The Juice -- Lee Anne

Lee Anne is one of dg communications' treasured Art Directors, and within her small frame is a talent so fierce that she needs two names to contain it! Soft spoken and reserved, Lee's sublime work is a testament to the kind of exemplary effort that sets our agency apart. For Lee and the rest of the team, it simply must be great in order to be good enough.

Lee comes to us from the Bahamas, where the weather is somehow nicer than it is here. We Juiced her to get to the pulpy details of life in Lee Anne land, but we found her answers tended to hold back just a wee bit on the truth.

Q1 – Why advertising?
I ask myself that everyday. I have no idea.

Q2 – Aside from working at d+g, what experiences have you had on the job that have shaped who you are today?
Well, when I first started as an intern I was told I was too slow. Yes, me – too slow. That scared the crap out of me because I never wanted to be fired. So, within a week I learnt every fast key, short-cut possible. Speedy ever since!

Q3 – What is your favorite reality show?
Don’t watch any so I don’t have one. (editor's note: rumor has it that she's a closet Jersey Shore addict. You didn't hear it from us, though.)

Q4 – What superpower do you harness that is mostly concealed to your co-workers and clients?
???? I'm fast as lightning? (editor's note: Lee is indeed fast, but her superpower is her ability to withstand really, really hot & spicy food. Honestly, she can eat anything short of nuclear.)

Q5 – What is your favorite thing about d+g?
The great people and the friendships I’ve made. (editor's note: This IS true. We are pretty awesome.)

Q6 – Favorite South Florida eating establishment?
There are so many… but Lemon Grass monster lobster roll never does me wrong. (editor's note: Lee is famous for eating takeout from Chipotle Mexican Grill pretty much every single day.)

Q7 - What sites, blogs, etc do you frequent and how often?
No blogs. Facebook every now and then, and Old Navy. (editor's note: Old Navy? The only site we've ever seen her on is her son's daycare site, checking up on him like the dedicated mom she is.)

Social Media Is NOT The Answer

A guest blog from Keith Gallant, a social media guy.

Justin Bieber is not famous because of social media (yes, we hate that we’re referencing Justin Bieber too, but stay with us here). Justin Bieber is famous because he’s talented and has tremendous appeal to his target audience. So much appeal, that he was destined to have a successful career as a pop music performer. The reach of social media sped the process of fame immensely, just as television (a more traditional broadcast medium) was integral in catapulting the careers of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake – both of whom were featured as teenage heartthrobs by Disney.

The point is that social media is incredibly powerful when it’s combined with compelling content. Television, radio, print publications and direct mail campaigns are still efficient modes of communication, despite the growing popularity of social media networks. Social media is a gun, an impotent weapon without the bullets, motive and human operation that are social media marketing strategy and content. Everyone is talking about social media, but we should all be talking about content. Content, content, content!

How wonderfully powerful it is to know that we can reach people with our messages faster than ever…but what have we to say? What have we to offer? This is the job of a social media marketing team. If social media itself were “the answer,” a team would not be needed. Companies could hire a social media expert to push their content downstream, publish here…with RSS feeds allowing it to appear here and here. Voila! Mission accomplished! But, the Internet is so vast, merely placing content in many places accomplishes nothing by itself. Sophisticated programming that speeds content placement is not fast enough to keep up with the rate of Internet expansion.

That’s why computer programmers are not the people to be given the job of creating and operating social media MARKETING campaigns. It’s also why the most effective marketing campaigns are developed with meaningful strategy and high quality content. What’s great about communicating via social media is that if the content is strong enough, we can find others to “adopt the cause” – claiming it as their property via affinity and helping to show it off. A handful of years ago, as YouTube burst onto the scene, viral marketing campaigns were being pitched everywhere. For every successful video that was sent to you from your dad or work colleague, imagine how many died in infancy.

Social media allows us more opportunities than ever to reach people, but it has also exponentially accelerated the rate that content is published, creating a noisier, more competitive landscape and making it harder for any piece of content to gain attention. That’s why social media is not the answer. However, for agencies that create KILLER content, social media is their new 6 foot 7 inch, 265 pound best friend.

We will be heard!

I’ve been following this story for a few days. This is why re-branding REQUIRES deep thought and solid rationale.

To wit, the Gap saga of a totally mismanaged attempt to rebrand:

TA-DUH!
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1662446/the-gap-falls-into-a-new-logo
Backlash:
http://www.craplogo.me
http://twitter.com/#!/gaplogo
The masses even respond with an unofficial redesign contest:
http://blog.iso50.com/logos/gap-redesign-contest

OOPS!:
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1662452/gap-thats-not-our-real-logo-its-a-crowdsourcing-project

More social media backlash:
http://www.facebook.com/gap/posts/159977040694165
And then suddenly an attempt at rationale from the Gap's President:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marka-hansen/the-gaps-new-logo_b_754981.html

Followed by a swift retreat:
http://adage.com/article?article_id=146417

Ouch.

Social media has completely changed the game here.
More proof:
Flip-flop Trop
http://www.yumsugar.com/Due-Customer-Backlash-Tropicana-Ditches-New-Logo-2853310

“stop the verdana madness”
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1919127,00.html

Pepsi
http://www.sanyi.nyarad.ro/?p=81
And when your rationale completely loses sight of reality:
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/aaron-perry-zucker/new-ideas/pepsi-design-process-explained

The democratizing effects of social media show that consumers are increasingly willing to claim ownership of the brands they patronize. And while resistance to change is expectable, I think it’s striking how computer media facilitates the ability to backlash. While corporate America is no doubt pleased that consumers care enough about their brands to show it, I don’t imagine that anyone truly expected consumers to take the effort to create blogs, petitions, and parodies en masse. However, as it is with all grassroots movements, social media allows similarly-motivated people to build social synergies, and build a group momentum that transcends the import of the brand itself.

Does anyone REALLY care that much what logo The Gap uses to promote it’s retail chain? Individually, probably not. But upon the grand stage of the Internet, we are not one, but many. And perhaps that is the real point.

Must Everyone Blog?

Well, we can’t speak for all parts of the world, but here in the U.S., blogging is currently “optional.” The question we’ve been asking lately is, should businesses feel obliged to blog? The simple answer is yes.

In the early years of this century, it was the blog that led the charge as the Internet grew out if its tight-fitting 1.0 jeans into its blousy 2.0 wardrobe. Suddenly, 20-somethings everywhere began leading discussions from politics to snack foods, and hip CEOs decided to give the public “behind the scenes” glances at their creative genius. Seven or eight years ago, blogging was a fad − the Internet’s latest Rubik’s Cube.

Blogging is no longer faddish, but an essential part of business communications. A blog is the sequel to “About Us.” It’s “About Us Now.” Whether posting a revealing employee Q & A, reporting from the front line at an industry conference or sharing expert guest blogger contributions, blogs have the capacity to house unique and compelling content.

Blogs also serve as important components of broader social media marketing campaigns. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn updates provide fresh opportunities to post links that lead visitors to a business’ blog and generate traffic to the organization’s website.

Which businesses should not blog? Those unable or unwilling to produce high quality content. The Internet marketing landscape is content-driven and highly competitive. This is no place to go half-way. As anyone on Facebook will tell you, there is a ton of poor content being published all the time. What does that mean? Create killer content for your brand and win big! Need a hand?