Anomaly Uses Manifestos….TOM

Anomaly - where to start. NYC’s top creative shop IMHO locks down five floors of creative-inspiration space in SoHo, Manhattan, and their work is equally as impressive. Never have I felt more excited and simultaneously challenged by the prospect of one day working at Anomaly. Their work, from the Budweiser immigrant anthem to “This Season On Baseball,” Anomaly makes the spots that make us stop and pay attention amidst the buzz of everything else on TV that just isn’t as good. The fact that they can pump out multi-pronged campaigns that take the industry by storm and create a revolutionary chapstick product that removes “stick” from the equation (for EOS) demonstrates the full range of their firepower.

The best part of our visit from my perspective as a writer was learning from Kyle, a writer and UO grad now working on Carhartt and Sonos, among others. In the anthem spot “Wake Up the Silent Home” he wrote for Sonos, he showed us how the idea of killing/eliminating silence with music enhances all aspects of life, and how this idea, that was initially supported by a MANIFESTO, turned into a full campaign with multiple iterations of the spot (full, 30, 15) complete with OOH and social. To top it off, Kyle’s sense of self-deprecating humor brought his shining work down to a very digestible and human level.

- Cameron Kokes

What is “dark social”?

This term has come up in conversations and presentations in the past few days (AKQA & shareablee) so I decided to do a little research because I was curious. Dark social is social sharing content that occurs outside of what can be measured by an analytics program. It does not appear publicly. Dark social often shows up in analytics as “direct” or “bookmarked” traffic but does not give specifics. For example, many branded Facebook posts are targeted to a specific audience. However, not everyone sees them. Another example is Instagram promoted posts. It’s hard to measure the data behind the posts because it’s difficult to see everything a brand is putting out into the world. Another aspect of “dark social” is sharing content privately by cutting and pasting making it hard to track website traffic and engagement.

-Meg Winters 05.10.17

Word Play

in·tim·i·date
inˈtiməˌdāt/
verb
gerund or present participle: intimidating
frighten or overawe (someone), especially in order to make them do what one wants.
“she tries to intimidate his rivals”

All of my life I have heard this word used to describe me and I think people have a misunderstanding of what the word actually means. In no way do I or feel I frighten or manipulate anyone, so it is pretty disheartening to have that placed upon me. I don’t think people really understand the little battles Black women have to face on a daily basis. Who will touch my hair today, who will say the N word in a song, who will think I’m too loud, who will think I’m not capable. We are taught to put 110% into everything that we do because people will constantly underestimate us and will set the standard low in anything we do. But the moment we speak our mind, make great shit, let our voices ring throughout rooms and just have our mere presence recognized, we’re intimidating. Not role models, not go-to’s, barely friends…Because people are scared to approach me because they’re afraid what I might do or say next, well what exactly are you planning on saying that you feel will get a negative reaction from me? I don’t want to be intimidating, I want genuine interactions and relationships that stem from generosity not fear. A battle I know I’ll continue to face but I’m channeling my counterparts to not build walls between Black women but to build bridges. It gets lonely on the other side, now can you ask me about something other than my appearance today? 

Tylynn Burns.

Rapid heartbeat and shaky fingertips

Deep breaths, relaxed shoulders, eyes up.
Remember what you are going to say. Rehearse in your mind. Breathe. Release the tension in your jaw. Your right hand is squeezing your other too hard. Just calm down.

Why can’t my heart feel as confident as my brain does?

My team had the opportunity to pitch to R/GA for the Uber brief they gave to us at the beginning of this term. Not really knowing each other before this term, our team came together like lost puzzle pieces that somehow fit together to make a lovely painting and I am proud of the ideas that we presented. Although I am used to presenting and I love criticism on my work, I still had a rapid heartbeat and shaky fingertips when we made our pitch.

However, that doesn’t discourage me.

When I think about my freshman self, she would have been too petrified to even attempt this opportunity. And now, I embraced it. Yes, I was intimidated and stressed beyond belief but I did it. I am constantly growing and evolving. One day I’ll look back at little senior Amelia and think “Huh, I wonder how she would think of me now.”

Amelia Inouye // 5/9/2017

Street Dreams

As I walk through the city I think to myself, “Could I really live here?”. Coming from Eugene to the city that never sleeps was an entirely new landscape, I thought I’d be ready, but wow I was wrong. When I arrived in New York City Sunday afternoon I thought the transition would be smooth, yet it was bumpy to say the least. The people are different, the pace is so much faster, and vibe is one I have never experienced before. I ended up going to bed at 10 o’clock on Sunday, the earliest I have went to bed all year. Yesterday was rough, I was exhausted all day and wasn’t sure if this city was for me. Today was different though, I had felt like I had finally adjusted to the city. I felt more confident, rode the subway by myself, and talked to locals throughout the day. Day by day this city will grow on me. The question I ask myself is, how much? By the end of the week, I will know the answer.

-Tim Farah

Thorough is Key

Well, we won the One Show Pitch Competition. That was rad. Here’s my takeaway, or why essentially I believe we won (I promise this is actually meant to be helpful, don’t stop reading because that sounds arrogant). 

Everyone came with a good idea (for the most part). But just having a good idea is only the first step. We didn’t win because we had a good idea, or even the best idea for that matter. This is what we did: 

Once you have your good idea, you need to research it. Then you need to research it. Then you need to research it. (Ad teems peeps jah feel?). 

Then you need to figure out the why. And I don’t mean the why for the big idea, I mean the why for everything, even down to the most minute of details. If you can’t explain why you’re doing absolutely everything you suggest in your campaign, and more importantly why it relates to your core idea, you’re fucked.

Once you’ve got the idea, the research, and the why, you’re almost there. The last thing is to practice. Don’t bring note cards to a pitch. It sounds simple, but hey a lot of people do it. Memorize a script. Practice in front of a mirror. Ask a friend to help. Just do it man, I don’t care how but figure it out.  

After that, you’re ready. Work is subjective, and while you may make great work there are plenty of people who can still say no. That’s fine. Believe in your work, trust your gut if you believe it’s great, and eventually someone else will see that too. 

Caleb Couturie. 5.9.17

Tuesday

Today at around 10pm someone posted to the UONYC facebook page saying that she had extra leftover pizza and was willing to share. I, being the pizza fanatic and on a tight budget immediately took her up on the offer and headed over to her room. 

Now I’d like to preface that I had maybe talked to this person once or twice before in passing but hadn’t really had a conversation with her. We ate pizza and talked about what to blog about. She was spitballing the idea that “the New York Experience Class” wasn’t really an experience but just a preview for what many of us hope to be doing in the near future. I was attempting to creatively describe my first-hand experience with a pickpocketer but didn’t have more than that.

But meeting this person would probably never have happened if it weren’t for the NY trip. We talked about our ideal career paths, how and what we were doing to get there, how talk is cheap and hard work is priceless. She told me about her interview and I picked her brain on how I could do well in mine. 

In short, I went for the pizza but stayed for the good company and shared knowledge. 

Takeaway: If someone offers free pizza, take it. If someone offers knowledge and pizza definitely take it.

-B