No More!

Bhoo-hoo! Tiny will no longer be among us. His 'Roomy Presence' is leaving. We wish him all the best. "All the best Tiny. We'll miss your bullying. We'll miss your "I'll sit on you" threats."

But then he's promised he'll be back to terrorise us, unannounced, on chosen Saturday's. And he's admitted he's looking forward to it. Brrr! Didn't some muscleman in the movies say those famous words... something to the effect of "I'll be back!" Brrr! You're making us quake already Tiny.

PS: The 30th Monday Morning Meeting didn't see any winners. The swords didn't roll. But then we were all waiting for Tiny to cough up his speech and then spill some tears...

Again!

Mallika took the sword for design yet again this week.

The copywriters didn’t submit their entries. A good thing. And a bad thing. Ugh… does no submissions mean they didn’t have any creatives they thought would cut the grade? Ah! Then it’s a good thing because it means they are truly raising the bar.

Now, isn't that a good thing?

Either Commit Or Stay Home

By Olivier Blanchard courtesy thebrandbuilder

Commit. Give it everything. Your project. Your job. Your relationship. Your race. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well ... and if it's worth doing well, it's worth doing exceptionally well. Yeah, it might hurt and it might require a certain measure of sacrifice. Time. Pride. Fun. Sweat. Sleep. But that's a choice you make.

The choice is to either commit, or ... not.

And if you aren't willing and ready to commit, you might as well save yourself and your client the trouble and ... stay home. Be honest with yourself and those around you. If your heart isn't really in it, if you aren't willing to hit the ball or turn the cranks like the pro you are, then maybe you ought to sit this one out.

Committing to something isn't just about hard work, but also smarts, guts, and willpower. It's about throwing yourself into the game body, mind, soul and all. Even if it's for two hours a day, or five minutes every hour, that's what it takes to do something exceptionally well. If you aren't motivated to give it your all, then do yourself a favor and work on something else. Seriously. Turn it down. Delegate. Wait until your head gets clear and you can put your heart into it.

If you can't turn it down, if your boss or client forces you to work on something you would rather not spend any time on, then take a breather. Go clear your head. Find that one thing in the project or task that you know you can throw yourself at wholeheartedly, and focus on that.

Don't ever, ever, ever do anything half-assed. Ever.

Unless you like looking back on a completed project or campaign or achievement and wishing you had given it a little bit more effort. A little bit more heart. A little bit more juice.

Commitment is fun and painful and hard all at the same time... But that's the way it should be. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy to come by.

So make every word count. Every stroke of the mouse. Every release of the shutter. Every turn of the cranks. Every interaction with a customer. Every design feature. Every promotional coupon. Every TV spot. Every meeting. Every element of your web page design. Every media purchase. Every minute. Every second. Every breath.

It all adds up in the end.

It all pays off.

As long as you give it your all.

Have a great Friday, everyone.

Have You? Or Have You Not?

Why is it de rigueur for every Copywriter to watch Quentin Tarantino movies? Err... you'll have to see those movies to be convinced. But here's a link for all the posters of his movies. This man makes a dozen different posters for each movie, or so it appears. And each is a killer.

Savour!

The Science of Creativity

If there is one. (Sic!). Found this piece on the Wieden + Kennedy blog.

"My suspicion is that you can't process creativity. That there is no system that will make the work 'more creative'. Indeed, you could argue that, if chaos is the friend of creativity, then process is its enemy. What we do have (we hope) is a culture that is founded upon and driven by creativity. Everyone knows that they're here to do the best work of their life. Because we do good work, we attract clients who want to do more good work, which means we can continue to retain and attract talented people."

"Not that this is simple. The creative process here is a bit like giving birth. There's a very long gestation period where nothing much appears to be happening, then at the eleventh hour there's an excruciatingly painful upheaval involving stress, shouting, tears and blood. This final spasm produces something that on first sight may be a bit odd-looking but which, when we wipe the muck off and consider it closely, often proves to be uniquely beautiful."

"In conversation with Dr Scott it appeared that clients are the key influence on the quality of the work their agencies produce. Obvious conclusion, I guess. (Though it's usually the agency that gets fired for producing bad or ineffective work, not the marketing director.) Personal experience suggests that while a great client can get good work out of an OK agency, it's very hard, even for a good agency, to do good work for a bad client."

"I remember in a previous job presenting the agency's creative credentials to someone who had recently been promoted to a senior role at a current client. She asked, 'How come you do such great work for your other clients and comparatively disappointing work for us?' Let's see - the same agency, the same creative people, the same strategists, similar amounts of time and money...what's the variable here?"

"I hasten to add that, of course, there are plenty of instances where agencies manage to screw stuff up all on their own without any help from the client. And I should also point out that all of our clients at W+K are great, so if there's any of our work that you think is disappointing, then it's our own fault."

What do you think?

Here's Some Fun Too...

Mallika took the sword for design this week. But no, she didn't mean to pose with it the way she does here, proud as she is though. That was the idea of a copywriter who was later found at his desk - ugh - in disarray.

And here's his 'explanation' to rowing eye who caugth him. Brrrrr. That's a scare. Notice the stress on 'If'

"If u r putting up the snap of me sleeping on my desk kindly put this snap also, either next to it or before it, so that it is seen in perspective. I was on my feet from early morning trudging through three schools and more than a couple of staircases and floors and also through 100 snaps... from 8.30 to 12.00 - a early mornign shoot for this school which is a Rage client."

"And u see the end result.. a totally drained, dehydrated me... of course I had to have a bath after that at home, change and then come to office... and sleep when I caught a couple of mins free."

So here's the explanatory photograph below.

The Case Of The Misplaced Scratch Pad

It's like finding your car in your neighbour's garage the next morning, with the 'don't drink and drive' sticker piously exhibited. That isn't crime enough, if you still drive away without blinking an eyelid. You can't be that callous.

Let's get current. What's even more of a crime than booze parking in your neighbours garage? It's misplacing your scratch pad with your name on it and a lofty proclamation to RAISE THE BAR. It gets worse still, if you don't notice you've missed it and others do. And it starts a stink if the pages of your scratch pad are as clean as a newborn baby's backside.

Bazookas! Are we forgetting that the scratch pad is our launch pad to greatness? Ok, maybe that was a bit too dramatic. But it all starts there dude. Your scratch pad is your punch bag for ideas, perspective, style, you name it. That's where you PLAY. And PLAY does not make Jack a dull boy. See! Your scratch pad is your way out of dullness. It's your theater to experiment styles and stay fresh even in a cesspool. It's your closet, where you can be as deviant as you want to be. (Read this one straight ok?)

Your scratch pad is your confessional, your waste paper basket, your metaphorical shoulder to cry on, your pulpit, it's your everything. It's from where you shoot to the stars. Which is why every star still carries around his scratch pad and begins every new assignment on it.

Why won't you?

A Mouse For Your Muse

Did that sound like we're giving away mice for musings expressed? Not a chance. But look whom we caught in the muse. Sampath is perhaps contemplating that piece of blank .jpg that was sent to him as part of GRAFIX. But he took the sword this week didn't he? And he can take a break too.

PS: Read 'this week' as last week.

Master And The Menace

Have you spotted the Menace?

Here's a clue.

ZZZZZZZZ

The 26th meeting didn't happen. Monday was a holiday. Tuesday saw us with (beep)loads of work. And we don't see it happening today either.

Love Your Broke Computer Even...

We're just back from a longish weekend. Back to the grind on a Tuesday, which will be the longest day of the week, since Monday has been (enter descriptor here) spent. Sic!

Appropriately, Yuvaraj has sent in this visual cue to remind us, obliquely, that:

-- Loitering about the coffee machine or water dispenser with a Monday morning daze,
-- Sitting at your desk with agonizing weekend nostalgia,
-- Tottering about the corridor in where-the-heck-am-I stupor,
-- Vanishing from your desk for a Gawd-I-can't believe-I'm-back-doing-the-same-$***-again! break,
-- Staring at work mails like you've just seen a ghost,
-- Wishing the Martians would choose to land immediately, etc. does not amount to 'work' or ‘loving what you do’.

Thanks for the reminder Yuvaraj. May this Tuesday be a longish, excruciating one for you.