Avinash Kaushik

One month and counting for this years MIMA Summit – hope you are as excited as we are!  This week we are featuring thoughts from our morning keynote Avinash Kaushik is the co-Founder of Market Motive Inc and the Digital Marketing Evangelist for Google.  For those that have not had the pleasure of attending one of his presentations, get ready on October 12^th to become an analytics evangelist and much more.

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This year’s summit is focused on the embracing the digital decade, what would you say was the greatest achievement in the last ten years of marketing?

Our ability to have deeper, more meaningful, relationships with our current and potential customers.

In the past most companies were a few steps removed from the consumer. Partly due to a lack of connectivity platforms. Partly because of intermediaries. Partly because of, frankly, a lack of interest.

The web changes all that. I can be P&G and I can have an existence were I can have a direct relationship with consumers. Speak to them. Listen to them. Engage them in marketing / experimentation / everything. I can learn and react and grow so much faster, and be more relevant.

This brings about very disruptive change to our marketing, people, processes, everything. But all of it, I think, for good. And I’m excited about the possibilities.

Oh and I love that the digital decade’s brought with is tons of cool gadgets. I love ‘em all!

You’ve been blogging for over five years, do you have any inspirational words for the next generation of bloggers?

Do it. Put yourself out there. Forget your resume, do the work and show that you know what you are taking about.

I recently wrote a blog post on the impact of five years of blogging on me. You’ll find it here: An Incredible Analytics Experience: 5 Years of Occam’s Razor (link: http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/incredible-analytics-experience-5-years-occams-razor/ ). It outlines my learnings and surprises.

The biggest surprise was the ability to manage one’s brand. Checkout the two tag clouds in that post.

A bit of practical advice I would share with any new blogger (or Social Media participant in a professional capacity) would be this: Quality wins over quantity. Every time. Never hit Submit (or Post or Tweet or +1) unless what you are about to share meets this simple rule: It is something incredible, relevant, of value?

You are the co-founder of Market Motive, how do you think traditional education will change in the next ten years?

The core reason for starting Market Motive was that at the moment the traditional education path does not prepare a student to be successful in the digital ecosystem. Be it in fields like Web Analytics and Search Engine Marketing or evolved fields such as Online PR and Social Media. We bring together the best of the best in the world and create a curriculum that can help jump start anyone’s digital career.

That is the problem our traditional education paths will have to solve. How to teach when books become stale as soon as they are published (not classical mathematical technique books – wonderful, still relevant, must learn stuff, rather for our digital eco system)? How to teach kids emerging programming techniques being requested in bleeding edge jobs – well before they become mainstream and “cool”? How to complement tenured faculty with Subject Matter Experts who have zero “teacher training” or credentials?  How to ensure that a student’s education delivers a balanced mix of traditional and bleeding edge skills?

Hard problems to solve. Universities and colleges are going to have to evolve, perhaps faster and more radically than they might be comfortable with.

In your consulting practice, what are the biggest analytic mistakes you see over and over?

Two.

First, believe that data collection will magically make companies data driven. Almost all of the resources in the filed of digital analytics currently are focused on javascript / website tagging magic, collecting ever more copious amounts of (usually irrelevant short lived) data, and subsequently puking it out. Very rarely do companies invest analysis of the data they already have and in people who are smart enough to know the difference between reporting analysis. [link: http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/difference-web-reporting-web-analysis/]

Second, more painful mistake, a lack of any connection between data analysis and business strategy. I am a rabid advocate of using processes like the Web Analytics Measurement Model and having a crystal clear understanding of what one is solving for, before touching the data. If you know where you are going, it is much easier to get there and everybody is happy!

This week, I was at dinner with some top notch experienced digital marketers and the topic of attribution reporting came up; many want this nirvana of reporting but feel it is unattainable without a great resource investment.  With your ability to simplify complex analytics can you offer a line of hope?

We have an ever growing number of media channels to reach our consumers and bring success to our business. So the desire to understand which activity is productive, and which parts stink, is super important.

There are a number of ways to skin this cat.

One path people take is to try and look at the end of a transaction, figure out all the prior media touch points, and then use some logical reasoning to attach some value to each media touch point (a banner ad, a search query, a direct visit etc). The challenge with this path is that there is no right answer, and it is very hard to figure out when one is wrong (!).

An alternative path is to use the glorious path of controlled experiments. Media Mix Modeling, for example, does not require the almost futile quest to “attribute credit.” Rather it says regardless of the last touch point prior to a transaction, what’s the optimal mix of media that delivers the highest possible number of transactions at the lowest possible cost. I believe solutions like this are the best way to solve our problem.

It is a harder way to solve the problem (hence few will attempt it – all the more reason you should do it!), but it delivers delightfully yummy results.

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Learn more about Avinash Kaushik and analytics by visiting his blog Occam’s Razor.  Avinash will be kicking off  the MIMA summit with his morning keynote, if you want to see him register for this year’s event.

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A special thanks to Jill Gutterman, a MIMA board member, for hosting this interview. Jill, is a Director of Interactive Marketing at Rasmussen College and a MIMA Board Director. Jill Gutterman’s philosophy in life is simple: Have passion for what you do and keep learning. It’s this philosophy that has been a driving force behind Jill’s forward-thinking 12 year professional career in digital marketing. Jill graduated magna cum laude from Wright State University, in Dayton, OH with a degree in psychology.

With all that in mind, what might occur after the tenth annual MIMA Summit has passed us by? Here are some random prognostications for the next decade, 2011-2021:

Video Ubiquity

Data storage and transfer costs have been near or at zero for some time now. Camera, screen and encoding technologies get less and less expensive and video capture and editing software gets easier and easier to use. My first prediction is ever-present video, for every computing device and display surface. We will come to prefer our content in motion, often created and always controlled by ourselves. We will walk away from static, inflexible materials and towards moving surfaces and ambient sound. This shift will change the biology of how we interact with each other and with our knowledge. It will often overload us, and stillness will stand out.

Every Surface A Display

Due to innovation in microelectronics, bonding and paint, and fabrication technologies, every wall, tabletop, ceiling, floor, containment material and vehicle exterior will have the capabilities to display digital information. It will be horrible and wonderful all at once. You won’t pick a color for a wall because it can be any color, anytime. Or it can be a video. So, on the one hand, we might not need to carry anything with a screen because everything could be our screen. It also seems possible this technology could capture input as well as display data, meaning you might not need to carry a keyboard or trackpad either.

The New Facebook, By And For The People

I think one of two scenarios might happen with our current most popular network: The first is some form of government presence in the network that is demanded by the people. This might be a reaction to a perceived rise in corporate power, a policy gaffe on Facebook’s part, or a desire to insure rights and protections. Consider this scenario similar to government regulation of broadcast frequencies or air travel. As networks grow more prominent in public life, we will ask where and how they ought to be accessible to all, all the time.

The New Facebook, Isn’t Facebook

Or, if we take the last ten years as any kind of indicator, our society will soon—despite massive, rising adoption—walk away from accounts on facebook.com. We just will, because of what it has become, has not become and because of what isn’t, which is new. This natural evolution is one of any network’s biggest threats. It will spur constant acquisition of perceived threats to leadership. It will someday inspire an actual marketing campaign for Facebook. And yet, another idea might simply take root and do to Facebook as it has done to networks before it.

The New Education

Perhaps the biggest change I see occurring in the next ten years is the beginning of the end of education, as we know it. Too many empowering technologies, the ever-increasing globalization of DIY groups, and the growing sense education should and must change will drive profound effects. Grading will be based on interests, not age. Point systems common to gaming will replace grades. Education will be supplied more and more by a global network of those who are willing to teach versus a mandate of state and local government. Education will not occur in centralized buildings and, perhaps most important, education will not be confined to specific age segments. Graduation day is forever.

I hope you’ll join us this October 11-12 at the tenth annual MIMA Summit when Wired’s Chris Anderson and Google’s Avinash Kaushik keynote along with over 50 session speakers. I’m sure you’ll hear even more (and better) prognostications that inspire useful conversations in the days that follow.

— Tim Brunelle

Ten years ago, way back before government officials were tweeting their private parts or anyone could plus one their Google, an intrepid group of Minnesotans inaugurated the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association’s annual Summit. This was a very complex, new conference from a three-year old association with less than 500 members. This was a dare, a risk, a mammoth outpouring of volunteering love. And it took place right before the first dot-com explosion.

In other words—a brilliant beginning. Because ten years later, the MIMA Summit is the largest annual marketing and technology conference in the Midwest, hosted by the oldest interactive marketing association in the country. A testament, if you will, to the pioneering intent of MIMA’s founders, early sponsors and supporters, and most important—the amazing marketing and interactive talent living and working in Minnesota.

We Made Something Incredible

We – the community of developers, technicians, producers, writers, designers, UXers, content strategists, project managers, film directors, account managers, brand leaders, media planners, investors, lawyers and even the Master Social Media Guru Pundit experts – have created and nurtured an awesome marketplace. The talent in Minnesota that defines, funds, creates and sustains game-changing business ideas is second to none. And throughout this past decade, the MIMA Summit has come around each year to remind us of the strength and vitality of our community.

I’m lucky to be involved in this association at this point in time. I am inspired by our association’s abilities over the past decade to continuously build an annual event now serving over 1,200 people. An event with national appeal, that celebrates the story of Minnesota’s powerful and growing interactive marketing industry.

A Continuing Mission

The tenth annual MIMA Summit, on Tuesday October 11 and Wednesday October 12, promises to continue MIMA’s overarching mission—to elevate talent—by providing an incredible roster of useful insights, focused passion and spirited dialogue. You’ll walk in with an incredible array of over 50 speakers, panels and session to learn from, including keynotes by Wired’s Chris Anderson and Google’s Avinash Kaushik.

You’ll walk out inspired—and not just by the talent elevating your talent. Ticket prices for the 2011 MIMA Summit are still being sold at 2009 prices, easily the best value for any conference of this size and scope. I hope you will spread the word and plan to join us as we celebrate the digital decade: what happened, what’s next and why it matters.

— Tim Brunelle

Seriously though. The classics are memorable, in part, because they so clearly provoke strong emotional connections with the intended audience for the message.

Indeed. Traditionally its the copy writer’s ideas and words that tell us what we can expect. Consider: “Mm, Mm good.”

Or they remind us about what we aspire to be. Such as: “Breakfast of champions.”

Or they promise something new that will change our lives for the better. Who can forget: “Think small.”

Just for context, in case these little gems are not part of your personal experience, they are examples are slogans from 60s-era campaigns for Campbell’s Soup, Wheaties and Volkswagen, respectively. Anyway. The list goes on and on.

As you might have noticed, the media landscape has evolved and grown over the last decade (or two) to include new communication channels that offer more and more and more ways to get the word out about the product or service you want to promote.

At the same time, you may also have noticed that these new channels, while opening new opportunities to marketers, are also changing the way people respond to marketing messages and relate to brands.

Essentially, new technologies like social media, mobile internet, radio frequency identification, geo-location and other “Dick Tracy-like” capabilities are rapidly reshaping the way consumers behave.

The upshot of all this? The role of the writer, ever essential to the creative process and the creative product, is changing. Evolving. Growing. Even maturing?

Teressa Iezzi, editor of Advertising Age’s Creativity magazine wants to help us understand where our industry is headed – and how copy writers will continue to help drive results as the paradigm shifts force marketers to update the way they do their jobs.

This must be a subject on the minds of many creative and marketing leaders these days. Because more than 200 MIMA members and guests, convened for the February monthly presentation to listen to ideas from her recently published book, The Idea Writer: Copywriting in a New Media and Marketing Era.

(Kudos to the programming committee for bringing her in to speak with us. And a sincere thank you to Teresa for traveling here to share her experience and insights with us.)

The good news is: while technology innovations are driving the changes in how marketers and consumers interact, the fundamentals of human nature remain the same. So while copy writers may have an expanded set of tools to use to communicate ideas, their primary duty – to help create relationships with consumers is pretty much unchanged.

Basically, copy writers simply have more competencies they need to develop. Just like copy writers in the 90s had to learn to expand their range from ideating and writing print ads, direct mail, sales collateral, outdoor and broadcast to also include websites, banner ads and e-mails, copy writers today must continue to expand their repertoire to include social media, “apps” and more. Because developing effective ideas, depends on understanding the underlying technologies.

So the craft of copywriting is not dying. It is simply changing. From being mastery of writing to including mastery of conversation.  And being conversant with technology.

Our industry will always need idea people. Word people. People who can take complex ideas and boil them down into something easy-to-read and easy-to-understand. (Like helping people quickly get the gist of an hour-long presentation that touches on a lot of great ideas.)

If you can do that, you’re golden. Writers who can engage readers will always be in demand. There will always be a need for Mm, Mm good ideas and writing.

Download the podcast (available soon, please check the Resources section next time you visit this website) and listen to the complete conversation for a number of practical insights. And be sure to leave your comments here, to share the key take aways you think are important.

The panel format works well for challenging topics, such as integrated communications, for a number of reasons. You get to hear more than one point-of-view. You get to learn from some of experts we have right here in our local professional community. And you get to participate in the conversation yourself, as was evidenced by the many thoughtful questions and insights offered by the audience.

Moderator Andrew Eklund, CEO and Founding Partner at Ciceron, set up the conversation by showing three charts describing the media environment that underscore the degree of difficulty marketers have with integrated communications.

The first chart showed media channels available in 1975. It featured a dozen or so data points – television, radio, newspaper, outdoor, direct mail, etc. – and corresponding arrows pointing at how they touch the consumer of the media. Very neat, organized and easy to look at.

The second chart showed the media channels available in 2008. With the addition of digital media, the number of data points and delivery arrows mushroomed. Imagine a chaotic web created by a hyperactive spider on mescaline. (That’s a powerful and dangerous mind altering substance, kids; leave it alone.) There were many nods of agreement when this slide was displayed.

The third chart showed the media channels available in 2010. With the addition of social media, the number of data points and deliver arrows was so dense that it was, indeed, a solid black box, with every pixel filled with information. This got a few knowing, and nervous, chuckles.

Eklund then opened the discussion by stating that, with our evolving media environment, integrated communications is like a holy grail to marketers and asking if we have found it.

Paul Ratzky, Interactive Director and Vice President at Olson, observed that the concept of integrated communications keeps changing, because the integrator is shifting from the agency to the consumer, as people select their own channel pathways. Which means marketers need to follow their audience and deliver messages in the audience’s preferred channel, as opposed to trying to move them into the marketer’s channel of choice.

Glenn Karowski, Managing Director, The Business of Ideas, added that effective integrated communications is about conversation and relationships. And the key is to be a good listener.

When asked who is responsible for listening to consumers (marketing? branding? advertising?) Erik Erickson, Owner of Erickson McGee, LLC and former Vice President and Creative Director for Target commented that we are still in the early stages of figuring out how to listen. And that figuring out what to do with what we hear is the next big challenge.

Download the podcast (available soon, please check the Resources section next time you visit this website) and listen to the complete conversation for a number of practical insights. And be sure to leave your comments here, to share the key take aways you think are important.

Crowd sourcing is the act of making social media productive

This according to MIMA’s June’s speaker, John Winsor, a leading strategic marketing and product innovation thinker especially known for his work in collaboration, co-creation and crowd sourcing.

He is a serial entrepreneur who has started and sold successful businesses, a respected author of four business books and the CEO of Victors and Spoils, the world’s first creative/ad agency built entirely on crowd sourcing principles. And he had the 200+ MIMA members and guests present at the Calhoun Beach Club the morning of the 16^th alternately nodding enthusiastically with approval and recoiling in horror. What could create such a dramatic range of responses?

Crowd sourcing may democratize the creative class and displace the agency model

As Winsor observed, technology is driving change in the workforce. Transparency is flattening organizations as walls become more porous. A digital workforce has the latest tools and can work anywhere at any time. The rise of the curator class has created a new generation of social and creative directors and editors. And the economy has accelerated the death of the middle man.

Together, these disruptive forces could spell the end of the old agency model, which is based on bringing talent and resources together in one room to get the job done. For example, Winsor said one of the top performing graphic designers in his agency’s emerging crowd sourcing network is a young, stay-at-home mother from Serbia, who is “beating” many of the experienced agency professionals who submit entries.

Crowd sourcing has the potential to liberate you or destroy you

Winsor shared a personal story from his background in publishing. In the mid-80s, he spent $30,000 annually on professional typesetting services. A $2,300 investment in a Macintosh Classic and a laser printer allowed him to reinvest the savings in other magazine properties and grow his businesses. He also pointed out that many successful agency designers got their start by taking advantage of tools developed during the “desktop publishing” revolution.

These technology changes created opportunities for some, while putting a whole industry of highly skilled craftsmen – typesetters, key liners, camera operators – out of work. Today, we are at a similar point, where only those who adapt to changes will remain working in their chosen field.

Crowd sourcing is gaining in popularity

Chief marketing officers are under pressure to perform. They want the best work AND the best value. Winsor gave one recent example. For his client’s previous brand campaign, their agency of record had four creatives, who came up with eight ideas and delivered two campaigns. Victors and Spoils brought 1,000 creatives onto the job. They came up with 105 ideas and delivered nine campaigns. All for 25% of what was billed by the agency of record.

Businesses aren’t the only winners, though. Entrepreneurial creatives (read: disciplined, talented freelancers) appreciate the freedom and independence the crowd sourcing model offers. And because no one can be an expert in all the new and evolving roles people play in the creative/marketing world, crowd sourcing gives creatives and marketers alike the freedom to diversify and specialize without pressure to be a jack of all trades and a master of none.

Crowd sourcing is …

How would you finish the sentence? Which concepts do you agree with? What don’t you like about it? What other “take aways” made an impression on you. Please leave your comments.

* Tip of the hat and a nod to one of my former employers, a leading innovator in staffing and project outsourcing called Creatis, Inc., whose former tag line/brand promise was “changing the way creatives work … and the way businesses utilize creative services.” We had some great clients and truly amazing people who were committed to the business model.

Crazy? Hardly! These Twin Cities-area marketing professionals were all eager to listen to local-girl-done-well-for-herself, Porter Gale – VP of Marketing at the brand innovator, Virgin America Airlines.  And as the photo gallery shows, a good time was had by all.

Some of you may remember when, once upon a time, she was at Martin Williams. Indeed, some of her old cronies were in attendance to help keep her on her toes. On this day, she flew in from San Francisco to talk about how her company uses interactive channels, including social media, to make limited marketing dollars go, well, farther.

If you’ve flown in the last 20 years or so, your airline experience may have focused on enduring the process of getting to your destination rather than enjoying the journey. One of the things Minneapolis advertising legend Ray Mithun used to say is: “If 13 is unlucky for someone, it must be lucky for someone else. We decided, at the start of our business, to be someone else.”

While Gale did not refer to this tenet of the agency that bears Mithun’s name, the point is: in an industry full of brand mediocrity, Virgin America decided to be lucky number 13. The heart of its marketing strategy, according to Gale, is to position the airline as different from anything else in the category. The company’s goals are to create an airline people love and to reinvent travel.

When Virgin America profiled its customers, the company realized its best customers are opinion leaders who enjoy using social media and other new technology. So it is using this information to help distance itself from the competition and chart a new course for airline travelers by using three innovative social media marketing approaches.

• Create buzz-worthy experiences
• Engage customers and listen to them
• Connect with customers on a genuine level rather than “marketing at them”

Gale’s slide set and the podcast from her presentation both provide details on how Virgin America executes on these approaches. Check the resources section next time you visit this website, as they should be available soon. Perhaps some ideas may translate well to your company and industry? Or spark creative marketing ideas of your own?

She left lots of time for questions and answers. And audience members responded by asking her to elaborate on many different topics. Following are selected insights on social media shared by Gale.

On customer relationships

“Social media should be authentic, real and honest. People should follow because they want to.”

On celebrity endorsements

“Most of the people fly Virgin already and just do it for ticket trades. We look for natural relationships matched to a purposeful reason for the endorsement.”

On co-branding partnership opportunities

“We don’t have an agency helping source our partnerships. We believe in ‘less is more’ and ‘going deep rather than broad.’ Chemistry and fit is important to us, as is having a fair and equitable relationship.”

On marketing team structure

“Sir Richard (Richard Branson, major shareholder and corporate “celebrity”) is a risk taker. If you believe in taking risks, you need to empower your people.”

On measuring ROI

“Our guests are using social media. Since they will talk, we joined the conversation. We look at how our social media strategy affects customer relationship management.”

On the pace of change

“If someone says they are social media experts, you should question them.”

Which memorable concepts did you take away? What quotable quotes made an impression on you? Why was listening to Porter Gale and schmoozing with your MIMA colleagues the best use of your time on one of the few remaining warm, yet bug-free evenings left to enjoy this spring? Please share your comments.

Kind of an abstract topic? Hardly! Issues facing interactive marketers every day, from compliance with Federal Trade Commission regulations to your company’s policies on Tweet attribution, ghostwritten blog posts and restrictions on social media activity, raise a number of important questions.

• What’s the difference between law and ethics?
• Why worry about what is ethical?
• How are social media ethics different?
• Are anonymous comments okay?
• Should we delete negative comments?
• Who owns content published on social media sites?
• How deep can marketers dig into personal data on social media sites?

Mike Keiler, client relationship manager at Fast Horse, provided commentary on ethics. And Michael Flemming, an attorney specializing in intellectual property, technology and internet issues at Larkin Hoffman Daly and Lindgren Limited offered a legal perspective.

In just under one hour of time, Keiler and Flemming offered a framework for thinking about ethics and law, in addition to a number of valuable insights to help sort out what’s a best practice, what could damage your reputation and what could send you to prison.

Summary

• Law provides, at a minimum, a floor for what you can do – but ethical codes might provide an answer “above” that floor.
• Professional organizations provide codes upon which your own ethical system can be built.
• Often, these codes won’t have specifications for the unique questions you face.
• Rely on the insight and support of others in your organization, industry and outside your industry.

MIMA resources

Hungry for more detail? Looking for more definitive answers to your ethical and legal questions. Check out the audio and video downloads from this presentation now available from the resources section of the MIMA website.

Other resources

• Word Of Mouth Marketing Association: www.womma.org/ethics
• Public Relations Society of America: www.prsa.org/aboutprsa/ethics
• American Advertising Federation: www.tinyurl.com/ethics-aaf
• American Marketing Association: www.tinyurl.com/ethics-ama
• Federal Trade Commission: www.tinyurl.com/ftc-disclosure-guides
• Santa Clara University Markula Center for Applied Ethics: www.tinyurl.com/ethicalframework
• Legal bloggers: www.lhdl.com/news/rss.cfm

It was standing room only; the crowd buzzing with conversation beforehand, listening intently during the program (and laughing together at the speakers’ humorous comments) then asking thoughtful questions before departing. And if this kind of participation continues to increase, the nation’s largest regional Internet Marketing Association may need to start reserving larger venues – a la convention centers or sports arenas.

7:30 am comes pretty early for most peoples’ schedules. At that hour, what could possibly bring together so many marketers, innovators, entrepreneurs, creatives, new media types and others who are curious about latest developments in the interactive space where technology and business intersect?

In addition to the quality of the content, it might be the opportunity to share ideas and inspiration – over coffee and a tasty breakfast – with leading thinkers in our industry. If you have attended events before, you know. If you have not, make a point of attending a future event to see for yourself.

This month’s program, the Constant Challenge to Acquire and Convert, served up some classic marketing strategy with a heavy emphasis on contemporary interactive tactics. The information was presented by John Barton, Vice President of Creative Services of Sight Marketing and Tom Masterman, Associate Director, Earth Collaboratory Initiative for the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota.

Far from being a boring theoretical lecture or a dry technical discussion, John and Tom made their presentation equal parts education and entertainment. Effortlessly switching back and forth between the roles of straight man and comedian, it was like watching the Smothers Brothers* talk about what’s going on in the interactive world instead of current global geo-political affairs.

Indeed. Interspersing smart marketing ideas with smart aleck commentary made a fairly content-heavy presentation stream by effortlessly. And they wisely provided key take aways and practical “how to” ideas you can take back to the office and begin using right away. All in all, an excellent way to start the day.

Take away number one: Measure everything – don’t accept unfocused targets or unmeasurable social media.

Associated action item: Go to wefollow.com or twazzup.com and listen.

Take away number two: Be organized – coordinate tactics, separate measurement (drive traffic for each tactic to a different URL, use different key code, etc.) and plan for data-driven relationships.

Associated action item: List campaign elements and expected outcomes, then make sure you can isolate what is driving results for each.

Take away number three: Get personal – know the story for each individual … so you can write the next chapter.

Associated action item: Take your customer service manager out to lunch, and your sales manager out for drinks, and ask a lot of questions that will help you gain insights into your customers’ relationship with your products, services and brand.

For more details, please review the take away slide they provided.

* Cultural reference for the younger crowd: The Smothers Brothers were a popular comedy duo in the late 60s known for liberal politics and championing social causes. Look them up on YouTube. You’ll laugh at more than the turtleneck sweaters. And you might think about what is happening in today’s news.

Our guest speaker for the evening was John Dames, Design Director at CoolFire Media who traveled up the Mississippi from St. Louis to share his experience as a designer who has “done it all.” From print design to motion graphics to commercials, and now, most recently, iPhone applications.

John’s philosophy is simple. “My goal is now and has always been to make stuff. Not talk about it, write about it or think on it. But find a way to get it done and execute.”

Sounds like a common sentiment from most of the designers I know. One of the first things he said by way of introduction to his presentation was that he wasn’t a public speaker. So the evening depended kind of heavily on samples from the CoolFire Media reel that he brought with him as examples.

With that in mind, here are some gold nuggets taken from an hour and a half of ramblings, tangents and free-association on the subject of designing across platforms. This was all good right-brain stuff, after all. You just had to really listen for it.

General observations
“When taking on a new design challenge, it’s okay not knowing everything about the tools you are using. What you don’t know means you innovate.”

“Less people, money, resources and time has forced the return of the holistic thinking role of a designer.”

“Talent can trump depth and infrastructure any day. With the right people you can accomplish great things with small teams.”

“Designing across platforms allows marketers to more effectively create the user experience they want their audience to have.”

“Designers are now taking a more defining role in developing the user experience.”

Strategies for success
1. Take a holistic approach to production. “Want to do everything. Be happy doing anything.”

2. Allow cross pollination of disciplines. “Don’t just execute ideas – feel empowered to have ideas and share them with others on the team.”

3. Encourage blurring of roles. “Who knows where design is going to take you. Listen to everyone.”

What is coming next culturally and business wise?
“More advertising and branding messages will be integrated into content.”

“The internet is becoming more codified, less of a content dumping ground.”

“Media is all independent of the medium it appears in.”

“Procedural culture is driving change – nothing stays the same.”

“Design will become even more relevant, to help facilitate effective communication.”

Conclusion
What gold nuggets did you leave with? Reply to this blog post with some of the highlights you found meaningful.