Do. Things. Differently.

I hate airports. I hate planes. I hate flight attendants. I hate flying.

I like this.

dubs. out.

Quote of The Week, Sarkissian- 2/15/09

Advertising is a tax levied on unremarkable products.

-Patrick Sarkissian, SarkissianMason

Patrick Sarkissian spoke to our school last week, and while he had a lot of great things to say, this one sentence stuck out to me.

When you really think about it, many of the best brands and products in the world don't advertise. They rely on PR, on making their products the best they can be, and on the words coming out of people's mouths saying how great these products are.

The best products shouldn't need to advertise. Consumers will do it for them.

dubs. out.

54 Kick Ass Logos

Logos are one of the reasons I'm so interested in design. A good one is worth more than any good ad ever will be.

Thought there was some good stuff here.


Click here to see the other 53.

dubs. out.

One More Makes a Dollar

There are 368 miles between where I'm sitting in Chappaqua, NY, my childhood home, and my house in Richmond, VA, the place where I’ve spent the last year and a half of my life molding and shaping myself into an ad man.

Three semesters of Brandcenter have come and gone, and in about 1 month we’ll return for our last one. One more semester before my 80-odd classmates and I are unleashed into the advertising world like a swarm of bees, some to sting, others to make honey.

Interpret those metaphors as you will.

Like the first 2 semesters in this place known as ad school, here's my take on the third:

Kelly O'Keeke's Culture & Communications- Kelly’s class was interesting, to say the least: We went to Monticello, saw an Italian Opera, sat with a chapel-full of old Jesus freaks, spent an evening at a motor speedway in McCain country, attended a lecture by NY Times writer Frank Rich, learned how to salsa dance, spoke with Georgian painters at the James River waterfront, listened to Alan Crawford discuss his book on Thomas Jefferson, learned everything there is to know about Muhammad Ali, visited a folk festival and went on a Friday evening art walk in the pouring rain. It was a great class. And despite the ironic and unreasonable fact that we had just as much work in it than our actual branding and portfolio classes, at least I got a book piece out of it.

Charles Hall's Portfolio Development- It’s been said before by previous classes and it will be said again by subsequent classes, but you give Charles two more years, and he will undoubtedly be the best professor at the Brandcenter. That he continuously learns how to be a better teacher from his students as much as we learn how to be better mass communicators from him is something I don’t doubt for a second. A lot of people dislike Charles’ way of teaching. They dislike his comments and his criticisms, his intense passion and his ardent conviction, his political correctness and his way of what many feel is him projecting his own thoughts. But I try to embrace all of it. Charles is one of those guys that, when giving criticism, will often rub you the wrong way. It’s happened to me numerous times this semester. But each time, as I listen to what he says to my classmates and I, I can’t help but realize two things:

1. He’s usually right.

2. He’s always, always looking out for our best interests.

Cabell Harris' Brand Campaigns- As a Cabell-second-timer, I've gotta say that I got a lot more out of this class than the first time around. The semester before this was a dozen projects, one week each, piled on top of each other in an endless barrage of what felt like suffocating crap. Amidst all our other classes, there was no time to fix anything, hone our crafts, or even put enough thought into something to make it worthwhile.

This semester was different.

Cabell is, in many ways, the opposite of a Charles Hall or a Coz in terms of his teaching style. Where Charles and Coz are passionately hands-on, Cabell prefers a more laid-back, laissez-faire approach. Where it often feels like other teachers push you on their behalf, with Cabell, you’re forced to push yourself on your own. And you’re forced to work with the freedom to do so. I enjoyed this freedom, as I got two of my favorite campaigns done at this school in his class. What Cabell lacks in intensity and pressure he makes up for in support and good-naturedness. These traits, in my eyes, are just as valuable. And are a welcome balance.

Peter Coughter's Presentation Skills- As someone who got a C in his last undergrad public speaking class, I entered this one with a strong sense of purpose. I was determined to make myself a better presenter, which, as Coughter himself says, is the difference between making it in this business and not. Whether I became a better presenter or not is something to be seen, but out of all the classes I’ve taken at this school, at least I enjoyed this one most. I think that comes from laughing harder than I ever have. Peter's not only a great teacher and a great guy, he's funny as hell.

The real world is 20 weeks away from today.

dubs. out.

Brand(,) You(?)

A few of us spent Labor Day at Virginia Beach. On the way back, we stopped at Prime Outlets in Williamsburg. While uncomfortably trying on a blue cardigan sweater in J. Crew I made a joke that, “wearing this wouldn’t be on strategy for the Jake Dubs brand.” An advertising joke.

Funny.

We got in the car and began the drive back to Richmond. I leaned my face against the glass and looked up at the star-riddled sky.

Written on my portfolio professor, Charles Hall’s business card is the following:

when lovers stop flirting
and partners stop listening
when boyfriends stop calling
and girlfriends stop kissing
when husbands stop touching
and wives stop feeling
when people stop communicating
people have affairs.

brands are people too.

I always liked it put that way, but let's flip it.

People are brands, too.


As a person, you are your own brand. Everything you do must be on strategy as to what it is you are trying to do in your life. Everything you do must be on strategy as to what makes you different and unique and better. What's your USP?


From any one moment we can be a million different things at once, any one of them representing who we are and what's important to us at that particular moment. A racquetball player, a student, a leader, a lover, a hater, a nice guy, a smart guy, a cool guy, involved, apathetic, girl-crazy, money-crazy, crazy-crazy, someone who wants to have a family, someone who wants to change the world, someone who wants to sell multivitamins.

But who you are overall is what really matters. All of those moments put together to create that one big moment that is your life is what really matters.


Taking risks in your life is the same as taking risks for a brand, as far as I'm concerned. Analogously, as putting money into a different new proposition for a brand could be risky, so to is putting yourself in jeopardy when you put time and effort into doing something different.

Similar to spending a half million dollars to put fire-juggling clowns atop the Chrysler Building for Commerce Bank, you could be taking a year of your professional life to backpack India in order to broaden your horizons. In my opinion, there’s no difference between the two.


The only questions are, will shelling out half a million to put fire-juggling clowns atop the Chrysler Building get people to switch to Commerce Bank? Will taking a year of your professional life to backpack India really broaden your horizons and make you a better professional and person? Is either one right for the brand, or just a stupid figment of your imagination, off-strategy, and an unnecessary risk?

I realized that at this school--and in this industry--it's all about taking risks and putting out work that is different and provocative and new. Which is fantastic. But everything we do still needs to be smart and calculated. We need to start thinking of the brands we work on as ourselves, or at the very least, brands we own. By putting ourselves in these shoes, it forces us to think calculated and smart, rather than risky and half-baked just because we can.


In the same way you are your own brand, your book is your brand's ads. Everything in there is working towards showing off who you are and what you stand for. And to create it, I think it's important to remember you are always working for yourself (especially when you're in school). It’s not for your teachers or your client or your agency or your Creative Director.

It's all for you.

dubs. out.