swizzle

Another reason to love Mad Men

2010-07-29T14:27:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, I met with someone for networking purposes and he asked me to explain what services we provide, exactly. I went into this long, drawn out case study of our latest project, which you can check out here, and I'm all, "We whittle the client's advertising objective down to one palatable line, we prop our feet up and open our notebooks to a blank page, we dream up some ideas for a campaign that makes sense (hopefully), we write some scripts, we present them to the client in a very enthusiastic way with flailing arms and fancy words, we hope they buy it, when they do, we go talk to some directors, we present the scripts to those directors with high hopes that they envision them the same way that we did, we gather bids about how much the production will cost, we then choose one of those directors to bring the scripts to life, we work with that director to cast the most talented actors or at least the ones with the best hair, we go to the shoot and make sure the director gets it right while we stand around eating too much and gaining 5 pounds, we sit in an editing suite for a week making sure the editor gets it right while we eat breakfast tacos every day and gain another 5 pounds, we traffic the spots to their proper channels and then we high five and say Yay! a bunch."

And I paraphrase, but still.

Then I get a little self-conscious that maybe I'm talking too much and not making sense, so I try to lighten the mood by saying, "Do you happen to watch Mad Men?"

His eyes light up and his head nods. Phew!

"We're Peggy and Don," I say.

And he says, "Ah. That helps a lot. Now, I get it."

Now, who represents Peggy and who represents Don on any given day changes around here, and also depends on who you ask.

But you get the gist.

---Stefani

Rework

2010-04-22T20:50:00.000-05:00

So, I just finished reading a great book on the nitty-gritties of starting and running a small business. It's not a How-To, by any means. It's more of a Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. It makes a lot of sense and it put many things in perspective for me. Mainly, it made my heart quit racing for half a second and now I feel like everything might actually be okay.

It's called Rework. Here is an excerpt from the conclusion that especially hit home for me:

Inspiration is perishable

We all have ideas. Ideas are immortal. They last forever.

What doesn't last forever is inspiration. Inspiration is like fresh fruit or milk: It has an expiration date.

If you want to do something, you've got to do it now. You can't put it on a shelf and wait two months to get around to it. You can't just say you'll do it later. Later, you won't be pumped up about it anymore.

If you're inspired on a Friday, swear off the weekend and dive into the project. When you're high on inspiration, you can get two weeks of work done in twenty-four hours. Inspiration is a time machine in that way.

Inspiration is a magical thing, a productivity multiplier, a motivator. But it won't wait for you. Inspiration is a now thing. If it grabs you, grab it right back and put it to work.

Amen y'all.

--Stefani

Amen, brother

2010-03-11T12:11:00.002-06:00

Good article here:

http://adage.com/smallagency/post?article_id=142726

I got into this business because I didn't want to take calculus in college.

I stayed because it's fun.

But Marc Brownstein is right. If you're not careful, this business can squeeze the life out of the best and brightest.

And you'll find yourself wishing you had taken calculus. Ouch.

Ballet Austin

2010-03-01T13:12:00.002-06:00

We have been sitting on our hands, trying not to talk too much about our latest client project. Now that the news is out, we can blab. It's been an honor to work on this business for Ballet Austin. And humbling. Oh, so humbling. Stand in a room full of dancers (and mirrors!) for a two-day shoot and you too will be on a salmon and veggie diet. Read the news story here.

Addys!

2010-02-15T16:22:00.002-06:00

As this is our first year in business, it was also our first year to enter the Austin Addys and we are very pleased to announce that we won 3 awards this year: two bronze and a silver, for our website, our logo and our LifeSize Communication DM piece.

YAY! Go team.

It wasn't without it's disappointments however. Not to be greedy or anything, but we were saddened to learn the work we were most proud of -- our Velocity Credit Union work -- didn't get any love. Very very disappointing indeed.

BUT, we are happy with what we got, and we'll just have to work harder for our Velocity client as well as others in 2010.

Season Three, Finale

2009-11-09T14:12:00.005-06:00

It's in my nature to say something one week, and then say the exact opposite thing a few weeks later. So here I go again.

Last time I was the Betty cheerleader, and this time, I'm the Betty whah whah whah. Really? You can't leave your marriage without jumping into another one immediately? Even for the early 60s, that's kind of pathetic. That guy might be tall and handsome, but he's so vapid I can't stand to hear him talk. And when he does, I don't listen to a word he says. Henry Francis? The fact that his name sounds like a Cabbage Patch doll's should have been your first clue honey.

As for Don, I'm going to do another 180 turn. While I hated him last we spoke, now I want to join his renegade agency. (Just please don't call it SCD&P) Because while there's nothing that turns me off more than arrogance, there's nothing more appealing to me than a man who can feel that comfortable while eating so many large helpings of humble pie.

He walked into room upon room in last night's episode and basically said, "You're right. I'm an ass. Everyone knows it. I'm the last to find out. But now I get it. I'm sorry. Let's move on."

That took a lot of courage. You have to respect that.

Speaking of courage, let's talk about Peggy. In 2009, after being a female copywriter in the minority for 16 years, I would still find it difficult to tell a male superior that he was taking me for granted. I might have said the same thing that she did, and I would have been just as nervous, but to say it in 1963 was almost unheard of. She is so far ahead of her time it's bordering on brilliance. No, she is brilliant. And then when Roger asks her to get him some coffee, and she doesn't hesitate for a second to say No, it was the best line to me by far. One word. Two letters. But packed with the power of a song.

But aside from the great character development, dialogue and art direction that plops us so perfectly into the past, there was a spirit to last night's episode that is universally appealing, for it captured the feeling of starting over, and what a liberating feeling that is.

Who doesn't want to chuck it all and start over sometimes? Who isn't longing for the opportunity to admit that things are not right for us, have not been right for us for some time, that we've been living a lie and trying to fit into a mold that doesn't jibe with our true selves? How great does it feel to realize we don't have to conform to another's ideals anymore?

Yes, divorce is hard. The scene with the children was difficult for me to watch. And leaving a comfortable job with benefits takes an equally terrifying leap of faith. So it was a show about risk. It was about not knowing what lies ahead but diving into it anyway.

Last night's show had that entrepreneurial spirit that was so perfect for our time, even while it was set in the early 60s.

I think that's why we're all enamored of this show. It's visually retro but at heart, so timeless. It never fails to find that universal chord, and strike it.

Which is something that all good advertising should aspire to do, as well.

--Stefani

Season Three, Episode Where Am I?

2009-10-19T14:04:00.002-05:00

I have no idea what episode last night's was, I've been so remiss at my reviews that I've lost count.

Based on scenes from next week that show Betty packing her suitcase, I can’t help but wonder if she’s going to leave him?

God, I hope so.

I mean, what’s up with the hard-core philandering? You have a newborn baby! I don’t care how hot you are, you’re an asshole to your wife. And quite frankly, she’s hotter than you are. Have you seen her on the cover of GQ this month? Hello, new Queen of Lesbo Shag Island, take your seat next to Angelina and Jennifer. Actually, between them would be best.

Anyway, let’s get back to the discussion of advertising: a more noble pursuit than cheating on your wife, though just barely.

I have to say, I think the campaigns they discuss on the show are quite good. They may seem a tad familiar to those of us in advertising, because they’re indicative of ideas that have “been done.” Or do they just sound like ideas we’ve tried to sell and haven’t had the luck of an appreciative client? I can't put my finger on it, but wherever the sensation of familiarity is coming from, I have to thank the writers of the show for showing the smart side of advertising to the general public. Maybe there are ad writers on the staff? Does anyone know if that’s true?

Last week’s Hilton campaign was nice. How do you say comfort in Chinese? Hilton. How do you say breakfast in French? Hilton. I’m not sure those were the exact headlines, but that was the idea. And the tagline: Hilton. It’s the same in every language. It’s a clever way to say “get the predictable comforts of home no matter where you are.” Although the strategy is showing, it’s showing in a conversational way that nobody but an ad geek like myself could see.

Then last night’s idea session showed us what a good creative director does. A good creative director, in my humble opinion, can tell you that your idea isn’t a great one, while turning it into one that is. Which is exactly what Don did when Peggy and Paul presented their Western Union idea. On paper, it was crap. But the discussion went after the thought process that Peggy had used to get there, and Don expounded on it to arrive at a profound thought. “You can’t frame a phone call.”

It’s actually such a great line, it passes my “would you wear that on a t-shirt?" test of what makes a great tagline or not because, yes, I would.

Come to think of it, Don Draper is really hot. Because he’s really good at what he does. And Peggy is probably more smitten sitting in that chair across his desk than she would ever let on.

Which kinda reminds me of a certain creative director I used to work for, who will go unnamed.

--Stefani

Season Three, Episode Three

2009-08-31T11:39:00.001-05:00

When I watch doctor shows, I always wonder if doctors watch them too looking for things that don’t measure up to reality. That’s not really how I watch Mad Men, but it’s one of the reasons I enjoy it so much. It’s the subtle nuances in the dialogue that tell me somebody on Mathew Weiner’s writing staff actually worked on Madison Avenue. Things like “He wants to see copy on Monday and art on Tuesday. Sorry you’ll have to work the weekend.” And what about getting so desperate for ideas that you end up calling the pot guy and clogging the door with your Mohair sweater while you turn your office into Spicolli’s van?

Yes, that really happens.

But I have to say that while I am enjoying the show’s true-to-lifeness about the ad biz, I’m getting bored with the lack of soap opera drama that would carry the plot from episode to episode. Like, what is Sal doing to repair those closet door hinges? Why isn’t Don’s past looming over him anymore, or his infidelities? Where did Pete’s fight go? He was pissed when he found out he had to share Head of Accounts duties with Kenny, and suddenly they’re going to the Hampton’s together on the weekends?

It seems the character to despise on Mad Men is turning out to be Roger Sterling. What an ass he is. Black face? Really?

But the real disappointment last night was the ending. When Roger’s drunk wife says something stupid to Don and Betty about getting back together, shining a bright light on their recent problems, it would have been the perfect time for Betty to confront him. Instead, the show ended with a romantic moonlit hug shared by Mr. and Mrs. Draper.

Then again, maybe she was thinking about that handsome man with salt and pepper hair who hit on her by the bathroom earlier in the evening. Is Betty silently plotting her own revenge?

If this plot continues in a disjointed, Lost-like fashion, we may never know.

Season Three, Episode Two

2009-08-26T12:50:00.002-05:00

Mad Men continued to show us last night that while some things have changed since 1963, many things, especially in advertising, have stayed the same. Burt Cooper’s line, “We’re an advertising agency. If I had to come down here every time we lost an account I’d wear out the carpet.” So the client/agency relationship was just as precarious then. Good to know.

Then there’s Peggy, illustrating the realities of being the only woman in a male-dominated business. She’s the story of my life. And when she expresses to the boys in the conference room her confusion at the way they are targeting a diet drink to women—with a sexy model who speaks to men—it feels like an argument I’ve tried to make countless times. And Don’s answer is also one I’ve heard before. “Men want her, but women want to be her. In that way, it speaks to women.” And then he whispers some advice in her ear, something about keeping some tools in her drawer. Which is just another way of saying, “pick your battles.” Which is another way of saying, “You’re a woman. You will never convince us that you know more than we do about anything. Find an argument you can actually win.”

I’m perched on the edge of my seat waiting to see her prove them all wrong.

Peggy then performs an unfortunate interpretation of Don’s advice by pulling out the tool women tend to fall back on when they can’t control anything else: sex. When she can’t gain control in the boardroom, she tries to find it by propping her pointed bra on the nearest bar, batting her eyelashes at the first boy to notice her. He is inferior to her in both maturity and sophistication, but that doesn’t stop her from going home with him to show him the tools in her entire tool shed. It was sad to see her stoop below herself like that, and sad to see her get desperate with the desire to gain the respect of the men around her.

We also see her struggle to find her identity as a strong woman in a world where women are not yet expected to be so. We see her try to emulate Don. Then we see her look admirably at Joan as she shakes her ass through the office, knocking down every man in her wake. Who does Peggy want to be? Does Peggy even know?

I told you, I could go on for days about Peggy and as it turns out, I have.

My only other insights into this week's Mad Men is that Roger Sterling is always late for meetings but seems too naïve to notice and too powerful to care, epitomizing most creative directors in this business.

And that I continue to love this show for letting me live in an era, if for only an hour, when women got to smoke and drink while they were pregnant and never felt guilty about letting their children sit in front of the TV all day.

Season Three, Episode One

2009-08-17T09:38:00.002-05:00

As Season Three of Mad Men opens in a nativity scene-type flashback, we see Don stand in his own kitchen warming milk for his pregnant wife while watching his own birth take place. Are we surprised that he’s the accidental son of a whore? Not really. More surprising is his loving gesture of bringing the milk up to Betty, then coaxing her back to sleep with cuddles and gentle whispers in her ear. Maybe I’m naïve, but it made me feel like maybe he wouldn’t cheat on her this time when he went on a business trip. Not even with a stewardess. Not even with a Southern-accented blonde stewardess who comes onto him like a frat guy three beer bongs into a keg party. But alas, Don Draper is riddled with issues that keep him from being the best husband he can be. Hence, the flashback.

Back at the office, Sterling Cooper is going through the growing pains of a giant merger. Those of us in advertising know it all too well. Merger equals layoffs. And nobody knows day to day, for quite some months, if they’ll be shit-canned or promoted. Peter, our favorite villain, gets promoted to head of accounts as his predecessor is still trashing his office. Peter is thrilled with the news, until he learns that he is to share that title with Kenny Cosgrove, who is adorably non-competitive about the whole thing while Peter whines and kicks as we cackle inwardly.

Joan, office manager and resident vamp, sashays through the office trying to do her best Mother Henning. She even tries to make the assistant to the “limey vulture” of their new parent company feel better by giving him Burt’s old office. But when this assistant asks her to call him Mr. So and So, instead of John, she quickly puts him in his place by reminding him that he is “just a secretary.” Oh the beauty of the role reversal. Oh the beauty that is Joan.

Meanwhile, Sal’s homosexuality peeks out of the closet again as he accepts a proposition from his bellman. And when a fire alarm in the hotel has Don and his stewardess shimmying down the fire escape, they find themselves outside Sal’s window bearing witness. Don and Sal exchange a look, but nothing is ever said, save for Sal’s pained look of guilt. All while Don Draper never bats an eyelash about the stewardess under his arm. I love this show for showing us a world where it was okay to drink and smoke all day, but I’m sure glad we now live in a world where marital infidelity is more shameful than being gay.

I also love this show for the attention to detail it pays to that era. Maybe it’s because our own little agency is in the midst of a pitch about evolving technology, but did anyone else notice the crappy quality of the room-to-room intercom system? When Don’s secretary lets him know someone is there to see him, her words are hilariously indecipherable.

Regarding attention to detail, the show is usually spot on when it comes to the ad biz. More so than any show we’ve ever seen. But I have to say that the scene where Peter and Ken were being read their list of accounts went on for days. I didn’t count, but it seemed like Sterling Cooper, supposedly a mid-size agency, has 40 some odd accounts?

I don’t think so.

--Stefani

Business guys on business trips

2009-08-04T15:51:00.001-05:00

Have y'all seen this? A little something to tide us over until Mad Men starts.

Enjoy,

Stefani

My walk on in Mad Men

2009-07-29T11:52:00.005-05:00

We are crazy about Mad Men, like most people, and probably even more so because we do proclaim to be an ad agency of sorts. In promoting the new season, which premieres on August 16, the geniuses at AMC have gone viral with this fun Mad Men Yourself avatar. I couldn't resist recreating my own image in the form of a 60's-era advertising executive.

This was fun because it's like playing paper dolls. I got to pick my own dress, hair color, hair style, eyebrows, nose, figure, environment and things I would hold in my hand. The missed opportunity here is that you don't get to pick your own quote. A variety of bossy/sexist/attitudinal phrases would have been nice to choose from.

-Stefani

An argument for small

2009-07-08T14:31:00.002-05:00

As with any start-up business, you have to make your case again and again. Why us?

It's kind of like dating. You have to put yourself out there and while you're out there, you have to look good. You have to ask someone to dance and hope your breath doesn't stink if they happen to say yes.

That's what we're in the process of doing, and in the few meetings we've had so far, our case has been very similar to what Bart Cleveland says here in an Advertising Age post. Especially the last paragraph, where he makes the argument that the bigger budgets handled by bigger agencies equal more layers of decision making and, hence, watered down creative.

It's true, when you don't have any money you have to get really creative. Because you have to fill that void with the blood, sweat and tears that can elevate advertising to an art form. Don't laugh. It can be that good.

I guess Chris said it best in his tweet linking to this article earlier: Small agencies rule.

A Swizzle Forshadowing

2009-06-09T11:43:00.011-05:00

Chris and I exhibited signs of working well together early on.
Here we are decorating a Hula Hoop at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2004.

On Saturday, we head there again, for our second Bluegrass experience together. This quick photo montage should give you a sense of why we're pretty excited about our journey. Hopefully we can improve upon Chris's hula hooping skills (or lack thereof) while we're there.

Stefani

Two months to Mad Men, but who's counting?

2009-06-03T13:32:00.000-05:00

Facebook reminded me the other day about the upcoming third season of our favorite show: Mad Men. Scoot your ass to the edge of your chair and watch the promo here.

Watching the promo then reminded me of this article that I read giddily in The New York Times Magazine on Sunday. And I couldn't help but wonder if the overwhelming popularity of Mad Men was somehow related to the demise of helicopter parenting.

I mean, did anyone see the episode where Don and Betty Draper get so hammered that they forget to feed their kids dinner? Am I the only one who saw that and thought it was a little bit awesome? Because it gave me a little sliver of affirmation that I'm not a terrible parent after all?

So what if they live in the early '60s. So what if they are fictional characters created in an air-conditioned room in Times Square. That episode still gave me hope.

If they are somehow related, does Mad Men have the power to bring the three-martini lunch back into vogue? If not that, then perhaps the three-margarita lunch?

Who's with me on this?

--Stefani

DISCLAIMER: Swizzle does not in any way condone the use of children for mixing cocktails, although it does entertain the notion from time to time. The fact that Swizzle's name is Swizzle is pure coincidence.

Spot moved to Grey's Anatomy

2009-05-14T09:10:00.000-05:00

For those of you who tuned into Lost last night in anticipation of seeing one of our Velocity spots (as opposed to tuning in to actually figure what the hell is going on on that wacky island) were probably sorely disappointed. So were we. As it turns out, that unit was a bonus spot given to Velocity for getting bumped out of last week's Castle. Anyway, as it happened, that spot was ultimately sold to another advertiser.

However, that means there's good news for us, and some bad news. The good news is that our spot got moved into tonight's season finale of Grey's Anatomy - the #1 show in that time slot.

Yay!

The bad news is I actually have to watch the show.

Boo.

Enjoy!

--chris

Velocity Production pix

2009-05-07T11:37:00.000-05:00

Here are just a few snapshots from our Velocity shoot:

SWIZZLE - WELCOME TO OUR BLOG

2009-05-04T13:52:00.000-05:00

Well here's the deal. We're kinda just starting out, so we don't have a ton to blog about just yet. But check back - maybe bookmark us - because we do have a point of view, and will have plenty to say in the coming weeks, months, years, millennia, etc.

We'd like to give a huge shout out to Beef & Pie for making our first production for Velocity Credit Union go so smoothly. We ended up with 5 amazing spots that have received rave reviews from everyone that has seen them. Thank you - you guys are the best.

Check them out at www.beefandpie.com. And see the spots on our website (or YouTube if you choose).

And of course we couldn't have done any of this without a great client. Thanks to Carol Cain and her staff at Velocity for being so insightful and supportive through this process.

See ya soon!

--chris & stef