Bill's PurpleCrayon Blog
Bill's PurpleCrayon Blog features riffs galore about advertising, marketing, the Arts and just about anything else that happens to be on my mind at the moment.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS...
...open a chain of lemonade stores and sell franchises.
Living in Michigan is a mixed blessing. We are surrounded by some of the best beaches in the U.S. We experience (some would say endure) four different seasons. And there's plenty of wildlife to see just outside one's window. It's quite beautiful, really. Yet, our state currently boasts the highest unemployment in the U.S. Our airport in Grand Rapids was recently rated the worst in the nation for delays, overcrowded flights, and dissatisfied customers. And I just heard that Forbes magazine recently rated Michigan near the bottom for places in the U.S. in which to start a business.
So what can one do?
Anything one wants to do!
One of my favorite bumper stickers (next to Visualize Whirled Peas) is this one:
The Meaning of Life is to Live It
I like that. It's simple, direct, and profound. The Meaning of Life is to Live It.
I spent nearly 20 years in the professions of advertising, marketing, and PR. When I got in the business in the late '80s, it was a heady time. Copywriters were revered. The World Wide Web didn't exist. And ad agencies were still considered the keepers of All Things Creative.
Times have changed.
Today, as I'll tell my university students this fall, advertising is dead. Marketing guru Seth Godin (one of the most brilliant marketing strategists and industry commentators I've ever had the pleasure to read), predicted its demise back in 1999 with his book Permission Marketing. He, quite rightly, wrote that the public suffers a glut of advertising messages -- in fact, he puts the number around 3,000 messages per day -- and can no longer pay attention to them. In short, the public has tuned out advertising.
Can you blame them? One can't go into a bathroom, walk through a grocery store, drive down the road, turn on the radio or TV, or even open one's mail without being encouraged to buy something. Godin calls such advertising, "Interruption marketing" because it attempts to interrupt one's thoughts and gain one's attention. It doesn't work.
Therefore, in an attempt to break through the clutter, advertisers increased the number of messages, finding ever more "clever" ways to get an ad in front of someone's face. What happened is the public tuned out even more. It's a vicious circle.
Clients, frantic to find the silver bullet that would get the public to buy their products and services, jettisoned ad agencies in search of other agencies. Finally, tiring of having to pay exorbitant sums to agencies with no tangible ROI, clients turned to freelance writers, designers, and PR pros. Agencies responded by thinning their ranks. Or closing their doors.
Years ago, I realized this was a zero sum game. Or, to borrow the words of WOPR, the military computer in the classic 1983 movie WarGames, "The only winning move is not to play." I stopped playing.
Or, more precisely, I learned how to play as I used to. As a kid. I made the decision to -- as corny as it sounds -- pursue my passion: the Arts. Music, theatre, movies, painting, writing, photography, and literature. All of it. Just dive in and let it wash over me.
So, a few years ago, I created PurpleCrayon Direct, which is the perfect way to combine my nearly two decades of experience in advertising, marketing, and PR with my passion for the Arts.
And you know what? I've never been happier. Now I work with people I greatly admire, doing things I truly enjoy doing. Good-by Fortune 500. Hello, starving artist. PurpleCrayon has been a lot of fun.
Ultimately, that's exactly what PurpleCrayon Direct is all about -- allowing me to live my life to the fullest by helping others discover the joy in living theirs.
The Meaning of Life is to Live It.
It doesn't get any simpler than that.
Would I ever return to the advertising world? Maybe. Depends on the opportunity. If I greatly admire the work produced by an agency, I may consider returning to being an adcat. Certain cities are interesting to me, too. Chicago, for example. I think that may be my favorite U.S. city, along with St. Louis, Boston, New York, Denver/Boulder, and Milwaukee. If an opportunity arises from one of those places, I may take a hard look. Until then, nah. I'll stay where I am.
Living life.
...open a chain of lemonade stores and sell franchises.
Living in Michigan is a mixed blessing. We are surrounded by some of the best beaches in the U.S. We experience (some would say endure) four different seasons. And there's plenty of wildlife to see just outside one's window. It's quite beautiful, really. Yet, our state currently boasts the highest unemployment in the U.S. Our airport in Grand Rapids was recently rated the worst in the nation for delays, overcrowded flights, and dissatisfied customers. And I just heard that Forbes magazine recently rated Michigan near the bottom for places in the U.S. in which to start a business.
So what can one do?
Anything one wants to do!
One of my favorite bumper stickers (next to Visualize Whirled Peas) is this one:
The Meaning of Life is to Live It
I like that. It's simple, direct, and profound. The Meaning of Life is to Live It.
I spent nearly 20 years in the professions of advertising, marketing, and PR. When I got in the business in the late '80s, it was a heady time. Copywriters were revered. The World Wide Web didn't exist. And ad agencies were still considered the keepers of All Things Creative.
Times have changed.
Today, as I'll tell my university students this fall, advertising is dead. Marketing guru Seth Godin (one of the most brilliant marketing strategists and industry commentators I've ever had the pleasure to read), predicted its demise back in 1999 with his book Permission Marketing. He, quite rightly, wrote that the public suffers a glut of advertising messages -- in fact, he puts the number around 3,000 messages per day -- and can no longer pay attention to them. In short, the public has tuned out advertising.
Can you blame them? One can't go into a bathroom, walk through a grocery store, drive down the road, turn on the radio or TV, or even open one's mail without being encouraged to buy something. Godin calls such advertising, "Interruption marketing" because it attempts to interrupt one's thoughts and gain one's attention. It doesn't work.
Therefore, in an attempt to break through the clutter, advertisers increased the number of messages, finding ever more "clever" ways to get an ad in front of someone's face. What happened is the public tuned out even more. It's a vicious circle.
Clients, frantic to find the silver bullet that would get the public to buy their products and services, jettisoned ad agencies in search of other agencies. Finally, tiring of having to pay exorbitant sums to agencies with no tangible ROI, clients turned to freelance writers, designers, and PR pros. Agencies responded by thinning their ranks. Or closing their doors.
Years ago, I realized this was a zero sum game. Or, to borrow the words of WOPR, the military computer in the classic 1983 movie WarGames, "The only winning move is not to play." I stopped playing.
Or, more precisely, I learned how to play as I used to. As a kid. I made the decision to -- as corny as it sounds -- pursue my passion: the Arts. Music, theatre, movies, painting, writing, photography, and literature. All of it. Just dive in and let it wash over me.
So, a few years ago, I created PurpleCrayon Direct, which is the perfect way to combine my nearly two decades of experience in advertising, marketing, and PR with my passion for the Arts.
And you know what? I've never been happier. Now I work with people I greatly admire, doing things I truly enjoy doing. Good-by Fortune 500. Hello, starving artist. PurpleCrayon has been a lot of fun.
Ultimately, that's exactly what PurpleCrayon Direct is all about -- allowing me to live my life to the fullest by helping others discover the joy in living theirs.
The Meaning of Life is to Live It.
It doesn't get any simpler than that.
Would I ever return to the advertising world? Maybe. Depends on the opportunity. If I greatly admire the work produced by an agency, I may consider returning to being an adcat. Certain cities are interesting to me, too. Chicago, for example. I think that may be my favorite U.S. city, along with St. Louis, Boston, New York, Denver/Boulder, and Milwaukee. If an opportunity arises from one of those places, I may take a hard look. Until then, nah. I'll stay where I am.
Living life.
Monday, July 16, 2007
ANNOUNCING A VERY SPECIAL PROJECT: PHILIP MICHAEL THOMAS' AUTOBIOGRAPHY!
During the course of my work with Mr. Thomas regarding his official web site, I realized that the information I was collecting could be used for the Miami Vice co-star's official life story as well. So I posed the possibility to him. After thinking it over, he agreed. Enthusiastically.
So he and I are are now working on two projects together: His official web site, and his autobiography.
I'm thrilled to be part of this extraordinary man's life. I'm honored I was chosen to help him write his life story in book form. And I'm awed by the spiritual and emotional insights working with him has brought to me. He's a remarkably talented man, and I can't wait to give the world a peek into his highly creative mind.
Or, as PMT would say, "'I'm having Fun with a capital F!"
I'll post updates from time to time. Watch this web site, as well as the entertaining Miami-Vice fan site, for news.
During the course of my work with Mr. Thomas regarding his official web site, I realized that the information I was collecting could be used for the Miami Vice co-star's official life story as well. So I posed the possibility to him. After thinking it over, he agreed. Enthusiastically.
So he and I are are now working on two projects together: His official web site, and his autobiography.
I'm thrilled to be part of this extraordinary man's life. I'm honored I was chosen to help him write his life story in book form. And I'm awed by the spiritual and emotional insights working with him has brought to me. He's a remarkably talented man, and I can't wait to give the world a peek into his highly creative mind.
Or, as PMT would say, "'I'm having Fun with a capital F!"
I'll post updates from time to time. Watch this web site, as well as the entertaining Miami-Vice fan site, for news.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
UPDATES
I am still hard at work with actor/musician/producer Philip Michael Thomas to create his official web site. His production of the enchanting musical Sacha on Broadway opened last month in Florida. By all accounts it was an unforgettable, magical, uplifting experience.
Currently, Mr. Thomas and I are contacting people that I need to interview from his 40+ years in the entertainment business. We're also working to assemble an exclusive collection of photos, interviews, and other memorabilia that will the talk of the town.
My goal with Mr. Thomas' web site is to create something that mirrors his personality. He's a very energetic, uplifting guy. He loves people and is enthusiastic about life. Therefore, my strategy is to create a site that's simple, elegant, interactive, loaded with exclusive content, and brimming over with enthusiasm. So the web site's design is secondary to its content.
Depending on how quickly content can come together, I hope to have the site launched by early Fall.
In other news...
Everwood, the highly-regarded Hungarian progressive metal band, has hired me to be their North American Marketing & Promotions Manager. Part of my job will be to help them land a new record contract, seek greater distribution, suggest edits for their web site and MySpace page, edit their marketing communications, and make inroads for them in the U.S.
Koncz "Balu" Balázs, Everwood's lead singer, is a very nice guy. And the band is one of the most talented I've encountered in a while. They have a bright future ahead of them. I'm honored to be part of it.
In other news...
I am writing two screenplays -- one is a romantic comedy with a supernatural twist, and the other is an adaptation of my favorite childhood books -- affectionately known as the "Trick Books" -- written by the late Scott Corbett. I'm taking the title of my movie from the first book in the series: The Lemonade Trick. I hope to have that script completed by this Fall.
In other news...
I am in the process of transcribing and editing my interviews for the Atlanta music festival ProgPower USA. Last year, for ProgPower USA VII, I interviewed all the bands appearing at the world-famous music fest and posted the interviews on Notes From The Other Side. This year, for PPUSA VIII, I will post my interviews on Dark Rhapsody. I created both sites just for my ProgPower interviews.
This has been an extremely busy time for me and PurpleCrayon Direct!
I am still hard at work with actor/musician/producer Philip Michael Thomas to create his official web site. His production of the enchanting musical Sacha on Broadway opened last month in Florida. By all accounts it was an unforgettable, magical, uplifting experience.
Currently, Mr. Thomas and I are contacting people that I need to interview from his 40+ years in the entertainment business. We're also working to assemble an exclusive collection of photos, interviews, and other memorabilia that will the talk of the town.
My goal with Mr. Thomas' web site is to create something that mirrors his personality. He's a very energetic, uplifting guy. He loves people and is enthusiastic about life. Therefore, my strategy is to create a site that's simple, elegant, interactive, loaded with exclusive content, and brimming over with enthusiasm. So the web site's design is secondary to its content.
Depending on how quickly content can come together, I hope to have the site launched by early Fall.
In other news...
Everwood, the highly-regarded Hungarian progressive metal band, has hired me to be their North American Marketing & Promotions Manager. Part of my job will be to help them land a new record contract, seek greater distribution, suggest edits for their web site and MySpace page, edit their marketing communications, and make inroads for them in the U.S.
Koncz "Balu" Balázs, Everwood's lead singer, is a very nice guy. And the band is one of the most talented I've encountered in a while. They have a bright future ahead of them. I'm honored to be part of it.
In other news...
I am writing two screenplays -- one is a romantic comedy with a supernatural twist, and the other is an adaptation of my favorite childhood books -- affectionately known as the "Trick Books" -- written by the late Scott Corbett. I'm taking the title of my movie from the first book in the series: The Lemonade Trick. I hope to have that script completed by this Fall.
In other news...
I am in the process of transcribing and editing my interviews for the Atlanta music festival ProgPower USA. Last year, for ProgPower USA VII, I interviewed all the bands appearing at the world-famous music fest and posted the interviews on Notes From The Other Side. This year, for PPUSA VIII, I will post my interviews on Dark Rhapsody. I created both sites just for my ProgPower interviews.
This has been an extremely busy time for me and PurpleCrayon Direct!
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