Full disclosure, this film was made by TBWA\CHIAT\DAY, Los Angeles.

Source: Rob Schwartz, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA CHIAT DAY, LA on forbes.com.

You’ve attended Cannes a few times now. How much has it changed?

I’ve only missed one Festival since first attending back in 1973. At that time, it was not as prestigious and impactful as it is today. The Americans participated with only a few entries and the Festival was primarily European. Only creatives used to attend. “Creativity” was not really a popular subject among clients, who saw it as a means for agencies to talk among themselves, in their own self-indulgent language. Today it’s very different. Last year at Cannes, there were more people attending from some of the big multinational clients than there were delegates from our network, TBWA. In forty years, Cannes has become everyone’s business.

Now you’re Jury President for the first ever Creative Effectiveness Lion. Is this proof that the debate about creativity and effectiveness has been settled at last?

Creativity sells. But from now on, with the Effectiveness Lions, advertising will be judged on tangible evidence. Our panel will evaluate campaign results in a factual way. ROI will enter into the language of Cannes.

Surely there’s more to effectiveness than numbers?

Don’t forget we’re talking here about “creative effectiveness”. A message that sells, but that is not based on a fresh or breakthrough idea is unlikely to attract our interest. Because Cannes aims first and foremost to reward efficiency achieved through creativity. It should make for some lively debates with my fellow jury members.

How has the digital era changed notions of effectiveness?

Younger generations show interest only in messages that engage them. Otherwise, they just ignore them, or zap. Creativity is no longer optional, it has become recognised as being essential.

If anybody out there is hesitating about coming to Cannes, what would you say to convince them?

It took years for the idea of creativity to become accepted as a source of effectiveness. Cannes has participated in raising that awareness. This is the place where we can see the things that will pave the way forward for our industry; it’s where we can keep ourselves on top of the emerging creative trends, and it’s where we feel the pulse of our industry.

Practically Radical: Manifest für Erfolg durch Wandel (engl.) from TBWA Germany on Vimeo.

For any comments or suggestions, send an Email to Ulrich Proeschel.

Fund & Follow Creativity: A disruptive new generation of online platforms allows normal folk to become art patrons.

Once upon a time, only venture capitalists could invest in projects they deemed worthwhile. But in the brave new world of social networking and “crowd sourcing”, we can all back a creative venture, whether it’s a work of art, a movie, a novel or an invention. This altruistic form of investment has become known as “micro-patronage” or “crowd funding”.

One of the leading “crowd funding” platforms is Kickstarter, which has backed initiatives ranging from a documentary film about jazz to a 360° panoramic video lens for the iPhone. As with similar sites like RocketHub and Sellaband, it works on a simple model: those with an idea that needs backing apply to Kickstarter to have their project posted on the site. They set a minimum target of funds to be raised. Once the project is visible on the site, the public pledge donations (starting at a minimum of US$1) using Amazon Payments. If the funding target is not reached by the deadline, no funds are collected and the backers lose nothing. Kickstarter takes 5% of the funds raised; Amazon charges 3-5%. Kickstarter claims no ownership over the projects, although these remain on the site for viewing after completion.

For the backers, it’s a chance to help creative people bring their ideas to life – as well as a source of inspiration and stories. The most imaginative products inevitably reap the most funding as their backers pass the word about them via blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Backers often receive rewards depending on how much they pledge – from a DVD or a signed and numbered art edition.

More than anything, Kickstarter is a disruptive way of building a new community of creative individuals who might previously have been locked out due to lack of funding. During the Renaissance, the church, merchants and powerful banking families sponsored artists. But in the digital era, you and me can be a Medici.

www.kickstarter.com

For any comments or suggestions, send an email to Ulrich Proeschel.

How did the book come about?

To a certain extent it was provoked by nostalgia. Fifteen years ago, when we founded Fast Company, we organized a meeting based around the premise “How do you overthrow successful companies?” The participants weren’t young dotcoms, but companies that were already large and successful, and wanted to consider ways of engaging with the exciting new landscape that was emerging around them. It struck me that you could organize the same meeting today and ask exactly the same question. The book is an attempt to answer it.

What for you then is the key to success? Is it enough to be disruptive?

It’s no longer enough to be pretty good at a lot of things. You goal should be excellence in a chosen field. The most local, the most global, the most exclusive…the point is to stand for something. Too many leaders want to stay in the middle of the road, which is the road to nowhere.

Thanks to the digital revolution, we live in an age of transparency. Do you find that the most disruptive companies are also the most authentic?

It’s certainly true that you can’t behave one way in the marketplace and another way internally. Your brand must be a reflection of your culture. In that context, your hiring policy and the way you treat your employees becomes vitally important. I’d even say that the “power couple” in this new environment are the marketers and human resources department, because your talent strategy and your brand strategy must be in synch.

Can you give a concrete example of this?

One of my favourite brands in the US is Zappos.com. In just ten years it has become an iconic brand, by doing something is banal as selling shoes on line. The way it uses customer service, performance and theatricality to make technology more human is outstanding. A lot of this is based on its hiring strategy. When you join the company, you embark on a five week training period. Then they offer you 5000 dollars to quit. It’s a way of acknowledging that the company isn’t for everyone, while ensuring that only those who are truly committed to the brand stay on. That’s just one of the reasons why it’s become a passion brand of the highest order. The staff believes in it as well as the customers.

Is being “practically radical” – or “disruptive” as TBWA would call it – essentially about taking risks?

During my research, I unearthed an academic study that identified two different forms of risk-taking. The first might be termed “sinking the boat”: taking a risk that didn’t work. But the second is “missing the boat”: failing to take a risk that might have worked. Too many leaders fail to innovate because they’re afraid of sinking the boat.

In advertising, there’s sometimes a feeling that originality requires big budgets. How do you feel about that?

If you look at any truly creative organization, it’s not about how deep their pockets are, but how original their ideas are. Once again, that stems from their people. And by the way, these people don’t have to work FOR you. It’s enough that they work WITH you. You need to find people who excel in their field and get them involved. It’s the team that counts – I’m a firm believer that you’re never as smart alone as you are together.

Having said that, there is an element of self-help to your book. Can individuals apply your ideas to themselves?

Absolutely. In the last third of the book I talk about how to become a high-impact individual in your field. Just like brands, we should all consider what we stand for and what legacy we want to leave.

TBWA is famous for its work with brands such as Apple and Pedigree. How do they fit in with the theme of your book?

For me, the key to Apple is that it decided that it was not going to be a company that introduced new electronic devices, but one that reshaped what was possible. It doesn’t allow what is currently known about technology to limit its imagination. Instead, it imagines the impossible and then endeavours to make it happen. It’s the ultimate example of starting with a blank sheet of paper.

Pedigree is a completely different example in that it’s a company with a long history. The temptation in this case is to disavow your past in order to carve out a new future. Instead, Pedigree rediscovered and reinterpreted its heritage. The company was started by people who genuinely loved dogs, but somehow over the years that message had gotten watered down.  All large but somewhat stodgy companies were based on an original innovative idea. Sometimes you need to go back to that idea in order to reinvigorate your business. Never be afraid to seek inspiration in your past.

Practically Radical: Not-So-Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry and Challenge Yourself, is published by William Morrow & Company.

For any comments or suggestions, send an email to Ulrich Proeschel.

Everything was swell, until the truck driver responsible for the deliciously cherry-cola flavoured Skittles sweets abruptly decided he didn’t want to drive anymore. Skittles received a notification of the Trucker driver of the main shipment, he wasn’t moving – he was blue….nobody liked him…so then we asked the Skittles fans to step in.

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Last week, Skittles Facebook fans were solely responsible for cheering up the Blue Trucker. His journey, and whether he arrived at his final destination depended entirely on the support of the Skittles fans. If they wanted their precious blue Skittles to arrive in the UK, they had to continue showing the Blue Trucker some serious TLC, offering words of encouragement and ‘liking’ him. The trucker posted videos on the Skittles wall every day, with his latest musings. The fans could also interact with him and send him messages via the app wall. The fans had to continue liking him to ensure the delivery of Skittles! And in the end, the fans corralled and loved the trucker enough to get their delivery.

For any comments or suggestions, send an email to Tom Wong.

The spoof dentures were invented as a novel way to raise awareness of the risk of gum disease in dogs over the age of 3, and reveal Pedigree Dentastix as a much more ‘real’ solution. Because ultimately, Dogs don’t want Dentures, they want Dentastix.

If you have any comments or suggestions please email Joanna Hitchen.

5. Paper.li

Swamped by social media? Terrorized by Twitter? Fed up with Facebook? Paper.li can solve the problem. It allows users to create personalized newspapers based on the links shared on social media.

To make your paper, chose from a list of predetermined sections such as technology, arts and entertainment or business news. Paper.li filters your social media streams by subject rather than chronological order, plopping stories neatly into their relevant sections. Then you simply browse your paper on your desktop, all the non-relevant links swept away. You can also create an amusing title for your newspaper and share it with others (if they’re not already overloaded, of course).

Paper.li is the latest and one of the most efficient among new services that are turning us all into instant publishers.

Read part one and part two.

Conclusion: The sites prove that there is a marked trend toward cutting through the clutter and delivering a web attuned to personal tastes and desires. This was inevitable, as the cacophony of social and traditional media was becoming too much for any normal human to handle. Brands should bear this in mind: if they just add to the clutter, rather than helping consumers manage it, they may find themselves on the wrong side of the filtering process.

3. Gripe

In the pre-digital era, when shops or companies treated customers badly, only the victim’s immediate family and friends heard about it. Now, a complaint can spread across social media like wildfire. Remember “United breaks guitars”, a YouTube song by a disgruntled musician who blamed the airline for wrecking his guitar? It attracted 150,000 views in one day.

Gripe makes that kind of firepower available to everyone. Just download the Gripe app, search for the company you wish to criticise, then add your complaint – or praise, as the app includes both “gripe” and “cheer” buttons. Companies can log in to track their progress and address the gripes, with the aim of converting them into cheers.
www.gri.pe

4. Equipio.com

People who enjoy social media aren’t just geeks glued to their screens. They’re sports fanatics too – and Equipio is aimed at them. Its slogan “What’s in your sports bag?” pretty much sums up what it does.

By clicking on a list of sports professionals, users can find out what equipment the pros use and then buy it online, from the latest England rugby shirt to Roger Federer’s racket. They can also get in touch with fellow users and exchange information about their favourite gear. Equipio constantly rounds up the most popular items and curates reviews from all over the web, including Twitter. When buyers are ready to spend, it links them to the appropriate online shopping site. Sports brands naturally love the site and are keen sponsors.
www.equipio.com

Read part 1