Student Blogs (not there yet, after class starts)

Advertising strategy is no longer only about inspiring the creation of an ad. Today it has to inform how brands generate content, engage in the social stream, inspire participation, and create cohesion across all media. Likewise, creative concepts are no longer limited to the art and copy-based executions that defined creativity in the traditional media of TV, print and outdoor. They now include digital experiences, gaming dynamics, mobile utility, Facebook apps, crowdsourcing and experiences that connect the digital world and the real world.

 

In this course you will study, dissect, analyze and conceive creative ideas that include traditional advertising, but that emphasize social media, digital platforms, mobile apps and platforms and gaming dynamics to understand how brands connect with consumers in the new age of participation. 

 

By the end of the semester you should have a broader definition of “creative” and some experience in generating ideas that take into consideration consumer participation, the role of influencers, the value in branded utility, and the importance of emerging social platforms.

Objectives for the course or why we are here

·     Learn to think, solve, create

·     Expand your definition of advertising creativity and possibilities

·     Understand the new roles and teams in the modern creative process

·     Practice generating creative ideas, working as teams

·     Get better at evaluating yours and others' work

·     Push yourself beyond the basics of traditional art/copy advertising ideas

 

Some background to frame our thinking

The consumer has changed.  She no longer reads and listens but instead creates, shares, connects and filters.

Technology has altered the way we interact with brands and content.

Media has evolved -- it is less about connecting brands and content to consumers and more about connecting consumers to each other.

Print is dying. Platforms and experiences are becoming more important.

New models, technologies and means of engagement are creating opportunities and challenges that can’t be solved with ordinary ads.  

--Conversation strategy allows brands to connect directly with consumers, without an intermediary channel.

--Transmedia story telling adds a level of complexity that reflects consumers’ own media behaviors.

--Hyper-connectivity, the only real trend that matters, elevates the influence of peers, informs decision making, and places new kinds of pressures on brands.

--Freemium, a model now used by everyone from iPhone games to music platforms (Spotify) to media properties (NY Times) is replacing advertising and even direct response due to its cost efficiencies.

All of the above calls for new kinds of strategies and new kinds of creative solutions.

It demands that “creatives” expand their repertoire and requires strategists and media planners to think of themselves as idea generators.

The next generation of strategists and creatives will require far broader set of skills and the ability to think like a T-Shaped person if they’re to conceive ideas that are both relevant and remarkable.

 

Class Structure and Expectations

 

This course takes into consideration that four key qualities determine professional success in the advertising or related industries.

 

--problem solving

--creativity and idea generation

--the ability to express those ideas orally and in writing

--teamwork and collaboration

 

It should go without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that qualities like punctuality, meeting deadlines, showing initiative and taking responsibility are also essential.

 

What you’ll do

Attend class:

We meet but once a week, so attendance is mandatory. Missed classes will lower grades by half a grade per class. Three missed classes lead to an F.

 

Actively participate:

A teacher can’t really teach creativity, students have to learn it by exercising their thinking and doing muscles. We can only be successful if you play an active role in class, engaging, debating, asking questions, contributing to the conversation.

 

Write (to help you think and analyze):

Creatives and strategists have to express their ideas well. As part of our learning you’ll maintain a blog and post a minimum of 13 weekly blog posts (approx 400 words) with links and appropriate embedded content in fulfillment of assignments. Example: find an innovative transmedia campaign, identify objective, back out audience/community, determine strategy, assess creative.

 

Present

Over course of semester each of you will make three or four stand up presentations of that week’s blog post content and findings.

 

Maintain an Idea Book and generate creative solutions

I haven't totally figured this out yet, but am inspired by Professor Deb Morrison at U of O and her book on the creative process.

 

Develop campaign(s):

Work over the course of the semester will include individual assignments and a semester long team project.  The latter will consist of developing insight, strategy, driving brand idea, and campaign elements that include social media, mobile, experiential, utility and advertising.

Work/think/create all the time:

Creating and thinking doesn't happen in an allocated three hour time slot once a week. Nor does it occur during the hours you schedule to do "homework." It is a way of being and living. You want to learn to observe, discover, capture and develop creative ideas all the time. Inspiration is in the books you read, the movies you see, the museums you visit, the subways you ride. Learn to be open to it.

 

Grading is based on the following

Participation and engagement:   150 points

Weekly blog posts:                      150 points

Stand-ups                                    150 points

Idea Book/Creative Ideas            150 points

Semester project                         400 points   

--100 for strategy

--100 for big idea

--100 for campaign

--100 for presentation

 

900—1000 = A

750—900 = B

600—750 = C

500—600 = D

Below 500 (don’t even think about it)

 

How the semester will go. Guest speakers are confirmed in most cases, but could always cancel on us at the last minute.

January 23:  The End of Us and Them

The transition from Bernbach to Zuckerberg

 

January 30: Strategy in the age of participation

What is the brief, what does it look like, what does it inspire?

Guest:  Kelsey Hodgkins, digital strategist planner, Mullen (confirmed)

 

February 6:  Is the big idea dead or alive?

Do we need them? Integration vs cohesion.

Guest:  Dave Weist, Tim Vaccarion, ECDs Mullen (VW, Cadillac, Jet Blue, Google) (confirmed)

 

February 13: Social from within

Being social vs using social

Guest: Daniel Stein, CEO and Founder of EVB, creator of Elf Yourself and Facebook Studio (semi-confirmed)

 

February 22 (Tuesday make up)

I am away this whole week: maybe a work session and visiting creative to work with students? With or without BU faculty person to help? Other idea?

 

Week 27:  Transmedia story telling

Complex narratives that inspire participation

Guest:  Helen Klein Ross, Founder Brand Fiction Factory, Betty Draper on Twitter (confirmed)

 

March 5:  Strategic and creative in the mobile space

Where on the funnel?  Adding value through utility.

Guests:  Mike Schneider, author of LBS for Dummies, Chief Innovator at Allen and Gerritson; Brenna Hanly, mobile catalyst and strategist at Mullen

 

March 19: Learning from the individual

What we learn from Gary Vaynerchuk, Sheena Matheiken, et al

Guest:  Sheena Matheiken, founder/creator The Uniform Project

 

March 26: Creating experiences and owning the media

Go Mo, Shocking Barack, Chalkbot

 

April 2:  Crowdsourcing

A marketing and creative tool/strategy

Guest:  John Winsor, Founder/CEO of Victors and Spoils (confirmed)

 

April 9: Inventing things

The importance of technology, innovation and APIs

Guest:  Matthew Ray, Creative Technologist

 

April 16: Thinking Small

Make great stuff with small budgets

Guests:  Michael Bourne, SVP Social Media and Michael Ancevic, SVP/CD on Olympus Camera’s Will it Blend, Pen Ready and Tough

 

April 23:  Do brands need a soul?

Having a purpose. Richard Branson, Alex Bogusky, Simon Mainwaring

Guest:  Scott Henderson, Founder of Rally the Cause

 

April 23:  Bringing it all together

Presentations from semester long projects

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Required Texts

 

I am assuming that you have read most of the current flavor-of-the-month ad texts (such as The Idea Writers by Teressa Iezzi and Squeeze This, by Luke Sullivan) so rather than mandate texts, it is strongly advised that you read the recommended books as they will help you understand consumer trends (Shirky), sharpen your approach to problem solving (Brown), give you a sense of where creative and storytelling is going (Rose), enhance your understanding of the elusive creative idea (Johnson), and help you sharpen creative skills (Barry).

Other:

Blog from a young guy who comes up with an idea a day for a brand.

Ideas start out as fragile barely formed ideas. The process of creativity needs to be understood and revered. Steve Jobs tribute from Johnny Ives.

 Tim Brown, IDEO, on creativity and the importance of play