Change

As you might or might not have noticed, as of about a year ago, I switched up the topics I was posting on my blog…alot less about the ad/planning/strategy industry and more random thoughts, ideas, daily ventures, yadda yadda.

I was just getting sick of reading blogs that regurgitated the same stuff and found blogs that were actual personal to be far more interesting. And genuine. Plus, it’s pretty amazing how much you can learn about a person, understand how they think, etc. by reading their blog if you just dig a little deeper and read between the lines.

Wasn’t sure how my new blogging approach was going to fare (after all, maybe I am just a narcissist and actually just want more opps. to project about myself?). Then I read a similar post from Paul Isakson, a planner for whom I have mucho respect.

At this point, I’m feeling good.

Market Research Fail

So, I recently went to the grocery store – on my receipt was a solicitation to take a survey. As a planner / strategist, I was interested to see how this company’s marketing department structured the survey, so when I got home, I plugged in the URL to check it out.

I want to focus on one portion of the survey that totally blew my mind. It began with this question:

Notice how I selected “N/A – I did not shop this department”?

Though I indicated I had not shopped in the meat depart, I was required to provide answers about my experience in the meat department for the next 8 questions.

A: I should have received any further meat department questions after indicating I had not been there.

B: If for whatever crazy reason, they wanted me to go through these questions, at the least, there should have been a “N/A” option.

Basically, all the answers I provided are not only not helpful, but also will be skewing the results.

Yikes.  There are red flags left & right screaming “bad survey design! your “findings” are going to be totally irreverent! abort! abort!”. Leading questions, survey length (WAY too long), order or questions, oy. It gives me a bit of anxiety just thinking about it.

Finding Inspiration Outside the Ad Industry

Part 1: Alot of what we do in the advertising industry is to pinpoint the sweet spot mashup of meaningful storytelling and effective communication. (Strategic) advertising people are always up for thinking outside the box and finding inspiration in anything (if you look at it the right way).

Part 2: My good friend Ashly shared a post the other day which honestly, after each sentence, I found myself thinking: Yes! Exactly! Whomever wrote this is so freaking smart! Holla! Amen!

…you get the point.

The premise of the post: (directed at ad. people) ” . . . if we’re looking for ‘interesting’, then we should look beyond the industry magazines, trend company websites, planner blogs and specialist conferences . . . “

And an excerpt:

” . . . If you’re in adland – especially a planner – it appears the definition revolves around being able to quote the words or actions of someone respected in the industry that you’ve just seen or read about.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with that – especially when it sparks off your own thoughts or actions [because let's face it, doing things others find interesting is better than simply being known for knowing/repeating interesting things] – however what’s started to bother me is there appears to be some people in our industry who have created an elitist view of who – or what – can be classified as interesting … discarding anyone or anything if they’ve not appeared in Wired, TEDTalks or PSFK or worked in adland [as long as it's at one of the 'cool' agencies] or a highly regarded ‘intellectual’ industry/category.

Interesting isn’t purely about the views and actions of the celebrated or the elite, it does – and should – include things that come from the masses … those people we walk past every single day without giving them so much as a second glance . . . “

That’s good stuff right there.

Part 3: I attended the Austin Poetry Slam Slam Bowl 2011 this past week at the 29th Street Ballroom and it was awesome. bomb.com. baller. inspiring. yadda yadda.

The people who got up there were all phenomenal…I was blown away by the wordplay, presentation, ability to communicate & captivate an audience. As the wordplay is so intricate & presentation generally doesn’t follow typical speech patterns, poetry forces you to A: Think about what the poet is communicating via the poem on a deeper level and B. Listen alot closer, as the patterns frequently do not follow the conversational patterns our ears have been trained to hear.

Part 4: So to bring this full circle, though the poets I heard are (most likely) not “in the industry”, I’ve got to say, I was more inspired by them and their work/thoughts/ideas, than I have been in a long time by reading/watching industry blogs/books/talks.

Some of my favorites from the slam:

Intel Visual Life

I really can’t think of anything more profound to say, other than, I love this video.

Close your other windows/tabs, shut down your Tweet Deck, put your phone on silent, turn on your Facebook notifications…if nothing else, just for six minutes (I promise you won’t regret it, you will survive AND be inspired – what a deal!).

…then, enjoy:

You’ll Comment On My Facebook

…but not my blog. Even when I post the same exact thing on my blog (click prior link) and my Facebook:

As you can see, I had 16 ‘likes’ and about 256 comments on my Facebook, but zip, zilch, nada on the same thing posted to my blog.

I’ve always been interested in the influence, convergence and interaction between humans and technology. Why do we do certain things on one social web platform but won’t do the same on the other? Is it because everything is right there in the newsfeed on Facebook, whereas one would have to make a concerted effort to seek out a blog? (unless they are using some sort of RSS reader…)

Here are some general trends I’ve noticed over the years:

Blog commenting = I took the time to find/follow/comment on your post. Blog comments are usually a compliment, unless they tell you whatever you posted was complete garbage…then perhaps this isn’t as complimentary. I’ve been lucky to avoid the “your post is complete garbage” comments – usually people just don’t comment at all. Even though I know people look at it. Which is slightly creepy, slash, slightly interesting.

Liking/retweeting = I might/might not have actually read what you posted, but there’s something about your post that makes me what to like or share it. I can’t actually comment on it because that would take time and/or commitment. Plus, chances are, I most likely did not fully read/look at what you posted anyway.

Here are the posting patterns I have seen from my posts:

Facebook: People will comment/like my posts, both online and offline (in person)

Twitter: People will comment/retweet my stuff online but NOT offline

Blog: People will generally NOT comment on my posts online, but WILL COMMENT offline

Hmmmm.

Isn’t human online/offline behavior perplexing?