Steven Pressfield told James Altucher: Advertising teaches you nobody wants to read your shit so you better make it immediately compelling. He continues (paraphrased): The other thing it teaches you is how to edit. The space has constraints you need to fit in. A 60-second ad goes by FAST. People romanticize creativity as being willing … Continue reading Why So Many Creatives Have a Background In Advertising (Pressfield)
Tag: marketing
You Can’t Boil The Ocean
Welcome to January, when all of the big visions for year get mashed into the pavement by your already spinning racing tires. There’s the big stuff and the directions we’re heading in. And there’s also what exactly what we have to do next. Left foot, right foot, etc. All the way to the goals. As … Continue reading You Can’t Boil The Ocean
Brazil’s Redemptive Yellow Jersey
In 1914, Brazilian football arrived on the world stage, and faced off against England’s Exeter City. They wore all white and won 2-0. The all-white kits would be their official colors for decades - until one of the most gut-wrenching setbacks in sports history. In 1950 Brazil hosted the first World Cup of the post-World … Continue reading Brazil’s Redemptive Yellow Jersey
Oh, Misbehave (Orson Welles)
Differentiation in a nutshell, via Orson Welles: I don’t say we all ought to misbehave, but we ought to look as if we could. If a brand wants to look different, it has to be appear to be capable of doing something different (even if, at its core, it does a lot of similar things … Continue reading Oh, Misbehave (Orson Welles)
Bring It Down OR Bring Them Up?
Is it better to have Prometheus bringing the fire down to the people OR to bring the people up to the fire to take it? Should you bring a service downstream OR bring your clients upstream? I’m asking these questions because I’m thinking a lot (OK, too much probably) about agency and what puts the … Continue reading Bring It Down OR Bring Them Up?
It’s Not What You See, It’s What You Make Others See
Edgar Degas said this about making art: Art is not what you see, but what you make others see. The same goes for how we talk about our businesses. It’s not what we see, it’s what we make others see (and feel, and think, and question, and respond to, and…) h/t Jim O’Shaughnessy
Don’t Pontificate, Interrogate (Ogilvy)
A story about meeting David Ogilvy: He didn’t pontificate, he’d interrogate. By the end of dinner, he knew more about me than my own mother. Curiosity wins. Get this story (and wow am I loving all of these Ogilvy book summaries!) on Founders Podcast #169.
All Fear And No Creativity Makes Work Dull
A classic Dave Trott-ism on how people who are afraid to be interesting, working for companies who are afraid to take risks, makes for incredibly dull work. This one hits home for me right now in a big way. And not just because the fear of (finally) doing creative work in public is very, very … Continue reading All Fear And No Creativity Makes Work Dull
Their Words Are More Useful Than Your Words
If you want someone to understand something, you had better put it in terms they understand. But David Ogilvy already said it best, If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language in which they think.
Podcast Of The Week: The Hero’s Journeys In Our Lives
Tom Morgan has quickly become one of my favorite finance-adjacent thinkers. He’s got an interview with Dr. Daniel Cosby on the Standard Deviations podcast discussing his way of finding Campbell’s famous “Hero’s Journey” story structure in our personal lives. I’ve thought of this concept when working with others to overcome some obstacle, but hearing him … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: The Hero’s Journeys In Our Lives