Museum of Creative Process

So we were driving innocently through the wonderful Vermont fall countryside when we spied a sign that told us that a couple miles further on we would find the Museum of the Creative Process.
Well, well.
I said that I thought it would be a lot of people sitting around looking desperately at blank pieces of paper.
My wife thought it was the house of a graphic designer who never threw anything out and whose wife told him in exasperation that he should charge people to come and see the mess.
Sad to say we never found the Museum.
I think the sign is all there is. It started our creative processes and left us to come up with our own ideas - though admittedly not brilliant ones. All process and no outcome - ah well.

CRM and WOM

Okay - personal story from yesterday. A perfect example of brilliant cutomer relations (CRM) leading to great Word of Mouth (WOM). This is how it should be done.

My shaving oil was melting parts of my Gillette Fusion razor blades. So I wrote to customer service through the Gillette website. They are now P&G of course. I got an email back from them within hours. And it wasn't one of those automated : "We-got-your-email-and-you-are-now-in-the-system" emails. It specifically addressed the particulars of my issue: they are sorry; they are sending me a new one; oils are not recommended - they suggest gel or foam; and here's the capper:

"Because of the unusual nature of this situation, our quality department would like to examine the used portion of the product. I'm also sending postage-paid mailing materials you can use to return the used portion to us for examination."

Now this is truly responsive customer service. I am enchanted and impressed.

By last night I realized I had told this story to three people as an example of how brilliant Gillette/P&G are with their customer service. So the Word of Mouth was working full blast. I guess that makes me an influencer.

In a nutshell there is all we need to know about taking care of customers - even when they have a problem - so they will become our advocates.

"Mo||erf||ker, A Movie"

Last year I was advisor/mentor to a very smart young filmmaker called David Casey as he was making a film about a notorious and influential New York rock and roll party.

Here is what the Village Voice has written about the film:

Motherfucker I'd Like to Film
A new doc touts New York nightlife as it should (and might not always) be
by Annie Fischer
October 9th, 2007 5:37 PM

The documentary opens on the train. Director David Casey and crew are headed to the apartment of Motherfucker's Michael T, who answers the door in a robe and leads them to the bathroom to witness, in his words, "the transformation of Michael T." It involves a confidence that his party has become known for: a queeny, cocksure swagger that comes from the decision not to take the shit you took as a kid, he says. It also involves assloads of blush.

To hear his fellow Motherfuckers tell it, Michael T is the "mother" of the group, which has been producing balls-out dance parties where guests dress to impress—like, really, if they want to get past Thomas Onorato at the door—in Manhattan eight nights a year for the past six, specifically on national holidays, for New Yorkers who either can't afford to leave the city or just don't want to. And to hear Michael tell it, Johnny T is the father—or at least the "cool uncle who does a lot of good stuff but sometimes screws up." Georgie Seville serves as peacemaker. Justine D represents the scenester. Together, the quartet serves as the muse for Casey's latest film, Motherfucker: A Movie, which debuts at the CMJ Festival next week.

According to Casey, who recently moved from New York to San Francisco to work for Al Gore's cable-television network, Current TV, the project grew out of a failed attempt to document the "rock 'n' roll genesis of 2000"—the musical takeover by the Strokes, Interpol, etc.

"Within 18 months, that whole movement had been swallowed up—they'd all gotten pushed out or signed," says Casey. "But I was hooked on doing something regarding the immediacy of New York. I'd interviewed Justine D in regard to the earlier project, and Motherfucker made so much sense. We would be able to shoot amazing, beautiful, really professional stuff in a short amount of time—in seven months, from New Year's Eve 2005 to July 3, 2006, we shot four parties. And then I also conducted 152 interviews myself. I wanted to talk to everybody I could about the changing landscape of nightlife in New York: Moby, Andrew W.K., Tommie Sunshine, Tricia Romano, etc. They had to be done quick, because with documents of nightlife, you either want immediate or 20 years down the road. You know, look what you could be doing now—or look at what you missed."

In this case, it's the former. Motherfucker is still going strong: The most recent party took place at Eugene on Labor Day. And the movie, which clocks in at just over an hour and a half, succeeds in showcasing its continued spirit—the drag queens, the drugs, the dancing. But the administrative obstacles faced by New York's nightlife crafters continue to grow, and despite all the look-how-fun footage, that sense of gloom provides an undercurrent for many of Motherfucker's interviews.

There's also an obvious frustration apparent when talking with Casey, who says he wasn't prepared for how challenging the project would be. "Finally, my executive producer just had to tell me to stop," says the Hunter College grad. "We had over 200 hours of footage—he was like, 'You've got to make something with what you've got.' I would have liked to do more interviews, had a little more time, taped a couple more events. But you can only do so much. If it's going to be a slice of life in 2006, then that's what it is—you can't make a definitive statement in just six months."

Casey fears, however, that he missed a chance or two to do just that. "At the 2006 Halloween party, we filmed a screener of the doc, and the next day when I went to pick up my projector, the doors were locked," he says. "The Roxy didn't reopen for 10 more days. On the day they finally let me pick it up, I walked in and nothing had been cleaned up from that night. There were, like, those giant blow-up lawn decorations, like those pumpkins, still blowing by the front doors. Bottles, trash, and vomit everywhere. Michael had performed a scene from Carrie on the stage, and it was covered in fake blood. Nothing had changed from that night. I felt like I was witnessing the aftermath of the end of the world. I was like, Fuck, this is the most perfect end to the film, and the police wouldn't let me go get my camera. It was so frustrating."

Then there are the challenges presented by the medium: Regardless of how beautiful the footage is, Motherfucker's audience will still never be at the party. The music and the booze are missing, and the experience simply can't be replicated two-dimensionally. "Michael T is just this craftsman of moments, but when you're visually capturing a party, the camera stands between yourself and the fun," Casey says, pausing. "That was hard—trying to depict what I saw as the truth versus what the Mofos feel they see. If someone had been in the basement of Studio 54 with a camera, you probably would have seen that it's just a dingy basement with leaky pipes and rats. But when you read about it, you don't visualize that stuff. You're just like, David Bowie was there."

That's not to say Casey isn't happy with the finished product, as he should be—hearing what the four producers are willing to admit about each other is alone worth the price of admission. (Justine on Johnny: "I don't like how Johnny deals with certain matters, and I don't really like how he deals with me. He can be a real asshole." Michael on Justine: "She can be a little ... just adolescent-like." Johnny on everyone: "We don't always love each other.") Casey says that his first Motherfucker party—2002's Andrew W.K. fete at the Roxy—opened him up to a world he'd never experienced as the typical "downtown/Brooklyn hipster," and that his documentary is a love letter to the city he'd never seen before that night.

"Motherfucker might not necessarily be the most original idea, but it's the most true to what New York can represent in terms of nightlife—it's willing to be seedy and play great music, but also to be free," he concludes. "There's not a crazy amount of security, there's no bottle service, there aren't tons of drink specials. Those four hold fast to the old New York legacy. There's just nobody else like them."

Click here for more images and to learn about the film.



Photo credit: Jenny Askew

How we identify your Main Message

The key to an effective marketing plan is an intelligently crafted and consistently used Main Message. This must be informed by a company’s unique capabilities, its goals and an understanding of its clients and competitors. It will be the idea expressed at all touch-points: from website to portfolios, from samples to sales presentations, from PR to the way the phones are answered.

Pollock|Spark uncovers the unique strengths and goals of a company and creates a compelling and focused Main Message to be the foundation of all their communications.

Here’s how we do it for a typical creative company. This plan is fully adaptable to work for individual creative talents or for larger organizations

“Who do they think they are? And who do they want to be?”
Internal inquiry: Pollock|Spark conducts in-depth interviews with key principals/staffers to discover the company’s strengths relative to its competitors, the talents and services it offers, and their hopes and dreams. These interviews are face-to-face for best results and greatest insight. A review of the company’s work and a marketing audit are conducted.

“Who do their clients think they are, and what are they looking for?”
External inquiry: Pollock|Spark conducts telephone interviews with selected clients. These interviews will uncover their views of the company’s capabilities and their level of satisfaction with performance and product as well as whom they regard as the company’s competition.

Insights: Main Message
Pollock|Spark brings fresh eyes and objectivity to what it has learned. The company’s Main Message is crafted from our insights and is informed by our years of experience. This is not a tag line or a piece of advertising – it is an expression of the company’s unique value proposition and it will be used as the basis for all communications. In most cases it can be used as a brief “elevator speech” to describe the company. A report of the top-line findings and analysis will also be provided.

Projected Timeframe
The complete process usually takes around four weeks. The time is dependent on availabilities for interviews.

Deliverables
Main Message
Top-line findings and analysis report

Fees on request

Brainstorming sessions
Facilitated half-day brainstormings on a selected topic can be most valuable. These include such favorites as:
* Incorporating Message into the company’s DNA
* Communications/marketing planning
* Focusing the creative offering

About Pollock|Spark
Pollock|Spark, A Catalyst for Creative Businesses, is a management and strategic
consultancy that helps creative businesses to focus their vision and grow. We help make running a business fun again. To learn more, visit us at www.pollockspark.com

What Pollock|Spark clients have said:
"Michael (Pollock, Pollock|Spark) has a very strong ability to focus deeply on a company and draw out important, often overlooked, issues. His suggestions for next steps and action plans are excellent. Michael has been instrumental in helping us clearly define goals and working towards achieving them."
David Gioiella, Partner, Northern Lights

“The Pollock|Spark report has served as a trusted guide for the board of directors and the professional staff. It has helped navigate the substantial structural and behavioral changes the association has gone through, helped change the way AICE conducts its business and the way it informs and engages its membership. The difference has been extraordinary. From the attitude of the board to the renewed sense of purpose of the membership, AICE is a reinvigorated association thanks in no small part to the careful and insightful work of Pollock|Spark.
Burke Moody, Executive Director, AICE

“(Pollock|Spark) navigated a potentially difficult internal political situation at our company very well (difficult because of the self-perception differences between the partners), advertised your services accurately and delivered an analysis that is relevant, clear and integral to creating forward movement.”
David Starr, Partner, Curious Pictures

Ask us for a quote - we would love to help you.

Asking the right questions

We met yesterday with an exciting young production company that is getting set for some significant growth. Here is part of a gratifying email they wrote me today:

"Thank you so much for meeting with us yesterday. You asked many questions that we had let lurk in the shadows and pointed us in the right direction."

Yes indeed; that is what we do.

AICE "reinvigorated" thanks to Pollock Spark

A testimonial from Burke Moody, ED of AICE:

"Pollock|Spark created and conducted a survey for the Association of Independent Creative Editors (AICE), a trade association representing 130 companies and over 600 editors whose primary business is editing commercials for television, the web and cinema.

As happens in many associations, AICE had stalled and become stuck in its ways. There was a general feeling among the members that the leadership was isolated and the organization was simply not performing well. So we hired Pollock|Spark to investigate, find out what our membership really wanted, what issues were of most concern and recommend a course of action.

Since it was issued, the Pollock|Spark report has served as a trusted guide for the board of directors and the professional staff. It has helped navigate the substantial structural and behavioral changes the association has gone through, helped change the way AICE conducts its business and the way it informs and engages its membership. The difference has been extraordinary. From the attitude of the board to the renewed sense of purpose of the membership, AICE is a reinvigorated association thanks in no small part to the careful and insightful work of Pollock|Spark."


Burke Moody
Executive Director
Association of Independent Editors (AICE)

Why some ideas survive and others die

We've been writing creative briefs in the last few days. Getting the brief right - whether your client does it for you, or you do it for yourself, or to get your client on the right page - is arguably the most important factor in a job's success.


We got real inspiration from a book called Made to Stick, Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. We recommend it strongly to anyone with ideas to communicate.

Click here to buy Made to Stick

Message and positioning are a natural fit

The pollock|spark team created a positioning and message for The Cooke Center (on behalf of The Cyrano Project.) Here is what the happy client said:

“Working with (them) was a pleasure. They did not come in and impose their vision, but helped us to articulate ours. They facilitated the creation of a central message and positioning for our organization that seemed natural and organic, something that grew from who we are, rather than something grafted on.”

Michael Termini, President, Cooke Center for Learning and Development, NYC

Let us help you create or refresh your company's positioning so that you can strengthen your communications and get more business.

pollock|spark team enables stronger communications

The Pollock|Spark consultant team has created a Main Message for NFTE (working through The Cyrano Project.) The same team can bring the same level of insights and help to your creative business. Here's what David Nelson, COO of NFTE said about our strategic work for them:

"(They) worked with the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) on defining and honing our main message for communications. In the process of learning about NFTE and its work, the consultants demonstrated real understanding of our organization’s mission and came up with strategic insights which had impact beyond the message itself.

(They) helped our organization understand itself better and helped us resolve fundamental questions which are leading us to clarify our basic value proposition, as well as how we express it through messaging. This will lead us to more powerful promotion of our programs and enable us to attract more volunteers and donors over time.

I would recommend (them) to any organization seeking thoughtful analysis and stronger communications. (They) did a superb job."

Please get in touch if we can help your business clarify its value proposition and get more powerful promotion of your services.

Behavioral Marketing

A man recently offered his personal profile for sale on ebay for a minimum of $100. There were no bidders. Yet yesterday AOL bought Tacoda – one of the two big behavioral targeting networks – the price I am told worked out at $2.25 per user profile in their database. I went yesterday to the first conference dedicated to Behavioral Marketing.

There is a nice definition in the Blue Lithium literature – Behavioral Marketing "involves identifying user interest by observing their behavior online – what sites and what pages they visit, what links they click on, how they respond to certain ads and so forth."

On one portal, most of the visitors to the car buying section come to them from the religion pages. So if you advertised your car on the above mentioned religion pages you would likely reach a potential buyer earlier in the purchase funnel.

Clearly behavioral is a hot and growing category. One speaker told us that though the click-through rate is 33% lower for a behavioral than a contextual ad placement (contextual is where you put an ad for windshield wipers on the weather page when its raining), the ultimate conversion rate is 40% higher. This would be measured in the auto category by the user locating a dealer or requesting a quote.

Advertisers who use behavioral targeting are twice as happy with their banner campaigns as those who don’t, we are told. Yet advertisers 10% of their online budget seems to be as high as they are going for behavioral. What we see is that it works better for patient advertisers – they need to go a little way out of the normal direct marketing, immediate conversion, mindset.

But there is a long way to go before BT can achieve real scale. Its knowledge depends largely on those cookies that are stored by your browser. So every time you clear the cookies they have to start again. And multiple users of a browser of course create a jumbled profile. And anyway a profile becomes out of date very quickly. A buyer may be searching for a car for a couple of weeks - but after that she has probably bought one and a car ad aimed at her when she visit ivillage will be wasted.

There are attempts to link the data collected online with behavior offline and to use similar sets of metrics – but it isn’t coming easy. There is a long way to go, even for the high-end advertisers, in integrating their online efforts at any level with their traditional campaigns. Only 50% of advertisers on the last Superbowl had bought the relevant online keywords so that they would be easily found in searches by viewers who wanted to follow up.

More in a later post on what I saw as the biggest missing piece from this forum.