Interviews suck for companies and they suck for potential employees. The entire system is chaotic, stressful, and rife with discrimination. Is there a perfect system? Nope, but there are some things that all companies can do to save time, improve the candidate experience, and reduce bias.
Hiring Principles
Interviews Are Your Brand
Every interaction potential employees have during the interview process is a reflection of your company. Every delay, every reschedule, every email, they all add up to their perception of your brand. The first introductory call is equally important to the rejection email.
Shared Transparency The interview system is plagued with…
No. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.
Agencies often talk about using agile methodologies but in reality, we’re just stuck in the big idea merry-go-round.
Agile Shmagile
I’ve come to hate the word agile. Like its progenitor “synergy,” it’s become overused with so many different connotations that it’s lost all meaning. In fact, a 2019 survey indicates that 50% of marketing leaders are seeking to adopt more agile ways of working, and 32% are already on the journey. In addition, 53% of respondents couldn’t actually define agile (not a real statistic).
But WTF is Agile?
For anyone lucky enough not to have colleagues gush about using…
Incredibly smart, talented and dedicated advertising professionals work their ass off to produce brilliant, beautiful and effective creative. And we also lie. Some of the lies are innocent. Some of the lies are so endemic we start to believe them ourselves. Here are the Top 10 Agency Lies.
- We’ve Got A Proprietary Creative Process
They don’t.Every agency has a method of approaching strategy and creative. None of them are all that unique and none of them are proprietary. I honestly don’t think some agencies know what the word proprietary actually means. If you can get an agency to articulate their…
All Hail, Hal
AI is everywhere. Algorithms that determine what Netflix shows you should binge next to what brand of toothpaste is perfect for your demographic on Amazon and making you feel old by calling your favorite music ‘classic’ on Spotify.
The proliferation of AI is predicted to make monumental changes in the very nature of work. Entire industries like trucking and ride-share drivers could fall victim to self-driving cars, Amazon fulfillment workers could be entirely replaced with faster robots that don’t need silly things like bathroom breaks.
And even things like opening doors could be given to our robot overlords.
Slogans used to sell product. Advertising history is littered with great examples of classic slogans.
- “Quicker Picker Upper” Bounty
- “Finger Licking Good ”Kentucky Fried Chicken
- “Have It Your Way” Burger King
But when is the last time you were remember a slogan ? Let’s see how those iconic slogans have been updated recently.
- “More Life Per Roll” Bounty
- “Colonel Quality, Guaranteed” Kentucky Fried Chicken
- “Be Your Way” Burger King
Still resonate?
Nobody likes the RFP process. Clients hate it. Agencies hate it. But we keep doing the same song and dance over and over again.
RFPs are like Tootsie Rolls on Halloween.
Nobody really likes them but you somehow you keep getting them every year. Changing things around the edges only makes the Tootsie Roll a little less disgusting. We have to break the system and build it better. (Also don’t give kids Tootsie Rolls. They all get dumped in the trash and you’re essentially just fueling the sugar habit of landfill rats. And we all know the last thing landfill rats need is more sugar.)
Clients Hate RFPs
Will Spotify’s move from commercials about their users listening habits pay off? Will Cardi B be the break out actress of 2018? Will this commercial make you hate music? Strap in it’s Ad Fail with Spofity’s new commercial starring Cardi B.
Premise: Cardi B is a professor at a pretentious music academy but instead of teaching her students how to hone their piccolo skills she gives them catchphrase elocution lessons.
Concept
This commercial is literally as bad as a Jimmy Fallon bit. That’s not hyperbole, it’s actually a Jimmy Fallon bit. And it’s equally cringeworthy. Celebrities not from a 90s sitcom shouldn’t have catchphrases. And advertisers shouldn’t buy into a catchphrase as a creative concept. Cut It Out
Advertising is still obsessed with the big idea. We still cling to the belief that there’s a magic creative bullet that can solve all of our client problems. We hire CCOs, freelancers, drink, pray and hope that the creative Gods will favor us one last time.
One idea is great. One idea could very well save your business for a short period of time. But modern advertising means you’re gonna need a bigger boat for all of the ideas you’ll need to stay competitive.
To produce content at scale, creatives will not only need to ideate faster than ever, we’ll…
