Miami Ad School Boot Camp for Account Planners – Check.
In a few short days I will be leaving South Beach… or “the island” as we’ve come to call it. I will not leave feeling empty, but full. “I-need-to-move-the-belt-one-notch-further” full.
Full of insights, knowledge, courage, friendship, empowerment.
It truly is a great feeling.
I’ve learned so much during my 12 weeks in Miami. I am excited to see what the future holds, not just for myself, but the 18 amazing planners I’ve met while down here. Not to mention the countless copywriter, art direction and photography students that have crossed my path. Each of them have challenged me and helped me learn something. Not just about advertising, but about people and life. This is what has made me a better planner … and I thank you all.
Reflecting back on this experience there are some truths that have changed the way I think and feel about advertising.
Those are…
Emotion is everything. Consumers not only need to interact with brands, but they need to want to experience them, welcoming them into their lives. Neuroscience has now shown that we react in phases – Feel… then THINK. If we can get consumers to feel something, a client’s ROI will be so much richer and rewarding. It’s not about sales, but about emotions. Consumers will not invest in something they can’t believe in, love, hate and make a part of them.
Great advertising overcomes all norms within an industry and within society. It’s surprising, emotional and engaging.
Planners aren’t the voice of the consumer. They help bring a target to life by understanding them better than anyone else in the room. We inspire creativity by uncovering insights and find innovative ways to start the conversation between that target and brand. We make the brand relevant and important… A “must have” experience.
It’s ok to be wrong as long as you learn from the experience. I’d rather make mistakes and become better than be right all the time and have it be crap. Taking the safe route isn’t always the right way to go. Mistakes make us improve for the next time and there will be a next time.
Sometimes you need to go with your gut and take the risk. If you believe in it, fight for it and fight with passion. If you’re wrong, see above. If you’re right, it’ll be worth the fight.
Don’t fight for something if it’s not worth believing in. Don’t present something that you don’t believe in. Clients have bullshit detectors… but more importantly consumers do too. If you don’t believe in it they’ll eat you alive… or even worse, they’ll ignore you completely.
The best teams work cohesively. I will never write a brief before consulting with creative/media and I will NEVER just finish it, hand it off and wait to see the results. Collaboration will be essential in developing success and coming up with the freshest most relevant conversation starters for our brands.
I’m not too shabby at bringing consumers to life via a Keynote video. I forsee many more Keynote videos in my future.
Media is anything but traditional. There are so many ways to touch a target in ways that they will want to experience and engage a brand. I am amazed at the breakthrough speed in which technology evolves and how quickly consumers adapt to these changes. However, a media outlet can’t be used just because it’s new. It has to make sense and help the strategy… not hurt it or make it confusing.
CreateStrategically.StrategizeCreatively.
This experience has changed me. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Ciao Miami. You will be missed…
