After immersing myself in the storyline and debating the possible meanings by the author, I was struck by the similarities between The Hunger Games and the agency creative process.

To illustrate, imagine receiving the following letter from the President... 

_____________________________________________________________

OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE 

from the desk of the President of the Capitol

WELCOME TO THE 74TH ADVERTISING GAMES!

Dear Creative Citizens of Advertising,

Let me begin with the announcement that you have been waiting for. You have been invited to pitch an account that may bring you great fame and fortune. It is a $50M Automotive Account of a Fortune 500 Company.

As this most anticipated event of the year is upon us, I can feel your excitement and enthusiasm at the opportunity before you. It is indeed the very reason for your existence.

Before the commencement of our glorious industry's most sacred tradition, the creative briefing, I would like to first extend my personal thanks to each and every Creative Citizen of Advertising. Whether you hail from the Capitol (Major Advertising Holding Company), our richest district (Madison Avenue) or one of the outlying districts (a Digital Agency), I know of no better way to show my appreciation for all of you than with a riveting Advertising Games! My sincere gratitude and thanks to the ones who came before us and established the rules of creativity within the hallowed halls of each agency. I thank the Client, and the Chief Creative Officer, known as the Gamemaker, for their tireless efforts and promise to make this year's Games one for the ages.

Let the 74th Advertising Games begin!

And may the odds be ever in your favor!

The President

_____________________________________________________________

The Hunger Games! The Advertising Games? Completely different, or one in the same?

Every day, at agencies across the country, The Advertising Games exist. With the number of client reviews in our industry, the Games are probably happening right now.

Given the opportunity of a big pitch, Agency Chief Creative Officer's (CCO's) and Executive Creative Director's (ECD's) begin the creative process by selecting their own creative tributes. They may turn to the category-experienced team, the golden-child team, the young gun team, or the new blood. Their go-to creative process is the "creative gang bang" – briefing multiple teams on the same project – believing that this creative competition will result in great work, or more importantly, the lifeblood of any agency...the pitch-winning work.

These creative leaders play the role of the Gamemaker, pitting their own against each other. The reasons for it can be debated by each agency: it's the way we work; it's the way it's always been; it's proven to produce; or simply, Machiavelli was right, the end justifies the means.

Regardless of the reason, this type of creative process is our industry's very own form of The Hunger Games. Our creative tributes are briefed together and then quickly, the together concept is lost in search of the victor.

Many of us have experienced The Advertising Games. We have lived it, survived it and some of us have even won. And the benefits were great. Our agencies showered us with accolades. We were rewarded with plum assignments and given more opportunities to produce and win awards. The perks of winning built upon themselves as promotions and raises soon followed. If you have read or seen The Hunger Games, the similarities cannot be lost.

Many creative leaders believe that it is a good thing and they continue to rule over their Games with each important project or pitch. Yes, The Advertising Games exist. I ask, at what cost?

 As a creative leader for agencies large and small over the past 12 years, I believe The Advertising Games create more than good work. They breed fear and mistrust among the creatives. They build protective fiefdoms between friends and colleagues. They hold the individual above all else. They create an environment alien to creativity. They violate the very tenet that agency's evangelize in every pitch:  Our People. What are agencies without our people? Our talent? Our experts? Is the work more important than the very treatment of the people who create it and the environment they exist in?

With this in mind, I do not subscribe to the creative process that I was taught. I chose to end The Advertising Games and try something different. In our creative process, our creative teams own their clients and their work. They are engaged to learn the business and build trust with the entire team. They are challenged to deliver great work, for every project and pitch. They are also expected to collaborate...with the agency, with the client and with their creative peers. Through it all, our creative leaders act as mentors not Gamemakers.

Without The Advertising Games, our teams still create great work. I believe it's because they can focus their time and energy on thinking, crafting and building their ideas. They often get support and objective critiques from their creative peers, in an effort to make the work better. The teams are open to sharing and collaborating because they are not pre-occupied with the imaginations that come from creative competition..."who will get work through, who will get to present, who will get to produce, who will get promoted or fired." They don't have to keep looking over their shoulder to see who is peering at their work. They don't have to quarantine their creative peers from the brainstorm rooms. There is less negative energy wasted on politics and more focus on productivity of collaborating.

We do feel that competition has a role in our process. Our creative teams are empowered to compete...against themselves. They are expected to collaborate with the entire agency in an effort to make the work better. They understand that all of us can contribute to the work and the creative environment needed to create something that's new, amazing or innovative.

In our creative process, we have learned that when you give your teams the responsibility and the freedom to create amazing work, well, they have a tendency to do amazing things. In doing so, they generate a display of creative spirit that is both contagious and collaborative.

In the end, we believe our creative process will win the pitch and develop great work. 

And yes, in our process, much of the work of our creative teams may still die. Yet their creative spirit will not.

We will not be participating in The Advertising Games, yet if you find yourself as a creative tribute for your agency... May the odds ever be in your favor.

And the best Super Bowl ad award goes to...a spot with a dog. Of course, the critiques and USA Today Ad Meter voting is underway (as we are writing this article) yet its a safe bet that the winner will be a dog or a baby. Regardless of who ultimately tops USA Today's Ad Meter, the real standout star of Super Bowl Sunday, besides Eli Manning of the Giants, is the "Second Screen." With the rise in power of social media, the Second Screen proved to be a dominating force yesterday and ultimately proved itself as a real player for the game of advertising.

Yesterday, as we were watching the Super Bowl on our first screen and obsessively Tweeting on our second screen, and checking in on our third screen (iPad), something extraordinary occurred to us. The Second Screen wasn’t going to change the dynamic of appointment viewing, it already changed it, and definitely for the better. Thanks to the active, real time participation of those we already chose to follow on Twitter, we were immediately transported to biggest Super Bowl party in the world, without actually leaving the comfort of our homes. Whether it was celebrities such as Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo: Since the coin toss ceremony is such a highlight, why not hold it after the game to hang onto viewers?) or industry veterans such as Edward Boches’ (@edwardboches: Nothing comes close to M&Ms for likeability), having access to their perspectives throughout the game added an element of surprise and delight to an event that has become a bit too predictable in recent years.

Speaking of surprising and delightful – KIA’s “Dream Car. For real life.” spot contained all the elements of what we love about commercials (nice idea, quality production and fun entertainment), and then threw in the clever twist at the end that prompted us to tweet it’s praises (@JordanAtlas23: KIA Optima delivers a dream spot. Thanks for remembering the idea). It wasn’t just us either. And we obviously weren't the only ones participating and experiencing the power of the Second Screen. It was contagious. Check out these stats (from Clearspring) that were published this morning:

• Sharing via mobile was up 500% from last year
• Overall sharing was up 143% from last year
• Shares to and Clicks from Twitter was up 116% from last year
• Shares to and Clicks from Tumblr was up 615% from last year
• Shares to and Clicks from Facebook was up 18% from last year.

 We also saw initial "Social + Super Bowl stats" by Bluefin Labs (Twitter @bluefinlabs) today. They tracked more than 12.2 million social-media comments during and after Super Bowl XLVI, primarily on Twitter and Facebook. That's a 578% increase over the total Bluefin tracked last year (1.8 million).  And even more staggering, Twitter announced via its official @twitter account, that the final three minutes of the Super Bowl helped push total tweet volume up to an average of 10,000 tweets per second.

And Bluefin Labs tracked stats that make the Super Bowl a new social-TV high-water mark. With 3.1 million social media comments, last night's Super Bowl was the biggest social-TV event that they have ever recorded. And to support the fun and power of the SEcond Screen, Bluefin Labs also tracked more than 985,000 social-media comments specifically related to just Super Bowl commercials. We know a few of those comments were ours and more than a few were probably yours, too.

Over the past few years, we often debate the future of advertising or the death of the TV spot. We believe the future is here and they are playing nicely together. Big TV Spots + Second Screen + millions of engaged consumers = powerful advertising.

Whether you liked the Super Bowl spots or were disappointed by them (again), we have a recommendation for consumers, agencies and clients. Turn on your Second Screen and have some fun with it.

Advertisers and brands that are destined to raise the proverbial advertising Lombardi Trophy after the 2012 Super Bowl “Ad” Game might want to look beyond simply producing that “one great spot.” While that “one great spot” may win the USA Today Ad Meter, garner positive reviews and chalk up numerous industry accolades, the true winner of the Super Bowl “Ad” Game will be the collective client/agency team that both created that “one great spot,” and pro-actively built an in-depth social hub for that “one great spot” to live on well after the big game ends.

Working across multiple disciplines, the true winner of the 2012 Super Bowl “Ad” Game will have thought about much more than thirty seconds of air-time. The winner will have engaged in the following process:

• Build media and mass audience excitement through pre-game press releases, announcements and video teasers. This year we have seen numerous teasers, the most popular being VW’s The Bark and Honda’s Ferris Bueller video.

• Launch a social media ecosystem before the game. Brands like GoDaddy and Doritos are building entire online campaigns around their spots and driving action as opposed to just brand awareness.

• Deliver a call-to-action to watch the spot in a specific quarter of the game. Almost every brand is taking control of its destiny and telling consumers when to take the bathroom break so they don’t miss their spot.

• Run the spot during the big game and make it good. As creatives who have worked on past Super Bowl spots, we know that creating Super Bowl commercials takes months of hard work, a brave and trusting client and a little bit of luck. Simply making a great spot isn’t enough. It’s only the price of admission. What each brand is actually hoping for is that they have lightning in a bottle or at least a little kid in a Darth Vader costume. Consumers want to be entertained and the best clients are the ones that always remember that, especially when it comes time to make the final decisions on what will run.

• If and only if the idea dictates it, buy a full: 60 seconds for bigger production value and richer storytelling. With the average cost of a :30 spot coming in at $3.5M this year, many brands not only didn’t blink, they actually upped the ante. Many have adopted a “go big or go home” strategy by producing :60 spots. In instances such as this, when more time serves to enhance the idea, the entire creative team (from agency to client to production company) is afforded more opportunity help bring the story to life, build emotion and deliver a well-crafted message that will hopefully elevate the work beyond the requisite cliché guy humor, talking animals or hollow CGI-driven executions.

• Build hubs online for the spot(s) to live. Everywhere. Before, during and especially after the game, consumers will be grabbing some device to view the spots they loved or the ones they missed. Be ready for them.

• Engage in social activation around the campaign (spot) so that it remains relevant. One of the goals of a Super Bowl spot is to avoid being just a $3.5 million one hit wonder. The spot needs to work harder for both the brand and the campaign. It is estimated that 110 million people will watch the Super Bowl. That’s a lot of eyeballs. Which, of course, begs the question; what happens after your :30 seconds are over? The winner will be the brand that knows this answer and is ready to drive more impressions, greater awareness or even pursue purchase intent. This strategy will generate huge dividends for advertisers like Best Buy, TaxAct and even the movie studios.

• Win awards in the ad industry. Both client and agency worked hard, and found success in their strategy, production and final spot. Enjoy the rewards.

• Generate millions of views on YouTube. Now that you received a pat on the back, get back in the game and continue to drive. VW’s Darth Vader spot has over 45 million views on YouTube, nearly half of the number who watched the Super Bowl last year. And these are quality views as people chose to view it. You do the math.

• Build on the momentum and start planning for 2013. The planning, creative and media strategy are all working together and creating success. Remember to build on it as today’s consumer has three screens vying for what little attention span she or he has.

In looking back at the past three years, the USA Today Ad Meter’s winning spot was a clever, funny :30 second spot, for a big brand (2009 Bud Light, 2010 Snickers, 2011 Doritos). All three of these were fun to watch and provided a lot of discussion during the game. However, we believe, the true winners of the Super Bowl “Ad” Game will be the brands who remember that the “ad” game really begins when the big game ends.

Of course, since this is a Super Bowl article attempting to forecast what will and won’t work on the big day, it wouldn’t be complete without our prediction. Based on what we’ve seen so far, Chrysler, M&M’s and VW have the strategy to win. Let’s see if they have the spot to get it all started.

Oh, and the Patriots by 4.

Co-authored by:

Troy Scarlott

@cityoftroy

Jordan Atlas

@jordanatlas23

With advertising’s big day rapidly approaching, a tremendous amount of discussion is underway about what to expect from the upcoming Super Bowl ads. Most of the talk seems to have fallen around the following topics; Does releasing your spot prior to the big day help to ignite more interest and awareness or does it only serve to undercut the value that an audience gets from first seeing it on Sunday? Appearances from GoDaddy, KIA and H&M will help fuel the ongoing debate about whether or not sex sells (our two cents: Sex doesn’t sell. It titillates, for sure but unless you can recreate that same racy subject matter within the last ten feet of the purchase funnel, you will most likely be left taking a cold shower when it comes to sales. Finally, does the proliferation of :60 commercials signal the return of storytelling? (Again, our two cents says that while storytelling at times has been MIA or at least difficult to track down, it never really went away and thus can’t be returning. More time should only be bought if more time is needed to enhance the idea. Put another way, you don’t need more time to tell a good story, you just need a good story.

The focus of most of this discussion is on what the general population will see, feel and ultimately do with the ads shown during the big game. While this is certainly an important group of people, it occurred to us that there is a smaller, but no less significant, segment of our population that tends to go unrepresented on Super Bowl Sunday. We are of course talking about that elusive demographic affectionately known as; “The Lone Advertising Professional Stuck at the Super Bowl Party Watching The Ads With a Group of Non-Advertising Professionals.” When we say advertising professional, we mean everyone and anyone who is in advertising, regardless of department or capability. The people at the Super Bowl party, not involved in advertising don’t really care about your title, tenure or talent. A hard line is drawn directly down the middle of every Super Bowl party; you’re either one of those who watch the ads or you’re one of those who make the ads. Regardless of whether you have, or ever have had a commercial on the super bowl, being the only ad person at the party means you are singularly responsible for every cent of that multi-million dollar commercial break. And since the only thing worse than not having an ad during the super bowl, is being held accountable for the one’s who do, solely because you work in the same field, we’ve compiled a few tricks of the trade to help ensure that the Super Bowl party you attend can be more enjoyable for everyone, especially you.

 Be charmingly “in the know”

The expectation is that the ad guy knows more about what’s happening than the non-ad guy. This is both true and entertaining so take advantage of this position for as long as you can. Casual remarks should be both “inside” enough to intrigue your fellow guests yet inclusive enough as to not isolate your audience. For example you might say; “ If Coke really wanted to showcase how innovative and dynamic their spot(s) were, they should have figured out a way to put Adriana Lima right between those two polar bears since she’s in every other ad.” (NOTE: This kind of comment works best if delivered after both her KIA ad and her Teleflora ad have already run and some casual discussion has occurred about what Coke has planned.)

But not too “in the know”

At some point in the evening, your fellow partygoers will inevitably deem a certain ad the best of the night even though you know for a fact that it has been done a million times before. Proceed cautiously. Just because they lack your encyclopedic knowledge of every ad that has ever run, doesn’t mean they actually give a crap. USA Today doesn’t have an Ad Guy Douche Meter (not yet at least) but too many utterances of ‘that’s been done before” will secure you a top spot on that unofficial list.

 Play the “digital” card

After the fourth or fifth time that you are forced to tell someone why you and your agency don’t have a super bowl spot this year, feel free to play the “digital” card. Talk about how you’ve strategically advised your clients to take a more ROI-focused approach to maximize their budgets by focusing on SEO, retargeting, blogger outreach and content curation in order to build brand loyalty and affinity through their online community. This will impress absolutely no one but it’s impossible to adequately explain all of this during a typical commercial break so you will ultimately be saved by the game coming back on.

Challenge the self-proclaimed expert

Eventually, there is going to be someone at the party that says they could have done that ad. With any luck, this remark will come after a Doritos spot which will make it ok for you to say; “you DID do that ad” or at least a “you like object” did it. This will get the conversation going about user-generated advertising and whether the experts should be the only ones creating for the big stage. We recommend you use this as an opportunity to get another drink, hopefully in another room.

In case of emergency, lie (you are in advertising after all)

The fact that you haven’t created any advertising on the one day people actually care about advertising will surely become too much to bear. Feel free to lie, you are in advertising for heaven’s sake. We recommend subtly alluding to a huge project for a beloved brand that will definitely be on next year’s Super Bowl, among other things. The upside is that there is no chance you will ever see that person again since you rarely see the same people at Super Bowl parties year on year. Of course, even if you do run into them again, the odds of he or she remembering what you said are pretty small since they will most likely go back to ignoring advertising 364 days out of the year.

As the two ad guys who will most certainly be the only ad guys at our respective super bowl parties, we are looking forward, with great anticipation to the amazing competition, both during the game and during the breaks. Hopefully, these insider tips provide you with a little bit of assistance come Sunday. And please let us know how your super bowl party goes. We’ll look forward to hearing all about what we can add to this list for next year.

Troy Scarlott and Jordan Atlas

Ignited - SVP/ECD's

@cityoftroy

@jordanatlas23

The holidays are upon us. And I have been good this year. Very good. (My wife may disagree yet she still went along with it.) So I decided to cross an item off my bucket list and purchase a 1957 Porsche 356 Speedster. My Speedster is a replica as the real deal is a bit pricey. I have been driving my Speedster for a few months and I love it. It's pure fun. I take it out whenever possible as it’s the perfect little car for SoCal weather, 72 and sunny. The car was supposed to be a toy; something to shield me from my impending mid-life crisis, and also reduce the stress of agency deadlines and new business pitches. My Speedster was supposed to be my “Calgon, take me away!” vehicle that would literally and figuratively remove me from work. What I found was something much different. My Speedster did the exact opposite. It brought me closer to my work and taught me a valuable lesson, one that applies to my creative career in advertising. Now, isn't that ironic.

We live in the digital space, consistently developing ideas and initiatives for our clients. If you walk around our agency, you will probably hear the following comments emanating from our brainstorm rooms, "Can we do this?" and then, of course, "How do we do it?" Surrounded by digital experts, it's not surprising that I learn something new every day. Literally. From mobile app development to location based search, from backend web development to fMRI research (fMRI? Look that one up and you can learn something new today, too.), we are always pushing to innovate and striving to learn about the next big digital thing. We spend endless hours crafting and refining to make our clients happy and be successful.

Yet it took my little black Speedster to bring me back to my New York advertising roots and teach me a valuable lesson. And it's a simple one.

Every time I take my Speedster out for a spin, I inevitably find myself engaging with people. They usually start with a smile, a nod or a thumbs up, and then progress with a few comments:  I love your car! What year is it? Beautiful! I am so jealous. I want one. Where did you get it? How long have you had it? Black on black. Gorgeous.

The simple lesson is that my Speedster moves people. It makes a distinct impression. People take time to look at it. Comment on it. Ask about it. Even touch it. And it's always a positive experience for them. Last week, an older woman approached me after I parked my Speedster on a busy street in Venice. She had a huge smile and gently ran her hand over the lines of the car. She glowed as she asked about the car. Our conversation was short and polite. The car may have reminded her of an early time or an important person in her life. Either way, I know the mere experience of my Speedster moved her. It made her walk up and strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger. It motivated her to glide her hand over the hood. It engaged her completely and I think gave her joy and happiness in that brief moment.  

That experience taught me a simple lesson and made me focus on my goal as a creative director. The advertising executions that we create every day must move people. They have to evoke an emotion. They must hold people, if just for a moment. We all strive to create great ideas, yet we must do more than that. Our goal needs to be more focused, and we need to strive to create moments in time for our consumers. These moments can be small, short or seemingly insignificant in the course of a day. They must be unique and positive. Engaging and compelling. Thoughtful and memorable. They must move the consumer to think, act, laugh, even cry.

Moving people is now more important than ever. The average person is bombarded with over 3000+ advertising messages per day.

Think about that for a second. Three. Thousand. Ads. Per. Day. That's a lot of competition vying for a person's attention.

Thinking about my Speedster and the affect it has on people helps me focus on the consumer. And specifically, to figure out what it's going to take to get them to pay attention. To remember. To move them.

The answer, of course, is not so simple. It could be the big idea or a clever execution. It could be a video that is just hilarious. It could be a digital experience that strikes a chord. It could be an campaign that hits on a human truth. Or it could be an app that is simple and useful.

It could be anything. Anything.

I believe the word “anything” is what got me into the creativity business in the first place. Everyday, I have the opportunity to look at a blank piece of paper and come up with anything. Now, I know what you're thinking - “What about the brief, the tiny budget, the tight schedule and the 12 clients?” That stuff is a given and I believe that “anything” still applies. “Anything” is the daily motivation that drives creative people to do what we do: to create something that never existed before.

In my process, I continually think about my Speedster, the woman in Venice and the countless others who were moved by it. It helps me look at every advertising execution with a renewed focus. I ask myself, will this execution move someone?

If it won't, I rev up my Speedster and go for a drive. It usually moves me to think of a new idea or a new execution.

Anything will do.

My Brand New World

As a Creative Director in the world of advertising, I'm a fan of big ideas. They are the existential magic of our very careers. Ideas motivate us to go above and beyond. They taunt us through the rhythmic blinking of the cursor hovering on our blank screen. They are the focus of entertaining conversation over late night pizza deliveries. Ideas blow away clients and win important pitches. They move consumers to laugh, share, engage, click and buy. And big ideas make other creatives wonder, "Why didn't I think of that idea, yesterday?!"

I don't have a go-to formula for developing big ideas. I don't have an internal GPS to finding them. And to my knowledge, there still is no app for it. Although I'm sure Apple is working on it.

If you want to create the big idea, then obviously, you need to be a better creative. And in order to do that, I have an idea for you.

Become a client. Yes, a client.

I did it, and believe me, it has greatly influenced my career as a creative.

In 2007, I was on a run with my best friend, Eric Barnes. We were chatting about careers, life and families as we always do. Around mile 3, Eric exclaimed, 'Hey, I have an idea!' I chuckled and threw him a wry smile as I took over the pace. Eric is a successful entrepreneur and the very definition of forward-thinking. Eric painted his vision for a new product that he wanted to create. In between hill climbs, he passionately explained how it was actually more of a movement than a product. By the end of his pitch, I was sold. It was a big idea. It was smart. It was cool. It could be a game-changer.

At our local Starbucks, Eric literally sketched out the concept on a napkin. (I am not making this up). The conversation became alive with thought starters, "What if...just think...and imagine this." I felt right at home. I'm a creative, an idea guy. I've been doing this for 18 years. This stuff is easy. It's right in my wheelhouse. I soon realized that Eric wasn't looking for me to help do the creative part of advertising. He was looking for me to be the client part of advertising. He wanted me to be the brand manager – just like the clients I work with everyday.

 Oh, man.

 About 18 months later, we launched KOR Water, a personal hydration company with a simple mission – to celebrate and preserve water.  We saw an opportunity to create a brand that lived at the core of premium industrial design, environmental sustainability and personal health.

 Simply described, our first product, the KOR ONE, is a water bottle. Our goal was to do more than launch a new product – we wanted to redefine the entire water category. We believed we could achieve this by combining innovative design and materials with a sustainability message that would resonate with consumers.

Now in its fourth year, KOR Water has four unique bottle designs with international distribution. Each product launch has garnered positive reviews, won design awards and the KOR ONE was featured in the movie, Iron Man 2. With this brand credibility, KOR continually speaks to our mission – giving a voice to sustainability practices and personal health topics.

My experience as the KOR client has transformed my learning curve to a near vertical line, and given me a new appreciation for the clients that I work with at Ignited. I remember thinking, "I'd love to be the client. It's a piece of cake. Sit in a meeting, watch a creative team tap dance through a presentation, and make the decision. Easy-peasy. Done. Let's start picking directors."

Well, be careful what you wish for, because being a client is a very challenging balancing act. Everyday your brand is being introduced to people all over the globe and its up to you, the client, to make sure that it makes a good first impression. And we all know that you there is no second chance at that. 

In thinking about my experience as both a Creative Director and a Client, I have learned a number of valuable lessons. I have also had the good fortune to live my greatest lesson:

If you want to be a better creative, become a client.

Here are 7 Tips to channel your inner client to become a better creative:

#1 - Live in a Brand New World

Flip off your flippity flops and pull on a nice, shiny pair of conservative wing tips or a classic pair of black pumps (I'll let you choose.) Take a walk around the block and break them in. Then request a meeting with your client. Buy them a cup of coffee and ask them a thousand good questions about their job as a client, as a Brand Manager. And I'm not talking high-level, big picture advertising questions. I'm talking day-to-day, in the trenches, how does the-Japanese-Tsunami-disaster affect-the-manufacturing-sector-and-product-availability-thus-impacting-your-entire-new product-launch-in-Brazil– kind of questions. You just may decide to keep those wing tips.

#2 - Listen between the lines

Listen better, listen more intently and listen to everyone's point of view. When you're listening, put your iPhone away, (unless of course it's your client is calling). Keep the MacBook in your backpack and the iPad out of your lap. Just sit there and listen. Take some notes the old fashioned way, using paper and a pen. Believe me, writing it all down helps you create connections and ideas from a wide variety of perspectives. It may help you write an article for ihaveanidea.org.

#3 - How to Succeed in Business, While Trying.

Being a client has taught me that we all need business acumen. How do you get it? Dedicate time each and every day. Participate in the entire strategic planning sessions with the planners, even watch the focus groups with Aunt Shirley in Kansas City. Spend quality time with a media manager and dive into the weeds of their media plan flowchart without commenting on the art direction. Learn what MSA, SOW, CPM, and LOE stand for and forget about CYA. As you collaborate with experts across your agency, you will realize advertising is a business that needs everyone working together. You will also be one step closer to being a better creative. When you think about it, the creative ideation process hasn't really changed in the last 50 years. Yet the advertising business is changing faster than ever. And next time you have the opportunity to present the best campaign that you have ever developed, you will have the expertise you need to sell it. That's more than just creative talent, that's business.

#4 - Meet My Friend, Ted, and His Friend, Simon.

Start with Why. Find 18 uninterrupted minutes and watch my favorite Ted talk, Simon Sinek's How Great Leaders Inspire Action, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4.
Simon's powerful Ted talk and book, Start With Why have been instrumental in shaping my thinking on the brands, including KOR. When you figure it out why your client's brand exists, you'll have the truth you need to develop great work.

#5 - Creative Development Should Include a Developer

The digital marketing tools and platforms now at our disposal are still in their infancy. With the introduction of each new product and platform, a huge marketing opportunity is created. As a Creative or a Client, I will be the first to admit that I don't have all of the answers on how to integrate creativity and technology. That's where a Developer comes in. When adding this expertise to the creative process, your team will inevitably develop ideas that invite the question, "Can we really do that?" Now, that's a creative development.

#6 - Put Down Your Weapon, Young Skywalker.

One of my day-to-day lessons is about picking your battles. Clients have many decisions to make for their brand and most of them have nothing to with the advertising campaign you're working on. So when you're in creative development, I recommend that you accept that everything in the creative world is not a battle. In order to do this successfully, you have to know what's important. So before your next creative review, take some time and write down what is important and what isn't. Which elements are key to the idea and what can change? When you pick your battles wisely and then stand up for them, your clients will appreciate it.

#7 - Go for a Run with a Friend

You never know what'll happen.

I'd love to hear your ideas on how to be a better creative.

email:  tscarlott@ignitedusa.com

Troy Scarlott is the co-creative lead at Ignited, a full-service advertising agency for people who want to set the world on fire.

About Ignited - www.ignitedusa.com

We've all been watching the current political environment in our country affect our futures. All of our futures. Regardless of whether we are the top 1%, the the bottom 99%, or the middle 50%. With a major election still 13 months away, I am now seeing our current elected officials position themselves for re-election or election to a new office. It seems to me that we have enough issues that need to be solved now. I think the election debate can wait a bit. I also think we are all looking for solutions, not speeches.

I hate to get off on a rant here so I won't. I'm going to offer a solution. If you think it makes sense, please share. If Howard Schultz of Starbucks can start a conversation on our political election process, I figure I can too.

One simple solution for America's future: One term. Six years. Zero re-elections.

I wanted to share a very simplistic solution with you that may seem all to obvious, yet it never seems to be the focus of our political conversations. We seem to focus on the problems with our current legislative process yet we are not talking about the real issue. In my opinion, our current term limits are the real issue, the real systemic problem.

Even now, 13 months before the election, we already see politicians positioning for re-election. Instead of working on our real issues, both Democrats and Republicans are working to stay elected. They are career politicians with one goal when in office and that is to stay in office. If this assumption is true, then our elected officials will not have the courage to make the tough decisions. Instead of voting for America's future, they are focused on voting for theirs.

We need to change this perspective.

Imagine a Senator voting to pass needed legislation to fix Social Security for the long term, instead of voting based on the current polls.

Imagine the President and Congressional leaders working to build compromise in our checks and balances system instead of promoting bipartisan sound bites.

Imagine what would happen if our elected officials were motivated by building America instead of building a career.

Imagine what would happen if lawyers and farmers and small business owners left their careers to volunteer their time in DC – and restored true public service (this is what people did for the country over 200 years ago).

Imagine real problem solvers going to Washington DC to roll up their sleeves and get to work without pressure from wealthy donors or corporations. 
WIthout a lobbyist in their ear or an eye on their future.

Imagine what America could do and could be if each and every elected official had a different perspective. 

Imagine if our federal and state elected officials serve only one term of six years.

Imagine. One term. Six Years. No re-elections. 

Imagine the President, Senators and the House Reps leaving their careers in their hometowns for only one reason: to go to Washington, DC to work for America.

Imagine Americans being motivated to give up their careers (for just a short time) to help our country grow and build for our future. Imagine these confident and determined individuals going to DC with a new attitude and a new goal. 

Imagine our next President getting elected in November 2012. They take office in January 2013 and spend the better part of their first year building their administration and staff. The President then focuses the next 5 years on America's future. And none of that time on being re-elected.

Imagine the President collaborating with Senators and House Representatives with the same perspective and the same focus.

Imagine the end of the career politician.

Imagine the short term perspective of voting to be re-elected being replaced with the long term perspective of voting for America's future.

It's a simple solution. One term, 6 years. No re-elections. No career politicians. Just career Americans dedicated to true public service. 

Imagine what would happen if you shared this idea or shared one of your own.

Imagine what would happen if all commit to being part of the solution.

Imagine if we are the type of people going to Washington DC in 2013.

Imagine what we could do. Just imagine.