I’ve been around the interactive scene a long time. I’ve seen a lot of changes. Before my beard had grey in it, interactive was about creative, immersive experiences. It was about creating something hyper-imaginative and taking the consumer on a branded journey. There was no limit to what we could create (budget aside). As technology became more robust, so did our work. How deep could we go? Where could our imaginations lead consumers? Digital was a playground for creativity. With each execution, the industry carved out its own space. We defined it as we went along – free of constraints, guidelines, best practices. We were accountable. But not boxed in.

Now microsites are (mostly) a thing of the past. Mobile sites are more function than form. And social media is more about “connection” than creativity. Yes, there are a few shining examples of creative digital greatness. But look at the award shows. It’s mostly cookie cutter, user-generated dreck. In many ways I feel we’ve gone from sandbox to just plain old box.

Don’t get me wrong. I realize the industry has grown up. It had to. But in the process I feel we lost something. I guess I worry. I worry about the fate of digital creativity. I worry about the seeming regression. I worry about whether students and juniors are even interested in it. Notwithstanding the fact most creative are multidisciplinary, do they crave to be part of digital? Or is it just a big yawn? A box to be checked and nothing more?

Personally, I am hopeful. We have a ton of fabulous technology in our digital arsenal. Every day there is a new digital “something” waiting to be discovered and put to the test. My hope is that both creative and clients alike open the aperture beyond what you are doing right now. Rekindle your excitement and curiosity. Greatness will follow.

I’m a huge fan (and avid purchaser) of Apple’s Apps. And at about 2.4 billion in sales a year, I’m clearly not alone. Apps are fun, useful, on-demand. There’s something for everyone. What I do find surprising, however, is that for such a massive economy, there is still a cottage feel. Unlike any other “manufacturing” model I know of, there is an incredible social element to the App experience. Not just between users. But between users and the developers.

I recently experienced this particular aspect of the App experience second-hand, when my Community Soul Project band-mate Terry Donnelly downloaded Set List Maker from the App store. I won’t bore you with all its functionality. Suffice it to say, if you’re in a band, you want this app. It’s crazy powerful and eliminates the need for a 10lb binder filled with music charts. Terry lovingly itemized its virtues and then got pretty much everyone in the band using it. After a few weeks of using it, he found some opportunities for improvement.

This is where Terry took consumer generated reviews (content) to the next level. Rather than simply posting his comments on the app store page, he contacted the developer directly with some suggestions. To Terry’s surprise, the developer responded right away. After a few email exchanges, they came up with a plan for the next two updates which included most of Terry’s ideas; including ways for the developer to make additional revenue. Terry gets a better app, the developer makes more money. Everybody wins. This is where user-generated content meets commerce: call it the dawn of “Commertentce”.

I think there is an opportunity for bigger brands to take a page from Arlo Leach (the creator of Set List Maker). Good things come from really listening to your consumers. A great place to start is through social channels (like your Facebook wall) and using platforms like Sysmos. Listen, learn, and by Zeus, please respond. Not every consumer idea is going to be a winner. But the act of sharing ideas inevitably comes from a place of brand love.

When consumer-generated content spurs on new levels of engagement and commerce, the benefits increase exponentially. It requires time, patience, and more than a dose of humility. But it’s definitely worth it, I think.

Have you seen any examples of this sort of idea economy? What are your thoughts?

Attention marketers! Your brand is probably on Facebook, right? And I’ll bet getting “likes” is Priority One because it’s the closest thing you have to a brand relevance barometer. I bet you think the more likes you get, the more you’re in the hearts and minds of consumers. Which in turn gives you permission to fill their news feeds with product information and attempts to create culturally contextual and relevant status updates in the hopes of keeping the dialogue going. Right? Maybe. Up to a point.

But for most brands in the social space, the conversation is decidedly one-sided. Or in the case of the lucky ones where it IS two sided, it’s actually “bilaterally unilateral.” (I just made that up). You talk about what you want. Your consumer talks about what they want. But you pass like ships in the night.

This is a missed opportunity that can actually a negative impact on brand equity, the very thing you are trying to bolster on Facebook. While it takes very little effort for a consumer to “like” your brand, it does take effort to write on your wall or post picture or a video. And when you ignore it, it’s like ignoring a complement; a virtual slap in the face. The inverse is also true. If you take the time to like your fans’ posts, nurture the friendship, even write comments, their love for you will grow exponentially.

I speak from personal experience. There have been numerous times when I have posted videos and pictures to the wall of some of my favourite brands. Usually, it’s me using the product along with a comment about how much I love it. Only twice has a brand bothered to respond. And let me tell you, when it DID, I was really happy about it. So kudos to you, Big Green Egg Canada and Memphis Drum Shop. Thank you for liking me back. You’ve done more than validate my existence. You’ve reinforced why I “liked” you.

Now I know what you’re thinking. It’s not cheap to put resources against Facebook community management. But ask yourself what true loyalty is worth. If you are serious about participating in the social space, then take it seriously. Develop a community management strategy, please. Mine your wall for insights. Respond to consumers. Play to Facebook’s strengths: being social and creating dialogues.

And for those brands who ignored my posts of good will in the past? You can go to hell.

When developing advertising ideas, simplicity is usually a prerequisite; we are, after all, familiar with the old K.I.S.S adage (keep it simple, stupid). Somehow, it’s not always the case when developing applications. We often catch ourselves jamming in more functionality than is necessary.

Take Blurb.com. I am a huge fan of this book making service. HUGE. But even though I am an incessant picture-taker and love the idea of Blurb’s self-publishing platform, I’ve only used the site to make one book. Why? The process of making it is too complex and time-consuming. To Blurb’s credit, their BookSmart™ app is robust in terms of layout, size, and template options. I find the selection process of photos and templates paralyzing.

Perhaps Blurb sensed this, because in a stroke of brilliance they came up with an easy solution to get people like me to make more books. By tapping into the immensely popular social photo sharing app Instagram, you can now make an “instant book” to match your instant photos. Just link your account, push a button and all your photos are magically laid out into a special square-shaped book. K.I.S.S at its paradigmatic best.

Naturally you can edit the book, rearrange the shots, or choose from a few simple layouts. But Blurb must have purposely limited the options to match the simplicity of Instagram itself. Guess what? I’ve already made two books.

I think there are two lessons for us here. The first: remember to keep your ideas and executions simple. Granted, this is easier said than done when technology enables limitless functionality. So be vigilant. The second: tap into existing behaviours/technology whenever possible. Blurb must have seen an opportunity to leverage Instagram’s massive popularity and simple UX, and then created an app to match. Absolutely brilliant.

So what are you waiting for? Go make a book!

If you’re reading this, you already know that advertising is a tireless business. Ideas. Deadlines. Revisions. That’s the circle of life. But it’s recently dawned on me that advertising is actually one of the few creative endeavors I can think of where you don’t really use your hands to create. To do my job well, it’s all brain — typing doesn’t count as using my hands. And while I enjoy watching ideas come to life in whatever ad format we choose, it’s a different feeling than, say, painting, woodworking, or sculpting. And I like that feeling.

I’ll be honest though. I suck at woodworking, painting, and sculpting. But I do use my hands for another creative endeavor: scale model car building. There’s no grand psychologically-charged reason behind it; I don’t do it to reconnect with my inner-child or anything. I do it because it’s fun and I really enjoy the detailed step-by-step process. It’s methodical but allows for creative expression. Do I stick to the stock build sheet? Do I customize? How much can I super-detail? And with every model, my skills improve. I can see it.

You see, this is my project. Something I make by myself, for myself. There are no clients or focus groups. There are no chains of command. It’s making for making’s sake, and there’s something spectacularly simple and fulfilling in that. I think that all creatives need to take the odd opportunity to reaffirm that they are, after all, “makers” in the end. That they have it in them to see a concept through to completion under their own steam. It doesn’t need to be big, or groundbreaking, or public. Just something of their own. My cars give me that leeway, and the focus and calm that comes from being creatively accountable to myself.

Model making allows me to unwind, to turn off, and to unplug from modernity. When I am airbrushing a car body, scratch building a wiring harness, or using flocking to make realistic carpeting, my mind goes blank. In a good way. It’s these moments of “blankitude” that allow me to empty my brain so I can focus on advertising problems later.

I think this is key, at least for me. We all have so much stimuli in our lives, it’s difficult to maintain any perspective. Really difficult. It’s as important to be tapped in as it is otherwise. And it’s important to find creative outlets that nurture your soul beyond your day job.

In the end, maybe it is sort of nerdy to apply myself to making plastic models as realistic as I can. I get that. But after each model car “working session” I have progress to look at. It may be small, incremental progress, but it’s there nonetheless. And that makes me feel good.

April 13^th was a big day for both fashion brand Burberry and the English alt-rock band Keane. Being a big fan of Keane, I was delighted to discover they performed as part of a huge fashion / digital extravaganza to launch Burberry’s flagship in Beijing, China. The theme: “Burberry, Britishness, music and technology in China.” All live-streamed online.

A couple aspects of this pairing moved me. Whereas I initially found the pairing of Burberry and Keane a little odd, it dawned on me that Burberry is much more than those (ugly) tan umbrellas and scarves. It’s actually a very progressive fashion brand on a quest for global domination. Couple that with the fact that Keane is probably the hottest band in England and you have a union that makes sense. Two examples of the best of England transported to one of the world’s most vibrant cities.

Then there was the sheer magnitude of the event. While I missed some of the pre-promotion, I couldn’t help marvel at the scale. As floor-to-ceiling video walls showed images of the fashion label’s latest collection, virtual image technology was used to project life-like holograms of models among actual models on a real-life catwalk. I loved the fact they took 4D projection outside the realm of building projection. It was a novel, futuristic mingling of the virtual with the actual.

And of course, there was the fabulous Keane concert which closed the show. Mind-boggling was the clarity of the broadcast. It beamed live to web on burberry.com and keanemusic.com as well as streamed to 50 Burberry stores across the globe. Private parties were held at each location.

The cost must have been staggering. The rational for the showcase was clear. Spending on luxury goods in China is forecast to grow from £6.2bn in 2009 to £17bn by 2015, and Burberry wants a big slice of that. But was it worth it? And if it is (secretly, I think yes), I hope some of our own Canadian companies take notice. A good combination of creativity, technology and live events are worth the time and investment. We can’t bore people into buying our product. We need to dazzle and delight.

Disagree?

Ahh, the creative brief. One of the most important elements of a campaign yet sometimes not worth the paper it’s written upon. Ask any advertising vet and you’ll hear unanimously that without a good brief, it’s nearly impossible to get good work. Nay, impossible.

But what makes a good brief anyway? What are the pitfalls? How can you make them better? To get some answers, I decided to walk the agency with camera in hand to ask my fellow Grippers what makes a good brief and what makes them horribly bad.

Just so you know, I asked an equal number of creative and account service types to keep it balanced. I hope you find their answers edifying. Feel free to tell us what you think makes or breaks a brief.

Also, big thanks to Ben Weinberg for dusting off the acoustic to provide the musical stylings.

There is something I love about boutique companies. From one-off opticians like Rapp Limited in Toronto, to purveyors of handmade items like Dunnet Drums, smaller companies have a way of establishing more of a connection between people and product.

Take Porter Airlines, which in its infancy felt like a return to the golden age of flying; a time when air travel had all the trappings of a luxurious experience. Porter flights stood in stark opposition to your average flight experience today, akin to an airborne cattle cart enroute to the abattoir.

I remember my first flight on Porter about 4 years ago. I went through security with one of the pilots. He talked to me with effusive pride about Porter. He even shepherded me through the terminal building to the lounge where he made me a cappuccino from the available machines before his preflight check.

But my recent flight to Chicago on Porter got me thinking that Porter ain’t what it used to be. For all the bouffants on stewardesses, iMacs at check-in and free food & drink, Porter seems to have lost its personality. The staff seem to have eroded their connection to their stylish, alternative ethos.

Was it a bad couple of days, or has the growth into a larger airline corrupted the purity of their ideal? Free features, like the now usurious “change fees,” are tantamount to Porter forgetting its DNA. In the case of Porter, bigger isn’t proving better.

Being a partner at Grip, I’m forced to apply this logic to my own company as we double in size. Like Porter, we began as a bold alternative to the tired, traditional model. Senior people working on the biz. No creative directors. Open, honest, transparent. But what happens as we close in at 170-strong? Will sheer mass force us to succumb to mediocrity?

I think not. Rather, I hope not.

We’re committed to keeping our culture, and are taking steps to ensure that our “Gripness” perpetuates itself. I think our judicious screening of potential hires helps, as as does our careful approach to new business (I think we all know that the type of client your agency has can change agency culture.)

So as companies/agencies grow, how can they hold fast to their original ethos?

1. Train staff to love your brand
Don’t take for granted new hires know everything there is to know about your organization. Train them. Take the time to educate them on your brand story. It’ll reap dividends.

2. Storytell
Every great brand has a story. Write it. Disseminate it. It makes for great reference material.

3. Talk, talk, talk
Keep a dialogue open. Have monthly all-staff meetings. Talk about agency goals and how culture plays a role.

4. Guard jealously
Whether your looking at new clients, or even the type of work you take on, ask yourself if it’s right for your brand. If it’s not, chances are you’re taking the first steps on a long walk to compromise.

Ultimately, being big and seeming small aren’t necessarily at odds. I think companies like Apple and Virgin have been able to do it. Yes, they’ve evolved, but Jobs and Branson have ensured that both companies cling to their origins.

So what’s your take? Big at all costs? Or brand first?

Students often ask me what creative directors look for when they’re considering interns. Recently, Anthony K from Seneca sent over a couple of fresh minds for such an information session. Vinay and Jeremy – you fellas asked some great questions. So great, in fact, that I thought they’d be worth sharing with the Slide’s audience.

What do you look for in an intern’s portfolio?
I look for ideas. Lots of them. Blow out a campaign into as many different media as you can. Show how it lives. Take risks. And please, only put your best work forward. If you wouldn’t show it to your boyfriend, girlfriend or parents it doesn’t make the cut.

Is it better to do spec ads for big brands or small, unknown ones?
I’ve never been asked this before. Interesting.
My advice: create concepts for brands you love, rather than worrying about the size of it. Having said that, if you are going to tackle a big brand and you stray from the brand voice, explain why.

What qualities make good intern candidates?
Assume your work is good. Now tell me what makes you stand out from the others. What do you do in your spare time? Perhaps you collect rubber chickens, run a horror film festival, show your still photography in a local gallery, play in a punk band. I look for interesting people. Because interesting people make interesting work. And they’re more fun to be around.

Do you have a method for coming up with ideas?
Yes. And no.

Can you elaborate?
Um, ok. Well, I really focus on the brief. I continually ask myself: “what is the one thing I want people to remember?” “What does it mean to them?” “How do I get people to remember that thing?” Also, I stare at the ceiling a lot.

Do you ever feel like you can’t go on, that you want to change careers?
All the time, man. Working in advertising is hard. You eat a ton of shit. But there’s always tomorrow. You start fresh everyday. When I feel like crap, I go home if I can. If I can’t, I listen to music. Or watch a YouTube video. Facebook is a great distraction too. Sometimes I take a walk over to the Gap, because as much as I like the store, I wouldn’t want to work there. No offence. I love my job. The positives outweigh the negatives. So much so, I can’t imagine doing anything else. My advice? Keep it all in perspective. It helps.

What’s the best advice you can offer an intern once s/he gets a job?
Make yourself invaluable. When an agency can’t do without you, chances are they will find a way to keep you. So work hard and listen to advice. Learn. Try. Show up. Talk. Share. Brainstorm. Above all, don’t be shy. Being shy is death.

If you’re an intern and want to chat, drop me a line: jonfinkelstein@griplimited.com

Heard about AdKeeper yet? I read about it for the first time yesterday. Essentially, it allows consumers to create a personal archive of online ads by clicking on a little “Keep™” button that appears in the corner of the ad space. From your AdKeeper page, you then have the option of sorting, sharing and printing the ad at a later time.

My instinct was to hate this idea. I mean, who saves ads? My grandmother might tear out a print ad to remind her of a sale. People might PVR Super Bowl TV ads, or “favourite” particularly weird or visually stunning OOH or commercials on YouTube. But online ads? Really?

Off the top of my head, I can think of two reasons why people might participate with AdKeeper. Firstly, if an ad does catch your eye, a frequency cap might prevent you from refreshing the page to view it again. Secondly, the good ol’ coupon in a banner approach. These are two pretty decent reasons for saving that space. Maybe.

But here’s where it all goes south for me. Besides the seeming flaw in logic – that people actually want to save ads – I foresee some dire implications.

Online ads are a low involvement platform (0.075% average ctr)
I think AdKeeper is an additional layer of involvement which could hinder its value and success. Why click “keep” when you can just click the banner? Same effort, but one of those options has a slightly more immediate reward.

AdKeeper requires consumers to sign up and opt-in
There are enough permission-based marketing programs. Though AdKeeper is a niche utility, there are few reasons to collect ads, and even fewer ads worth collecting. Adding another profile to our ever-expanding net presence seems superfluous. Unless there is a Facebook Connect-type login, I predict low sign ups.

AdKeeper is yet another site
You have to go to AdKeeper.com every time you want to navigate your content. Personally, I would prefer it to be rolled into a site or app I already use.

Creative barriers
Certainly, ads will need to take a more DM approach (coupons and LTOs) to make AdKeeper worthwhile. Or they’ll need to be “something viral.” Neither is necessarily bad, just more creative boxes. My opinion? Come up with the idea first, then decide tactics.

Maybe that’s the power of AdKeeper. Come up with a great idea. Figure out to execute it. And if you have something that is really meant to be kept, AdKeeper could possibly be the way to go. I, for one, hope that clients don’t jump on the AdKeeper bandwagon. When everything is meant to be kept, nothing will be worth keeping.