski, Managing Partner/Head of Innovation, Anomaly
  • Kristen Maverick, Digital Strategist, BBDO
  • Kate Miltner, Masters Candidate (Media & Internet Memes), London School of Economics
  • Alli Mooney, Head of Trends & Insights/Marketing, Google
  • Jaime Morelli, VP Account Director Media Planning, Zenith Optimedia
  • Kelly Stoetzel, Content Director, TED
  • Amelia Torode, Head of Digital Strategy, VCCP London
  • Lindsey Weber, Social Media Lead, The Barbarian Group
  • Alisa Leonard, Director of Experience Planning, iCrossing
  • Judith Lewis, Head of Search, Beyond
  • Constance DeCherney, Director of Strategy, iCrossing
  • Shoshana Winter, SVP Marketing Strategy, iCrossing
  • Shelby MacLeod, Group Director of Earned Media, The Barbarian Group
  • Sarah Watson, Chief Strategy Officer, BBH New York
  • Sarah Wulfeck, Director Content & Community, Beyond Consultancy
  • Shelley Zalis, CEO, Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange
  • Jennifer Zeszut, Social Strategist, Lithium (ex-CEO of ScoutLabs)

Creative Technologists

Marketing & Client Service Leaders

Entrepreneurs

Advocates & Change-Makers

Brand Marketers

  • Beth Comstock, SVP/CMO, General Electric
  • Rebecca Messina, VP Global Marketing Capability & Integration, Coca-Cola
  • Jill Simmons, Marketing Director, The New York Times
  • Julie Washington, VP & General Manager – Consumer Products, Jamba Juice
  • Connie Weaver, CMO, TIAA-CREF
  • Andrea Harrison, Director of Digital Engagement, Pepsi

 

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Tête-à-Tête Tuesdays with Molly

Rupert Newton has worked as a creative strategist, with an expertise in communications planning in the marketing and advertising industry for nearly 20 years. After developing his career in the UK, Rupert brought Michaelides & Bednash's pioneering communications strategy approach to America. He co-founded a marketing strategy company called The Joneses, pairing brand and communication strategists to work with HBO, NBC Universal, Diageo, Virgin Atlantic, and a plethora of other notable clients. Most recently he has focused his energy on facilitating a different kind of growth, that which comes out of the ground, as part of an organic farm cooperative, Newton Farms, in the Catskills.

You've worked as a planner both on the media and brand side for almost two decades, bringing breakthrough ways of thinking and planning. How do you see young planners doing that today?

I think the role of young planners is to challenge conventions, rules and any formulaic process they are handed. Strategy is a creative exercise, it should be about open free-thinking while you immerse yourself in the topic, bring new cognitive models in when you've noodled around for a while. Read books on recent advances in psychology and neuroscience. Cultivate creative interests outside of work. I think if I'd really focused on articulating an insight, and the subsequent idea, very clearly and simply, it would have helped me earlier on. It's a fantastic discipline. The worst thing any planner can do is complicate things. Think practically about how to bring the creative strategy to life in the real world. Whatever it is would you participate in it? If not, it's probably crap.

What planners, agencies, blogs or activities inspire you?

Oh, hmmm, I was just reading Caught by the River, I think Fact Mag is great, I just read Infinite Realities which was fascinating, the other day I went to see Douglas Rushkoff speak, last weekend was Unsound in Brooklyn so lots of deep sub-bass action, I've read the Guardian for over twenty years, amazing to think it used to circulate less than 400k copies in the UK as a newspaper, and now has nearly 40 million readers digitally ...I started as a media buyer and used to take the piss out them for only being read by teachers and social workers (obviously I didn't say I was a loyal reader), so all I'll say is there are 40 million sandal-and-socks wearers in the world, (myself excluded).

I recently read [amazon_link id="1604443499" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]Homage to Catalonia[/amazon_link], there is a funny moment where the Fascists and the leftists are entrenched opposite each other on a steep gorge, just too far for anyone to shoot accurately. So for weeks they resorted to hurling insults back and forth, except for one enterprising leftist who would use a megaphone to soothingly say things like, "Buttered toast...we are sitting down to delicious slices of buttered toast". Of course they were not, they barely had any rations or firewood, Orwell archly credits this man with persuading conscripted Facists to desert. Probably went on to be Spain's top PR man...

You recently started a farm cooperative in upstate New York that grows organic vegetables. What made you decide to open the farm?

I grew up in rural England, my Dad was a forester, conservationist and musician. I also worked on dairy farms as a teenager, so I've "got form" as the British cops say in reference to a suspect's previous convictions. Then in 2010 I reached a point in my life where a few things fell apart and a few other things just fell into place. Overall I'd say it was just seizing an opportunity that presented itself and running with it. I've become very interested in "biological farming" a system for farming with a deep understanding of the ecosystem, that restores soil health while producing the best quality crops. You can read about it here, Remineralize the Earth.

Planners like to talk about human truths. It's a human truth that what we eat shapes our bodies, lives and culture. What insights about your own life have you discovered from organic farming?

Taken at face value most people think about rural life as a fantasy escape, as the anti-thesis of wired urban life. But the connectivity of nature is a metaphor for the internet, or vice versa, nature is electrically charged and vibrational, so more similarities than you might think. Nature was "connected" a long time before we were digitally, something the ancients used to understand very well. Did you know a single plant can move nutrients from up to 100' away? Did you know you can measure the electrical conductivity of soil and this will tell you how efficiently nutrient transfer is operating between soil life, bacteria, fungi and plants? I know someone in the midwest who pipes ambient techno into his greenhouses and swears the plants are havin' it. For me all this just confirmed what we always knew, that everything is just part of a larger whole.

As an organic farmer, you are going back to nature and essentially embracing simplicity, slow food and an older way of life. But as a planner in advertising, you are part of the fast moving cycle of consumerism. How do you balance these two worlds? Are they more alike than one would think?

Haha, I completely reject your first point, I think you're stereotyping there. Naughty planner! Organic is problematic in that I think it conjures up fantasy imagery of bucolic Thomas Hardy-esque farms, and, I think the organic movement plays up to it as a persuasive sales technique. Personally I question the smug middle class milieu of the farmers market, I find the organic food as luxury product/status symbol off putting and limiting. Long term I hope to be part of the change that makes quality, non-chemical, bionutrient-dense food sold in Walmart. I see this as progress, not "going back" or "an older way of life", why would anyone want to do that? There was no health care and people died young, often in excruciating agony.

Yes, I was stereotyping. What is your ultimate goal for Newton Farm Cooperative? What change would you like to see? And what's your strategy for trying to achieve it?

Well, it's a cooperative so it's a shared goal. If only I'd grown up reading the Daily Telegraph, it would be so different..

Finally, all this food talk is making me hungry. Where can we find the food grown at Newton Farm Cooperative and how can we get involved?

We'll be supplying The Meatball Shop on the Lower East Side, and any new locations they open, Diner, Five Leaves, Dressler, Marlow and The Bedford in Williamsburg, Two Boots pizza's downtown locations, there'll be others too. We'll get pretty busy with the Facebook and Twitter when the season starts so you can fan or follow for updates and contact us there.

We have a special deal this season, give us 5 hours of work and you get one free night's stay at the farm. It's a beautiful old farmhouse in a high mountain valley near Phonecia. We even have a recording studio in one of the barns, so you know, it might get loud.

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Can Psychology Help Us Understand Our Changing Relationships with Brands?

I always find it fascinating and exciting that the craft of planning requires so many different levels and ways of thinking. One must approach a brief from a psychological, creative and business perspective, to name a few. But one thing that remains constant is the focus on relationships; between the client and agency, planners and creatives, and most importantly between consumers and the brand. Max Spiegelberg points out how as advertisers, we should think about the relationship between our brand and the consumer in the same way we'd look at interpersonal relationships and note the implications.This article is re-blogged from Popsop Brand Magazine Online written by Max Spiegelberg.

You are welcome to share your thoughts on this article written by Max Spiegelberg, Brand Director at Bloom The saturation of markets, congestion of media and maturity of consumer understanding of brands has steered marketing practice in recent years beyond ‘image branding’ towards ‘relationship branding’. Loyalty is no longer simply won through passive respect. Consumers demand more.

The brand’s role today has evolved from being an object of desire to being a champion of its own philosophy. This is no easy feat for marketers. It takes time, confidence, continuity and a lot of money.

So it’s important to get it right from the start. It’s important to understand how we as consumers relate to brands and why we enjoy the relationships we have with them.

In 1997 Jennifer Aaker published the paper ‘Dimensions of Brand Personality’ in the Journal of Marketing Research. At the root of this paper, Aaker outlines a brand personality scale, mapping out 5 dimensions, or human characteristics that could be associated with brands. These are Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication and Ruggedness. This scale is often used to determine the current perceptions of a brand and to describe the desired future status of it.

This is all well and good but how do these traits strengthen a brand’s relationship with its audience? Should we profile consumer personality traits and map these against brand traits? Which characteristics are right for the brand?

These questions have led some academic marketers back to the Psychology text books to try to understand the affinity we as humans develop in our own relationships and whether this thinking can be applied to the consumer-brand relationship.

Social Psychology, put simply, is the study of how we perceive ourselves and how we interact with each other. Potentially there are some rich pickings amongst the research and models that this discipline has created.

As an example let’s look at a study of the development of interpersonal relationships. One of the most influential models in this field is proposed by psychologist, George Levinger (1983). According to his ABCDE model, the natural development of a relationship follows five stages:

1. Acquaintance: Becoming acquainted depends on a number of factors including, proximity, first impressions, attractiveness, similarities in personality, attitude, and interests and association to positive situations. Acquaintance may lead to the next stage or can continue indefinitely.

2. Build up: Beginning to trust and care about each other. Here there is a need for compatibility and filtering agents such as common background, cultural background and related interests. Compatibility will influence whether or not interaction continues.

3. Continuation: Following a mutual commitment to long-term relationships this is generally a long and relatively stable period. Continued growth and development will occur during this time.

4. Deterioration: Relationships deteriorate as a result of boredom, resentment and dissatisfaction. Individuals may communicate less and avoid self-disclosure. Loss and betrayals may take place continuing the downward spiral.

5. Ending: This marks the end of the relationship by complete termination or separation. There are some obvious parallels here with our own developing relationships with brands. Jooyoung et al (2008) point out that true brand loyalty is derived from brand credibility, attitude, strength and brand commitment, which form the basis of Levinger’s first three stages here.

There are plenty of other studies that could be investigated. For the purpose of this article I have explored one model as an example but it serves to demonstrate the potential of Social Psychology to generate interesting parallels and further develop brand models.

All of this is predicated on the assumption that brands carry human traits and that consumers interact with brands in the same way that we interact with each other. Could it be that our richer understanding of brands and more complex relationships with them justifies a closer look at the field of Social Psychology?

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PSFK Skills of a Rockstar Planner: Communicating Ideas

The second video in the PSFK series published last summer is below. Once again, I looked back on the video with a new perspective and felt it was important to share and summarize their comments with my readers. As account planners, our audience is the creative team. We are essentially making ads to the creatives, hoping that they buy into our findings and ideas. Therefore, it's no surprise that the qualities needed to deliver an effective Creative Brief mimic that of a successful piece of marketing communication. The thread that runs through their responses is that account planners need to simplifying their message and sell the idea in a way that seduces the listener. This thinking can even be extended to the brand. Look at the top three most valuable global brands; Google, IBM and Apple. Can you simplify each brands' message in a few words? Google = internet search, IBM = computer intelligence, Apple = innovative, functional design.Now let's extend this to the interview process. Ada Alpert's coaches her candidates to be able to walk through their case studies during interviews, first mentioning the problem, answer, insight that lead to that answer, strategy then walking the interviewer through how you got there to solve the problem. So in essence, it's your job as a planner not only to sell the strategy and the creative work, but to also sell the idea that you know how to sell ideas. Pick case studies you feel passionate about and believe in without hesitation. I wrote about the first PSFK video in the series here and stay tuned for the rest of the series.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn40fvPDWeE&w=640&h=390]

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