This week I’m representing CCA at the annual South by South West Interactive conference (SXSWi). There are few better places where you can immerse yourself in some of the most creative ideas that are changing the interactive and social web spheres.

A prime focus of CCA interactive is to be a part of, or ahead of, these ideas so that we can advise our clients on the best ways to utilize the Web rather than simply mimicking the latest social media case study from their competition.

“Tomorrow Happens Here”

I’ll be reporting back throughout the week on everything that I’m soaking in from the conference. Here is the short list of some of the sessions that I’m most excited about attending.

• Understanding Content: The Stuff We Design For
• What Are Analytics? A Guide To Practical Data
• The Revenge of Editorials
• Is The Brain The Ultimate Computer Interface
• Why Keep Blogging? Real Answers for Smart Tweeple
• Community Innovation Summit
• How to Create a Viral Video
• Banking 2.0: Financial Services Driven by People & Emerging Technologies
• Can You Copyright a Tweet?
• Debunking the Myth of Social Media Fundraising
• Measuring Blogger Credibility: FTC Regulations vs. Crowdsourced Solutions
• ‘Make’ vs. ‘Gather?’ Successful Content Business Models
• From Blogger to Social Media Guru to Professional Speaker
• Rules of BrandFiction from Twittering MadMen
• How To Spark a Movement In The 21st Century
• ER 2.0
• How Social Media Can Destroy Your Business Model
• Persuasive Design: How To Encourage Users To Do What You Want Them To
• Crowd Sourcing Innovative Social Change
• Interactive Agency Workflow: Design and Development Process

It looks like SXSW will keep me pretty busy this weekend.

If you aren’t attending, what sessions are you most looking forward to reading about after the fact or following Twitter’s comments in real time?

From the October 5th, 2009 New York Times:

“On Monday, the F.T.C. said it would revise rules about endorsements and testimonials in advertising that had been in place since 1980. The new regulations are aimed at the rapidly shifting new-media world and how advertisers are using bloggers and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to pitch their wares.”

So the jig is up. Advertising claims and the people who love them are once again under the microscope.

While I’ve used some pretty bodacious adjectives and gussied up a few product shots to bring out the best in my clients’ offerings, I’ve always tried to live by the slogan of one of my previous employers: truth well told.

Truth well told was originated by McCann-Erickson at a time when many products were making some pretty questionable claims. Even big companies were guilty: a 1914 ad for Ford’s Model T featured the headline “Buy it because it’s a better car” and suggested the reader get the particulars from a Ford dealer. Um…okaaaay….

Fast forward about a century. Laws and guidelines are in place to protect the public from misleading advertising claims and fuzzy endorsements. And generally speaking, I think the ad world does a pretty good job of policing itself as well. But, thanks to the anonymous nature of the internet, we’ve taken a few steps back.

I think the general public will always be wary of advertising but let’s get back on track. Let’s put our clients’ wares out there in the most honest, best possible creative light we can.

Let’s try the truth well blogged.

by Shepard Fairey

This Sunday’s Boston Globe ran a front page story on the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, highlighted by the recent Shepard Fairey show running through the end of August. I saw this show recently and was blown away. Not only by his unique style, but by grandeur of the work and the amount of artwork the man has produced. I found it refreshing and inspiring. Never having seen any of his work previously, I was surprised that when I left the parking lot and drove throughout the city, I could see his work adorning buildings, construction sites, as well as decals on street signs.

He was brought to national attention with his Obama “Hope” series (which you can see at the show) and received thanks from President Obama crediting Fairey with helping spread his message. And I’ll bet there isn’t a Facebooker or Twitterer out there who hasn’t come across a profile picture which has been digitally morphed into the Shepard Fairey “Hope” style. There have even been copies of this style as seen in the Bob “Hope” piece by Mark Schruntek.

by Mark Schruntek

This is the kind of work that fascinates me. I have never been a fan labels myself (ie. is it Impressionism, Dadaism, Cubism…what kind of ism is it?). This work seems to hit on all frequencies. From commercial work (skateboard designs, CD covers, book covers, etc.), to street art on buildings and decals, to popular culture (Facebook and Twitter), to art for art’s sake.

There were mixed reviews of his work. Los Angeles Times critic Christopher Knight called Fairey a “talented designer’’ who “possesses a limited pictorial vocabulary, while the grandest curatorial claims made for the nearly 250 examples in the galleries are unsupportable.’’ And Alex Jacobson, a Boston-based writer and artist, has grumbled about the big-name shows. “Then you come to the Shepard Fairey. It’s this repetition of artists people can associate with, things the lay viewer can say, ‘Yeah, I get it.’ But that kind of work is often simplistic and missing the point of a lot of contemporary art.’’ While other praised it. Gallery NAGA director Arthur Dion said, “The Shepard was the real surprise for me. I had dismissed the show before going, and I was really startled and impressed.’’

I liked the public opinion myself. Tara Oremus, 33, who lives in the South End said, “I thought the Fairey show would be a perfect inspiration for the kids. It’s great for them to see street art recognized in such a way.’’

Whether you love him or hate him the numbers don’t lie. The Boston Globe article stated that no show has had more impact than the current 250-plus-piece exhibition of work by the controversial street artist Fairey. Just last month, attendance passed 105,000, making it the most popular show in the ICA’s 73-year history. The ICA has logged a record-setting 267,773 in attendance this fiscal year vs. 10 years ago in their old location at only 19,812.

You be the judge. I urge you, if you have a free afternoon, go see the show at the new ICA in Boston before it ends in August. If not for the show, just go to see the fantastic architecture of the new building.

If there is one thing we love, it is doing innovative marketing and PR campaigns for clients. But when it also gets CCA a little media coverage on our own, we are certainly not ones to complain. Everyone needs to have their ego stroked every once and a while, right?

CCA was recently featured in the Worcester Business Journal for some of our pro-bono work helping the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce’s Creative Economy Council. The council was created last fall and will analyze how creative institutions, activities and businesses contribute to the state’s economy.

Check it out for just one example of how CCAers are flexing our design and marketing muscles to help out needy local businesses during the recession.

http://www.wbjournal.com/news43607.html

Earlier in my career I had the opportunities to hone my advertising agency skills at places like Saatchi and Saatchi and McCann-Erickson working on accounts like AT&T, General Motors, Tylenol, Coca-Cola, and Nintendo. Back then, our primary challenge was to make sure our work was memorable, pithy, targeted – all the characteristics that produce successful ad campaigns, increased sales, and happy CEOs.

Identifying the perfect word or words for the right image with the right message and having every component work in harmony, is, after all, why creative people are drawn to advertising and marketing agencies. After working in the industry for more than 25 years, I eventually learned to transform my art into a pseudo-science.

Then along came Search Engine Optimization, and with it, a new dimension of word responsibility.

While effective SEO gives you a whopping bang for the buck on many levels, as an artist, trying to wrap my Madison Avenue brain around key words and phrases, query performance reports, and exact matches, this new process does not necessarily lend itself to free-flowing creative juices. It’s like taking right brain matter and infusing it into the left brain hemisphere, or vice-versa, to come up with a great campaign – one that must utilize the correct “word ratio” of specific phrases that will be “picked up and noticed” while “driving traffic” to where you want it. Exactly.

Admittedly, in the beginning, altering copy to work in key phrases wasn’t easy. Whether it was for a brand marketing development strategy or advertising campaign, the artist in me wasn’t taking it so well. However, when we began getting big hits for our clients, I saw the payoffs, the enhanced visibility, the head-turning results. Now, at our marketing and advertising agency, it’s all about making sure those key phrases – priceless little treasure troves – are cleverly entwined in our clients’ messaging.

In this new era of copywriting, SEO is where MIT and the Museum of Fine Arts collide – where “formulas” have to be worked into creative masterpieces. But when you experience the success of SEO first hand – when your client says the phone is ringing off the hook – there will always be a way to become inspired.

Quark or InDesign?