How To Ensure That You Enjoy Your Spring Break

Soo Spring Break is over for us Chapel Hill-ians? Whatever you call us, Tarheels from all over the world are returning to the wonderful campus that we all call home. But did you enjoy your break? This post is all about discussing how I believe one should spend their spring break.

Spend some time with the family.


There is NOTHING more important than family. I cherish every moment that I have with my mother, father, and brother. Yes, we are a dysfunctional bunch and yes, we probably drink a wee bit too much but that is just who we are. I wouldn’t trade my family for anything. You can always hang out with some good friends, and I understand the desire to go out to the bars in town but family should always come first. I think you get my point, spend more time with mom, dad, and siblings (even if, sometimes, you cannot stand them).

Make sure to get some good food (and drinks).

Aaahhh. Buon cibo, buon vino, e buoni amici. (Good food, good wine, and good friends) I am blessed to have a family and friend groups that like the same things that I like. My brother and I are constantly searching for some good eats—but don’t you dare call us foodies. Name a restaurant and we have either been there or are planning on going. Over this break I have eaten at some of my favorite places; Undici in Redbank, Novecento in SoHo, Tommy’s in Seabright, etc. I am a little upset that we didn’t visit any New York Speakeasy’s, but we should save that for summer, right?

Secure an internship before you leave for home (and brace yourself for the new adventure).

Well, you are probably thinking, easier said than done Dan. BUT this is incredibly important to ensure a carefree spring break. If you know me, you know that I am constantly worrying about EVERYTHING. Finding an internship before break just allows you to relax a bit more. I am interning at one of my favorite advertising agencies of all time, Ogilvy and Mather. Landing a great internship will not only relax yourself but also your parents. GET AN INTERNSHIP (or at least apply to some great places). You never know who might fall in love with you.

Learn some new things and do things that you wouldn’t normally do

This spring break I spent a lot of time researching living in the city (New York) because I cannot wait to work there. Research is important. Hold on a second, let me repeat that; RESEARCH IS IMPORTANT. IMPORTANT. Do your research because it will make your experience that much better. Whether you are interning in a big city or a small town, learn about it. Advertising campaigns rely on research to produce a campaign, why wouldn’t you?

Make the most of every moment (in a way that makes YOU happy).

This is a sort and to the point topic; make the most of every moment. Enjoy the moments that you would normally take for granted.

Drink lots of coffee (to be awake for every moment).

If you are a New Jersey native like myself, go to ROOK Coffee Roasters every morning (and afternoon). The coffee is ridiculous. I have mentioned the coffee about three times in this blog so far, that is how good it is. Don’t take this for granted, the coffee is Chapel Hill is terrible. Caribou Coffee? No thanks. Starbucks? I would rather just buy a redbull.

Line up things to do during summer break.

Make a list. Hate making lists? Me too. BUT you have to! The week of spring break will go by incredibly fast and you don’t want to miss anything. This point really lines up with making the most of every moment, but it is an important one in itself. Throw a list together before you take that flight home. Jot down everything and everything you would like to do (AND DO IT).

I hope that you read this and remember everything that I said for your next spring break. Make the most of it. Pretty soon you will not have a spring break. Don’t let others influence what you want to do, just do you. With that said, don’t hide inside all week, get out and do some different and fun things. Just go out and enjoy your break. No regrets. That is all.

OoMH: Virunga (Reviewed)

I have always been interested in learning about life.

I have also always enjoyed documentaries.

You know the saying, you have to see it to believe it, well, that is exactly why documentaries are interesting to me. If I want to learn about a part of the world I have never been to or a ritual that I have never experienced, I want to see it (and traveling isn’t usually an option).

My OoMH assigned blog post this week is to watch a documentary and report what I discover. I will be mainly focusing on the 3 questions that my professor provided, but I will, of course, add anything I seem to think is especially interesting.

So shall we begin? 

Virunga

“VIRUNGA IS THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF A GROUP OF BRAVE PEOPLE RISKING THEIR LIVES TO BUILD A BETTER FUTURE IN A PART OF AFRICA THE WORLD’S FORGOTTEN AND A GRIPPING EXPOSE OF THE REALITIES OF LIFE IN THE CONGO.”

More detail?

“In the forested depths of eastern Congo lies Virunga National Park, one of the most bio-diverse places on Earth and home to the planet’s last remaining mountain gorillas. In this wild, but enchanted environment, a small and embattled team of park rangers – including an ex-child soldier turned ranger, a caretaker of orphan gorillas and a dedicated conservationist – protect this UNESCO world heritage site from armed militia, poachers and the dark forces struggling to control Congo’s rich natural resources. When the newly formed M23 rebel group declares war, a new conflict threatens the lives and stability of everyone and everything they’ve worked so hard to protect, with the filmmakers and the film’s participants caught in the crossfire.”

What are the major elements of storytelling used in the documentary?

Multiple Perspectives/Interviews: This documentary doesn’t seem to focus on one particular person, nor is it narrated by one main speaker. Instead, you are transported inside the culture of the Congo. You hear directly from the people, reporters, investors and militias, as well as those sworn protectors of the Guerillas. This approach makes the story feel a bit more authentic, but it does not really flow as well as, say, a BBC documentary like Blue Planet–which is good and bad at the same time.

News Interviews: The documentary was frequented with what seemed like news interviews to me. These interviews were used to show how little the big companies like SOCO International (an oil company) cared about the Congo and Virunga National Park. When the interviews were over, the viewers had formed a common enemy with the makers of the documentary and were only that much more interested in finishing the documentary and even googling SOCO International to find out more (at least according to my friends that had seen it).

How does the filmmaker draw you in? I mean, really draw you in? 

Music: As you transition to a heartwarming scene the music switches to an upbeat and exciting style. The heart breaking scenes, on the other hand, feature slow and draining music styles. It is an obvious attempt at highlighting the different moods of the film but it is also an effective one.

Lighting/Contrast: Approaching the lighting much like the music, sad scenes features relatively subdued and dim lighting. I would say that the happy moments of this film were celebrated with very light and bright lighting, but there really were not many happy moments. The M23 and other rebel groups strike fear in everyone living in the area. This is something that the documentary really shines light on. With that said, there were moments of hopefulness and they were somewhat more light than those sad scenes.

Ending Text: Looking over the beautiful landscape of the Congo, the documentary ended with a few short lines of text describing what happened to a few of the Park Rangers. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but what I can say is that this was an effective way to end the documentary. It did a great job illustrating the seemingly corrupt nature of SOCO and how it alters the lives of the residents who just want to see their park survive.

Uncovering the Reality: The director does an incredible job of uncovering the truth behind how this part of the world lives. One second he will be on the battle field filming the constant struggle between poachers and protectors, the next he will be outside of town filming a memorial service for an unlucky Guerilla. You witness so much of the really goings-on that you feel much more connected to the people going through these horrors.

What idea(s) do you have to incorporate into your next presentation, after watching this film? 

Look at things from the perspective of the audience, not your own: Virunga was so well put together that it seemed to answer every question that I had when watching it. I didn’t get bored while watching either. Why? Because they included incredibly well-captured shots of the areas and people that they were describing. Some pictures/videos is worth a million words. At certain points they would just rely on the image on the screen to cause a reaction. I recall two scenes rather vividly. One was of a Guerrilla and his caretaker. You could almost feel the bond between the two. The other was when the group of townspeople were carrying a dead guerrilla after he had been attacked by poachers.

BUKIMA, VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK, EASTERN CONGO, JULY 2007: Conservation Rangers from an Anti-Poaching unit work with locals to evacuate the bodies of four Mountain Gorrillas killed in mysterious circumstances in the park, Virunga National Park, Eastern Congo, 24 July 2007. A Silver-Back Alpha male, the leader of the group was shot, three females were also killed. Two of the females had babies and the other was pregnant. The two babies were not found and it is thought that they will have died of stress and dehydration. The motivation for the killing is not known but it is suspected that there are political motivations. The local illegal Charcoal industry clashes with conservation efforts in this very poor area and Rangers have been threatened, tortured and killed as a result of this clash of political and economic wills. Over 100 Rangers have been killed in their efforts to protect the Gorrillas of Virunga, one of the world’s most endangered species. The Congolese Rangers in this particular group are working with Wildlife Direct, a Conservation organisation. The Rangers receive a salary based on donations to Wildlife Direct and perform one of the most dangerous jobs in the world of wildlife conservation. The DRC has the highest toll of human casualties of any country since the second world war, a figure in the region of 4.6 million dead as a result of war and resultant displacement, disease, starvation and ongoing militia violence. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images for Newsweek.)

Let other people speak for you: Similar to the idea that a picture is worth a million words, letting an expert or someone that experienced something firsthand talk is worth a couple million. Letting someone else speak, whether it is by playing a video or just breaking up your presentation with a few other people, can be incredibly important. I believe that was a big part of the reason why I never got distracted or bored throughout the entire film.

RUMANGABO, EASTERN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, MARCH 2012: A ranger looks out the park from a watchtower at ICCN Congolese Conservation Ranger headquarters in Virunga National Park, DRC, 9 March 2012. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Reportage for GEO magazine.)

RUMANGABO, NORTH KIVU, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – NOVEMBER 24: ICCN Director of Virunga National Park Emmanuel De Merode photographed at Rumangabo Ranger Headquarters, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo on November 24, 2008. De Merode is a tireless and courageous advocate of conservation in the DRC and has been working in the Congo since 1992. De Merode is also a Prince of Belgium and is a direct descendant of Felix De Merode who led the Belguim rebellion of 1830. After a succesful campaign Felix decline the title of King of Belguim and Leopold the 1st came to power in Belguim. The Gorilla Sector of the Park has been occupied by the rebel movement CNDP under rebel Congolese Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda. Since September 2007 no ICCN Ranger has set foot in this sector, almost all had to flee the fighting and it has not been safe to return. Recent violence in the region has seen CNDP extend its power in the region and it now controls over 50% of the park and all of the Southern section. Emmanuel De Merode, the Director of Virunga National Park, has performed some remarkable diplomacy since the recent fighting and has succesfully negotiated with CNDP and General Nkunda to return the ICCN Rangers to the Park. This is a fragile process but so far 120 courageous Rangers are back at the Southern Headquarters at Rumangabo and there is a camp in the Gorilla Sector at Bukima which has begun a Gorilla census to determine the effects of the war on the mountain Gorilla population. It is a remarkable case of conservation winning out over politics. The DRC had just over 200 of the extremely rare mountain Gorillas, of which there are only 680 in the world. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

Rating? Opinion? 

Well, I have to say, Virunga was a rather impressive documentary. It was the right amount of information with the right amount of emotion. I also enjoyed it particularly just because the Congo is a topic that has been overlooked for too long. There are multiple documentaries on cooking, animals, and hunting (and even all 3 together) yet this was the first documentary about the endangered guerrillas and threatened people of the Congo that I have ever seen.

4.5/5 – Well Done. Some minor quality issues but nothing too crazy.

Feel motivated to help out the cause? Click here. 

 

 

 

Note:

Here are a few other documentaries that are currently on my must-see list:

 

• Encounters at the End of the World
• Cave of Forgotten Dreams
• Jiro Dreams of Sushi
• The Blue Planet
• Life
• Planet Earth
• The True Cost
• Blackfish
• Fed Up
• The Act of Killing
• Cowspiracy
• Exit Through the Gift Shop

 

 

Facebook + Playing Cards = Marketing Insights?

I’m a sucker for pretty packaging, but if you have been reading my posts then you already know that. I knew this was an incredible idea even before I read the article. All that I needed to see was the image. A pack of playing cards and the Facebook logo. I was hooked.

I mean, what could be better than a creatively produced set of Facebook-branded playing cards?

Well, a set of Facebook-branded playing cards with marketing insights, of course!

So, who is responsible for this creative concept? 

A London-based creative agency named Human After All. (And yes, they have been killing the Facebook marketing game for a while now.)

Having not known about this agency before today, I feel like I just uncovered my dream agency. The creativity and product design that goes into each campaign is inspiring to say the least.

So, what, exactly, do these cards say?

Don’t you want a deck? I know I do. 

Find more here.

Every card focused on a different topic. Topics ranged “from Santa to Star Wars, from Jay Z to Jon Snow.” The cards were sent to agencies across the U.K., France, Italy and Spain with unique insights to their respective country.

According to Adweek, more than 1,000 decks were distributed to agencies that work with Facebook.

Human After All, the agency that created these cards, also produced a poster of the cards for Facebook to display in its headquarters and to send to clients.

Facebook Playing Cards. Magnific.

References:

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/facebook-made-amazing-deck-playing-cards-marketing-insights-agencies-169796

OoMH: Keep it Brief.

“What architects and designers do is not go along with the rules, but try to get people to see things in a totally new way.”

Today we will be discussing the short documentary-style video, Briefly, created by Tom Bassett, CEO of Bassett & Partners. The video is essentially a string of one-on-one interviews with some of the advertising world’s most creative talent and their thoughts on THE BRIEF. How they define and use it, why they use it, etc. 
Why should you watch Briefly?
You get to hear from some the greatest ad minds all in one place.

• Frank Gehry (Founder Gehry Partner)
• Yves Béhar (CEO fuseproject)
• Maira Kalman (Illustrator)
• John C Jay (President @ GX, Partner @ Wieden + Kennedy)
• David Rockwell (CEO Rockwell Group)
• John Boiler (CEO 72andSunny)

…Or better yet, why should you continue to read this blog post? 

Because I am going to break the whole thing down for you and give you my key takeaways in a short and sweet post. I am a one-page creative brief person, not a 10-pager. So without further ad0, let’s get brief.

So what is a brief? 

“A brief is nothing more than an open statement of ambition for a brand or a client, that is all it is.” (John Boiler) It is something that should be allowed to change and adapt to the new environment. Not a static object, but a dynamic one.

Briefs should be short and to the point…some creative thinkers don’t even believe in briefs. “I don’t believe in briefs, I believe in relationships.” (Yves Béhar) Relationships differ from briefs because unlike briefs, relationships are not anonymous. Yves believes that relationships allow you to chase your clients dreams, whereas briefs can be restrictive. He is one of the creative thinkers behind Jawbone so, I would say, he must be doing something right–I use my Jawbone headset and JamBox almost everyday.

The more creative freedom that a brief–or a relationship–supplies, the better the result. A brand should never come to an ad agency with a campaign. Instead, they should come to the agency with a goal or an idea. It is the goal of the agency to create the campaign and the crazier the goal or idea–the better. “Audacious briefs baby, make shit happen.” (John Boiler) All of these agency representatives seems to share a common desire; that their clients would be dreamers.

Understanding the culture and the context is crucial.
“We are always looking for new connections and ultimately what we do at the end of the day is make connections nobody else has seen, we don’t create anything out of thin air. And that magic dust? Is like what is happening in the world right now.”

“Incredibly important that idea of context, more important than it ever has been before.” (John Boiler)

So while understanding a culture is important, it is only step 1. You have to understand the context around that culture and around those new innovative ideas. You also have to be able to make connections with that information. If you can do all that, you will succeed.

Easier said than done though, right?

 

Let’s Talk TED.

Sometimes you just need to be inspired. Right?

One of my professors introduced me to TED. He would often show the class some of his favorite speeches and I honestly enjoyed them all. Whether you are looking for some inspiration to keep you focused on your goals or just a quick pick-me-up during the day, these talks are the answer (along with some daily meditation but we will talk about that some other time).

Here are a few of my favorite TED Talks (and a few other inspirational speeches). I could attempt to summarize what they have to say but why? I wouldn’t do them any justice. For this post, I will let these speakers speak for me.

Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action 

Jeff Bezos: Gifts v. Choices 

Joshua Prager: In Search of The Man Who Broke My Neck

David Foster Wallace: Life Is Water

Alexa who?

I have to be honest, I really want Alexa in my life BUT I think Siri would get jealous.

There has been a lot of buzz about the Amazon Echo (Alexa) lately. She even had a spot during Super Bowl (and a few leading up to it). She has been haunting my Twitter and Instagram accounts with sponsored posts and invading my Facebook newsfeed through a bunch of product reviews. I’m not bothered though, I just really want one. It is a pretty smart device with a lot of unique features. It seems like life with Alexa is just so much better than life without her, don’t you think?

Price?

For $180–and 2 days (thanks Amazon Prime)–Alexa can be yours. In a world where my Fire Stick, Apple TV, and Samsung Smart TV reign supreme, it seems only natural that I should have a small ‘smart’ tower in the corner of my room.

So what does Alexa do?

According to Amazon, Alexa can do the following:

• Plays all your music from Prime Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and more using just your voice
• Fills the room with immersive, 360º omni-directional audio
• Allows hands-free convenience with voice-control
• Hears you from across the room with far-field voice recognition, even while music is playing
• Answers questions, reads audiobooks and the news, reports traffic and weather, gives info on local businesses, provides sports scores and schedules, and more with Alexa, a cloud-based voice service
• Controls lights and switches with compatible WeMo, Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Wink, Insteon, and other smart home devices
• Always getting smarter and adding new features and skills–over 100 added since launch, including Domino’s and Uber

So the Echo isn’t for everyone, but for a niche market it is critical. My brother, for instance, is a perfect target. He already loves his Phillips Hue lights, always loses his phone in his house, relies on Siri for everything, and always has random questions on his mind. He was so excited when it came out that he preordered it.

My father also preordered it. Why? He has developed such an admiration and loyalty for the Amazon brand that he ordered it out of pride. He couldn’t wait to tell me about it. I think they had an error in production though because it never arrived–Amazon resolved the situation very promptly. We all still love the Amazon brand. We are an Amazon family and probably will always be.

I hope to see the Echo in more households. It will happen. Mark my words.

 

 

Water is Boring. My Top 10 Bottles.

Water is boring. Isn’t it? There are so many other, more appealing options out there. Plus most of the water bottles out there are just as boring and of low quality. They are made of a cheap, flimsy plastic and they make that annoying crunch noise after your first couple sips. As you could probably tell by now, I am not a big fan of water bottles.

I am stepping away from commenting on the advertising agencies to address this problem I always seem to encounter: I can NEVER find a water bottle that works for me.

You may be thinking, “well there are other water bottle options that aren’t cheap and flimsy kid, you have no idea what you’re talking about.” Well, you’re half right.

The water industry is flooded with brands attempting to create the perfect way to consume water. There are premium bottled water brands, super premium water brands, exclusive water brand collaborations, infused water brands, vitamin-enriched water brands, box water brands, imported water brands, domestic water brands, and even ‘smart’ water brands. So there are options for everyone, well, at least for almost everyone. I guess Seth Godin is right, the world is catering to the weird. There is no one water bottle fits all. There are countless bottled water brands and the target audiences differ–and that is just the bottled water industry. There is the filtered bottle industry, the insulated bottle industry, and even just the ‘green’ reusable industry.

S0…what is your point? 

My point is simple, I am here to show you my favorite options. Water is boring. I want to help make it interesting again. And like it or not, the container you use can matter just as much as the water inside of it. A water bottle tells a lot about a person. It tells their story. I’m here to help you get your story straight.

I have spent hours researching water bottle brands; their designs, their functions, and their personalities. I focused solely on reusable bottles and distanced myself from talking about typical bottled water brands like Fiji, Poland Spring, Dasani, Voss, etc. So far I have come up with 10 bottles. My top 10, if you will. (In no particular order.)

1. Brand/Name: 24 Bottles / Urban Bottle

2. Brand/Name: 24 Bottles / Thermo Bottle 

3. Brand/Name: Alex Bottle / Matte Black & Olive 

4. Brand/Name: Fred Water / Flask (Steel) 

5. Brand/Name: Fred Water / Flask (Reusable BPA-Free Plastic)

6. Brand/Name: Hydros / Filter Bottle 

7. Brand/Name: S’well / Opal Marble (Endless color options)

9. Brand/Name: TakeYa / Modern Twist Cap 

9. Brand/Name: blk. / blk. Water 

10. Brand/Name: Tkaro / Tkaro Cup

Run From The Devil with Acura (or Look Like The Devil)

Its that time of year again. Super Bowl season. Advertising agencies work day in, day out to create some eye-catching spots for their clients, and Americans get together to enjoy the big game.

Millions of people watch the event every year and that means millions of people, from all different backgrounds and locations, will be exposed to the ads (and hopefully those ads will influence consumer purchasing drivers in a positive way). There are very few events/programs that get anywhere near the amount of passive viewers that the Super Bowl does, so big brands (and one small brand-Death Wish Coffee Co.) jump on the opportunity to boost their brand relevance and brand recall.

This year, Acura decided to advertise their new 2016 NSX by just showing it off (with David Lee Roth doing his thing in the background). It is so simple that it is brilliant.

• The music matches the attitude of the overall commercial perfectly.
• The cinematography is incredibly well done. It makes me feel like I am about to race the devil…really though.
• The car is badass, for the lack of a better word. Actually, badass describes this sports car perfectly. (Acura, if you are looking for test drivers, I am your man).

When I first saw this spot, I was really not impressed by it. Sure, the car was cool but there wasn’t much to the actual spot itself. It was a few hours later–and about 10 car advertisements later–that I realized the beauty of the commercial came from its simplicity. The commercial only contains 6 words–well 7 words if you count the “NSX” name on the back bumper of the car as a word. The rest of the commercial just shows off the body style and leaves the viewer jacked up about spending a cool $130,000 on a sports car.

Creativity Online brought up a good point: Why would Acura spend so much money on a commercial for such an expensive car?

“According to Acura, the goal is to use the flashy car to highlight the Acura brand’s new ‘precision crafted performance’ marketing theme and also win some love for lower-priced models.”

According to me, this is a great approach to solving a brand problem that I see. I can never place Acura in a automobile category. Is it luxury? High-performance? High-quality? Well, now, I have my answer. It is all about the performance. I cannot wait to see the result of this spot. I think there will be quite a few more NSXs on the road (crossing my fingers) and a whole bunch of their middle and lower end models.

The actual spot can be found here. Unfortunately I could not find an original source to embed. Sorry!

References:

http://creativity-online.com/work/acura-what-he-said/45264

 

Small Business, Big Game: Death Wish Coffee

I have been a coffee addict for years now. My favorite coffee comes from a New Jersey-based coffee roaster named ROOK (If you don’t know, well now you know) so I may be a bit biased. BUT the fact remains; Death Wish Coffee is currently killing it. They even managed to place an ad in the upcoming Super Bowl.

So how does a small business get an ad into the big game?

1. Apply for Intuit’s Small Business, Big Game contest.
2. See #1.

This year, Intuit has selected Death Wish Coffee Co. as the winner of the contest. Why is this worth a blog post? Refer to section above.

Seriously, this is a big deal. If you haven’t heard of Death Wish Coffee than you are probably living under a rock… or still drinking Chock Full O’Nuts. Every industry is specializing nowadays so companies like Death Wish can take advantage of a niche market–consumers who really really need caffeine (and a lot of it). The company claims that it’s blend is “the world’s strongest coffee” and from what I hear, the claim seems to be true.

This campaign is a big deal for a few reasons: 

1. It is a way to get a small business into the world where only BIG BUSINESS can usually compete.
2. It promotes both brands: Death Wish Coffee Co & Intuit Quickbooks.
   • Intuit looks like a hero for promoting a small business (to the general public & small business owners)
3. The BUZZ
   • This campaign disrupts the typical Super Bowl Advertisement. That alone will cause a greater interest in the product. We may not see a massive increase in website visits or purchases yet, but once this airs just about everyone will know Death Wish Coffee and the small business-supporting Intuit brand.

The chart above shows visits to the Death Wish website are on the rise (currently visits reach roughly 120,000 a month).

It will be interesting to see how this commercial affects the number of visits. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to be in Death Wish Coffee’s shoes right about now.

Check out the spot:

Here is what Joe Baratelli, RPA chief creative officer, said about the opportunity,”It’s incredibly gratifying to create a Super Bowl spot for a small business—the unsung heroes of the communities where we live and work every day. And Death Wish Coffee has an incredible brand personality and a great team driving the company. We were able to create a spectacle of Vikings sailing to battle to show off the fiercely caffeinated coffee and ultimately help QuickBooks with its mission of fueling small business success.”

References:

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/death-wish-coffee-co-wins-intuits-contest-and-will-air-ad-super-bowl-50-169253