The fine line between jobs

Today we'll discuss what you think your job is. It's not just about your duties it's about more than that, I suppose what I am getting at is 'do you see yourself doing more than what you currently do'.

I ask this question to see if you as either a creative, planner, programmer, art worker etc. see yourself doing anybody else's job. I bring this up because I previously always admired the fact the agencies were would take initiative in learning other departments traits and using them to their advantage.

What saddens me now though is that agencies don't really do that anymore, company structures are alot more modular and it's based on more of a production line. It's not like I am asking creatives to start programming and planner to art work as that would purely be impractical (obvious point) but the point I am trying to get is why don't we take time to do a bit of understanding.

What is there to understand?

Here's a good example for you, as a creative I'm not particularly technical by any means but I recieve a brief for adpating a print ad into a microsite, now we all know what a microsite looks like, so I decide I will build a microsite that's copy heavy that will communicate everything that the original print campaign didn't contain. Then present to client and slip it off to production and Bang! Presto!

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKIN MIND!?!?

What's wrong with all of you! These people that all work in the company have their own expertise in their field, they know what's hot and what's not, they know the technology, strategy, stunt, media placements etc. and how it can help you for the greater good of your campaign.

Now I'm not sure when we became:

1. arrogant enough to ignore talent and expertise
2. so reliant on process and standing in a straight line that the final product didn't really matter

But I'm pretty sure we should all be ashamed of ourselves if we are or trying to fall into what I can only describe as a dark place for creativity.

Look around your agency, see the people around you. Ask peoples opinions, push your project that little bit further with the talent that's around you and be resourceful and most importantly don't be afraid to ask. Ask questions, for opinions, for direction.

TV justified

After my post yesterday about TV I had a discussion with a a good friend of mine Yutaro Kojima who is a CD at Dentsu Y&R.

Our discussion revolved more on the trust of mediums.

TV is a supply and demand issue. TV channels are finite and web pages are not.

Governments and corporations spend significant effort to regulate the TV content. But the web goes fairly unchecked. People trust the TV more and hence the value of broadcast goes up.

The equity on the web cannot be purchased like media. Web creators have to try much harder to earn that equity to be invited to people's lives.

When discussing the effectiveness of online advertising

Most of the sites that can charge money for banners borrow equity from traditional media functions...like TV, news agencies, TV stations etc. Yahoo almost looks like an exception, but they too attract people by buying content from places like AP news. The only true exception (in my opinion) is Google.

I would like to thank Yutaro for giving me permission to place this up but now another question comes to mind now.

• How many of you trust Web
• How many of you trust TV
• What would it take for you to trust the web

One very interesting point is that online advertising doesn't get regulated like TV does, does this need to come into effect, is there a need for ASA (advertising standards agency) to have a presence online.

Concepting for online - part 2

Concepting online edition.

Problems I have seen time and time again is that people see online as BTL, this usually means coming up with a layout a product shot and tons and tons copy.

WRONG!!

I narks me off that online is given this type of attention, with the amount of technology that can be used to make online great why are we still not as interested in it as if it were TV?

Any way I think what I am trying to say to all you people out there looking to get into online or looking for that killer angle to make you campaign great is that in online you can do anything.

It's true here's some examples:

• Online TV ads/webisodes
• Games
• Social networking
• Online treasure hunts

The list goes on, and then there's the way you execute the idea. We as an industry are probably only using a fraction of what the web is capable of.

The world of online is evolving and as creative we need to adapt and embrace and learn the new technologies and integrate them to our core ideas.

Next post will be integrated

Grinds my gears! - integrated

So audience what really grinds my gears this week is integrated agencies (not all but most).

• First of all office politics stopping me from doing a good job.
  Why is it that I need massage every departments ego to get stuff done.
• Offline team vs. online team and budget sharing
  Get it together people! Have one team on it come up with some good ideas then flesh it out.

Cross dept costing etc. Blah blah blah. What the hell! I am pretty sure this is why some companies are spanking money away.

Now this may seem like I am attacking integrated companies but read on as I have an important question to ask all people that have experienced this type of company politics before.

When did it become OK to compromise good work to meet targets? When was more important to make the numbers balance than making a name for yourself in the industry(company or individual).

This is the problem I have with a lot of so called "integrated" agencies, now this could be a management thing or it might not be I'm not sure, all I know is that this is how you wont get the best out of your company.