Comic Book Conventions are Awesome

Yesterday, two of my friends and I attended the Wizard World Chicago Comic Convention. It was, probably, the single geekiest thing I've ever done. Simultaneously, however, it was one of the most fun things I've done and I would do it again in a second. Walking onto the convention floor was like entering an 800,000 square foot comic book store. Everybody there was geeking out with absolutely no shame. It was incredible. There were people dressed as Stormtroopers, the X-Men, there was even a guy dressed as "Pimp" Venom (as seen in the 5th picture below). Needless to say, it was a very entertaining Saturday.

So, why am I writing about this in my marketing blog? Well, conventions and trade shows are an important part of the marketing industry. There are the P.R. people who work non-stop to coordinate all of the special guests, panels, and events. There's the small business owner who trucks in all of their gear from hours away because they'll get more exposure at the one or two-day event than they could all year in purchased ad space. And, of course, there's the sales people out chasing leads and making contacts in their respective industry. Conventions and trade shows provide hundreds of people with jobs and, besides that, are usually a ton of fun. Hmm, seeing as my convention trip made for such a good post I wonder if Experience would reimburse me my $25 ticket fee? (wink, wink) Enjoy the pictures. By the way, the guy with glasses is my friend Rick and the other guy is my friend Mong. I hope they don't mind the public revelation of their geekiness.

Japan fights fat (this would never happen in America)

I watched an absolutely fascinating video at CNN.com today and I felt the need to share it. Apparently, Japanese companies are now federally obligated to measure the waist sizes of their employees. Anyone with a waist size over the government mandated minimum (33.5 inches for men, 35.5 inches for women) will cause their company to receive hefty fines.

I'm not against national health initiatives or company sponsored fitness programs, but this sounds crazy. Mandatory waist measurements? Really? Can you imagine this happening in the US? I sure can't. People would be suing for weight based discrimination and harassment everywhere you'd turn. I mean, doesn't this violate the personal liberties of overweight Japanese citizens? Does that even matter in Japanese culture? I'd love to hear some opinions on this subject. Do you think this is a good idea to keep citizens fit, or is it discrimination? Would you allow yourself to be measured every day? Leave me a message in the comments.

Tattoos at Work

I read an interesting story at CNN last week on the appropriateness of tattoos in a work environment, but I wasn't sure whether or not I should blog about it. Obviously, our generation of workers are much more likely to be inked up than our parents were, but I didn't think it had a strong of enough angle for the marketing industry to write about. Lucky for me, Daryl Ohrt, of the blog brandflakesforbreakfast, explained that one of the subjects of the article, Sarah Champion, worked at the same agency as himself, Plaid, and is in fact a contributer to the bffb blog.

Booyah! Now I've got an angle. Knowing now that Sarah worked in an agency setting, it seems relevant to note that, of all the potential jobs, working in creative advertising is one of the most liberal in terms of attire and attitude. Because you're surrounded by so many other artistic and creative individuals, you're more likely to be accepted with piercings or tattoos than you might be at, say, a law office or an accounting firm. Just something to keep in mind while you're out celebrating your graduation. If you wake up in the morning with a fresh tattoo that you don't remember getting, don't sweat it. If you're working in creative you'll probably be okay.

Bringing up Baby

One of the commercials I highlighted in this year's Super Bowl Ad Review was E-Trade's hilarious talking baby spot. If you haven't seen it, check it out below.



Anyway, I came across an interesting interview with the chief creative officer behind the campaign, Tor Myhren, which explained how the piece was concepted and executed. If you're interested in seeing how a Super Bowl Ad comes to life, check out the article here.

Cannes Ad Fest 2008

The 55th International Cannes Lions Advertising Festival officially began today with a flourish.  In case you've never heard of the fest before, here's the official blurb from the website

The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival is the world's only truly global meeting place for those interested in creativity in communications.  More than 9,000 registered delegates from 85 countries attended the Festival in 2007, where they could view nearly 26,000 pieces of work, attend 45 seminars and 20 workshops, catch four awards ceremonies, and enjoy two vast beach galas.

Sounds pretty sexy, huh?  Needless to say, my financial limitations will prevent me from attending this year's events.  But that's okay, because there's plenty of awesome coverage I can read thanks to AdWeek's LeFreaque Blog .   If I see anything interesting, I'll be sure to pass it along here.  

Woo! Class of 2008!!

Since tomorrow morning is the official graduation ceremony for DePaul's class of 2008, I thought I would post something triumphant and hopeful for me and my fellow grads to enjoy.  At the Talentworks blog at AdAge recently, Beth Ann Kaminkow wrote on the subject of hiring entry level employees from the class of 2008.  So, in her estimation, where will we fit in?

Well, according to Kaminkow, 

The Class of 2008 already knows a lot of things the current work force is still trying to figure out. They've lived in an online and offline world that makes them comfortable bringing new thinking to agencies that are working to bring their clients' brands closer to consumers. They "get" the idea of convergence -- in media, in technology and in the way people live -- because that's how they live. So we need to be willing to learn, as well as teach and mentor.

Sounds pretty good, no? Sort of takes one's mind off the fact that we're entering the job market in a recessed economy with an ever-weakening dollar.  

The Perils of Social Media for Big Business

I'm a big proponent of companies diversifying their marketing.  In fact, talking about social media makes up about half of my blog posts.  But just because I, and many other marketing pundits, believe that venturing into Facebook and MySpace is a good idea does not make it so.  In other words, simply having a presence in an online community without an idea of how you're going to utilize it is foolish.  It makes the company seem like it's merely clinging to a fad, and that's a sure way to kill credibility.

In an intelligent and humorous article for AdAge, Greg Andersen elaborates on this same idea. After joining Facebook, Andersen was asked by his 16 year old niece, "What are you doing here?"  When he found that he had no better response than, "Um, because everyone else is?", he knew there was a problem.  Check out the full article to see Andersen's advice for companies who want in on social media, but are too dorky to know why.

Keith Reinhard brings the thunder: Part 2

Part two of the Keith Reinhard interview at AdAge is now posted. Some notable points include:

• young advertisers shouldn't go too weird in their attempts at originality
• creatives are usually the most insecure type of marketer
• now is a "great time to be in the business"
• ROI really stands for relevance, originality and impact

Words of Wisdom From Hall-of-Famer Keith Reinhard

Ever been chastised for not respecting one's elders? Well, if you have been, good. It's an important thing to remember. We can learn a lot from those who came before us, especially when it comes to the marketing business. Back before everything was all about Facebook and Youtube and "Gen X-ers", advertisers had to get by on nothing but clean, strong copy and intelligent design. Then, as now, sound strategy was key to making an impact on consumers and few did it better than DDB Chairman Emeritus Keith Reinhard.

Reinhard was recently inducted into the Advertising Hall-of-Fame. He's known for writing some of the most famous taglines in advertising history like State Farm's "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there" and McDonald's "You deserve a break today". At AdAge.com recently, AdAge editor-in-chief Rance Crain conduced a video interview with Reinhard exploring how he got into the business and some of the secrets behind his memorable taglines. One of the most tasty nuggets from the interview...Barry Manilow composed that catchy jingle for State Farm. It's the first of three videos, so I'll try and post the others when they come online.

Social Media In Plain English

I write frequently about social media and its impact on marketing, but I've never seen it explained quite as pleasantly or succinctly as it is in this video from Common Craft. Enjoy.



Thanks to Karl at Experience Curve, where I first saw this video posted.