The Castoffs That Made Cast Iron LA
How two 50-year-olds created a visionary digital marketing agency clients love. The last casting session I did was in March. While there, I got a meeting request that made it clear my job of 23 years would be gone. I planned for the worst, barely slept, and the next day, my fears were affirmed. Last […]
Breaking Brand
When others control your brand more than you do. Remember brand campaigns of the past? They were those splashy reintroductions to the brand, when a new tagline, new logo or new objective would come out. They weren’t selling anything beyond an idea, an ethos, a spirit to drive the brand forward in new and exciting […]
Are Stories Dead?
5 Tips to help brands make better video The last 4 years, I have been judging branded entertainment for the Webby Awards. As I watched submissions, patterns began to emerge. The one glaring takeaway was this: The stories we tell are beginning to look the same. As marketers, we have been coached, preached to, pressured […]
Age- and gender-biased words to remove from the workplace.
It can happen to the best of us. Sitting around the office, trying to brainstorm an idea, finally someone shouts out “Guys, we need to nail this, now.” Perfectly acceptable, right? Except, not everyone sitting there is a guy. And that’s kind of a problem. We collectively sweat words each day, wrestle with them in […]
5 Questions Clients Should Ask their agency when reviewing creative.
Why are there classes for presentation skills, yet none on reviewing skills? That always seemed odd to me as the collaborative decision in the room will ultimately decide the success of the campaign. Yet, there is no clear process on how to properly evaluate work, and often marketing or advertising agencies can be a bit […]
The Complexity Of Simple
You’ve heard it a million times: Keep it simple. But few understand the effort that goes into simplicity. Oftentimes, people look at simple as the beginning, but in reality, simple is the end. Take, for example, this quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to […]
The Social Media Playbook
Social media isn’t easy for brands. And I’m not talking about the practical application of making content, posting content, replying, calendaring and all the details that go into your playbook.