In modern society, we have created the notion that certain pursuits are the domain of professionals.

In his book about the evolutionary roots of music in society, The World in Six Songs, Daniel Levitin touches on this divide.  For example, if you were to ask a number of Americans if they sing, chances are several of them would reply, “Oh no, I’m no good.”  However, in many pre-industrial societies, that same question is akin to asking, “Do you breathe?”  For them, singing is a fundamental form of expression that everyone shares.

Now apply this thinking to marketing.  Just because you may not work in the “creative” department at your agency doesn’t mean you aren’t capable of creativity.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that anybody can be an art director or copywriter; those skills are the result of a combination of talent and training.  What I am saying is that great ideas can come from anywhere.

I witness this principle in action twice a year at an event called “The Creative Crunch” at Ithaca College.  Once a semester, Ithaca’s chapter of the AAF hosts this event that brings together students from all majors.

Here’s how it works:  On the day of the Crunch, student teams are given a creative brief with a marketing challenge and target audience.  They then have just over two hours to develop two print ads and a third execution of their choice.  Once complete, each team presents their campaign to a panel of alumni judges who select the winner and runner-up of the competition.

 (Click the thumbnails to enlarge)

I’ve been fortunate enough to be on the judging panel at each event since they began in the fall of 2010 (not that I need an excuse for a trip to Ithaca in the spring or fall).  Over the four Crunches I’ve attended, I’ve seen some amazing ideas.  And they’re just as likely to come from teams made up of various majors as they are from the advertising students.

For example, the brief from the most recent Crunch asked the teams to find a way to connect a young, professional audience with Terra Chips.  We saw a range of work focusing on everything from the nutritional benefits of the product to their inherent social qualities.  Take a look at the campaigns from the 1^st place and runner-up teams:

      

 

While both of these campaigns could benefit from a once over by a design team, this isn’t an art direction competition (if it was I’d be sorely unqualified to judge).  What separated these campaigns was the solid ideas that served as their foundation.

Oh, and guess what?  The students on the winning team were from the Business School.

So the next time you need to harness a little creativity, don’t just include people with that word in their job title.  It may take a little coaxing to get people who aren’t used to it on board, but if you give people the opportunity to be creative; they just might surprise you.

Butler/Till was awarded, for the fourth time, a place in the top 50 fastest growing women-owned businesses. For 2012, B/T ranked 17th.

Sue Butler and Tracy Till discuss this prestigious award:

Music: “Night Owl” by Broke For Free (http://brokeforfree.com/) & “Kopeika” by et_ (http://et-official.com/)

Produced by the B/T Media Lab.

If you like cartoons, you’re in for a treat.

Matthew Diffee is a New Yorker magazine cartoonist. He showed up at SXSW and gave a great presentation on his “Three Factors of Creativity.” Michael Deichmiller attended the session and brought back some great insights.

Have a listen and share your thoughts below. What’s your right place and time to be creative? What’s your creative routine?

For more on Diffee and New Yorker cartoons, check these out:

• Take a look at some New Yorker cartoons.
• Matthew Diffee on Twitter.
• Here’s a written interview with Diffee a couple days before his presentation at SXSW.

I missed the deadline for the March blog entry. And almost the April! Why? Well, over the past 2 months, I accepted a promotion, trained 3 people, have been trained myself, and started my new position (And got engaged!!). It has been a bit busy! But being busy is no excuse for missing deadlines. I should have listened to my Outlook alert when it told me to write a blog entry at “5 minutes overdue” instead of “20 days overdue.”

As hard as we work, and as good as we may be at our jobs, mistakes can happen – we ARE human! Let’s say you made a mistake at work. I’m talking about a mistake that cannot be easily fixed – one in which you really messed up. What do you do?

Read the rest of this entry »

South by Southwest Interactive, one of South by Southwest’s (SXSW) annual series of conferences and festivals in Austin, Texas, is about more than just trending technology and media.

Social Media Strategist Gavin Thomas and Senior Account Executive Michael Deichmiller attended a presentation by Chip Conley at SXSW called Emotional Equations. Conley is the founder of the American boutique hotel chain Joie de Vivre Hospitality and a brilliant marketer. He masterfully applies to business principles the theoretical foundations of emotional intelligence and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. His model has produced the largest chain of boutique hotels in the United States. More still, Joie de Vivre Hospitality was awarded best in customer service in 2010 by customer feedback database Market Metrix, beating widely recognizable companies such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Sheraton.

In the session Gavin and Michael attended, Conley explored key insights from two of his books, PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow (2007), and his most recent, Emotional Equations: Simple Truths for Creating Happiness + Success (2012). Using the introspective formulas found in Emotional Equations, the presentation prompted the audience to confront the ways in which they find purpose in their work.

Below is an audio clip of Michael explaining of one of Conley’s equations, in addition to a noteworthy presentation Conley gave at a TED Conference in February, 2010.

Equation: Despair = Suffering – Meaning

In this equation, suffering is the constant, and meaning is the variable. Undeniably, everyone suffers, but the more meaning you find in what you do, the less despair you have.

Michael Deichmiller:

Click play for an introduction to the theme of upcoming content on Media Mosaic: South by Southwest Interactive.

When I tell people that I work in Account Service, I often get asked the question, “So what exactly do you do?”  My answer usually involves some variation on the phrase, “It depends.”

Are we planning a new campaign?  Then I’m meeting with the client to define the goals and objectives and consulting with strategists to gain insight.

Are we in creative development?  In that case I’m briefing the creative team and role-playing as the client to evaluate concepts.

The campaign’s underway already? You’ll find me working with the traffic department and outside vendors to make sure everything is running smoothly and to optimize creative rotation.

Oh, the campaign is over you say?  Great!  Now it’s time to work with accounting to wrap up the billing and review reporting to learn what worked and what didn’t so we can do the whole thing over again, even better.

When you work with so many different audiences, each with their own area of expertise and agenda, what skills must you bring to the table?

Read the rest of this entry »

Now that I have been on the job for a few months, I am starting to feel comfortable with my responsibilities. I no longer need to be guided in what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Great!

You may think that since I now know how to do my job, the training stops…

But it doesn’t! Butler/Till recently rolled out an AMAZING internal training/education program named Butler/Till University (BTU). Basically, each employee takes one class a month to learn about anything media or just to develop skills in general. I’m signed up for “Media 101″ and “Setting and Managing Priorities” already!

Other than being a shameless plug for BTU, the point I am trying to make is that training never ends! But don’t worry, this is a good thing. Training not only makes you better at your job, it also makes you a well-rounded professional. The more you know, the more you can do. So take advantage of all of the opportunities that your company offers you. Maybe it is something similar to BTU, or just the chance to go to a conference – either way, do it!

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve been online or caught any news program since yesterday at around 4pm, you probably already know that Facebook officially filed paperwork for their upcoming IPO.  With this, as with any other IPO filing, the doors to a once very private company were opened to the media and public.  There are many interesting points in the massive paperwork (about 700 pages to give an idea) as well as some pretty glaring questions.  Since many of these questions will likely not be answered until public trading officially begins, which should happen in Q2, I’ll focus this post on just a few facts that jumped off the page as soon as these doors opened.

The official numbers are out, so we can stop speculating and working from estimates — as of December, Facebook had around 845 million active users.  While this is certainly impressive, it doesn’t differ from what many of us already knew.  It’s fairly common knowledge that Facebook will most likely reach 1 billion active users in 2012.  The somewhat surprising “official” stat is the number of daily active users.  During that same December measurement, Facebook recorded more than 483 million daily active users — well over half of the entire Facebook population. This is perhaps the best indication we’ve had to date that Facebook is not just a hobby, but an active lifestyle component.  It’s part of our daily routines — it has become a way of life.

Read the rest of this entry »

When I was in college, I knew what I excelled at. I could understand complex theories, I could lead group projects, and I could write a 5 page paper in an hour (While not my most marketable skill, definitely one of the most valuable). Those skills – and many more – got me to where I am today.

My first few months on the job have been successful due to the skills that I have developed since stepping foot on St. John Fisher’s campus. But now it is not about understanding theory and how I use my semicolons. Life in the work world is about soft skills. By soft skills I mean the traits that make you who you are. How you communicate, your work ethic, how you treat others, etc. Your knowledge of the Pythagorean Theorem isn’t going to help you nail a promotion, right? Your drive, attitude, and reliability are going to be the deciding factors. And don’t worry – these soft skills are things you already have! They make you you.

Read the rest of this entry »