In praise of the one-off.

Print is dead. It’s been replaced by digital content, social content, liquid content, native content, paid content, endorsed content, influencer content, search content and any other NEW medium that houses content that our industry believes will make Millennials content to give up their virtual and real dollar bills. Or likes. Or shares. Or hearts. And if our content goes viral, even better.

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Don’t get me wrong — I love that we get to play with a bigger box of crayons. In fact, over the past few years I’ve done more digital than traditional advertising. And, being the tech nerd I am, I’ve loved every minute of it. Which is why, when something like a single print ad comes across my desk, I love working on that even more.

Print is personal. You don’t just download a template off the World Wide Web Super Information Highway, swap out a logo and a few photos, slug in some SEO-friendly copy and then call it a day. Creating a print ad is a much more intimate experience. At least, it is for me.

It reminds me that I don’t have a job; I have a craft. It reinforces my love for a well-written headline over a tweet. And it refuels my drive to make it back into the CA print annual.

Remember when getting in CA was a big deal?

For this Sauder’s Eggs print ad, I didn’t work with a partner. I was the writer, art director and designer. But not by choice. This ad was a freebie for a client quench was hoping to woo into a long-term relationship. It had to be done quickly and on the cheap. There wasn’t even a brief. And I loved every millisecond of the assignment.

More important, the prospective client loved the ad as presented. Not a single change was recommended or made. And I’m grateful to say, Sauder’s Eggs is no longer a prospective quench client. They’re a client. In part because of a one-off print ad that ran on the back cover of a B2B pub with less than 5,000 readers.

A print ad that also happened to take Gold in the 2016 Philadelphia Addy Awards.

So now we’re auditing Sauder’s current website, monitoring their social media channels, and developing their brand strategy that’ll soon inform their content strategy.

Not too shabby for the walking dead, huh?

Case study: Rebranding Sauder Furniture.

While my official role on the Sauder account at Bader Rutter was Creative Director, I had my head, and hands, on every aspect of the account. From developing the brand strategy to developing and executing the content and social strategy, from creating the brand voice and developing the look — Sauder gave me the opportunity to work with teams across multiple disciplines to reshape the 80-year-old brand for the coveted Millennial audience.

Before we brought the new brand to life, however, we did our homework on Millennials. In addition to creating a psychographic profile and a detailed buyers’ journey, we shared our vision of how Millennials would interact with the new Sauder brand online and at retail.

Once we gained approval to move forward and develop creative based upon our strategic approach and understanding of the target audience, we worked fast and furiously to launch the new brand in less than a year. Traffic to the site and engagement in their social channels have significantly increased since the launch.

sauder.com   Sauder Pinterest   Sauder Facebook   Sauder Twitter

Case study: Johnson Controls launches Panoptix.

In October, 2011, Johnson Controls, Inc. wanted to launch a new product, Panoptix, at the GreenBuild trade show. Panoptix is a comprehensive, cloud based, building efficiency system. It operates on an open platform where a community of Panoptix users can create its own apps, in addition to using the Johnson Controls produced apps, to manage their building systems from any device, anywhere. And it was the first of its kind. Because this software based solution was new territory for a company known more for building hardware, like HVAC systems and refrigeration units, positioning Johnson Controls as a thought leader in technology leading up to Greenbuild was important.

In order to tease the Panoptix offering and create technology-based content, my team at Bader Rutter and I created the "What's Possible" campaign that included a Johnson Controls  blog as well as Twitter and Facebook pages. See the work here. Through those social channels and an e-mail based marketing campaign, we encouraged people to sign up on the blog, follow Johnson Controls on Twitter and like them on Facebook. Those who did received a Botanicals Kit — a device you stick in a houseplant that’s connected to a Twitter account. It tweets you when your plant needs water and again when it’s happily watered. From the campaign about the Botanicals Kit: “We think this crazy green gadget is a great example that, with technology, anything is possible. It’s simple. It’s efficient. It makes things easy to manage.”

For the trade show, we wanted to create a level of engagement with attendees that matched the Panoptix offering. It had to be technology-based, community-based and mobile-friendly. So we created the Panoptix wall. A 10x7 foot interactive wall that we ran from Twitter where we posted content about the Panoptix platform. Attendees, and non-attendees, could post messages to the wall from their Twitter accounts or by SMS. Those at the show could then touch their message, move them around, make them bigger, or shoot them through a virtual slingshot across the wall. We also used the wall for time-based contests at the show that encouraged people to visit the booth. For the booth, we designed it to be open and comfortable, and as a place where Johnson Controls could conduct media interviews.

In less than 3 days, over 6,000 messages were posted to the wall. And over 300 people signed up as customers for Panoptix, despite the fact the product wasn’t on the market at the time of the show. Our campaign generated more foot traffic to the Johnson Controls booth than they’d had in previous years and far exceeded their expectations.

TL;DR: I launched a new brand and created an interactive, social media wall at a trade show

Uh, yeah, I have a question. Or three.

I ask “why” a lot. In part because I’m inherently curious. One of the perks of being in advertising is that I’ve learned about things I otherwise wouldn’t if I were, say, a donkey rancher. And I love when I get to work in a category or on a product I haven’t before — it gives me the opportunity to learn new stuff.

I also ask “why” a lot because, in our business, I believe there’s always a better way to do everything. I’m constantly looking to improve my work and myself. So I question motives. Methods. Outcomes.

That’s not for everyone. Especially the “we’ve always done it this way” types.

People are fascinating, weird, wonderful creatures. We’re constantly in motion. We’re reinventing our world and ourselves faster than we ever have. The advances we’ve made in technology, engineering and science over the past 20 years — from the invention of the iPhone to the discovery of the “God Particle” — is mind-boggling.

I recently watched a show about the making of National Lampoon’s Vacation. Chevy Chase was talking about the scene in St. Louis and said when he asked everyone to roll up their windows, that if you look closely enough, his window didn’t really roll up. He faked the reeling motion so the camera could get a clean shot of him saying his line. My seven-year-old, even my thirteen-year-old, would have no idea what he was talking about. They press a button. It’s a different world.

So why does advertising remain, largely, the same?

Because not enough people ask “why.” Not enough people challenge. As fascinating, weird and wonderful as we are, we’re also creatures of habit. Creatures of comfort — we know what we know. Selling floor cleaner? Better show a sparkling floor and a mildly attractive woman with a smile on her face.

I think comfortable is boring. And believe boring doesn’t get a second glance. It isn’t given a second thought. Ever watch someone read a magazine? They flip right past the ads because they all look and sound the same. That’s especially true in trade pubs. Selling cattle feed? Better show a nutritious looking nugget and a mildly attractive cow with a smile on her face.

A former colleague said, “You’ve got to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

That is something I absolutely do not question.

I'm not your whipping boy.

“Uh, because I thought it looked cool.”

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Sitting behind the kit with Julian Fist. Questionable scarf choice aside, check out my pinky action.

Nope. Nope. And nope. Clients aren’t paying for “it looked cool.” They want a point of view. They want to understand why they’re paying for what they’re paying for. And if you can’t articulate why you did what you did, you’re increasing the chances your work will get whipped into oblivion and killed.

In 2009 Julian Fist asked me to design their newest CD, A Thousand Days. The band had been working on the album for over two and a half years and believed it was a miracle the record was finally going to be released. Of course, I jumped at the chance. When you’re a design and music nerd and a band asks you to design their CD/album/record (whatever the kids are calling them these days) you don’t say no.

So I started sketching. And thinking. And sketching. And thinking.

I presented the band with rough sketches, explaining my thinking as I went, but one direction stood out from the rest — a sketch of a bush/tree on fire. As I was coming up with concepts I kept thinking about my initial conversation with the band and about the effort it took to make the CD. It made me think about Moses wandering around in the desert for ten thousand years (I have no idea why) and about the miracle of him finding the burning bush. At the time I thought Moses was only out there for a thousand days and I didn’t know the bush wasn’t really important to the story.

But, whatever. At least I got the fire part right. And the metaphor held up.

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As I went from paper to computer, every aspect of the design was completely thought out. The tree has four roots; each represents a member of the band. Each of the four branches represents a band member’s family at that time. For example, the drummer’s branch has two branches coming off it representing his wife and daughter. There are thirteen flames representing the thirteen tracks on the CD. The two red sparks at the top represent the two founding members of the band coming together. And the simplistic design would easily reproduce in one color for t-shirts, stickers and flyers. For the type, In keeping with my badly botched metaphor, I chose an old style Roman typeface, Adobe Jenson. And everything rests on the same baseline grid.

If you’re interested, you can buy the album from iTunes here and follow Julian Fist on Facebook here.

So much in our business is subjective. Some clients don’t like purple. Some love it. Whatever. If you have a reason, if you have conviction, if you can show a client, creative director or account executive why you’ve chosen a certain typeface or color, often they’ll support you and your stuff won’t die. I screwed up the story of Moses in the desert. But the thinking was right, I could articulate my reasons for the design and I got it produced.

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Maybe my album cover won’t ever receive praise like the work of Storm Thorgerson or the Ames Bros. It’ll probably never get a single vote in a Rolling Stone readers’ poll. And I’m positive nme.com will never call asking for the scoop behind the design — I'm no Stanley Donwood of Radiohead album cover fame. But I’m totally cool with all that — and I’m stoked I got to design an album. As a bonus I had the pleasure of designing the flyer, and playing with the band, for their holiday CD release party.

So hey, Julian Fist, when you’re ready to release your next CD, you’ve got my number.