As I sit here enjoying a refreshing bottle of Budweiser, I can’t help but think about the role of product placement in advertising.

We see it in practically every TV show and movie: characters drink some particular brand of beverage, or use only one kind of computer or cell phone. It’s so common, I wonder if it still catches our attention.

The question I’d like to pose to you, savvy reader, is: when a product is placed in a piece of entertainment, how involved does it need to be for us to take notice?

Most people probably aren’t going to switch from Coke to Pepsi based on a fictional character ordering their “preferred” brand in a restaurant scene. But then there’s a character like James Bond, who has likely influenced many men to order a martini. The fact that he’s never specified what kind of vodka or vermouth he likes is a pretty big missed opportunity.

But if Mr. Bond’s line was “Martini. Shaken, not stirred. With Stolichnaya® vodka.” Would it be as famous? Or would including a brand name turn people off? It’s doubtful, given that Bond movies have a long history of using product placement. Even Casino Royale doubled as an ad for the full range of Sony products.

Then there are the shows and movies that incorporate products as a major plot point. The most blatant example in recent memory has the product right in the title: Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. But in this instance, the product fits. The people expected to watch Harold and Kumar are more likely to be in a state of mind where eating at White Castle seems like a great idea.

Products are getting more and more integrated into every source of entertainment. On top of TV shows and movies, now products show up in everything from video games to music. There are a number of racing games that let you drive real car models, and that’s on top of the other ads you see within the game. And, of course, singers like Lady Gaga, whose music video for “Telephone” reaches parody proportions with its product placement. (But that doesn’t change the fact that the products are there.)

With TV shows, movies and video games, you could say the products and ads contribute to realism. They do exist in real life, after all. But should we be able to turn to entertainment to avoid exposure to advertising? And is this level of product placement, better called “integration,” effective? Does it help make a product more appealing, more meaningful?

What’s next? Is a movie like When Harry Met Sally in a McDonald’s far off?

I spend an embarrassing amount of time reviewing portfolios. Over time I’ve drawn this conclusion: for every one good book there are at least ten bad ones.  And of those bad ones, at least five are flat out horrifying.

The ones that really break my heart are the near-misses. The portfolios that show some great thinking, but are ruined by (for lack of a better term) a “deal breaker.”

A deal breaker can be anything from a misaligned font to a misspelled headline. Herewith, a list of some of the things portfolio reviewers here at Grip look for. Or judge harshly.

For Copywriters – by Leilah Ambrose

Proofread:
Yes, your ideas are super important. Trouble is, hidden deep in the word “copywriter” is the word “writer.” If you can’t spell check or proof your own headlines, body copy or overviews, you’re not exactly demonstrating dedication to the art.  It’s like Yul Brynner in the “Magnificent Seven” showing up to a gunfight with no bullets.
Or something.

Show elasticity:
Sure, you can prove that you have great ideas and writing chops in a series of print ad. But it helps to show off your process and creative versatility. Put your ideas into unconventional media. Find interactive elements. Talk to where you draw inspiration from. Link to blogs that you have. Celebrate your creativity and insight alongside your headlines.

Assess your WTF quotient:
Honestly, if it takes 15 minutes to explain your idea, even after showing your executions, it probably shouldn’t be in your portfolio.

Don’t Tolstoy your work:
Having breadth of thinking is good. Having breadth of thinking that rivals the length of War and Peace is not. Pick a handful of your best ideas, and the best executions of those ideas. 50 “meh” ideas don’t trump 5 great ones.

For Art Directors – by Colin Craig

Have a portfolio website:
It’s a given that every aspiring designer or art director must have a portfolio site. Even a few years ago, this could be a daunting project for the coding impaired. Now, with options like Cargo Collective and the Behance Network, it’s become far simpler to launch and maintain a professional-looking portfolio site. Use large, high-quality images. If you’re going to shoot your print work, make sure it’s crisp and well lit. Be clear about your role on each project.

Keep it professional:
Leave the Holga travel photos out. Same goes for art school paintings and neighborhood café installations. You should keep your portfolio tightly focused on art direction and design. Personal projects within this space are a different story though – they show a passion for the field, strong motivation and drive, and are a great way to explore media you haven’t had a chance to work on professionally.

Be a chameleon:
Artists and illustrators have personal, signature styles. Designers and art directors shouldn’t. Portfolios should demonstrate an ability to follow (and stretch!) brand standards, and execute in a wide variety of looks and styles.

And I’ll second Leilah’s “Keep it tight” and “No spelling typos.” Five or six projects are more than enough if that’s the scope of your best work. Spelling errors make me question an art director’s attention to detail and work habits.

For Developers – by Doug Riches:

Provide rationale:
It’s necessary to have code examples and descriptions of the project and, when possible, the final result. But the most important aspect to all of this is the rationale. Explain why you chose the examples you did. Too often, developer portfolios read like a hum-drum list of projects. Don’t be ordinary. What I need to see is examples of the code you worked on, why it’s best practice, and why it represents your best work.

Give context to your technologies:
Almost every developer portfolio lists out the same technologies. The problem is everyone lists the same thing without context. I want to see explanations and examples of the types of code you profess to know. Avoid itemizing every technology in the world with no context of examples of how you would use them.

Define your contribution:
Don’t include your CMS-driven Megacorp.com site without defining your role on the team, and how you were instrumental in making it awesome. This especially goes for front-end developers. When I see a cacophony of horrible CMS-generated front-end code without any context – well, it doesn’t show me that you get proper web standards.

Overall – by Jacoub Bondre

Show attention to detail:
Think Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place.” Misaligned fonts, typos, shifts in content and navigation have the ability to almost immediately disqualify you from an opportunity.  Screwing up on the hard things is fixable and understandable.  You can be trained to use 3D in flash.  Typographic flair will come with experience.  However, being lazy about your details could be construed as a character flaw. And that’s something that can’t be taught.

Be honest:
I encourage all of our interns and freelancers to put any work they do here at Grip in their portfolio.  Even if their contribution was minor, all hands that touch a project mold and affect it.  That being said, you need to be honest about your contributions to a project.  People will find out quickly if you exaggerated your involvement. And that ain’t gonna look good.

Show me the money:
Only show your BEST work, bearing in mind that your best may not be something you did for a big, recognizable brand. If you did a project for Nike that sucks, and a project for Bob’s Tackle Shop that’s amazing, show the Bob’s Tackle work.  I will also echo Leilah’s “Keep it tight” comment.  I will lose interest after a max of eight pieces.  The words “more work available upon request” can be magic.

To sum up: your portfolio is your first impression. It’s a representation of what you’ve done, and how you work. If you’ve followed the above guidelines, the only thing standing between you and a job is whether or not you’re a jerk.

You never know when or where you’ll be inspired.

A couple of weeks ago I was in synagogue for the high holidays (and actually paying attention) when a story in the supplemental reading book really struck me.  It made me think about our “consumer” – the mysterious and enigmatic profile of a person we’re always targeting  in our advertising.  The story served as a reminder for me to always be mindful of what’s really important to them, as opposed to what they may say is important or what, heaven forbid, we assume about them. Hint: it’s not the products and services we’re advertising.

The reading was a story/fable about a young girl who spent a great deal of time and effort decorating a box with very expensive wrapping paper.  Upon seeing his daughter using up the expensive wrapping, the father chastised her, as money was tight in the household.  The next morning, the daughter presented the beautifully-wrapped box to her father urging him to open it. The father, somewhat ashamed of having scolded his daughter the day before, excitedly opened the box – only to discover that the box was empty. As the father once again began to angrily chide his daughter for being so wasteful, she began to cry. “But Daddy,” she said “the box isn’t empty, I filled it with my kisses.”

Yeah, it’s a nice story.  But what really hit home for me was how important it is to continually ask ourselves what it is that our consumers really want.  Somehow, I don’t think the story would have been as touching if the daughter had given her father an iPad.  And the truth is, any father (even an “early adopter”) would trade just one kiss from his daughter for a hundred iPads.

We spend so much time trying to sell our clients’ products (granted, that’s what we’re paid to do) that we sometimes forget to dig a little deeper and really understand what our consumer is longing for. What do they really want?  If we can figure that out, and then figure out how the products that we are selling can help the consumer achieve that, we’ll win every time.

At Grip, we believe in “values based” advertising. The essential premise being that by laddering up a product or service to a specific human value, we can make advertising more meaningful, relevant and effective.  After almost 9 years of taking this “values based” approach at Grip, it’s incredibly comforting to be reminded every now and again of its power.