I recently started reading Guy Kawasaki’s Enchantmenton a plane ride to meet a client. As I sat on the runway waiting while they made a repair (always reassuring) and sweating in head-to-toe wool, I read his section entitled “Dress for a Tie” which takes a look at how our choices in dress affect our professional interactions. I should mention that this section resides in a chapter called “How to Achieve Likability.” I should also mention that, much respect to Guy, I’m generally suspicious of anyone who bullet points tangible action steps to achieve intangible qualities. Affecting attributes in order to win people over can be sniffed out by the herd on a very primal level, and it generally stinks.
Still, I’m intrigued by boardroom behavior that involves subliminal communication (as I assume anyone in the business of wooing people would be) and I found it refreshing to see a man willing to discuss dress in terms of strategy rather than fashion. The “jeans vs. suit” is a real issue that can be (and arguably is intended to be) very polarizing in the workplace, especially in agencies.
Recently, I read that though now Steve Jobs’ jeans are an iconic statement of innovation, they were once part of the reason he was fired from Apple in the 80’s. Alex Bogusky, former head of CP+B, said he heard that the reason they lost the pitch to Land Rover was because he showed up in jeans. On the flip side, I know of another agency that lost a pitch to a youthful brand partially because they all showed up in suits and ties. “They’re out of touch.” If anyone was at Future Midwest this year, they likely remember one of the speakers stand up and apologize for wearing a suit to speak to what was clearly a jeans and jackets crowd.
I don’t think it’s a huge leap for me to make the claim we associate jeans with innovation. (Please see Steve Jobs and Alex Bogusky above for support.) I don’t think it’s a huge leap either to claim that some people still see it as disrespectful and unprofessional.
I don’t know if I have anything to contribute to this issue that will be helpful (as I sit typing in head-to-toe wool), but here are some things I think about when I talk to myself about this debate:
-Is it silly to conflate attire with innovation or creativity or is it fair to say that wearing jeans in a professional environment, or any other item counter to the acceptable dress code, is indicative of a deeper drive for breaking the rules, a necessary part of innovation?
-Is it silly to think about dress too much when time would be better spent on your pitch? (I think you could argue that if Bogusky’s idea for Land Rover had blown the others away, they might have looked past the jeans.)
-I hate to drop the gender card in the midst of an already polarizing issue, but is it different for women? Ever look at the difference between how Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and the rest of the team dresses?
-Do people like Bogusky wear jeans because they’re thinking about dress, or because they refuse to? And isn’t “refusing to” still thinking about it? (When he was conducting interviews at CP+B, he said he regularly asked prospective hires to explain why they’d chosen their outfit in order to hear them work through strategy and rationale.)
-Do any of these questions even apply to junior workers, or non-principals? Or do we just wear what the bosses wear? And if you do just conform to the boss, are you making a statement about your innovation within the company?
I’d like to hear what you think about when you think about this issue, or if you think about it at all?
In my inbox this morning was an email with the subject line reading, “Nice Stocking Stuffers”. As I clicked the email open, I was thinking I would find something Christmas-themed like a small trinket covered in red, green and gold tensile. Boy was I wrong.
Now before I tell you what the “Nice Stocking Stuffer “ is, here’s a little background. The email came from a Yaffe client that is a furniture retailer specializing in the selling of quality furniture. The company supplies customers with top name brand choices like La-Z-Boy, TempurPedic , Paula Deen and more.
From that description, I’m curious as to what you readers think the stocking stuff email was regarding. But if you guessed anything having to do with Paula Deen you are most likely close! Drum roll please…the nice stocking stuffer is Paula Deen Lip Balm!
The sweet southern gal many of us knows as a butter-loving cook not only has a TV show, restaurant and furniture line, but she now has a line of flavored lip balm. Since our client carries Paul Deen Home, Paula’s furniture collection, it was only fitting that we were enlightened about the array of flavors including Peach Cobbler, Banana Pudding, Key Lime Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie and of course, Butter.
I would have to agree that this is an epic stocking stuffer idea, as did many other colleagues in the office and I must have some! The flavors are daring and fun and hopefully quite tasty but I would have to say the lip balm’s tagline is the best of all - “Put a little south on your mouth!"
Would you purchase Paula Deen lip balm? What other celebrity-endorsed products would you give as stocking stuffers?
Jessica Mosley - Especially excited to try the Pumpkin Pie flavor!
Inspiration. That's the word I hear most when people are asked how a TEDx event is different from other events and conferences. The people you meet and the ideas they share are inspiring. They touch you on a deeper emotional level. They represent the great things that humanity can do, whether it's in technology or the arts, whether it's a spark of inspiration or just pure human perseverance. And yesterday's TEDxDetroit delivered all that in spades.
So, what inspires you?
Overcoming Great Odds To Do Great Things.We heard some truly amazing stories of people who beat the odds or overcame some of life's big roadblocks. Bobby Smith told us how he grew up in the poorest areas of Jamaica and how he came to own America's largest fencing training company, En Garde, right here in Detroit - a business that is teaching area kids a lot more than the sport of fencing. We heard Tara Michener's story about how she overcame getting beat up and bullied to run a business that helps today's kids deal with those very same issues. We even heard how successful Detroit entrepreneur, Josh Linkner, was told that his ideas were terrible and wouldn't amount to anything... by his father. But perhaps the biggest beating the odds tale came from Baby Einstein creator, Julie Aigner-Clark.
Julie was a mom who just refused to listen to the inane sounds of a big purple singing dinosaur when her child was born. So, she made her own videos of things that her baby seemed to like watching and played classical music as the background. What started as something she did in her basement with hand puppets, hard work and a little luck, turned into a huge multi-million dollar company that got bought out by Disney. But, she wasn't through - Julie also beat the odds by beating cancer - not once, but twice. The second time it was stage 4.
Young People Achieving Incredible Success.If you are inspired by hearing how today's youth is creating their own successful businesses with hard work and innovation, TEDxDetroit had you covered. Look no further than 22-year-old design student, Veronika Scott. She had a class assignment to design something to fit a need. So, she spent time in a homeless shelter talking to the folks, sometimes 3 times a week, to develop something that would fit their needs. What she came up with is a coat that converts into a sleeping bag. The class ended, but she hadn't perfected the product yet and she didn't want to let the people she'd been working with down. Eventually, she employed a couple homeless women to do the sewing. By the time the Red Cross asked when she would be able to produce 20,000 for disaster relief, she know it was no longer a class project. It was a calling. It was a business she was meant to run. Now she has her own building in Detroit where she runs her own business.
And if 22 isn't young enough for you, there was also 9-year-old Sebastian from Muskegeon who created a lemonade business he runs at the local flea market. It has become a booming success and he gives a portion of his profits to local charity. Seems like a fine, upstanding and inspiring young man.
Old People Making a Comeback.So, what about people on the other side of their lifespan? They hae inspiring stories too. Randel Chalton, Director of Tech Town Detroit shared how, after early business success, he faced a downturn where he had failures. He said he'd lost confidence in himself and his ability to do great things. But, he learned from his failures. When he had a new idea, but not a lot of money, he looked for the lowest cost place in America to start a business. That led him to, you guessed it, Detroit. Randel says Detroit gave him confidence and he sees Detroit's confidence is coming back too. He said we're going to rebuild Detroit, one job, one company at a time. Now, his Tech Town Detroit is made up of 255 businesses and touches 3000 lives.
Detroit & Michigan On The Rise. Perhaps it's stories of the area or region rising like a phoenix out of the ashes of the economic downturn that brings you inspiration. There were plenty of those stories, too. Besides the ones we already mentioned, we heard Matt Dibble talk about how Detroit's small pond is about to become a big sea. Mark Salamango from Robot Town Detroit told us how our technical advancement and automotive know how is putting us at the forefront to build the robot master race... I mean, lead the world in robotics.
We also heard about on one guy with a wacky dream to do fun stuff with a few friends and a city that was willing to work with him turned Grand Rapids dying town image into one of fun and innovation. Rob Bliss did it with fun projects like the world's largest pillow fight, creating the YouTube sensation lip dub movie and having 30,000 people show up downtown to participate in the throwing of 100,000 paper airplanes. We later heard from even further north as Bob Southerland of Cherry Republic told how they took the biggest cherry producing region in the country and kept if viable by creating a whole new range of cherry products when cherry consumption began to wane.
Changing The World. If none of that is what inspires you, we heard some truly changing the world type stories. The most powerful was probably the talk delivered from En Garde's Bobby Smith. He didn't just talk about training kids to enjoy fencing as a sport. He talked about how he uses that to gain their attention and then teaches them skills they'll need to advance in this world. He teaches them things like financial literacy, empathy, alternate fitness, health and nutrition. "Fill up a kid's backpack with hope or the drug dealers will fill it up with blocks," said Smith. He also said, "I look at kids, not as bottles to be filled up, but as candles to be lit." Meaning, don't just pour knowledge into them, but inspire them to shine brightly.
Music That Fires The Imagination & Lifts The Soul. If arts and music is what inspires you, there was plenty of that at TEDxDetroit. All of it amazing. We had the innovative rapping of Detroit CYDI (Can You Dig It) who invited the audience to tweet them one word. Then as the twitter stream went across they screen they made up rap lyrics on the spot using the words people tweeted. And they did it well!
But, for me, the most inspiring musical moment was the last one. The children's choir from the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences came out and performed an amazing rendition of Detroit State of Mind - a rewrite of the hit New York State of Mind. Those kids gave me chills and they brought the house down with the loudest, longest standing ovation of the day.
There were plenty of other inspiring moments, talks and people at this year's TEDxDetroit, but this blog has gone on long enough. Thanks to Charlie Wollborg, Terry Bean and their outstanding crew - it was truly an inspiring day.
So, what inspires you?
Mike McClure, still glowing in the Detroit state of mind.
Last Sunday marked the 10 anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington. Which meant a number of advertisers rolled out either new tribute ads or ones that only ran once back in 2001. Budweiser brought back their moving tribute with the team of Clydesdale horses bowing towards New York. Verizon did a black and white ad with a bunch of kids looking at the Statue of Liberty (I only know it was Verizon because as I watched it for the umpteenth time during football I thought to myself - who does this ad? - and then paid attention to see the logo at the end)
My favorite of the day, though, was State Farm's ad. It featured a talented bunch of kids singing "Empire State of Mind" as they walked through New York to a firehouse. The door to the New York firehouse rolled up and bunch of tough looking firemen greet the children with smiling faces. When the kids finish the song, there's a real connection between the men and the children. There are also some nice shots of the new 9/11 memorial and the new skyscraper being built there.
State Farm - 9/11 New York Kids
So, what do you think? Did the all the 9/11 ads move you or annoy you? If you liked them, which ad was your favorite? Also, do you think this was a smart move by the advertisers who did it or did it come off as pandering?
If you have an idea for Ad of the Week, let us know. Drop us a suggestion in the comment sections below. Or on twitter. Or Facebook. Or via email to info@yaffe.com. However you like.
The communications field is very broad in that it reaches industries such as PR, Marketing, Social Media, Journalism, Advertising, HR and more. Here at Yaffe we know the hard work that goes into those fields and we want to wish all of you a happy Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month!
In 1894, Lone Star Publishing, a Texas publishing company, deemed September Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month in order to create awareness and appreciation for the hard work that goes in to writing and editing. Being communicators ourselves, we know lots of writing and editing happens in our everyday lives, as well as our professional lives. So we'd like to celebrate both our work and the work of others. You can too!
Here are some ways to be kind to editors and writers this month:
Share their work: by retweeting their links on twitter, by creating Facebook updates that include their links and by leaving comments on blog and article posts.
If you are in a gift-giving mood, pitch in on buying a writer the newest edition of the AP stylebook. It’s under $20!
Offer writers ideas on what they can write about next. There’s a term called writer’s block and it’s never fun. Getting ideas from others is always helpful and it also helps a writer figure out what their audience is itching to read about.
If a writer asks you to proofread their work, even though you aren’t familiar with the subject matter, still proof it. Writers love feedback!
Were you touched by a written piece? Send a note to the writer about how you were moved by their words.
There are plenty of other ways to be kind this month like getting writers a fresh set of pencils and red pens for editing, or a box of chocolate, because who doesn’t love a good snack, right?
To everyone who has ever written a book, article, blog post, script or proposal, we salute you. Enjoy your month, editors and writers!
What other ways can you think of to say thanks to writers and editors? Or if you've received a special thanks as a writer/editor, share your story with us. We'd love to hear it.
Jessica Mosley, writer of this blog post. You're welcome. :)
Normal people reschedule job interviews when they are suddenly stricken with illness. Not me. I was determined to meet with The Yaffe Group staff and discuss my skills and experience despite my fear of not being able to make it through the meeting. Needless to say, I am very glad that I braved the interview and disguised my flu symptoms because a week later I received a wonderful phone call that I got the job!
Just three days into work as an Assistant Account Executive at Yaffe, I have been asked to participate in multiple projects, been sincerely thanked for my already hard work on tasks and even asked for my twitter handle. Yes! They love twitter here! It’s a big difference from my previous employment but I am enjoying the change. Everyone is creative, friendly and in-tune with social media. I supposed I should have known that since a dear friend sent me the job posting via a Facebook post. And did I mention TweetDeck was already installed on my computer my first day?
Being young and internet obsessed I gladly shared my @jessnoel twitter name with some co-workers. Friends have asked, “Are you scared they will know what you do on the weekends?” “Nope,” I replied. Though there is a line between work and play, I think in working at The Yaffe Group I will be able to easily merge the two together. I can still converse with friends, RT and share interesting communications related articles and even continue to share my passion for fashion with my followers.
The team at The Yaffe Group understands that we all have lives outside of work and tweeting about personal things is completely OK. Being the new girl, it has also been good for them to learn a little bit more about me through my tweets. Of course I could always create a separate account but at this point, I don’t even see that being necessary.
I am so grateful to have been welcomed with open arms and I definitely look forward to my journey here at The Yaffe Group!
Post by Jessica Mosley, Brand Spankin' New Assistant Account Executive at The Yaffe Group
The other day a man asked me what I do for a living and when I told him I work in advertising he told me his brother “lies for a living” too. After more than a decade in the business, comments like that don’t even phase me. Until you’re on the inside of any system, you reduce it to flat stereotypes. That’s human nature.
Since the advent of advertising, three things have contributed to the continuation of that stereotype:
The flow of information between brands and consumers was blocked for decades, causing consumers to feel watched and manipulated even while brands felt frustrated that, despite their best attempts to learn and please their customers, they couldn’t quite get a read on what they really wanted.
Consumers have played the role of passive receivers of brand messaging, a position that, in any relationship, tends to make people suspicious and highly critical.
Consumers have been lied to by brands. It’s true. Some people in advertising compromise the institution. But if you’ve ever talked to a teacher who’s passed a failing student because they’re told they have to, you’ll quickly realize that even our most respected professions contain compromise.
Enter social media. In the beginning, consumers began using platforms to exercise the ability to finally publicly communicate to and about their strong feelings toward brands, whether it was love or hate. We started seeing #wins and #fails loudly proclaimed, and even more revolutionary, we saw brands listening and responding back.
Next, we began to see people empowering their voices collectively and moving into the role of watchdogs. The powerful Leroy Stick taking down BP is just one example of that. Campbell Ewald’s Group Director of Social Media, Dave Linabury, noted that "Orwell got one thing wrong. Sure we're being watched, but he never predicted we'd be watching back."
And though we’ve spent a lot of time as ad professionals talking about how these platforms have opened up communication between people and brands, we haven’t spent a lot of time talking about another coinciding phenomenon that I find most interesting. Yes, consumers have been given the power to watch back. But with that power comes the experience of having to make the choices you once felt comfortable openly criticizing.
As peoples’ use of social media becomes more sophisticated and ubiquitous, even your Aunt Edna who’s never heard of this thing called Personal Branding, is gaining an understanding of the choices that must be made in telling her story in media. Every time she moves the laundry basket out of the frame before she snaps a picture of her cat and posts it for her friends, she is quietly and cognitively transitioning from consumer to brand. Every time she adjusts what she does and doesn’t post according to what gets the most Likes, she becomes a marketer of her life. And now Aunt Edna has stood in the marketer's shoes, whether she’s conscious of it or not.
She has begun to understand the shades of gray that lie between total transparency and the fifty-year old man in his parents’ basement posing as a shirtless Mark Wahlberg. A selected facet of the truth no longer feels like a lie. One person's putting your best foot forward is another's misrepresentation.
Self-construction is certainly not new, nor is it unique to social media. Whether you’ve cleaned your house before company comes or exaggerated your experience in an interview, people have run the gamut of posturing since the beginning of time. Look at Eve’s fig leaf. But now that people are having to make more conscious decisions to show the world their ideal version of themselves, and more importantly, publishing them, they are no longer on the outside of the branding system looking in. One click at a time, they are internalizing the system and its myriad of nuances, and as a result, are beginning to understand what it means to craft a brand story.
I’d love to hear some of the choices you see people making when telling their stories online.
Jen Wright, Yaffe Social Media Strategist & Professional Liar
I am constantly watching my tweets come in. And it’s not just Twitter I am always watching, it’s Facebook too. And it’s not because I have nothing better to do (but it is a fine way to spend a day), it’s because I want to know EVERYTHING. When I am watching Twitter, I know things before you do. And before most of the free world, unless that free world is on Twitter.
When Michael Jackson died, Facebook and Twitter was where I “heard” first. My Executive Creative Director can vouch for that, cause that’s where he found out, and he was a few doors down. We told people. They were waiting to hear the news I guess. Is it bad that I want to know what is happening the second it happens? Remember balloon boy? A social media dream! But a sad man’s demise… Regardless, Facebook had me dropping everything to follow that flying balloon. It stopped everyone dead in their tracks, but only if they were online watching.
So what about the people that don’t have an @handle? Am I to assume they know nothing about the world until it’s too late? I know a fellow who doesn’t have a Facebook account and could care less about #trending topics on Twitter. He reads the local news online and he checks what is trending on Bing when he launches his internet browser. While this is a decent way to learn about what’s happening, it’s just not enough for me.
When I log onto my Twitter account, I am immediately thrown into a never ending abyss of news headlines, some real and some gossip. I learn more things about the daily happenings in this country in 3 minutes than the average person will throughout an entire day – or perhaps week. The fellow I previously mentioned might find out that someone was arrested today, but I have probably found out his past arrest history, what he ate for breakfast, his kids’ names and the color underwear he has on. And of course, I knew he was arrested - yesterday.
You see, social media can get us the news far quicker than anything else. Sure, I am getting tweets straight from the source, but 100 headlines are coming at me all at once with links to the stories. A far superior way to pick the news I care to pay attention to. And before all the papers and TV stations in Detroit even run anything, I am getting the story from a national source (or creepy guy who spies on people). There is always someone out there finding the news faster.
I have checked my Twitter feed like, 20 times, while writing this blog. I can’t afford to miss anything! And if I am not on Twitter for a second, someone is sure to post a great story on Facebook. People I know find the best stories!
I suppose what I don’t understand is why someone wants to miss out on the awesomeness that is the social network. Yeah, I said it. There is a whole network of people out there that have so much to say. If you aren’t listening, you will find out about it some other way, and by then, it’s old news, Dude.
Lauren Cavanagh, Account Executive & Avid Twitter Fan
After a fantastic quarter with a local client and watching its customer-base grow nationally, I've been thinking about what it means to "Buy Local." I should start by stating that I self-identify as a passionate Buy-Localista. I love both the economic and sentient value of purchasing things that were made as close to me and on as small of a scale as possible. If I could buy drier filters handmade in my neighbor's home, I would.
But what then when our neighbor's burgeoning drier filter boutique grabs national attention? Aren't we proud of her? Don't we agree with the five hundred families in Santa Monica and 300 families in Austin who now order her product and sing her praises on Twitter?
If the push to buy local is to keep local money circulating in our local economy, and we consider this concept at least quasi-political, does that mean we find the families in Santa Monica and Austin now putting money into our economy politically amoral? Does it make us hypocrites to valiantly encourage all of our neighbors to buy local, but also feel gratitude toward neighbors who are able to push their product beyond our boundaries? And what are those boundaries? City, county, state? What defines local?
I have thoughts on this, but would much rather hear yours.
Jen Wright is a Social Media Strategist who buys locally, but asks questions everywhere she goes.
We really have to think hard about looking at the glass half full to restore the energy this city embodies.
So much is happening to give this city a new lease on life. The auto industry as a whole has been through the wrenching change that was needed for us to compete, and we have product to be proud of. Detroit cultivates cutting edge technology with our wealth of engineers who can focus on developing the world’s energy resources of the future.
We are flush with the latest communication technology fed by the needs and advertising dollars of the auto industry. And best of all is our still vibrant musical heritage that is recognized worldwide.
We have Robert Bob making a difference in our school system to give us real hope about the ability to rebuild our cities‘ communities. And we have one of the most philanthropic communities in the nation.
We need to focus on our resources; a city rich with creativity and culture should be communicating a different vibe to the world than what we have. The economy is beginning to feel a rebound that will have a dynamic impact on our city because we are poised to grow through newly developed and transformed systems.
Now we have to give our future positive vibes, belief and remember the "cool" of Motown as who we are and always will be.
