dunn&blog

AD GIRL GONE DIGITAL

It was a crisp fall morning in 2000. I sat in a surprisingly comfortable coffee shop on the corner of Broadway and 51st, staring at a giant skyscraper across the street. Just moments away from walking into my first job in advertising, I made a mental list. Suit, check. Attaché, check. Heels, check. Sunny Florida disposition, check! Caffeinated and eager, I walked confidently out of that little shop and right into my future. It was my first day as an Advertising Executive. I was ready to rule the world. I would make ads that would grace the Super Bowl, Times Square…ads that would make my family (and college professors) proud.

Enter the real world. Pushed, shoved and nearly hit by a NYC cab, I arrived at the foot of my new office building. Twenty seven floors later, I entered my new office. It was buzzing. Was I late? Wait, had these people gone home yet from the day before?

And so the lessons began.

Working in advertising has given me a perspective I will always cherish. From paper to digital, it’s been one heck of a ride. For those of you who remember, there was a time when print was king. We routed projects using this thing called paper, every agency had a comp room, mechanicals were mandatory, we often sent the files to the printer on disks (not, floppy…I’m not that old). If you sent a text, it came via fax. We didn’t have cell phones, laptops, and ROI…those letters wouldn’t mean anything for years.

That brings us to this morning: I sat in a similar coffee shop, happily back in my hometown of Tampa, FL, and asked myself, “Has this ad girl gone completely digital?” I could almost feel the WiFi giving me a giant warm hug as I walked in the door. Checking my email, I paused for a moment to refer to the app that reminds me of that coffee I ordered last holiday season. QR code on a banana? Sure, why not? Oh, gotta check in on Facebook and tell the world that I’m here. They would worry if I didn’t check in. Wait, what’s that song playing? Not to worry, Shazam will tell me. How many calories are in this latte? Better log that in my diet app; 10 years of ad life will pack on the pounds. Pay with my phone, can’t wait. Oh, the Christmas cups are out. Gotta take a picture and upload asap. Augmented reality on my cup, love it! Stepping out of the coffee shop I tuned Pandora to the station of my choice and felt comfort in the ding alerting me that an email awaits to inform me of my bank transaction.

Are consumers embracing digital? Yes. Are brands leveraging ROCDDF (return on consumer digital dependency to function)? Yes, but not well.
Here’s to 2012, the year marketing figures out digital! Let’s do this.

P.S. That comfortable little coffee shop was Starbucks and the suit, attaché and heels have been collecting dust since my second day as an Advertising Executive. Oh, and I’ve never had an ad on the Super Bowl, but I did have a digital billboard in Times Square. - Amber (aka Ad Girl Gone Digital)

MAKING ADS IS A LOT LIKE MAKING CARS

Somewhere in an automaker’s design studio is a sketch for a car so mind-blowingly futuristic it shocks your system. In fact, there are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of such designs in the studios of every automotive brand in the world. So why aren’t they ever produced? Why are the “total redesigns” we’re offered each year not that much different from the “total redesigns” of the model year before them? The futuristic designs exist, so why don’t the cars? What’s the hold up?

We are.

Many years ago I saw an interview with an automotive marketing expert who said consumers are not ready to accept seismic shifts in car designs. The futuristic designs will come, but it will be a very slow, gradual process. We think we want something out of the Jetsons, but if it appeared in a Toyota showroom tomorrow, we wouldn’t know what to make of it. I was reminded of this recently when tasked with a big creative assignment. Like every creative person in our business I wanted to re-do the math. Hell, I wanted to break every rule and invent new numbers and colors and words and letters. I wanted to use the opportunity to reshape the way people think about advertising and maybe even their existence. I wanted to be mind-blowingly futuristic. So what stopped me?

We did.

Look through the advertising annuals. Look carefully. You’ll see great big ideas. But you’ll also see very familiar executions. That’s because the agencies that created them know what the auto industry knows: consumers are not ready for the seismic shifts. Not yet. It’s taking place gradually and digitally, but it will be a long time before the audiences who receive our messages are ready to receive them from the future. So do we stop trying to reinvent the wheel? Never. (Neither should the entertainment industry.) But it will put things in perspective the next time we’re spinning our wheels. - Glen

Opening Eyes at The Great American Teach-In

Everyone at dunn&co. is encouraged to get involved in our community and I’m proud to report that many of my fellow d&c staffers roll up their sleeves and devote time to a number of worthwhile efforts. On Thursday I kept the good agency karma flowing and volunteered once again for the Great American Teach-In. I decided to make my topic “Using Advertising for the Greater Good” so I could have a platform to educate students at Pride Elementary School about See The Blindspots.

I spoke to the entire 4th grade and opened their eyes to how much fun advertising is and how lucky we are to be able to use our talents for a cause like public safety. The kids got the message, loved the campaign and were really impressed by our CGI work. I left there feeling as good about myself and our agency as I do after a successful client presentation. There’s really nothing like showing kids how their natural sense of curiosity and play has a welcome place in a grown-up industry like ours. - Glen

Customer Service BFFs

Last week I had an issue with a product I purchased from Photojojo. I emailed them hoping they’d have some insight or solution. The solution? “A whole mess of store credit or a video of the whole office doing a dance,” from Julieanne, a Dinosaur Resources Director/Photojojo Customer BFF. Along with this offer, she and I exchanged several emails trying to fix the problem I was having. The entire conversation fell in line with how I converse with friends.

I’ve been shopping on photojojo.com for years now. To be honest a handful of their items haven’t exceeded my expectations - the handle broke to the speech bubble chalkboard, their camera lens coffee mug leaks and now some of my polaroid postcards are being returned due to size. Yet they continuously win me over with the awesome experience I have interacting with their brand - from their website, to purchasing to their personal photo blog to the plastic dinosaurs they put in every shipment.

Companies invest huge dollars to have conversations with their customers on a large scale, yet so many miss the mark on the small conversations. Customer service for most companies is defined by 5-7 minutes of fumbling through broken voice recognition just to talk to an uninterested rep or immediate, automated email responses from a donotreply@emailaddress.

Being human wins every day. No matter how advanced technology becomes, we can’t neglect the human element. Thank you, Julieanne. Though half your group was too shy to dance for me, I’m a customer for life. - Brit