The Creative Strategist

Treehouse Shakers' AD to perform on Radio Bloomsday

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:24:00 +0000

Mara McEwin, Co-Artistic Director of Treehouse Shakers will perform on Radio Bloomsday this Wednesday, June 16th from 9pm-10pm. Mara joins a stellar line up of performers including Jerry Stiller, Alec Baldwin and many others. Check it out - WBAI 99.5FM in NYC and online at wbai.org. Artists interpret James Joyce's Uly...sses and related literature through radio performance and song. Congrats Mara!

http://www.radiobloomsday.blogspot.com/

There is no social media strategy, only marketing strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:43:00 +0000

Another great article I read recently - speaks to the importance of integrated marketing communications and 1 strategy. Social media doesn't exist in a vacuum...it's part of one's greater marketing strategy.

There is no social media strategy, only marketing strategy

Why marketers must become the new publishers | Chris Koch's B2B Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:40:00 +0000

Why marketers must become the new publishers | Chris Koch's B2B Blog

Next Gen Nonprofits: Measuring the Mission

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:42:00 +0000

How do you measure mission? Even for-profits with a deep desire to foster social change can glean some pointers from this case study on the Philadelphia Zoo. This article was published in Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal.

Next Gen Nonprofits: Measuring the Mission

Marketing a Non-Profit Brand: Branding Strategy Insider

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:34:00 +0000

Great article on building a non profit brand. This brings back all the great lessons from the Irrefutable Laws of Marketing & Branding - being first in the customer's mind...focusing...playing to the opposite. Timeless advice.

Marketing a Non-Profit Brand: Branding Strategy Insider

Do You Know What a Personal Brand Strategy Is? | She Takes on the World

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:29:00 +0000

Great post on establishing an online personal (or company) brand. From the blog She Takes On The World - a top blog for Women Entrepreneurs.
Do You Know What a Personal Brand Strategy Is? | She Takes on the World

Stategic Research

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:21:00 +0000

This article on audience research, featured on ArtsMarketing.org, encourages us to consider research in the broader context of institutional goals and strategies. While this is spun for arts managers, it's applicable to any organization whether for profit or non profit.

My favorite line is this:
"Research is about improvement. If you’re not going to program, market, schedule, fundraise, price, package, interact, design, educate, budget, plan, or something differently based on what you learn, then why bother asking your audience questions in the first place?"

I work with artists that come to me in a panic - their promo materials need help and they need a new logo and website. These are no doubt important observations but too often they consider the short term (and likely the least expensive and quickest turnaround) solution - a quick easy design.

As this article points out, everything should be strategic and holistic. It's my job to slow the train down and almost always back it up. Simply whipping up a new logo or poster doesn't address the deeper questions. Without those questions addressed and worked into the design, it's merely shooting from the hip. Research is key to everything - Who are you? What image or perception do you want out there? Who are you targeting? What do you know about them? What don't you know? What do you hope to do with the information? How can the research be applied across the board?

Be committed. Invest in yourself and your organization. As my dad would say: Do Your Homework!

The 4 Ps of Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:24:00 +0000

When we devise our tactical marketing plan, we look at the 4 Ps - Product, Place, Price and promotion. I led a workshop this week and presented the following questions to Philadelphia area teaching artists as they begin to think strategically about how they market themselves and their art.

What is your product? What is that you currently offer - tangible and intangible. In my case, I offer a service. I'm a communications consultant.

Where do you sell your product? This is your place. You need to think about the many markets you serve and hope to serve. What makes each one different?

How much will you charge? Are there different price points depending on the kind of service or the place where you sell?

How do you promote your products/services? This includes ads, press, web sites, blogs, Facebook fan pages, events and other partnerships.

I always consider a marketing plan a work in progress - it's something you create and revisit every few months. It's a check point - where you are today with your strategies may be different than where you are in a few months.

First Day

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:16:00 +0000

Yesterday was my last day at PennPAT, the organization where I had worked for over two years. Due to budget cuts and a restructuring of the program, many marketing initiatives have been suspended and there wasn't a need for a Program Associate. So after two terrific years of being a face of the organization, meeting inspiring artists and programming folks, I packed my duds and headed home.

I've been through several lay offs in my ten year career and I'm grateful for the time I was given at PennPAT - time to let the constituency know, time to plan, time to think, time to let it digest. Usually the "first day" of the rest of my life - the day after it takes effect - is filled with shock. But here I am, at home, cleaning my house, confident that good projects will soon be knocking.

I'm reminded of a poem my high school senior lit class read on our last day of class - I cannot recall the name of it but it started with, "This is the first day of the rest of your life..."

I'm an adaptable person and I'm excited for the good change on the horizon.

Branding Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:40:00 +0000

Some of the best branding workshops are the ones that make us partake in analogies. The building blocks of branding are emotions - identifying who we are as individuals, companies, our missions, our values - and then turning those intrinsic beliefs into something visual that conjures up the emotion.

But what are those beliefs and emotions?

If we take a moment to compare ourselves to our competitors, and even something fun that Chip Conley has done for his hotel chain - picking a magazine on which his hotel brand is built - forces us to answer questions like, "How do I perceive myself?" and "How do I want others to perceive me?"

I've also seen this done by gathering a group of logos - from cars to restaurants to clothing lines to cities. The point is to compare how you identify one vs. the other and why you feel you identify with one more than the other.

If Piccadilly Arts were a magazine, what would it be? Something that spoke to authentic traditional art forms...combined with modern eco-friendliness. I must visit my local Borders to hunt down this allusive magazine.

Iconic Branding

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:29:00 +0000

Iconic Branding

Posted using ShareThis

Entitlement

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:43:00 +0000

I read this article in the NY Times the other day. While I can't say I'd ever want to work for an airline, the business mindset of Delta's CEO did resonate with me.

I was recently in State College, PA leading a workshop for artists. After dinner I strolled the adorable downtown and poked my head into a terrific ceramic studio - The Creative Oasis. An hour later I emerged, bogged down with some wonderful local pottery. Unfortunately, my excitement was cut short by a group of college students loitering on the corner begging me for money to get home. After ignoring the bunch, they proceeded to shout sarcastic self righteous comments at me.

Most situations like that roll off my back but for some reason that evening I couldn't shake the verbal assault. What bothered me most was the sense of entitlement that these kids illustrated. It is not enough that they are going to an amazing university and getting a terrific education. Clearly, they are also entitled to behave poorly on a street corner and ask for handouts and then verbally put you down for ignoring their plea.

I see this sense of entitlement in so many today - young and old. I believe we all must go through the trenches and have our moments of self doubt and self righteousness so we can marry our dreams with harsh reality, but that in the end we emerge more confident, more mature, more patient, and more seasoned professionals.

I try to remind myself that these college aged students will likely spend several more years acting this way in their efforts to figure themselves out...I'm sure I had my share of "fine" moments. It does make it hard though for those of us in positions to hire and/or mentor to WANT to invest our time in certain folks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/business/26corner.html

Nonprofit Survival in Tough Times

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:17:00 +0000

The LaSalle Nonprofit Center had these tips - the 3 C's - for nonprofit survival in our current economy.

Core mission and competencies – Make sure your focus is tight on the core services and programs that are critical to your mission and don’t sacrifice their quality. Now is not the time to be all things to all people, but to prioritize and stay within bounds.

Collaboration – Most of our organizations have competitors and we spent time, energy and money fighting over the same donors, the same resources, the same audiences, when we could be more effective collaborating strategically rather than competing.

Communicate with your key stakeholders; don’t stop fundraising and don’t apologize for it. Let them know what’s going on clearly and honestly, without hysteria or desperation and be concrete about what their support will do.

Partnerships

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:33:00 +0000

I always include partnerships in any tactical marketing plan I create for a company. Who or what else is out there that shares a similar mission and can help tell your story? Can help you reach new donors, audiences, and clients? Can help sustain your business?

There are a few upcoming workshops in the Philadelphia area that I wanted to share with you. I'll be attending the May one.

1)Strategic Restructuring for Arts and Culture Organizations
The Nonprofit Finance Fund will offer the third installment of its Managing in Turbulent Times series with a workshop on Strategic Restructuring for Arts and Culture Organizations on Tuesday, April 14th from 9am to 4pm. The event will take place at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania at 1300 Locust Street in Philadelphia.

The workshop features presentations by Jo De Bolt of La Piana Associates and the Chief Cultural Officer for Philadelphia, Gary Steuer, who will speak on the merger of Americans For the Arts and the Arts & Business Council. The event is cosponsored by the Arts & Business Council, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, and the Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative.

DeBolt will explain the different partnership options for nonprofits - such as mergers, joint ventures, and administrative consolidations, the reasons for considering these options, how to assess an organization’s readiness for restructuring, and what makes for successful partnerships.

The cost of the workshop is $75 for the first registrant from an organization. Additional registrants from the same organization are $50 per person

2)Strategic Partnerships: Forging Alliances, Advancing Your Mission
A regional summit for funders and nonprofit agencies, featuring Jo DeBolt of La Piana Associates and local agency leaders who have created successful partnerships in the nonprofit community.

More info.

So Long

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:13:00 +0000

It has been shamefully long since I wrote...but with good reason. I am a new mom. Actually, at nearly 10 months, "new" maybe isn't the write adjective although every day is a new adventure. My son, Mitchell, was born last May and hands down is my pride and joy. I took some time off last summer and took a break from freelancing to get acclimated to my new role as a mom.

Probably the most useful skills I've acquired (or brushed up) in recent months have been prioritizing, multi-tasking, and chunking projects. It takes me back to a time management class I took when I first started high school. Things do get accomplished...in their own time.

There is a new fresh website for Piccadilly. My focus is on helping clients with branding and marketing. Let me help you tell your story. What makes your company so great and how do we share the emotional stories, build excitement and increase your company's visibility?

I'm still working within the arts and culture but there is a clear link between the arts and sustainability. Nonprofits, specifically artists and arts orgs, know how to do a lot on a dime...how to pull resources, and by their very missions, be about something greater than themselves. I'd like to reach out to other companies - both for profit and nonprofit - that are driven by sustainability and social responsibility. We share this commitment so please contact me for branding and marketing services!

Musical Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 21:12:00 +0000

I can get caught up in a moment like anyone, particularly a musical one. Examples include when I saw Richard Ashcroft perform at the TLA in 2001...when I saw him again with Coldplay in 2006...when I saw Amos Lee at the Tin Angel...when I saw Crowded House at the Mann Center this past August.

But a few weeks ago I sat in the Mercury Ballroom and watched several performances that were truly emotional and adventurous experiences. The Hot Club took us to 1930s France and back with their gypsy jazz music and sensational French singer. The Hot 8 Brass Band had the house clapping and rocking until 11:30 p.m. with their Second Line sound and musical journey to Marti Gras in NOLA. Danu - hands down the most intense performance of the evening - hails from Ireland and put us in a trance with their celtic fiddling. All I could think was - Imagine seeing them in Ireland...at a pub...with a Guinness. I felt like I was there. I wanted to bottle the energy.

One the one hand, little waves of nostalgia washed over me several times because I used to work for this agency and I desperately wanted to get up and talk to presenters and convey the level of excitement I felt. I also happened to look around and take in the incredible number of people in the room and the overall energy and couldn't place my finger on how I felt until much later in the evening. Then I remembered. I was part of something bigger. I experienced that there before, in 2004, when I played a big part in producing the showcase and for the first time in my young career felt extremely proud of where I worked, the people I worked for/with, the incredible talented artists I represented and the work I had done. Wrap all that up and it's an intense moment.

The intensity and energy swirled around inside me that other night. I was proud too - that I had come full circle to be there again. Amidst the little waves of nostalgia there was also confidence that someday I might pull off something this magnificent. You don't have to be an aspiring agent...or even to have worked at one to experience an emotional performance. The key to a successful showcase - and perhaps one's successful business - is the ability to build excitement and create connections and emotional experiences for people.

Here is video of Danu. Just know this does not capture the intensity I described above. Imagine this times 100. I hope you are as entranced as me.

Creative Time & Space

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:14:00 +0000

Little scraps of paper with messages scribbled on them...notebooks with paper that crinkle when you flip pages because the ink is applied with such pressure...coffee mugs...framed photos of family and friends...maps, twinkle lights, coloring book rip outs...Every desk and office space is unique. How each of us work is unique. Some can exist in pure chaos, others like myself need everything in its proper place. Our own idiosyncrasies are what makes the work space - and ultimately what makes the place ours and a place to work productively and perhaps even relax.

Despite having a category and neat file folder for every paper under the sun, it's not to say I can't make a mess. The more room you give me, the more I take up. Once I had a 1000 piece mailer to get out the door. Label each envelope, stuff with letter, give to boss to sort and affix with post-its, give back to me so they may take up 10 square feet of floor while I fold and stuff rosters, posters, and invitations in the appropriate envelopes. How I kept them straight I'll never know. How I managed to not get stepped on, kicked or screamed at, I'll also never know.

That's how I operate with huge projects. I take up an entire space. At the end of the day it all gets put away, piled and a neat To Do list awaits me the following day. My boss stopped and stared at me on a few occasions, maybe once asking if I knew what I was doing and I assured him I did. He (thankfully) stressed and fumed quietly to himself for the duration of the mail stuffing to be relieved in the end that despite the seemingly chaotic state of it, everything was in tact.

Probably also making him raise an eyebrow were the decorations that garnished my working space. Prior to this job, I worked either in tiny cubicles or at a desk assembled in squares or rows, elementary school style. There was no room to decorate, hang pictures or otherwise express one's creativity. In this place, I had a little alcove - a nontraditional space, but that was OK - with a window and two walls! A dream come true. The boss was a creative fellow, OK with the idea of adding personal style to the space (he had some interesting things adoring his space and we later put glow in the dark stars all over his office to celebrate Halloween) so I added some curtains to the drafty window, my Hello Kitty calendar, my framed charcoal drawing, a few Wassily Kandinsky prints and the cork board with all my important office papers. I mentioned the more room, the more I take. Well, later there came a side table for my printer, a lamp, twinkle lights on the window, a remnant glow in the dark star, etc.

Now I will say this in my defense - everyone needs at least one job where they can freely exercise their creativity, even if it's slightly eccentric. We didn't have clients parading through our space so perhaps if we did, I would have stopped at the framed prints on the walls. Years of hiding bouncy balls and trade show toys in drawers, of having push pins fall out of cube walls and frames fall off the side of my "school" desk came to a screeching halt here.

But the burning question here is: With my ability to take up the entire office on a project, paint the town (or alcove) red with my energy and creativity, did I work smarter? Did all this craziness make me an efficient and productive employee? Do such splashes of personality make anyone a better worker?

In my seven years of working, I'll say - it takes a combination of the tangible and intangible, intrinsic and extrinsic to motivate and excite an employee. It's a lot of Psychology combined with Organizational Behavior/Management (and probably why so many employers mess it up). The fact is - I'm already a responsible, accountable go getter of a person. I know what I needed to be doing daily. All my additions to my space only made it more personal and fun to physically drive 40 miles a job I already liked. And for the jobs I didn't like so much, infusing my space with a little personality sparked creativity and brought a smile to my face and pushed me onward. Any marketing coordinator will also agree when it comes to assembling mailers, collateral, packing for trade shows - you really do need space to lay out components and visualize your inventory. It's not all about decor or how one organizes her head, but it helps being able to exist in a comfortable place for you. Moreover, I found it refreshing to be around people that embraced creativity. I felt the energy even when I interviewed - and hauling the long drive home thought, I could work here.

The day in December 2003 when it snowed and I was 3 hours late getting there, I stayed until 7 that night, all alone with my my mailer (and twinkle lights), quietly finishing one element of the project. I didn't need to stay, but I wanted to: He didn't give me hell for the inclement weather, for living 40 miles away and surviving a treacherous drive, I wanted to put the time in, I knew with everyone gone for the night, I'd have the place to myself and I could concentrate and I wanted him to come in the next day and see I made a significant dent with the mailer!

Come to think of it, that guy still has my light up, bouncy, noise making bouncy ball. He didn't confiscate it. No, he loved it so much when I showed it to him, he asked to keep it.

On The Spot: The Allusive Elevator Pitch

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:05:00 +0000

How many times have you heard someone tell you that you need to perfect your elevator pitch? I'll never forget my first job out of school - I was working at an IT consultancy in October 2000 and they dropped me off at the Valley Forge Convention Center to work a trade show two months into working there. One the one hand, I was happy for the experience (to learn about the industry), to see the fruits of my labor (I set up that 10x10 booth and wrapped those candy bars with homemade labels) and to collect tons of fun trade show toys (like little bouncy light up balls). On the other hand, what did I know about IT consulting? About portals? About our clients? Nothing. I stood in the booth, panicked, and asked my HR recruiter for the elevator pitch. It's my worst nightmare to go anywhere unprepared and conferences and shows can be the most intimidating - booth visitors putting the cute little cheerleader on the spot - just because they can. I'll be your cheerleader. But I'll be smart as a whip.

Perfecting your pitch is tough. Sometimes it takes years. I believe this is a combination of knowing our products and services, how they work, how they benefit our clients, self confidence, and an ever changing landscape of our businesses. It isn't just about saying what we do as a business or independent professional. It's about engaging our listener - showing instead of telling, keeping things simple, but still telling a story. Because after all, elevators are small cramped awkward spaces - like so many initial encounters.

Up until this point, no one could even offer me a starting point on how to craft the allusive pitch. Tons of articles in INC, Harvard Business Review and other publications tout its importance, but never have I come across a writer who says This Is How You Do It. These are respected journals - why can't I find what I need? What's useful to me as a small business owner? Stop talking about what it is and why it's important and show me how! My prayer was answered. I came across this Elevator Pitch How To article posted on the American Management Association's Leaders Edge and for once someone drills the elevator pitch down to its basics and shares some useful tips and real examples of how to develop and fine tune it. Mark Wiscup, I thank you for making something that's so daunting and unattainable a realistic, challenging but reachable goal.

I'll be working on mine this week and I'll post it here with little annotations so we can see how closely I followed his tutorial.

All That Jazz

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 01:40:00 +0000

OK, so I've been obsessed with jazz of of late. I go through phases where I'm really into classical, into bluegrass, into cheesy 80s for my workouts (it's true), but over the last few weeks I've been enjoying the local jazz radio station near me in Philadelphia, WRTI 90.1, and unearthing some fabulous internet radio stations and You Tube video performances.

First, slink over to East Village Radio and check out their program lineup. Right now I'm listing to the podcasts of The Speakeasy. It airs Friday nights at 12 midnight through 2 a.m. I don't think I've been up that late since...I was 25. That was some time ago. So rocking the podcast on iTunes I am. It's terrific modern chill jazz.

I'm also sharing a video of New York City's Waverly Seven performing Charade. So cool they are, I'm wondering why I am sitting here in front of a PC when I should find some hole in the wall jazz lounge to enjoy the performance. Alas, I will have to wait until November when they grace the baby Grand at Wilmington's Grand Opera House. A show not to be missed. Enjoy.

Where You Lead, I Will Follow

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:29:00 +0000

I was 23 when I had my first glimpse at a Title Snob. This gal joined a consulting group where I worked and she maybe had 10 years of HR experience (maybe). And I, the marketing girl, was in charge of mocking up all the business cards in Quark and upon presenting this chick with her mock business card for approval, she flipped out because her title read Director of Human Resources. The title the COO had bestowed upon her. No, she told me all smug. It needed to read Human Capital Strategist. I'm sure my eyebrow raised involuntarily and I stared her straight in the eye and said matter of factly, "Sure."

WHATEVER Human Capital Strategist meant in January 2001. I was 23 and this was my first job and I thought, what BS. Who cares? We know where you fall in the corporation's hierarchy. She wasn't even executive level material and she's obnoxious to go around changing her title a few days into her new HR role and talking down to everyone around her. This 'tude from a supposed leader? The hypocrisy was evident. And made even more painstakingly clear when in her first 3 months, she ran a lot of people out of the company and laid off 50-80 people.

Titles are merely labels and like any label, can pigeon hole us into behaviors and mindsets, whether good or bad. Often people make them up, focusing on the perceived value of the title - packaging themselves to be perceived as someone of greatness. As a marketing gal, I know perception (and packaging) is everything. I know if done correctly, this can be a positive card in your back pocket. How we present ourselves can open doors.

I've also seen it be a complete joke. Times when my Marketing Coordinator signature should have read Director of List Management. But more often than not, I witness titles that make me wonder, "What does that mean?" because they encompass a bunch of trendy words on a card, that mislead, or are relevant only in a particular industry, or are people's egos talking and - my bottom line here - the label doesn't mean squat when it comes to judging someone as a leader.

In my situation, I had hoped for a leader and quickly realized all the talk and titles meant nothing. I reiterate a few ideas that Ann Daly put forth in her Successful Artist newsletter on how to be a leader and my own peanut gallery commentary:

Create new ideas. Ideas come from everywhere. Be open to them, write them down, embrace creativity.
Lead from where you are. You don't have to have the fancy title embossed on your card. And as I pointed out, even those that do, don't lead. Whether you're at the top, the middle or the bottom of the proverbial totem pole, exercise your experience, your skills, your charisma, your leadership.
Don't depend on your JD. Why would that boring job description say anything out of the ordinary? It never does. Do what you need to do/are supposed to do/are being paid to do and then go beyond it.
Build your own platform. I'm an example of this. Stop whining about being a victim of the dot com bomb (like me) and graduating at an inopportune time (like me) and take matters into your own hands. Seriously, there's a lot we DO have control over if only we get past ourselves and our bruised egos. Network, make friends, write blogs, comment, get involved and be engaged.
Ask for help. Let's not be the kids in class who are struggling and embarrassed to ask for guidance. There are mentors, newsgroups, blogs, social networks all here to connect us with others who are going through similar situations or have been there and can offer best practices.

I also suggest we don't take ourselves that seriously. I love when someone's title is Head Honcho. I know it isn't entirely professional, but it catches our attention, right? Makes us giggle a bit? I had Owner and Consultant on business card for a while I was so uncomfortable with such mainstream and pretentious verbiage, I had to change it. Of course, Creative Strategist was probably once like Human Capital Strategist! At least I can pay homage to what inspired me (see side bar).

In the meantime...lead, follow, observe. Be here now.

The Marketing Calendar

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:15:00 +0000

Wow, this terrific how did I NOT think of it first, but it's perfect for anyone in any business MARKETING CALENDAR is going to be like my dad: A check in point.

I'll be posting this somewhere visible and it will likely kick me in the butt when I need my butt kicked. I love the weekly break downs to remind us to work on our own web sites...develop new relationships...developing and sending a newsletter/blog...and yikes! Cold calling! Scary. But we all must do it.

Check it out and thank the lovely peeps over at HOW Design, the premier magazine for graphic design (and some).

Video of the Week: Turtle Island Quartet

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 02:21:00 +0000

In an effort to find some fabulous classical and jazz performances on YouTube, I searched for the Turtles, a string quartet I previously represented. I didn't expect anything really (I see primarily home videos and pop videos promoted so heavily, I forget to look outside those genres). But here they are in all their glory. Let's see if I can get into the habit of featuring a cool performance weekly.

Digital advertising...the new way to brand?

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 17:20:00 +0000

Here's a link to an interesting article published in the NY Times today. I find this intriguing because I do believe, like our corporate mongol David W. Kenny, the chairman and chief executive of Digitas, the advertising agency in Boston that was acquired by the Publicis Groupe, that all advertising will be digital and personalized in the coming years.

I like where he's going...or rather where the global economy is headed. Another executive makes the point of reminding us how annoyed we become after seeing the same commercial or ad over and over and wouldn't it be nice to have a series of ads? Not only targeted to me and my tastes but also taking me to a new level each time? Not only allowing me to interact and experience the product or service, but because of that, building an emotional attachment to it too. Building awareness and becoming emotionally involved - the keys to branding anything.

I wonder though, in the case of the phone (a more personal experience than the TV or Internet, although slowly becoming a media outlet like the aforementioned), will digital advertising reach us no matter what phone we use? Will only certain phones have the ability to receive these messages? Will such phones be like the iPhone and ludicrously expensive making it hard for the target markets to obtain the phone and see the personalized messages and ads? What about those of us who abhor any sort of technological interference? Who merely want to call their friends without pop up advertising? Will it get annoying or will there be a way to enable it if we want it?

Lots of questions...

The Obsession with Penguins

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 13:27:00 +0000

Everywhere I go - Penguins. Club Penguin, iPenguin, books about Penguins, Happy Feet, March of the Penguins. The way my generation had trippy cartoons about robots and animals like Voltron, Scooby Doo, Thundercats and others, kids - and apparently adults - today are up to their eyeballs in penguins. To take it further, possibly to capitalize on the popularity of the penguin, Harvard business professor and author of management books, John P. Kotter wrote "Leading Change," a book about organizational change and leadership with penguins as the central characters. Penguins are now metaphors for corporate life. There's an entire article about this in the NY Times.

I enjoy reading leadership books. So while the rise of penguin popularity still confuses me, I'll likely buy this (when it's discounted on Amazon). Meanwhile, I'm happy that my high school mascot - the Auk - is finally enjoying its heyday.

Ben Cameron's Keynote

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie D) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:00:00 +0000

For those of you church goers out there you know what I mean when I refer to the Zone. It's when you've settled into your pew and the service and as the officiant launches into a homily (in my case) either my eyelids close or I enter the Zone whereby I mentally check out for a few minutes. It's not that all speeches or stories are boring. It's that too often I've heard the same stuff regurgitated. By force of habit I drift to the Zone. Here and there though are incredible inspired charismatic people that not only speak intelligently with so much emotion one can't help but get pulled into the excitement, but they also have something important to say.

Such was the case a few weeks ago. I attended the PA Presenters Conference in Bethlehem. I've sat through tons of "all conference seminars" and "keynote speaker luncheons" and so many have been dry and/or lacking in any substantial information. Ben Cameron, Program Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, was our speaker and man, not only did this guy give a dynamite energetic presentation but he also did what he called all of us in the arts to do -- engage our audiences. I couldn't even be bothered with taking frantic notes. I hung on his every word (literally, I was draped over the back of my chair). I was that emotionally involved.

So many of his points still swim through my head but my favorite analogy was his quoting Wayne Gretzky: "I skate where the puck will be." Look ahead. Anticipate. Engage. I'll dissect the speech in bits over the coming weeks with new posts, but for now, do yourself a service and spend 15 minutes over a cup of 'jo and read his moving speech here. You'll be glad you did.