Marketing Archives | FreeAssociates

The Hype Handbook

If you’re trying to make a difference in the world and nobody’s noticing, maybe what you need are the skills of a Hype Artist. The hustlers, the cult leaders, the promoters all have something to teach us about human psychology and how to connect with people emotionally.

Whether you’re starting a band or a company, whether you want to advance your ideas or your career, understanding hype can be helpful. Even essential. That’s the premise of Michael F. Schein’s “The Hype Handbook”, just published by McGraw Hill.

We talk about the Grateful Dead, the Grand Guignol, hip hop and rebellious project management. We touch on Jim Jones and Andrew Loog Oldham. Join us to find out how you can have more impact on the world, even when you’re working from home.

Episode Notes

Mike’s links:

Stuff we talk about:

You can subscribe on your favorite podcatcher app — Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn and PocketCast — or wherever you normally listen.

And if you like what you hear, please leave us a review. It’ll help other people find us. Thanks!

Music: Happy Theme by maxmakessounds and Atrium Loop by dpren used under standard Creative Commons attribution license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Time to re-engage

We are about to release the sixth calendar we’ve created for Legistics. Instead of the divisions, anger and frustration of 2020, perhaps we can shift our focus to address some of the big concerns we all share.

After a year of being reactive, of struggling, of turning inward, we hope that 2021 will be a year of re-engagement. The pandemic has shown us that, without a doubt, we are all citizens of a tightly interconnected world — a world eager for us to work together to solve its most important problems.

In our 2021 calendar — with the help of eight talented artists, my co-designer Amy Crossan, and our writer Emily Hutta — we highlight some of those big issues in the hopes that we can maintain our focus, keep an eye on the future, and create a world we can proudly hand to our children and grandchildren.

Each month, we’ll post one of these beautiful images along with a bit of written context about each topic. We hope they inspire you as they have us.

— Josh

“Inventing” Work from Home at Chiat/Day

Way back before the pandemic, before Zoom, before LinkedIn, the ad agency Chiat/Day (creators of the infamous “1984” spot that introduced the Apple Macintosh) figured working virtually was a viable way to run a company.

Zach Rosenberg was on the task force that declared working from home — or from anywhere for that matter — was the future of advertising, and figured out to how to make it work. In 1993!

Since then, Zach has run entire agencies, and is now a consultant. Find out how Chiat/Day “invented” WFH, and how Zach recommends that you promote your own business despite a pandemic.

In addition, you’ll hear about exploding glass, how networking really works, helping to build a company from millions to billions, and marketing brands in outer space. Yep, for real.

All this and more in Episode 15, plus a little Easter egg for patient listeners!

Episode Notes

Zach’s links:

zachrosenbergconsulting.com
On LinkedIn
On Twitter: @ZachRosenberg
zach@zachrosenbergconsulting.com
Articles by Zach, including…
“Has The Virtual Office Finally Come of Age?”
Metatron Media Partners

Stuff we talk about:

You can subscribe on your favorite podcatcher app — Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn and PocketCast — or wherever you normally listen.

And if you like what you hear, please leave us a review. It’ll help other people find us. Thanks!

Music: Happy Theme by maxmakessounds and Atrium Loop by dpren used under standard Creative Commons attribution license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Specializing in not specializing

Every marketing expert you read seems to agree on one thing: to succeed you have to specialize. It’s far easier to stand out if you are the “one and only” in your field.

Corporate exec to entrepeneur

Patrice Varni shares her workout obsession, her working setup, her love of teams and the enviable setting of her quarantine by the lake. All in service of her transition from corporate exec to home-based entrepreneur.

Episode Notes

Patrice’s site:

Patrice Varni on LinkedIn

Stuff we talk about:

You can subscribe on your favorite podcatcher app — Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn and PocketCast — or wherever you normally listen.

And if you like what you hear, please leave us a review. It’ll help other people find us. Thanks!

Music: Happy Theme by maxmakessounds and Atrium Loop by dpren used under standard Creative Commons attribution license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Stay visible and valued while working remotely

When you work remotely, it’s easy to become invisible. In a world of Zoom calls and emails, it’s harder to have an impact on your organization. It’s harder to bond with your boss and your co-workers. It’s harder to get noticed and valued. But not impossible.

Leah Ryder writes extensively about working remotely. As the Brand & Content Marketing Lead at Trello, her distributed team manages five blogs, all their social media, quarterly cross-team campaigns, community engagement and copywriting for this project management service that has 35 million registered users.

Join us as we discuss how to stay visible and valued when working from home, and how to manage your team so that everyone gets a shot, gets credit, and stays fully engaged.

Episode Notes

Leah’s links:

Stuff we talk about:

You can subscribe on your favorite podcatcher app — Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn and PocketCast — or wherever you normally listen.

And if you like what you hear, please leave us a review. It’ll help other people find us. Thanks!

Music: Happy Theme by maxmakessounds and Atrium Loop by dpren used under standard Creative Commons attribution license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Should all agencies be working from home?

One of the most successful social media content studios in the country is run by Seth Sliver from his home high in the mountains above Los Angeles.

Social Control is the go-to social content resource for some of the nation’s biggest ad agencies, getting attention for brands like AT&T, Coca-Cola, Honda, Shell, Panera, Ford and Cisco.

Find out why he thinks that nearly all agencies should be run virtually, and that working from home is the only thing that makes sense in a world that’s changing as fast as ours.

Episode Notes

Seth’s links:

Other things we talk about:

You can subscribe on your favorite podcatcher app — Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn and PocketCast — or wherever you normally listen.

And if you like what you hear, please leave us a review. It’ll help other people find us. Thanks!

Music: Happy Theme by maxmakessounds and Atrium Loop by dpren used under standard Creative Commons attribution license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Open houses when we’re stuck at home

How does a Realtor hold open houses when everyone’s locked down? Paul Small talks with us about social media, video walking tours, the 5 AM Club and the value of finding The One Thing. Then we contemplate the roles of artists and agents in enriching the world. Not your usual episode!

Episode notes

Paul’s links:

Email address: paul.small@elliman.com
Website
Three Blocks a Day Videos

Stuff we talk about:

You can subscribe on your favorite podcatcher app — Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn and PocketCast — or wherever you normally listen.

And if you like what you hear, please leave us a review. It’ll help other people find us. Thanks!

Music: Happy Theme by maxmakessounds and Atrium Loop by dpren used under standard Creative Commons attribution license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Seeing data with clear eyes

My AIGA compatriot Patrick Fredrickson has a keen eye for interesting articles. He sent this one by Cassie Kozyrkov from the Harvard Business Review:

The First Thing Great Decision Makers Do

While I don’t entirely agree with her approach, I like this quote: “If I see no additional data beyond what I’ve already seen, what will I do?”

We are such natural pattern seekers, yet it gets us in trouble as often as it helps us. Especially in our complex society where you can impose patterns on so much randomness that you can almost justify any position.

Learning to stay open (to change, to reality) and present (so you can see) is a lifetime practice. Hard as hell for us sad little primates looking over our shoulders for the saber-toothed cats as we try to spot the edible berries among the poison ones. Pareidolia is our natural talent and propensity. Staying Zen, maintaining perspective and playing god is hard work.

But if we are going to be effective as marketers, designers, human beings, we need to see things with few preconceptions and a whole lot of empathy. Keeping an open mind in the face of new data is a good first step.

Wine Auction raises $333,000

It’s always rewarding to see our work at work, raising money for a good cause. The Santa Monica Education Foundation has announced the results of its 2019 Wine Auction, their mouth-watering spring event, now in its fourth year.

Featuring tasty offerings by some of the areas top chefs, and award-winning wines from all over California, the event sold out weeks ahead of schedule. And it generated a record-breaking 1/3 of a million dollars over the course of about 4 hours.

Yes, our graphics have been part of its success. But most of it comes from the hard work of a dedicated and joyful staff, and proud volunteers who know they’re helping create a great education for thousands of kids.

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The Hype Handbook

Episode Notes

Mike’s links:

Stuff we talk about:

“Inventing” Work from Home at Chiat/Day

Episode Notes

Zach’s links:

Stuff we talk about:

Specializing in not specializing

Corporate exec to entrepeneur

Episode Notes

Patrice’s site:

Stuff we talk about:

Stay visible and valued while working remotely

Episode Notes

Leah’s links:

Stuff we talk about:

Episode Notes

Seth’s links:

Other things we talk about:

Open houses when we’re stuck at home

Episode notes

Paul’s links:

Stuff we talk about:

Seeing data with clear eyes

The First Thing Great Decision Makers Do

Wine Auction raises $333,000

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