The state of shame

In the past years we’ve witnessed an amazing growth in word of mouth marketing through the social media, aided by the big bang of publishing technologies from Blogger to Twitter. Unknown writers became popular through their blogs and their fans became followers. Truth is, while racing on full speed some marketers have lost touch with ethics and with little or no experience, they’ve managed to push aside consumers and shove in the same pocket spamming and honest viral marketing. Bloggers, write for different brands hiding the real price of their thoughts and our social media identities get carried away in a game that, it seems to me, becomes pretty dangerous for this industry.  

The social media is losing it’s main attribute – transparency – and is giving birth to a whole new one – skepticism. We tend to judge people’s thoughts and writing twice, we stopped clicking what friends are sending via e-mails and the very fundament of the social media world is slowly vanishing. We create spam lists, black lists, we double check our followers and live in a world where everyone is first considered to be a spammer. “Never talk to strangers” became in the social media era “Never talk to spammers”. Surely, it’s not the end of social media but it’s an alarm we need to draw. It’s awkward for me as a creative to ask for rules and restrictions, to ask for more guidance but truth is this medium is slowly growing prostitution. Tough choice of words, I know, but here’s why.

Just like hustling, blogging is becoming a paid act in dark corners to do whatever the client asks you to. While hustling is tolerated in some cultures it is socially discouraged in others. Just like lack of ethics in paid word of mouth advertising. While in some countries an ethics code for social media was introduced, in most of them such codes are far away from seeing day light. And though there’s a fair amount of guilt from both parts, marketers fail to understand it’s damaging to lack certain ethics not only for this medium but also for their brand.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing to  be ashamed in getting paid to perform brand favors but if you do it, have the decency to show honesty in your relationships, opinions and true identity. At least for your own followers sake.

I have many bloggers following on Twitter and to my disappointment with some of them, I fail to see which message is real and which one is paid twitter. I’ve come to the conclusion that everything some write is for a brand and I’ve lost touch with their true opinions. If this devaluation is not similar to hustling, than what is? Just like spamming, I tend to reconsider bloggers more often than ever and believe the same attitude affects me as well. I don’t do paid advertising, I don’t share my thoughts for money. And though some make blogging their paid existence, there should  be a limit where paid advertising should stop.

Just like the clients and the bloggers share fault, I believe a huge responsibility is on the shoulders of advertising agencies as well, who should step in and fight for social media ethics. Surely, we all used one way or another paid word of mouth advertising but I think this medium development should change the way we perceive and act on it as well. 

Let’s not forget the very essence of social media – honesty and transparency – and build on that a real social media campaign that is not trying to foul people but rather engage them in real and relevant conversation. How about that for a creative approach?

Independent Creatives Find Your Better Half

Creative teams are like relationships – some are based on friendship, some on respect and some on pure interest. It takes hard work to make the team work, and every once in a while, one or the other has to give up own beliefs and follow the other’s lead.

 Some months ago I wanted to team up with an international art director with whom I could exchange cultural experiences and do some extra work for the portfolio. So I set out to find my creative half.

When it comes to finding a creative partner, the chemistry is crucial—whether you are looking for an art director to collaborate on a shared portfolio after you just finished school or a copywriter to replace the one who just resigned. So where do you start looking?

If you just finished a creative school it’s probably a good idea to look at your school’s alumni. People who have finished at the same time with you probably have the same interests, plus you’ve already met during school years.

Of course your first resort when you look for someone new might be LinkedIn. At least this was for me. I started discussion topics about my search for an art director on schools’ alumni groups, advertising groups and wherever else I thought I could find the right one. But when you’re looking for a creative partner, be sure to be picky.

Up until recently there were no real niche professional networks for creative people. There was no place where creative people could virtually meet, talk and exchange portfolios. Finally, some have realized that portfolio websites are no more than complex databases, and creative people actually need a real social network where they can meet, get to know each other and team up when the time is right.

After a few months I found about FindYourYang a website powered by Ursa that supports independent creatives in Australia. I thought that the idea of offering creative people from one country a platform where they can get together and share thoughts and portfolios, for the sake of teaming up, is great. It’s a new step in social networking that others have delayed doing, it’s low budget and highly effective. The idea should be expanded for all continents and localized to each country.

I immediately joined the network considering some creative people may actually think of relocation. After all, the more people you know, the greater your chances of finding the right one.

Recently though, YoungGuns International has also developed a social-networking section where creatives from all over the world can share their portfolios and make new connections. So if you are looking for your creative half maybe you should start from there. Most of the people joining the network are interested in the competition, and whoever is a YoungGun is probably worth giving a chance. You can look for them based on location; you can share interests and exchange portfolios.

If you are a creative single looking for a better half, don’t give up. Everybody’s got one.

Read the article on AdAge

The Digital Karma

In the past years the development of digital advertising has increased amazingly. Considering the Internet growth and the marketing potential of the new media, digital importance in the marketing strategy is a natural consequence. Aaah! Long gone are the days when the creative agencies would  ask their concept to be implemented by some digital boutique. Today, digital agencies start to fight neck to neck on big accounts with creative agencies, developing their own concepts and there’s a growing migration of people from creative agencies to digital agencies. Digital agencies are developing real creative departments, producing outstanding work and  maybe for the very first time, the digital agency team values the same with a creative agency team. Ouch?!

Soon we might see a new multinational network of digital agencies setting the advertising trends and the agencies ranks turning upside down. But this is just common sense! In a world racing towards the fastest Internet broadband and digital connectivity, mixing between virtual friends and digital books, the ATL advertising is face-lifting, slowly welcoming the digital.

I can’t help noticing the irony of today’s media development. If some years ago advertising festivals were mainly composed of TV, Print and Outdoor, today, a digital award is a must have in your portfolio. And it makes sense! A new position has emerged and gains its glory throughout the advertising world – the digital creative team. The team that can make magic at one click away, that is creative but tech savvy as well. The one that crosses social media smoothly and integrates it into a digital concept the world has never seen before.

These are the days when karma kicks in. I can feel the smile on the face of the Creative Director of a digital agency mumbling to himself ”Finally! World domination!! Muhahahaha!!!”. My guess is in a few years it will be him conducting most of the ATL campaigns, dictating concepts and winning most of the awards. The festivals will soon place cyber as the “must see” event of the show and more and more social media festivals will emerge (e.g. Golden Twits ). Old creative directors will have to get used to the idea of the digital revolution, adapt or disappear.

Big advertising agencies will all open digital departments and possibly affiliate with digital networks around the globe, to support their massive clients. Marketers will allocate bigger and bigger budgets to exclusive online campaigns and accounts will be lost in favor of a digital agency…

So here’s a new 2012 prophecy: the year advertising world will indeed reverse its poles. Are you scared?