Big Dreams = Microagency.

Well, it's official, I am self-employed. Finally.

Throughout my career I have held deeply a desire to build something from the ground up.

During the 25+ year journey I have observed many things related to both the service side and the product side of the advertising business. Good and Bad. And I took good notes. So now I will take some best-practices (as the self-help books call them) and string them together into my service approach. Honesty, transparency, responsiveness and pro-activity to name a few.

As for the product, I am an idealist that has tempered my own never-good enough frustration with pragmatism. There is no finished piece that could not be better. With more time, more money, etc. My portfolio goals are still to make each piece the best that it can be. But I understand that "best that it can be" must be a quantifiable measurement I need to share with the client/patron. My personal subjective tastes are based on experience and my DNA, but I have learned to listen to the opinions of others.

I am building a microagency. Yes, I am not afraid to use the word agency. A lot of Agencies have given the industry a bad name. I believe it is due mainly to their size. They have grown so large that they have to spend more time feeding their own needs, than those of their clients. So by structuring a small shop, I believe I can be more beneficial to my clients and probably make the journey more enjoyable.

I'm certainly not the first in this regard. There are many small agencies in America that have long-standing relationships with their clients and have earned their trust. I respect them for resisting the urge to scale beyond their usefulness. The old how big do you have to get before you get bad trap.

So, game on. Popp Brand Advertising is open for business.
Let me know if there is anything I can do for ya.
steve popp

A great big horsefly.

Occasionally, when riding my motorcycle I get hit in the throat with something flying over the road between me and where I am going.

It hurts like hell. Sometimes I get off at the next good parking lot to get out of the helmet and rub it. Walk around a while and get my wits back. But by all means, stop trying to drive while hurting.

Then i get back on and ride.

On July 29, 2009 I was laid-off a job I had held for 19 years.

It took two days to walk the pain off. But I am riding again.

PS. It's not really part of the metaphor, but as soon as I have income again I'm thinking about getting a windshield.

Assorted Ramblings.

I keep little lists of things that go through my head.
I recently found a stack of them stuck in the back of a notebook.
I record them here so I can recycle the paper as much as anything.

• Brand-Aids
• Whittling vs. Willowing
• Say She Ate.
• Self-Inflicted Ignorance
• Buttoned-Up vs Buttoned-Down
• Parm Aid (Help for the struggling cheese manufacturers)
• Ideamergency
• P-R-N-D
• I know less than you do.
• Beg Marketing.
• Instantpreneurs
• You can go over the fence or thru the gate.
• Memorandum Rights
• You can't dream if you don't sleep.
• Edible Presentations.
• Paper CD/DVDs
• Fake Voicemails.
• Yumivation
• Genus vs. Genius
• Rude is rude.
• Whiteboard topped tables.
• Mo'Mintz- for Hip-Hop Breath
• Soup Theaters
• Amish Consultants
• Pro Creator
• Red Bull vs. Gold Fish
• Fun Shuey
• You can't re-eat yesterday's lunch.
• Lunch Launch
• Flesh out vs. Flush out
• Petra vs. Tetra
• Demi-Glaze vs. Demi Moore
• J20
• Thought balloons on the ground
• Brand Lotion
• Bond. James River Bond.

I just met one of my son’s idols.

The founder of Blendtech and creator of the “Will it Blend” series (www.willitblend.com) — Tom Dickson.
He was demoing the Q-Series on the show floor at NRA and spent a few minutes with me to tell his story.

If you don’t know him check out his videos. He has blended everything you can imagine to demonstrate the indestructability of his blenders. iPhones (www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg1ckCkm8YI&NR=1), hockey pucks, cans of coke... you name it. When I approached his booth he was finishing up a lawn rake handle. Shoving it right in. And the beast was eating it. No complaints.
But this is not a story of great product demos, but one of great marketing. He tells it like this:

He was doing crazy things in his R&D lab to try and break the blenders. His partner saw some YouTube videos of people doing outlandish things for attention and suggested to Tom that his ‘experiments’ would fit right in. 200 million views later he has attained web cult hero status. He’s been on every major talk show and each new video spreads virally like webfire upon release. He reports that in the 2.5 years since going on YouTube sales at the company have increased 1000%.
Take that recession!

He told me that his case study has been written up in “marketing publications in every language on the globe.” When I asked him how he decides what gets ground next, he said manufacturers come to him now. “Google, ‘will it blend + nike’ and see what I mean.” I did and I do. He says a video grinding starts at $30K and goes up from there. A steal for a marketer if you ask me since the videos receive around 6 million views as soon as they go up. And I asked him if there was any concern about the viral video audience being different from what you would think a ‘blender-buyer’ might be, he said no. “We were amazed to see 20 somethings walking out of Csotco with our blenders.”

The success of Blendtech and the “Will it Blend” videos is an inarguable testament to the strength of viral advertising.
And btw, Tom Dickson is a great pitchman and you should watch him if you get a chance.

First snort's free.

When did we get so cheap that we lost the art of 'try it before you buy it?'
As marketeers, we could learn a lot from the drug dealers.
If you have a product or service that you believe has market value, factor into your marketing plans the freebies.
1. We like free things.
2. We are more likely to give you some money if we feel the ROI.

Whether your peddling mandarin chicken or ad campaigns, be like the guy with the toothpicks at the mall food court.
Let your prospective buyer sample the goods. Auto dealers have test-drives, clothiers have fitting rooms, why can't agencies let their clients try on a campaign to see if they like.

Now before you jump to... 'We do, it's called spec work.' That's not what I mean.
I really see a more tangible hit. Give them a lil' bit of something that they can actually use to prove your point. And don't forget all the others that are interested in you making the sale. Your suppliers should also be willing to play out a few freebies to grease the skids.

This is not intended to tell you something you don't know. Just a reminder that you would never buy a shirt-- from the 3 presented to you mounted on black boards-- without trying it on.

We should all want the same thing, a mutually beneficial relationship that helps grow our businesses.

Pipewrenches.

Pipewrench.
brought to you by Livescribe

Hang Up And Drive.

Now that the weather has cooperated enough to start riding the motorcycle again, this has once more become my favorite bumper sticker.
It's different when you ride on two wheels. You notice so much more.
More speeding, running yellow/reds and above all else, more distracted drivers.
I am confident we will all die in traffic accidents caused by people talking and texting on their phones. We know who we are (I drive a truck when I'm not on two wheels.) We are the vast majority.
This morning while waiting on a light to change, 10 of the 14 cars that passed me had drivers on their phones negotiating the turn in front of me. And I pull up next to people texting at least once in every outing.
Not intending to preach, because as I stated, I am guilty also.
But on behalf of motorcycle riders I feel compelled to point it out because we have a few things working against us. Size and reaction time. When you swerve into our lane we won't just swap paint like in a NASCAR race. a subtle bump and we're flying all of a sudden. And when you look up from the text screen and notice the light changed and lock them up, we will simply flip over you.
And on the subject of wrecks? Fell free to ram my Dodge Ram, but if you see a Bike behind you or in the next lane-- please wait 'til you get to work to send that all important meeting confirmation.
Thanks.

What The F**K is Social Media?

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

What The F**K is Social Media?

View more presentations from Marta Kagan.

Be interesting.

Much is being said these days about 'how to attract followers' and 'getting people to read your blogs or twits.' This seems a little counter intuitive to me. I approach the whole realm of socializing online with transparency.
Show up. Speak your mind. Read what others have to say, and maybe comment on that if you feel so moved.
Seems fairly straight-forward.
Faking it (posing) is not only a good way to get flamed, it defeats the purpose of socializing. Your content should come from that little place on the inside called you. Your followers should be interested in your message without coercion.
We each have our own unique way of observing the earth and the people that live on it. If, thanks to the cool tech we have all around us, you can share your perspectives with a few folks that find it interesting then bravo. If you have to fabricate the message or the audience, you should probably do something else with your time.

Evangelists.

Passion is a hard trait to hide. You've probably been around an evangelist recently. Someone that is excited about a new ____. Simply start them up by showing a little interest. They will tell you all about it.
The features, the benefits.
The pros but never the cons.
It used to be that just sales guys, ad guys, or otherwise compensated schmels, prattled on-and-on about a product or service. But thanks to the inter-connected age we find ourselves in, it's easy to be well-informed and thus become an expert on something. Anything.
I like the notion.
Evangelism can make us all better informed. Help us make better decisions about who and what to be loyal to.
We are all experts on something. You know more than I do about something and vice versa.
You can most likely find an evangelist for just about everything if you look around.
Who needs google. Just go ask ____. They know.

"I like_______." "That sux!"

When did it get so easy to dismiss an opinion.
Aren't opinions totally subjective? How can they be wrong?
We all get to control (as a good friend once put it) that one voice in our own heads.
If you ask someone what they think, have the decency to respect their answer.
If you are prepared to discount the response do everyone a favor and don't ask.

I don't want to come across as faultless in this gaff. I am sure I have done it, and let me apologize to anyone that has been diss'd by me for stating a preference. It's easy to get caught up in the frenzy. It has become a social norm to override anyone that proudly states an opinion.
And it sux.

We have probably all heard how it goes...
"did you like the meal?"
"sure, the chicken was especially yummy."
"Ugh. I hate chicken"
followed by an awkward silence.
or
"Which of the designs do you like?"
"I like the one with the image of the penguin on skates."
"That one was just stupid."
crickets.

It's a simple fix. Folks should just bracket their response with a personalization like, "I don't care for waterfowl with human skills." or "Interesting... I'm not much for rolling birds."

The exception of course is someone that is constantly stating unsolicited opinions. This is icky at the other end of the meter.

I don't know of any polite way to correct people that are over-riders. But maybe if we all start being a little nicer to each other, we will get people to speak their minds more freely and baby ideas will grow up to be big ideas.

Repatriated

I had he good fortune to spend a few days in Washington DC with a very talented tour guide. Anne is a life long resident of The District and provided not only a guided tour but a wealth of little known background color at each stop. It was also interesting watching the observations of 47 8th graders. There were 130+ in our group but we traveled around on 3 buses. As with society, there were those that were in-tune and interested and those that were just along for the ride.
The big take-away for me was that our country is still an amazing experiment in democracy. At every turn there were masses paying homage to our monuments, memorials and government buildings.
I posted my pix at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30426292@N07/sets/72157615901310103/

• There were a few protestors at the White House exercising their right to bitch about something.
• There were Vets walking around Arlington National Cemetery visiting their fallen brothers.
• There were visitors from every nationality on the globe (it seemed) taking photos of the icons of our Republic.
• There were parents explaining heady and historic things to their kids in every Museum.
• There were even plenty of politicians to be seen, even though our senate had the day off (not sure why.)

I was proud to be an American as I stood in line after line to view each significant part of our history.
I was brought to the verge of tears watching the changing of the guard as the sun came up over the graves in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
I was humbled by the great inventions that American's have given the globe. Science, medicine, transportation, philosophy.
I felt small at times by the sheer bigness of everything.

If you slept through history and American government in school do yourself a favor go visit DC. It's all there in a much more real, touchable way. It's real.
It's also free... well at least you have pre-paid for your tickets through your taxes.

Thanks Mr. Baker and the Pershing 8th grade class of 2009 for letting me tag along.

Social Rant.

OK. Like most, social media has just added another thing to feed.
First, myself. Then a family. Then pets.
Add a career, some clients heck maybe a P&L sheet.
Now these hungry toddler spaces come along. twitter, FB, LinkedIn, etc. And of course--now this blog.
I heard a conversation debating the definition of an expert social marketer yesterday. One said, "it takes 10,000 hours before you can claim to be an expert." Another said "it takes more than that." Then, in an I-can-top-that tone another said, "If you are off-line for more than 2 hours-- you are no social media expert."

I have a take.
Don't over-think it. The web has brought to our pockets and desktops the cracker barrel. We have been socializing-- sharing ideas, compliments and criticisms-- since we did it by fire-light in the warmest cave on the cliff. It's just waay easier now.
I won't offer any preachy marketing hints or tips, but having observed the opportunity for a while now, I have comforted myself with a "wade-in" approach.
Join the social spaces which are fun and productive for you the individual not the marketer. Look for the communities where you have something in common with and, well, socialize.
See what turns up.

Social media has the marketing world all in a tizzy. I'm watching and will try to do better at reporting some learnings. or...
I will try to feed this space more.

The proposed plan to stimulate our economy-- through the eyes of a citizen.

Okay, I’m not a big poly sci guy but after reading half (all I could handle) of the 675 page ‘‘American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009’’, I am even more confused.
I always thought our government went through a very deliberate budgeting process.
I also assumed the A.R.R.A. was designed to stimulate our economy.

After reading, it seems that massive amounts of money (more 000,000,000’s than I have ever seen in one doc) are trying to be appropriated without the usual diligence and there are very few items in it that could be interpreted as ‘economy stimulating.’


I. Administration impressions:
Each governmental department receives billions worth of new ‘administrative allocations’ that would not be necessary if we did not have this package.
Examples:

Page 27
6 SEC. 1230. FUNDING.
7 There is hereby appropriated to the Board (the established oversight board)
8 $14,000,000 to carry out this subtitle.
Page 9
15 SEC. 1107. APPROPRIATIONS FOR INSPECTORS GENERAL.
16 In addition to funds otherwise made available in this
17 Act, there are hereby appropriated the following sums to
18 the specified Offices of Inspector General, to remain avail19
able until September 30, 2013, for oversight and audit of
20 programs, grants, and projects funded under this Act:
21 (1) ‘‘Department of Agriculture—Office of In22
spector General’’, $22,500,000.
23 (2) ‘‘Department of Commerce—Office of In24
spector General’’, $10,000,000.

Page 10
1 (3) ‘‘Department of Defense—Office of the In2
spector General’’, $15,000,000.
3 (4) ‘‘Department of Education—Departmental
4 Management—Office of the Inspector General’’,
5 $14,000,000.
6 (5) ‘‘Department of Energy—Office of Inspec7
tor General’’, $15,000,000.
8 (6) ‘‘Department of Health and Human Serv9
ices—Office of the Secretary—Office of Inspector
10 General’’, $19,000,000.
11 (7) ‘‘Department of Homeland Security—Office
12 of Inspector General’’, $2,000,000.
13 (8) ‘‘Department of Housing and Urban Devel14
opment—Management and Administration—Office
15 of Inspector General’’, $15,000,000.
16 (9) ‘‘Department of the Interior—Office of In17
spector General’’, $15,000,000.
18 (10) ‘‘Department of Justice—Office of Inspec19
tor General’’, $2,000,000.
20 (11) ‘‘Department of Labor—Departmental
21 Management—Office of Inspector General’’,
22 $6,000,000.
23 (12) ‘‘Department of Transportation—Office of
24 Inspector General’’, $20,000,000.

Page 11
1 (13) ‘‘Department of Veterans Affairs—Office
2 of Inspector General’’, $1,000,000.
3 (14) ‘‘Environmental Protection Agency—Office
4 of Inspector General’’, $20,000,000.
5 (15) ‘‘General Services Administration—Gen6
eral Activities—Office of Inspector General’’,
7 $15,000,000.
8 (16) ‘‘National Aeronautics and Space Adminis9
tration—Office of Inspector General’’, $2,000,000.
10 (17) ‘‘National Science Foundation—Office of
11 Inspector General’’, $2,000,000.
12 (18) ‘‘Small Business Administration—Office of
13 Inspector General’’, $10,000,000.
14 (19) ‘‘Social Security Administration—Office of
15 Inspector General’’, $2,000,000.
16 (20) ‘‘Corporation for National and Community
17 Service—Office of Inspector General’’, $1,000,000.

Total 194,500,000 in unallocated general admin expenses.

II. Allocation impressions:
This is a money allocation more than a ‘stimulus’
There are moneys for standing general budget items like Mississippi river corp of engineer programs, NASA, police/law enforcement

Examples:

Page 49
1 BUREAU OF THE CENSUS
2 PERIODIC CENSUSES AND PROGRAMS
3 For an additional amount for ‘‘Periodic Censuses and
4 Programs’’, $1,000,000,000: Provided, That section 1106
5 of this Act shall not apply to funds provided under this
6 heading.

Page 62
9 (10) $1,000,000,000 shall be for expenses nec
10 essary for the manufacturing of advanced batteries
11 authorized under section 136(b)(1)(B) of the Energy
12 Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C.
13 17013(b)(1)(B)):

Page 75
3 … which not less than $6,000,000,000 shall be used for con
4struction, repair, and alteration of Federal buildings for
5 projects that will create the greatest impact on energy effi
6 ciency and conservation;

Page 103
15 TITLE VII—HOMELAND
16 SECURITY
17 DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
18 U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION
19 SALARIES AND EXPENSES
20 For an additional amount for ‘‘Salaries and Ex21
penses’’, $100,000,000, for non-intrusive detection tech22
nology to be deployed at sea ports of entry.

Page 112
14 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
15 CONSTRUCTION
16 (INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS)
17 For an additional amount for ‘‘Construction’’,
18 $1,700,000,000, for projects to address critical deferred
19 maintenance needs within the National Park System, in20
cluding roads, bridges and trails, and for other critical in21
frastructure projects:

Page 114
15 BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
16 CONSTRUCTION
17 (INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS)
18 For an additional amount for ‘‘Construction’’,
19 $500,000,000, for priority repair and replacement of
20 schools, detention centers, roads, bridges, employee hous21
ing, and critical deferred maintenance projects:

Page 116
1 STATE AND TRIBAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS
2 For an additional amount for ‘‘State and Tribal As3
sistance Grants’’, $8,400,000,000, which shall be used as
4 follows:

Page 198
1 SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
2 LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES
3 (INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS)
4 For an additional amount for ‘‘Limitation on Admin
5 istrative Expenses’’, $900,000,000, which shall be used as
6 follows:
7 (1) $400,000,000 for the construction and asso8
ciated costs to establish a new National Computer
9 Center,

Page 201
3 MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, DEFENSE-WIDE
4 For an additional amount for ‘‘Military Construction,
5 Defense-Wide’’, $3,750,000,000, for the construction of
6 hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers:

III. Actual stimulation: (I think)
Some things seem to make sense to get our country moving in the right direction, but are worded so incredibly vague I wonder if they will achieve their purpose/objectives:

Example:

Page 63
3 (3) $1,000,000,000 shall be for the cost of
4 grants to institutional entities for energy sustain5
ability and efficiency under section 399A of the En6
ergy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6371h-
7 1).

Page 67
10 SCIENCE
11 For an additional amount for ‘‘Science’’,
12 $2,000,000,000: Provided, That of such amounts, not less
13 than $400,000,000 shall be used for the Advanced Re14
search Projects Agency—Energy authorized under section
15 5012 of the America COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 16538):
16 Provided further, That of such amounts, not less than
17 $100,000,000 shall be used for advanced scientific com18
puting.

Page 94
1 SEC. 6204. ECONOMIC RECOVERY PROGRAM.
2 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es
3 tablish a new lending and refinancing authority within the
4 Small Business Administration.

Page 123
4 TITLE IX—LABOR, HEALTH AND
5 HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDU6
CATION
7 Subtitle A—Labor
8 DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
9 EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION
10 TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICES
11 For an additional amount for ‘‘Training and Employ12
ment Services’’ for activities under the Workforce Invest13
ment Act of 1998 (‘‘WIA’’), $4,000,000,000, which shall
14 be available for obligation on the date of enactment of this
15 Act, as follows:

Page 157
11 Subtitle C—Education
12 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
13 EDUCATION FOR THE DISADVANTAGED
14 For an additional amount for ‘‘Education for the Dis15
advantaged’’ to carry out title I of the Elementary and
16 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (‘‘ESEA’’),
17 $13,000,000,000:

Page 160
15 SPECIAL EDUCATION
16 For an additional amount for ‘‘Special Education’’
17 for carrying out section 611 and part C of the Individuals
18 with Disabilities Education Act (‘‘IDEA’’),
19 $13,600,000,000:

Page 237- the biggest line item I think
12 TITLE XIII—STATE FISCAL
13 STABILIZATION FUND
14 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
15 STATE FISCAL STABILIZATION FUND
16 For necessary expenses for a State Fiscal Stabiliza17
tion Fund, $79,000,000,000, which shall be administered
18 by the Department of Education, of which
19 $39,500,000,000 shall become available on July 1, 2009
20 and remain available through September 30, 2010, and
21 $39,500,000,000 shall become available on July 1, 2010
22 and remain available through September 30, 2011:

IV. Transparency: (I think)
At least we will be able to watch
Page 17
11 (2) OPERATIONAL FUNDING.—With respect to
12 funds made available under this Act in the form of
13 grants for operational purposes to State or local gov
14ernment agencies or other organizations, the agency
15 or organization shall publish on the website Recov
16 ery.gov a description of the intended use of the
17 funds, including the number of jobs sustained or cre
18 ated.
19 (c) AVAILABILITY ON INTERNET OF CONTRACTS AND
20 GRANTS.—Each contract awarded or grant issued using
21 funds made available in this Act shall be posted on the
22 Internet and linked to the website Recovery.gov. Propri
23etary data that is required to be kept confidential under
24 applicable Federal or State law or regulation shall be re
25dacted before posting.


V. Misc oddness:

Page 14
1 SEC. 1112. ADDITIONAL ASSURANCE OF APPROPRIATE USE
2 OF FUNDS.
3 None of the funds provided by this Act may be made
4 available to the State of Illinois, or any agency of the
5 State, unless (1) the use of such funds by the State is
6 approved in legislation enacted by the State after the date
7 of the enactment of this Act, or (2) Rod R. Blagojevich
8 no longer holds the office of Governor of the State of Illi9
nois. The preceding sentence shall not apply to any funds
10 provided directly to a unit of local government (1) by a
11 Federal department or agency, or (2) by an established
12 formula from the State.
Page 115
17 subtitle I of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, $200,000,000,
18 which shall be used to carry out leaking underground stor19
age tank cleanup activities
Page 117
23 (2) $2,000,000,000 shall be for capitalization
24 grants for the Drinking Water State Revolving
25 Funds
Page 147
1 (4) not less than $335,000,000 shall be used as
2 an additional amount to carry out domestic HIV/
3 AIDS, viral hepatitis, sexually-transmitted diseases,
4 and tuberculosis prevention programs, as jointly de
5termined by the Secretary and the Director;

A night with some good ol' friends.

Had a great friday night. Sitting around BSing with Kevin Prejean and Chris Flagg. These guys haven't aged a bit since they worked at Noble in Springfield a decade ago. Still yukking it up. Still fun to be around. Glad they made it, and I'm glad I had the chance to catch up.

Main Blog

Guess I will try to get some aggregation going on in my sphere.