Walter Oliver Neal
Branding today is much like a grassroots movements. It is a conversation about ideas people can believe in. If a brand is not communicating like a person, people tune it out sooner or later. These ideas then turn into movements; people working together to affect change in some way. The effects of these actions are people buying things or services, but the smart marketers of today are not launching with bottom line motives.
Building a brand is as inevitable as karma when projecting authentic ideas and passions online. Remaining consistently true to our beliefs is essential over time because we will develop a following that will eventually interact and engage with us.
Kevin E. Taylor
Our brand is defined by our very ideas. Not the other way around. The loyalty and make-up of our following is also defined in this way. This notion turns the old “target marketing” idea on its ear. No longer should we define our audience and create a marketing strategy to attract it.
Simple truth and complete understanding of who we are as people and a strong personal belief in our own truth makes a clear center point from which to emanate out.
“Centered marketing” focused on messages based in the truth about what people believe in are the heart of social media. What follows is as unpredictable, surprising and rewarding as karma.
Kevin Taylor’s art depicts how “over time, civil responsibility has ordered a physical detachment from nature, however a deeper mental architecture remains intact.” His art makes me think about how in marketing we can become detached from the natural human way of communicating and how important it is to re-engage.
Love Streams
“You give away enough of what people need and you get what you want in life.” I don’t know who said it first but I’m not taking credit for it. Since I started this journey of “listening in slow motion” I’ve been content to discover every day what makes me excited and joyful. Guided by the whispers and shouts I’ve found solace in art and the people who make it.
Like a child with her head pressed against the display windows on New York’s 5th Avenue, I’ve been yelling and pointing, “mommy I want that!” Peering at art online, in galleries and stalking any artist who would talk to me.
As Tina Fey would say, “I want to go to there.” I want in on the whole experience.
Art inspires me to write what I know and feel, it helps me express how I think and process what comes next. The consultant in me yearned to climb inside this world and see what makes it go, but one thing my place in the social media revolution is teaching me; give first.
So I’m taking an apprenticeship with a local artist/gallery owner here in Santa Monica. I’m excited and terrified by the opportunity. I’ll be able to offer what I know in the way of marketing and social media and plan to absorb as much as possible about the art world in the process. I’ve found a key to open the lock on mommy’s purse strings, so to speak.
Tomorrow feels a bit like the first day of school. A new class, new students, a whole new environment. But it’s much the same as back in my old consulting days starting a new project at the bottom of the learning curve. You have to climb one foot in front of the other like anyone else.
On my journey of doing what I love to get what I need, I’d say I’m still rounding the bend, a long way from the straight away, but the breeze feels good on my face.
As I read the AdAge article about the NBC Late Show predicament, there is just one word that comes to mind; ego. These shows are suffering because no one is watching. No one is watching because the shows are not focused on what is ultimately important; the audience. Why in the world would you create another show in an earlier time slot with the same host that you just replaced in the later show. This is what we call cannibalizing your product in marketing. Seems like your letting ego drive your line up of shows, not real strategy.
Now the solution to this problem is to put Leno back in the original time slot. Ego. Why is no one talking about this angle? Oh, right, ego!
The shows are so blindly stroking everyone’s giant egos that no one is actually going to solve the problem; ratings. Did anyone stop to think about what the viewer wants? Hello, there are millions of people out here watching.
I’ve observed that our media is quite polarized with respect to listening to their audience. On the one hand, we have the “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” commercial that aired during American Idol last night with videos sent in by viewers, and then you have NBC creating complete line ups of shows focused on over publicized hosts. Although, TNT did bring back Southland last night because viewers were so outraged about it being taken of the air; oh wait, it was NBC that yanked it.
But I digress, my intention was not to bash NBC, I love their Thursday night line up and have for years! My point is ego strategy and its short-sighted potential for failure. Strategies influenced by multiple perspectives have the highest potential for success and increasing happiness in the process. What would happen if NBC tried to do more than make Leno happy in this situation? I believe everybody wins; surprisingly, even Leno.
Jeff Koons - Rabbit - 1986
I devoured My Name is Charles Saatchi and I Am an Artoholic; a late Christmas gift from someone who knows me well. I’m not a reader; a reader of books that is. I’m an information fiend. I’m curious by nature about art and marketing and am like a dog with a bone when I get a whiff of anything intriguing. I’ve always critiqued commercials for their intrinsic entertainment value and efficacy. It’s a hobby of mine.
So when I received this book about an ad man with a wild passion for art I started to salivate. Lucky for me the book is in simple question and answer format. Nerd that I am, I sat perched in front of my laptop, pouncing on my search engine every time the man lay mention of an artist. Lucky for you I captured my journey with him through the book and shared the images I found in this post.
Untitled Film Still #7. 1978 - Cindy Sherman
Saatchi apparently had been unwilling for years to grant interviews, but this book was an answer to the press and a lead up to his TV show airing on BBC now; in search of the new Brit Art bunch.
My favorite quote because it sums me up too: “I liked working in advertising, but don’t believe my taste in art, such as it is, was entirely formed by TV commercials.”
I’ve written about my love of art and marketing and even touched on the “mad men” era in advertising we are so enthralled with today. Saatchi was part of an era in advertising when people looked forward to the commercials, though he gives most of the creative credit away to his peers, all of whom went on to become great film makers.
He makes it clear that none of us need be self-conscious about the art that we like because, “By and large talent is in such short supply, mediocrity
Untitled Film Still #50. 1979 - Cindy Sherman
can be taken for brilliance rather than genius can go undiscovered.” This says to me, the more we follow our own instincts and taste, the better chance we give artists to generate income. After all; WE ARE THE MEDIA now.
Saatchi is also asked about the changing aesthetics of art galleries and I liked that he pointed out “using the money to actually buy some art,” was more important than building more galleries. Just before he plugged Frank Gehry.
Artists need as many collectors as possible, we are their collectors; each of us. We don’t need Saatchi’s money and great influence to make change in an artist’s life.
Marlene Dumas - Jule-die Vrou - 1985
@140hours recently started following me on Twitter. They are self described as “The World’s 1st Twitter Art Auction & Supporter of International Charities.” This is a real live example of how our social media is changing the art industry and our influence on artists. This of course doesn’t touch the larger entity; the art world.
I’ve recently become friends with the local artist Matthew Heller, who began to give me some clues into the illusive art world. I’ll be speaking with him again soon to expand on what I’ve learned.
This whole notion of individual influence vs. mass appeal brings to mind a program on NPR I only caught the middle of while I was in my car. Something about the decentralization of the television media influence with the shift from network to
Donald Judd - Copper Box - 1972
cable viewing and the effect it has had on our culture. We all know the “Soup Nazi” from Seinfeld even if we didn’t see the episode because the last episode of that show was watched by 60% of Americans, juxtaposed to the last episode of a current top rated show, American Idol, only watched by 16%. I couldn’t tell you the last name of that Chris guy. More eyes watching the same thing leads to more people spreading the word about the same thing and more cultural influence.
My point. What about the masses? Now we have better media to promote art and find
Pair of Rock Chairs - Scott Burton - 1980-81
audiences who love it, but what about art’s influence on culture? It’s seems we are moving into this system of underground tunnels of culture with pass codes at the entry gate for each. We are becoming a culture of subculture; a nation of “pickle ice cream” lovers. Saatchi’s book bolstered my belief that this is important. You like what you like and who cares what others think, the artists
will be grateful in the end and that’s what matters.
Paula Rego - Olga 2003
The images in this post are a hodgepodge of artist, going against what Saatchi might have done himself I’m sure. I just wanted to share a little about each of these artists with you. Saatchi stated that in his own home he generally shows one artist at a time, Paul Rego, when he gets around to hanging pieces at all. I’m happy to say my house is filled with the works of Journey Streams.
I hope you read Artoholic, if you’re passionate about marketing and art like me, you will fall in love with this man. If you’re passionate about honesty, then it’s simply refreshing.
I’ve learned more about social media in marketing from my 10 and 12-year-old sons than any webinar or conference. While we’re all scrambling trying to figure out how to use social media in business, the next generation is busy building businesses using this technology.
by Journey Streams
Last summer both of my sons convinced me not to send them to summer camp for the first time because they wanted to have time to explore their own interests and not be forced into daily activities decided by camp counselors. They’re both excellent students so we felt giving them some unstructured time and allowing them to relax was a good call.
My son Journey, age 10, launched his media company: supertechnonerd.com. This wasn’t a complete surprise to me as our house is filled with his art work and he already self publishes a comic book and distributes it at school. (He holds “book signings” once a trimester.)
by Journey Streams
He story boards show ideas for his YouTube channel with his friends using iChat, they call them “board meetings,” and he uses his Flip camera and tripod to capture all the fun on video. His friends and their parents love it!
When my husband set up Jouney’s hosting account on GoDaddy he asked him if he minded having ads at the top of the page. My son’s response was, “It wouldn’t be a real website without ads Dad.” He also signed himself up for Google AdSense and monitors his web stats daily. He communicates with the YouTube subscribers by giving them incentives to subscribe and encourages his peers to get involved.
My older son, Harmony, came to me early in the school year and told me he was now a part of Journey’s production team and a member of supertechnonerd company.
Harmony reads a book every two days, fantasy fiction mostly. His love for reading makes it difficult to keep him in books so he tells us about new authors and titles that he discovers through YouTube vloggers turned authors and we order them on Amazon for him. He’s getting a Kindle for Christmas because his bookshelves are full in his room.
Harmony’s also my World of War craft level master. He made it to level 72 over the summer and recently reached level 80 and started a new character over the Thanksgiving break. He’s made countless friends through the game and they communicate sort of like old-school pen pals. (No WOW during school though, Mom has to set limits.)
The skills their building with these activities are enumerable. My plan is to keep feeding their interests and taking notes!
Traditionally marketing has been an instant gratification, billion dollar business, reserved for only a select few. I’m a huge fan of the show Mad Men which perfectly depicts the beginning of an era and glorifies the hay days of the ad industry in spite of its contradictions with modern-day political correctness.
Social media is drastically changing the world of marketing in ways that other technologies, like radio and television were unable to in the past. It’s leveled the playing field for individuals, while leaving corporations in a sort of no man’s land.
In my last consulting position part of my role was consulting chief marketing officers (CMOs) of Fortune 500 companies. Of course, ad agencies were part of the plan, but the central question was always sustaining a direct connection with customers.
It seems the CMO’s have begun to solve this problem using social media.
As evidence, I went to a Twitter conference over the summer and attended a panel that featured a representative from Starbucks, his only job was to Tweet and respond to Tweets all day. Whole Food’s Twitter rep made sure all store managers set up Twitter accounts and connected with customers regularly in their area, rewarding those with the most followers. This is a good start.
Persevere.
I have a market research petri dish in my house in the form of my 10 and 12 your old sons. They tend toward individually produced content. Like Natalie on YouTube and her wacky CommunityChannel videos. She’s really sarcastic and better than any sitcom show I’ve watched.
My son’s trusted brands are people who have gained online stardom from millions of views on YouTube. This gives these YouTube people huge brands value with the youth generation.
I wonder if the “Mad Men” of today are considering this in their plans? I know I am!
This image spoke to me immediately when I laid my eyes on it. It uses many images from my past that speak to me. All are objects I loved at different times in my life; butterflies (before my peacock phase), color palate, fierce shoes, edgy style. I’m drawn to this vocabulary naturally.
Then I tried to attach meaning to the vocabulary and a story to the image. Nothing stuck. The artist fails to evoke emotion. The objects don’t hold together in a meaningful way, it lacks interpretation. The piece speaks volumes and says nothing.
It reminds me of my research analyst days, sifting through data, tasked with turning data into information to tell a story that would improve business performance. “Correlation does not mean causation,” was the constant mantra.
It’s important to gather meaningful information to sustain growth and continue to improve performance. Am I talking business or life? Can’t help it, both.
Regret is a useless emotion. I do believe we can regreet our past and review the actions to interpret data and gain information to use going 
forward.
This second image does a better job of illustrating my point. It has the same vocabulary as the first, yet the imagery elicits emotion. It feels as though I’m looking back to review my past under protection of the present. Comfortably regreeting the data to gain understanding for my future walk through life.
I love art that elicits emotion and tells a story that I can interpret using my information. Data is only input, we must interpret its meaning to inform our growth. If we don’t get it the first time; regreet.
I watched a YouTube video explaining social media using the example of selling ice cream. The market had flavors with mass appeal and pickle flavor. Many people don’t like pickle flavor, but because of social media, pickle flavor ice cream makers could still reach their audience and make a profit.
One thing I managed to retain from classes I took as an econ minor in college are the basic laws of supply and demand. But in my professional experience as a marketer, I never saw these play out in the real world. Only the businesses with the largest marketing budgets and cunning ad campaigns won the market share leaving no room for the little guys to compete, regardless of demand.
The term, “there’s somebody for everybody” always applied to couples in my mind; you know what I’m talking about. That guy that just seemed undateable finally finds that girl who “gets” him. Well, with social media, there is this possibility in business too.
It levels the playing field for all businesses to 
find their audience with the product or service they’re offering without altering who they are to fit the masses or a budget to pierce the noise.
It’s possible for every person to receive their version of pickle ice cream.
If a business can decide the goal is “to create what is closest to the hearts of the people running it” not “to make a billion dollars” then the product or service is most authentic when delivered to the people who want it.
For consumers, this means you get products you actually want from people you actually like. For businesses, this means there is no reason to “sell out,” because you agree from the beginning to sell to an audience that’s into you, not the you that has to produce to sell billions, but the real you.
Now I want some of whatever flavor ice cream that is!
The reality is, most businesses are not going to make a billion dollars. Right? So if we just focus on the goal of making what we love for the people who love it, then prosperity will ring from there.
It’s no longer some hippie concept, now that we have social media.
I found this image when searching for a world map to use in a marketing presentation I was creating at my last corporate job. It took everything in me not to use it; okay, my colleagues talked me down. I thought it was perfect. Can’t you just picture the overlays of arrows and diagrams illustrating the target locations in the world campaign for the Fortune 500 company we were pitching. Surely I would have everyone’s attention.
The world on an ass. There is something to be said for a perfect ass, it makes you think of the world as a better place. You don’t think of war, or hunger, or disease. Your right brain just takes over with free association.
Taking universal content and placing it on a new stage gains attention and frees the mind to think in new ways. Our problems in this economy are new, (everyone is batting the phrase “new economy” all over the place for this reason.) Allowing the left and right brain to work in unison is the only way we will solve them.
Free your thinking, merge your knowledge centers and tackle our challenges in this whole new world.
