You Can Save the Economy – Go To Las Vegas

I live in Sin City. Where vices are okay, and we rank #2 on MarketWatch’s 10 states with the most homes in foreclosure – a dubious distinction that YOU can change.

In an effort to turn that dismal statistic around, I’m inviting you to come to Vegas!

Yes. It is beautiful here. Right now a little chilly, but clear and sunny and the high is expected to be 61 degrees today. Not bad for January 19. And we don’t have icky bugs.

If you come here, this is what YOU CAN CHANGE.
As cited on MarketWatch, our official unemployment is at 10.8%, and foreclosures are at 2.70%. Neither of which really reflect the truth because there are many of us who don’t bother reporting that we’re unemployed anymore, and there are a lot of houses that aren’t yet really reported as foreclosed – for a couple years (like the house across the street). Oh well.

This nifty little chart shows the national ‘official’ unemployment rate at 7.8% and the U6 rate at 14.4%. The U6 rate in the BLS statistic for Nevada is 21.4%.

U6 is defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as:
“U-6, total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.”

Almost everyone I know falls into this category. This is a city that has grown on service and construction jobs. Therefore it’s easy to be marginally employed. Most work multiple jobs to make ends meet.

But that’s all gloomy and I’m all about the economic recovery of Las Vegas and getting my friends employed full-time.

Now for the pitch: do what I tell you.

As a visitor, you don’t have to pay attention to any of that. Because, when you come to Fabulous Las Vegas, you will affect change in our local economy. I like that about you.

Vacation here.
Go to Vegas.com and check out things to do, places to stay and then book your trip. You’ll have a great time here. Plus, there are very cool things to do if you’re not into the casino thing.

Red Rock Canyon is only a 20 miles West of the Strip, Hoover Dam is 35 miles to the East; and Death Valley is a couple hours West.  (Check out Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level.) You’ll even learn a little history.

Meet here.
Since the President reversed his opinion on going to Vegas for business, it is okay for you to plan your next meeting here. Fantastic accommodations, reasonably priced; every major airline flies here (and the airport is right near the strip); lots more fun after the convention or conference (you do attend, don’t you?); and did I mention a pyramid, pirate ship, volcano, the Eiffel tower and gondolas?

So check out the place, and request a meeting planner guide. Then plan your conference, meeting or some sort of business thing. Heck, hire me as a speaker. I have an opinion. On everything.

A couple tips for visiting Vegas:
- Casinos are big, so bring comfortable shoes. If you’re out clubbing, stick some flats in that little handbag. You will thank me. If you’re taking a stroll on the Strip, everything looks close. It isn’t – but it’s worth the walk to catch the vibe. There’s a lot to see. Do it in comfort. You’ll thank me again.
- Drink water. Humidity is really low here, and in the summer it is hot. Hydrate – especially if you drink alcohol. Alternate those margaritas-on-a-sling with a bottle of water – or two.
- Spend money. You’re going to take a trip or have a conference somewhere – right? Plan to do it here. We all appreciate you more than those other cities.

I can sense our economy improving.

Beer Fridays: Ultimate Agency Culture

Since I've been on a theme this week about company culture, I’ll talk about Beer Fridays. Sorry it’s a late post, but I was out testing martinis yesterday. Really.

Drinking has long been a tradition in advertising. Three Martini Lunch. Cocktails with clients. Legends are born from these traditions.

Aren’t you proud.

In these modern times, we all have microbrews stashed in our mini-fridges so we can pop a cold one when we’re done on Friday at 3pm. Or something like that.

And often, those brews are cracked open at other celebratory times – when a pitch is won, a client lost, you’re pissed at your CD, or you just got something done. Woo hoo!

The best agency is one that has a smokin’ micro-brew account. Awesome beer – always free – on Friday and it’s fresh. In a keg. No bottles to testify to how much you all drank. Just one Red Solo Cup – refilled many times. Everyone loves that client.

Anyway, back to culture. How did we get from suits and scotch to flannel and beer?

Because of creativity.

Drinking doesn't go away in advertising because – get this – it enhances creativity! As if you were looking for a reason, a study published by the good folks at The Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago found that alcohol can help with creativity. An article in Psychology Today about the study summed it up nicely:

“Simply put, people’s ability to think about information in new and unusual ways can actually be hampered when they wield too much brain power. What Dr. Jennifer Wiley and her team have found is that one way to get around this is to have a couple of drinks.”
(emphasis added)

Channeling your inner Hemingway has never been more legit.

So now that you've got creativity down...how does the etiquette part work? Well, since you spend more awake time with your colleagues than your favorite partner – don’t get stupid. And we all know what stupid is. Been there or watched it first-hand. I do not have to give you bullet-points on what not to do.

In an agency, culture is nurtured from legend and folklore. The stories of the founders’ struggles and triumphs, magnificent creative, the campaign that changed everything – all seems so old school. It isn't.

Bottom line – whether you’re in one of the big old agencies that are a part of a Humongous Holding Company, or you’re working in The Hottest Digital Startup – the guys and gals who sign your paycheck have worked hard to get where they are. Many have put everything on the line so they could become successful and hire you.

Have some respect. Working in advertising does not give you the right to drink on the job. It is a perk that is part of the culture in many agencies. So imbibe wisely. And be nice to one another.

Don’t embarrass the boss or client, be cool with the alcohol and get your work done. On time. Thanks.

culture and your agency

The past couple days I wrote about my experience with reinvention, corporate culture and managing the changes triggered by mergers, acquisitions and the market’s love/hate relationship with your product.

Lengthy, but I had a point to make: Your company culture, that you so enthusiastically cite as the reason you are awe-inspiring, can define or destroy creativity, innovation, and your agency.

The companies I wrote about made and sold stuff. Computers, cars and clothes – tangible things.

But advertising is different. Or so we ad folks think. At the end of the day, we can proudly say that we created a fabulous idea so the guys mentioned above can sell more of their stuff – better.

We struggle to find ways to actually measure what we do, and lately, clients are demanding it.  

Ad agencies have a hard time working within those strict limits, because it interferes with their culture.

After working in and with many agencies, I have found that culture is all too often defined by work hours, office layout, foosball tables, wacky parties and beer Fridays. That is not culture. But neither are rules.

A good, strong culture doesn’t create an atmosphere of exclusivity, punish the outliers or stifle creativity. It also is not a free-pass to be different, just for the sake of being different.

Traditions, camaraderie, the inside joke (or stories of our past escapades, most of which we’d rather forget), the ability to rely on one-another – and ability to call-out each other if something goes haywire – these are things that create culture. We know what to expect from our colleagues and management. We know we can create and innovate and still be okay.

Having the word Advertising on the front door doesn’t automatically mean you have an amazing culture. It starts from the top – down.

Can you define your agency’s culture without using the words engage, brand or beer?

reinventing: culture and managing change part two

After reading the 10 most-hated companies in America in MarketWatch a couple days ago another company totally entrenched in culture stood out – that being HP.

Way back in the olden days, I worked in the marketing department of an HP competitor. At the time, Tektronix was the largest employer in the state of Oregon. Like HP, Tek had a story of a couple founders, of which legend – and cultural identity – was formed. The company grew and eventually moved to a beautiful campus on 313 acres, a stone’s throw from what is now the Nike World Headquarters.

Tek had a very strong and friendly culture (the company of first names) that moved in a methodical, deliberate fashion. As I was frequently told, ‘that’s the way we do things here.’ My boss told me that we didn’t rush projects through – they had to go into the ‘queue’ first. It seemed contrary to what marketing should be.

I was young then, saw areas I wanted to improve upon, and wanted to make everything happen – fast. I learned quickly how a strong culture defined process. And that it could effectively stifle improvements – no matter how small they may be.

But at that time, profits were great, Tek was global, and who needed change? But technology was evolving quickly. Driven by the desire for growth, they started acquiring companies that appeared promising, but in hind-sight, were at the end of their lifecycle. It seemed to me that once they made an acquisition, something more revolutionary replaced it – immediately.

Sound familiar?

Perhaps they forgot who they were (unglamorous, but excellent products) and were fighting to stay relevant. But buying safety seemed…well, safe. And maybe, culturally, they weren’t up to cutting-edge technology. The ‘Silicon Forest’ is full of successful companies spun from ex-Tek employee’s talents.

Tek eventually got out of those businesses and went back to their core – test and measurement equipment. Tek was acquired by another company in 2007. Makes me sad because they made the Northwest a tech haven.

One area where Tek was light-years ahead was benefits – for women. Imagine that. In the ‘70’s they offered paid maternity benefits – plus held the employee’s position open. We had our babies, had excellent health plans, got paid during maternity leave, and got our jobs back. Methodical company, and they took care of their employees. Forty years later and we’re still fighting for this as a norm? Oy.

HP and Invent.
HP is big on re-Invent-ion. They’ve made some huge misguided acquisitions. They buy ready-to-wear and hope it makes them the hit of the prom. One has to wonder if it’s culture that keeps them looking outward for innovation. Because certainly, they cannot change from within.

I’ll bet that if they asked their thousands of engineers, there would be an ocean of ideas. The talent pool in HP could rival PARC (gasp or maybe Apple?). It’s hard to innovate when you’ve been culturally driven to comply.

The founding families have a lot to say about all things HP, and just don’t seem to get leading edge technology…That is the problem. Culturally, leading edge is scary. But they want it.

So, to get cool stuff, they hire someone, from outside the company (telling isn’t it?) and send them out to innovate – grow the business – because they are always on the Most Hated List.

New CEOs trying to be innovative, stay in the safe-zone and instead buy stuff that has out-lived its lifecycle, but may still have a little profit left, and then pay top dollar. Or are duped into buying truly worthless crap. And then take and $8.8 billion hit. Who makes that kind of mistake? If their books are showing a remarkable profit, then it must be safe – right?

HP’s Invent campaign was powerful – they hired a woman (gasp) CEO – and put her in front of the garage in an ad. A new company, a new way, a new bunch of crap. Just because you say it doesn’t make it so. Ask your culturally entrenched board.

At the end of the day, the CEO, Carly Fiorina, was fired (another hired/fired/so on) and they went about business the way the culturally stagnant board dictated. The old way. The HP way.

It’s just plain sad. Because this involves people’s livelihoods. Stockholders don’t live on their dividends (if there are any), if your stock goes down, or you are the Most Hated, they sell. But your employees do depend on you and are relying on your execs to make good decisions.

I have worked in several large corporations. Just a worker who actually cared about her job and the company she worked for.

I have had the privilege to have colleagues who soldered circuit boards, cleaned new cars at the end of the assembly line, and spent hours sending ads out via FedEx – and they loved their jobs. They had pride in their work and shook their heads daily when they heard about the latest hair-brained things the C-suite was doing.

It isn’t what I believe to be true, but the Absolute Truth when I tell you to, ‘ask the people doing the work.’ They will tell you exactly what needs to be done to make your company better. And much more profitably - they know your product really, really well.

And don’t give me any of that crap about your awesome culture. It’s killing innovation.

reinventing: culture and managing change part one

Sorry, this is a little long-form, but it ticks a couple boxes on my list of Things That Bug Me. Corporate culture and reinvention – which includes managing change.

The buggy issue is that corporate culture can prevent a successful transition. Old ways die hard when entrenched in culture. Especially when that culture influences how employees react to the day-to-day. It has become habit, dutifully enforced by all your colleagues. Defy the sacred practices, and you’re in for chakra realignment.

I am by no means an expert on corporate culture, nor on the process of reinventing a Very Large (Fortune 500) Corporation. However, I have lived both, personally shepherded transitions, and therefore have first-hand experience – and that makes me an expert on my experience.

MarketWatch ran this little slide presentation titled 10 most-hated companies in America.  

Why are they hated? A lot of reasons, but in my opinion a couple major reasons come to mind. Company execs don’t listen to loyal customers and they don’t train and/or support their employees.

And of course, the all-knowing experts tell customers to hate them.

Just like me, the pundits can have any opinion they want. But they have a lot more reach, and therefore can influence public opinion. Imagine that.

All those experts may own more street cred, but in my world, they’re wrong. A couple of hated exceptions on the list, like Dish and T-Mobile, probably earned it because no one has ever liked their TV or phone service.

So what do I know about reinvention and culture? I’ll speak to the changes at JCP aka J.C. Penney through a little story of my own: 
I joined the Nordstrom corporate marketing department after they abandoned their “Reinvent Yourself” campaign. Customers hated it. All on their own. They didn’t even need the press to tell them.

Nordstrom diverted from their staple of print and direct mail that was created in-house, to a complete shift to broadcast – developed by their agency, Fallon. The corporate marketing department had major staff reductions as a result of this departure.

Nordstrom also changed their merchandise mix to reflect a more ‘hip’ style. Oh, and orange was the new pink.

A few months into the campaign, when same store sales dropped (up to 10% in one store), and alienating their core customers – they changed course, realizing how powerful (and profitable) a loyal customer can be.

Nordstrom may be a Fortune 500, but they are a family company – that has a very strong, uncompromising culture. The fact that they took a very expensive dive into a radical change was remarkable. And it didn't work. They forgot their customer – then they heard from them. And they reversed course.

JCP is truly reinventing. 
The reason they are Most Hated, as cited on MarketWatch, is the failed pricing structure. Simple pricing (aka Low Everyday Pricing), like $10 for a shirt. Doesn't that just make you hate?

Newsflash – that isn’t the reason they’re hated. People don’t care what the price tag says.

Wholesale changes were made to an old company, from top to bottom, and were not explained to the employees or their loyal customer base. Did they address corporate culture? How did the employees deal with the massive changes, other than accept that everything was going to be…better?

If the powers-that-be thought that advertising would explain everything then they are delusional. New store, new look, touch screens – where are my favorite socks?

When the changes came, which were significant, they weren't explained. What is this store trying to be – Target? I don’t know, but JCP, tell me. How about a meaningful PR campaign to rebut the dismal press? Push back Mr. Johnson, tell them what’s going on and turn this into a success story.

And then you have MarketWatch to support staying with the same old store with ‘modest challenges’. Simple pricing is the culprit that put JCP at Number One on their 10 most hated list? Oh, please.

And a word about pricing: JCP’s base was addicted to sales. Yep, the loyal shopped when there was a sale. I shopped there before the Big Change, and there was plenty of merchandise that was shop-worn due to endless rotation and mark-downs. Wasteful. Expensive. Time consuming. Dumb. Company and customers entrenched in that cycle. Do you ever pay full-price at Macy’s? Addicted to sales. I rest my case.

Bottom line – reinventing means you are going to change everything you do. And that means you are going to change the way people work, how you interact with your customers, and your product (output). That has to happen with thorough preparation which includes engaging and educating your employees, your customers, and perhaps, your culturally stagnant C-suite.

Nordstrom and JCP have been in business for a long time. Strong culture, familiar name, loyal customers.  One was working well – and decided to reinvent their product – didn't work. They adjusted. The other was barely surviving in aging mediocrity – and decided to reinvent everything – will it work? I hope so. I like the new JCP.

If there’s anything I know about managing change, it is this: plan, prepare, train, inform, roll-out – and re-group. Nothing is so awesome that you can’t make adjustments.

Transition is hard in an entrenched corporate culture. But it seems to be much harder to change culture that is no longer relevant. Culture is clingy and permeates everything. It bugs me when you ignore that.

yes you should do estimates

I know another exciting topic, but there are a lot of very valid reasons for doing estimates. Like ensuring profitability through exercising just a little control.

How much does it cost to do the most mundane projects in your agency? I’m guessing you don’t know. Oh, it just takes too much time to do an estimate; it’s part of the client budget; it’s just a quick revision. Sorry, I just don’t buy it. But you always estimate big projects – right?

What percentage of your overall employee hours are spent on mundane projects? Maintenance consumes a lot of hours. You need to know where all those hours go. Every day.

I’m a proponent of the estimating process – which includes breaking a project down to tasks and allocating time to each because it:
– sets expectations
– ensures you remember all the steps that should be included
– gives you numbers to measure against
– data to track actuals against estimates in real time (requires diligent timesheets – do not whine)
– provides historical data that gives you a quick way to answer “how much time does X take / cost?”
– and solid data for reviewing the year, client or project type

Once you get in the habit, it’s actually easy and fast. Templates make it quick and there are plenty of software tools out there to tie-in everything – from estimates, to task allocation, time sheets and all that wonderful follow-up data you can actually see – in real time.

And just a little side-note: remind your colleagues to pay attention to the budgeted hours. Think about it. Budgeting hours is like setting a deadline. If your colleagues are going to be late on a project they should alert you. Likewise, if they need more hours they should let you know.

Right away.

Those alerts are the first indicators that your estimate is working. You could have under-estimated, there could have been unexpected problems, or an individual just wants to spend more time. Address those issues sooner rather than later and quickly revise your estimate, if needed.

When you have those discussions up-front, you can determine a solution and make sure the cost is covered.

Who likes surprises at billing time?

keeping Portland weird

My hometown – where I spent most of my life – is now home to John McAfee, yep the millionaire software guy. I just read it in Willamette Week, and I recommend that you click on the short clip Why Portland. Mr. McAfee is working the media – local as well as international – just keeping it weird.

After one has lived in Belize I guess it makes sense to live where the sun rarely shines.  After all, Portland ranks 155 (48%) on the NOAA list for days of sun. Mr. McAfee’s mood is gloomy these days with all the interviews and movie rights and such.

Oh, and Mr. McAfee talked about a little photo op at Mary’s Club. Leading to a proud statistic I had forgotten: Portland has more strip clubs per capita than any other city in the US – even Las Vegas. Check the Free Speech section on Portland in Wikipedia (they’re always right – right?).

But this isn’t about interest in John McAfee, of whom I've spent far too many words.

What is interesting to me is that Portland (or Oregon for that matter) is really a magnet for unusual individuals. And when the unusual / high-profile land there, everyone tends to go all aflutter with the city’s latest acquisition.

I had witnessed a lot of odd and wonderful things as a local. The city embraces uniqueness because we all should be accepting of everyone – let them be themselves – it’s a part of living Portland. But it hasn't always worked to the benefit of the city (or state) or its residents, though. That unique personality can become a liability. There was a time where I would not wear red. But that’s history.

I really don’t think there’s a community in this big, beautiful country that is more accepting of human nature than the folks in my home town. They like it that way. And they are really nice – always happy to give directions or a recommendation for a restaurant.

I’m not hating on Portland or its residents. I really do love the city – I grew up in Multnomah (it was not a ‘Village’ back then), and have lots of family and friends there. I witnessed Portland come back from a dreadful, dying wreck in the ‘70’s to a vibrant, beautiful center of arts, advertising, awesome food (I miss the food so much), and even more awesome micro brews.

Dang, I just couldn't take the rain any more.

I now live in Las Vegas which ranks 3 on the NOAA list for sunny days, has a pyramid, a volcano, a pirate ship, the Eiffel Tower and Venetian frescoes  – and nothing is weird.