Scott Westerlaken

Collaboration is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together in an intersection of common goals — for example, an intellectual endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus. Most collaboration requires leadership, although the form of leadership can be social within a decentralized and egalitarian group. In particular, teams that work collaboratively can obtain greater resources, recognition and reward when facing competition for finite resources.

Having worked in communications through two large recessions I know that the companies that survive are the ones that can adapt to the conditions and own them….. I When times are good, we don’t think to much of a client sending one piece of a project to someone else, yet when times are tight we fight like mad to keep all the biz internal….whether or not it might be a good for the clients needs.

As the economy is starting to come to life like a 1976 Chevy pickup one defining practice will be how companies learn how to collaborate with each other.. especially with their competition… WHAT?! Really…  Think about it.  Take your best competition and their best resources and combine them with yours.  Not only do you benefit but so does your client and you gain a completive edge over any other competition!  This idea came to me a few months ago.  I was doing a SWOT on a new start up and one advantage I targeted was the ability to be able to offer varied solutions to clients based on their needs rather than the start ups offerings…a true reversal of “build it and they will come.”

I also looked at the main competition; small one to five person operations with small operating budgets and internal resources.  This was key, as the experience of the start up organization was competing against 5 to 30 person operations with operating budgets of .5 to 3 million and a vast array of internal resources..  Now imagine my glee when I thought of a company that could pick the best of another, combine with its own best attributes and offer it to clients.  Fantastic!

There are the sphincter tightening moments as you might imagine!  The moments where you feel so exposed that you wondered why you thought an idea was great in the first place!  One of my associates looked over at me during the first project we did this on and said “you got balls man…you realize they could steal this client like no ones business?” Ummmmm yeh…. But I had to have faith that the client could see the value we were bringing to the table and at the same time the competition would see the lack of value by stealing the client as it would end any more collaborations.

Now imagine if larger companies stared collaborating in the same way!  The resource power would be incredible…but here is the issue holding organizations back… A company’s ability to collaborate externally is parallel to how well they collaborate internally.  Look at any number of teams or divisions within a company and there will be issues with how they collaborate with one another…do they all fall on the sword when mistakes are made or do they all duck for cover? Not a good scenario for an external collaboration.

Regardless of how you believe this may or may not work for where you are now, one thing I believe is certain, a company’s lack of fear for collaboration will enhance its prospects of success.  No fooling, it is hard to do you and full of risks.  Clients, I believe, will appreciate that you are looking after their best interest and for the best solutions to their issues…. Now who is next?

SW

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

There were a few surprise ads on the reel I had not seen and that blew me away, some that didn’t grab me and some that just left me shaking my head wondering why they rated so high.

The highlight 60 sec. TV spot for me was from Volkswagen. They received a gold TV win for “Dog-Fish”. I loved it on many different levels. The story telling was really well done, the acting was good, but the Visual Effects were fantastic.

Surprisingly, it didn’t win Gold for Visual Effects, that went to Evian “Rollerbabies”, which I find the close up’s of the babies looked really fake.

Truthfully the Evian ad is cute the first time you watch it then it gets more annoying each time around.

The other ad that made me go hmmm was the Nokia N96 gold winning ad “Bruce Lee-ping pong”

Interesting scene, got my attention…but really a Gold for telecommunications? It had me really wanting to see more “Bruce Lee” doing his thing rather than the two folks he was playing….Yet more Hmmmm..

There were some beautiful animation ads this year in the silver category. The Scrabble campaign “Sumo”, “Hula” and “Yoga”. All three also won a silver for original music. I like the ads but personally wonder how well they did for brand and sales.

Bakers Biscuits “Precious Biscuits” spot (silver for animation) was beautiful, but again, I hope it did something for the brand….

Another disappointment, but for different reasons was the Silver winner for Direction, Tampax, “Zack Johnson”. I really think it deserved a gold. The story telling and characters were great.

In a reverse of what the trend has been for years, the Public Service winners over all were a little week. I did like the Gold winner ECPCAT “Child Pornography”, but the silver winners Shelter, “House of cards” , Women’s Aid “Cut” and Anti-Knife Crime (OMG, really?) “Cribs” seemed weak to me.

What grabbed my attention this year was the “New” category. A “New” category?! “Entries for The NEW Category are for work that merges the power of an original idea with a relevant compelling execution. Emotionally inspirational, imaginative work, effectively creating new dialogues, creating new spaces of interaction, altering perceptions, setting new benchmarks that invite and reward at every level of engagement.”

All the winners were fantastic in execution. You got to love clients that are willing to reach out a little…The Grand LIA went to Fiat eco: Drive interesting but I loved a few others more.

“The best job in the world” by Tourism Australia really blew me away when I first heard about it and it still does.

Also the AC/DC Black Ice idea was interesting, especially the Excel spread sheet video…yup, you have to see it to believe it.

The Excel sheet can be downloaded here: http://www.acdcrocks.com/excel/

This category gave me hope that marketers are moving towards an evolution in advertising…when viewers get to a point that they don’t see advertising as advertising…..

All the winners can be found on the LIAA website, http://2009.liaentries.com/winners/ and it’s well worth a look through.  What have presented is just a very small snippet. Would love to hear back on what you liked out of the show!

SW

Scott Westerlaken

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

or Greyhound.

All of which debuted during economic recessions.

In difficult economic times people want good news.  They want that feel good feeling. They need a friendly brand they can lean on and feel good.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see updated versions of “The Waltons”, “Family Ties” or “America’s Funniest Home Videos”…oh wait that one is still on air!  Of note though, all were created when a down-turned economy left folks wanting to feel better.

So what does it mean?  It means we should be ready for lots of heart-warming family value spots and scheduled programming that reflects the times. It also means that if your marketing is not paying attention to what is going on in the typical family then you might be missing out.

SW

Scott Westerlaken

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

Scott Westerlaken

Recently I had a conversation with someone who was bragging about their camera system and needing just one more lens to have a complete kit.  I asked her if she had tried the full frame model from the same camera manufacturer she currently used.  She replied that she had that model.  Thinking that she didn’t understand, I asked her again. “Have you tried the 22 megapixel full frame version of that brand?”  She repeated that was the one she has  “BUT it wasn’t 22 megapixel, it’s a 10 megapixel, 35mm SLR.”  I started to explain the different sensor sizes then stopped…why should I?  This person shoots stills for her clients now and bills them for doing so.  She should know the gear right?

As equipment becomes better and more affordable I am clearly getting more confused over what constitutes a pro photographer or videographer, or am I?   Does act of selling or be paid for your work make you a pro? Does it mean that you can now go around saying you are a “pro photographer” or “videographer” even if you don’t know the basics taught in first year photography or film school?  Not to say these folks don’t get great shots, but I have always thought there was more to being called a “pro” than that.  If I performed CPR on someone, does that make me a Doctor?

SW

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

Chad Wiesner

Having recently become self-employed as a sales and marketing advisor, I have learned how easy it was to take a steady salary for granted.  After 17 years working in the corporate world, a regular income with benefits was definitely earned but, I admit, sometimes taken for granted. Now don’t get me wrong, I have always counted myself among the lucky ones to have worked for companies that have enabled me to develop my career and grow professionally. I’ve learned a lot about how businesses work and the types of people it takes to make them successful.  For that education, I am very grateful.

As an entrepreneur, taking the risk to be self-sufficient and starting something new is, I believe, a commendable career path. I think many people today have either lost sight of, or just don’t have an appreciation for, the contribution that entrepreneurs of all types have made to our province and our country.  They are the backbone of our economy.

So, I must say that I was amused (and somewhat bewildered) to hear about a recent poll conducted among university students.  The poll revealed that the majority of students graduating expected to make at least $42,000 per year at their very first job, and within five years, expected to be in the $70,000 per year range. Those surveyed also expected to be promoted within a year and a half of accepting their first position. Most polled felt justified in their ambitious expectations as they feel they are entitled to the best jobs by virtue of the education costs they have incurred.  Sure, it’s great that these students are so ambitious, and no doubt they are well-educated. However, it does concern me that the majority feel entitled to rapid and lucrative advancement without feeling the need to gain more than a few years experience in the workforce. It also sends a message that many believe they can simply buy their way (via degrees) to success.   Education provides a critical foundation upon which one’s career is built, but it’s worrisome that so many graduates feel a sense of career entitlement based on that alone.

So, what does this mean really?  I think we need to question whether we are doing enough in our school and university systems to cultivate the skills and mindset required to cultivate a new generation of creative entrepreneurs.  In Nova Scotia, and the Maritimes in general,  students hear over and over that our huge public debt and high taxes are reason enough for them to cut bait and head West.  Our educators need to remind students that creativity comes from within and the education you gain, coupled with ambition to build a career here at home, can make a huge difference to our economy and our future.

So, to all those graduating students this month: forget your entitlements, take nothing for granted and get out there and start something new!  You won’t regret it.

Chad Wiesner

Chad has over 17 years of marketing and sales leadership experience with corporate management roles spanning the international export, credit information, manufacturing and telecommunications industries.  A collaborative entrepreneur by nature, Chad has successfully developed and executed strategic marketing plans pertaining to branding, communications, product development and sales for both small and large companies. His “real world” business acumen has taken him from the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies to the docks of multi-national seafood companies. With an eye for detail, Chad has crafted meaningful marketing strategies and communications plans that encompass the essence of the company and the customers it serves.

Scott Westerlaken

Just a quick note that we haven’t forgotten about you!  In the past week, I have been picked up as a writer by international Blog/E-magazine Internet Evolution (http://www.internetevolution.com) and have been focused on getting my first article with them online…I promise to have a new article for the PHI blog in the next week!  If anyone would like to suggest a theme, please speak up!

Al Graham is working on a fantastic entry that is sure to enlighten and entertain and Chad is also working on another that should again raise some hackles!

Last week was also the launch to an ad we collaborated on with Wright Agency, Colin Timm and Hatch Post.  Directed by Gordon Miller, the ad is a great juxtaposition of milk and family values… love to hear you opinion!

SW

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

Scott Westerlaken

I spy on my competition.  I’m very open about it.  I do it ethically by monitoring their activity on the web (as I have written about before, http://www.phigroup.ca/blog/2010/01/narcissism-or-market-research/).  It’s all above board and such.  I consider my competition’s internet conversations to be the same as them having a conversation in a public place…they should expect to be over heard.
Recently I was sent an unsolicited email from someone who was using an automated email marketing “solution” and a whole bunch of issues on privacy and expectations came flooding back to me.  The email marketing “solution” in question was one I had used years earlier and truthfully kind of bothered me with all the info they collected from the recipient who opens the email. At the time I decided that it was not for “me” as I felt my clients would be upset if they ever found out.

This leads me to my biggest email pet peeves. If I don’t know you, don’t send me a blanket email asking for money for your son or daughter’s band trip to Europe.  Don’t put my email on a mailing list just because we connected on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter!  Finally, my BIGGEST….DON’T monitor what emails I did read, forward and/or the time I spent on something you sent me that I might have found interesting enough to read.  It’s MY email once I get it and if you want to know what I do with it, ask me.  With a lot of the email marketing programs this is exactly what they do, but they don’t ask!  They report back a bunch of stat’s (they vary from program to program) about who opened, blocked, forwarded (and to whom, where it starts again), how long they spent with the email open, how many times they opened it, the operating system, email program, and more.  ALL without the reader’s acceptance to share that info.  Further, they don’t even knowing that it’s happening.

I was having one of “those” days I and so opted out and finally put the keyword block on for the offending “solution”.  I tweeted this and the reaction (or lack there of) was kind of surprising.  Folks liked the offender and marketing solution they offered!  They liked being able to add people without an “opt in”!  They didn’t really care about all the data that was sent without the reader knowing or allowing.  I was blown away!  Aren’t we the same folks that get’s peeved when Facebook uses our data and info without our knowledge?!

A friend emailed about why I took the actions I did as they were about to recommend the same “solution” to their client.   I explained my feelings on “opt in” and having people know exactly what info they are giving to someone else, rather than not telling or hiding it.  They are reconsidering now…I felt a little better about her “reconsideration” though I know it’s probably too tempting for the client…and if they don’t do it their competition will.

So, here I am.  Feeling like a lone crusader once again… Feeling that if we knew “all” the info that was being collected with those fancy HTML emails (and I know I don’t know what the “all” is) we would be darn upset!  Maybe not…. I know my solution for now is to block certain company keywords…maybe next it will be HTML…

SW

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

Scott Westerlaken

Despite popular opinion to the contrary, the Internet has not killed traditional TV advertising as a viable medium to promote products and services. In order to survive though, the network and local station approach to TV advertising that has to change in order to improve viewer engagement.

It’s no secret that ad revenue is WAY down.  Now part of this is the Pull(getting the programming you want now) versus Push (you watch what the network broadcasts) of the under 40 generation. Looking at this from a bigger picture, this is not the first time a medium has faced adversity and survived.  Think of the theatres during the eighties and the VHS revolution then radio with tapes and 8 tracks.  They all survived by figuring out the core value of their proposition, experience and entertainment.  TV can still AND IS doing that! The true reason TV is suffering is because the Networks and mostly the Local Stations are killing their own business by running bad ads, thus ruining the package for the audience.

Fundamentally we don’t mind watching for ads. Come on, think about it!  There are a number of tv shows that show nothing but the best or funniest ads from around the world.  Every year the Cannes and London International Awards reels tour major city theatres.  People will actually go to a theatre of all places to watch ads!  People don’t hate advertising, People LOVE advertising, if it’s GOOD!

Every time the networks and more importantly the local stations run a bad ad, they are in essence running a bad show.  In doing so they are forcing the viewer to look in other places for what they want, entertainment!

One quick cure for this is to treat the ad space with the same value as they treat the rest of the air time for programming.  This now puts a greater value on the space as people will want to watch (just like the show they tuned into did) and could also increase the monetary value placed ON the air time!  You are also giving the audience a complete experience rather than an incomplete one.

Unless the Networks and Local Stations put a higher value on the ad space, why should the media buyers and audience?!

SW

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

Chad Wiesner

The April 6 edition of the Globe and Mail featured an article that, frankly, embarrassed me as a Nova Scotian. It’s usually a rarity that our little province even gets mentioned in the nation’s newspaper as this region is so often overlooked and underappreciated. But there it was, as bold as a Spring day, an article talking about “dirty politics in Nova Scotia” in our political “culture of secrecy and entitlement”. Political commentator Ralph Surette was quoted as saying “There’s a tradition that politics are dirty in Nova Scotia, that’s the way it’s played, and it’s only wrong if you get caught. In many ways there was a culture of corruption here.” I suppose you could just shrug it off and say oh well, that’s just the way it is. But you know what? That really isn’t good enough anymore.

I have chosen to raise my family and build my career in this region, despite the enormous tax rates on my income, my home and everything I buy. I live here because I believe it’s a great place to live and our region’s potential is equally great if we could only build the right Strategy. The “culture of corruption” referred to is the legacy of our elected politicians where each successive government blames the previous for problems they inherit and in turn, perpetuate the same mistakes. Our present NDP government came on board with a platform calling for fairness, balanced budgets and a new approach. But, within six months, they raised our taxes, cut our services and continue to make it increasingly difficult to do business and attract investment to this region. How can we lure working professionals and families to a province that progressively penalizes (taxes) them for making a good income and being successful? We need to stimulate business development and investment in Nova Scotia by lowering business tax rates and taking the burden off the backs small and medium businesses. Unfortunately those measures will be ineffective if our pay checks and every expenditure we make is taxed at a rate that is beyond sensible.

So where’s the root of the problem? Well, I would venture to guess that comes down to the fact that we are simply not electing qualified people to develop and execute our province’s Business Strategy. Our last provincial premier was a gym teacher and fiddle player before becoming an MLA and later Premier once he hit his early 30’s. Now, there’s nothing wrong with either of those professions, but in the private sector, would Mr. MacDonald even get an interview to become the leader of a business the size of Nova Scotia, managing hundreds of millions of dollars? Of course not!  Herein lies the issue: in politics or business, smart planning, fiscal responsibility and thoughtful deployment of both human and capital resources make a successful venture. To build a successful strategy for the future of our region, we need more experienced businesspeople, professionals and leaders in the provincial Assembly. Nova Scotia’s proximity to the most important logistics routes and markets in the world is such a huge opportunity. More and more cruise ships continue to call on our ports every year, but what are we doing to capitalize on that and drive more tourism into our towns and cities? What is the business of Nova Scotia’s marketing strategy? Do we even have one?

To build a sustainable future for working people in the Atlantic region, we need to stop the flow of our people West and develop opportunities right here. We need to ensure our children stay here and raise their families after attending University. We need to make this an attractive region for immigration and business investment. Without the right team of experienced people to develop, lead and execute the right sales, marketing and fiscal strategies for our Province, I fear we’ll have to hold a “going out of business” sale. It’s up to us to change the culture.

Chad Wiesner

chad@phigroup.ca

Chad has over 17 years of marketing and sales leadership experience with corporate management roles spanning the international export, credit information, manufacturing and telecommunications industries.  A collaborative entrepreneur by nature, Chad has successfully developed and executed strategic marketing plans pertaining to branding, communications, product development and sales for both small and large companies. His “real world” business acumen has taken him from the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies to the docks of multi-national seafood companies. With an eye for detail, Chad has crafted meaningful marketing strategies and communications plans that encompass the essence of the company and the customers it serves.

Do you find watching TV a little depressing lately? Well I do.

One evening of viewing and one can’t help but wonder what happened to the creative advertising industry.

Take for example the series of spots that recently aired for Lazy Boy. In each spot we are asked to believe that recliners can talk. Wow what a premise!  Can you imagine the creative brief for this one? If that unbelievable premise ain’t bad enough how about a sub oven that, under physcotherapy, confesses to being a guys parent.

Neither of these spots is funny. Some lazy bastard, or worse a group of them, foisted these pieces of excrement on the client and beat their asses home – where being creatively responsible is not a prerequisite.

Al Graham

From People or Planes 1974 Gordon Willson

Al Graham is a veteran of the advertising wars who once smoked like Mad Men’s Don Draper. He is also a veteran of many social conflict wars and has been actively involved in protesting dumps, airports, expressways and urban sprawl.