Top 3 Tweets from the Crowd at Inbound Marketing 2015. And the winner is….
This is the runner-up. The 2nd best tweet, the silver award-winner, from the audience of nearly 500 at my presentation to today’s Inbound Marketing 2015.
“He looks and sounds just like Larry David.”
The panel of judges – me, Luke, plus one other guy, the speaker, I think – told me after the show, this tweet is great because it’s true and truth was one of the tentpoles of my presentation: “What is the truest thing you can say about this brand, product, or category?”
The reason it didn’t win #1? Clients (me, in this case) don’t really want to hear the truest thing about themselves. They want to hear about how they’re perfect. I woulda loved a tweet like, “Looks and sounds like JFK Jr.” Okay, so this next tweet is the third runner-up
"Pain-in-the ass fruits like mangos" probably my favorite quote of the day @heywhipple #goinboundmktg
— Eric Rees (@EricRees) June 22, 2015
“‘Pain-in-the-ass fruits like mangos,’ probably my favorite quote of the day.” The reason this tweet took bronze is the writer liked something the client said. And since I’m the client, of course I think this is brill. Very astute observation by Mr. Rees. I love that line, too. And now, the winning tweet.
Tension, conflict, energy, not only is @heywhipple talking about it, he is exuding it. #heywhipple #goinboundmktg pic.twitter.com/vkTgzShOL3
— Kevin Mullett (@kmullett) June 22, 2015
“Tension, conflict, energy, not only is @heywhipple talking about it, he is exuding it.”
The judges told me after the show this one rung the bell. Why? Because clients love it when you show their picture. To quote David Ogilvy’s poem about brown-nosing:
“When the client moans and sighs,
Make his logo twice the size.
If he still should prove refractory
Show a picture of the factory.
Only in gravest cases
Should you show the clients’ faces”
Congratulations, Mr. Kevin Mullet. You had the right mix of truth and making nice-nice to the client. Well played, sir. Well played. Send me your mailing address and I’ll pack off a signed copy of Whipple post haste.
Here’s the most important thing I try to teach my ad students.
I’ve been the chair of the ad department here at SCAD for just over three years now, and I’m all totes cray about teaching. (Totes cray – see how hip you get hangin’ with the college crowd?)
Over these last few years I’ve had the privilege of leading a million in-class critiques. And in all that time, there’s one piece of advice I found myself giving more than any other.
“Your idea isn’t fast enough.”
Here’s the thing: The customer has to get what you’re saying instantly, or close to it. For my money, a quick-get — the Speed of the Get — is the first and the most important thing an idea needs to have. A quick-get matters more than even the creativity of the piece. (I know, heresy.)
For my money, the official order of importance goes
1.) Speed of the Get
2.) Believability
3.) Creativity.
Well, perhaps one could quibble, “Oh yeah, but if it’s not creative first, then why would readers even look at your stupid idea anyway?” There are probably many erudite rebuttals to this, but mine is just shut up, it’s my blog.
I liken the Speed of the Get to the length of a fuse on a stick of dynamite. You don’t want the fuse to be too short or too long. If the fuse is too short, it probably means your idea is too simple or too stripped-down. It may read quickly but it’ll have little effect on the viewer. Sort of like a STOP sign; obviously an instant read but not something I’m likely to post on Facebook.
Few students however err on the side of too-short fuses. In an effort to create an intriguing idea that requires a little bit of the viewer – which is a good thing – students tend to encode their ideas. But if understanding the idea takes one or two beats longer than it should, FAIL. Because nobody has time to wait around for an idea to go off. The fuse burns, camera follows it around the corner, everybody loses interest, a minute later somebody hears a distant… pop … says, “Wait, did you hear somethin’?”
Now that I’ve finally plowed my analogy deep into the ground, I think I’ll spade dirt over it by providing free-of-charge the handy image you see below.
Peace out. (Like I said, I’m very hip now, what with these whacky college kids.)
A List of Fave Sites for Creative Inspiration.
The other day I asked the tweetverse and my FB Friends, “Please send me links to your favorite sites, the ones you go to for inspiration.” Thanks to all of you who wrote. And below I include the ones most people mentioned. My faves are marked with asterisks. The first nine are the new ones. Below that are my other faves, from a list I created last year.
*** theinspiration.com Like it says, this site is for inspiration. Super clean layout with tabs to Advertising, Art, Movies, etc.
*** metalpotential.tumblr.com Perfect for ad junkies. Best advertising out there and curated by Rob Schwartz, CEO TBWA\Chiat\Day New York.
* fromupnorth.com A design blog a bit like theinspiration.com but I always go to GALLERIES and click ADVERTISING. Like the stuff they pick and how they display it on page.
psfk.com Nice blog with articles taking the pulse of culture, web technology, design and trend development. The psfk name? The initials of the two founders. (I asked.)
thisiscolossal.com Very visual blog that exploring art and visual culture. Ranked by Technorati as one of the top 50 blogs on the web.
visualnews.com Kinda like thisiscolossal.com. FROM THEIR ABOUT: “Visual content, clean and simple, that gives more meaning to the life you live… the quiet corner booth in a crowded diner and a slice of cherry pie. Take a seat.”
springwise.com Cool site that gathers the latest innovation, start-up and new business ideas from around the world.
hoverstat.es Hover States is a collection of what’s new and interesting in user interface and interaction design. Curated by Animade, a London-based animation and interactive production company.
Vimeo staff picks Suggested by my student, Stefani G. She says careful, it’s addicting.
** Brainpickings — Super smart site created by ex-planner from Chiat/Day. Maria Popova “I’m a reader, writer, interestingness hunter-gatherer, and curious mind at large.”
** Mashable is required daily viewing of all ad students. “The leading source of new, information, and resources for the Connected Generation.”
* * Creativity Unbound: Insights and Observations on the Current State of Advertising. Required reading from my friend social/digital expert Edward Boches. (And soon to be guest-author of Hey Whipple.)
** Art, Copy & Code — created and curated by Google, features really cool advertising ideas all tech-enabled.
** Really nice collection of recent ad campaigns, spots, sites. Easy to use. http://www.welovead.com/en/
** AdFreak (from AdWeek) is the best site for keeping up with the current ad world, the agencies, and the bigger campaigns.
* Meaningful Content – Really cool site of all the interesting stuff out there, and you can search through it using tags like “jaw-dropping,” “informative,” “beautiful.” Very cool.
* Buzzfeed – super fun site about popular culture.
* Really nice collection of advertising/marketing ideas in form of short case study videos.
http://www.worldsbestcasestudies.com/
* Ads Of The World: Great site to see the latest greatest work out there.
adsoftheworld.com
* Suzanne Pope is a super-smart Canadian ad person and I love her site.
adteachings.com
* The Webby Awards — A must-read for all ad students.
Suggested Reading
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Luke Sullivan
Author, speaker, and ad veteran available to recharge, reinvigorate, and refocus marketing, advertising, and branding firms.
I give a hugely energetic series of presentations on innovation, creativity, branding, and marketing. I spent 32 years in the trenches of advertising (at agencies like Martin, GSD&M, and Fallon) and I’ve put everything I learned into my book, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. But for me nothing beats taking the message out and speaking to living breathing audiences at clients, agencies, and conferences. You can book me on the button below.
