What about me?

The past week or so I've been struggling to write an "about me" section for my portfolio. It is so difficult to know exactly what to write in the few short paragraphs I have to make a great first impression. I have had some advice here and there, but nothing that has really inspired me to know what to write about.  So far I have two small paragraphs that will kick off the concept of my portfolio: cookbook and account planning. I'll share with you:

Every great dish deserves the perfect hint of salt. Salt marries the ingredients together, enhancing flavor and releasing beautiful aromas. The cook’s job is to find the right amount of salt that equals the perfect hint.
Every well-crafted creative brief is motivated by brilliant key insights. The account planner’s responsibility is to discover those insights within the research findings. These insights infuse inspiration into the minds of the creative team when they dive into the brief.

What do you think? Does it make sense? Do you make a connection between cooking and account planning?
Now from here I need to talk about me. It is so difficult to talk about yourself. Do you have any experience with this? My "about me" isn't just about me. It has to demonstrate who I am as a future account planner. I was told I need to talk about how I think digitally - since the digital world is so important in the way we communicate.  I understand why I was told that, but I want to tell more - like what inspires me and my interests. As I have expressed before, I think it is important to know someone on a personal level if you are going to know them on a professional level. The two intertwine and work together. I've always been told that it is important to leave personal life out of work life, but there is no possible way to keep the two completely separate. How many times do we come home and talk about work at home? Or how many times we talk about home at work? It probably happens more than we think.

With that said, I'm just stuck. I have an informational interview tomorrow to review my portfolio and I would really like a rough draft by then. Ufta!

I'm open to suggestions/advice if you have any. :)

Love.

Today is another beautiful day. Praise the Lord! 

So, what is account planning?

 I have been getting a lot of "what is account planning?" questions since I started this blog. I haven't blogged in awhile, so I thought this would be a good time to further explain account planning. Today I'm blogging from a sun-filled deck looking out onto ocean blue water. Ocean blue water in Minnesota? It's possible with the help from a beautiful pool liner!

Account planning is all about looking to the consumer to help develop advertising. The importance of research has really grown. In the 1990's account planning was booming in the U.S. as advertising agencies realized that this new department was just as essential as the creative department. When I was doing my research on account planning I came across a paragraph from Wikipedia that I think does an excellent job describing the position and importance:

 "The ultimate goal of the planner is to work with consumers as partners in the process of developing advertising. This relationship with the consumer allows planners to involve their input at every stage of the process and to inform and inspire creative ideas that guide and validate the resulting campaign in the consumers interests. Planners are the “consumer’s representative” of the account team. According to Jon Steel advertising can exist without account planning, but planners add an element of creativity to the advertising mix. They are typically people who are interested in meeting people and talking to the consumers. Planners want to find out what makes people tick and use that market information and research data to guide the campaign process. It is the planner’s job to take all this information and funnel it down into a short idea that helps inspire and directionalize the creative department." 

I wanted to write my view/definition of account planning but I really couldn't find a better way to explain it than the paragraph from Wikipedia. The only point I want to clarify from the paragraph is the "short idea" it talks about. This "short idea" is what I call (and many others) an "insight". Insights are the most important thing that come from all the research account planners conduct. Ultimately, account planners are searching for some insights that will help kick off the campaign. Insights give direction for the creative brief and should inspire the creative team to develop a great campaign.

I hope you don't feel cheated that I used Wikipedia's description for account planning. It was so well written that I had to refer to it in this post. There will be plenty more posts that I will write about account planning from my perspective, so stay tuned.

Here's a great image that illustrates account planning:

Photo credit: Royal Society of Account Planning

A side note- The past two weeks I have had several interviews with a company based in Minneapolis. The position starts out as a marketing intern with the possibility of filling a full-time marketing position after the internship. I was so happy to hear about the possibility of a full-time position!  There is room for me to grow within this company and plenty of opportunities for me to bring new ideas/perspectives. Prayers lifted and fingers crossed!

Enjoy this beautiful day!  

Love-

I'm on a horse.

Lately I have been really disappointed in so many new campaigns. 

But then I saw Old Spice's "Smell Like a Man, Man." The first commercial I saw from this campaign was "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like." I could not stop giggling. I immediately got online to see if it had gone viral. Sure enough, the commercial was on YouTube and spreading around the internet like a wild fire. I wanted more - I could care less that this was for a men's product. The next ten minutes was devoted to replaying this commercial. Bravo, W+K, your target was intrigued.

Wieden+Kennedy is the genius behind this campaign. The target audience was men and women - according to the ad agency, a first since Old Spice relaunched its brand. Searching around the world wide web I found that I'm not the only one loving this refreshing campaign. This writer (a girl) also found it amusing. Of course, the campaign budget was a good chunk of change, so W+K had a bit more liberty in creating the commercials. Blending physical and digital made my favorite spot possible. Here you can see the making behind "The Man You Man Could Smell Like." It's a bit long (19:36), so watch at your own discretion.

The stud, that all of us girls want our men to smell like, is Isaiah Mustafa. I heard his acting career has experienced a little boost since his appearance with Old Spice (I can't imagine why). 

I would LOOOOVEEE to see the insights that inspired and lead the creatives to these successful executions. It is so interesting to me to see the insights account teams identify from extensive research that is conducted for campaigns - especially successful campaigns, like Smell Like a Man, Man. Hey, @WiedenKennedy, can you release those insights and the research findings? I'm sure that I am not the only one that would be interested to see what you stumbled upon! Enlighten us! 


Do you enjoy this campaign (especially the spot with Mustafa) as much as I do? I'd love to hear your reactions. 


That's all for now. It's time for some relaxation with a hint of Dave Matthews on Blu-Ray and a glass of cab - something my love and I really like to indulge in!


Love.
I'm on a horse.

Shake that booty

This morning the Today show had a segment on Glamour magazine using "real" women in its latest issue. Two models and a Glamour editor were interviewed about what it is to be "plus size" in our society. In the modeling world, if you are over size 8, you are considered to be a plus size model. The two models (who are sizes 10 & 12) spoke up about growing up being insecure with their shape and curves. Society puts a lot of pressure on girls to be rail thin.  The skinnier you are, the more beautiful and desirable you are. They both explained the realization they came to after high school that there is nothing wrong about having a curve here and there. It's about feeling confident and being happy with what you have. It's important for me to make this clear: these women were not talking about it being ok to be obese or unhealthy. They eat healthy and exercise daily. Their point was that being super skinny is not the most beautiful body - it's being healthy, confident, and happy in what you have. Take a look at the article interviewing a couple of the multi-sized models in the cover shoot for Glamour.

This segment was so good. It is so frustrating how society, Hollywood and the media have shaped the way we define what is beautiful. I have an issue with Adobe Photoshop. On one hand, it's an amazing program to have to edit and create. On the other, it can be so damaging and harmful. Have you seen Dove's Evolution on YouTube? So powerful. It really captures how powerful Photoshop is. Every image in a magazine, online, in a book, etc are edited in Photoshop. Those images are not raw images - unless noted. Dove has done an amazing job at speaking out about what beauty is with its Campaign for Real Beauty. 

 Photo credit: Dove

I had an instructor tell me that he is dreading the day that his little girl is old enough to pick up magazines because he knows the truth behind the "fake" images she will be exposed to. He said he wants her to grow up confident in herself and not affected by the media's definition of beauty. Impossible. This really effects him because he once was the person behind the edited photos you see in the magazines. He knows how shifted, erased, increased, decreased, smoothed those images become after a little Photoshop session.

I think Dove started a trend.  A trend of using real woman of all sizes and shapes. It's been slow for our society to catch on. But I think that the more magazines and other media begin publishing images of women of all sizes, the more it will catch on. It is so inspiring that Glamour is making an effort to change the models they use in photo shoots. I hope the trend continues to build momentum and it become the norm - no longer a trend. 
This issue of confidence and image is important to me. I've struggled with it all my life and continue to. I really try to be confident, but always have my low days. It's important to remember that my hips (love handles are really what I call them) are part of who I am. God has blessed me with good health through my entire life and I need to be thankful for that.


My hope is that this post touches you or helps you touch someone you know that has low confidence or self-image issues. It isn't about how skinny you are or how many sit-ups you do in a day. It's about loving what God gave you. If you have a booty - shake it. If you have some hips - show them off. Your figure is unique to you. Make healthy choices and exercise. Live a healthy lifestyle and love the body you have.

That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed the weekend and feel rejuvenated for this week.

Love.


PS I'm leaving you with some instructions on how to shake your booty. Credit to ehow.com. Enjoy.

Things You'll Need:

• Booty Shorts
• Hip/Hop Music
• Internet Access
  
  
  
  
  Step 1
  Start to stretch first.  Make sure you get in a decent stretch, after all booty shaking is a serious business. Bust it down low.
  
  Step 2
  Make sure your booty is loose. Shaking your booty will be a lot easier once your warmed up. Spread your legs and try to in a sense "vibrate" your booty to the music. Practice makes perfect!
   
  Step 3
  Turn on some music and start to shake that booty the best you can, remember that practice makes perfect! Repeat and Upload to bootykush.com for review and feedback on your booty shaking.