After reading In today’s Advertising Age post, Why Metrics Are Killing Creativity in Advertising, Patrick Sarkissian’s subhead reads: “When marketing decisions are based on numbers, we lose the desire to be creative.”

Damn that’s bleak. And I certainly don’t see it that way.

What clients are asking for is accountability. They want results for their investment in our big freaking brains. And we have to deliver. Why? Because there is no going back to hoping something works, especially when the price tag for such work is six and seven figures deep. In the article, Patrick Sarkissian explains:

Recently, I had a wicked battle with a client determined to let the numbers fully dictate a new creative strategy.

Thing is, you cannot truly quantify creativity. And in ever-increasing fashion, our clients’ (and our own) rote dependence on the dusty world of metrics is exactly why creativity is going to hell.

Here’s the thing: when you leave it to marketers to explain their business and numbers to you, you’re done.

Think about sitting in a board meeting with them. Shadow them for a week and see what pressures they face. Make them go over the metrics before you sit down and develop a strategy. Once you see their business through their eyes, you’ll probably get a deeper understanding of why your pretty comps spray mounted on black foam core don’t mean a fucking thing to them.

It’s up to agencies and creatives to take the lead and explain to marketers how the world has changed and how bigger ideas — and yes, more creative ones that tug at the emotions or take a sledgehammer to the funny bone — are their best chance to emerge victorious in the constant fight for attention.

I think clients and marketers want to trust us again. They want to be able to have a partner they can look to and solve the problems they face. But if we just stand around bitching about metrics and accountability, that day will never come.

If you’ve lost your desire to be creative in the face of metrics, please feel free to refer those clients to me. I’d be more happy to find freedom within the numbers.

Thanks in advance.

I’ve been talking about needing a program like this for a long long time. Fortunately, Jesse Grosjean from HogBay Software developed it. It’s called Write Room — a writing program that harkens back to the days when you could just open Word Perfect on DOS, put your head down, type, and finish a project all in one sitting. Of course, back then the only distractions available were other mesmerizing DOS applications, generating silly ASCII drawings of Christmas trees, and wondering how it was possible to get all that a couple of megabytes onto a 5.25” floppy disc (at least I did).

Today, the distractions are too many and multiplying. Too many widgets, too many apps, too many icons. All filling our screens and cluttering our vision, begging for just a little attention, and then a little more.

Look! A Twitter update!

Is that Simon Cowell in a thong?! Hmmm… wonder if he’s got an ass double.

Squirrel!

Write Room obliterates these and any other distractions from your line of vision and lets you focus on the writing at hand. It’s dead simple to use and offers a few customization options. Sure, it’s not nearly as robust as Microsoft Word, but robustness isn’t the reason you’d use WriteRoom.

Simplicity is. And focus is. And finishing the damn piece you’ve been working on for five days is.

Write Room allows you to do one thing without distraction: write.

If you want to use Write Room, you’ll need a Mac running OS X 10.4 or later. There’s a 30 day free trial available, after which you’ll gladly pay $24.95 to continue using it. There’s even a handy dandy iPhone app available for $4.99 so you can create and edit documents on the go.

Happy writing. Well, at least happier writing.

Search on Google and you’ll note a big change in the results page about 1/3 of the way down: a scrolling list of results that appear just minutes and seconds after they’re posted online — and that includes results from Twitter (just note the post from “deckard256″ in the image above).

What does it mean to you a business owner? A company? A marketing department? There’s no longer any delay whatsoever between a customer’s experience and what the world will learn about that experience should it be posted anywhere online.

Of course, these scrolling results won’t be available if there isn’t a lot of online chatter about that term. But the more opinions, insights, emotions people share over time about their everyday lives, the more your chances of appearing there, or on Bing, or on Yahoo! or anywhere else online for that matter — immediately.

Technology’s leaps and bounds are prodding and nudging for companies to do what’s been prescribed for years: Be there. Be vigilant. Be responsive. (The thing is, now you’ll have to add quicker than ever to the mix, too.)

What do you think about Google gone real-time?

We just have to realize that some customers will never be good customers.

They take advantage of our generosity because hey, times are tough, and we’re supposed to bend over backwards for the sale because then, if we do, they’ll tell people how much we did and wasn’t that sooooo nice of us? And besides, don’t we always talk about how social media is about generosity? About giving of yourself to the community? And about how generosity itself is a business model?

Yes, we will go out of our way for you. Yes, we hope you like what we do for you so much that you’ll tell people about what we can do for them. And yes, it is about generosity.

But it should work both ways. Aren’t our customers part of that community too?

So when we’re generous with you, we expect a little generosity in return. At the very least a little fairness.

Is that too much to ask? What do you think?

On November 5, I published this post about The Red Elephant’s Manager, Jeff Hanson, going out of his way to please a long-time customer (me).

The next day, at 11:30am, just moments before our Conversation Friday guests began arriving, Brandon (pictured at right) showed up at The Conversation Factory. He held out a brown bag, and said he was from Uptown Cafe. He said Fred Tedio had seen my post from the day before and wanted me to see how his Chicken Salad Wrap compared.

I laughed. Not only did Fred send the wrap, he posted a photo of the sandwich on my Facebook wall with the note:

Mike – Please enjoy our Uptown Cafe Chutney Chicken Salad Wrap. We’ve been making it from scratch for over 15 years and have many customers say it’s the best in town. You be the judge.

It was a good wrap, but I’m not here to judge food, I’m here to report on how Fred used social media to make something happen. He saw an opportunity on his Facebook news feed and took it.

What Fred did became part of our Conversation Friday discussion.

Three of us at the session tried the wrap, and agreed  it was tasty, but it wasn’t as important as the gesture itself (there’s certainly a lesson in that statement alone). I explained how I met Fred at the Tallahassee Chamber’s Annual Conference in August; how he prepared and delivered the sandwiches at our first Conversation Friday; and how I’ve become a fan of his smoked salmon with apricot glaze. I’m almost 100% sure that Fred Tedio and Uptown Cafe gained three new fans on Friday (and one blog post today). Although the wrap was very good, the gesture was infinitely more powerful.

All from seeing a post on Facebook, and responding in a timely and appropriate fashion.

Well done, Fred. Well done.

When I took my first bite, I chalked it off to kitchen having an off night — which is unheard of at The Red Elephant Pizza and Grill. When I returned three weeks later, the result was the same. Crestfallen, I asked our waitress if she wouldn’t mind getting the manager (my wife always loves when I do this).

It wasn’t 30 seconds before Jeff Hanson, General Manager (pictured above), appeared, introduced himself and asked how he could help us. Pushing back a tear, I asked what was up with the chicken salad?

Apparently, the original chicken salad recipe had been getting some disheartening reviews from customers. Now, it was gone. The tarragon and walnuts had been evicted, only to be replaced by grape halves. My chicken salad wrap had been transformed into something that no longer compared.

Noting my disappointment, Jeff quickly said, “Tell you what, next time you come in, call me fifteen minutes before and I’ll make it for you the old way.”

I heard angels sing, and an elephant trumpet. Jeff seemed to bask in a heavenly glow.

Over the next couple of months, I visited with my daughter and wife but didn’t bother asking Jeff to make good on his offer. After all, who wants be that annoying customer? (My wife, however, will tell you that I am, and she would love telling you this).

Last week, I went for it. I called ahead and spoke to the Manager, Jeri Render. I explained the “situation” and she said, hold on, let me get Jeff. She got back on the phone about three seconds later and said, “Jeff says come on over.”

Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting with my daughter, enjoying the original chicken salad wrap recipe our waitress, Trish, had brought over. It was perfect. Better than perfect, actually. It was made just for me, by the fearless leader of a fun-loving group of people who seem to always be going the extra mile.

The Red Elephant Pizza and Grill became our family’s go-to restaurant since we moved to the Northeast side of Tallahassee. When we’re in no mood to crank up the stove, our 3 year-old daughter stills get her grilled-cheese-and-fries, my wife her single serving pizza, and me, well, since there’s no more tarragon or walnuts, I go for the grilled mahi mahi. When you’re there, you can always count on the food being hot, the atmosphere being fun, the music being funky, and the staff being unforgettable.

I’m a fan. What about you?

Whether you want to explore social media tools or discuss how you can more effectively market your business in today’s quickly evolving marketplace, The Conversation Factory can be your learning center. From facebook, twitter, and other social media applications to establishing a trustworthy online presence and managing your time, we’ll tailor one or a series of Custom Conversation sessions that can get you moving in the right direction with clarity and focus. Fast.

1-on-1 Conversation:*
$70 per hour

2-on-1 Conversation (bring a friend, save a few bucks):
$50 per person per hour

3-on-1 Conversation (bring two friends, save a few more):
$40 per person per hour

Please email me for groups of more than three.

Book your Custom Conversation by simply emailing me or calling 850.459.8192.

If you’d like to learn more about the kinds of ideas and guidance we can offer, consider attending one of our fun, electric Conversation Friday sessions held every Friday (unless otherwise noted) from 12-1pm at The Conversation Factory, just off Capital Circle and Mahan. More about those sessions here.

*Previous guests of Conversation Fridays will receive 1-on-1 sessions for $60 per hour. Discounts available for non-profit organizations.

Posted via email from michaelcalienes’s posterous

Conversation Fridays at the conversation factory weren’t meant to be networking sessions in the traditional sense. We certainly don’t exist for the purpose of pitching business to each other. But what’s happening is exactly what I hoped would happen: guests are beginning to earn trust and business by sharing their perspectives and ideas. After all, sharing ideas IS pitching business, but doing it like this is so much more powerful, genuine, and human than traditional sales approaches.

By the time each session ends, everyone knows who you are, what you do, and what makes you unique in your space. Of course, this last part depends greatly on your participation during our one-hour session.

If you’re interested in attending, email me or just post a message on the conversation factory’s wall on facebook. We encourage reservations because we limit our sessions to 9 people so that everyone can participate, though we certainly don’t frown on you if you’re a serial listener.

You can bring your business cards and your ideas, just leave the sales pitch at the door. A one-hour conversation beats 10 second elevator speech any day of the week — especially Fridays.

Have a great weekend.

Posted via email from michaelcalienes’s posterous

It’s that time of year again when messages from business owners and staff  requesting a vote for their companies in the Tally Awards begin filling our inboxes and blanketing our newsfeeds.

Maybe your business will win; but, man, what if you get absolutely NOTHING?!

Before you go bunching your panties, think about what it takes to win a Tally Award. It takes getting more people to vote for your business than any other business in that category. I don’t know what that tells you, but that tells me it’s a popularity contest. It also tells me that a mediocre business with a well-networked staff can easily beat out an exceptional business whose staff prefers doing business beyond the perimeter of the spotlight.

I’m not saying don’t enter. I’m not saying don’t vote. I’m saying keep it in perspective. And seriously, if you have the ability to get a few hundred people to click some buttons on the internet, consider directing them here, here, or here. Maybe you can help change the world, or even a small part of it. Now that would be something deserving of an award.