WHIP – Junior - Celebrating life at the bottom

Jun 06, 11

The Monday Morning WHIP // 133

Get with the program. It’s 2011, and it’s time to have a folio from 2011. Do it! Otherwise you’ll be so 2010.

Do you have any digital ideas in your folio?

Of course you do. It is 2011 after all.

But how old are those ideas?

You see the worlds of print and television, as well as photography and writing, have changed very little over the last few years.

Sure technology may have changed, but the end results haven’t. Well not too much anyway.

With digital however the possibilities change almost daily.

What was impossible yesterday will be old hat by next week. And done to death by next year.

So if you have digital thoughts in your folio please make sure they are fresh and up to date.

May 30, 11

The Monday Morning WHIP //123

We asked Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com) to write these whips because we knew he’d be make us all better creatives. This whip is no exception.

I see so many ads these days that I would describe as category ads.

What I mean by this is that the ad promotes the category rather than the brand.

For instance an ad for an auto brand that focuses on the benefits of a reverse camera.

Now reverse cameras are great, don’t get me wrong, but most high-end 4WD type vehicles have them.

So if you produce an ad that focuses on the camera rather than the car you end up promoting reverse cameras.

And given these cameras are available in most high-end 4WD’s, the person looking to buy a car ends up comparing all the brands with a camera rather than seeking out your
brand.

Which is great if you’re a reverse camera manufacturer, but not if you’re the maker of the car.

So when you have a few minutes, why not revisit the work in your book and see if any of your finely crafted pieces are working harder to promote the category than the brand.

And if they are?

Well that’s entirely up to you.

May 23, 11

The Monday Morning WHIP // 122

Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com) gives us a lot of advice about folios and interviews and this is probably the most important of all.

Whenever you show your work to someone there is going to come a moment when they ask you a question about it.

You need to be prepared for that question.

How you do that is entirely up to you.

But it pays to look at your work and try and anticipate what questions may arise from it.

And work out how you will answer them.

Then when these questions arise, and believe me they will, you’ll have the answer. Right there and then.

Which is much better than on the train on the way home.

May 16, 11

The Monday Morning WHIP // 121

Instead of writing a clever intro to Stan’s (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com) WHIP, this week we’re taking his advice and leaving him to the clever side of things.

Most kids have a selection of print ad concepts in their folio.

You all know my opinions on what should or shouldn’t be in a folio, so I won’t ramble on about what I’ve said many times before.

If you do have print in your book you need to follow this golden rule – An ad should have a clever headline or clever visual. Never both.

Recently though I’m seeing concepts that have neither. Which is kinda weird.

That’s ads without a clever headline or a clever visual.

Which means they’re not clever at all. Or interesting. Or eye catching.

In fact they’re just plain dull. And have no place whatsoever in a folio.

Well not if you want to get a job.

Tags: WHIP

May 09, 11

The Monday Morning WHIP // 120

This week Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com) reminds us there’s nothing ordinary in our extraordinary lives.

People who know me well know that I take music very seriously.

So in my vinyl and CD collection, as well as in my iTunes, you’ll find all sorts of music.
And lots of it.

Yet a quick glance at this collection could easily lead a casual observer to think that my music is comprised mostly of weird shit.

Like country music, dusty old punk rock singles, obscure Jamaican dub and jazz that should carry a government health warning.

Which is why many people (my wife included) are always surprised to find Kylie, Robbie Williams, Katy Perry and even Avril Lavigne in my collection.

My excuse, not that I need one, is that these artists make great pop songs.

And pop songs are what ordinary people listen to.

Which is why you should listen to them too.

Because the more in touch you are with ordinary, everyday people, the more likely you will be to have ideas that these sort of people can relate to.

Confused?

Well let me put it this way – ordinary folk aren’t hipsters.

Ordinary people don’t covet the new iMac, they don’t listen to Foals or Deerhunter, they ride bikes not fixies and most importantly they don’t look down their nose at people who spend Saturday afternoon at shopping centres.

Trust me on this kids, because I’m one of them.

May 02, 11

The Monday Morning WHIP // 119

Unfortunately Stan Lee’s (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com) real name isn’t Marty McFly and he doesn’t have a flying DeLorean to predict his son’s future — but, as he tells us this week, the possibilities of technology in the future are pretty darn endless. Just look where he came from! No email! What?! We’re just crossing our fingers for flying skateboards.

My son, who is fourteen, told my wife the other day that when he finishes school he wants to do graphic design.

Obviously like many kids, he’s not clear on what exactly graphic design is. But I’m glad he has visions of a career in creativity.

Thing is, I’m not sure graphic design as we know is right for him.

The possibilities opened up by digital are immense. And with the greatest respect, most of you reading this really aren’t old enough to fully grasp this.

So let me put it in perspective:

When I began my advertising career we wrote copy by hand and a typist typed it.

When I started at JWT we did not have email. Yet we were doing what would today be known as digital work.

When I was working in London ten years ago most websites wouldn’t take banner ads built in flash.

A handful of years ago YouTube and Facebook were relatively new and Twitter hadn’t even been invented.

Neither had the iPhone.

That’s a hell of a lot of change over the course of a career.

Which makes you wonder what will have changed, what will have been invented, and what will be possible, by the time my son goes to college.

Apr 18, 11

The Monday Morning WHIP // 118

The great Paul Arden said “seek criticism, not praise” – and this week Stan’s found a gem from another industry great.

Criticism of your work is a good thing. It helps you make it better.

It may not seem like it at the time, but it will.

You can defend your idea.

You can argue against the criticism.

And you know what you may well be right.

But whenever I have a doubt about something, I always seek the wisdom of my betters.

And there is no better than Mr Bill Bernbach who always carried a small card in his
wallet.

This is what that card said:

They might be right.

Tags: Bill Bernback, Paul Arden

Apr 11, 11

The Monday Morning WHIP // 117

Hmm, there’s nothing like a bit of hippy advice to start the week, right, Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com)?

A little piece of wisdom from none other than Neil Young for you this week.

When Neil is working on a song or creative idea he says that he needs to, “Go sit by the rabbit hole.”

So what does he mean by this? I’ll let Neil explain;

“If you’re hunting for anything wild – and I consider any creative thing a wild animal – the worst thing you can do is concentrate on it, because it will never reveal itself.

But if you just hang out where you think it might be and ignore it completely it might just show itself.

Hence you go to the rabbit hole, you look at the trees and the sky. Then the rabbit turns up and you notice that, but concentrate on something else, then finally everything’s cool.

You and the rabbit are cool. And you have something new.”

OK, I admit it, Neil’s a bit of an old hippy with a fondness for Alice in Wonderland, but you could do a lot worse than take his advice and go spend some time by the rabbit hole.

Apr 04, 11

The Monday Morning Whip // 116

Some simple advice from Stan. (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com)

I’m rambled many times on Monday mornings about the importance of your folio.

Today I’m going to let you in on a little secret – What you put in your folio isn’t the key to success.

Yes you read that right.

You see what you leave out of your folio is just as important (if not more so) than what you put in it.

So when you get a moment, flick slowly through your work and if there’s a piece that’s good but not as good as the rest, ditch it.

Once you have done this you should have a folio of excellent ideas.

Simple, really.

Mar 28, 11

The Monday Morning WHIP // 115

A famous book (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Catch-22) started this well known ‘logical conundrum’, and this week, one of these situations has got Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com) stumped.

Over the last few months, I was looking for a copywriter to join my team.

As you can imagine I looked at the lot of folios before finding right person

What I want to talk to you about today, is something I think you need to think about in regard to your hunt for a creative position.

Putting your folio online.

You see I can’t decide whether or not it’s actually a good idea.

Confused?

So am I.

You see most of the people who got in touch with me about the job sent me a link to view their folio.

Which meant that I reviewed their work rather than interviewed them for the job.

And those that I did interview were generally unable to show me anything new as I had already seen their folio online.

It’s a catch-22 situation for which I do not have an answer.

And it’s something I think you need to think about in your hunt for a job.

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