behind the scenes

Well known artist, skater and writer Michael Sieben has just finished teaming up with adidas to release a fun video/interactive site to promote his latest additions to their “Original” collection. He was originally approached by adidas to only design one shoe, however shortly after starting this task both sides realized the potential for more than just a shoe design and a creative partnership was born. Two shoes, a shirt, a hoody and three magical creatures later and you have the mini-film that was shot bringing to life the characters that Sieben features in his designs. The film can be found on the special micro-site that was created for this project - www.adidas.com/michaelsieben

Here’s what the two Sieben-designed adidas Superskates look like (he created both a high and low-top version):

It was directed by Eric Noren for Juice Design with Jess Weinstein & Sara Clarkin as producers. Matt Uhry was the Director of Photography, Dan Wolfe was the editor and the music composition was by Johnnyrandom.

The mini-movie shows us Sieben accompanied by a few of his cartoon creations embarking on a treasure hunt that takes them all throughout the San Francisco Bay area.
“Behind The Scenes” footage of the making of this movie-clip can be found below:

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This is a re-post of something I caught over on the adfreak blog, apparently the NY office of Avenue A/Razorfish has recently implemented a new method aimed at getting their employees to start submitting their timesheets in a more “timely” fashion: They’re showing “offenders photos” with a message indicating what crime that employee has comitted.

In the example above, the text reads:

“I haven’t done my timesheets in 3 weeks.”

The adfreak posts then goes on to say that according to an agency rep, this new tactic of public display is paying off with an increase in diligence for timesheet submissions. Hmm… I wonder if they bothered to check and see just how many current employees have also showed a newly-found diligence in updating their resumes/portfolios? Do they realize these “offenders” are their employees? I wonder how long it’ll take until one of their programmers switches the photos/messages out with explicit photos of top-level agency execs (perhaps from last years’ company Xmas Party)? Or better yet, how long until someone realizes that this might give off the wrong impression to their clients about the agency’s ability to manage their own employees.

I can’t imagine this tactic being something that would look appealing to anyone seeking employment there, that is… unless you happen to be looking for a job in accounting, in which case you’d probably love the thought of being able to ridicule those bastard creatives who think they’re just so cool in their black tshirts and hipster hair-do’s… “accountants are all nerds” my ass! You’ll show them who has the real ultimate power!

This morning WPP announced that the new agency they have been trying to build as part of their agreement with Dell, originally called Project Da Vinci, now has an official title………..

They’re calling it: (cue the drumroll)

Enfatico.

From the press release:

“As a next generation agency with a diverse mix of marketing services and talent – all uniquely orchestrated to drive value for Dell and future clients – we believe Enfatico effectively captures what makes us distinct,” commented agency CEO Torrence Boone.

Well Mr. Boone, you’ve got one thing right… that name definitely makes you “distinct.” Way to come up with a name that sounds even worse than the original Project Da Vinci idea. It just reaks of a group of creatives that either gave up on the choosing a name and let the stoned intern have a shot at it, or you guys take yourselves waaaaaay too seriously.

good luck with that.

I’ve posted about Guy Kawasaki’s latest venture before, Alltop.com, however yesterday was a big day for the site in that they finally added a marketing/advertising section and Everything’s Better With Brentter is amongst the chosen few listed there.

So head on over to http://marketing.alltop.com and you’ll find my RSS feed listed alongside a lot of other great marketing/advertising sites.

Thanks for the add Guy, alltop’s a great website that keeps getting better each week!
-Brent

My first job out of college was working for what I later (they hid it from me during interviews) found out to be a married couple. Yes, the top two executives at this tiny interactive agency that I worked at were not only married, working together, but also had to share an office the size of my bathroom. It was hell.

I learned a lot about how not to run a business during my tenure there, even lasting close to two years until finally realizing that I was making more money with my side freelance jobs than I was working long hours under two individuals who both had the unfortunate trait of wearing their emotions on their sleeves. I’m not ever going to give names, as they were good people deep down inside…. they just were lacking in certain areas that are necessary to become sucessfull as a small interactive shop here in the South. The gentleman (as I will refer to him from now on in lui of his name) was rather shy in nature, however his lady friend (aka wife) was his polar opposite. Not only that, but I’m positive she must have picked up a dictionary of business jargon somewhere along the line, spending hours memorizing every phrase and buzzword. This was noticed by all who knew her, including our clients who found it rather funny when she would whip out one of her patented non-sensical phrases with the intention of making it seem like she was well versed in modern business strategies. Leaving that company gave me a long list of things to “watch out for” in a potential employer as well as first hand experience with business tactics that I vowed never to use….. blatant over-use of business jargon being one of them.

With that being said, I recently stumbled across a posting from the wheresmyjetpack blog where he posts a “condensed/best-of” version of an internal email that apparently just made it’s rounds at a big-name advertising agency. Because of this, and that the content was too hilarious not to send out to friends as a joke, the names have all been changed to protect the innocent (well, and the guilty too). Reading this will make you laugh, cry, cringe, and then probably laugh some more because yes, it did in fact get sent out to the ENTIRE company, but more importantly - IT WAS FROM THE CEO. Enjoy:

Dear Colleagues:

Strong presence. Thank you personally. Well ahead of expectations.

Express our mission. Key essentials. Go the extra step. Continued success for all. Execute against our essentials.

Financial levers. Deliver significant value. Distinctive, compelling brands. Long-term unit growth*. Unmatched global pipeline. Unlock the value of our portfolio. Continue to seek opportunities. Aggressive focus on controlling costs. Provide the foundation. Deliver market-leading returns. Continue to adjust our goals. Raise the low end of our guidance ranges.

Thank you, again. Future ahead continues to be bright. Look forward to continuing to work with you. Exceed our goals together.

All the best,
CEO man

This should serve as a reminder that yes, even YOU, can bullshit your way into just about any high-level position in this industry as long as you know the right catch phrases and buzz words to drop that make those who are even less intelligent than you are think that you know what you’re talking about. In fact, you will most likely find these same people adopting these recently unveiled phrases/buzz words to show the rest of the peons (i.e. you) that they and the CEO both hail from the same planet…. I believe it’s called planet stupid…. but that may just be the scientific name for it. My apologies on not knowing the layman’s version of their homeland. I also remember that was a joke from an old Simpsons episode, none-the-less, when you see that emails like this get sent out from the guy signing your paycheck, it really makes you reconsider why you even showed up for work. That or you’re probably the type of person who likes to listen to Howard Stern. Not because everything he says is profound or funny, but rather because you just want to hear what he’s going to say next because you never know when gems like this will show up and make it all worthwhile.

Image also from wheresmyjetpack blog - apparently he does custom design work on the side