"Damn Good" Creative Advice from the Original Mad Man, George Lois

George Lois 1964, Courtesy of George Lois via "The Daily Beast"

By Hugh Hart | Originally published as "7 Pieces of 'Damn Good' Creative Advice from '60s Ad Man George Lois" for Fast Company's Co.Create

Handsome creative director Don Draper will try to power through sex, alcohol, and a dark past to craft a new set of 1960s-era ad campaigns when Mad Men returns for its fifth season Sunday on AMC (9 / 8 Central). 

George Lois won’t be watching. 

He’s the real-life ad man who emerged in the '60s to create a storied body of branding and magazine work. Lois conjured the "I want my MTV" slogan, invented the Lean Cuisine concept (and took credit for a few more classic ads like Volkswagen’s "Think Small," though his DDB colleague Julian Koenig disputes that) and, as the well-worn story goes, believed in his concepts so fervently that he once threatened to jump off a third-floor window ledge when executives rejected his matzo cracker campaign. 

Dismissing Mad Men as "soap opera," the 81-year-old graphic designer/art director/copywriter spoke to Co.Create about his new book Damn Good Advice, which compiles 120 creativity tips geared towards the production of "big ideas."

Brevity Rocks

"If a client takes ten minutes to tells me about his business, then it’s not a big idea," Lois says. "Advice" cites Abraham Lincoln’s apology for writing a long letter because 'I didn’t have time to write a short one.' Condense the concept, because, Lois writes "After three sentences of explanation, people’s eyes glaze over."

CASE STUDY: Lois yoked celebrity and a call to action with four words that transformed a upstart cable network into a national powerhouse. "I want my MTV" became a generational battle cry after Lois, a pioneer in exploiting celebrity cachet, persuaded Mick Jagger to appear in a TV commercial delivering the line.

Listen

Lois says, "When people talk to you about their business and you listen hard, there’s a good chance they’ll say something and you go 'Son of a bitch, that’s it!' Then when you show your idea to the guy, he doesn’t even know he gave it to you."

CASE STUDY: Then-unknown Tommy Hilfiger became famous in two days when Lois included his initials on a billboard in Manhattan’s fashion district trumpeting four great American designers: Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Perry Ellis. "Talking to Tommy, I asked about the clothes, which he wanted them to be very American, so I said, 'You want to be another Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein?' He said, 'Sure I want to be another one of those guys.' Bingo! That’s my campaign."

Go to the Museum

"When I teach classes at the School of Visual Arts I’ll ask the students 'How many of you have been to a museum this year?' Nobody raises their hand and I go into a tirade," Lois says. "If you want to do something sharp and innovative, you have to know what went on before." He states in the book, "Museums are custodians of epiphanies, and these epiphanies enter the central nervous system and deep recesses of the mind."

CASE STUDY: Lois used Piero del Pollaiuolo’s painting "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" as the model for his iconic Esquire Magazine cover depicting pacifist boxer Muhammad Ali as the target of government persecution.

Fight Adversity with Creativity

After convincing a now-famous copier company to shorten its name from Haloid-Xerox (see lesson No. 1) Lois shot a TV commercial showing a toddler making photocopies. When the FCC objected that the ad misrepresented the machine’s ease of use, Lois shot a new commercial showing a chimpanzee making photocopies. He invited FCC staffers to attend the shoot. The spots became a sensation.

Pay Attention to the Zeitgeist

When it comes to pulling concepts out of thin air, "It’s about understanding what the hell’s going on around you," says Lois, who spends an hour each morning poring through the New York Times. 

CASE STUDY: Stouffers seemed oblivious to a huge trend. "This was the beginning of people exercising, and more women were working, so I told them, 'Duh, you should come up with a diet gourmet thing.' But they give me some mumbo jumbo. I realized the only way to convince these guys to come up with a brand name that knocks them on their ass." Hence, the birth of Lean Cuisine.

Trust Your Gut

"Ad agencies do all kinds of market research that ask people what they think they want, and instead you should be creating things that you want. If you do something and you get it, the rest of the world will get it. too. Trust your own instincts, your own intellect, and your own sense of humor."

CASE STUDY: After restaurant critic Gale Green slammed one of Lois’s clients, he took out a subtly snarky full-page ad that never would have gotten approved by focus groups. Centered on a one-sentence note that read: "Dear Ms. Greene. After all the lovely meals we’ve had together --Restaurant Associates." Readers picked up on the subtext and began flocking to the Four Seasons.

Word First, Visual Later

Lois believes in "writing the idea" rather than trawling randomly for visual inspiration. "Start with the word," he states in Advice. "A big campaign can only be expressed in words that lend themselves to visual excitement."

CASE STUDY: For Braniff Airlines, Lois’s jaunty "When you got it, flaunt it" line came first. Only then did he illustrate the concept by photographing Andy Warhol alongside boxer Sonny Liston.

See some of Lois’s work here.

Los Angeles freelancer Hugh Hart covers movies, television, art, design and the wild wild web (for San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times and New York Times). A former Chicagoan, Hugh also walks his Afghan Hound many times a day and writes twisted pop songs.

How to Turn a PR Crisis Into a Branding Opportunity

By Dorothy Crenshaw, CEO and creative director of Crenshaw Communications. Originally posted as "PR disasters averted: 7 cases of strong crisis management" on Ragan's PR Daily, by Ragan Communications.

PR pundits and brand watchers love to create “best and worst” lists around marketing and communications developments. The emphasis usually falls on the “worsts”—like the most poorly handled crisis situations or mangled cover-ups. 

It’s easy to criticize, but what about giving credit for crises averted or PR battles won? That list is shorter and perhaps a bit less obvious, but here are my nominations. 

JC Penney 

Penney’s reputation has endured some bumps in the past year. First, it was outed by The New York Times for “black hat” SEO practices last January. Then, it suffered a visual identity crisis leading up to the announcement of a bold new pricing strategy. Just as it built positive momentum for the “new” JCP, advocacy group One Million Moms threatened a store boycott over its choice of ad spokesperson Ellen DeGeneres. 

Rather than try to appease critics, the company stood by Ellen and, in a brilliant move, it escaped the Lowe’s trap by letting her do most of the talking. Penney’s was betting that Ellen was far more popular than One Million Moms, and it was right. Ellen’s explanation of her “traditional values” is a PR home run. The boycott ended faster than a flash sale. 

Planned Parenthood (PP) 

Most of the coverage of the Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood debacle focused on Komen’s lack of preparedness for the public reaction after it dropped PP from its grants program. But Planned Parenthood mounted a first class response to the potential crisis. 

After offering an exclusive interview to the AP, it let loose a barrage of news releases and launched a social media campaign to mobilize fans. Its core strategy was simple; as spokesperson Tait Sye explained, “We gave people things to do.” PP circulated online petitions, shared tweets, posted comments, and launched a no-holds-barred media tour by telegenic CEO Cecile Richards. The public pressure forced SGK to backpedal within the week. 

Taco Bell 

A year ago, the fast-food chain was the target of a customer lawsuit that served up a potential PR disaster for its brand. A California woman smacked Taco Bell with deceptive marketing claims, saying its tacos have far less beef than advertised. Taco Bell wasted no time in firing back. 

The chain went on the offense, big time. It filed a countersuit, posted a video statement from the CEO, and dished out a saucy media campaign featuring the headline “Thank You for Suing Us!” The customer’s beef, and her lawsuit, were quietly dropped, ensuring Taco Bell a place in the annals of crisis management. Well done. 

The Red Cross 

It was only a rogue tweet, so the risk faced by The American Red Cross last year may not rise to the level of reputation crisis. But its handling of a staffer’s Twitter post about a party was a nice example of a measured response. 

After realizing the employee confused a personal account with a corporate one and shared plans for “gettingslizzerd” on @RedCross, the tweet was quickly deleted. Yet, importantly, it wasn’t ignored. The Red Cross used a light touch, noting, “We’ve deleted the rogue tweet but rest assured the Red Cross is sober and we’ve confiscated the keys.” Best of all, @DogfishBeer joined the fun by encouraging donations, and appropriate replenishment. 

Justin Bieber 

Oh, baby, what a mess this could have been. When the teen pop star was hit with a paternity suit from a fan who claimed Justin fathered her child, he recognized the risk to his squeaky-clean brand image. Guided by PR rep Matthew Hiltzik, Bieber delivered an unequivocal denial on the "Today" show. Team Bieber then went one better by filing a countersuit and taking a paternity test to prove he was no baby daddy. 

His comment, “I know that I’m going to be a target, but I’m never going to be a victim,” hit the right notes. Case closed. 

o.b. 

Talk about facing the music. The J & J tampon brand was threatened with a “girlcott” by angry users after it discontinued it popular Ultra item. The customer backlash threatened to take over its reputation, until o.b. defused the situation with a unique response. 

Its apology PR campaign included a hilarious video that used personalization technology to woo back customers. “Triple Sorry” was a sublime send-up of an uber-schmaltzy music video, complete with rainbows and rose petals and a vow to bring back the product. It was a pitch perfect response to a potential crisis.

Newt Gingrich 

He’s known for flying by the seat of his pants, but the Speaker showed real PR savvy when he needed it most, just before the high-stakes South Carolina primary. His ex-wife’s ABC interview where she claimed he asked her for an “open marriage” could have dealt his campaign a death blow. But when CNN’s John King raised it at the start of the live debate, Gingrich was ready. He denied the story but not before exploding in indignation and casting the media as the true guilty party. 

It may not be enough to save his candidacy in the long run, but it was an ideal strategy that enabled Gingrich to rally his base against what they might perceive as a common enemy. 

Dorothy Crenshaw is CEO and creative director of Crenshaw Communications. She has been named one of the public relations industry’s 100 Most Powerful Women by PR Week. A version of this story appeared on MENGBlend and the Crenshaw Communications blog. 

(Image via, via, & via)

How NOT to Handle a Crisis: The Top 4 Lessons from Penn State

A Penn State student tries to make it right at a demonstration outside Beaver Stadium on Saturday. (Photo: CNN.com)

Let's face it:  it's never good news to discover that your school's moral center is located in the football team's win/loss record. But a criminal investigation needn't have tarnished Penn State as a whole, alienated the student body, or made the school's supporters ashamed of it.

In other words, the situation didn't have to turn into a media circus.

Really? No crisis management plan?!

Astonishingly, it seems that Penn State didn't have a communications plan in place to intercept this crisis at any stage: from the initial revelations of possible criminal conduct, to the numerous lapses of judgment, to the abject failure of moral leadership, to Jerry Sandusky's arrest, to the firing of Joe Paterno, to the student demonstrations that followed.

Nada.

In fact, Penn State continues to move forward in a completely reactive mode, entirely abdicating any effort to shape the conversation around these stupefying events. Ironically, its College of Communications offers a robust course of study on the mechanics and ethics of advertising and PR.

So any second-year Penn State communications student could have offered the university some basic rules of thumb that would have helped them join the conversation rather than becoming the brunt of it.

Mostly, it's about keeping it real

There are numerous lessons in the many ways Penn State has bungled its crisis management. Here are the top four missed opportunities:

#1 Have a plan. Seriously. Penn State spent two years conducting an investigation on possible criminal conduct. Yet it somehow failed to plan for what might happen if the allegations came to light, much less if they prove true.

#2 Be transparent. Answer questions honestly. Especially the tough ones. No matter how bad the issue may be, trying to cover it up will make it worse. Learn from history:  it was a cover-up that escalated a third-rate burglary into the Watergate scandal that brought down a presidency.

#3 Deliver your message. In fact, seize every opportunity to do so. Defining your message defines the shape of the discussion around your issue. Fail here, and the media will create the message for you.

Penn State didn't just fail to answer any questions — they also made all of their decisions in closed-session meetings and then cancelled a press conference. Citing the excuse of "the on-going legal circumstances surrounding the recent allegations and charges" — the very thing they needed to respond to — they left more than 200 media outlets with nothing to report other than speculation, opinion and innuendo.

#4 Be part of the solution. Emerging gracefully from a crisis isn't about convincing anyone you were perfect. This is where transparency, sincerity and good intentions really pay off. No matter how badly you may have screwed up, truly trying to make things right goes a long way. That's not just good PR — it's good karma.

It's not just about your image

The university's image has been seriously tarnished, but there's so much more at stake here. Penn State isn't only a school; it's part of a community.

The university's many missed opportunities to become part of the conversation — and to elevate the dialog — have fractured its community. 

There's an ongoing firestorm of acrimony on Twitter and Facebook: Penn State students against students from other schools; students against adults; and fellow classmates against one another. The media continues to vilify Penn State students who support JoePa, implying that they also support child abuse and worse.

A bunker mentality has set in at the school, a feeling that their community is pitted against the rest of the world. The school continues to be buffeted by negative press and students are worried about their futures.

Penn State will eventually come back from this. But they have broken the hearts of everyone who loves the school.

Connecting Authentically in Business: Showing My Cards

I think it's really hard to connect authentically in business.

There’s a specific idea of “professionalism” that’s all about presenting an image. It's meant to inspire confidence in our abilities.

We all know how to clothe ourselves in the local camoflage: look 'em in the eye, speak the corporate patois, adjust our manner to match the surroundings. Plus, I'm from Virginia, so the “belle” charm and social skills are deeply ingrained.

But at the end of the day, I feel like all those things are really just a variation of the “always be closing” mentality — tiresome "old-think," relics of a bygone business-age.

Today, I’m much more interested in connecting. So if I’m not going to be my real self, then what’s the point of showing up?

More to the point, not only do I want people to know how I really am before they work with me, but I actually don’t want to work any longer with people who aren’t on the same wavelength.

So I always show my cards.

I’m a happy person. I’m warm and friendly. I have a loud, infectious laugh. And since I see humor in almost everything, I laugh often.

And even though there are easily five million things that I totally suck at (a conservative estimate), I'm totally awesome at communications.

There are probably people who think that attitude's unprofessional. There may even be people who simply find it unappealing. But I’m surprisingly OK with that. Because being my authentic self is so incredibly freeing. It’s so much more satisfying to just let go of the effort to be perfect — which is futile anyway — and to give up striving for the good opinion of others (which is so incredibly boring).

Being my truest self doesn’t just create happier working relationships for me, it creates a happier life.

Connecting authentically at work begins by being authentic with ourselves. It means owning the truth about who we are.

What are we truly amazing at? That’s the sweet spot for our clients and customers.

What do we suck at? We gain credibility when we admit our shortcomings. And we become a trusted resource when we refer clients to colleagues who can help them more than we can.

What are we currently learning? Admitting that we don’t know everything doesn’t detract from our expertise. To the contrary, a learner’s mind is the key to true expertise. And the things that we're learning are the things that make us interesting.

Being real in business is a win-win.

Customers buy from companies that inspire confidence, they refer others to companies they trust, employees want to work for companies  — and people — that are real with them. Authenticity generates good will that translates into more business and more top-notch employees.

Actually, that’s a win-win-win. Win. Win-win. You get the idea.

Ciao for now!

________________________

Photo credit:  30-Card Polyhedron by Blyzz via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

Let's Twitter: @WanderNot

Eating My Words: The 9 Types of Social Media Experts

I recently cautioned that you should "Beware of Experts," saying, "There’s no such thing as a 'social media expert.' It’s too new, too big, and changing too rapidly for anyone to know everything about all social media."

My underlying belief, obviously, is that "expert" is the same thing as All-Knowing Master of the Social Media Universe.

Rohit Bhargava's excellent article The 9 Types of "Social Media Experts challenged me to expand my definition of an expert.  Rohit rightly points out that the fake-expert everyone hates is The Pretender, and then proceeds to astutely parse eight types of social media professionals (some of which will surely be on future lists of "Hot Jobs You Wish You Had"). He adds that much of the confusion around the expertise issue is that "many people who could be great at certain roles are simply trying to fill the wrong role."

This is a great point: since social media is not a fad, but a a paradigm-shifting toolset, we marketing/advertising/PR types are expanding our communication skill sets to encompass the new media. And of course, our social media groove is an extension of the strengths we already possess in legacy marketing and media. Different people are good at different things.

Which really clarifies things for companies trying to figure out how to get their social media raft in the river. For most companies, the divide between legacy media and social media isn't as wide as they think. It's a gap, not a canyon. And the bridge between the two is strategic thinking: first you decide what you want to achieve, then you aim the right skill set at it. Rohit's nine skill sets are:

1. The Pretender. I think of this person as a social media hobbyist. They're on Facebook and Twitter, maybe LinkedIn, but they have few connections and little first-hand knowledge. For example, they claim blogging expertise, but their own blog is on a free platform.
2. The Trainer/Teacher. Someone who can teach others anything is worth their weight in gold. They don't merely convey the mechanics of how to use certain tools, they inspire you to envision the possibilities.
3. The Professional Speaker. In my opinion, many social media speakers don't seem particularly adept with social media tools. But Rohit makes the point that these folks "often [create] inspiration and excitement about social media as a whole." In that sense, they're sort of big-picture teachers, visionaries with a giant megaphone.
4.  The Content Curator. Rohit believes that "content curators will be among one of the most important social media jobs of the future." As editors passionate about a specific topic, he foresees curators as "the ones that can help us make sense of the exploding amount of content online. The almighty search algorithm won't be enough."
5. The Event Organizer. From tweetups to meetups to national conferences, organizers bring the digital universe into the analog world where virtual relationships become real.
6. The Community Manager. An elusive skill set that demands equal fluency with "real conversations in real time and reacting to those conversations transparently." Elusive maybe, but definitely vital, and potentially the hub of any organization's social media presence.
7. The Content Creator. Great at writing blog posts, sharing thoughts on Twitter, and producing video. When you need original content to engage an audience, these folks are indispensable.
8. The Marketing Strategist. People who "solve a real business problem with a smart plan for using social media, and [are] entirely capable of admitting which business problems social media may not be the best solution for."
9. The Designer/Builder. I believe a more descriptive term would be "implementers." These are the folks who get it done—without them, the most brilliant strategies are useless.

Rohit goes into greater detail about the different types, and the reader comments are also interesting. I highly recommend reading his article.

Ciao for now!

________________________

Many thanks to Terry Crosby of Terry Crosby Social Media Training for putting this on my radar!

Photo credit: ...oops? by jasmeet via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

Let's Twitter: @WanderNot

Me. Unplugged.

ME = Unplugged. Offline.

BACK ON MONDAY, 3/29. 

(Just taking some time | To finish my rhyme.)

Ciao for now!

________________________

Photo credit: Red, Unplugged by My Melting Brain via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

Let's Twitter: @WanderNot

Why Inbound Marketing is a Bad Idea for Leprechauns

Ciao for now!

________________________

Courtesy of HubSpot's Inbound Internet Marketing Blog

Let's Twitter: @WanderNot

In Plain English: Social Media for Business

This is a simple story of the forces that shape social media. 

Using the example of an ice cream maker, this brief and charming video succinctly explains the value proposition of social media for businesses.

Informative and tasty. 

This video gives you a sense of the primary differences between social media and legacy media: 

• People rely on the ratings and recommendations of their peers in making purchasing decisions.
• People who enjoy a product play a role in determining what is findable and popular.

It also demonstrates the benefits of social media both to companies and to their customers. It's easy to see how social media (inbound marketing) is a powerful influencer when combined with legacy media (outbound marketing).

Ciao for now!

________________________

Produced by Sachi and Lee LeFever of Common Craft.

Let's Twitter: @WanderNot

A Handy Guide to the Social Landscape

One of the primary barriers to entry for businesses trying to figure out social media is that they aren't clear on how it can help them.

There are so many social media outlets—which ones should you use, how should you use them, and what kinds of results should you expect? So many questions!

Here's a handy-dandy guide to the social media landscape, courtesy of CMO.com.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF

I like this because it tells you how to leverage the most popular social tools to support specific branding goals such as:

• customer communication

• brand exposure

• driving website traffic

• SEO

This is a terrific resource to pass around and share with your colleagues.

Ciao for now—

________________________

Thanks to Drew McLellan of McLellan Marketing Group and to Stephanie Quilao for putting this on my radar!

Let's Twitter: @WanderNot

How Branding is Like Sex

If comparing something to sex doesn’t make it more interesting, then we’re not doing it right. Take branding, for instance. Here are the three most important ways that branding is like sex.

#1: It’s simultaneously ubiquitous and mysterious. Like sex, branding is everywhere. And like sex, we’re all convinced that branding is what sells. Do a simple Amazon search on “branding” and you get 50,840 results. Whether you’re one of the “dummies” or a Harvard Business School grad, you could spend the rest of your life reading up on Effective Branding, Simple Branding, Personal Branding, Corporate Branding, Emotional Branding and Digital Branding, just for starters.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill: Never was so much written by so many and understood by so few. Yet despite all this information, the currents and eddies of attraction between products and buyers remain as elusive as the tendrils of desire between individuals.

#2: Everyone thinks they do it better and more often than they actually do. Five years ago, just having a website was a big deal. Now a website is just the beginning. We’re also Twittering, blogging, Facebooking, MySpace-ing and YouTube-ing. In other words, there are lots of opportunities to make some noise, but very little real communication.

Much of the clamor in the marketplace is companies talking to themselves. Putting a logo or company name everywhere isn’t branding, it’s marketing. Marketing doesn’t become branding until it evolves into a meaningful conversation between you and your customers. Like sex, talking is also something you can do alone, but it’s more fun with other people.

#3: Mad skills are great, but nothing trumps true love. You can’t fake passion for very long. And you certainly can’t fake a genuine investment in your customers’ happiness. All beloved brands share a common trait: the value they bring to their customers’ lives exceeds the value of the particular product or service they offer. That value may be convenience, glamour, humor, beauty, or something else. And it’s that intangible enhancement in quality-of-life that creates nearly unbreakable brand loyalty.

So what’s the bottom line here? First, comparing branding to sex actually does make branding more interesting (surprise!).

Second, like love, successful branding transcends the sum of its parts to become something greater.

And third, an Amazon search on “sex” yields over a half-million results, with a recommendation for “Amazon’s Madonna Store” highlighted right at the top of the page.

Now that’s some powerful branding.

Ciao for now!

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Photo credits: Free Textures Set by Saul Landell via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

Let's Twitter: @WanderNot