Playing against type

On November 8, 2007 I wrote a post that talked about how social marketing "tests the concept of juristic personhood by daring brands to live up to their legal status." That's still true. But juristic personhood doesn't make one a person.

People have the ability to play against type. For instance, "The Natalie Portman Rap" isn't funny if it's not sung by the sweet, petite, Ivy Leaguer. And with apologies to Sarah Silverman, "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" would've been been a yawn if Hollywood nice-guy Matt Damon hadn't been singing backup.

I'm not sure this sort of self-referential riffing would work for brands. Consider Gatorade's spinoff G2. The G2 spots play on the core brand's athletic heritage, not against it. The copy includes the line, "You're always an athlete, hydrate like one." Can you imagine the same campaign with the tagline, "You're not always an athlete, so we made a drink for that, too."

Saving the lives of girls

StrawberryFrog is preparing to launch Mahindra to the United States. During his time in India, StrawberryFrog founder Scott Goodson became involved with a charity dedicated to saving the lives of girls there:

In many parts of India, the arrival of a baby girl calls for mourning rather than celebration. Abandoning them at birth or marrying them off as children is a common practice. Looked upon as huge economic burdens, it is hardly surprising that many Indian families don't see the point in investing in their education...

Successful education of the girl child has been repeatedly acknowledged as an effective mechanism to break this inter generational cycle of poverty, myths, social norms and social evils. Research conducted in developing countries has shown that a literate female population is linked to reduction in population growth rates. On the other hand illiteracy, breeds ignorance and fear and only increases her vulnerability to be exposed to lifelong abuse and exploitation.

Visit the Nanhi Kali website. Consider making a donation. And at the very least join the Facebook group to show your support.

Denver's best blog is, um, what's a blog?

5280 is looking for Denver's best blogger, among other things. Who you vote for probably says a lot about your definition of the word blog.

Is Colorado Confidential a blog, or an online news organization? Is SquareState a blog or a community of online diarists? Is there a difference? How do you compare a team blog that covers an industry (like The Denver Egotist) with any one of a hundred achingly personal blogs written by artists and mommies and, hey, look out for LOLcats! How would you compare an issues blog like Coyote Gulch with a link+snark or tumblr blog? Does Twitter count as a blog? (After all, it's "a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.") Does national pull come into play, and if it does, how do you not vote for Talk Left?

The point is that all-in best blog contests are a bit like all-in best band contests. (Or, for that matter, The Denver 50.) They're only as strong as the people who judge them.

[Hat-tip to The Denver Egotist, who asks for your vote.]

NDAC creative interest group news

Thanks to Citizen Pictures and Base 2 for hosting this evening's creative interest group happy hour. The beers were outstanding and your reel was even better.

We elected two new creative interest group captains. (Greg Brennan and Lindsey Larson don't know what they have just gotten themselves into.) And we elected Lauren Davis and myself to represent the creative interest group on the New Denver Ad Club board.

Get a great creative job, guaranteed

I've met too many unemployed people who wonder why they can't seem to land a job in advertising. And I always tell them the same thing. There's a guaranteed way to get yourself in front of just about anyone you'd want to work for. Volunteer at the New Denver Ad Club.

Tomorrow night, we'll elect two new creative interest group captains. Step up and you'll put yourself in position to meet the creative directors at every agency in Denver.

If you're a junior who wants into the industry or a not-junior who wants a new job or even just someone who cares about advertising in Denver, I'll see you at the NDAC creative interest group meeting.

The other reason creatives stay up late

You'd like to think the late nights ad folk are famous for are just a by-product of our undying passion for the work. But that's only half the story. Alongside desire, there's fear, as Bart Cleveland explains:

The advertising industry is a great white shark, always feasting, yet never satisfied. You had better get better if you want a career that lasts for more than a few years...

The cause of the problem for many seniors in this business is that too many have avoided committing themselves to growing in responsibility or ability.

The ability that many senior-level people lack these days is Web skills. And there's been no shortage of people predicting doom.

Yesterday, it was our own Denver Egotist:

Being in such high demand, are these developers simply moving to more established landscapes, or is Denver simply a microcosm of a national drought?

On the national level, there was Brian Morrissey, quoted here via Scott Goodson:

Clients are placing more emphasis on mastering social media but find their agencies ill equipped to help them succeed in that space, according to a new survey.

And there was Benjamin Palmer worrying that ad agencies aren't up to the Web 2.0 challenge:

Everyone talks about how the industry is changing, nontraditional media, fragmented audiences, blah blah blah. It's true, it's progress, and it's fantastic. It is also obviously scaring the crap out of traditional ad shops.

I see this meme over and over. And I'm never quite sure who these "traditional ad shops" are. Maybe it's because I've never worked at a Madison Avenue monolith; I imagine they'd be harder to evangelize. Both of the agencies I've had the pleasure to work for in the past four years embraced Web 2.0. And when I write "embraced," I mean, "threw our arms around it and kissed it like Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams making out in The Notebook."

At TT&D, we built the first social network for iPhone users, launched a UGC contest for WOW! and asked Colorado to build us a state activity map for Colorado Farm Bureau Insurance. At Karsh\Hagan, we're enabling student-generated content for Regis University, launching McDonald's film on YouTube, and we've got a few new projects upcoming, one of which will be here on May 15.

I know these aren't quite Barbarian Group-level technology applications. I'm not trying to go toe to toe with Palmer creatively. But the "agencies genetically can't get the Intertubes" meme sounds like something invented by interactive shops. And I'm not buying it. Because as Palmer himself writes:

[I]t's not that hard to adapt, if you really want to.

In fact, ad agencies have a better 2.0 mindset than some interactive agencies. (Although many have been slow to realize their advantage.) As Ian Schafer wrote:

[I]f the agency doesn’t have a full media/creative/public relations offering, they probably won’t be able to have the right (and unbiased) experience and best practices to succeed in social media.

The answer isn't as simple as building a better Internet offering. It's about integration. Every day, I see the best Denver agencies staying up late, developing the ability to create great work across integrated media.

It makes me get all weepy. Just like that scene in The Notebook.

30days30pieces.com

David Schell and Ryan Lee both let me know through Facebook that 30days30pieces.com is back. I see John Johnston in the mix, too.

Agenda for 3/20/08 NDAC creative interest group meeting

The creative interest group of the New Denver Ad Club will be meeting at Citizen Pictures and Base 2 Studios on Thursday, March 20. You can get details and directions on Upcoming.

The in-progress agenda goes like this:

• 6:00pm: Say hi. Become familiar with beer cart.
• 6:30pm: Check out Citizen's new reel.
• 7:00pm: Listen to me update the 2008 Denver 50.
• 7:00pm: Elect new board members.
• 7:15pm: Elect new creative interest group captains.
• 7:00pm: Enjoy appetizers, pool and Guitar Hero.
• 8:00pm: Adjourn.