sxswxogilvy

Tenets, Teachings & Takeaways

Y CHRIS CARVER / COO OF INVISIBLE CHILDREN (CREATED KONY 2012)

prove the universal in the specific.

Context
MODERN WEAPONRY: USING DIGITAL MEDIA TO END A WAR At the end of this discussion, one person asked: Out of all the people in the world who are causing crimes against humanity, why did the Invisible Children choose to target Joseph Kony? Besides the fact that Kony is the #1 most wanted fugitive by the International Criminal Court, he is the specific target that Invisible Children wanted to use to embody their mission.

Takeaway
Dont try to say everything at once. Say one compelling thing. And say it awesomely. It will be the consumers gateway drug to a land of brand goodness. Making sure your briefs have one single clear objective is a great start.

Y KAYLEY NAMMARI / FIRST LIEUTENANT, U.S. ARMY RESERVE

let your social community police itself.

Context
DEPLOYING SOCIAL MEDIA TO SHARE THE ARMY STORY What happens when there is a ton of negative publicity and/or comments in your social community? How do you deal with it? asked an audience member.

Takeaway
If you already have a passionate social following for your brand, your brand is probably doing something right. So let the people talk, because transparency ups your cred in the social space.

Y DAVID ROBERTSON / THE WARTON SCHOOL

use your most passionate fans for open source development or consultation.
Context
REBUILDING LEGO David presented a study on how LEGO, a brand destined for financial doom, turned itself around. One thing that brought them back from the brink: the company turned to their most vocal and geeky LEGO Bionicle fans for opensource product consultation and developement.

Takeaway
No, we dont want our loyal fans to necessarily do the creative work hit-or-miss Doritos fan-created Super Bowl spots notwithstandingbut we should, at the very least, consider their input. The key here bears repeating: consider. Sometimes, our community has their collective ears to to the ground, and could offer some insights as to how the consumers would respond to things. In the case of LEGO, or even Google, it might be helpful to put these fans to work.

Y VIOLENT J / INSANE CLOWN POSSE

you better get their attention, and if you do, you better stand up and fucking dance.
Context
JUGGALOS: RABID BRANDING, A CASE STUDY A quote by Violent J in an interview discussing their influence on the Juggalo movementa tight-knit community that lives by the music and actions of the Insane Clown Posse.

Takeaway
When your media drives the consumer to do something (via QR code, URL or a simple call-to-action), there better be a nice seasoned t-bone steak reward waiting for them to consume. If you give them a ham sandwich after that long walk, they wont be back.

Y CHRIS CARVER / COO OF INVISIBLE CHILDREN (CREATED KONY 2012)

be compelling.

Context
MODERN WEAPONRY: USING DIGITAL MEDIA TO END A WAR Chris speaks about the 30-minute KONY 2012 video and how the powerful message helped contribute to its viral success.

Takeaway
Once again, content is king, especially in a space where consumers could easily close up shop, block, your message, or simply ignore it. Remember, we are in advertising where most people are predisposed to discounting or even hating the mediumso unless we have something more compelling to say than the latest episode of 20/20, or something funnier than the most recent episode of Community, we lose.

Y BENJAMIN GRIMES / MAJOR, US ARMY

if you are going to filter your social media, just stick to traditional advertising.
Context
DEPLOYING SOCIAL MEDIA TO SHARE THE ARMY STORY Benjamin discussed how a government agency like the U.S. Army made the decision to engage with their soldiers, families and the public. With regard to social media, we saw the writing on the wall, and decided to just embrace it for what it is. Whether you like it or not, the conversations would still existwith or without you, claimed the Major.

Takeaway
Negative comments are the cost of entry to having a social community. In other words, just play the game. If you cant handle it, dont even bother. When a community realizes that Big Brother is filtering their comments, theyll never have an insightful two-way conversation with you.

Y CHRIS CARVER / COO OF INVISIBLE CHILDREN (CREATED KONY 2012)

the quality of your work needs to compete with the best content out there.
Context
MODERN WEAPONRY: USING DIGITAL MEDIA TO END A WAR Chris defends spending thousands of Invisible Childrens donations to produce a slick, multimedia campaignKony 2012.

Takeaway
Work that is featured in social mediaonline tutorials, agency cuts, or even viral videoswill need to be just as entertaining, relevant or compelling as the content that surrounds it. That means that the content we create MUST compete with not only the original content that the consumer had sought out in the first place, but also everything else, from iPods and iPads to cat videos to other distractions.

Y ROBBIE WHITING / DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE TECH & PRODUCTION, DUNCAN/CHANNON

make things people want vs. make people want things

Context
WE MADE THIS, AND ITS NOT AN AD Robbie discusses how advertising has changed over the years as consumers, now more savvy and perspective-laden, have more choices than ever in which to engage with.

Takeaway
If you are making an app (or online tool), make sure there is innovative and practical value to it. All the bells, whistles, and technological whiz-bangery in the world are nothing if youre not making something that people actually have a reason to pick up and use.

Y JENNY BENEVENTO / USER EXPERIENCE ARCHITECT/TAXONIMIST, SEARS HOLDING CORP

find an enemy.

Context
JUGGALOS: RABID BRANDING, A CASE STUDY Jenny speaking to the fact that the outside hatred of Insane Clown Posse and its followers only serves to make the Juggalo community and brand even more famous.

Takeaway
Draw a clear, prominent line in the sand. Often, declaring who you arent is just as important as declaring who you are.

Y DAVID ROBERTSON / THE WARTON SCHOOL

innovation without guidance will work against you in the long run.
Context
REBUILDING LEGO LEGO followed so many innovative vitues at the same time, they actually overinnovated (yes, its possible), almost leading the company to bankruptcy. By creating a countless number of new products, they neglected to rethink and optimize their actual brand and product strengths.

Takeaway
In a multimedia world, thinking about how great you can make your TV spot, or how killer an app you can develop, without considering the campaign holistically, is just plain irresponsible. So, set a very clear objective for the work. Then, bring in a UX person early on to help weave everything together, all wrapped up tightly in a warm and cozy campaign scarf.

Y ROBBIE WHITING / DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE TECH & PRODUCTION, DUNCAN/CHANNON

make something that is not for everyone.

Context
WE MADE THIS, AND ITS NOT AN AD Robbie talked about how to make yourself be heard amongst a violent, angry sea of messaging and products.

Takeaway
Have a strong point of view. Actually, let your advertising step on a few toes. Its ok, really. Make an ad that might offend a grandmother, a babysitter, a stay-at-home Dad. Really, its fine. It could make you famous via discourse over the Internet. Better yet, it will force your consumers to pick a side. Remember, everyone likes vanilla, but no one wants to spend a memorable evening in bed loving it.

Y RACHEL FARRIS / BLOGGER, MEAN RACHEL

match wits and voices with social. always.

Context
SOCIAL FLUBS: CAN BAD PUBLICITY BE GOOD? In this panel, a group of PR professionals rated and debated the worst social flubs of the yearand how these corporate communications snafus could have been solved, or at the very least, mitigated better.

Takeaway
Its important to keep communications open with other members of the team who dont do what you do. Creatives should link with Social Media and PR folks now more than ever. Otherwise, keeping consistency of voice in every single piece of client communication will be an impossible task.

Y ROBBIE WHITING / DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE TECH & PRODUCTION, DUNCAN/CHANNON

in order to make, you need to find or hire makers.

Context
WE MADE THIS, AND ITS NOT AN AD Robbie discussed how the staffing process affects the products that are made at an agency. If you want to do truly innovative things in the agency space, hiring people who are good at making ads is simply no longer enough.

Takeaway
Your brain is a muscle. So send it to the gym, or on a long run outside the walls of the agency, or better yet, someplace else entirely. When your brain comes back to the ad world inner sanctum, it will have bigger muscles to flex during the creative process. If youre lucky, it might even bully other muscles around and call them pipsqueak.

Y CHRIS CARVER / COO OF INVISIBLE CHILDREN (CREATED KONY 2012)

have strong grass roots first, then add social media.

Context
MODERN WEAPONRY: USING DIGITAL MEDIA TO END A WAR The question What was your strategy to making KONY 2012 insanely viral? was asked following the presentation. Chris noted that theyve been building their base of strong, vocal and active supportersmostly high school and college students nationwidefor eight years now.

Takeaway
Brands need to build a passionate fan base by creating a dialogue of interesting, useful and relevant content. Both brand and consumers/ fans need to subscribe to the same magazine. Its only then, when a community exists, that you can use social media to amplify your message to resoundingly loud levels. Without that base, were only talking to ourselves.

Y JENNY BENEVENTO / USER EXPERIENCE ARCHITECT/TAXONIMIST, SEARS HOLDING CORP

believe in something and emphasize the weirdness.

Context
JUGGALOS: RABID BRANDING, A CASE STUDY Jenny discussing the Insane Clown Posse mythology, a code which all Juggalos associate with and abide by.

Takeaway
You could call it a brand guidline. But more importantly, its a point of view that each brand or piece of communation should have: plant your flag in the ground and protect it with the way you communicate. Once you have a solid base of followers, nurture them with information or entertainment and let them spread the word for you.

Y CHRIS CARVER / COO OF INVISIBLE CHILDREN (CREATED KONY 2012)

in order to draw people in, you must have a simple, impactful message.
Context
MODERN WEAPONRY: USING DIGITAL MEDIA TO END A WAR Invisible Children was criticized for over-simplifying the atrocities and complex situation between the people of Uganda (and neighboring areas) and the LRA.

Takeaway
People dont read body copy. TRUE, if your headline or your visual isnt interesting.

Y NICK DENTON / PUBLISHER OF GAWKER MEDIA

dont let the internet make you afraid.

Context
THE NICK DENTON INTERVIEW: THE FAILURE OF COMMENTS Denton discussing the failure of the overall commenting structure both on Gawker Media sites as well as the rest of the Internetand enumerates how the vast wasteland of commenting and Internet-borne opinions have made people afraid to put anything out there, due to fear of extreme retribution. For example, the Gap logo redesign fiasco from 2010.

Takeaway
From clients to agencies to individuals, you cant ever be too intimidated to put yourself out thereafter all, a good conversation involves disagreement. That said, if youre arguing about something on the Internet, make sure to do it intelligently.

Y JEFFREY TAMBOR / ACTOR

resistance is hard. attaboy is easy. give more attaboys.

Context
JEFFREY TAMBORS ACTING WORKSHOP After bringing two local up-and-coming actors on stage, Jeffrey proceeded to direct them through a live acting workshop. After each take, he gave positive feedback before offering further direction or criticism. Watching the actors develop a rapport with him while giving outstanding performances as they grew more comfortable under his tutelage was a pretty astounding display of acting skill to witness.

Takeaway
While Jeffrey was talking about the actor/director dynamic in this case specifically within the context of how people can be difficult to work with due to the delicate ego dance of show businessthe connection to the ad industry here is an easy one to see. In short, giving someone positive feedback is a very simple, effortless act. So when youre critiquing, start with the good stuff and go from there. It will set the mood for a receptive audience.

Y MEL EXON / PUBLISHER OF GAWKER MEDIA

remember that extreme change is an oxymoron. its all middle of the road.
Context
SKY NET VS. MAD MAX: BATTLE FOR THE FUTURE This lively discussion examined two extremes of our future, one in which the world becomes almost uncomfortably personal around the user, the other in which the entire world becomes open source-based. The reality, as always, is that the future will lie somewhere in between. Because global change is glacial.

Takeaway
No matter what the future holds, theres a role for brands in it. The key is to adapting as the future changes, not necessarily overhaul everything all at once to try and catch up later. Its better to be malleable than reactionary.

Y SHANNON OKEY / PUBLISHER, COOPERATIVE PRESS

once its out there, let it be out there.

Context
KNITTING A LONG TAIL IN NICHE PUBLISHING This discussion about niche publishing revolved around finding a dedicated audience for book ideas. In the world of book publishing, once youve done your due promotion diligence, its better set it the P.R. aside and get back to what you do best: creating.

Takeaway
Again, this parallel with our industry is obvious. Once your work is live and out there, move on to the next thing. As a creative, its best to not dwell on the critical acclaim or reception your work receives, because the fact is, you cant control it. What you can control is the next big idea, so once youre done working, dont dwell on the reactionsinstead, get back to work.

Y JON WILEY / LEAD DESIGNER FOR GOOGLE SEARCH

we were taking the design temperature.

Context
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE COMPLETE REDESIGN OF GOOGLE Jon discussing Googles slow rollout of a complete redesign of all propertiesand how they decided to use user testing as a way to gauge the designs success.

Takeaway
User testing can be very helpful when determining the potential success or failure of a redesign.

Y JEFFREY TAMBOR / ACTOR

he stole my confidence. why would he want to do that.

Context
JEFFREY TAMBORS ACTING WORKSHOP Jeffrey explained how a previous director he worked with began the first day of shooting by angrily berating the actors, which in turn caused the actors to tense up and not give their best performances.

Takeaway
Creative endeavors require the creator to put themselves out there, to some extent, thereby leaving them vulnerable to attack. Confidence is a creators ammunition, and to take that away oftentimes leaves the creator impotent and unsure. Not the ideal mindset for a creator youre counting on to be innovative.

Y SORAYA DARABI / CO-FOUNDER, FOODSPOTTING

why doesnt all tv end with a question.

Context
3 SCREEN MINIMUM: CONVERGENCE OF TV & SOCIAL MEDIA Citing the rise in tablet usage while viewing television content, Soraya feels that because viewers are poised to interact with a brand (or show, or channel, for that matter), the content should prompt that behavior in the viewer.the old design.

Takeaway
Tablet usage is blowing up, and its largest audience by far is users watching television. People are ready, and actually willing, to interact with brands. Why not give them more of a reason to?

Y ERIC BRUNO / SVP CONSUMER PRODUCT MANAGEMENT & DEV., VERIZON

social media is a way to humanize brands.

Context
3 SCREEN MINIMUM: CONVERGENCE OF TV & SOCIAL MEDIA Social media finally gives brands a way to speak directly to their target audience in meaningful, actual 2-way conversation.

Takeaway
While large brands can sometimes seem like cold, unfeeling, witch-like entities, social media is a way for these brands to have a human voice, one in which they can respond to the publics comments and questions in real time.

Y EIJI ARAKI / VP PROD GREE INTERNATIONAL

games have always been social.

Context
MOBILE GAMES: THE SECRET SAUCE IS SOCIAL In defining what makes a successful game, Eiji feels the secret sauce is socialits the sharing and community that make or break a games success.

Takeaway
This insight is supported by data in spades. Many of the top casual games, from Farmville to Mafia Wars to Angry Birds, have social components. This has been true all along, too, beginning with the first social games, which were typically sports-focused.

Y BRIAN DAVID JOHNSON / DIR OF FUTURE CASTING, INTEL CORPORTION

the more flexible something is, the more future proof it is.
Context
WHERE DO SCIENCE FICTION AND SCIENCE FACT MEET? At Intel, microchips are developed 10-15 years ahead of when they will be used. Since the future cannot be predicted (especially its technology or users adoption of it), the more flexible the chips design, the better chance it has to be adopted and adapted by programmers and developers in the near future.

Takeaway
If a design, app, website or anything else digital is too reliant on technical bells & whistles that are popular at a given time, its far less likely to remain relevant in the ever-changing digital landscape. Even in as short a time period as 6 months.

Y MICHAEL LEGGETT / DESIGN LEAD, GOOGLE APPS

a new visual design sometimes takes time for user acceptance.

Context
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE COMPLETE REDESIGN OF GOOGLE Michael explained how initial reaction to Gmails subtle new redesign sparked angry emails and a downward spike in user feedback. After deciding to wait 2 weeks before abandoning it, they saw that user feedback jumped back up - to levels that were actually higher than with the old design.

Takeaway
This phenomenon is called change aversion, and is something visual and user experience designers have to keep in mind as they design. With new visual design and UX changes sometimes comes negative reactions, but this learning curve shouldnt be dealt with in a knee-jerk fashion.

Y CHRIS MESSINA / OPEN WEB ADVOCATE AT GOOGLE

if an app or website improves my life, is it worth the loss of my privacy.

Context
SOLOMO REDEFINED: NEXT GENERATION SOCIAL LOCAL MOBILE Since the future of mobile is local or location-based, a loss of privacy is inevitable. But is this a good thing or a bad thing? And what levels of security are necessary to safeguard the user before it becomes detrimental to the experience?

Takeaway
SoMoLo Social mobile local is the hottest thing in mobile technology, and its adoption points to the fact that most people are willing to give up some of their privacy for something that improves their life.

*Note: in many cases, these quotes are not verbatim. We tried to capture the spirit of the ideas in as few words as possible so they could be easily digested in simple, out-of-context chunks.