Culture Scout Blog

When Art and Technology Have a Baby

2010-07-30T10:37:00.001-05:00

This afternoon I'm meeting with Lincoln Schatz (pronounced "shots"), an American portrait artist whose work has just been acquired by the Smithsonian. I first met Lincoln a few years ago at an event in his studio. I was mesmerized by the images that floated like ghosts across the walls. Part programmer and part videographer, Lincoln's customized computers deliver generative moving portraits of people the likes of George Clooney as commissioned by Esquire Magazine.

Not satisfied to just make art, Lincoln is also mastering the process of creating change. His Cure Violence project teaches Chicago area youth from blighted communities how to tell their stories using video art. Cisco is one of the project's sponsors. According to Lincoln, the project has been both gratifying and vexing. It's not easy changing a culture from destructive to creative in the face of grinding poverty.

I hope to learn about it.

I learn more from stories about disappointment than glory. Handling success doesn't really demand perspective or inner coaching. Creative people have vivid imaginations. It's part of their gift. And it can become their downfall when reality just never forms up the way it's been imagined.

I read recently that Buddhists believe expectation is the partner to disappointment. Willingness is the partner to happiness--being willing to accept what unfolds. Here's hoping Lincoln is willing unfold his secret to pulling off his wildly ambitious blend of art + technology + social action.

Why I'm Proud to Be From Chicago

2010-07-29T12:13:00.005-05:00

Last Friday, I attended my first sketch comedy show at the Playground Theater. The show featured three acts (one of which was written and performed by two of my funniest friends, Alicia Eler and Daaimah Mubashshir) and lasted two hours. By the time it was over, I found myself wondering why I don't see comedy shows every weekend. Don't get me wrong--I try to take advantage of Chicago on a regular basis. I go to museums, movies, plays and the like pretty regularly. After all, we live in a pretty big and wonderful city. But nothing brushes a bad week off your back like spending two hours laughing. So I was thrilled to find out that the Playground has shows every single Friday night. You can bet I'll be back.

Here's another cool thing I found out about them: the Playground is the first and only not-for-profit co-op theater dedicated to improv comedy in the entire country. That fact alone makes me swell with Chicago pride. And it's entirely run by volunteers, many of whom are also actors. I love the idea that the guy setting up chairs before a show might be the life of that very show three hours later.

Then there are Fundraising Fridays, during which the theater assists organizations or individuals with setting up shows to raise money for various causes. Laughs and philanthropy--what more could a culture scout ask for? I don't know that I had a favorite theater before now, but after reading up on the Playground, I think they may have taken the prize.

See here for more info.

--Mo Hickey

When Waking up is Hard to Do: 3 Tips for Launching Your Dream Project

2010-07-28T11:18:00.000-05:00

Dreamers can always conjure brilliant visions for projects that’ll fix things, change things, rock the status quo. But inevitably, dreamers must become doers. And, they must inspire other doers to take action. There’s the rub.

To manifest an important, culture-changing idea it’s essential to get people to go beyond the fascination stage and actually do something. This can be harder than you think.

Someone running for office can enjoy very high poll ratings before election day. But getting people to leave their jobs or homes and vote is tricky. You have to wake people up to the fact that lack of action means they’ll get left behind.

Where do you begin?

Here’s a nice little video featuring Kerri Martin, former Guardian of Brand Soul at Mini Cooper. Her 3 bits of advice will help you transform the idea floating in your head into a living, breathing reality.

Kerri Martin from eatbigfish on Vimeo.

Thanks to our colleagues at Eat Big Fish.

Who Gets to Decide What the Future Looks Like?

2010-07-26T10:36:00.001-05:00

I’m doing my best to get through my summer reading list. I overloaded myself with non-fiction. Loved Switch, Chip and Dan Heath’s new book. Found Clay Shirky’s new title, Cognitive Surplus to be a twirl on the dance floor of what’s possible for digital culture. I started to sound like an insufferable smarty-pants. I needed some fiction.

So I just cracked the Kindle spine of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and am enthralled. It’s a novel aimed at young adults that predicts a future world of vast underemployment. Only a narrow elite prosper. The reality TV blockbuster is a game where teenagers starve themselves to the death.

It’s one of a few YA novels I’ve read recently, including Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother, where the logical assumption is that the future is grim, immoral morass ruled by autocrats. Adult writers of books for young people don’t seem to hold out much hope for the future. It makes me wonder. How much do dystopian expressions in books or movies, shape young people’s sense of efficacy? Are we inspiring them to give up hope?

How To Make Your Campaign Go Viral: What We've Learned From The Old Spice Guy

2010-07-22T09:30:00.000-05:00

Hooray to Old Spice for creating a wildly successful social media campaign. For the last few weeks, they've been creating and posting YouTube videos in which "The Old Spice Guy"--a towel-clad, bare-chested fellow--responds to questions he's been asked by fans via Twitter. In less than a week it chalked up 34 million views, making it the fastest-growing video campaign ever.

How did they do it? Well, prolifically--that's for sure. Each video was produced in an average of seven minutes, meaning that most of them were done in one take.

Another thing worth mentioning is the power of being spoken to directly. Every video is a direct response to a real question put forth by a real person. And to have your question chosen over thousands of others to be answered publicly, on the world-wide web, no less? There's definitely something to be said for that kind of attention. That, combined with Old Spice's constant output of ads, truly put this campaign on the map.

Don't believe the hype? See for yourself.

--Mo Hickey

One Simple Truth About the Seduction of Judgment

2010-07-20T08:20:00.000-05:00

Christopher Owens, lead singer of the band Girls, wore pajama bottoms during a show he did in San Francisco. A critic saw it as evidence that Owens is a self-indulgent hipster. "Just another spoiled, entitled, trust-fund kid," he said, "whose excessively privileged life has given him the delusion that he's uninhibited." With a little research, he would have uncovered the truth: Owens was raised in an abusive religious cult by a single mother who worked as a prostitute to put food on the table. This reminds me of the importance of keeping an open mind.

Digital culture has made us all critics on some level. And it’s a dangerous seduction. I share this story in hopes it will inspire you to avoid making any assumptions about anyone. As we begin the work of rebuilding our economy and society for a new era, it's crucial that we bring a beginner's mind to our evaluations of other human beings. Otherwise, we’ll lack the compassion that is at the beating heart of good judgment.

I’ve embarked on a major new piece of research. Can you tell?

Three Simple Truths for Making Something Happen --The Caroline Collective

2010-07-19T08:38:00.001-05:00

I first encountered Matthew Wettergreen at SXSW in 2009. He was just getting his co-working space, Caroline Collective, up and running in Houston. With soft-spoken sincerity and Daniel Day Lewis good looks, Wettergreen's easy-going nature disguises a fierce drive to make things happen.

I would later interview him as part of a piece of research I did assessing the size and scope of Houston's creative economy commissioned by the University of Houston and the Houston Arts Alliance. By then, Wettergreen has picked up other gigs to supplement his portfolio, and no doubt his income. In interviews with movers and shakers, his name kept cropping up. Why all the buzz? My hunch is that Wettergreen had unlocked the mysteries of what it take to create something from nothing, AND make it stick. Lots of people do the former. Fewer people achieve the latter.

Here's my take on the Wettergreen Way of leadership:
1. Care about other people's ideas and work almost as much as your own. Every time I check in on Facebook, he's touting someone else's success. No, no...not in a smarmy way. Wettergreen is simply very excited about new ideas and the people who generate them. Hence, it's what he talks about. Building a sense of community happens one relationship at a time. Before you know it, you look up and a ton of people are in your network.
2. Every great cause grows up. For Caroline Collective to reach its first birthday, it had to experiment, draw attention, make friends, and lure foot traffic into its collective work space. So, it threw parties. Live bands, booze, be-up-late funsters. But when the tenant entrepreneurs booted up businesses in the space, Wettergreen was wise enough to lower the volume. It was time to grow up.
3. Keep everlasting at it. There is just no substitute for tenacity, which is the soul mate to hard work. Each time I encountered Wettergreen, it was clear he was working his ass off. People looking to start something can underestimate the grinding effort involved.

Recently, Caroline Collective had a birthday party. I was sorry to have missed it. So let me say it now: happy birthday to an experiment in Houston that brings artists, scientists, social entrepreneurs and renaissance geeks who defy category, all under one roof to cook up the next wave of opportunity.

Matthew Wettergreen, and his cohorts such as new media maven Grace Rodriguez are poster children for the RenGen.

Five Steps To Designing Killer Research Reports

2010-07-16T09:46:00.000-05:00

Everyone is a researcher. The changed economic climate dictates it. Unless you're living in a cave, or asleep at the wheel--no matter what your role is in your organization, you are probably scanning your environment, gathering and comparing observations.

I'm urging clients to create ways for their people to share insights and observations that lead to productive changes. Because I work with people whose work often changes the culture, being able to package and pitch a new idea is critical to their success. To be credible, they need data.

Audiences crave meaning. I'm a believer in packaging information to make it more meaningful, not as a demonstration of how smart the author is.

Every picture tells a story. Every abstract data point deserves a concrete diagram. This handy manual from AIGA on designing ethnographic research is a recent find worth sharing. It's readable, actionable and easy on the eyes.

Hi-Tech Art: Three Artists Mine Digital Culture For Inspiration

2010-07-15T11:35:00.000-05:00

What do Facebook, Missed Connections and text messages have in common? They all serve as subject matter for three very different artists who all draw inspiration from digital culture.

First up is Matt Held, a painter from Brooklyn. He likes to recreate famous paintings using strangers' Facebook photos, thus throwing together people who'll never meet each other from all over the world. (His interpretation of "Feast of Bacchus" has a tattooed man in a Ramones shirts clinking glasses with a man wearing a business-casual button-down shirt and jeans.) Very interesting, I think. But his current project--which he's been working on since December of 2008--is beyond ambitious. Curious? Check out the Facebook group "I'll have my Facebook portrait painted by Matt Held"--you'll be glad you did.

Also from Brooklyn is Sophie Blackall, a children's book illustrator who's fascinated by the Missed Connections section on Craigslist. The main source of intrigue for her is the incredibly short lifespan of the posts, which are usually deleted within a week. So she collects the ones she likes and turns them into vintage-inspired watercolor paintings. See her blog on the project here.

On the other side of the world, Tracey Moberly, an artist from London, sees her text inbox as her muse. Her art explores texts as artifacts of our time (she's saved every one she's ever received since 1999). The project--called "text me up!"--was exhibited in London and later turned into a book.

--Mo Hickey

The Recession’s Lasting Impact on Sponsorship

2010-07-14T09:46:00.001-05:00

There is more evidence that sponsors are still pulling back. Sports deals are especially soft. Often the “must have” in every sponsor’s portfolio, Forbes Magazine reports that Monster.com opted out of its relationship with the NFL. Citi dropped the presenting sponsorship of The Rose Bowl. UBS relinquished its role as main sponsor of The Players Championship.

While all of advertising has suffered, there are three perceptions that stand in the way of a full recovery for sponsorship.

1. Sponsorship is expensive. Many sponsors immediately equate “sponsorship” with big-ticket professional sports with heavy television packages. Plus, there is the cost to help execute the deals which requires staff time and effort to make them true sales opportunities for sponsors.

2. Sponsorship is inefficient. The fact that sponsorship is associated with human phenomenon delivered through live events piles on the logistics.

3. Sponsorship is tough to measure. Okay, I have to put my bias up front. ROI geeks tend to be the ones with clean desks and short to-do lists. Still, there has been a failure among people in the discipline to fully codify the art and science of sponsorship deals with metrics associated with direct sales interactions, intent to buy and willingness to consider/re-consider a brand as the result of a sponsorship.

No matter what, sponsorship needs redefining, if not a full-scale revolution. But the truth is, every brand wants what a quality sponsorship deal delivers. That is, intriguing, inspiring moments that consumers want to be a part of. The experiences that create a sense of collective momentum. That we can join together and be a community, and the brand is there to add to the fun or make the experience even possible in the first place. The result is that consumers have a sense of longer, deeper connections with the brands they encounter. Sponsorship won’t go away. It will get re-invented as part of a hi-tech/hi-touch mashup that is already emerging.

So while Forbes considers that sports sponsorship will become more conservative post-recession, I expect that the hipper deals ranging from live music, to festivals, to collective action to change the world, will become more ambitious…oh, and yes…more measurable. Check out Pepsi Refresh, Starbucks and Levi Strauss to see if you agree.

The Art of World Cup Soccer

2010-07-12T12:00:00.003-05:00

If you watched World Cup Finals you were aware of the rough play on the part of the Neds. What struck me was the announcer explaining the lack of artistry among the Dutch players. After all, he argued, they come from the land of Rembrandt and Vincent van Gogh. What? How often do we hear art analogies in sportscasting?

But wait, there’s more. Over the weekend I was at the gym, where the televisions only get good reception on ESPN, so they keep them there. I’m watching the Reno Rodeo and the sponsor, Wrangler jeans, has an ad touting the dual life of a cowboy. By day a hard working ranch hand, by night a guitar man, a duality and brand identity supported by Wrangler's country music label. Perhaps this was the right compromise after the brand’s foray into high-concept, ultra-sexual ads that rocked Cannes in 2009. Who knows.

Okay, this is my new thing. Just as Dan Pink fervently looks for emotionally intelligent signage, my new truffle sniff is for “artful Dodgers”—in other words, sports/arts mashups.

The culture scouts have been alerted.

How about you? Have you seen any lately?

Sponsor the World You Want to See—Getting Creative With Pot

2010-07-08T08:24:00.002-05:00

Next week, I give a talk at the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. I’m honored. Because I tailor keynotes to the audience, I took time out to interview some of the movers and shakers in the world of alternative newspapers.

Here’s what I learned: Forget “print is dead.” Suspend your disbelief that we're trapped in an economic death spiral. The truth is that alternative news media is surviving—in some cases thriving. Three cultural trends keep indie newspapers relevant:

1. hyper local—"Dude, who’s the backyard farmer down the block?"
2. free—Before Chris Anderson deemed it cool
3. artful—a cornucopia of hip film, art, food, music news

Let’s take artful. Recognizing that the local arts scene needed a little fertilizer, Westword newsweekly in Denver created the MasterMind Awards. Similar to the MacArthur genius grants but on a smaller scale, MasterMinds rewards five cultural visionaries who are working to change the cultural landscape of Denver by giving them cold, hard cash. The source of the money? Pot. Yes, you heard me.

Denver has a booming medicinal pot business and the best place to advertise is in Westword. Patricia Calhoun created the MasterMinds program when she found herself flush with advertising money from marijuana boutiques, but scant on ways to fertilize the creative landscape in Denver.

Five years into its existence and the program has yielded untold benefits for Calhoun, the paper, and Denver. Calhoun says it energizes her. She uses the Masterminds for quarterly jam sessions with her writiers. Like a pop-up think tank, the group riffs on social issues, community development, the economy, new shows worth seeing, and rare wonders unique to Denver’s cultural scene. It’s become a force for inspiration at the WestWord. When I asked Patricia Calhoun what brave experiments in urban culture were going on in Denver, she didn’t hesitate. “You know what, I’ll ask the MasterMinds.”

Patricia Calhoun is sponsoring the world she wants to see. It’s a more innovative world. The approach is simple and effective: she hired artists.

Greenpeace Bullies the Arts to Get at BP

2010-07-07T11:24:00.007-05:00

Enough already with the anti-BP protests regarding its arts sponsorship. Last week, protestors staged a funeral march to the Tate gallery, a beneficiary of BP grants, and spilled an oil-like substance on the museum’s exterior. The subsequent video has circulated like greased lightning around the Web.

Why all the interest in arts sponsorships? Because it’s an easy mark, and because some folks in Britain actually bothered to get off their asses and protest creatively. Most of us sit paralyzed in horror as we watch the Gulf waters turn a toxic brown color.

Truthfully, if BP should be accused of anything in association with its sponsorship of arts institutions, it's that it's too little money. Come on! Des Violaris, BP’s U.K. director for arts and culture, admits spending on arts was little more than 1 million pounds ($1.5 million) a year. Spent across four or five major institutions, it’s a drop in the bucket.

Consider that companies, BP included, pour millions into sponsoring auto racing, the ultimate in fossil fuel excess. Then there’s BP’s expensive relationship with FIFA. Costly as these deals are, they return very little to the world in terms of education or enlightenment compared to the arts.

So why is Greenpeace bullying the Tate for taking BP funding? Because it can. It’s an easier target than facing down the dudes over at FIFA or auto racing. And frankly, it’s shameful.

BP’s sponsorship of the arts has been a brand-building exercise for the petroleum giant for decades. Greenpeace would have us believe it’s a hasty attempt to wash clean the company’s besmirched reputation.

To be sure, BP deserves all the rancor the world can muster for this disaster. But making arts and culture the whipping boy is a little like throwing Martha Stewart in jail for acting on a stock tip, while Bernie Madoff went on to fleece people out of millions.

More disheartening is my suspicion that Greenpeace sees an opportunity to build its own non-profit brand in the fracas. And it doesn’t seem to mind bludgeoning a group of socially significant organizations to make its point. Especially not when the cameras are rolling and people need a scapegoat. Here’s hoping the arts don’t take it lying down. Is it time for a smack down?

Gone Fishin'... Seriously

2010-07-05T10:57:00.011-05:00

I love cooking and eating fresh fish. I just never did much fishing. Oh, I used to take my kids fishing in Michigan. Buy them fresh bait, pack sandwiches and load up the skiff for an afternoon of reeling in blue gills. But truthfully, I was sunbathing more than fishing.

I recently accepted an invitation to go fishing. Serious fishing. I have no idea what I'm doing.

After tormenting myself with a running trailer of anxieties (I fall out of the boat, I hook someone in the face, I cut my hand gutting a fish) I realize I've fallen into a trap. I have a habit of worrying about the unknown rather than embracing it. No matter how much experience I have in living what is a happy, fulfilling life, I'm still susceptible to paranoid fantasies about failure--however unfounded.

The good news is that I also catch myself at this game. When I attempt to play the "now fear this" tape, I willfully make it a preview for a comedy--more teasing and mischievous. That way, I can laugh at myself. Then it's easier to say "yes" to the new.

Isn't this also true in business? Our fears can make innovation so emotionally painful. When forced to change a process or introduce a new offering, I wonder if it's better to see it as a creative fishing trip. The economy has really freaked people out--for good reason. But the blind fear keeps us clinging to things that really don't work any longer. In a workshop I gave recently, a gentleman said, "I realize the direct mail campaign isn't working, but I won't get fired for doing it." Fear keeps us from trying things that could work better.

For my part, I plan to focus on creating skills that put my imagination to better use. I want a new relationship with my fears. So that even if I feel them gnawing holes in my ambition, I don't necessarily believe in the visions they try to scare me with.

The summer solstice is just behind us. We're halfway through 2010. What are your goals for the next half of the year? Any fishing trips planned?

Original art by Magic Marking

Facebook Privacy, Part Three

2010-07-01T09:46:00.000-05:00

A while back I blogged about Facebook's newly-tweaked privacy settings. Now, however, I finally have one of my own. (A little slow on the uptake, I know--I'm a dinosaur.) It's been interesting to navigate Facebook in the midst of all these changes, because I don't know what it was like before. But it's good to have a reference point as is. Now when I talk about things like privacy settings, it's from a standpoint of personal experience--the first thing I did when I made my account was make sure my information was private. You know those now-optional "instant personalization" settings? Turned 'em off!

Speaking of changes, Facebook's made another one. It's a new feature that requires outside sites and applications to tell users what aspects of their profiles have to be shared in order for the apps to work. Such applications already had to ask permission to access anything private. Now, though, they have to actually specify what information they'll be using--i.e., photos, email addresses, friends' birthdays, and so on. The downside? Users still can't pick and choose what pieces they want to grant access to--you either allow total access or you don't. Again, not a huge change, but hopefully a sign that bigger ones are yet to come. Baby steps.

--Mo Hickey

In Pursuit of Excellence? Hire Artists

2010-06-29T09:49:00.004-05:00

I just finished reading Tom Peters' latest book: The Little Big Things. It’s full of quippy gems about how to improve business.

Years ago, Tom had a mantra that went like this: Want to drive excellence? “Hire freaks.”

I couldn’t help wanting to update that when I came across this powerful story from QLab. Chris Ashworth, CEO at QLab, gushed about his latest discovery. It led his entertainment app company to excellence: Hire artists.

When Ashworth hired LuckyDave, a video artist, into the firm, things started to click. The help desk closed gaping time-to-first-response lags. That support improved usability and generated positive word of mouth. Sales rocketed. Happy story.

The trick was in letting LuckyDave work around his life as an artist. Chris Ashworth understood that the art’s the thing for LuckyDave. Not the software job, however cool. So rather than make LuckyDave a servant of two masters, he let Dave customize his job to make it possible to earn a decent living and not compromise his art.

Then, LuckyDave got a job offer. A financial services company dangled $80,000 annual salary in front of the artist. Would he bite? Ashworth held his breath. There is no way he’d compete with that kind of $$$$.

LuckyDave passed. He’s happy at QLab. He loves his boss for understanding the needs of an artist. Loves that he’s pushing the upstart toward big success. As for passing on the big money?

Chris explained it this way: “Well, pretty crazy if you just focus on the money. But for many (all?) of the best people in the world, money stops mattering once you have enough to not worry about it.”

And so, to Tom Peters and all the other management gurus out there…welcome to the RenGen. The renaissance generation is here. It’s a rising swath of creative, can-do people who want to make a difference. If you can make room for these exciting talents in your work culture, I predict you’ll re-create Ashworth’s competitive advantage.

The mantra for excellence in the coming years isn’t “hire freaks.” It’s “hire artists.”

Education Needs a Communications Overhaul

2010-06-24T09:05:00.001-05:00

Some conservatives are saying it's time to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). It's a sign that the public may not understand the Department's role. That's a shame, but understandable. For the last three decades, people in education have been focused on talking to each other. In a frenetic attempt to outsmart each other, the conversation has gotten so wonky, so down right impenetrable for the average citizen that people are clueless about what the DOE actually does. This is dangerous for Arne Duncan, who is making some head way with programs such as Race to the Top. If the DOE goes under attack, there'll be no movement of impassioned voters who'll rise up to defend it.

It's a prime example of what a failure to communicate causes. In a knowledge economy, can a failure to communicate get you sacked? It should. On the bright side, there are some rising leaders in education ready to speak plain English about what it takes to improve schools in America.

Read the full post over at The Huffington Post.

What's Your Art Worth?

2010-06-23T10:00:00.004-05:00

I used to love Polaroids. Back in 2008, I was very upset at the news that the company was going to stop manufacturing film indefinitely. Sure enough, it was impossible to find within the year. Two years later, the dissolution of the company is still not complete. As part of their bankruptcy court order, more than 1,000 photographs from Polaroid's corporate collection have been auctioned off at Sotheby's in New York City.

The two-day auction included images by Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, Andy Warhol and Lucas Samaras, among others. Some were Polaroids, some were not. But almost all of them either met or surpassed their top pre-sale estimates. By mid-day yesterday, both Adams and Samaras had shattered personal auction records, selling their works for $722,500 and $194,500, respectively.

Problem is, many of the featured artists are upset about the auction. A number of them went so far as to write letters to the bankruptcy judge, to no avail. They were told that they should have gotten their work out before Polaroid went under. But many artists say they weren't aware it was happening. Some are still trying to negotiate for their works. Nevermind the fact that they can make a pretty penny. They'd say ownership of their art is worth the fight.

So what's a picture worth? A bunch of money? A legal tug of war? We've all heard the adage. Considering the hoopla this auction is creating, I'd say 1000 words sounds about right to me.

--Mo Hickey

BP Sticks With Arts Sponsorship

2010-06-21T10:15:00.022-05:00

BP isn't budging on its commitment to Britain's art scene. For decades, BP has been a sponsor of the arts. While the brand is mired in sludge from the Gulf disaster, BP knows better than to back out of its arts sponsorship. Why? Because company executives need the love.

Back in the 1980s, BP researched cultural consumers to discover how its arts sponsorships stacked up compared to other marketing investments. What they found shocked them:

1. Cultural consumers were more loyal to the BP brand.
2. The investments were a great value--tuppence on the pound compared to sports sponsorships, for example.

According to a company spokesperson, BP invests the equivalent of $1.5 million U.S. annually in its arts sponsorships. It's a bargain. In return they've earned the loyalty of an influential consumer group.

With their billions now committed to the U.S. clean up, it makes me wonder if they will extend the arts sponsorship effort world wide, slowly and subtly, in an effort to brighten the company's image. Face it, the whole "green" branding thing is dead as a pelican.

When Your Client Wins A Tony

2010-06-18T05:43:00.006-05:00

I'm jumping for joy. Last weekend, our client the 5th Avenue Theatre walked home with an arm load of Tony Awards. Located in Seattle, the 5th Avenue is a trail blazer. It helped launch Hair Spray the musical. This year, it was "Memphis", winner for Best Musical.

I watched the Tony Awards last weekend. But I didn't realize my client was one of the producing theatres in the mob of collaborators that flooded the stage for the Best Musical award. When I got the news from Bernie Griffin (foreground) that they'd won, it reminded me just how talented she is. Bernie's a force of nature. Among other things, she brokers relationships between sponsors and the 5th Avenue Theatre.

Some people walk into a job, look around, and start doing what they've always done. Not Bernie. She's always pioneering. Who else could convince a corporation to double its investment in theatre by raiding its sacred sports marketing budget? I feel honored to have helped her with her sponsorship strategy.

Bravo 5th Avenue Theatre!

Top Ten Most Authentic American Brands

2010-06-17T14:23:00.000-05:00

Authenticity is a big deal in consumer culture. The more virtual our lives get, the more real we want the basics to be. It's part of what's driving the street food revolution, among other trends. So where do the big brands fit in? Why not ask a group of Chief Marketing Officers. A recent survey of the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG) resulted in this list:

Apple
Campbell's Soup
Caterpillar
Coca-Cola
Harley-Davidson
Jim Beam
Levi Strauss
Maker's Mark
Patagonia
Pepsi

Solving the Mystery of How Sponsors Calculate Value

2010-06-16T18:02:00.004-05:00

Many sponsors are still in cost-cutting mode. If you are seeking a sponsor in this market, be prepared to demonstrate return on investment. How? There are many ways to tackle the calculation. But the best way is to know what you are doing to drive sales for the sponsor.

This week, Marketing Sherpa shared a blow-by-blow description of a sponsor's cost-cutting strategy. I share it in some detail so you can follow the logic of how ROI was discovered, and how the sponsor used it in fee negotiations with sponsees.

CHALLENGE

In 2009, Thomas VanHorn, CMO, Application Security, got word that his budget and staff were being reduced by about 40%. With less money to spend, VanHorn and his team needed to discover which programs were really contributing to the company’s sales. And with fewer staff members and outside help to perform early-stage lead development and qualification, they needed to automate as much of their processes as possible.

Here are some tactics they used to perform their analysis and adjust their marketing strategy:

Tactic #1. Measure each channel’s cost-per-lead

The team had a system in place that tracked the originating source of each lead in their database. They then compared how much they spent in each channel to the number of leads the channels originated. This calculation determined a basic cost per lead.

Immediately, they saw that some channels were costing the team $100 per lead and more, while others were only costing them $4 to $5 per lead.

Tactic #2. Measure the value of opportunities created by each channel

A basic cost-per-lead analysis didn’t factor in lead quality. So the team conducted further analysis to determine the dollar value of the sales opportunities created by each channel.

- Working in their marketing automation system, they traced each opportunity back to its initial lead source, mapping every marketing touch along the way.

- Then, they took the dollar value of the opportunity and divided it equally among each marketing channel with which the lead had interacted before becoming an opportunity.

For example, if an opportunity was worth $X, and the lead had engaged in 10 specific activities -- such as a downloading a whitepaper, attending a webinar, etc. -- each of those activities received one tenth of $X.

Although imperfect, the analysis gave the team insight into how each marketing program was contributing to closed deals.

"When we checked the dollar volume of opportunities created we found no correlation to the cost-per-lead of the program," says VanHorn. "In fact, some of those [higher cost tactics] resulted in the lowest contribution to pipeline."

Tactic #3. Dial back on high-cost activities

Once the team could see how much they were paying for leads from specific programs, they made decisions on what they could -- and could not -- afford to do.

For example, they saw that major trade shows and other large events were generating some of the highest-cost leads, which also took the longest to become opportunities. So VanHorn and his team reduced their participation in major events.

They did not eliminate events entirely. Instead, they looked for more opportunities at smaller, local events. They also maintained a presence at a few major industry trade shows, but changed their objectives for those activities.

Rather than viewing the trade shows as a strong lead generation opportunity, they approached them as ways to build brand awareness and buzz. They also used the events to meet with partners and existing customers -- recording those contacts in the marketing automation and CRM system, so the channel would get attributed a portion of any future revenue from that customer.

Tactic #4. Expand use of low-cost activities

Limiting activities with a high cost-per-lead allowed the team to increase use of channels that delivered lower-cost leads. Here are a few examples of activities they created or expanded:

- Informal email updates

The team wanted to expand its use of email messages that revealed the personality of the company, and positioned it as a trusted advisor. So VanHorn created an informal email program to send a quarterly update to a large list of prospects.

The messages were personalized with VanHorn’s signature, and did not contain sales pitches. Instead, they offered insights into important database security issues, alongside a touch of entertainment. For example, a message sent early in 2010 contained a belated "Happy New Year" message and links to two company web video projects (more on those below).

- Email drip nurturing

The team also expanded its use of automated drip nurturing for prospects that downloaded content from the website.

- Thought-leadership oriented virtual events

They began hosting more virtual events that were not product or sales-oriented. For example, when a researcher discovered a vulnerability in a particular type of database software, VanHorn’s team worked with the company’s technical experts to develop a free fix for the problem, and then hosted a free webinar to explain how to implement the solution.

Tactic #5. Use CPL benchmarks to negotiate sponsorships and other paid marketing efforts

Thanks to the team’s cost-per-lead analysis, they were able to determine optimum CPL for various programs. Then, they used their optimum CPL to set limits and get guarantees from vendors for sponsorship or other paid-media campaigns.

For example, when the team set a limit on its cost-per-lead for a whitepaper hosting deal that was significantly lower than the vendor’s offer, the vendor responded with several new options to guarantee a number of leads at a cost that would meet the team’s goal.

"They made opportunities available to me that I otherwise wouldn’t have known about," says VanHorn.

Sponsorship Posts Move to Wednesday for Summer

2010-06-14T11:02:00.000-05:00

For those devoted fans of Sponsorship Monday, first of all we want to thank you. You are a loyal bunch of eager learners. We love you. This is to let you know that we are adopting a summer schedule. Mo, our editrix is on a lean-mean bike team. As a weekend warrior, she's often making her way back to town on Mondays after a two days of cycling in the wilds of Wisconsin and thereabouts.

As for me, I'm spending my weekends pounding away on my next book, wishing I were Mo. Summer in the Midwest is brief. Too brief. Alas, it's time adjust and wring the most out of these fleeting sunny days.

We appreciate your loyalty AND your patience. Let's see how it goes. Comments are welcome.

Here's hoping you have a terrific summer.
Patricia Martin

photo thanks to Mr. Chenko

Innovation and Launching Balloons to Solve Problems

2010-06-10T09:31:00.002-05:00

Long time no blog. I took an intentional break. On the advice of a colleague, I tied a balloon to a vexing problem and let it drift away. Then I looked around and noticed what other problems remained. Turns out there were a few. But they were smaller and easily conquered.

Here’s how I constructed my balloon launch:
I opened the day with a long walk. I intentionally set the problem aside so I could focus all my senses on the woods. The mossy aroma rising from the forest floor, the knotted vines that weave the trees together, the doe poised to take me in—it all swirled around me. And then I considered the problem. I asked out loud, in the middle of the woods: What should I do about this? Then I imagined myself tying the problem to a balloon and sending it aloft.

I spent the rest of the day tackling smaller problems. Concrete tasks, handily mastered. In the evening, I went out to a ball game. I sat in the cheap seats, looking out at the twilight sky, imagining my balloon floating out there in the darkening night.

By morning, the key to the solution came to me by way of an email from a friend. Completely out of the blue. He was sending me a case study from an innovative project he’d encountered. It held the clue. Presto!

I love solving problems. But I hate when the endless grinding ruins an otherwise perfect day. As Winifred Gallagher argues so brilliantly in her book, Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life, our ability to focus on one thing and suppress another is the key to how we experience life. By choosing what we pay attention to, we control how our lives feel minute by minute.

This economy is rife with urgent problems. But perhaps the best way to address them is to let go. This creates space for something new, fresh and completely unexpected to drop in.

Works for me!

Leave Your Ego At the Door: How To Pitch Without Fear of Rejection

2010-06-07T10:10:00.010-05:00

Rejection is painful. That’s why so few people can handle sales jobs. Once the fear of rejection sets in, the mere idea of pitching can make a person feel downright queasy. But what if you stopped caring about the outcome and just looked at each pitch or proposal as a simple gesture? Would it improve your results? Melissa Lagowski thinks it would.

Every year, Melissa reaches out to over 100 brand managers to solicit their interest in sponsoring Ribfest Chicago. This outdoor grill fest features live music and family events during the day. At night it becomes an alternative music rampage. Since its start in a tiny parking lot, the event has mushroomed into existence as one of Chicago’s major festivals--thanks in part to the sponsors who fork over between $10K and $25K to have a presence at it.

How did Melissa do it? She rewired her gag reflex. She sends out teasers a year in advance. No bites? She sends out edited highlights of her sponsorship report to new prospects, showing what sponsors get for their money. That’s followed by a t-shirt with a handwritten note. Cold calls, meetings and proposals may be down the line. They may not happen at all the first year. But if Melissa thinks she can deliver something wonderful for a certain brand, she stays on it.

This year, Swiss Army Knife and Honda signed on as the official cutlery and car of Chicago Rib Fest, respectively. It took Melissa years to land them. She just kept at it. It took guts to weather withering silence, even flat-out rejection. But eventually she broke through.

We can all learn something from Melissa. We steel our egos from the brutality of rejection by moving on. But if we stop to consider that all we are doing is reaching out—extending a gesture—perhaps we’d be more effective. Face it: advertising—and that means sponsorship—is changing.

This weekend, I’ll sally over to Ribfest. I hope to snag Melissa for an interview and learn more about her RX for sponsorship in an emerging culture. Stay tuned.