Top 10 things it takes to succeed in this business

I often have had the chance both as an adjunct instructor at the University of Minnesota and as a guest lecturer at various universities around the Twin Cities to talk to advertising students. They often ask what it takes to succeed in this business and so I developed the following top ten list:

1) Brains - this is a fast-changing business, you need to digest the constant changes and new information.

2) A creative feel - requires a special sensitivity to the creative process and awareness of trends in entertainment and the arts.

3) An inquiring mind - study the market, what works and what doesn’t--find out why. Be a student of the business

4) A love of ideas - be a creator of ideas. Don’t wait for others -- initiate.

5) Be motivated - if you say you’ll do something, do it.

6) The ability to write well - learn to communicate clearly--in memos, presentations, etc.

7) The ability to persuade - critical to articulate your POV clearly. You have to know how to sell.

8) Commitment - an idea is not an idea until it is sold. Never give up on something if you think it is important.

9) Leadership - ability to get people to work together toward a single goal is a rare but essential quality.

10) Resilience - long stressful hours. Takes stamina to bounce back after disappointments and attack the problem with fresh energy.

What do you think?

Do you believe in miracles?

Does that saying ever bring back some great memories of the USA men's hockey team beating the Soviets 4-3 in Lake Placid 30 years ago today.

Do you remember where you were?

I sure do. I was a college student at the University of North Dakota> I was a TV announcer for UND-TV 3 getting ready to broadcast a Sioux hockey game that Friday night. I had to be at the arena early so I actually didn't get to see the telecast of the game. But the memories of when they announced the score at the old Winter Sports Center is something that I will never forget. The arena erupted and the crowd chanted USA, USA, USA for a long time.

Since many of the players were from the WCHA I had the chance to interview most of them as they had come through UND in prior years. Talking with Herb Brooks that fall when the US Olympic team played an exhibition game against the Sioux is something I'll always cherish. Herb was nice enough to grant an interview to a young college broadcaster. If you were passionate about hockey that's all Herb cared about.

This fall I read the new biography on Herb Brooks written by John Gilbert a former StarTribune sportswriter. It was fun to re-live those days of that team and of course the great hockey played in the WCHA during that time. I've always soaked up everything that I could about this team whether it's been books or movies. It was a special group of kids that really did prove that you can do anything if you have the desire.

So yes Al Michaels I do believe in miracles. And as I sat watching NBC with Al Michaels talking to Mark Johnson, Jim Craig and Mike Eruzione yesterday afternoon - I did have the emotion wave over me again. And it was fun to share that special time with my kids. Now they understand what the Miracle on Ice team is all about. My son Anders in our walk last night talked all about the game and all the political turmoil that was going in the world back in 1980. And it was fun to see him soak it all in. And then we watched the USA beat Canada last night and he asked is this another miracle on ice Dad? And I said it almost felt like it.

Do you remember where you were back on 2/22/1980?

What is LAMSTAIH?

Yes this is an interesting term and it is very applicable to our business. LAMSTAIH = "Look at more stuff. Think about it harder".



Each and every day in our business we are looking at strategies, plans and executions across many different communication platforms. And sometimes we have time pressures to complete parts of projects.



I am going to challenge myself to "LAMSTAIH" on projects because I believe that more good things will happen. We will get tighter strategies, leading to more innovative plans and executions that create more meaningful conversations with the community that we are trying to reach.



Seems like a simple exercise but sometimes we pass by it because we are stretched for time. However, I think it's worth just a little more time to think about it and to make everything as good as we can for our clients. They want our insights and ideas and we owe it to them to deliver the best stuff than we can.



So next time you think you've exhasuted every approach - step back and "LAMSTAIH".



What do you think?

Retailers vs. Manufacturers

Over the past couple of weeks there have been several stories in the business news about large retailers and in particular Wal-Mart bumping brands off the shelf and replacing the national brands with a cheaper store brand.

For example, Wal-Mart recently removed Glad and Hefty storage bags on the shelf (Zip-Loc remains) and put their own lower-priced Great Value brand on the shelf. Ooops it now appears that Hefty will be returning because their parent company Pactiv Corp will be making the Wal-Mart product Great Value also.

As a long-time packaged good marketing communicator I hope that this trend does not continue. Clearly there are some categories where line extensions have become rampant and make it a harder choice at the shelf. For example do you really need 20 different types of toothpaste to choose from?

However, the innovation for products comes from the packaged good manufacturers and we need their leadership or the product innovation funnel will become empty.

So I hope this trend by Wal-Mart does not continue. I'm all for having choice of multiple brands and not two per category as Wal-Mart is trying in some areas.

What do you think?

What I saw in my mail last night

Are you like me and you are interested in seeing what you get in the mail when you get home from work? Sometimes you get a special card from a friend or family member - although not as frequently these days. But you can always count on the many direct mail pieces. Well two came yesterday that caught my attention.

The first one was from Quest and it was offering some special package offer for their services. However, what caught my eye was the signature of Todd Townsend the VP of Marketing. Hey I know him, we worked together at Leo Burnett and shared many lunches over at the then Standard Oil Building cafeteria in Chicago. I was wondering why Todd just didn't pick up the "phone" and call me since he already knows me. I just chuckled when I saw his signature. Do you have that reaction when someone you've known in work or personal life sends you a mass direct mail piece?

The second direct mail piece that I looked at was an offer from the StarTribune and for only $14.95 (since I'm a daily subscriber) I could also get an email version of the daily paper as it is laid out. Not how it appears on StarTribune online but rather an exact version of how the paper is laid - so you can now look at it electronically. What a deal pay more money for the same content I get at home in the actual newspaper or can get for free on their online sight. Wow those newspaper people are really grabbing for straws here. And I do love newspapers and the content that they offer but I'm already shelling out what $200 a year to get it delivered the old fashioned way at home. I don't need to pay any more. No thanks StarTribune.

Wow - who knew you could actually get some thoughts out from a couple of direct mail pieces.

Competitive Auto Ads - Do they work?

Over the weekend I saw a couple of the new TV spots for Audi. These new ads are directly competitive with Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

The VP of Marketing for Audi - Scott Keogh says that the Olympics are the right venue for competitive ads because "First and foremost, the Olympics is the spirit of competition; it's about who wins and who doesn't."

Of the two ads I saw both were produced to high standards and I agree with Scott on the placement of the ads. Good strategy to put them in a competitive environment.

However, in the same telecast I saw a spot for BMW that talks about the "Joy of . . ." while minimizing their long-time slogan of "The Ultimate Driving Machine". While I did feel that the BMW concept was somewhat similar in tone to the current Nissan campaign it did make me feel better about the BMW brand than the Audi spots made me feel about their brand.

In this case for me while the Audi ads are well done - they don't provide me with a positive emotional attachment to their car badge. Tthe BMW spot gave me some emotional triggers that made me feel good about this brand.

So in this case the Audi strategy of being front on competitive was just not working for me given that BMW was running a much more positive approach in the same program.

BMW is the winner to me in this competitive battle. What do you think?

New recruiting tools

Isn't it amazing how companies are recruiting for jobs these days. I was in a McDonald's restaurant the other day and sitting on a table was a laptop like device that was purely used for job applications. Potential employees could just come into the restaurant and go onto the computer and apply for a job without even talking to the manager in the store. First time that I had seen something like this. Very cool use of technology.

Recently at the agency where I work (Preston Kelly) we have used the social media tools of Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn along with our website to post new job openings. We have received tremendous response to the Twitter and Facebook job postings. Probably the best response tool to generate resumes that we have ever had. And especially on Twitter we get great pass along as many people RT the job posting.

These are great new tools to attract new employees. It's the first time that we've used these platforms and our experience has been very positive.

So my tip for the day is that if you have a job posting and you have an active Facebook and Twitter accounts - take advantage of this new tool to get resumes/candidates for your job openings.

I wonder what new tool we will be using in 2011 to recruit new employees? Any thoughts?