Remembering How 9/11/01 Changed Our Lives

Today is a national day of remembrance. Honestly when you live in NY, almost every day is a day of remembrance. Still.

I do not have any friends or family lost on 9/11. But I do have a lot of friends who have friends and family lost on 9/11, and friends of friends, etc. Our lives have become more like 2 or 3 degrees of separation instead of 6. Thanks to Facebook and LinkedIn. Even without Kevin Bacon.

I vividly remember my first reaction standing straight up watching CNN in the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel in Princeton, NJ. Before any of us could have processed the loss of life and the suffering that would follow, I said to myself, "our lives have just changed."

As I rushed home 45 minutes later to pick my two kids up early from grade school, I said to myself "our lives have just changed."

For those directly affected by the attacks, this was certainly instantly true. And I continue to feel for all of you, and I honestly don't know how you get through a day like today.

For the rest of the country, my first thought also certainly became true. Our lives had just changed. And it wasn't good.

We became instantly vulnerable. Like never before in our history. Over the years following, we continually lost faith in our government, our financial institutions, even our religious institutions for some of us. The economy crashed and we all started to feel like perhaps the lives we had built were just not sustainable. We are all much more vulnerable and fragile than any of us ever imagined. Individually and collectively.

9/11/01 was a turning point. But what has also risen from that moment is good old fashioned optimism. "We can get through this".

This growing feeling of realistic, some call gritty, optimism is being tracked by all the consumer trending analysts, so it's really there. I know that I feel it too. We can get through this.

As we follow the families of those directly affected by the attacks, we see them slowly move on with their lives. Forever changed, but moving on. They are getting through it.

Our optimism is different this time around. We can get through this. We can pull ourselves out of this. But WE have to do it, we can't rely on anyone else. We will do it.

So as I remember 9/11/01, I remember how it changed all of our lives. And at this very moment, I also remember the pain and suffering that so many of have endured as a result. Many of us are turning this day of remembrance into a day of service (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090911/ap_on_re_us/us_sept11_anniversary) by helping others in our community.

What a great symbol of getting through it, and getting through it together.

Hope this finds you well -- Jim.

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"The September Issue"

This past weekend I saw The September Issue, the new documentary about Vogue magazine and the infamous Anna Wintour.  It was fascinating.

The film basically follows the process as the Vogue team brainstorms, creates, and assembles their September issue, the biggest one of the year and certainly the most influential factor in fashion.

In true documentary style, it follows a small cast of "characters", really the principles at the magazine, as they go through the trials and tribulations of their craft.

A few observations:

One:  It was fascinating to watch their creative process. It's not all that different from any other creative process, certainly very similar in many ways to creating advertising. It was fun to see concepts get created and then later cut. Compelling to see a photo shoot take a sudden turn of events. And absolutely fascinating to watch people really avoid confrontation on creative issues. Most of the time when Anna Wintour cut a spread from the issue, for example, she didn't do it directly to the person who created it. It was all done through third parties. At least from what I could tell.

Two:  While Anna Wintour's reputation certainly enters the room before she does, I found her to be much more relate-able and real that I have ever heard about her. Sure she's decisive and sure she's impatient, curt, and focused. Maybe even insensitive. But from my vantage point from seeing only this film, my take is that she's a business person with a mission. And she's human. She also compared her work to the work that other members of her family do, which I found to be very honest.

Three:  I was amazed at how much the industry bows to her. I've always heard that, but it was amazing to see it real.

Four:  It was also fascinating to see how non-technical the process is. Sure the photography is done digitally and there is a lot of retouching, but much of the assembly of the magazine is done with white boards, hard copy printouts, scissors, tape, and paste-ups.

The real breakout of the film was Grace Coddington, the Creative Director. She stole the movie. Not only was she in the movie the most (from my memory), but she was also the most interesting to watch. A creative genius at work, yet still humble and real in her own way. I fell in love with her. The scene with her at Versailles was inspiring.

I wouldn't say to rush out to see the movie because it's the most amazing movie I've ever seen or because it's a documentary that changes how you view an important issue. But if you have the chance, it is fun to get a peek into what it's like to work in another profession. And it's fun to see really creative people in action.

Of course at my agency I get to see really creative people in action every day :)

Hope this finds you well -- Jim.

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Marketing in the Digital World

No question that the digital age has changed how we live, how we interact with each other, and how we experience brands. Gwen Korbel from our Account Management team gives her thoughts on how digital obsessions shouldn't change one of the fundamentals of marketing.

Hope this finds you well -- Jim.

Gwen:

Last Tuesday Garrick Schmitt posted a great article on AdAge.com titled “How Demand for Digital Experiences Is Transforming Our Physical Spaces (And Creating ‘Screens’ Where There Weren’t Any)” https://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=138725

Among the wide range of primarily large-scale applications defining the landscape were

- The 555 Kubik project http://www.urbanscreen.com/video/_Video16.html, which had no marketing nor live audience interaction component and is captivating to observe

- The Livestrong Chalkbot http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/livestrong/en_US/chalk_messages, commissioned by Nike but focused on spreading messages of hope and inspiration, not product superiority

- And HBO’s Voyeur Project http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCr853VVo9c, winner of the 2008 Grand Prix Lion-Outdoor

Assuming most readers here are marketers, it’s likely you’re familiar with that last one. If not, please check it out for yourself, it did for digital outdoor what Gardasil did for unbranded marketing – set the standard, and set it high.

While I had a hard time turning away from the hour-long YouTube Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueJcRmfweSM, my mind keeps coming back to a more human-scale and pervasive transformation of our physical space: the smartphone.

Whether you carry a smartphone or not, they’re rarely outside your physical space today – the person next to you on the subway / in your meeting / at your dinner table is using one. It’s that last instance that troubles me – our expectation of constant input has grown (and maybe our manners have diminished) to the point where being in the presence of others no longer qualifies as adequate engagement.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy settling a bet with friends on the spot thanks to a smartphone and imdb.com: a group digital interaction that informs and entertains. But more often social experiences can be devalued, like when someone reads a new e-mail during conversation rather than looks at whoever is speaking. Foodies will tell you we eat with our eyes, referring to the importance of a dish’s presentation, but we listen with our eyes too.

I’m a big fan of the digital sphere and the ever-evolving access it gives us – at a minimum, I shop, research, and communicate online daily. That being said, I still value face-to-face interaction most, and prefer to unplug and experience people with my whole self, not just half an ear.

Looking at this from a marketing perspective, digital can and does allow you fresh, outside-the-box opportunities to touch consumers, but at the end of the day, is it generating word-of-mouth about a cool campaign, or is it creating a relationship with your product?

The most effective marketing continues to be the people who use your product, your sometimes unintentional brand advocates. They too are best heard with both ears, and both eyes.

- Gwen Korbel, Account Management at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness

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For Sophie, Love USC!

Sophie is my French Bulldog. USC is the Union Square Cafe, one of the most consistently best reviewed restaurants in New York City. And this is a tale of two restaurants and of superior customer service.

If your brand or business has any quotient of customer service, then take this as inspiration. In this economy, in my opinion, customer service should be top priority for almost any brand or business. Keep your customers happy. Give new customers a great experience so that they want to come back.

So here's my tale of customer service, ala two different restaurant experiences.

This past Saturday night, we decided to celebrate the holiday weekend and go to one of the trendy restaurants in the trendy Meatpacking District here in New York. Bagatelle.

Long story short, we decided to go to Bagatelle that same day and we didn't have a reservation. I called on three separate occasions through the day, and each time was told that although there was no reservations available, I should stop by anyway when I'm in the neighborhood.

At 9:15 at night, we were already in the neighborhood but I couldn't remember the exact address so I called again and spoke to the same woman I had spoken to earlier. She told me that she wasn't sure how busy the restaurant was (she was upstairs in an office) but that I should stop by and worst case have a drink at the bar while we wait. Good enough for me.

Well, when we got to the door, the bouncer (very old school Studio 54 type bouncer) would not let us in because they were booked. I told him that I had just spoken to someone and that she had told us to stop by. He "demanded" that I tell him her name. He was rude beyond belief.

I stood there stunned, and quite honestly I have not been treated so rudely in years. This is just a restaurant. It's just food. No need to be so incredibly rude. He finally said that we could go to the bar for ONE drink and then we would have to leave.

Nice. Our little holiday "stay-cation" night out was now marred by an obnoxious bouncer. For no reason. I will never go back and I will tell all my friends not to bother.

In an effort to rebound the night (it is a holiday weekend after all), I called one of my old standby restaurants, Union Square Cafe. Not as trendy. Not in as trendy of a neighborhood. But always good.

The customer service blew us away. The woman on the phone told us that they were pretty busy but that we should stop by and they would work us in. When we got there, we walked in like it was our long lost home and we quickly told her our story. What did she do? She HUGGED us.

We waited a couple minutes and they gave us a great table. Timing was oddly perfect. What did the waitress do when you told her our story? She HUGGED us.

We went on to order fabulous food -- the best in the city. On several occasions through the evening the waitress stopped by to check in with us and to chat. Perfectly attentive yet also let us enjoy each other's company. We somehow got to talking about New Orleans and all the amazing restaurants there -- if I remember correctly she used to live there. We told her that we were planning a little get away there sometime soon.

We didn't finish all our food, so we had her pack up what was left of the steak so that we could give it to our little French Bulldog, Sophie. We paid the bill, grabbed the doggie bag, and started to walk home happy and content -- loving the best of NY.

We were about ten steps away from the door when the waitress came bounding out to give us a hand written note on a Union Square Cafe card with a listing of the best restaurants in New Orleans, organized by type. Can you believe it? Customer service at its finest. We hugged goodbye with huge smiles on our faces, amazed by the level of genuine caring.

What a sharp contrast to the experience just hours before at Bagatelle.

The next day, still commenting on the turn around of the night, we opened up the doggie bag to feed Sophie dinner. Written on the top of the box was "For Sophie. Love, USC!".

They had me at hello. They have me for life.

If customer service is a part of your brand experience, then please learn from my tale of two restaurants and of superior customer service. Especially in this economy, but truthfully in any economy.

Hope this finds you well -- Jim.

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The History of Labor Day

As a nation we are celebrating Labor Day this weekend, which generally means we are celebrating with a day off of work over a nice long weekend. Not bad, because quite honestly the only day off of work is a day when EVERYONE takes a day off. So let's all enjoy.

I thought it would be cool to really understand what Labor Day is all about. To do that, we need to go back to the late-1800's, via history.com.

American workers were tired. Tired of the long hours every day, tired of working every day of the week, and even tired of seeing their children working too.  They had to work twelve hours a day, seven days a week just to make a basic living. They wanted to call attention to how off balance this all was.

It's unclear who the actual founder of Labor Day is.  It was probably a small group of people in all likelihood. The very first Labor Day was September 5, 1882 when 10,000 workers in New York marched from City Hall to Union Square to protest work conditions. They all took an un-paid day off from work, creating the first Labor Day parade. Over the following years, other cities followed suit and twelve years later Congress made it an official holiday.

Now in our day, Labor Day has come more to mean the end of summer than anything else. Although I bet we all feel like we are working too much, but that's another story.

Enjoy the weekend. Rest and relax, as is the intention of the holiday. I know that I'm looking forward to the fall, my favorite time of the year.

Hope this finds you well -- Jim.

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Back-to-School Stress

Researchers say that back-to-school is one of the most stressful times of the year (second only to the December holidays). Rushing around to get new clothes that fit, sharpening all those new pencils, and downloading new music for the iPod -- and that's just for moms/dads, what about for the kids?!?

I always found that one of the most stressful parts about back-to-school is making lunches for the kids. Healthy lunches. Healthy lunches that the kids will actually eat and not "trade away." And before you cynics say anything, yes I do make lunches for my kids. Yes I'm a dad and yes I make lunches for my kids.

A few weeks ago we did a post on healthy fast food options for us adults (http://saatchiwellness.blogspot.com/2009/08/not-sure-if-youve-noticed-but-there.html), but what about school lunches for the kids?  

I know that Michelle Obama is working to improve the school lunch program. But let's face it, there's going to be a lot of brown-paper-bag lunches from all of us before that ever gets fixed. So with a renewed focus on wellness, I decided to start the new school year out right. I decided to do a little research.

There's an amazing amount of advice available on the web, with just a couple simple searches. Here's a site that I found particularly good: http://www.ehow.com/how_134910_healthy-lunches-kids.html

From the range of sites that I quickly found, here are a few of my favorite little tidbits of advice.

1- Make it mini: kids love to eat bite size portions. So give them mini parts of healthy foods that they can pop in their little mouths. Like mini carrots and small pieces of celery instead of the whole stalk. They are much more likely to munch on them. Grapes are also a perfect pop-em snack.

2- Don't be the boss: take the kids shopping and let them pick out their own lunch food. They are much more likely to buy into the choices if they have helped to make them.

3- Roll it: take a low-fat deli meat and a low-fat cheese and roll it into a tortilla. Low fat, lots of protein, and much more fun to eat.

4- Stack it: take some whole grain crackers and stack them together with a little low-fat cream cheese and low-sugar jelly. It's like a sandwich but not quite as ordinary and hopefully less likely to be thrown out. And a lot less carbs without the bread.

5- Keep it fresh: if you are worried about the food not staying fresh while in the lunchbox, freeze it the night before. It'll thaw in the morning in time for lunch.

As I mentioned, there is a ton of advice on the web about making healthy lunches -- just do a simple search. I am by no means an expert. Just a dad who wants to make healthy lunches and a marketing guy who is committed to wellness.

Hope this finds you well -- Jim.

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"The Big Ad Gig" for Young Talent

New to the advertising business or ready to get your big break? Well here's your chance to be "discovered" during Advertising Week in September here in New York. The organizers have this to say:

Do You Have What it Takes to Win an Ad Job?

Were you born with a tag line in your brain, skin as thick as a gold pencil and enough creative fire to make even a legal disclaimer go viral? This September 24th, during Advertising Week in New York, it’s your chance to show a panel of ad luminaries that you can even sell Turkducken Bites to a vegan. Your reward: 30 days of briefs, branding and benjamins at Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, Ogilvy, Atmosphere Proximity or Saatchi Wellness. Deadline for submission is September 7, 2009. Check <http://www.thebigadgig.com> for more details. Game on!

The Big Ad Gig! Our very own Chief Creative Officer, Helayne Spivak, is a judge and one of the winners win be working a freelance gig at our agency, Saatchi Wellness.

So take a chance. Get discovered. Sign up today. Can't wait to meet you!

Hope this finds you well -- Jim.

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