On brutal honesty
Look at this store sign: Now look at me. And now look at this creative: Now back to me. Not all advertising is this honest, but it could be, and when it is it’s a thing of beauty. Let’s take a moment and imagine we lived in a world where people said EXACTLY what they … Read more
NBD, Just a Private Perrier Party in Paris
A few days ago I received the following cryptic email. Knowing I’d be out of the office (offsite managing our tradeshow booth at the All About Pets Show, drop by if you love pets, free stuff, or if you’re just a crazy cat lady), I gave her my office address. Turns out that the package … Read more
The Importance of Being Socially Un-Stupid
But we’ve come a long way. I’m the definitive Gen-Y, a digital native through and through. Web tech matured along with me; as a kid my family shared a basic DOS computer with the black screen and green, chunky writing. By middle school we had Hotmail and MSN, then ICQ briefly in high school, then … Read more
Does Your C.V. Suck?
Short answer: Probably. Long answer: If you’re finding yourself wondering whether your C.V. sucks, then yeah, probably. Here’s why: First things first The top third of the page is prime real estate, but you decided to fill it with literary gems like “I am seeking a position in your company”, or shoved it full of … Read more
Old Spice Goes Old School, Saves World
Once the harbinger of one of the most memorable marketing campaigns, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like featuring the ever-handsome Isaiah Mustafa, Old Spice has now decided to do away with modern technology in favour of retro-tech. Again playing off the notion that their scent is that of raw manhood from concentrate, Old Spice … Read more
25 Is the New Geriatric
Yesterday was Bring your Kids to Work Day, and a colleague’s 14-yr-old daughter seemed bored so I offered her some magazines to flip through. She looked me square in the eye, pointed at her phone, and said “I’m good.” What was I thinking, offering a teen a stack of paper when she already had a tiny … Read more
Is Facebook Really Like a Chair?
Facebook seems to think so [if they do say so themselves]. They just launched their new ad campaign, aimed at driving “brand awareness”. Brand. Awareness. Just let that sink in for a moment. Facebook’s marketing team searched high and low for the single most inspiring artifact humanity has created, and they came back with “chair”. Fucking brilliant. … Read more
5 Reasons Why You’re Not Creative
I recently sat down with a brilliant prof of mine, one of the leaders in branded content, to talk over coffee. What was initially a chat about, well, about me and my future soon morphed into a bigger conversation about the industry and how we’d each navigated it. Obviously, what he had to say was … Read more
The Worst Career Advice Ever
When I first started working (I mean REALLY working, in jobs other than Starbucks/Future Shop/Club Monaco/etc. that every loan-reliant student takes on at some point), I was getting career tips from anyone I spoke to. When I was just starting out, everyone had more experience than me so why would I not listen? Gradually though, I’ve … Read more
Why Don’t You Have a Job Yet?
It only took me 7 and a half years to graduate. Why did it take me so long? Oh, I was just busy working, because I didn’t want to get out of school and be broke and in debt and have to boomerang back to my parents’ house and not have anything to do. (And … Read more
