Can We Get A Recount. AdWeek Media - A (Vote and) Decade to Remember

(Note: My father told me opinions are like assholes... we all have one... most of them stink... except your own)
 
Well the votes are in and the results are posted... and the AdWeek has spoken.

Alex Bogusky made you angry. Irwin Gotlieb made you jealous. Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein made you smile. Google, Honda and Coke raised the bar. R/GA, SMG and Butler, Shine, Stern raised the stakes. Our picks, and yours, for the top marketing, media and agency performances of the 2000s. Selections in 33 categories spanning 10 years.

It's true, the readers choices counted... but for what? A simple exercise. Oh it is easy to have an opinion, but this will all make for great watercooler...er, Twitter and blogger conversation for the next few days.

I am not 100% sure how Alex Bogusky made us angry... or how Irwin Gotlieb made us jealous, but one thing for certain the readers choices and the AdWeek staff seem to be at odds. Seems almost every category the readers had a different choice then the staff. Okay, Alex Bogusky was the clearly the Creative Director or the Decade on both columns, but agency of the decade and executive(s) of the decade were significantly out of whack.

Of the 10,049 votes cast for Agency of the Decade, CP+B posted a leading 18% of the votes yet Goodby, Silverstein & Partners were named the top dog (note: GS&P wasn't in the top three). Long known as a creative powerhouse for culture-penetrating TV and print work, Omnicom Group's Goodby, Silverstein & Partners best work included Super Bowl spots for Budweiser, E*Trade's "Dancing Monkey". But the ground breaking work for  "Got Milk?" easily made them a "gold standard" of creative.  All the while, it was transforming itself from "ad maker" to "content provider", producing "art that serves capitalism," as Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein call it, in whatever form that's required. Hard to understand, the work is great but CP+B spent the most of the decade reinventing itself and its clients for "digital future" and speaking of "culture-penetratin", did they see the work done for Burger King (Subservient Chicken or Whopper Freakout), Volkswagen, Microsoft, Old Navy and recently the GAP... please. Okay, I got to give some disclosure here, I am big fan of CP+B. They have been defining the creative standards and clearly have dominated the award shows throughout the decade.

Oh and were or were is Weiden + Kennedy in this agency of the decade conversation... Nike, Honda etal.

One of the innovators and industry leaders that brought a small south Florida agency to the national and worldwide advertising spotlight, Chuck Porter was a clear leader in the readers votes. He carried 22% of the 4,915 votes ahead of the David Jones (20%), Chief Executive Officer of Euro RSCG Worldwide and the third place (14%) Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein, co-chairmen and creative directors of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. AdWeek named the GS&P duo their executives of the decade. Sorry, but what Chuck and CP+B has done over the last 10 years will the basis of case study in success and creativity. His leadership extends into the business, but also the a holding company and an agency can live in harmony. Oh wait, then again, did AdWeek forget Lee Clow?

As for Creative Director of the decade, Alex Bogusky was the easiest choice for both readers and the AdWeek staffers. Alex took 30% of 4,304 votes ahead of the brilliant David Droga who took 12%. Under the leadership of Alex, CP+B has dominated the award shows and has drawn some of the greatest creative talents to both the Miami and Boulder offices. The young "AdLanders" I have the privileged of working with in my classes are all drawn to the work and desire to work for CP+B. The past 10 years and the future has been bright and will be brigther because of his talent and personality. David Droga is a case study in "doing right". Droga5 has design brilliant creative thinking for its clients, but also taugh clients that you can "pay forward" and still lead your category. Droga5 has created amazing work for UNICEF with the Tap Project and New York Department of Education "Millions" project, and the very funny Sarah Silverman "The Great Schlep" campaign for the Obama Presidential run.

Oh, did I mention the biggest oversight... Scott Goodson and StrawberryFrog. Look it up... "Cultural Movements". Hmmmmmmm... a real game changer.

Well, like I started this rant... check the results, read the insights, view the work... truly a healthy conversation will be had.

MIA. Nope Just Been Busy... Student Industry Invasion. Chuck Porter. End of the Semester!

Greetings...

There is always the need to update the blog. Keep regular and relevant. I seem to have a busy "period".
So what has kept me from my "updates" and "views"... well my young "AdLanders", the future of the industry... they have been keeping me busy.

UPDATES

It's been a very busy past few weeks, putting the wraps on the end of another semester. Senior students busy getting their portfolios ready fro review this week before they make their way into the final semester. Advice is limitless, coming from every direction.

Part of my career class this fall required the students to do "informational" interviews with industry personal in the area of their career direction. They invaded almost every agency whether big or small. It is amazing once again how effortless, easy and how quickly the kindness of the industry took to hosting these young "AdLanders".

My thanks is endless to you all that gave your time to answer their questions and lend advice as they get ready. Paying forward is the greatest lesson learned. Many returned noting that they will give back the same way in the future. These informational interviews lay the foundations for further career planning, portfolio building and the internships they will all be seeking in the new year.

CHUCK PORTER

On Monday November 30th, I had the privilege to host Chuck Porter of CP+B here in Toronto at the MDC Corporate offices and a groups of 18 of my seniors.

Chuck and the entire CP+B family has been nothing short of amazing whenever I ask for anything. Katie Kempner arranged for this unique meet and greet while Chuck was in town for the nextMedia Conference where he was a keynote speaker. I will post a complete review of the day as he offered his unique and humorous perspective on the current and future state of the business. He answered the students many questions, his views on how to prepare for theirs careers, what the digital world will mean to their future and even was kind enough to present me with a framed poster of the early days of CP+B creative department (shown on the right - Check the young Alex Bogusky front and center).

Chuck has left a very positive impression and feeling of hope on my students, "the next 18-24 months may be the most exciting and new opportunities for juniors the industry ahs ever seen'. One question that was on the minds of my students is the future of "crowdsourcing",  Chuck dispelled some of the myths and spoke of the realities it will have in the future. "Crowdsourcing may be the biggest thing since radio, imagine the possibilities for brand/product development, creative insights and audience involvement". Of course the "crowdsourcing" debate will only grow for years to come and will have a great impact on our industry and the employment opportunities for the young "AdLanders".

This turned out to be another great highlight for the students this semester and was also a great opportunity for Chuck to "dry run" part of his presentation he gave the next day at nextMedia.
Once again, many thanks to CP+B for their continued support of my efforts and the growth of our program as the leader in advertising education in Canada.

nextMedia Conference

I got to spend Day Two of the conference held at the DesignXChange in Toronto courtesy of Achilles Media. They were kind enough to hire a small army of my students as volunteers. The Tuesday was an amazing experience, highlighted by Chuck Porter presenting his thoughts on the future of digital advertising. Titled "“Digital Darwinism – Survival of the Smartest”, he offered countless CP+B client experiences that has been innovating and groundbreaking. During the Q&A, someone asked about "Darwinism" and how could he compare the work to such a serious topic... "next question".

Tony Chapman of Capital C wants to know what log you’re bringing to the social media campfire. In other words, if you’re going to be a part of the social media world, do you have a reason to contribute and belong? Complicated questions, but we hold the answers. Paying "attention is the oxygen of marketing". But before you get anyone's attention, you need to move from shouting loud to listening generously. He noted "be as transparent and honest as possible, because if you’re not, you will be found out".

I had the pleasure of adding some "new thinking" that will be taken back to my lectures courtesy of Tara Hunt, author of The Whuffie Factor who presented that instead of having a personal brand, you develop a "personality". Dare to be imperfect, admit your mistakes, expose your passions, challenge yourself to try something new when you start to feel pidgeon-holed or stagnant, and most importantly, read, listen and open your mind to people who think different than you. She added, "Instead of having a message, have a purpose, and know the difference between the two". Believe me when I say Tara is a brilliant and fresh new thinker... and her boots, total fashionista. Her full presentation is available here.

A great day. Gotta add a personal note, one of my alumni the very talented Lava Nosenkis of Cundari Toronto and her own blog AdGirlandTechNerd introduced me to another amazing lady Trina Boos who created an amazing advertising web community called AdLounge. Had dinner with these two amazing ladies, and clearly the future is very bright.

FEARLESS QA

Just a quick note on the weekly webcast on FearlessQA hosted by Alex Bogusky. Each week my career class tutorial session starts with the viewing of FearlessQA and we have been submitting a stream of questions, many of which get answered. One of the highlights was a few weeks back when the show featured Colin Drummond, VP, Director of Culture and Business Insights on the topic of "Being a Student of Culture". This turned out to be a great learning experience and exposure to "strategic thinking". Being a "student of advertising" is the cornerstone of my teaching philosophy, being a "student of culture" is way beyond just "trendspotting"... the webcast was eye opening and overall a great learning experience. I want to say thanks all my students for your awesome questions, many that were answered on air and others answered via email later by Colin. I strongly encourage you to watch the broadcast (linked here).

That's it for now. Back to marking of personal branding/marketing plans, final assignments and portfolios.

Chuck Porter, CP+B, StrawberryFrog, TAXI oh my! Voting for AdweekMedia Best of The Decade.

It seems like Y2K was only yesterday. I recall the fear and anxiety of the world coming to a computer decelerated doom, yet we survived.

A short nine years later we are looking at the end of the first decade. And man what a decade.
A couple of presidential elections that changed America forever.  The worst terrorist attacks in American history. The War on Terror Part 1 - Afghanistan Invasion, Part Two War on Terror - Iraqi Invasion and the tragic 2004 Tsunami that killed 500,000 people,  the concept of global warming is no longer a debate and has now changed to the "global climate change" argument,  oil prices are at record highs and that's just a few things off the front pages of news. How about the way we live and communicate. WOW! From a cellphone the size of half pound of butter to ones we can carry in our pockets to the BlackBerry's and the iPhones that just about do it all, a music player that can carry my entire CD collection (no kidding I have 14,334 songs on my iPod) and it all changes everyday.

In December, the editors at AdWeekMedia will select the best marketing, media and agency performances of the decade, covering 2000 through 2009, in 33 categories. These choices surround the people, companies, brands, products and creative work that most influenced the industry and came to define the era. It could not have been easy for the editors to make these lists, as I am sure it won't be easy to place a single vote in any one category.

For me and certainly many of current and past students there a two people and one company that stands above all. It's hard to single them out but they have been generous with their time, advise and commitment. They are Chuck Porter and Alex Bogusky. Whether in New York during AdWeek or here in Toronto, both have given more then their vast knowledge and experience but more importantly their time. As an agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky has also provided the students of our Creative Advertising program at Seneca College with curriculum advise, portfolio reviews and recently a live feedback with the rest of the world via Fearless Q&A. Okay, I can now see my mailbox fill with many of the others who so graciously give of their time and energy, but it's a vote... go ahead and see for yourself, it ain't gonna be easy.

In Toronto last year during AdWeek '09, Chuck Porter spread his gospel of "power of a story" and how it can become and is sometimes be larger than life. With examples like Burger King’s Subservient Chicken, which has become a cult following first in the US and then around in places like Spain and Japan long after the site had its heyday.

Chuck shared the message that it’s not always about a new making or finding a medium. For Molson, a beer brand from Canada, he told the story of how CP+B took the age-old media of print magazines and placed ads in Cosmopolitan, Maxim with cheesy 80’s style male models with puppy dogs, and Molson Beer, then placed ads in male-targeted magazines about the psychographic effect of 100,000’s of women having a positive association of the male species due to these ads. The creative implementation of both real and faux ads and even made-up magazine covers placed on the back-cover of real magazines was all done brilliantly with a huge comedic and viral impact. It told the simple story of beer, men and their relationships. Men are from Mars and women are indeed from Venus. The campaign placed Molson as leader in the import beer market. Porter also shared the story of the difficulty of selling a risky idea to Burger King and their franchise owners who wanted to kill Porter if he implemented an idea about killing their best selling product – The Whopper.  The campaign called the “BK Whopper Freakout.” That recommendation not only won new customers for BK but added to the power of the concept of story telling, the result turned out to be wildly successful.

What needs to be said about Alex Bogusky that hasn't already been said. Plain and simply, he is one of the smartest and funniest people this business has seen in the past decade. Humble, is not a trait found often in this business either.

Last year when Alex achieved an accomplishment that any Art Director would only dream of, he took his place in the Art Directors Hall of Fame in New York. I emailed him congratulations and to share any thoughts he might have with my students. His reply was simple: 

Thanks. It’s a great honor. Shocking actually. 

A friend of mine reminded me of a conversation we had when Lee Clow went into the Hall of Fame. He asked me if I remembered what I said and i didn’t even remember the conversation. But he said I remarked that getting in the Hall of Fame was the ultimate achievement yet totally unattainable. I guess I was wrong. Again.  

But I will quietly admit that this sort of thing doesn’t really sit well with my sense of community and my connection with everybody I’ve ever worked with. I’m obviously not alone in a single thing I ever did. We did it all together and to be singled out isn’t right. 

I worry too that it continues to perpetuate this idea of singular achievement. Which to me it a potentially destructive way to look at the world. I’ll accept it for CPB but not for myself and I’ll accept it for all the people who supported all the hair brain schemes and plans we’ve had over the years.  

Positively,  
Alex

Alex remains the same today as the first time I made his acquaintance in New York back in 2007, smart, honest, humble and giving. He has remains someone I can turn to with questions and concerns about the future of my students and the ideas I have for my advertising program. He is genuine grateful for the passion young AdLanders have, sending me a simple email to say thanks for all their questions and portfolios submitted by my students for a recent episode of his webcast Fearless Q&A.

Another category that seems to have caught my eye was the Best Small Agency. What caught my eye was the fact that Strawberry Frog was missing. How? How do you leave off StrawberryFrog and for that matter Scott Goodson a visionary that has redefined the agency model first in Amsterdam and now in New York, San Paulo and soon Mumbai. His concept of "Cultural Movements" has spread around the world. A complex idea for brands to identify, crystallize, and lead a cultural movement that will inspire people to belong and mobilize. Scott has hosted my students in his New York offices where he shared his vision and changed forever their approach to how they will approach client problems while making a difference for the brand and the community. One of my favorite campaigns Scott shared with my students was for Scion. Brilliance and redefining of how a brand can create a "cultural movement".

It is also difficult not to want to cast a vote for Canada's Taxi Advertising. Without question the agency that has shaped the creative revolution in Canada and has proven it can run wiht the big dogs in the USA and now expanding into Europe. Between Paul Lavoie, Jane Pope, Steve Mykolyn, Rob Guenette and former partner Zak Mroueh (now Zulu Alpha Kilo) paved the way for winning more awards then any Canadian agency on the worls stage. Hard choice for me personally.

Like any good campaign seeking out a vote from the public, here is my best effort to urge you go and VOTE!

AdWeek has narrowed down each category to a handful of top candidates. Write-ins are permitted. Use the links below to jump to specific categories, or start here to vote on them all.

For your consideration:

• Agency of the Decade: Crispin Porter + Bogusky
• Agency Executive of the Decade: Chuck Porter
• Agency Creative Director of the Decade: Alex Bogusky
• Small Agency of the Decade: This is your place for a write-in vote for StrawberryFrog or Canada's Taxi