The "F" Word

Unfortunately, I find myself cursing more than I ever have before. [Well, maybe not really, but definitely more than I have in recent years.] In advertising, people tend to use a lot of four letter words. Cursing is just part of being part of the industry.

I came across this video on how to properly use the "F" word that is quite entertaining (with typos and all). I mean really...if you're going to use the word, you mind as well use it properly even if you can't spell anything else!

Not backing down

Team environments can be difficult to manage at times. Never has this been more true that at the Brandcenter. I was told recently that majority rules within a team and I must agree to go with the majority every time. That I should not try to support my opinion or continually ask clarifying questions so I may too get on board with the majority. I am simply suppose to let the majority rule. Well, I don't operate that way. I don't follow the pack because the meeting has grown long or the team is seeking an easy way out, but knows it could do better.

In almost 14 years of working on team projects whether at business school or in the professional workplace, teams have never felt so much like an ongoing battle as they do now. The battleground is created by those who are not willing to open their minds long enough to consider alternative solutions; by those who do not take the time to request additional explanation to better understand another person's perspective; or by those who don't want to try a compilation of the best ideas as a form of compromise.

I believe that if a person feels so strongly about something that there must be a sound reason for it. Sometimes the reason is based on a misunderstanding and other times it is based on solid thinking. Why should this person's opinion be valued less just because they are in the minority? The supreme court lets the minority express its opinion for the record. So why can't I?

CreateAthon: 31 Hrs Without Sleep & Loved It!

It was one heck of a ride participating in the first ever CreateAthon onCampus event with fellow Brandcenter students & VCU Mass Communication undergrad students.

WHAT IT IS
CreateAthon onCampus (CoC) is a unique opportunity for students to put their skills and talents to use helping local nonprofit organizations. In a 24-hour, work-around the clock creative blitz, students generate advertising services for local nonprofits that have little or no marketing budget.

CoC is an expansion of CreateAthon, a nationwide 24-hour, work-around the clock creative blitz begun in 1998 by RIGGS Advertising in Columbia, SC. As of 2007, CreateAthon has benefited 1,008 nonprofit organizations with 2,143 projects valued at $8.4 million.

MY TEAM
Alexis B. - Brandcenter Communications Strategist
Ted S. - VCU MassComm undergrad
Nick W. - VCU MassComm undergrad

MY CLIENT
Virginia Council on Economic Education (VCEE)

MY OBJECTIVE
Develop a brand identity

MY TASK
Re-brand the organization and provide a positioning statement and tagline
Design a new logo, business cards, letterhead, and newsletter template
Write a donation request letter

CLIENT RESPONSE
Clients were extremely pleased that we captured the essence of the brand with our brand platform and branding materials that will help create a buzz and expand awareness within the community.

WHAT'S NEXT
The client now has time to review the materials and will let us know any changes that need to be made. On April 18th, there will be a wrap up event that will showcase all the work of all teams and present the final printed materials to the non-profit organizations. Not to keep you waiting, but I'll unveil my team's designs and branding efforts at that time.

For recap of the entire event and pictures, go to VCU CreateAthon onCampus blog.

Copy never made me smile so much...

This picture was taken last semester by a 2nd year for a beauty-focused project. I loved the copy "Waxing has only made me stronger." since it is a Nerissa original. Yes, us business folks can generate a good line every now and then, too.

Paramount Films & Facebook

Paramount is the first of Hollywood studios to give Facebook users free access to content. No, not full films...just clips from favorite movies like Forrest Gump or Boomerang. Paramount is hoping the sense of nostalgia will turn users into buyers.

"My benchmark for success is that people are joining and sending," Paramount SVP of entertainment Derek Broes told The Associated Press.


Since Paramounts Facebook Fan Page launch earlier this year, it has accumulated 2,220 fans - four of which joined while I was checking out the site. As Paramount pursues this new initiative, it must be careful to have someone continually managing it to make certain the Fan Page and all related pages maintain compelling content that interacts with the audience.

The fact that Paramount is also using the page to recruit Interactive Marketing interns is a sign that they too understand publishing the page is just the first step. Keeping the fans entertained for the long-haul is where the real work begins.

Threesomes

A friend's mother recently passed, so did another friend's husband, as did a distant cousin of mine...all in a matter of a few days. I've heard that death happens in threes and this is my first exposure to this belief.

My question to you is why can't life and love happen in threes as well? If you have any experiences of such, please share...I'd definitely love to hear them.

Note: The Love Life Death image above is the work of fellow blogger: LockJaw's Lair

Let's try and get this going...

Last week was the Brandcenter's Board of Directors (BOD) Meeting. Unlike last semester, the first years were able to participate more than listening to names and titles told to them and then being dismissed. So I was happy in this regard.

One of the perks was being able to have face time to speak to BOD in break out sessions. Me being me...I asked my questions. And me being me...I didn't care for how a couple had answered the questions by either changing my question to make it into something that particular person wanted to answer OR assuming that since the question topic wouldn't be resolved until well after I graduated, there was no point in answering what steps the school was planning to take in the meantime. For the gentlemen who answered my questions in this manner, I saw it as a way of taking the easy way out and as a sign that the directors really don't care about what is on the minds of the students.

On a brighter side, I found great favor in the two other BODs speaking to the group. One is why I am writing at 4:04AM when I should be asleep. This BOD stressed the importance of blogging and writing something not matter how small as often as one can. So this is my attempt to get some momentum going on my blogging capabilities. So don't be afraid to touch base every now and then and let me know how I'm doing.

Valentine's Day

Another day set up for commercialization. Florists, greeting card makers, jewelry stores, and chocolatiers are bringing in the ol' mighty dollar from 1 day in February. I shouldn't criticize as I have benefited in recent years as the recipient of powder blue jewelry boxes and dozens upon dozens of flowers.
This is just one of the few times during the year I wish the personal desire to share a thought, send a gift, make a wish, or offer a greeting was because he would have done so anyway even if society wasn't whispering loudly in his ear.

Overuse of Brands (in school)

Here's an old post I started weeks ago, but didn't finish until today. Enjoy!

*****************************

For the record, I enjoy attending the Adcenter. Oops...I mean Brandcenter. There is just a little area of annoyance I have when professors use certain brands to prove their points or bring a concept to life. The examples are almost always the SAME PRODUCTS / BRANDS!!

I probably shouldn't complain too much. The Brandcenter "professors" are active working advertising professionals and not college trained educators who strive to teach the entire breadth of the advertising industry from a book. (Then again there are books who use some of these same brands as examples as well.) I just wish it wasn't automatically ASSUMED that everyone at the school is interested in or actively use:

Apple, Starbucks, Netflix, Ukrops, GEICO, UPS, Nike

Is it me? Am I continuously shopping in the wrong places? Am I the anti-brand? Here is my take on the products listed above.

first time Apple owner. If it wasn't highly recommended by this school, I still wouldn't own one. Never saw what the big deal was and still don't.


not a coffee drinker. I have to gift cards given to me almost 2 years ago. I carry them around in anticipation I will actual use one.


never used personally. If motivated, I can definitely find movies that I wouldn't mind seeing. There just aren't enough of them out there that entice me from recall alone.


This is a regional (maybe VA only) based grocery store. Yup, me too. Never heard of it before. One day I'll check it out to see what all the hype is about.

Ah! A product I actually use! Gosh darnit, just remembered...my premium is due soon.

absolutely abhor this company. UPS rarely delivers a package on time. I've had to literally hunt down the delivery truck en route to pick up packages before. The shining point was when UPS was used to send a package less than 10 miles overnight. UPS lost the package! After 8 months, I'm still trying to get reimbursed for the lost items.

Haven't bought anything Nike since the 90's. Since I'm discovered a better running shoe (and now I don't run at all), Nike hasn't given me a reason to want an expensive gym shoe.

All of this makes me acknowledge that the industry is full of brands I do not personal use or buy, but will eventually work on. Once on the account, I will of course become intimately familiar with the product or brand. However, in the meantime, does it say something about the type of consumer I am when I have little to no interest in the most popular brands everyone else can't get enough of?

Conviction to the Extreme

As part of my Strategic Brand Concepts class, I read Conviction a white paper written by Kelly O'Keefe. A brand's conviction is defined by O'Keefe as "an internal conviction about how to run a business based on [the company's] own values, not on the whims of the customers." Well, I discovered a brand who has taken conviction to the extreme.

Situation: While a grocery worker was on break a store manager requested help with
stopping a shoplifter

Conviction: Whole Foods Market enforced its policy that under no circumstances should
an employee ever physically touch a customer

Result: Grocery worker fired for stopping shoplifter

How far is too far to take a brand's conviction? Given the regional nature of the story, there may not be any major negative impact to the brand; however, does the brand really wants to risk that?

Bull's eye on Bull-shit

As usual, I am catching up on my industry trade emails at the wee hours of the morning. Today I came across "Target Tells a Blogger to Go Away," an article in the New York Times. This picture is what sparked the controversy.


Amy Jussel, Founder of ShapingYouth.org believes the advertisement has strategically placed a woman's crotch at the bull's eye and contacted Target directly for comment. You say toe-mae-toe and I say toe-mah-toe.

There is no sexual innuendo in this print ad. I saw a woman making a snow angel over a company logo.

I see blogging as an expansion of the word-of-mouth channel. As one person who said, "Bloggers are people with electronic megaphones, no more, no less." And I wholeheartedly agree.

Über Preparation

For the record...

For those who don't know me, I'm a planner and extremely goal-oriented. I like to know where I'm going and how to get there. If an obstacle confronts me, I'm more likely to strategize a way around it than to blow it away.

I am determined and dedicated to succeed in life. Definition of success: Wealth through a loving, supportive family and a passion for living my life with no regrets. The no regrets part is why I opted to leave a satisfactory job (and a nice salary to boot), in search of an emotionally lucrative career. Now I'm at the Brandcenter. I have no regrets.

I'm enjoying the experience, learning tons, and forever thankful for the thrill of a good challenge that reminds me to work better and not longer.

Laughter is Good Medicine

Here are a few video clips that kept the laughter going longer than most.

Smokin' Innovation

One of the great things about having a part-time job as a Google Quality Rater is that it exposes me to topics, sites, information and products I otherwise would not know existed. One such product is NJOY.

Stop laughing, blushing or whatever you may be doing right now. I'm not not talking about the sex toys njoy. I'm talking about NJOY - the electronic cigarette / cigar, which debuted at the 2008 International CES show last week in Las Vegas.

SIDEBAR: I am NOT a smoker so keep in mind that some of my comments are definitely in line with the anti-smoking regime.

The biggest benefit of NJOY is it's healthier than smoking (no carcinogens), which means no cancerous side effects. Other joys is that no lingering odor in clothes & hair, no smoke only a visual vapor and nothing flammable only a LCD light that glows red with each puff.

The negatives are currently limited to the visual vapor that has the scent of smoke and the rumor of TSA approving the device for airline use. If there is a scent, I don't want to be trapped with it for hours on end even if it isn't harmful to my health.

Now for the fun part: Can you imagine what the tobacco companies are planning to do to squash this new innovation? Will it be a cat fight, a stealth low blow, or a sparring of words and intellect? They're probably pow-wowing now to create a "just in case this blows up into something big" strategy. For now, they will simply wait and see how their most loyal smokers respond to NJOY - IF they even heard of it.

See it in action:

Hit the ground running or get out of the track!

My first days of class are complete. This semester I have Intro to Brand Management, Accounting for Communications, Strategic Brand Concepts, and Media Planning & Research. Boy do they make you hit the ground rolling! Over two days I had 4 classes and about 7.5 hours of instruction (normal is 12 hrs, but this was an "easy week".) Here's what I mean:

Assignments due next class period:
1 Brand Culture Analysis - Rolls Royce
1 Fragrance concept, design, and marketing plan - Coty
1 Strength & Weakness Analysis - Circuit City
9 Media Strategies covering three different objectives
1 Article Analysis
4 In-Store Visits - Best Buy, Circuit City, The City & Rolls Royce
2 Website Reviews
9 Chapters to read
6 Handouts to read
2 chapters worth of end of chapters problems
3 Team Meetings & Counting
Research, research & more research!!!

Oddly enough I'm not complaining (at least not yet). This semester is shaping up to be an excellent catalyst to get me running with the advertising wolf pack. Not to mention I'll have some really great work to include in my currently non-existent portfolio book representing the skills I will have further developed during the first year.

It's always the people

I spent time in NYC over the break and realized one thing at the end of it all. I REALLY MISS NYC!! Well, it's probably more the people who are in it than anything else. My friends and extended family, my Sorors and former co-workers. Don't get me wrong...the city itself has MUCH to offer especially compared to little ol' Richmond, but for me it's rarely the place. Always the people.

The Birth of the Brandcenter

Well it's official! The VCU Adcenter is now the VCU Brandcenter. I had the pleasure of having an impromptu tour of the school 10 days before the first day of 2nd semester. Not everyone had that luxury or rather skill to sweet talk a few workers with "please" and "thank you".

Sneak Peek: The Brandcenter

Happy New Year!

Since I recently relocated from New York City to Richmond, I decided to give the "Dirty Rich" an opportunity to prove me wrong by attending the 2nd Annual Carytown New Year's Eve Ball Drop.

Even though I lived in NYC for longer than I will admit on a blog, I never had an interest to attend the Times Square ball drop. Primary reasons have always been too cold and too crowded. I figured Richmond would be different and it was.


Unlike NYC where you have to arrive in Times Square early afternoon to get a prime location for the evening festivities, I arrived to Carytown shortly after 11PM. There was still space in the streets and no one was bumping me. The temperature was cold, but I knew NYC was even colder.

A little after 11:30PM the crowd finally arrived. There was bumping and shoving, but nothing too bad especially since I once again found enough space in the crowd to call my own.

11:45PM: Okay...did I feel the energy in the air of the new year approaching? No. Luckily I was with Adcenter classmates who kept things entertained.

11:55PM: There is no musical performances, no one on stage talking (at least that I could tell), and no sign of the New Year's Eve Ball that was on top of the Byrd Theater.

Midnight: Oh, wow! A not completely round ball made of Christmas lights finally rose....yes rose to the top of a pole. There was no count down, no screaming, just confusion. Everyone in my group grabbed cellphones to confirm it was actually midnight. How can a city have a grandstand celebration for the new year, but not bother to do a countdown!!

12:05AM: First fight of the year broke out. Happy New Year!

Offering my work for the world to see

I was starting to feel like I was bragging by placing my work on my blog well after the fact. However, I do have an alternative purpose for it as well. This blog will be a record of sort of my work. Think of it as a back up drive of sorts.

Once I figure out how best to get my work from other courses up here...you'll be the first to know. It also allows you the opportunity to offer me suggestions for improvement or simply say great job.

Does this mean there will be a 1EPIPHANEE website in the distant future?

Media of Note: Sex (still) Sells

I've been catching up on my advertising industry email subscriptions. I've probably signed up for way too many because every time I make a dent in the list, it seems that 30 more pop up within a day or two. I want to cut down on them so I can actually keep up especially once school starts again. Oh well...what can I say - they're interesting. So sue me!

Below are a few links to products that are using advertising methods I have found intriguing. I would provide summary details, but you won't be the same...you got to see it. Enjoy.

(1) Agent Provocateur (Agency: Unknown) - The URL for this product is actually part 2 of a series. It is definitely a new way to sell lingerie.

(2) Wonderbra (Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Frankfurt) - This one probably caused a few double takes or accidents.

(3) OhMiBod - DailyCandy.com brought this product to my attention.