7/2/2009
Posted by Bruce Doscher, Associate Creative Director, Draftfcb New York
Our latest digital piece for ONDCP, "Fireworks," is making its way in to people's email inboxes, so we thought this would be a good time to share the work. It's especially appropriate as millions of people across the U.S. will be gazing towards the sky this weekend in celebration of the 4th of July holiday.
Unlike the 4th, not every big moment in a teen's life gets the same pomp and circumstance. They may ace their finals, land their first job or earn their driver's permit. All of these are major moments in their life and cause for celebration.
With the "Fireworks" concept, we wanted to help teens celebrate these important moments. And much like the fireworks that people will see this weekend, they're best enjoyed without a haze surrounding them.
6/24/2009Posted by Bob Bernstein, Managing Director, MC Media and Chief Media Officer, Draftfcb Chicago
I participated on a panel last night titled “The State of the Economy & How it Impacts the Sports Industry” with marketing representatives of companies like Accenture, McDonald’s, the Chicago Bears, WGN-TV, United Airlines, and the Big Ten Network.
The panel was put together by the National Sports Marketing Network (NSMN) where I serve on the Chicago Steering Committee, and for the most part, the mood was generally positive here in the Midwest.
Since many are suffering from recession fatigue, I tried to focus on the following bright spots:
- A move to greater justification of our efforts in a world where aspects of sports marketing are a PR liability
- While segments like autos, banks, home improvement centers, and casual dining are down, several categories like QSR, beer, packaged goods, and discount retail are holding steady and plugged several Draftfcb clients including Taco Bell, KFC, Kraft, SCJ, Kmart and MillerCoors.
- From a media standpoint, this is not entirely a buyer’s market. Yes, certain media like print, network/local TV are struggling a bit, Spanish language television, national cable, and the internet are in good demand.
This was the fourth in a series of discussions held throughout the country by the NSMN, and we were all thankful not to be in Detroit or New York where the autos and financial institutions and their marketing partners are taking a beating.
6/22/2009
Posted by Sylvia Nieves, Associate Creative Director, Draftfcb Chicago
On Friday June 12th the auditorium on the 14th floor filled up. A bunch of us assisted to a Multicultural lunch and learn gig about Music as a Universal language. We had the opportunity to meet the talented award winning producer/composer Gustavo Farias. Gustavo defines Latin Music; he carries the beat in his blood, he is all passion, charisma, great sense of humor and awesomeness. Talk about a showman!
He shared with us his passionate insights and put into words what is often impossible to describe: la música Latina. He took us on a journey through the incredible variety of Latin music such as, cumbia and vallenato (Colombia), banda and Mariachis (Mexico), Flamenco (Spain), merengue (Dominican Republic), salsa which fuses Afro-Cuban rhythm, Latin pop, boleros, modern rock and hip-hop… some of us even got to dance! LOL ;)
I have to say it was a very fun and insightful experience because Gustavo says it like it is…you won’t believe your ears!
6/19/2009Posted by Russ Unger, Diretor of Experience Planning, Draftfcb Chicago
Peachpit did a podcast interview with Carolyn Chandler and myself a couple of weeks ago, and I was fortunate enough to be able to transcribe my parts it. Below are my answers to the questions that were asked of us.
What is user experience design?
In the book we define it broadly as “The creation and synchronization of the elements that affect users’ experience with a particular company (or product), with the intent of influencing their perceptions and behavior”.
That’s true–but I think that most people today tend to focus on the more digital aspects of user experience design; websites, software applications. But really, it gets down to considering all the pieces of the whole. That includes business goals and objectives, user expectations, desires and needs–oh, and what can be done within technical, time and budget constraints. All of this wrapped in the context in which the users would be interacting with it.
That’s not to say that we’re making trade-offs, per se, but that there’s rarely an environment without some degree of friction that presents you from doing what you’d do in a “perfect world”. It’s not just boxes and arrows, mind you. There’s a lot of thinking in the work that user experience designers do.
It’s almost never a perfect situation, but then again, that’s what makes it interesting!
What are some of the problems that arise when considering UX design? What challenges might other team members present?
The biggest problem that I see is when aspects of UX design aren’t considered necessary. In many cases, clients want an “expert on user experience design” to make all the decisions for them, and when they don’t agree with the proposed solutions, they sometimes may strongly suggest that a design behave a certain way–against the advice of the UX Designer. Good UX Designers know what opinions are like, so they’ll recommend that designs should be tested with users–and that step may get overlooked, resulting in a design that is either ill- or uninformed.
As far as other team members, the most frequent challenge that I’ve seen and hear of is lack of collaboration. User experience design doesn’t end when a designer is handed a wireframe, a developer is handed a functional spec and design files–it evolves. User experience designers know this, and they need to be engaged throughout the rest of the phases of the project–we’re flexible and we’re working toward the best end result, not laying down the law in document format. Collaboration helps us improve the experience and presents opportunities for us all to continue to learn from each other.
Who do you think really “gets” user experience design? Who is doing it right?
At the risk of seeming like a fanboy, I’d say that Jesse James Garret and Jared Spool really “get it”. I’ve been fortunate enough to speak to both of them over the course of the past year or so, and if nothing else, they really help me understand how far I have to go.
Jesse and Jared both have spent a lot of time observing and sharing information outward–if not pushing it to us–to pay attention beyond what’s directly in front of us. If you’ve been fortunate enough to see presentations from either of them, not only will it blow your mind, but you’ll find your way of approaching problems a bit different. Jesse and Adaptive Path have put together some pretty fantastic, well-thought and forward-thinking prototypes of web browsers and medical products and Jared has shared the findings of years of research to help us understand “real” behaviors, and the real value of research in the user experience design process.
For good measure, I have to throw in Stephen Anderson, who has given some pretty fantastic presentations around the influence and persuasion of design. He’s also a speaker at the IDEA Conference in Toronto in September this year.
You know who else? Dr. Temple Grandin. She’s written a few books that deal with her experience with Autism, but also how she puts into practice her visual thinking in order to be able to “test run” anything she’s designed. She has a great ability to put empathy into practice, and that’s something user experience designers should all strive to emulate.
What is one of the most common errors people make when designing for user experience?
There are a couple of things here–for me, when I first started out, I spent a lot more time opening a tool and getting started and then revising the heck out of the product. Now, I’m notorious for walking around with pencils and paper–I sketch everything, several times, prior to even opening up a digital tool and getting to work. And, even then, I find that I make enhancements from my sketching when I’m transferring to digital.
I also think that we tend to forget that our work isn’t about US, but it’s about the work–that is, we should not be taking offense at criticism, but taking feedback that drives us to better designs for our users. I’ve been saying it a bit more lately, and Peter Merholz mentioned it a few years back: The crit–being very critical of our designs, beating them up, taking no prisoners and attacking them, these are the things that will make our designs better in the end. We also get to be the gatekeepers of what we do with the critiques, but there’s a lot of value in even the most negative of comments. We’ve got to be able to face those head-on, and get to the point to where we request, if not require, the feedback prior to putting anything in front of a user or a client.
What advice would you offer others who are just beginning to tackle user experience design?
I believe that all user experience designers are “rotten with imperfection”–every time we get something we lust for, we choose something else to want. User experience design is similar; it does NOT end–once you’ve turned over a great finished product… well, it’s not finished. It’s time to evaluate, update and repeat, because users are pretty “rotten with imperfection”, themselves.
Embrace the rotten-ness. Don’t look forward to the end of a project, look forward to the next opportunity to improve.
Tackle the things you’ve not done before–Robert Hoekman, Jr. asked me what I think “we” are, and I said, “adaptable”. User experience designers need to be just that–it’s a young field. There’s always going to be something you’ve not tried before. Dive in. Fail, fail well, and hopefully fail in the right direction, but don’t stop asking questions and don’t stop learning from your mistakes.
6/17/2009
Posted by Brad Back, SVP, Group Management Director, 361 Experiential
Here's a interesting example of experiential marketing that launched today around the country--someone's on Michigan Avenue right now...captures your attention...plays off of a "moment of truth"...and telegraphs a message immediately....Does it conflict or get in the way of Dunkin' Donut's "brand essence?"
6/16/2009Posted by Jim Lucas, Director, Shopper Marketing
Commenting on my recent interview with Brandweek.com, Peter Breen, marketing director of content for the In-Store Marketing Institute, in his latest Talking Back column talked further about the ways in which shopper marketing is evolving. Obviously it goes far beyond shelf talkers. One could go so far as to argue that the shoppers are the ones with the greatest impact on shopper marketing. As our “economic situation” has unfolded in the US, shoppers have not only changed the ways they shop, but the ways in which they learn about how and where to shop.
Witness the popularity of Fatwallet.com, NotMeRetail.com or Refundle.com. These sites are largely dependent on the shopper for their content. Anyone who has spent any time studying these sites (Sam Pocker, Retail Anarchy) can tell you that the shoppers are light years ahead of we who are trying to ply our trade in shopper marketing. Moreover, a quick read of one of the conversations taking place within these discussion groups shows how social this media can be. The next generation of shoppers will be even more savvy than the current one.
To echo your point, Peter, this is not just about shelf talkers!
6/11/2009Posted by Michael Fassnacht, Worldwide Chief Strategy Officer
Mark McGurl just published the book “The Program Era”, describing the influence of “Creative Writing Programs” for the North American literary scene. He comes to the conclusion that the tremendous proliferation of these college programs has positively influenced the quantity and quality of books over the last 50 years. It might be difficult to teach “Writing a great novel” but these workshops seem to have been successful in providing a thoughtful space and training grounds for millions of aspiring writers. The majority of them will never publish a novel but it most likely makes them more productive creative, independent of the form of creative expression in which the participants of these programs ultimately major - from journalism to copy writers to researchers. The written word remains in the center of their professional lives, and these workshops made them better with it.
It seems to me that “Creative Writing Programs” tackle with one of the biggest tensions for professional marketing teams: Productivity and Creativity. Both appear as strong opposites but a marketer in charge of a large organization needs to fuse both of them, attempting to answer the question: How can one be more creative AND more productive? McGurl demonstrates that the “Creative Writing Programs” are exactly in the center of enabling the joined up space between Creativity and Productivity.
The success of most marketing teams resides in mirroring a similar working style. Their structure encourages creativity while ensuring a high level of productivity. Looking at a lot of artists who have been extremely creative and productive, one can decipher one similar pattern: They all found their own very individual way of marrying creativity and productivity, if it was working simultaneously on 10 different pieces of art or by setting aside every day three hours of writing from 7 to 10 am or by transforming the ideas of a large group of followers into one piece of brilliant research analysis (Think “House”), etc. There are as many ways of creating the right joint space for simultaneously more creativity and more productivity as there are marketers
Smart marketing organizations realize that every member of the team has his or her own mode of joining up creativity and productivity. The primary role of this organization is to create space for that many individual variations of doing both while ensuring that all these individual efforts are aimed for a common goal. Productivity and Creativity do not need to be at odds with each other. The individual marketer just needs to identify what works for him or herself. And live in an organization that respects individual working styles while maintaining a clearly communicated and transparent framework of jointly owned goals. 6/10/2009Posted by Russ Unger, Diretor of Experience Planning, Draftfcb Chicago
Wow.
Feels so very vain to type that.
But, if you’re interested in seeing my ugly mug and listening to me talk about the book, “A Project Guide to UX Design” that I co-authored with Carolyn Chandler, please, check out the video!
Feel free to lob tomatoes at your monitor as you deem necessary. 6/3/2009Posted by Sid Liebenson, Director of Marketing
As many of you probably heard, last Thursday Google announced an ambitious new project that some are referring to as “The Email of the Future.” Called Google Wave, the new “communications and collaboration” tool combines the functionality of email with elements of social media like message chain IM boxes, photo galleries, games, and widgets. (Learn more at www.wave.google.com)
Whether it will be a success when it launches later this year is a matter of much speculation. It might look cool, but it requires a whole lot of consumers to replace their current email platforms for Wave to really take hold. And that’s likely to be a challenge.
For now, though, Google is doing something that should turn out to be very smart. They are inviting people to get regular updates on the progress of Wave as the launch date approaches. To register for updates, you need to provide your email address. That’s not only a good way for Google to identify interested handraisers for Wave, but the email addresses will often identify the prospect’s current email platform – allowing Google to craft one-to-one messages emphasizing advantages of Wave vs. the prospect’s specific existing email service provider. And, by doing so, this particular Wave can carry a powerful undertoe that can sweep a lot of consumers into the Google camp.
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