the buzz

This is the final fifth and sixth combined blogs reporting on the exciting findings we learned about at the Edge Conference sponsored by the Ad Club of Boston on November 16th. During the event, some of the most creative minds in communications & brand-building shared with us inspirational stories, presentations, spirited panel discussions and valuable information that we imparted on our viewers during a series of blogs. Look back through our archives for the other entries!

Sometimes we creatives hit walls about how to be more creative. One of the best parts about attending the Edge conference was getting to listen to creative people talk about how they keep the good things coming. Finding inspiration from our clients, the world and each other is a constant work in progress.

Two of the stand-out presentations of the day for me were by Clark Scheffy, Practice Lead, Consumer Experience Design Practice IDEO, and Alex Bogusky, Co-Chairman Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Both talked about getting outside the usual methods of marketing and really getting inspired by their clients’ products. Both gave presentations that included unexpected ways of displaying their content, and great stories about how they get inside their ideas. Scheffy rode around in a camper for one client and got random surfers on the beach to try out new surf shorts and tell him what they thought for another. Bogusky went so far as to invent a product/project and pitch it to the city of Denver — without being asked (check it out here). These are people who look at challenges as fun, and you got the sense that they rarely use the same approach twice.

What I took away from their (amazing) presentations was that we should appreciate how unique and interesting each of our clients is and that the regular old plan (logo, brochure, media buy, website) just isn’t working the way it used to. Also, these are people who don’t take their work home with them. Instead, these are the people who take their home-life to work. They bring in their hobbies, their own views and interests, talents and curiosities. Their unique personalities spark new ways of thinking, reactions from each other, collaboration and learning.

It was inspiring to see how different all that creative idea-generation can really be. So, here at s&j we are implementing a few of these great ideas in the coming year. So far, we’ve broken down some walls and added some couches so we creatives can feel a little less-boxed in and really get inside our creative process. Next we’re looking at how we present our work to our clients and how we present our agency to the world wide web (keep a look out for our new website early this year!). While we are keeping all of our great personality and playing into the same strengths that have kept us in business for almost 15 years, we’re also looking to get inspired, try out some new things, and add some new value to our clients in the new year — it’s not so much a resolution as it is an evolution.

What’s in the new year for you?

* You can also check out Alex Bogusky’s new book about creative thinking, Baked In.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 9:53 am and is filed under Edge, Fun, creative, marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.