universal positive » Business

Hail brave crusaders! Brian Marr from Wexley School for Girls

Roger Darnell — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:50:15 +0000

Last evening, the American Advertising Federation of Greenville, South Carolina hosted Brian Marr, Managing Director for the West Coast marketing agency Wexley School for Girls, at the lovely Westin Poinsett in downtown Greenville.

Well known for their innovative approaches in engaging customers for Microsoft, Nike, Seattle Sounders and Seahawks, Copper Mountain and others, Wexley School for Girls has been recognized in business publications ranging from Seattle Business Magazine and Business Week to Inc. Brian joined Wexley in 2007, after 11 years as a marketing and brand manager for Microsoft and other high-tech firms. He’s been responsible for adding billions in revenue to companies through innovative marketing tools, and for spearheading Microsoft’s push into social and new media marketing. Among the secrets he shared last night were case studies, including the one above for the Seattle Sounders, a video tour of Wexley’s facility in Seattle, and many tales relating the inner-workings of the agency. You might also enjoy these suggestions from his reading list:
. Several books from author Paul Arden
. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
. Emotionomics

Many thanks to Brian for coming out to share his story and his insights with us, and to AAF Greenville for bringing him in and showing him such a great time.

AAF Greenville is a professional organization supporting individuals and organizations involved in the advertising, marketing, public relations and other related industry businesses throughout Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson, South Carolina. For more information, please visit www.AAFGreenville.org, and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Laura Longsworth: Thanks for the Documentary

Roger Darnell — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:26:59 +0000

Thanks once again to Sundance Channel, I recently had another life-altering experience from a documentary film they chose to program. This time, the film is entitled “Luckey,” it was produced, written and directed by filmmaker Laura Longsworth, and it documents the challenges faced by sculptor Tom Luckey to carry on with his life, his artistry and his business after experiencing a major spinal injury.

Through the course of the narrative, viewers witness the struggles that come to all members of a person’s family with such a major injury. The love shown throughout is extremely touching, and I found myself deeply admiring everyone shown — with special empathy for Tom’s elder son Spencer, who steps up to help his father complete his biggest, most complicated sculpture ever. “Luckey” was completed in 2008, and the sculptural Luckey Climbers project for the Boston Children’s Museum documented in the film appears on the company’s website, along with similarly unique and imaginative constructions for hands-on museums across the country. I invite you to check out the film if you get a chance, and also to visit luckeyclimbers.com to experience one of their projects in your area, or to help get one commissioned.

“Luckey” is Laura Longsworth’s directorial debut, as well as her first film to appear on the Sundance Channel. The majority of Laura’s documentary work has been for PBS television. Among films for the nationally broadcast history series American Experience, Laura produced “Golden Gate Bridge” and “Gold Rush,” which won the Eric Barnouw Prize from the Organization of American Historians for its telling of the chaotic pursuit of wealth in 19th century California. For the public affairs series Frontline, she was associate producer for “Inside Terror Network” (winner of a Columbia-DuPont gold baton) and “Let’s Get Married,” an essay-style documentary about some of America’s poorest citizens. Last year, Laura produced “The People v. Leo Frank,” a film about a young Jewish man who was lynched in Georgia in 1915. Prior to making documentary films, Laura was a reporter at a daily newspaper.

The film’s official site is at luckeythefilm.com, and its Facebook group is here. To request a screening of “Luckey,” or to purchase a DVD, please contact info@luckeythefilm.com.

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Creative Entrepreneurs: David Bouck

Roger Darnell — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:28:09 +0000

While attending the Boards Summit last October, I had the pleasure of meeting and befriending David Bouck (IMDB, LinkedIn), a veteran producer working in commercials, television and feature films. David is the founder and executive producer of Means of Production in Vancouver, a production services company specializing in television commercial production and still photography servicing all of Canada. After recently sending me his latest company reel (featured above), I peppered him with questions which he has kindly answered below.

Q. Whose work are we seeing in the reel?
On this reel, in order of appearance:
. Mercedes ad for Germany. BM8 was the production company. Director was Ole Peters.
. Nivea ad. Worldwide. Neue Sentimental (Germany). Director was Thierry Rajic.
. Gortex. Germany. Tony Petersen Films. Director was Stuart Parr.
. Land Rover ‘Freelander 2′. Worldwide. Knucklehead from the UK. Director was Johnny Green.
. Channel 4 ‘Russia’ series. UK. Director was Jorn Threlfall.
. Audi Q5. Worldwide. BM8. Director was Marc Shölermann.
. Guinness. Worldwide. Knucklehead. Director was Johnny Green.
. The Coöperative (UK dept. store). UK. RSA. Director was Luke Scott.
. Anadin. UK. Independent. Director was Philippe André.
. Honda. USA. Streetlight Films. Director was Paul Street.
. Acura. USA. Knucklehead. Director was Daniel Barber.
. Hummer. USA. Biscuit Filmworks. Director was Steve Rogers.
. Skoda. Worldwide. Tempomedia (Germany). Director was John Dolan.
. Sprint. USA. ParanoidUS. Directors were Marc Wilkins and Luis Nieto.
. VW Touareg. Worldwide. Independent. Director was John Dolan.
. Porsche Cayman. Worldwide. Pipeline Films (Germany). Director was Daniel Lwowski.
. Porsche Boxster. Worldwide. C3 (Germany). Director was Bernd Seiboldt.
. Hartley’s. UK. Therapy Films. Director was Colin Gregg.
. Skoda. Germany. Markenfilm. Director was Marc Shölermann.
. Sprint. Stink/Psyop. UK/China. Director was Psyop.
. Audi A6. Worldwide. Markenfilm (Germany). Director was Jan Wentz.
. Nokia. China. Dab Hand. Director was BIG TV.
. AT&T. USA. Therapy. Director was Colin Gregg.
. Renault. France. Télécréateurs. Director was Stylewar.
. Hornbach. Germany. Tony Petersen Films. US.
. Starburst. USA. Biscuit. Director was Tim Godsall.

I served as the line producer on the majority of these projects. My company markets itself as a service producer to television commercial production companies from all over the world, with the majority of the work coming from Europe. I prepare the pitches with location photos, budgets, and other creative ideas to help production companies win jobs and produce their projects.

Q2. Briefly, what are the top things you feel filmmakers should know about Canada or Vancouver?Canada has a lot going for it as a shooting location. Natural beauty, experienced and energetic non-union crews, all the filming toys, and it’s less expensive than most European countries and the USA. Vancouver has a lot of very different locations, all within a short distance of the city. So you can shoot on a beach, in an office tower, and on top of a mountain in one day (and I have!). Calgary, Alberta has excellent crews and is right next to the Rockies and the Prairies. Toronto has skyscrapers. All these locations have hosted major US motion pictures and TV series, not to mention thousands of commercials for the US, Europe, and Asia over the years.

Q3. What’s your favorite moment in the reel?

It is hard to nail down a favourite moment because there have been so many. I really love the people I work with, the locations we get to go to, the whole process. Filming Land Rover with Johnny Green at the Gang Ranch in the Chilcotin was incredible. It’s the second largest working cattle ranch in the northern hemisphere, with real, working cowboys… and few people get to see it, as it’s so remote. Shooting a Camel Active (clothing) print ad in Newfoundland way out in the Atlantic Ocean was incredibly spectacular. There’s no place in the world like Newfoundland and we got to go to the most beautiful places… and the sun shone every day. Any job with my friend Nicolas Mirbach from Germany is a constant laugh riot. Seeing the Alberta Tar Sands for the first time for a Thyssen Krupp ad was simply breathtaking. I’m afraid to stop because I’ll be leaving out dozens of other great experiences and wonderful people!

I love my job.

For more information on Means of Production, please call +1.604.255.4302, or visit www.meansofproduction.ca.

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Among many people I’m thankful for, my big brother Scott

Roger Darnell — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:08:36 +0000

We’re taking off to go spend some quality time with our families in the St. Louis and Milwaukee areas over the days ahead, and I thought I’d make a quick nod to one of the people I’m most thankful for, my big brother, Scott Darnell. Scott and his partner David Gotter established a company in 2003 named Further OPTIONS, as a developer of innovative mobility systems for wheelchair-bound individuals. After debuting its first product at the 2006 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the company’s Patent-pending DMS-4 was unveiled at the 2009 National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association Annual Conference, where it was honored by NMEDA and the Adaptive Driving Alliance with their 2009 New Technology Award for Innovation in Engineering and Technology for the physically challenged.

Scott had a diving accident back in 1991, but every day, he shows us all what a motivated human being is capable of achieving under the most challenging of circumstances. My 5-year-old son Riley wants to grow up to be an inventor, just like his Uncle Scott.

I wrote this poem for Scott and posted it on my personal site back in February of this year, before joining Scott, David and others at the NMEDA Conference, where they brought home the ADA Award. As Further OPTIONS gets up to speed, it is starting to make a huge impact in the lives of many individuals. What Scott, David and their colleagues are achieving is truly wonderful, and at this time of year when I am counting so many blessings, I thought my big brother was the best place to start.

Ramble #10

by Roger Darnell

Every step of my life, you have been here.
Our shared life experiences as siblings
is what made me want it for my children…
even with all we have been through, bro.
I really can’t imagine my life without there
being a big brother, and you being him.
And now, on the verge of you achieving
something monumentally spectacular and
completely self-driven, I am awestruck,
and exceedingly proud. Rock on.

For all the latest news on Further OPTIONS, please visit www.further-options.com or further-options.blogspot.com.

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MVP of Communications: Your friend, Twitter

Roger Darnell — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:41:56 +0000

Most of my friends are well aware that I spent a couple of days last week at this year’s Boards Summit conference in New York. The publishers and editors of Boards Magazine have been producing this event for 10 years now, to support and help lead people from all points around the globe who are actively involved in the commercial production industry, and other sectors directly engaged in creating breakthrough marketing initiatives. The organizers outdid themselves this year, at a time when changes are playing out faster than ever, requiring us all to rethink, revisit, and then redouble efforts to seize any potentially viable opportunities, even those where there is little or no expectation of profit.

For my part, I’ve seen that success is demanding a great deal of effort. Fortunately, I’ve been ready, willing and able to step up — and happily, very good things are happening for me, my clients, and many of my friends and colleagues. I’m very excited about where things are heading, and while the commitments of my business can at times seem overwhelming, I feel it’s my willingness to persist in facing them that is my key to success. As a businessman, I’ve had to manage my interpersonal communications at a new level over the past several months, in order to incorporate and maximize a new communications channel of which I am becoming increasingly fond. I am referring to what has been the most important aspect of my professional growth, and my marketing efforts, over the past eight months: Twitter.

Thank you for bearing with me to this point — I aim to reward you for your interest. I’ve developed some more developed thoughts on this subject, but for the moment, and for whatever they may be worth, here are my top-level thoughts in favor of going ahead and beginning your business or personal use of Twitter, if you have not already.

. If you’re already using Facebook, by adding a feature called Facebook Connect, you can easily enable your Twitter account to automically update your Facebook profile… so while Twitter is seen by many as being something “extra” that they are certain they don’t have time for, Twitter can actually enhance your use of Facebook in a direct way, that’s pretty fun to use and easy to set up.

. Twitter offers you a way to actually connect with people you want to know in a meaningful way. As shown in the funny “Twouble with Twitters,” it may seem dumb for people to publicly share very brief thoughts with a group of friends and semi-acquaintances, but depending upon your interests and your personality, you can probably think of some things you’d like to share with — or learn from — at least some people in the world, and by looking at what others are sharing using this service, it often winds up being a very interesting way to pursue your interests and socialize.

. Going to this recent business conference, I found that virtually all the really sharp people are using Twitter… and it may even be safe to say that part of the reason they come across as being so well-informed and in-the-know is because of their willingness to be “open” to this very rich communications channel.

. I also learned about people and businesses who are missing real opportunities because they have avoided Twitter. That’s a shame to me, considering that it’s such an easy hurdle overcome by just playing around with it a bit. While Twitter can get complicated with all its add-on applications, I just use it in the simplest ways, and I’ve still experienced many benefits in my education, connectedness, and communications capabilities.

. Many people seem to be waiting for Twitter to go away. It very well might, but I feel that a much better approach is to jump in and see if it may be a fit for you. You never know, it might be just the thing to help you achieve your dreams.

. Finally, I want to admit that I delayed using Twitter for over two years after first hearing about it. After attending this recent business conference, I came away feeling like those individuals who are currently actively using Facebook and Twitter are some of the smartest people in business… and being able to share these experiences with them as a common interest put me in very good company.

This past week, Twitter launched a new ability to make Lists, where you can use your Twitter account to curate lists of users according to your interests. I spent a little time and made a list of the Twitter feeds of the companies and people I hooked up with at the 2009 Boards Summit, and another one unifying Twitter feeds of industry jobs. By taking a look at my personal Twitter feed below and the two lists referenced here, hopefully you’ll see something that gives you some sense of Twitter use being a worthwhile investment of your time.

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Positivity, on the subject of climate change

Roger Darnell — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:45:49 +0000

Blog Action Day is an annual event every October 15th that unites the world’s bloggers in writing about the same issue on the same day, with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Nearly 10,000 people from 150 countries are participating in Blog Action Day 2009 and focusing on the theme of Climate Change. I have many friends and colleagues around the planet, and although I wish we could all agree on what’s important, I’ve come to realize the impossibility of that goal. Still, I do hope that everyone can agree that the current focus in our country on “Green Jobs” represents a lot of phenomenal opportunities that everyone has a chance to participate in.

From my new home town in Boone, North Carolina, the Energy Center at Appalachian State University is providing valuable research and guidance to educators, policymakers and businesses associated with energy technologies and conservation. Earlier this year, the Energy Center published its third volume of the North Carolina Economic Developer’s Guide to the Renewable Energy Industries. Positioning the green economy as today’s growth economy, the guide’s forward explains how the state’s unemployment has soared above 15% in some counties, but also points out that over 2,200 new jobs have been announced within the green energy sector, and rallies readers around this mandate:

Green energy technologies such as renewable energy and energy efficiency are crucial growth opportunities for economic recovery.

The guide can be downloaded at the Energy Center’s site at http://energy.appstate.edu, which is also an amazing resource for learning about other important local, national and international initiatives underway.

The organizers of Blog Action Day 2009 have also posted their own amazing resource, a list of actionable ideas that makes it as easy as possible to participate in important activities addressing climate change. With all of us working together, I’m excited to think about all the lives and the natural resources we can positively impact.

Finally, each day, I encourage you to please visit http://www.thehungersite.com and its related sites supporting Breast Cancer, Child Health, Literacy, Rainforests and Animal Rescues. There, our simple clicks can make huge differences.

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I’m all about learning, friending at the 2009 Boards Summit

Roger Darnell — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:04:12 +0000

Calendar year 2009 has been a constant challenge for me, and I consider myself very lucky compared with many I know who are facing difficult times. My thoughts remain with them as I carry on daily in what is truly my dream job, and while I’m hoping things will get easier for everyone who’s struggling, I’m also doing more to benefit others. Through this process, I’m finding that strengthening myself and my capabilities is impacting a growing circle of friends and colleagues. A large share of my business now occurs within the commercial production industry. I’m also active in the greater global marketing and advertising industries, and their initiatives, but since commercial production is still so important to marketing and advertising, that area is especially important to me. I’ve been a film/video production student since about 1986, and following my formal education in Film and Television at the University of Central Florida, I began learning on the job, and I’ve never stopped. While most of the lessons over the past 20 years have presented themselves to me as client projects and business developments I’ve written about and promoted, at times, the pace of change has accelerated, and required even greater commitments on my part. Looking back, I find that those times represent the biggest moments of my professional life.

So that’s where you find me planning to attend the 2009 Boards Summit – which is themed “Decoding the Future of Advertising” – in New York on October 26 and 27. By scanning the information on attending speakers and their planned sessions at www.boardssummit.com, I think most creative individuals can easily see the quality of the attraction. Worth noting, I know that a lot of interesting companies are sponsoring the festivities, and many top industry professionals I’m hoping to friend also are attending. Of course, the organizers of Boards Summit are the publishers and staff of Boards Magazine, who themselves have inspired me to adapt to change… through all their recent efforts to reshape the way they report on, interact with, support and lead the international commercial production industry. Personally, I hope one day that each of my kids might intern for Boards… which tells you a lot about my feelings for this group and its mission, style and talents. Probably more important to you is the fact that Boards will also be offering a first-come, first-served Master Class program providing in-depth explorations of key topics during the Summit. Sign-up begins online next week, and with some of the main event sessions already filling up, I encourage those interested in the best opportunities to get busy planning for the Summit, and getting booked.

In this clipping on the left, you can see London-based artist Mat Maitland’s contribution to Imagining Mozambique, a charitable art exhibition benefiting Mozambique children and orphans who are suffering as a result of natural disasters, HIV/AIDS and civil war. Boards’ Kevin Ritchie shares more prints from the collection in his story, where he also speaks with its curator, Wieden+Kennedy interactive producer Jamie Kim. The exhibition, which has appeared at Amsterdam’s Maxalot Gallery and W+K Amsterdam, and will eventually appear in Tokyo, London and Portland, will have its New York premiere on Sunday, October 25, in association with Boards, Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam and MassMarket. I’ll be in attendance for that, too, imagining Mozambique with some of the interesting people I have the good fortune of sharing common interests with.

I sincerely hope to see you there, too.

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We Are Plus relaunches, drives positive brand movement worldwide

Roger Darnell — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:52:03 +0000

Since first launching Plus et Plus in New York City in 2002, company founder Jeremy Hollister, his co-creative director Judy Wellfare, projects director Zu Al-Kadiri and their colleagues have built a reputation as a go-to company for fashion brands seeking to create sexy, marketing-savvy visual content for high-profile promotional uses ranging from live and in-store events to online, offline and traditional broadcast marketing campaigns. Recently relaunched as We Are Plus, over the past several months the company has delivered innovative projects for AMC, Shu Uemura Cosmetics, and Kidrobot, among many others.

“Over the years, by consistently coming through for marketing executives behind top-flight fashion brands like Aveda, MAC Cosmetics, Laforet, Artful Dodger and Dr. Martens, and for crossover sports brands like Nike and Asics, we’ve had a lot of opportunities to go to bat, get up to speed quickly, and produce content to connect with many different types of audiences,” said Hollister.

Earlier this month, We Are Plus announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind QR Code-based scavenger hunt in Manhattan for the 2009 Dunny Series toys from Kidrobot, planet Earth’s premier creator and retailer of limited edition toys, clothing, artwork and books. News of the promotion sparked worldwide interest in Kidrobot and the Dunny Series based on niche and mainstream media coverage, including timely stories in MediaPost, Boards, Creativity, Fast Company, PSFK.com and elsewhere.

The campaign is so far credited with contributing to a 45% sales increase of Dunnys compared with the first 10 days of availability last year, with keeping Kidrobot top-of-mind in regard to innovative marketing techniques and creative strategies, and for earning this praise from Paul Budnitz, Kidrobot’s founder:

“We Are Plus has been a brilliant partner. They’ve handled the strategic, creative, technical, and PR aspects with us. It’s amazing to have such a creative company to work with.”

Following his presentation earlier this week at Imprint Culture Lab 2009, Budnitz will next appear as a featured speaker at the 2009 Boards Summit, which is set for Oct. 26 and 27, 2009 at the Grand Hyatt New York. More information on the Boards Summit is available at www.BoardsSummit.com.

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Behind the lens with ATTIK’s Simon Needham

Roger Darnell — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:51:14 +0000

As the co-founder of global creative agency ATTIK, and the creative director for ATTIK U.S., Simon Needham has already made an impressive impact on the marketing industry. ATTIK recently published NoiseFive, the latest of its self-guided, experimental, collectible design publications, and with each passing day, Simon continues to innovate alongside the world’s premier marketers — and the extremely talented artisans and craftspeople working with or within ATTIK on its latest campaigns. In 2002, ATTIK had already been around for 16 years, and was already very well known worldwide for its breakthrough, brand-focused graphic design work crossing all media platforms. That year, Simon and his colleagues landed the Scion account from Toyota Motor Sales (TMS) USA, and the resulting campaign continues to provide a great testament to innovation.

In the words of TMS USA’s President Jim Lentz, ATTIK is a leader in experimental platforms that define the creative world of our future, and ATTIK’s work for Scion, “breaks new ground in non-traditional thinking and urges us all to look at life differently.”

“Unlike most agencies,” said Shilo co-founder and creative director Jose Gomez in a recent interview with Film and Video Magazine, “creative director Simon Needham of ATTIK takes a much more active role in conceptualizing the creative and the direction of the spot. Because of ATTIK’s level of involvement, we feel the final film benefits from all the love and turns out even better in the end.”

Indeed, Simon has been very hands-on with every piece of creative content that ATTIK has created for Scion since 2002, and the brand’s “Fable of the Deviants,” “Declaration,” “xD Explosion” and “xB Splicer” cinema/broadcast ads featured above are just some of the campaign spots where he either served as director himself, or co-directed alongside one of the global advertising industry’s most prestigious creative production companies. It’s worth noting that, throughout this time, Simon and his ATTIK colleagues have also produced in-theater/broadcast campaigns, print ads, award-winning websites, banner campaigns, interactive billboards, guerilla marketing elements and non-traditional marketing stunts which have produced very successful results for a “Who’s Who” of high profile brands. For example, a 2008 assignment from TMS USA for the Lexus IS F involved Simon directing a set of six :15 ads to cinematically showcase the vehicle’s most thrilling attributes by taking full advantage of the big-screen environments and movie theater surround-sound capabilities. According to results published in Brandweek in 2008, nearly 60% of those who saw the ads wanted to find out more about the IS F. The first six videos featured in this YouTube compilation are those ads which scored so well with theater audiences.

As Simon Needham and ATTIK continue their artistic arc, breaking new ground within the automotive industry and beyond, the results — in all media forms and measures — are certain to be spectacular.

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Business ventures of your dreams…

Roger Darnell — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:59:00 +0000

I remember being 12 years old and being very impressed by a young guy I met, Tommy Ewasko, who at that time (1978) was well on his way to becoming a professional photographer. Tommy was the first professional creative person I ever crossed paths with, and after getting to know him a bit better, I began to see the world in a different way. Last month, my successful English entrepreneurial comrade Rob Ford of Favourite Website Awards (TheFWA.com) shared a story with his friends on Facebook where he was included in a 10steps.sg feature by Johnson Koh entitled “Interviews of Ten Accomplished Founders.” If you have not visited TheFWA.com before, I can easily imagine you having a kind of epiphany when you do, and there are other domains within Rob’s empire which are equally inspirational, including FWATheater.com and FWAPhoto.com.

To me, because his business model is original, creative, seemingly very fun, and largely self-guided, Rob represents the kind of successful entrepreneur that one only dreams of becoming. Do please read the “Interviews” article linked above to learn more about the origins of Rob’s business, and those of the other talented young gentlemen listed below. There’s enough inspiration here to change many people’s perceptions of the very nature of business… and represent new approaches to how resourceful individuals can build their own unique success stories independently.
. BuySellAds – Todd Garland
. Envato – Colliss Ta’eed
. Good Tutorials – Zach Holman
. Abduzeedo – Fabio Sasso
. Tutorial9 – David Leggett
. DeviantArt – Angelo-Sotira
. iStockPhoto – Bruce LivingStone
. Pixel2Life – Dan Richard
. SmashingMagazine – Vitaly Friedman & Sven Lennartz

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