Welcome to Room 116

Hoopla: A Book About Crispin Porter + Bogusky

Yes, it's true. There is now a book solely devoted to CP+B. All 400+ pages. Its design is like a scrapbook put into a blender--sometimes cool looking, sometimes damn hard to read.   Also, I'd say it's 90% visuals and 10% text. It is however written by Warren Berger, the author of the heaviest advertising book, Advertising Today, and editor of one. magazine.  I didn't read much as I was just skimming but did notice a few things. 

First, it feels like a quarter of the book shows CP+B's early work.  I mean the work pre-mini and pre-truth.  It's kinda nice to know that they did start off like everyone else.  I interned one summer at the CP+B LA office, right when they just started doing Mini, so I used to see the pre-mini stuff on the walls.  Seeing that and then seeing the work they eventually did, I wonder how and by what changed them into the agency they are today.  I mean Crispin was around already a few decades before the Mini boom and the work that Alex did when he started was, in my opinion, just from ok to good.  I'm not sure if the book Hoopla answers this so if you buy and read the whole book, come share your thoughts here.  Was it the Mini clients?  Was it right when media planning started to take off?  I mean the shot of the Mini Cooper on the SUV is iconic as anything. Or was it Alex?

I also wonder why make a CP+B book now?  What does it mean? Why not earlier, why not later? Have we already seen the best of CP+B?  What do you do when you are already at the top of the mountain?

One of the things in the book I thought was cool was the author put a few pages of emails sent to and from within the agency.  You can get a real sense of the culture of an agency by seeing what emails are sent.  There was one email sent by Alex that I think is unforgettable.  I'll post it below to share with you.

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Subject: Creativity
Date: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 5:44 AM
From: Alex Bogusky <alexbogusky@cpbmiami.com>
To: All Agency <allagency@cpbgroup.com>

In the second paragraph of the Creativity magazine article begins, "Right now the agency (Crispin Porter + Bogusky) is probably the hottest in the United States." It is amazing for me to read those words being written about us. In a lot of ways it is the culmination of a dream that seemed silly to everyone I know except my wife. She really did see it happening all those years ago and has never been surprised by our successes. Even when I wanted her to be surprised. But dreams need to last a lifetime and we're not dead yet. Some of you just arrived and I imagine you are hoping that you haven't gotten here right after all the excitement either. So we need some new lofty goals. I have a few that always get my blood going.
Being "hot" as they put it in the Creativity article feels pretty fickle. And how "hot" something got usually is a pretty poor indicator of how much impact it had on the world. Case in point: The Razor scooter. I don't want to be a Razor scooter. I want to change the world. At least a few little bits of it.

I want people to say "then cp+b came along and changed things and now nobody does it that old way anymore."
I want to be the agency that ruined it for every other agency in the world.
I want old fashioned agencies to look at us and see their own demise because they know they won't be able to do what we do.
I want to continue to evolve and morph into what all the smart people we hire want us to become.
I want to be a great place for clients to keep their brands and I want to be an even greater place to work.
I want to become known as the best place to work in south florida.
I want us all to look for more ways to help out in our community.
I want to run our company the way every 12 year old dreams of running a company because 12 year olds are right.
I want to be the agency that ruined it for every other agency in the world.
We make our clients famous by any means at our disposal. We need to be what ad agencies will become. When Steve Breen from Molson spoke today you could see how excited he was about our bizarre and fresh way of looking at brand building. And Molson hasn't even begun to tap into that yet. They're still just using us as a typical agency and all he can think about is what we will build that twists his product and his marketing and his PR into one big Molson famous makin' machine.
Here's the tricky part. I want us to do all this while keeping the qualities that make us decent folks to hang out with.
I want us to remain humble. Past success is no measure of what we will do so best to be humble. After all it's just advertising anyhow.
I want us to hold onto our ability to accomplish a lot with a lot less than most agencies. The huge amounts of money that we are put in charge with should always be looked at in terms of what it can accomplish outside of what we are doing with it. $100,000 might seem like less money than you might want to produce a national tv spot but remember you can build a freaking house with it. Always keep perspective on the money you are allocating.

And finally, I want us to keep having fun and being good to one another. Because otherwise, why bother with all the rest.
A good friend of mine wrote me recently because he was frustrated with the advertising business and frustrated by so many of the people he works for and with. He wrote. "It astounds me how people are afraid of so many things but mediocrity never seems to be one of them."
I'm afraid to be mediocre. I'm afraid to stop getting better. I hope you are, too. Because to the rest of the world that looks like courage. Just look at Creativity magazine.

Love,
Alex
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Man, I hope one day I will write an email that awesome at 5 am.

So here's my final thoughts: CP+B produced a ton of work. And in this industry, just getting to the stage that a client buys your work and gets it produced (close to how you intended) is a process that goes through hell and back.  You have to respect that about CP+B because it ain't easy man.  Some of the work may be genius and some of it may be crap. But in the end, it comes down to one thing:  Alex & Co. set the bar and everyone worked their fucking asses off to reach it. 

Advertising is Dead, Long Live Advertising

Came across this new advertising book called, "Advertising is Dead, Long live Advertising: Over 200 Campaigns for the New Marketplace." 

It has everything on what we used to call ambient, guerrilla, grassroots, viral, non-traditional, media-agnostic, new media, etc.  Well, this book calls it alternative advertising. It also tries to organize all the creative into categories but creative advertising is chaotic-- it has never been a science or something easily organized.  If you think there's a formula then you're wrong.  It's definitely not good for creatives to think this way because then you're already putting yourself in a hole.  But then I figure most creatives are just going to look at the pictures and not really pay attention to the other how-to stuff. :) 

Overall, this book is like a yearbook of the most notable non-traditional creative and it leans towards more UK stuff from places like Cake and Cunning. Most of the US stuff is from...Crispin. I would recommend this book for students, junior media planners, those who don't frequent ad blogs, and those who just want to catch up on what the hell is happening.  I wish this anthology would have more online creative but it does has more stunts and outdoor stuff.  But like I said, it's like a yearbook so it's a collection of things that have already happened.  Copying is no fun but making something that everyone else copies is.  So now it's only up to you to understand what's been done and then go out and make the future.

Stocking Stuffers

Check out these two books that will sure be a hit this Christmas. The first book is immature but you'll secretly be laughing inside and want to show your friends.  The second book is emotionally powerful and will linger with you for days.

1) Fuck this book

Book Description (from Amazon.com)
Juvenile, profane, and timeless, Fuck This Book collects images of real public signs that have been mischieveously altered by stickers bearing the most expressive of all four-letter words. Addictively hilarious, the results show a world persuasively transformed. Please Don't Fuck the Pigeons, indeed. What happens if one triggers the Automatic Sprinkler Fuck Off Valve? And is it any wonder The Fuck Depot is so popular? All photographs are unretouched—the result of countless hours on the hunt for the almost perfect sign, in need of just the slightest improvement. This is not social commentary. There is no message. It's not meant to offend, exploit, or embarrass anyone. All real stickers. All real signs. All in fun.

Sample page:

2) Post Secret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives

Book Description (from Amazon.com)

The project that captured a nation's imagination.

The instructions were simple, but the results were extraordinary.

"You are invited to anonymously contribute a secret to a group art project. Your secret can be a regret, fear, betrayal, desire, confession, or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything -- as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before. Be brief. Be legible. Be creative."

It all began with an idea Frank Warren had for a community art project. He began handing out postcards to strangers and leaving them in public places -- asking people to write down a secret they had never told anyone and mail it to him, anonymously.

The response was overwhelming. The secrets were both provocative and profound, and the cards themselves were works of art -- carefully and creatively constructed by hand. Addictively compelling, the cards reveal our deepest fears, desires, regrets, and obsessions. Frank calls them "graphic haiku," beautiful, elegant, and small in structure but powerfully emotional.

As Frank began posting the cards on his website, PostSecret took on a life of its own, becoming much more than a simple art project. It has grown into a global phenomenon, exposing our individual aspirations, fantasies, and frailties -- our common humanity.

Every day dozens of postcards still make their way to Frank, with postmarks from around the world, touching on every aspect of human experience. This extraordinary collection brings together the most powerful, personal, and beautifully intimate secrets Frank Warren has received -- and brilliantly illuminates that human emotions can be unique and universal at the same time.

Website: www.postsecret.com

Pick Me: Breaking into Advertising and Stay There

You would think that there's an overabundance of advice books already so I was a bit skeptical of reading another one.  However, this one's a keeper. 

Some points:
- Now you have proof to your parents that you really need a portfolio and not just a degree and resume.
- It's like the new Whipple for our generation.
- Does well what it says it'll cover: Breaking into advertising, and staying there.
- Great for students, juniors, and even Creative Directors.

Pros:  I loved the essays from the contributing ad greats (that's how the book calls them) that are placed throughout each chapter of the book.  Some of my personal favorites I recollect were the ones by David Droga and Rick Boyko.  It says a lot about how good their advice is when you can still remember it weeks after reading.   Part III of the book is worth the price alone in that it covers what the ad greats look for a junior and what they know now that they'd wish they knew then. Some of my favorite topics covered were ones about the life of a Creative Director, the age 39 is the new 65, how to avoid burning out, and last but not least, how the ad greats got their first job.

Cons: People in advertising have a lot of questions.

P.S. All VCU Adcenter students who know Rick Boyko need to check out what's on page 194.

Amazon hasn't allowed you to search through the book so here's a list of Pick Me's chapters:

1 Was I Really Put on This Earth to Do Ads?
2 School Daze
3 What's a Good Ad, Anyway?
4 Portfolio Preparation: Like Giving Birth,  Only More Painful
5 Getting a Job in This Lifetime: It Can be Done
6 Internships: Purgatory,  Rip-Off, or Free Education?
7 What Place Is Right for Me?
8 Money--Not That You Care about That
9 Fear and Self-Loathing: Snap Out of It
10 Brainstorming Techniques (You're Going to Need Them)
11 Awards. Yes, They Matter. How the Judges Decide.
12 Boss Problems: Try Not to Kill Him. Or Sleep with Him.
13 Partner Problems: Do You Need Counseling, a Divorce, or a Gun?
14 Copywriting
15 Art Direction
16 Account Executives: They're People, Too
17 Identity Crisis
18 Am I in the Wrong Place?
19 Ethics in Advertising: Not Necessarily an Oxymoron
20 CD Life (Be Careful What You Wish For)
21 Women: The Vanishing Act
22 Age(ism): Is 39 the New 65?
23 Staying Sane in an Insane Business
24 Miscellaneous: The Best Chapter of Any Book
25 Strangest Questions: Maybe Even Better Than Miscellaneous
26 What I Know Now That I Wish I'd Known Then
27 What I Look for in a Junior
28 A Century Ago, We Were Juniors, Too

Blue Ocean Strategy

Check it out if this interests you.  Jack Cheng writes a good post on the similar subject.

Suggestion, the book.

Book Description
"Hey, would you like to make a suggestion?" With that simple question and an enormous white suggestion box, the New York City–based collaborative Illegal Art canvassed the five boroughs, collecting suggestions from passersby of every stripe—the young, the old, the filthy rich, the homeless, the mouthy, and the shy. "Love each other or perish." "Take breath mints when offered." "Give me a break!" In true New York style, the suggestions are by turns hilarious, nonsensical, angering, and heartwarming. Some people held the suggestion box prisoner while they wrote suggestion after suggestion; others ignored the box, but then came scrambling back with a sudden idea. One woman scribbled as she walked down Wall Street: "More time in the day." One man in Harlem, when asked if he would like to make a suggestion, said, "Isn't it obvious? World peace." Or at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, a woman sadly wrote her misspelled suggestion and then held it up for all to read: "Never brake up with someone on a bridge." With over 350 entries and 50 photos of the suggestion box in action, Suggestion is authentic, honest, and totally appealing—a testiment to the the public's innermost desire, whether it's free beer, free daycare, or free pumpkin pie every Thursday.

About the Author
Illegal Art, co-founded by Otis Kriegel and Michael McDevitt, is a collective of artists whose goal is to create interactive public art to inspire self-reflection, thought, and human connection. Both Kriegel, a public school teacher, and McDevitt, the founding partner of the advertising agency McDevitt Group, live in New York City.

Comes out tomorrow on Amazon, link.

I saw this in the bookstore this weekend and I just had to buy it.  It's one of those books you just want to read and have in your collection.  I guess the mass paperback version (pictured above) doesn't come out till tomorrow.  Anyways, another cool thing is you get to see all the suggestions written by the individual authors' own handwriting.  It makes the whole book feel more personal and exhibit a sense of human-connection.  You can almost faintly see the people who wrote these.  Just a great idea and nice book if you are ever wondering what other people are thinking.

related link:
Overheard in New York