It's all happening at your local Starbuck's

This spring I find it particularly difficult to concentrate in the afternoons if I am working from home, so I usually head out to one of my local Starbucks for one of those Green tea Arnold Palmer's (refreshing). During these outings I bring my laptop and cell phone to stay connected and actually get tons of work done, by work I mean freelance writing and web design projects, and my full time job of finding a job. What I have observed is an amazing cross section of business and dating going on. I have overheard people discussing new business ventures, meeting with recruiters, advertisers, sales reps, you name it, and I have also overheard at least a dozen "scratch & sniffs" (that's what I call those first coffee dates), I even overheard a breakup..... Coming from LA, this is how business was done in that town, people would joke that many deals got done over a latte, perhaps this is a trend that is spreading across America as we deconstruct the traditional corporate world? I wonder.....I also wonder why doesn't Starbucks capitalize on this? Can you imagine the product extensions and possibilities? I can, and often do on my outings.....maybe I'm just a natural born marketer and can't help it.....

OK I gotta get back to re-writing my resume for the 100th time this year......

Totally Tuned in to doing good via Social Networks

Recently I have been learning a great deal about the Social Media environment and am totally tuned in to the amazing posibilities that it can offer marketers, organizations and people alike. One of the best things about these Social Media Networks  is that it can propel grassroots efforts, and that unlike traditional grassroots, these network are not limited by geography.  

One of the best efforts to date has been Mashable's "This Week, Tweat to Beat Leukemia!", an idea hatched at SXSW.  They are Tweeting and using their Facebook audience to raise money, I have posted this on my Facebook page and I'm re-tweeting. Besides the initial messages, there are updates on the funds raised, and lots of comments from all over the world.  I initially was hooked by this effort because it is  a cause near and dear to my heart,  my sister in-law passed away from Leukemia just 2 and a half years ago, but it obviously has touched many more people all over the world because they are almost at their fundraising goal.  I can see how all kinds of Charities and other organizations can use this effectively to raise funds and awareness of the work that they are doing - it's a new fundraising model for the new economy, and with fundraising significantly down, this is an amazing tool. 

I recently got involved in a campaign for Share our Strength but it was not as effective or as interactive as this effort. Another good story was Magianos restaurants recent drive to build their Twitter community,  they offered a chance to win gift certificates to their restaurants for those that started following them on Twitter - not sure how many they where able to add, but very clever tactic, they got me to follow them.

Bartering in the new economy

A friend of mine, Maria Rita Caso has performed a career reinvention, she has become a very successful life and relationship coach, www.mariacaso.com In one of our recent exchanges she turned me on to some sites that are working on the premise of barter - I absolutely loved this idea, and started thinking that this may be a way that the "new" economy may work - going back to basics, why not? You may not be flush with cash right now, but you will always have marketable skills that are worth something - if you can exchange them for what you need, fantastic! We still need cash to pay the bills - I don't think that my utilities are interested in my marketing or production skills .... but still I may be able to find a hairdresser, a vacation rental or masseuse that may need my skills...

Here are some sites that I have come across - I do not endorse any of them... judge for yourself....

Swaptree

U-exchange

BarterQuest

CMO's and Advertising Agencies

A recent report by Jupiter Research cites that corporate CMO's are experiencing greater pressure for ROI, and are increasingly dissatisfied with their advertising agencies and overall performance. Of course the pressure is on, and as the economy continues to slip this trend will continue and only get worse. Corporations, are seeking answers on survival, and what it will take to make it in the new economy, what's the shift that will be necessary in order to make it? great business for consultants....not for advertising agencies.

Bad news always tends to roll downhill, so as CMO's continue to experience pressure from their Boards, the trend of dissatisfaction will no doubt continue, perhaps it will mean some great opportunities for new "hybrid" agencies, or an all together different model for doing business. Another trend we might see is one where Corporations would absorb some of the traditionally outsourced marketing/advertising roles internally. This would make sense because of the deep pool of great talent that has been displaced, it would offer Corporations more control and cut out a significant expense.

It will be interesting to see where the new opportunities will exist.

The Cult of Done - Manifesto

James Provost - poster for the Cult of Done Manifesto.

When I found The Cult of Done Manifesto I just loved it! How could this thinking not have been laid down in words before? Wish I had been the one to do it.... because it's so relevant to how we live today. Here it is...... words to live by today and tomorrow.....

The Cult of Done Manifesto - by Bre Pettis and Kio Stark

"This was written in collaboration with Kio Stark in 20 minutes because we only had 20 minutes to get it done."

The Cult of Done Manifesto

1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you're done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more.

OK I am a self admitted "Geek Girl" and nerd, so I printed this up and posted it right in front of me...... will you do the same?

An advertising agency called "Nothing" launches in Amsterdam - yeap "Nothing"

An advertising agency called "Nothing" launches in Amsterdam - yeah "Nothing" and their gimmick is to make everything in the office out of cardboard boxes......uhhhh - why? The founders Michael Jansen and Bas Korsten (ex-DDB Executive CD')s wanted the Nothing office to reflect -

"an independent entrepreneurial agency that delivers innovation and commercial creativity for local and international clients out of a cardboard box".

Check out a time lapse video of how they built this office on Adland. Personally, I HATE the smell of cardboard boxes (ewww), and they are too utilitarian and ugly for my interior decorating taste - so I would hate to work amongst all that, but I really like the whole integrated marketing approach behind the agency, which is to create brand experiences, and services that range from product innovation, store design, employee training programs and TV campaigns.

New Agency Production Contracts ? Re-examine the agency role as "agent" for their clients

I have been following the "buzz" regarding this latest move by Omnicom.......While this has been a "practice" by agencies for many years, (norm in the US Hispanic market). I have often heard, "we haven't gotten paid by the client, therefore we can't pay you yet", and this has happened to me with BIG clients, no one except the agency is supposed to bankroll their clients - frankly I never had deep enough pockets to do so.....

If agencies that are part of well bankrolled Groups such as Omnicom will not assume liability, then the role of the agency when it comes to production needs to be re-examined. Perhaps the AICP should propose that the client hire the production company directly, therefore eliminating the agencies exposure, and therefore their role as an agent on behalf of their client. Many agencies don't get a mark-up when it comes to production anyway, and frankly with "hybrid" Producer's like myself (adept & able to work both sides), who needs to hire both a traditional Agency Producer or Line Producer..... And if the client hires the Production Company directly, it would at least ensures a collection "position" if the worst case scenario where to occur - a bankruptcy.
Agencies like to have good relationships with their vendors, it benefits everyone in the end, and I don't believe that anyone wants to leave anyone "holding the bag" - but that is exactly what this verbiage allows for....... time to rethink this....

Check out the article that started all of this buzz Omnicom Enforces production Contracts