Never Say Goodbye

Dear Firstborn,

Well the time has arrived.

I figured I would send this email out today because tomorrow I’m sure most of you will be incoherent from the massive hangovers we will all have induced on ourselves after tonight’s bash.

Based on the intranet I have been here 2 years and 5 months but it seems like it has been much longer than that.

As most of you know I will be leaving Firstborn to take on position at Touro University as the Director of Online Services.

It wasn’t an easy decision for me to make but one that will allow me to pursue personal endeavors as well flex the muscles I have attained here at FB for a great cause, education.

Coming to FB after selling the business that I ran for 6 years wasn’t easy, there was a lot of adjustment for me, but I felt like I was really able to carve out a place for myself here. One thing I can say about FB is that it is like an interactive boot camp, the intensity, the passion and the standard of excellence helped me grow both professionally and personally in all aspects of my life. Every project I have produced has been a valuable experience that I don’t think I could have attained anywhere else.

I have worked on some memorable projects over the past few years, from the Fila Experiment to Zune and everything in between. It has truly been a pleasure working with the finest talent in the business. Every designer, developer, producer and intern I have worked with here has enhanced my life in a multitude of ways.

Firstborn really is a very special place, no one should ever take for granted the environment and atmosphere that Michael helps to provide here. It is a place of growth and of self awareness, responsibility and accountability and the payoff is priceless.

I don’t ever want to lose touch with my connection with FB and even though I will be starting my new position on Monday it does not mean that I will not be in touch and keeping a close eye on all of the wonderful work that I know will be coming out of FB in this next decade of its life. I am both proud and honored to have worked at FB and to have contributed to its history.

I wanted to leave behind some wisdom that I learned while being here and hopefully it will help all of you going forward.

This is not an easy business to be in, tight deadlines, picky clients, long hours and emotional stress are all issues we face every day. When a person is in training for some sort of physical event they work out their bodies by adding resistances to help them build up muscle, those deadlines, hours and stresses are all simply that, resistances that make us all stronger and better people. Keep that in mind, know that when it hurts it hurts because growth is taking place.

I became accustomed to writing up articles and notes on every project I have worked on, I do this selfishly because it allows me to look back and see how much I have learned, it gives me an opportunity to not only review what I have done but to also share that knowledge with others. I encourage everyone here to always look back at successes and mistakes and to keep a journal as to how you have grown and what challenges you have overcome, you will see that through all the stresses you will always come out a better person after every piece of work produced and it will carry over into future projects making them that much better.

Secondly, have fun, be passionate and love what you’re doing. Always go into a project wanting it to be the best it can possibly be, keep a positive attitude no matter what and never let a challenge go unconquered. Always try and do things better, create challenges and work to overcome them, always strive to be greater. The path of least resistance will never pay off as much as facing intellectual and creative challenges, challenge yourself and don’t get frustrated along the way, embrace the challenge because you have chosen it not because you think it has been cast upon you.

Clients will always be clients and we are in the service industry, an industry that requires us to create and deliver the best possible work and service we can, one thing that has always stood out at FB is the respect we have for ourselves and our work. That shines through in every project we do. Always maintain that self respect and never let anything compromise the quality that FB is known for. I can tell you as a producer clients always recognize this in us and even when we fuck up, the client sees the respect we have for ourselves and the accountability we take upon ourselves to make things right.

Lastly I want to say that FB is about good people. Everyone I have worked with during my time here have always been “good people” no divas, no superstars, no assholes and most importantly no egos. This is something that I personally feel is a secret to the success at FB. From the owner to the management to the designers and developers and even interns, everyone here has always been real , down to earth, honest and good people. FB is a filter of sorts, I have seen less talented people thrive here because they wanted to grow and improve and succeed without having to put up some false persona and in the end they have become superstars. I always tell people that FB is about hard work, nothing less. Integrity and honesty is what all good business are built upon and is what I believe has kept FB afloat in this crazy industry. Don’t ever let that slip away!

I want to thank you all for making the past few years some of the most cherished and memorable for me.

Tonight is an opportunity to set the tone for the next ten years so let’s really do it up! I want to leave this place with a bang!

Keep in touch!

Craig

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f i r s t b o r n

PRODUCER

CRAIG ELIMELIAH

o: 212 581 1100 ext 254
c: 646 915 4293

e: craig@firstbornmultimedia.com
http://www.firstbornmultimedia.com

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Moving Forward

The time has arrived. The past 3 years at Firstborn have been awesome. Worked on some very cool projects, made great friends, had a hand in a lot of things and now I will be moving on to become the new Director of Online Services at Touro University. This is a tremendous move for me because it will allow me to take ownership of large long term project that will allow me to flex everything i have learned over the past 12 years.

My goal is to set the bar for other Universities by creating a unique online experience for Touro. There is tons to do and im psyched to get started!

Stay tuned.

Mind Controled

HP's newest push for back to school is called The society for Parental Mind Control. This is a very interesting campaign that really empowers teens and gives them a cool site to send messages to their parents for a new computer as they head back to school.

This is the first full Flash 9 site I have produced and it was really interesting to learn all the new nuances of AS3.

Take a look - HERE

The Lame Game

Most of the interactive ad games out there are a silly waste of time and they simply don't drive the brand message into the minds of the consumer and they end up patronizing the consumer to add another notch on its "hits" list.

What is lacking is a complete brand experience that represents the essence and purity of the brand rather than the duel of the dominatrix demanding that you buy the car they are trying to sell you.

Absolut did a nice job in their newest mini site (http://absolut.com/search).

I have been saying for years that every product and service will have an extension on the web, something that embodies and adds value to the product rather than dummy it up with some silly game that simply wastes time. I am more likely to buy a product that can be supported by a fully interactive website than one that doesn't have one. If I am trying to decide on a digital camera to buy I will most likely buy the one that has a comprehensive website that is also interactive that will basically teach me how to use and even optimize the use of my new camera, there are two kinds of sites the sell and the support. Most people don't realize that the support also sells as well.

This can work with anything, Burger King can support their product by offering interactive menus based on diet as well as offering fun and easy ways to cater on a budget and so on... you see where I am going with this. Impact is great and I love the fluff as much as the next guy but it needs to be backed up with technology and design that also aids and adds value to the stuff we buy.

Clever sites can be highly viral and spread word like wildfire BUT all the people I know who follow these sites and love the content and the entertainment rarely ever think twice about now buying the actual product.

Technology and design have eloped and didn't bother telling anyone so were all recovering from the news. I think it will take a few more years before the agencies realize that cute mini sites need to do more than just entertain the user but to completely engage them in the brand message and give them the best possible value added online experience. The cool stuff is fun and exciting but I also want to know how easy it is to roll down the seats in the SUV I am considering buying or how fresh the food at the latest fast food restaurant is

Interactive Marriage

Here is an article I wrote for Daniel Shutzsmith's site Graphic Define... a bit sappy but I think its a decent read.

Agency Understanding

The giant wave called “interactive” that has splashed on the shores of the advertising world has created many opportunities for a re-examination of roles and talent in the ad business. Interactive is a digital multi platform arena that offers advertisers the most impact and allows for the most engaging ideas to be developed. Integrating a campaign is no small task and requires a true leader who understands how to anchor the print, TV and other offline media with the strengths of what online brings to the table.

I work with many agencies, I manage many projects for the worlds largest brands, companies like Microsoft, Intel, Samsung, CITI, AXE and many more who rely on our abilities to develop an online strategy for their brands. We hold the key to the most intimate engagement that our clients have with their consumers and we serve as their navigator for the interactive platform.

One of the many challenges that I and many other people face today is the transition that many of these agencies are currently going thorough in order to fully comprehend and integrate interactive digital services with their more traditional approaches to advertising. Developing an online campaign is very different than the offline traditional print, TV and radio.

So I asked myself who's capable of managing these types of projects?

I understand that a person in this position is a rare breed at this very early stage; it is not a unilateral decision to become a leader in this field. A successful interactive producer requires the respect of those he manages, the various artists, designers, developers and motion graphic people who need to know that their fearless leader is someone who lives and breathes the intimate interaction that the web offers its users. If they don't attain that respect from their teams and people they work with then their teams are merely being managed and not being led. The various intricacies and combination of creative and technological understandings along with the cultural variations of the web require a real leader who knows how to combine all of these aspects and how to distill them down to him team and then across to the client.

A true interactive producer at this early stage of the web spectrum must in some way want to make a difference and push the limits of what people are doing online. They have to trust and know the team and their abilities and to know how to work with them as an extension of themselves. To imagine that this is something that can be done independently of others is foolish. To achieve true innovation and inspiration requires the cooperation, will, and desire of the entire team to follow their leader and to accomplish a larger mission.

The mission is not to simply produce a pretty website; it is to engage the user to fully connect with the brand and the environment that they are in when they visit the website or interactive installation. It means that a lasting impression must be made and that the user feels a sense of connection and affiliation to the brand and the overall message. Success is achieved when the user feels right at home every time they reach the destination and that they return to that destination as their main source of information for that particular brand, product or service.

In my experience the key to getting the entire team completely onboard (enthusiastically) is to first get them committed to the overall project idea. (And remember, before you can get others to believe in anything you have to first believe in it yourself.) The team is not just the interactive team but the entire creative team that will be working on all aspects of the campaign. This is very important because everyone needs to have a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities in order to have realistic expectations. Educating the print or broadcast team as to how the interactive works is the secret to getting everyone to play nice. Often times it’s the lack of understanding across the project lines that causes frustrations and slows down delivery of important assets that are being shared.

Once the idea is fully flushed out and the online experience has been completely finalized by the producer that is when the fun starts, you will suddenly radiate enormous enthusiasm as will your team because everyone has similar expectations and a unified goal has now been set. It is the producer’s job to keep up the energy and a clear plan for success this will keep the clients happy and your team committed.

The final key to success is never to forget to keep everyone up to date with how things are progressing; the client and other members of the team may not have the same understanding of the production process as you do so this should be set as one of your primary ongoing day to day tasks. Being a producer also requires personal responsibility; never ever make it about your own ego or personal spotlight. Educating your clients and team members is about listening and making sure they understand the processes involved and are clear with realistic expectations for delivery dates and the ability to change within the allotted time and budget. Remember these few pieces of wisdom and you'll continue to have your design and development team as well as your clients and fellow co-workers believing in and joining your efforts to take interactive into the mainstream advertising spectrum.

Due Process

The emerging state of interactive multimedia rises from the ashes that buried it during the dot com tragedy. This new media is the savior of the advertising world, the second coming of promises that were first glimpsed when life was given to the web. The early dot coms all died for the cause. It was a revolution that went into hibernation waiting for the speed of broadband to recharge its ambition. Amazonian expectations were set and now being fulfilled in only its second generation.

Digital trailblazers, men and women, boys and girls who traverse the gigs of terrain that lay before them contained inside of a simple box streaming through infinite amounts of information, art, organization, tools and environments that keep them soaking up culture like a sponge. I marvel at the accomplishments of the medium. The web has given us a universal platform that extends beyond any limitations. It is our interface to the world, the way we learn, the way we study, the way we search and the way we communicate.

Millions have found love, life and opportunity on the web. It has created a gateway to every corner of the earth. There is no place the web doesn’t penetrate. The web is clothed in technology and ideas.

The days of static sites are gone, interactive web design is now truly an art form. The ability to not only create something visually awesome but an application that has so much functionality and purpose. Be it entertainment value, information, commerce, communications or warning, the interactive realm has emerged the creators of this new world.

When I was in grade school I had always felt a sense of emptiness when learning about the famous explorers of the new world. Columbus, Pizzaro, Orellana and Cabeza De Vaca had all uncovered the final unexplored territories of the world. They created a new world; they expanded boundaries and were responsible for new life. I knew at a young age that I was never going to have an opportunity to sail the high seas and uncover the mysteries of the planet and a streak of jealousy would strike me leaving me to ponder more realistic employment for my future.

Become a doctor, a lawyer, maybe a cop or a teacher? I never entertained any one of those suggestions, I would rather do nothing. Always an artist I was never without a pen or marker in my hand. I would decorate everything and my eyes seemed to make everything move. If I could only push that, or pull that, if I could only see the next scene or adjust the color of everything I saw. I was desperate for something that didn’t yet exist but something I was very prepared for and when I found it I knew, I didn’t need any lessons as to what it was, I knew that this was my world and I was going to explore it.

My passion for online interactive multimedia is beyond any of the corporate sites that I produce. It just gives me an opportunity to think and live in my world all day. I create new trails and develop new ideas that push the web deeper and deeper. The impact of my involvement extends way beyond the limited borders of my city, state and country. My work travels through a new dimension, a new world that begs for beauty, knowledge, spirit, faith, and inspiration.

I am an explorer. I explore the web and uncover its potential, I push its limits. The message I chose to transmit over this giant pipe is inspiration. No greater message can be transmitted. Mankind needs inspiration; the television killed our minds, so passive and so dreary. It’s content to broad to comprehend yet simple enough for mass murder.

It no longer shapes our minds and our views. Everyone has a place on the web. Everyone is represented and everyone is honored. The ridiculous, the creepy and the sappy all converge here. No two sites the same, each one a digital representation.

On the web video and sound stream like the great untamed Mississippi River across the American landscape. This is the new frontier, the uncharted territory that invites the explorer to trek its terrain. It’s not the physical rather the mental wherewithal that the explorer must possess. Creative thinking goes into every search, every site, and every blog and every link.

I love this new frontier. Its capacity is endless and its potential is infinite. The tools have become common and now everyone has access, anyone can breathe new life and their own soul into this container and express their voice.

Inspiration is the new creative.

Its been a while...

Its been a while since I opened the doors of my mind here I have been busy with Microsoft

Just wanted to share some love and show everyone this interview i did for DevLounge

Enjoy folks and im about to bust out another killer article soon.

Inter-viewed

I was recently interviewed on one of my favorite sites The FWA. I have revealed some secrets so go check it out!

PREDICTIONS FOR 2007!

2007 is going to be a blockbuster year! The definition INTERACTIVE has finally been recognized by all the big players and the reality of it being way too complex a niche for the big guys to fully grasp it right now is setting in. The smaller agencies are emerging because we are flexible enough to make the drastic shifts needed in order to keep up with the emerging technologies and the big guys now need to look to us in order to translate their initiative into what Interactive is really all about.

1. Viral will stop being just a buzz word and will emerge as a full fledged solution. The public is now aware of our desire for them to share everything they see with everyone they know. We no longer have to play tricky games in order to get them to pass things along; we all understand the rules and now its time for everyone to play nicely. Expect to see more breakthrough viral campaigns and Interactive pieces as the backbone of major campaigns.
2. Video, Video, Video. We can’t get enough of it, it’s everywhere and we want more and more of it. Expect to see the smaller shops getting more adept in producing made for web video. It will be embedded in ads, websites, banners, and even in other video. Flashers and After Effecters are now stepping up and creating powerful motion pieces intended to live on the web where many people are looking towards as their main source of video content.
3. Interactive budgets are on the rise, we will no longer be an afterthought. It will be the popularity of the fully immersive interactive experience that will now represent the brand. The motion, the feel, the characters and the animations will live and breathe life into today’s biggest brands and it will be the personalities of the website that will now make people remember why they buy the products and services.
4. Turnaround times. What took 6 months to build will now take 6 weeks to build, the pace of the web is blinding and the larger agencies cannot keep up with that pace just yet. We small guys don’t require the layers to get stuff done.
5. Mobile media. The emergence of more powerful phones, MP3 players and multiple use devices will supply us with yet another platform for visual interaction. Expect to see more initiatives in this realm
6. Beyond the browser. Expect to see more creative interactive solutions that take full advantage of the internet and rich user interface but showing up in places you would never expect.
7. Young Guns! Hybrids will emerge; multi-talented designer/developer/producer/entrepreneurial/salespeople will start stepping into bigger and bigger roles at small and at larger agencies. All us dot-com rejects who waited out the storm will be stepping back into the arena, more mature, more focused and hungrier than ever!

This is just a glimpse as to what is on the horizon, now that all the major brands have accepted the web and its supremacy in the advertising world and have all thrown their chips in we will see some seriously creative and breakthrough projects come out more frequently and the competition will get hot. The ability to produce complex interactive pieces in a short amount of time will be the perfect drug for the impulsive clients who need a quick fix when things aren’t going the way they want. Interactive will be the turn on the dime solution for new and established brands to “quick draw” when they are looking for that knock out punch. Expect addiction like behavior. Websites, micro-sites, interactive banners, videos, downloads, viral, blogs and so on are now toys of the ad industry.

I am personally very exited for 2007 and all of the wonderful new projects that will be launching all throughout the year!

For Reel

The newest member of the top navigation...

read more | digg story

Art vs. Design

An age old debate that continues on. The distinctions and the fundamentals of a medium.

read more | digg story

Environmental Awareness

The web has created a new type of environment that we all live in. Being aware if this new environment is crucial, especially if you spend more time on the web than outdoors...

read more | digg story

Coming soon...

Much has transpired, the wheels are turning and a new post is in the works. In the meantime check out my latest article on the FWA

Very Viral...

Certain clients seem to like the idea of “viral” but tend to not fully understand its execution. Keeping it a surprise and not revealing too much, allowing the various users to uncover things is really what makes a viral campaign successful. Passing along funny stuff works for certain brands especially the ones consumers are religious about only because its basically branded content that serves as entertainment and helps solidify the consumer loyalty but with less known brands I think there needs to be a bit of faith on the part of the client to allow the agency to really build a mystery and let the users uncover what it is they are trying to say.

Collaboration is really what the web is all about and the ability for users to pass along something interesting and discuss it, analyze it and play with it is where the success is found in a true viral initiative. Many clients want to simply PLUG IN whatever it is they have into a viral campaign and many times they don’t realize that they are trying to put a square peg into a round hole. Viral campaigns are often looked at as a less serious endeavor because it does cost less and people tend to pay more attention to projects that cost more to develop. Take viral seriously and it will serve its purpose.

late night thoughts and responsibility in advertising

When I compose my entries into this blog I try to evoke emotion and thought, I am not looking to solve anything specific, rather open up a forum to study it. I once wrote an essay about the Super Bowl and the ads geared towards the beer guzzling folk who are probably the majority watching the big game. As a Producer in the advertising industry I feel that by adding to the persona of the “beer guzzler” by giving him commercials that further ruin his view on women, sex, responsibility and the environment is a crime and that if we know that the "element' watching the game does tend to allow their views to be dictated by the ads and the content they watch so intensely perhaps we have a responsibility to at least try and guide those views in the right direction. Having this country fall to the wayside because we want to sell more beer and we are willing to degrade women and the environment to do it is simply wrong. Advertising is a responsibility and by misguiding the consumer public with fantasies that distort real relationships on many levels is deadly. Why not sell beer by showing that an intelligent, responsible and hard working man can come home or go to a bar and relax with a cold icy one? Get where im going with this? Why go down to a person’s lowest level when you can raise them by getting them to associate themselves and the products they buy in a positive way.

Its so easy to throw a naked woman on the screen and say BUY THIS there is no challenge there, try doing it in a positive way, that’s where the real success is...

Small Agency Response numero deuce

Why does a definition on Wikipedia need to necessarily define an age old industry? Sure we all need the safe definitions of things in order to put them into their place when things get chaotic but when things are not chaotic are we really willing to break away from those safe definitions and color out side of those lines you speak of?

Agencies have a hard enough time producing creative work in general, how many campaigns end up being timeless? Now they are expected to deliver media technologies as well? Smaller interactive agencies have been doing this for years now; we have been innovating new ideas for launching all kinds of brand messages. Minisites, rich media banners, environmental installations, unique kiosks, online games, viral techniques, uploading, downloading, cross loading and more! Agencies are having a hard enough time keeping up in general when it comes to the web. Web 2.0 is all of the things I mentioned above and more, it requires breaking many of the rules that have been established in the Ad Biz and redefining what works and what doesn't and requires going completely against conventional wisdom.

It seems to me that the point isn't are agencies willing to invest in new platforms, because its simply not their core competency, the question is are they now willing to play second fiddle to companies that are creating new platforms. Old habits are hard to break and the agencies have been holding on to the corporate reigns for a long time now, they manage the accounts, come up with the ideas and distribute the money but perhaps that role is now being reduced because of the overwhelming emergence of technology that smaller and younger companies have a better grasp on.

Rather than buying up these smaller companies and driving them into the ground by making them adhere to old rules, why not just play nice and let the experts do their jobs in the environments that suit them best (smaller interactive firms) and let them drive the campaigns. Ideas thrive in smaller open environments and when the stresses of the corporate world take over then the ideas suffer, creating new platforms and ideas requires breathing room and coloring outside the lines and that means that new lines can't be drawn once the color is in place, you cant assume that an agency is ripe to now become a technology firm just because it has the money to do so, sometimes it takes adversity and struggle of being small in order for great ideas to emerge. –Craig Elimeliah, new york, NY

We Are Back!

It’s not like we actually went anywhere but we are back and we are better than ever. Who are we? I will tell you who we are, we are every kid that got laid off in the late 90’s and early new millennium, we are every guy and girl who was accused of over hyping the web and forcing the economy to plummet and we are the believers that never for a second lost faith in the web. We are older, a bit more mature a lot more experienced and wanted more than ever for our abilities to innovate and understand a web that has quietly healed from its prepubescent awkwardness into a powerful and healthy medium.

Once known for our fickle work habits and our lack of commitment to any one company, for our distractions and our toy collections at work, for our inability to conform to company policies and dress codes, and most of all our over inflated expectations for the virtual world we live in day in and day out. We are a group of people who are fueled by the infinite possibilities of the web and would be doing what we do at work at home for free anyway. We develop web applications, graphics, utilities, code, and games. We innovate new ideas and work out difficult problems facing user experience, interface and environments. We make the web usable for all. We soak up the internet like sponges and know exactly what is out there and what is still needed. We are the ex-girlfriend who was dumped because we caused too much drama and now that we have grown up and into our bodies we are lusted after more than ever.

Ok enough of the dramatics I think I got my point across.

We are entering a new age, an age when the business world is on their hands and knees to reconcile the relationship that was broken up at the turn of the century’s dot com bust. Everyone agrees that the web is here to stay and that it has proven itself to be one of the most powerful communication platforms known to mankind. Not everyone fully understands its depth but the select few that do are now in high demand by every corporation out there. What changed? Initially the web promised the world automation, it promised instant access to information and services that was never before made available, and it offered globalization and community on such a precise level that most people didn’t know what to do with it when it was first introduced. The financial world was not mistaken when they poured billions in venture capital into the pockets of young developers with bright ideas and those young developers were not selling empty promises either. Every marriage has a period of time when the young couple must acclimate itself to one another, us youngsters back then weren’t ready to handle the fame and fortune being served to us on a silver platter and those financial folks didn’t realize how drastically different we lived our lives.

Sure there were many young companies who blew every dime of venture capital on stupid promotional events, ridiculous office spaces and all kinds of other nerdy things, salaries were so over the top and stock options were given out like candy. Mistakes were made and times were fast but then again every revolution needs a period where chaos rules, we had the depression, the wild west, the new world, all throughout history whenever massive change took place there was always some economic precariousness. What started in the mid nineties was no different and looking back I don’t think it could have happened any other way. There is a certain feeling of accomplishment when a new innovative technology changes the world, throws it into disarray and then shortly after it all works itself out and we are all much better off because of it.

So now we are back in business, we have quietly licked our wounds and recovered from being banished from the business elite and are now once again desperately needed in order to innovate and make the most of this ever growing World Wide Web. We are a bit older, a bit more grounded and definitely more cautious with our roles as keepers of the web. There will be no more extravagant toys and offices, no more stock options and definitely no more empty IPOs. Flash and other web technologies have trained us to deliver our ideas in a more powerful and robust way, we can now roll out websites that not only live on the web but are the interface for the world. As the chosen people to guard the vast channels of information and to create conduits for delivering the information we must now assume our roles and take our place amongst the elite as the guards of the information super highway.

My response to Getting a Grip...

Noelle Weaver write a very interesting post on her Small Agency Diary Blog she entitled it Coming to Grips in the Advertising World. Although I think this is a great title I think that she didnt even scratch the surface of what should have been written based on the title. Shame. I responded with some emotions and ideas that I had, here goes...

This post is appropriately titled “Coming to Grips” because that is exactly what is going on in the advertising world. People are now having to come to grips with the fact that the media convergence is taking place faster than most people can make any sense of it, it puts many of the “numbers” people in a very precarious position because in this transition period they are forced to put their faith in places that they may not be so comfortable with. Interactive agencies are seen as the New Kids on the Block, the new jacks who are trampling all over ad world and stealing the glory away from the prestige of TV, radio and print.

The convergence of media is an example for us all to follow suit and converge ideas, practices and abilities and to try our best by marrying the old and the new. The only way we are going to get a grip on this thing is if we all respect and appreciate each very important role we all play in this very fast evolution that our industry is going through. I especially liked what Noelle said about knowing our audiences intimately, the web is a portal, people date on the web, buy food on the web and even have sex on the web, how much more intimate can we get with our audiences than the web?

When I think about all of the issues being brought up in this blog and I look at what the web and interactive offers us as far as metrics, intimacy, results and the impact of the media itself it is quite clear that we can find most our solutions by embracing the web and accepting it as a major ad platform. Growth is painful and transitions can be awkward but when emotions and fears get involved with decisions and obvious choices, clients rely on agencies to be their eyes and ears, but when the eyes are shut to the obvious because the obvious forces change then it’s the clients who get burned and the industry as a whole suffers.

I think it is now our job to funnel the massive expansiveness of the web and its abilities into real solutions for our clients and to harness the power interactive presents to us as far as delivering the numbers, the results and the expectations of our clientele.

Defending the Web

I feel like I constantly have to defend the web, almost like a preacher defending a religion. I have been defending it since the mid 90s when I had to explain to my clients that the web isn’t going anywhere, that it wont go down and that it hold endless possibilities for creative messaging.

Here is a comment I recently made to add to my list of defensives…

Once again I feel the need to comment in the name of Interactive. We keep asking ourselves these questions of how sticky something is but it seems like an exercise in futility. Who can predict the fickle habits of the public? The web can! We know where people are going, where they came from and how long they stayed, we know what they looked at and what they clicked on and as Interactive evolves more and more into the top spot as the anchor of a campaign we can come up with more creative ways to market. For example, an interactive agency can potentially create two or three campaigns at once, if something isn’t working or need adjustment it could potentially be tweaked on the fly. The level of control is limitless. Agencies need to understand and embrace the flexibility of the medium to be able to feel out and test the public reactions as they change. The web is a dynamic world, results are practically instant and adjustments can be made based on feedback, its interesting that any interactive project can be deemed a failure, unless it is way off the mark, but when adjustments need to be made or a direction needs some tweaking it can be done in a million different creative ways. I think that people are real and when dealing with the fantasy world of advertising and the over hyping of products and services of our clients we need to understand that people know that realistic expectations are set based on exaggerations and that those exaggerations are simply a form of entertainment of sorts to help create an emotional attachment to the brand and just like a relationship needs to be coddled and formed so to does the user, before now you got what you got because the medium only allowed for static presentations but the expectations set by the web now create a demand by the public for more effort from the advertisers to entice their audiences. Attention is hard to get in this world of many distractions and in order to grab that attention we need to understand the more complex habits of the consumers and how they want to be marketed to. The web offers us so many more opportunities for success and if used correctly our failure rate should decrease dramatically as long as the campaign is on target. The question posed was What Sticks? But perhaps we should be asking ourselves How Many Chances to We Get to Make it Stick? You can never know for sure is something is going to work but the web offers us the ability to at least adjust if we see that it isn’t working.