Office Space: A place for distraction

Don't know about you but I find that if there is a specific labor
intensive task I need to complete to get my day in track, I am failing
to get it done when I show up to work. I have now resorted to waking
up a bit earlier and working from home for an hour or more and finding
that I am setting my day up for success by getting a task ahead or
complete, or simply getting ahead on email and calendar.

Bottom line, the office is a collaborative atmosphere that is ripe
with ideas and strategy building. But when you need to get down and
dirty, sometimes there's no place like the quiet, focused atmosphere
of home.

It's not about getting in early, it's about being effective.

Sterling Doak
Head of Brandology
Fishtank Brand Advertising

Sent from my Fisheye Phone
(please excuse my typos)

Brand Development Immersion

Doing some research for a new biz pitch I came across a proposal from another agency - a fairly large one, different client. Anyway, I am looking at their timing for brand dev stuff and Phase 1 is Immersion. Now, maybe it's just me but before this proposal is out of the gate, it already blows it with Phase 1. Immersion... review existing research, market trends, competitive landscape, bla, bla, bla. This is immersion? That's like asking someone to tell you a little bit about themselves and then immediately cut them off and start making assumptions about them by their appearance and what you already know about them. But is that really them? No, you need to immerse yourself before you know someone. So what the hell does the "competitive landscape" have to do with immersing yourself in a client's brand during Phase 1!

You can't know anything about a brand until you immerse yourself in the organization. Brand dev starts from the inside out and as this proposal is sitting on my desk - this very, very expensive proposal - there is zero mention of actually walking in the shoes of the business. Never mind consumer insight... where's the insight of the employee, the manager, the CEO?

Every brand has personality. It has a life force. A magnetism. So, find it by immersing yourself in the brand and then telling it's story from the inside out. Don't be like the big agency here who is going to rely on the outside world to tell this brand who they are. They already know. Shut up and let them tell you a little bit about themselves.