Everyone knows it. It’s been beaten to death. It happened for all the right reasons. My old agency and I just weren’t a good fit. We were going in super different directions. It doesn’t make them a bad agency; far from it. I spent all my waking hours promoting them, which I couldn’t have done if I hadn’t believed they were really great people.
But digital and general direct response are different worlds, and since the agency and I were divided on which direction we, as a group, ought to take, there was a split.
Well, for future reference, I rather think it’s time we put it in perspective, captured the bigger picture, and moved forward in improving the DR industry.
Besides, I have this afternoon made a commitment to a very awesome client, and I have more important things to do with my time than waste it pontificating about the folks in DR who don’t wish to immerse themselves in new media. They’ll “get it” when they get it, right?
Anyhoo, I am way stoked about my new client. The product, which I may have the opportunity to tell you about later, is way effective. The folks I’m working with are spectacular. I’m beginning a long, tall pour of effort, diligence, passion, and discernment for this company, and I couldn’t be more pleased.
Honestly, in this business, it’s important to work with people you admire, trust, and genuinely like. And it’s equally important to promote only the products you find effective, efficient, useful to consumers, and truly marketable. If you hit all those bases as an ad dude, you are lucky beyond lucky. So, I’m intensely grateful that one of my first endeavors is such a home run. =-)
My good old friend Courtney Varner, a.k.a. Mr. Random Entity, threw up another post about my getting fired story. With bonus coverage of flying car developments! Like, as in, actual flying cars, not new media.
Courtney, or Kitty, as he’s known in (less) certain circles, is a bitchin’ designer and a really cool dude. Check out his site.
Dudes. Be nice. Ask for permission before you gank and syndicate my videos! I can’t afford the stamps for the cease and desist letters as it is. Douchebags.
So, yes. It’s a 64-page volume of amazing poetry and bitchin’ layouts. It’s an amazing gift for the tortured soul, thoughtful literary type, or angsty youngster in your acquaintance. It’s also a beautiful piece of independent art, and you should own a copy before I get too famous. Paypal $15 per copy to juniperpress@gmail.com, and your copies will ship within 1.5-2 weeks.
Love you dudes ever so! You make the days worth waking up for. =-)
And something to share with all you: When I get down and feel had, this is the song and the film that make me believe in self-preservation, perseverance, and a realistic kind of optimism. Hope you enjoy! Blonde wigs FTW.
Marty shares my deep frustration with direct response marketers not “getting it.” I’ll never know exactly why I got fired. The reasons behind it were probably a little bit cultural, a little political, and very much technological. The tech adoption gap loomed wide between the decision-makers and the younger group of me and several colleagues, and it became a huge disconnect culturally. When mistakes were made, deadlines were missed, departments fell into mismanaged chaos, and someone had to be thrown under the bus, it’s not surprising that the “Squeaky Wheels Geek Club” was scrutinized before any managers were.
So, of course life is unfair, but it’s also terribly instructive. I’ve learned a great deal over the past two weeks, and I can honestly say that being fired (for all the right reasons) was the best career move I’ve ever made. I’ve learned that optimism isn’t always unjustified; that for every nine people who don’t “get it”, the one who does will seek you out and be your advocate as you would be his; that tech isn’t absent from an industry just because it’s not visible; and that hard work can pay off in the funniest ways.
Speaking of hard work, you may know I’m starting a new venture of my own. Several of them, actually. There’s the blogging/vlogging. There’s consulting. There’s ad mag writing. There’s web and interactive design and production work. And there’s a super-secret mobile project I’m working on. I could tell you, but you’d have to sign a nondisclosure agreement.
But I tell ya, I could always use more work. I think this is the part in the movie where I start screaming…
[wait for it]
Long story short, if there’s any way you and I can show one another some money, I will work tirelessly, passionately, and creatively for you. Get in touch with me; tell me about your products, projects and dreams; and let’s start collaborating.
And if you don’t think the title is apt, the photos put the proof in the pudding.
I’m safe at home in Los Angeles after a grueling week at Response Expo in San Diego. By “grueling”, of course, I mean “awesome in a nonstop activity kind of way.”
Ok! So the deets on the closing night parties. We kicked off at 6:30 at the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. It was awesome. There were theatrical, grown-up-type clowns. They were actually really cool people, mostly Burning Man types. There were dino bones. There was a string quartet. Full photoset is available, but here’s a representative sample:
And I did find Swag That Will Change Your Life. Visible World, the provider of the suck WiFi, also provided some not-suck Magic Eight Balls. Is that not awesome?*shake shake shake* “No Doubt About It”
Then, when mostly everyone was at least halfway plastered, people started making their way to dinner and other events. Me, I went with assorted dudes from Moulton, Litle, Venable, and Response Magazine to the Hard Rock. I’m pretty sure everyone drank too much (just enough?) because the pics are astounding. Again, you can view the full photoset, and I’m also providing memorable highlights:
Also, a big apology to everyone for accidentally dousing the firepit with my gin & tonic. I’m a douchebag.
Finally, I must send out a ginormous thank you to Tom & John for putting together a fantastic show and allowing me to slap on a press pass and cover it all. I had a great time, got to chat with some amazing people, and was very impressed with the quality of the sessions and speakers. In short, Response Expo was a superfantastic opportunity for me and everyone else who attended.
Three videos from my chat with Livemercial’s VP for mobile, the super-cute Jonathan Starets. We dish about his agency’s proprietary payment-processing WAPs, which he claims are totally scalable, and the heavy commerce he’s helping clients generate through text-to-buy programs and upsells.
I got down with MTV at Response Expo afterparties last night. There was a bathtub full of ice & chilly bottles of champagne. That’s a very slight exaggeration.
An open letter to John and Tom re: the fucking weather:
Dude! John Yarrington thought it would be awesome to have Hawaiian fire dudes. It was awesome. He was right. Plus, the fire added some heat to the otherwise frigid outdoor tempurature.
Also, there were the dancing girls (click for full photo set):
But seriously, a recap of Wednesday’s findings:
And I leave you with the Penis Pen Swag, courtesy TNS Media Intelligence. I was all like, dudes, your swag is a cock&balls. And they were all like, we know. Totally deadpan. I hope they fire the dude who ordered these:
After the official fete in Seaport Village, the lucky couple hundred special guests of ad agency Euro made their way to a little bar not far from the Hyatt. The exclusivity of the party was hyped a bit; however, a little more exclusivity couldn’t have hurt. The place was packed, and the volume of conversation was forced to bellowing levels by the time I arrived.
The locale was pretty hip, but the lounge music-playing live band was decidedly out of keeping with everything else about the event.
All the photos are available, but here are a few to whet your appetite for buzzed ad peeps clutching drinks and grinning blindly into a flash in hopes that the shots will appear in Response Magazine.
But first, I have at least 6 pics of Adam C. making THIS EXACT FACE through various levels of inebriation over several days. It’s his “Blue Steel.” And when you look through drunken party photos, as I have been doing all morning, consistency can be a saving factor.
Rich Contrino had some cool things to say about testing mobile. He definitely stood out in the crowd. In fact, he’s the only full-service DR agency I’ve spoken to that is currently testing mobile. After this chat, he also noted that finding a scalable solution for mobile payment processing is probably the biggest obstacle to a boom in mobile commerce, echoing the sentiments of Fassil from AdMob.
Ken Osborn of Liquid Focus talks to me about digital marketing for direct response, slightly knocks mobile marketing, talks about convincing agencies to adopt new tech.
