Ad Camp 2009

Today I attended Ad Camp in Lincoln, NE.  This event was sponsored by American Advertising Federation of Lincoln.  There were several great speakers, lunch was provided, and the afternoon included roundtables with local professionals and visits to local agency Swanson Russell and motion graphics shop Outpost12. Studio The following are my main takeaways from those I heard and talked with.

Kara Michelle Newman, VP/Director of Creative Strategies & Creative Solutions | Katz Advantage
Kara has been in the advertising/marketing/media business for over 23 years.  She described her very interesting career path, emphasizing all of the hard work involved. Her goal was to inform us of skills and attitudes needed to make it in the ad industry.  Her main points included:

• “Advertising is not Disneyland”
• Follow your heart, mistakes are ok
• Expect to move around from job to job often
• Keep open-minded; ditch your preconceptions of what you THINK you want to be
• Talk. Initiate. Speak-up.
• Needed: Perseverance and dumb luck.
• Think ahead, be prepared, consider every situation.
• Dont say no; have actionable, creative solution

Kelley Porter, Director of Communications | Nebraska Hospital Association
Kelly’s topic was “Building Your Personal Brand,” which she emphasized the importance of by citing the statistic that only 10% of jobs are posted, while the others are spread by word-of-mouth.  Her other tips included:

• Personal brands include: Appearance, Personality, Competencies, & a Differentiator
• Differentiator: Extract (what is unique about you?), Express (your actions), Exude (sell it)
• Networking: Be prompt and professional; listen and find common ground; consider what will be said when you leave them; strive for positive emotional aftertaste
• Follow-Up: Be pertinent but brief; be memorable (handwritten note instead of e-mail)
• Job Sites: Ziggs, NotchUp, ZoomInfo
• Kelley’s blog with more personal brand suggestions: CheckYourBrand

Khara Plicanic, Owner| KaBloom Studios
Khara is an energetic speaker/presenter and photographer who had some tips for building your brand on Twitter. These included:

• Consider: who (are you? should you follow? will follow you?), why (are you tweeting), what (should you tweet about)
• Use your real name (sscharf v. shawty123) so colleagues/clients/fans can find you
• Use same avatar across all your social media presences
• Craft a useful and relevant bio (expertise v. song lyric)
• Link to online content (site, blog, Flickr, etc)
• Tweet relevant to your brand/business
• Avoid negativity/being a jerk
• Consider how your tweet reflects on you (don’t tweet slams/frustrations with clients)

Jim Rose, Brand Coach | University of Nebraska/Husker Sports Marketing
Jim is best known for being the long-time voice of Husker football, but is now considered an industry leader for global sports marketing giant IMG.  The following are his best tips for combining brands with sports:

• The brand’s promises should be consistent with the team’s personality
• Sports help create a favorable brand response
• Sports fans are a “unique buying tribe” – like-minded, like-passionate
• Promote to brands the value of the tribe’s association of the brand to the sport

Tracy Munoz, Media Director | Archrival
Tracy shared her knowledge of especially using social media network Facebook as an advertising platform. A few of her knowledge nuggets were:

• Consider if you really need to run the ad at all times (Ex. – Is your weekend ROI worth it?)
• Write standout, possibly ridiculous headlines
• Use directly relevant photos
• Write copy in the language your target would use in a wall post
• The small side ads seem to be clicked on as frequently as larger sponsored ones, if the previous advice is followed (of course this varies between campaigns)