I’m Back with New Quotes

It’s been awhile since quotes have been featured on this blog and since various sayings by interesting people are not going away I thought it time to have quotes resurface. So . . .

Creativity is no longer about grabbing attention or raising consumer awareness. Its goal is to remind consumers about what is fundamental and gratifying about a brand. — Peter A. Georgescu, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Attract attention, maintain interest, create desire and get action. — E. Elmo St. Lewis, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Regardless of the moral issue, dishonesty in advertising has proved very unprofitable. — Leo Burnett, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom while discouragement often nips it at the bud. — Alex Osborn, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Never write an advertisement which you wouldn’t want your family to read. You wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell them to mine. — David Ogilvy, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

I have come up with something that I think is a bizarre and novel method of execution. One designed to challenge your talents. — Twilight Zone’s “The Jeopardy Room” by Rod Serling stars Martin Landau and John van Dreelen.

Every area of trouble gives out a ray of hope, and the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable. — John E. Kennedy, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Meetings are all too often the burial grounds of great ideas. — Keith Reinhard, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than with the imagination being awake? – Leonardo da Vinci

Today’s marketplace is cluttered with products that are no better and no worse than their competitors. — Phil Dusenberry, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out various creative selections from ideasnmore.net.

Jolan tru!

The Season of Creativity

Photo by Joel Holland

Periodically, my friend, Felix Scardino, a psychotherapist here in Houston, publishes an email/blog that touches upon various aspects of life and its challenges. The below segment is his latest and I thought I’d share it on this blog. Learn and enjoy!

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In our winter message, The Season of Inwardness, Thomas Merton urged us to Trust the winter when the plant says nothing. He was reminding us that, although things appear dead, hidden within them are resources that lead to new life. With its burst of color and growth, spring validates that concept. Let this season be your teacher. Spring can remind you not to jump to dire conclusions when all seems lost, when you can’t see much in your future, or when you feel that your reserves have dried up.

Take a lesson from nature. Our resources for new ideas and insights are often so hidden that our lives look like dead branches. If you find yourself in a personal winter of doubt, confusion and fear (what Shakespeare calls the Winter of our Discontent), rest assured that there is a creative source within you. You will begin to see shoots of life and hope, which usher you into your spring. But be prepared to work for it!

In spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.

                                                                        ~Margaret Atwood 

‘Smell like dirt’ means be willing to do the work, take a chance, experiment, risk disapproval, fall on your face, start over! New biomedical research suggests that you will thereby activate your healing system. We feel most alive when, acting from our deepest nature, we allow what lives inside of us to come out.

Don’t wait for the big bang of colossal insights before you roll up your sleeves. Trust the “still, small voice” of your quiet inkling and hunches–not by thinking about them, but by acting on them.

Honor them, work with them, shape them as you would clay. Speak them, write them and teach them in your office and at school. Stir them, mix them and chop them in your kitchen. Hammer them, sand them and paint them in your workshop. Make bold strokes. Make a mess. You can always clean it up and start over.

Welcome spring and your new creative self!

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

Transition: At What Stage Are You?

We all go through it at one time or another in our life. For some of us, more times than we may realize. I’ve been going through a major one now for the past three years; and one before that; and one before that, and, well, you get the idea.

I recently attended a webinar hosted by my friend Peleg Top dealing with transition and creativity. Borrowing some from what Peleg presented, “Transitions can be subtle or can shake us to our core. Unless we have the tools to navigate through these challenging periods, we may find ourselves stuck and unable to move forward.

“For most of us, facing change and transition comes with much fear and anxiety. We tend to overthink the process, worrying about the unknown future and in that space we tend to forget that change has great potential for growth, innovation, and renewal. It involves developing a mindset that values flexibility, open-mindedness, and a willingness to step out of comfort zones.”

In his TED talk The Secret to Mastering Life’s Biggest Transitions, Bruce Feiler identifies three stages that represent the emotional and psychological journey we go through when we face significant changes.

This framework can apply to different types of transitions, like career changes, relationship changes, relocating to a new place, or even coping with loss.

The first stage is the long goodbye

This stage has a mix of emotions, including denial, sadness, anger, and confusion. This is a time of reflection on your experiences, your identity, the roles you played, and the expectations that will no longer be part of your life.

The key to navigating this stage is acceptance and allowing oneself to grieve for what is being lost, recognizing it as a necessary step for moving forward.

The second stage is the messy middle

This is the phase where the old has been left behind, but the new has not yet fully taken shape. This is the stage where we often encounter confusion, doubt, and questioning.

You may struggle with your sense of self, not knowing exactly who you are in the absence of the roles and identities you’ve left behind. This is a time of experimentation, making mistakes, learning, and gradually gaining clarity.

The messy middle requires patience, resilience, and the willingness to embrace the unknown as an crucial part of the transition process.

The third stage is called The New Beginning

This stage has a renewed sense of purpose, clarity, and optimism. You start to establish new routines, form new relationships, and fully engage with your new reality.

This stage is a time of growth, accomplishment, and excitement for the future. This stage  requires an open heart and mind, as well as the courage to step into the unknown with confidence.

I think I must still have one foot in the Messy Middle and the other foot in the New Beginning. However, it’s not uncommon for us to feel a presence in all three.

Next up in the webinar was a discussion of values and its two types, namely Life and Operational. Life values are those we have for the long term, what we want out of life. Operational values are those we have to attain our long term values. These traits help us get through the transitions we encounter. My three main ones are adaptability, curiosity and creativity.

From a list of about thirty or more Operational values, we were asked to pick six that resonate with us. My six: Flexibility, Competency, Honesty, Humor, Creativity and Discipline. I then narrowed these down to three that meant the most to me, namely Honesty, Humor and Creativity. Out of these, I chose Creativity, which really resonates with me.

My six Life values are: Happiness, Health, Family, Wealth, Wisdom and Fellowship. The three meaning the most to me are Happiness, Health and Fellowship, with Happiness being the one truly resonating with me.

Creativity is very important to me because it resonates with my internal being. It can lead to better times. Happiness can happen by way of creativity and flexibility. I need to further explore how best I can attain true happiness.

Borrowing again from Peleg’s webinar about creativity’s role in transition, Creativity can support us in every stage of change, offering comfort in the Long Goodbye, guidance in the Messy Middle, and celebration in the New Beginning.

Creativity has the potential  to become your true guide, Peleg says, lighting the way forward as you step into the unknown, ready for change, growing stronger and more adaptable with every transition.

So no matter what stage of change you are meeting yourself in these days, Peleg suggests your creativity is a powerful ally in this journey. Your creativity can build bridges over obstacles, turning challenges into opportunities for growth and innovation.

He concludes by saying that as you embrace your creativity as your guide, you will discover that within you lies the power to face any change, to navigate through any transition, and to emerge on the other side ready to paint the canvas of your life with the vibrant colors of your newfound insights.

Without creativity my life would be truly without merit. When I tap into my creativity, it’s like I’m tapping into my seventh sense, a new form of being. It helps me on my life’s journey to become more than I can on my own. It’s a living, breathing, vital part of my soul. It’s up to me to keep it alive.

How is creativity playing a part in your life? Have you embraced it as a vital partner?

 

Note: This post was previously published in Joe’s Journey.

 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out various creative selections from ideasnmore.net.

Jolan tru!

Spring into Spring with These Quotes

Creativity can be found in some surprising places. From advertising and computer science to art and statistics. It’s what we do with it that matters. Below are various quotes from different people expressing a feeling or an observation about how creativity has impacted them in some way, directly and indirectly. Enjoy the quotes for March as we spring into Spring.

Play by the rules, but be ferocious. — Phil Knight, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Many persons have an idea that one cannot be in business and lead an upright life, whereas the truth is that no one succeeds in business to any great extent, who misleads or misrepresents. — John Wanamaker, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

To me, mathematics, computer science, and the arts are insanely related. They’re all creative expressions. – Sebastian Thrun

I have learned that trying to guess what the boss or the client wants is the most debilitating of all influences in the creation of good advertising. — Leo Burnett, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

We pay just as dearly for our triumphs as we do for our defeats. Go ahead and fail. But fail with wit, fail with grace, fail with style. A mediocre failure is as insufferable as a mediocre success. — Bruce Barton, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. — John C. Maxwell

Be a voice, not an echo. — Anonymous

Advertising, to be successful, must understand or anticipate basic human needs and wants and interpret available goods and services in terms of their want-satisfying abilities. This is the very opposite of manipulation. — Charles H. Sandage, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Consumers are statistics. Customers are people. — Stanley Marcus, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

No moral, no message, no prophetic tract, just a simple statement of fact: For civilization to survive, the human race has to remain civilized. ~ Rod Serling

 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out creative selections from ideasnmore.net.

Jolan tru!

Kick Start Your Creativity

Some times we all need a kick in the pants to get our creative juices to start flowing. Perhaps the attachments in this post will help in that regard. I wrote these years ago in preparation for some speaking engagements. Given their nature, I’d bet they’re still valid today.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out creative selections from ideasnmore.net.

Jolan tru!

 

It’s that time of the month again . . .

. . . when we see and read what others have said that made an impact. May these quotes bring about an impact for you as well. Enjoy!

 

All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level. — William Bernbach, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. ― Thomas Alva Edison

Nothing comes merely by thinking about it. — John Wanamaker, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief. – Gerry Spence

Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses. – George Washington Carver

Reading, conversation, environment, culture, heroes, mentors, nature—all are lottery tickets for creativity. Scratch away at them and you’ll find out how big a prize you’ve won. – Twyla Tharp

Chaos is the only thing that honestly wants you to grow. The only friend who really helps you be creative. — Dan Wieden, member Advertising Hall of Fame

What we are doing is satisfying the American public. That’s our job. I always say we have to give most of the people what they want most of the time. That’s what they expect from us. — William Paley, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Advertising is what you do when you can’t go see somebody. That’s all it is. — Fairfax Cone, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. – Arthur C. Clarke

 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out creative selections from ideasnmore.net.

Jolan tru!

Creativity: Key Driver to Profitability in B2B Advertising

In my continuing effort to share pertinent information regarding the value that creativity plays in today’s marketplace, I share the following interview from LinkedIn as it relates to business-to-business advertising.

As part of a multi-year partnership between LinkedIn and Cannes Lions, LinkedIn along with its think tank, the B2B Institute, worked with the Cannes Lions as a strategic thought partner to develop the Creative B2B Lions Awards. Below are excerpts from a LinkedIn interview with Tyrona Heath, Director of Marketing Engagement at LinkedIn’s B2B Institute. It is aimed at celebrating and championing B2B excellence to drive creativity and excitement amongst B2B brands, marketers, and advertisers.

Summary:

  • Creativity is a key driver of profitability in B2B marketing and plays a crucial role in building brand recognition, differentiation, and market share
  • B2B advertising is facing a crisis of creativity, with research showing that 75% of B2B ads receive a low effectiveness rating
  • B2B brand building has a massive untapped opportunity, with significant growth potential in the marketing services industry

When you talk about creativity in B2B, it can feel abstract. Can you explain it in a tangible and relatable way?

For a long time, people have associated B2B with purely business-related content, detached from the principles that influence decision-making. However, B2B content is consumed by human decision-makers who are influenced by the same factors as any other audience. Emotion, storytelling, music, characters, and persuasive techniques are all necessary in B2B to inspire decision-making. Ultimately, it’s about creating a memorable brand that stands out and drives effective outcomes, with creativity at the center.

Is B2B advertising facing a crisis of creativity? And if so, how did we get here?

In the case of B2B advertising, there is a significant opportunity for improvement. Research indicates that the majority of B2B ads lack memorability and effectiveness. According to an analysis with our creative effectiveness partner, System1, a staggering 75% of B2B ads received a low effectiveness rating of one star out of five. These ads failed to leave a lasting impression, effectively communicate the message, or evoke an emotional response. This means they were not effective in building brand awareness or generating a return on investment.

How do you sell the need for brand building and creativity to senior marketers or budget holders?

That’s a great question, and it relates to our previous discussion about marketing to the CFO. Ogilvy Rory Sutherland once compared discussing brand with a finance director to talking about the healing power of crystals to a head surgeon. To finance-focused individuals, brand discussions may come across as fluffy and irrelevant. The best ads are effective because they better encode an association in a buyer’s memory, and brand building is one of the most powerful levers for driving business growth by building memories. We need to shift our mindset to effectively communicate the connection and value of brand building and creativity.

Continue reading →

Another Super Bowl Sunday in the Books

Well, another Super Sunday has come and gone and millions of dollars spent on items promoted to us in trying to have us believe that we need them. Most were well intended and some were pretty good. Others were a waste of money and/or talent.

The game itself even delivered a stomach-churner of an event in that the winner wasn’t known until the very last in a rare overtime. The money spent on this year’s Super Bowl XVIII was astronomical as was the price of admission. The money spent on the commercials was a tidy sum as well.

While I didn’t take time to rank the commercials I saw, I devised a list of those I thought memorable, meaning mostly positive and creative. Those I didn’t think so much of didn’t make the list, with one exception.

All told, I selected thirty spots that impressed me for one reason or another. They are listed below in no order of preference mostly in the order of appearance.

They are:

Wicked
He Gets us
Lindt
Apartments.com
Ultra-Messi
BMW
State Farm-Arnold
Nerds
Oreo
E-trade
Hellman’s
Reese’s
Jewish Hate
Dunkin
Google
Poppi
Etsy
Pluto TV
Paramount plus
Uber eats
Pfizer
Bud Light
Doritos
Volkswagen
If
HEB
United
Kia
Microsoft Copilot
Door Dash

The one exception to my list of memorable spots was indeed memorable but for the wrong reason. I’m still trying to erase it from my memory. “Dude Wipes” presented a supposedly better way to go to the bathroom, being a substitute for toilet paper. While not gross or horrendous in execution, I found it embarrassingly stupid. I won’t dwell on it because that would be a waste of virtual paper.

The nail-biter game and mostly interesting and humorous commercials made for a pleasant experience this year. Let’s hope next year’s event will be equally entertaining.

A post script here: It’s not lost on me that today is Fat Tuesday, aka Mardis Gras. May your celebrations be rich in revitalization of spirit and, for those of us preparing for Lent, be true to yourself and your inner being so that you can enjoy a more prosperous and fulfilling life.

And now, laissez les bons temps rouler!

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Ideasnmoreblog, for a different kind of playground for creativity, innovation and inspiring stuff.

And, check out various creative selections from ideasnmore.net.

Jolan tru!

Quotes – From Lee Clow’s Beard to Virginia Woolf

Leading off 2024 is this list of various quotes from those luminaries in and out of the advertising field. The quotes were selected by me from a variety of sources for the purposes of motivation, incitefullness and humor, among other things. Hope you get something out of them!

 

If you have a dream, don’t let anybody take it away. And you always believe that the impossible is always possible —Selena Quintanilla, singer-songwriter, businessperson, actor, fashion designer

Good advertising is written from one person to another. When it is aimed at millions, it rarely moves anyone. — Fairfax M. Cone, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Good agencies understand advertising’s role within the four Ps. Great ones earn the right to influence the other three. — Lee Clow’s Beard

There is no such thing as ‘soft sell’ and ‘hard sell.’ There is only ‘smart sell’ and ‘stupid sell.’ — Charles H. Brower, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Everything is reduced to facts and figures but the things that count. — George Gallup, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Every area of trouble gives out a ray of hope, and the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable. — John E. Kennedy, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Meetings are all too often the burial grounds of great ideas. — Keith Reinhard, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Creativity is no longer about grabbing attention or raising consumer awareness. Its goal is to remind consumers about what is fundamental and gratifying about a brand. — Peter A. Georgescu, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Security is mostly a superstition… Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. – Helen Keller

SO LONG AS YOU WRITE WHAT YOU WISH TO WRITE, THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS; AND WHETHER IT MATTERS FOR AGES OR ONLY FOR HOURS, NOBODY CAN SAY. — VIRGINIA WOOLF

 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out creative selections from my website.

Jolan tru!

Special Quotes and a Christmas Gift, too

This being the week before Christmas I thought it appropriate to present some special quotes for this month and to end the list with a Christmas thought. Season’s Greetings and Happy Holidays!

Neither wisdom nor good will is now dominant. Hope lies in dreams, in imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality. – Jonas Salk

Some questions don’t have answers, which is a terribly difficult lesson to learn. — Katharine Graham, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

I want to put a ding in the universe. – Steve Jobs

Let’s gear our advertising to sell goods, but let’s recognize also that advertising has a broad social responsibility. — Leo Burnett, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else’s advertising. — David Ogilvy, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

The heart of creativity is discipline. — William Bernbach, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Like the musical score, a mission statement is only as good as the performance it inspires. — Keith Reinhard, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information. — David Ogilvy, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

In writing advertising it must always be kept in mind that the customer often knows more about the goods than the advertising writers because they have had experience in buying them, and any seeming deception in a statement is costly, not only in the expense of the advertising but in the detrimental effect produced upon the customer, who believes she has been misled. — John Wanamaker, member, Advertising Hall of Fame

Christmas is more than barging up and down department store aisles and pushing people out of the way. Christmas is another thing finer than that. Richer, finer, truer, and it should come with patience and love, charity, compassion. ~ Rod Serling

 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out creative selections from my website.

Jolan tru!