If you work in a creative field, you’re an entrepreneur. Just like a brand, you are known in the marketplace by your product and you must develop a reputation for good work to survive. If the product you put out drops in quality, you’ll be looking for another job. Possibly at a lower rate. You […]

Doubt. Do you doubt yourself? Do you ever stare at a blank page and doubt you can fill it with something great? Do you doubt that your work is going to be as good as the next guys? Do you doubt that you’re a good creative? Doubt is natural. But doubt must not be crippling […]

Last week Kellogg’s pulled their advertising from alleged #FakeNews site Breitbart. Someone was offended. It’s pretty easy to offend someone these days. In fact, I think I’ve been offended at least once today by someone’s opinion. I’ve always felt it crazy for brands to stick their noses into political issues where they’re likely to annoy […]

Non-creative people think about things in either yes or no. It’s blue or not. The project is completed or not. The books balance to zero or not. This is what most people do at their jobs everyday. They look for binary patterns and make decisions based on those patterns. This is a great skill if […]

As we wind down to the last days of what seems to be the worst, most negative, election in our nation’s history, it’s a good time to see what an advertising and marketing pro can learn from it. I have a few takeaways. 1) None of this really applies in business. You can’t lie about […]

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the negative marketing aspect of a US election is different than any other marketing category. The fact that there are only two options for voters to consider makes the race to the bottom attractive. Throw enough mud and folks won’t have a choice but to vote for you. So […]

Advertising pros that have careers that last more than a couple years will find themselves working on more than one brand in a single category. I, for example, have worked on multiple hotel brands including Ritz Carleton and Hilton hotels. Multiple motorcycle brands including Kawasaki and Suzuki (twice). And multiple sunglass brands including Oakley and […]

What does a bunch of celebrities and a dose of condescension add up to? Answer: Ennui. Sorry, Joss. Read the comments on YouTube, they’re priceless. Anyone who’s turned a TV or opened a laptop or tapped a smartphone screen in the past year has heard or read what a despicable person Donald J Troll is. […]

Last night the Wrigley corporation was faced with a difficult situation. A really stupid analogy was made by Donald Trump Jr. comparing skittles to potential terrorist refugees. Not only did Wrigley’s take the highroad, they shut the conversation down by saying continuing it could be misconstrued as marketing. And we all know that anyone in […]

Problems, problems. We creatives love problems. We embrace them with open arms, eyes and minds. Problems are the things that get us up in the morning. You see, if everything was going swimmingly, no one would ever need us. We like to be needed and appreciated. The bigger the problem, the more we feel needed […]