ROOFTOP banter

“So what I want to do is make a film about product placement, marketing and advertising where the entire film is funded by product placement, marketing and advertising.”

From Morgan Spurlock, the director of Super Size Me, comes a documentary that plans to reveal all the dirty details of the true world of advertising. I would guess that many in our industry are responding with a deep sigh or an “uh oh.” People are going to see who we really are. What we really do to make them want what we have. All with complete transparency.

This girl? Not worried. Excited, actually.

Advertisers today aren’t necessarily the same malicious manipulators that I grew up hearing ranked right next to lawyers on the Scale of Evilness. Today, if you’re smart, you know better.

The gap between social media and PR is closing everyday. Information sharing is increasing exponentially. Consumers trust word-of-mouth 60% more than traditional advertising. With all this, brands are being forced to be more transparent and honest… or else (cue the Nestle palm oil push back).

There’s no hiding who you really are anymore, and I don’t have a problem with that. It’s only pushing us all to do what the best of the industry have done all along – find the truth about your product and communicate it to those who will take interest. Work harder. Be more creative. This documentary may be perfect inspiration to take it even further.

In any case, the film and related aftermath promise to be wildly entertaining. So stock up on name-brand munchies and update your Fandango app. This is an extravaganza we won’t want to miss.

 

 

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I’ve heard this question quite a few times over the years. Sometimes it’s because someone is curious about what my job entails, and sometimes it’s because, to the untrained eye, our office environment seems too good to be true. Recently, I thought that maybe I should keep track of what a week as executive creative director of Keathley Advertising looks like. So, that’s what I did one particularly busy week last fall.

A Week in the Life of an Executive Creative Director

Sunday
Relaxed at home while reviewing artwork that needs creative direction and approvals while I’m traveling Monday morning. Basically, work left over from Friday afternoon. Some may call it procrastination, but I call it strategic planning for a focused state of attention, because “focused” is not a typical Friday-afternoon mindset.

It’s 3:39pm. Packed my luggage in 9 minutes. Took a little longer than normal, because this trip requires two stops before heading back to Cleveland.

6:00pm flight to Las Vegas. Could be going to worse places, but there will be little time for fun. We have a PR event to throw for 60 members of the press on Tuesday, as well as multiple meetings at the second biggest trade show in the world.

Monday
Woke up at 7:00am to my phone beeping. It’s 10:00am back home. I work from my room for a while. Early morning emails. Phone calls creative directing a pitch for a new client due on Thursday. Conference with my associate creative director discussing a photo shoot she’s covering while I’m out of town.

Breakfast with the client at 9:00am. Then pre-event planning with the Hard Rock to art direct the stage and venue set-up.

Met with our account exec and event planner in the afternoon to go over final details and trade show logistics.

Dinner with the client. Played some cards before going to bed. Not a bad day.

Tuesday
Spent the entire day working from my iPhone and paying attention to the details of a client and her business. My mobile devices make it nice to be able to manage an ad agency, as well as view and provide feedback on projects day and night from any location.

Wednesday
Met with a new business prospect for breakfast. Sounds like Keathley’s ability to grow his business is a perfect fit for his marketing aspirations. I promise him a discovery process and strategy in two weeks.

PR event went off without a hitch. Spent a lot of the day making decisions that sometimes seem silly, but all the details are integral to building the brand at every artistic and strategic opportunity.

Celebrated with the staff and clients over a late sushi dinner. Yum.

Thursday
Flew directly to Chicago at 8:00am. New business meeting. Three meetings with potential partners. Meeting with our web team about the final stages of a groundbreaking site. Straight to a commercial pre-pro for one of our biggest clients. Already feels like a full day.

Met my associate creative director and our senior creative writer. We planned out the shoot over dinner and drinks. I’m very comfortable with our team and the spokesperson that we’ve developed. I’m sure it will go smoothly. I drag myself to bed preparing for an even longer day tomorrow.

Friday
16-hour shoot. Location was very upscale and allowed us a breathtaking view and easily designed sets. My day was filled with creative decisions and creative direction that empowers others to run the show. It was a great shoot and we got tons done. Client was thrilled at how much we accomplished.

Saturday
Flying home this morning. Reviewed footage in the airport while waiting for a delay. Then reflected on the week while grabbing a coffee before boarding. It was a busy one. Most of my weeks actually include two days like this, and three filled with helping clients solve their business objectives and keeping the creative atmosphere in our studio at world-class levels. That requires a creative cocktail, and it’s a tricky dance. It consists of one part empowering creative direction, one part landing large brand strategies, one part of fun diversions from work, and one part not worrying what everyone does all day.

 

 

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What a great example of what social media is all about… connecting people that couldn’t really be together any other way.

I think it’s beautiful and inspiring. And it’s a catchy song to top it off.

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Supporting charities within our community is an essential part of Keathley culture. In the name of that belief, Keathley is founding the Akron chapter of Mustaches for Kids. The guys in our office will grow their best mustaches this November to raise funds for children’s charities in Akron.

To inspire the mustache growers among us and fuel the excitement of their supporters, our staff has been passing around some stachetacular photos and videos. We can hardly wait to share the chapter’s success (and more shots of our staff rockin’ it stache style).

Where do you find stachesperation?

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We’ve all heard the claims that with social media, the possibilities are endless. Okay, here’s the pickle: I want to make a monster movie, but am sans resources. Can I use social media to get talented writers and filmmakers to give me content for a feature-length film?

Enter our friends from last year’s SXSW awards, the creators of LostZombies.com. These 3 East Bay residents started a zombie-themed social network with the goal of creating the world’s first community generated feature-length zombie documentary. Users submit videos and photos based on loose guidelines, with the best content compiled to complete the film. And with their zombie culture sweeping the nation, the guys are well on their way to success. There’s been close to 1,000 videos, over 100 blog posts, and over 7,000 photos submitted to date. Check out some of the user-generated content on their People’s Choice Award-winning site.

What makes this so successful when Fortune 500s can’t get people to fill out a survey? It’s a two-way street. Hopeful filmmakers get a chance to break into the business with their work featured in the film, and the people get zombies. Zombies, dude.

In addition to the film itself, the initiative’s marketing gives the power to the people. Lost Zombie stickers have been embraced by people across the world eager to make a mark and spread the epidemic… me included. See more stickering here.

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