Juggling. Creative. Freakin' Amazing!

Juggling. What does that have to do with advertising? Actually, quite a bit. In his own way, Chris Bliss has taken something relatively ordinary (3 small balls) and turned them into something spectacular. That is what we're charged with everyday in our own lives. Click the title above, then click on the "The Big Finale." Spend 5 minutes being inspried by what can be done to make the "ordinary" extraordinary!

BrandsFormation

For the next two days, I'll be shadowing one of the better known sales & marketing guys in the country, Chuck Mefford. Chuck owns Lighthouse Communications and helps companies find their brand & exploit it in their marketplace.

This is the third time I've been able to spend a couple days with Chuck and it's always exciting to see how his experience with major companies like IBM, Budweiser, Pizza Hut and many more, comes down to the local business level and raises them up as well.

I won't claim to be on par with Chuck, but our philosophies in branding your business are the same. Let's talk about how you can benefit from this and grow your company!

Grits, Sweet Tea, NASCAR and one helluva Creative Guy!

Well, the word is public now so I can talk about it here: Julie & I are moving to Charlotte, North Carolina! It's a fantastic opportunity for our family and I'm extremely excited to be located so close to great agencies and radio companies in the area. In the meantime, I'm asking your help to find a "new me" for my friends at Midwest Family Broadcasting. Below is a note that our President/GM Gayle Olson has sent to some of his friends & I believe it accurately represents the position. Take a look and see what you think. If it's right for you or perhaps for someone you know, get in touch with me and I'll fill you in on all the details.

Radio industry associates:

We are losing our outstanding Creative Director John Hammer (Palazzolo). For 2&1/2 years, John has been creating award winning, results getting campaigns for our advertisers and now he is moving on.

As a result, we are looking for the best, young, bright writer and producer out there!

This is not a standard "production director" position. It is a job that helps generate hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Branding campaigns each year. The person works hand in hand with our Sales reps throughout the process of uncovering what makes each client special and unique, then translating that into a results-getting message. Creativity, writing, production wizardry and presentation skills are all important ingredients for this position and will be rewarded accordingly. A knowledge and belief in the Branding process, as taught by Roy Williams, the Wizard of Ads would be a huge plus. Our CSD enjoys a dedicated production studio for his/her sole use. There are no air shifts or production busy-work responsibilities. The job is to create great ads!

If you know someone who might fill this bill; someone who is not afraid to work in an un-rated market with a great quality of life 90 minutes from Chicago; someone who could grow in the Mid-West Family Broadcasting environment... please have them contact us. Female and minority candidates are encouraged.

Thanks for any help you may provide in filling this excellent opportunity!

GO

As for me...well, I'm going to expand BigMouthAudio. There are too many great businesses who simply haven't found anyone to take the time with them to create PROPER, EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING. The great thing about this, is that I can serve my current clients from my new digs with no drop in service.
Stay with me and we'll continue to do great radio!

John

Superbowl Creative...

Okay, I'm at odds with the "Creative" industry. As I was watching the Superbowl commercials, I was less than impressed. It's not that they were particularly bad, they just weren't particularly memorable. On Monday morning, the local radio stations were all talking about the commercials (as they do every Monday after a Superbowl...but that's another story for another time!). The hosts & the callers all agreed with my perception as well...they were...well...eh, okaaaay.

Then I got to the office.

I subscribe to several "Creative" newsletters, many of them put out by big name creative agencies and industry leaders. They were all patting each other on the back, pounding on their chests saying "Yessssss, look a us, we are Creative (with a capital C!)"

Ummmm...hey guys. Listen to your radio this morning. When the audience chimes in and says they're unimpressed, they're pretty much unimpressed. And at the end of the day...isn't that what our job is?!

It may thrill us at the agency level, but if "Joe Average" isn't thrilled, we've crashed & burned.

Remember who our customer truly is...the actual client? No, it's the customer who'll shop that client. Impress them, motivate them...THEN, you've had a Super Sunday!