Tuesdays with Toni

Tuesdays with Toni is a little project we’ve been working on at MRY strategy, lead by Toni and inspired by Portia. The idea of thought leadership at consulting entities tend to be relatively one dimensional focused on the quantitative seismic shifts happening in an industry. As an example; the impact of mobile adoption on app usage, the rise of social media.

We decided to look at the task of thought leadership a little differently. Instead of being focused on the quantitative trend, lets focus on the impact this trend has on behavior and attitudes. What new ways can we explore information and ideas and how is culture reacting to all of this.

We were lucky enough to have Rishad (@Rishad, https://rishadt.wordpress.com/), Chief Strategist of Publicis join us for the discussion.

Have a listen:

 

Trying new things

It’s interesting how often we get into a routine and are resistant to breaking the mold. You would think that being in a creative field, change and breaking the mold would be the consistent norm. But more often than not we fall into patterns, ways of doing things, old habits.

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/heres-what-would-happen-if-ad-agencies-hired-drones-employees-163251

That’s why we are constantly trying new things in the work place, what’s next, how can we morph. One silly example of this is our recent experience with drones. Im personally really interested in the technology, I guess we have to find now it’s practical application. Enjoy the video below.

Momentum

There are a lot of things that motivate us in work. Some people are motivated by power, some by money, some by pride. One of the things that makes me happiest of all is making things that make a difference, that actually add value in peoples lives and gets our clients and teams noticed for their hard work. It’s fulfilling to make things I can show my friends, my family, that make them laugh, think or that they find useful. That motivates me. Within 3.5 hours this evening a few of the things that me and my team have been working on for the past few months all of a sudden got noticed, and it felt nice. But it was nicer the fact that it all happened within a few hours of one another.

5:50 PM – My sister texts me this image – a project we did for Pizza Hut made the “Love It” list for the Time magazine print edition. Even in a world of pixels, for some reason when they print it on paper it feels a bit more substantive.

At 6:30 PM a creative director I worked with and respect, posted on Facebook about a financial product that MRY recently helped incubate in house. He offered his critique. Then I noticed that it hit the top of product list. Here is a snap shot of the product ranking on producthunt.com where it reached top ranking yesterday.

At around 9:00 PM after a few drinks with my friend Tal, I noticed a NY times article on FB from a friend who works there talking about a session and a brand idea that MRY Health had come up with and a strategy the team created.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/technology/how-facebook-sold-you-krill-oil.html

In a creative world, it’s nice that the work is gaining momentum. Onward and upward.

Positive Reviews

I’ve hit somewhat of a small milestone. Writing and publishing online though a paradigm that I understand professionally is not a dynamic I pursue personally. Since starting on this journey, I have not promoted this blog and have made this more of a personal and counterintuitively subtle experiment in online publishing.

Today I got a nice surprise. I just got my first positive review for the writing on ClickZ.com as well as hitting the top of the list for most read. It’s a small milestone but motivates me to continue on this journey. To the 3 people who read this blog who probably include my wife and sister. Thanks.

 

What the History of Counterfeiting Can Teach Us About the Future of Digital Marketing

It’s great having one of the most read articles on ClickZ, a bit motivating to keep on writing. I always try to apply my personal life experience to my work experience. One can not help but be influenced by the way you grew up and what you saw as a young person. This article on is one representation of my life experiences intersecting with how I see my work life.

I hope you all enjoy!

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2346393/what-the-history-of-counterfeiting-can-teach-us-about-the-future-of-digital-marketing

The Definition of Insanity

I am a real believer in not doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome (a thought widely attributed to Einstein). But in my work and personal life, I see this paradigm of perpetuating past behavior play out daily. It’s amazing how incredibly hard habits are to break. We often think of bad habits as something only exhibited in our personal lives (eating too much, smoking). But in fact , routine can be a huge deterrent to professional innovation. Here are two pieces that speak to this theme.

http://www.agencypost.com/the-problem-with-habits-a-lesson-at-sxsw/

This article covers how habits force us into similar activities as exhibited in themes at SXSW.

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/television/17810.html

The years of relying on TV as a primary driver for marketing is a powerful habit, one that will take years to shift.

From Text to Touch to Talk

I’ve been thinking a lot about the future of interactions. Creativity is often seen only through the lens of content. The funny video, the interesting graphic, a joke. It’s what people see, and have a human visceral reaction towards. Content is very important but the way we interact with that content is that subtle layer that is equally as critical. I recently wrote an article on shifting interaction trends as it pertains to verbal cues.

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2336941/how-talking-to-your-fridge-will-change-marketing

I know there’s been a lot written about the way we interact with home appliances. This article is more about shifting interaction models when verbal cues are introduced. How will our lives change when talking to your xBox becomes a ubiquitous act.