Creativity Undefined

"The U.S. economy is not powered by manufacturing; it's powered by creativity"- Alex Bogusky

I believe this, I absolutely believe this.

One of the biggest battles I fight here is the label of Creative. Being surrounded by incredibly talented artists and writers and strategists and managers everyday has opened my eyes to so many new ways to look at the world around us. It has also opened my eyes to the fact that creative is not a title to be coveted, but expected from everyone.

Another quote from the article:
"We all have it. It doesn't mean you can draw or sing or compose music or write. It might mean you have a unique ability to sniff out the right audience. Or an uncanny ability to find the truth of a business hidden in the numbers. Or maybe you have a way of talking to consumers that allows them to reveal what they're really thinking."-AB

Why does the title only get offered to those who manifest their creativity through a particular, designated medium? I would challenge anyone with a creative title to match their big ideas with some of the "non-creative" or "business" big ideas any day. Creativity should be demanded from everyone, in every position, in any industry.

Yet another quote:
"Anything we do as humans, when done well enough and with enough passion, becomes creative. Creativity is not inherent to the activity. I play guitar and it's certainly not at a level that I would consider a creative endeavor. I've even written commercials that in retrospect I would not consider creative. I've also seen strategy decks and marketing plans that were outrageously creative and flat-out brilliant." -AB

One of my most aspirational goals for my career is to eventually eradicate creative as a title -or- more likely a scenario, find a way to apply it to every position within a company. Creativity is not left for those who know simply know how to create beautiful images using the adobe suite or build images and feelings in people's minds with their words- it's so much more than that. I'd be willing to bet that even Steve in accounts receivable has a creative outlet of his own, while he's not getting his paychecks for it, yet, that doesn't banish him from the circle.

There are people, especially in this industry, who seem to hold on to that title so tightly and close to their chest that it's almost laughable- because that is inherently the opposite of what it is. Being able to embrace, and demand, good ideas from everyone and having the ability to see everyone's avenues for creativity, while different than our own, could also be considered a great definition for a creative.

What if the label of creative itself automatically kills the notion of creative because by classifying what we should all try our best to inherently operate with, it automatically falls into a preconceived grouping- completely negating the idea or original and creative.

"It's not the job. It's how you do it. Creativity and excellence are synonymous."-AB

Chew on that...

A good video, a better band

I've been listening to the John Bulter Trio (out of Australia) for about two years. Last year they released a studio album called "Grand National" and this was the title track.

Great song (better in a live setting) but a great video by a production company named Popcore





If you're interested...here's another acoustic song he does. It's pretty amazing.

he snorted his father's ashes...



Personally, I dig it.

What will the trading floor look like?

"TRAFFIQ’s vision is of an efficient, open, and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers for optimized ad yield and maximum return on investment. Its web-based trading platform was recently opened to all buyers and sellers of online media, with leading publishers, advertisers, and agencies already on board."--Traffiq Website

Basically it's the stock market of media.

Buying, selling and maybe trading placements.

Of course it's an online platform, but imagine for a moment what the trading floor would look like. Think Gordon Gecko and Bud Fox talking rich media or a back cover of playboy.

What if the next step is personal online media buying? Think Chuck Schwab for media. Could anyone with the money and interest begin buying and selling advertising commodities?


(The scene when Apple announces advertising rates for it's first online publication on culture and technology)

Show the people something...

Yep, 8 months of worked streamlined into a brief overview of what it is we do here...yes it's weird, a little "text rich" if you will, but at least there is something to show. Whether or not I should be showing this is a whole other ball of ear wax...