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.

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.

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.

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?

The best approach for when you make a mistake that cannot be easily rectified is to go to your supervisor and alert her.  I do not recommend taking the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” approach. I can almost guarantee that your supervisor would rather have you tell her that you made a mistake instead of hiding it and hoping nothing bad happens – because it will probably come back to bite you (Murphy’s Law).

It is also a good idea to tell your supervisor because she can help you see why you made the mistake and she can work with you to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Maybe your workload is too much and it is causing your quality to suffer? Maybe you understand assignments better through in-person meetings rather than email? Your supervisor is your go-to person who ensures that your workflow and style is working for you.

So, the moral of the story is if you make a mistake – own up to it. Your supervisor will appreciate your honesty and will keep your candor in mind for the future.

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:

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?

I call it, “full-service thinking.”  It’s the ability to see the big picture, how each part affects the whole.  You are the through-line, carrying insight from group to group.  When conflicting ideas arise (and they will), you know what’s worth fighting for and when it’s time to compromise.

Full-service thinking is important even to those who may not work in a traditional full-service agency.  I’ve had the privilege to work at a full-service agency, a creative shop and, now at Butler/Till, a media-based company.  In all three, my role as a facilitator and connector has been equally important.

It’s this idea of full-service thinking that I’d like to explore in this blog.  How can I (and hopefully you by extension), use a big-picture approach to add value for my company and my clients?

Here’s a recent example.  My current position at Butler/Till has been my first chance to explore the world of business to business marketing (B2B).   Up until now, my clients have all been consumer based.  I came from a world of primetime TV spots, not trade journals.  How much would my previous experience help me navigate in this new environment?  As it turns out, they had more in common than I thought.  Understanding the larger forces affecting the world of consumer marketing allowed me to see them at play on the business side.  While I could write entire entries on the impact of any of the following trends, for now, let’s look at each briefly to see how they apply to the world of B2B marketing.

The Proliferation of Digital Media:

Consumers in search of information and entertainment have more destinations to choose from than ever before.  Barriers are being broken down and brands can increasingly foster one-on-one conversations with their consumers.  The same is true for B2B marketing.  Let’s not forget, while a company may be buying your product, a person is still making that decision.  In addition, digital media offer increased opportunities for personalized communication to supplement traditional sales forces that can be limited by size and geography.

Audience Fragmentation:

As the media landscape grows, our ability to seek out information that aligns with our own interests grows too.  You can see this at work in the myriad of cable channels and websites available, all speaking to their own niche audience.  B2B marketers have been playing in this hyper-targeted world for years.

The Rise of Mobile Computing and the Savvy Consumer:

With information literally at their fingertips, consumers are more able than ever to make informed purchasing decisions, and as such, the table stakes have never been higher.  Brands that demonstrate a true understanding of their audience will win their loyalty.  Brands that make false or inaccurate claims will be publicly called to task for it.  Once again, B2B marketers are no strangers to dealing with a knowledgeable customer base.

Now I’m not trying to make out like I was able to become an instant guru in the world of B2B marketing.  There is still much for me to learn.  But looking at the big picture gives me the confidence to take it on.  All of us encounter situations for which we may feel unprepared.  The trick to getting started is not to focus on what you don’t know, but rather how to apply what you do.

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!

And don’t forget about the chance to create your own opportunities. If you read about an interesting seminar, ask your supervisor if you can go – you may be surprised at her answer. Your supervisor wants you to learn all that you can and she will want to help you find any way to help you grow! So maybe it is not that conference down in Miami…but a seminar near Dinosaur Barbeque. Either way, I’m game to learn more – and if there are some delicious smoked ribs along the way you better believe I will be there!

I’ll see you next month for some March Madness!

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.

Impressive user numbers aside, revenues for 2011 actually fell quite a bit short of industry analyst predictions.  It’s no secret that most of Facebook’s revenue comes from advertising and they will likely be placing a lot more focus on developing those tools and services over the coming months and years.  Many are worried that due to Facebook’s gigantic size, the opportunity to grow ad revenue is somewhat limited in the grand scheme.  I joked yesterday that they may be the first public company to ever have to place “not enough people on Earth” as a longterm growth challenge.  For Facebook advertising in its current form, that may become true — unless China ever hops on board (that discussion is for another post).  The second bucket of revenue for Facebook is filled with dollars from virtual good sales through games and Facebook credits through social commerce properties, tools and applications.

We all knew about the second bucket.  The one that contains Words with Friends and Farmville… you know the one.  We just didn’t realize how big that bucket actually has become.  Zynga (the gaming platform and creator of the previously mentioned games) accounted for 12% of Facebook’s entire revenue in 2011.  That makes them an indispensable partner for Facebook.  It should also signal a glimpse of confidence for potential investors.  Facebook will always rely on advertising revenue in some way, shape or form.  The amount of reliance, however, may not be as heavy as we originally thought.

What are your thoughts on Facebook’s IPO filings?  Will you buy stock when it officially hits the street?

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.

I urge you to take a deeper look at yourself – beyond your papers and lecture notes – to find out who you really are. What are you really good at? Are you a great communicator who is always willing to learn more? Once you know your skills, you can see how they relate to your work (no matter what industry).

How do you do that?

As part of our new-hire process at Butler/Till, each new employee receives a copy of StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath (No, you don’t need to read the whole thing!). The key to the book is the StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment. It’s just like a personality test. The results of thetest are your strengths – described as a mixture of soft skills and their applicability to the work world. Do you love meeting new people? You may just be a “Woo!”  And you should probably be working somewhere where you can interact with many people throughout the day.

Each chapter of the book is dedicated to a specific strength and goes into great detail about each one including what it is like to be a person with that strength, how that person may work, and how to work well with that type of person.

Using StrengthsFinder 2.0, I was able to figure out what my soft skills are and how I can apply them effectively to my work at Butler/Till. You do not have to take the assessment or buy the book to figure out your skills, you just need to take a deeper look inside yourself. What are you a natural at? Talking to people? Solving problems? How can you make your skills work to your advantage in the work place?

Once you find out, post a comment and let me know!

See you next month!