Early bird gets the (book)worm

I woke up early today and raced to the School of Visual Arts Library.

They're having a book sale and I wanted to be the first through the door. As I type this, I hear certain voices, some clearer than others, saying Wow Joe, you are seriously a loser.

Maybe so and maybe not so, I say.

I was one of the first to walk through the door and my punctuality was handsomely rewarded in the form of first dibs on all the Advertising Award Annuals. I've mentioned these before but, for anyone who doesn't know, they are books showcasing the very best advertising for the year.

All of the advertising books that I've read, all of the professors that I've had say that you should spend as much time as possible looking through these books. Well I just doubled my collection.

In other news, three of my MICHELIN Guide ads (one campaign) stayed on the wall this past Monday!

The benefit (as I see it) is that the MICHELIN Guide Star ratings are based on anonymous inspectors who are highly trained food experts whereas Zagat, Yelp, Citysearch ratings are based on the user reviews of people just like you and me (or worse!).

Very quickly I would just like to point out that although I wrote what "The benefit" is in the paragraph above, I really didn't actually get to the point (I'm hearing those voices again).

What I mean is, I stated a fact about the MICHELIN rating process but didn't tell you what the associated benefit is. This seems to happen often in advertising. You get so caught up in the research that you develop ads based on facts and features. The problem with this is that all we really care about is the pay off. What does this product do for me? What can I get out of it? That is the benefit.

Of course, it's implied and I'm sure you figured it out, but to be sure here it is. Since

(FACT) the MICHELIN Guide is based on the expert critiques of anonymous inspectors,

(BENEFIT) you can trust that the rating they give will be the experience you can expect.

The tagline I chose to capture this benefit was: Ratings you can trust lead to meals worth having.

I showed actual User Reviews from websites like Yelp and Citysearch that gave a restaurant 5 Star ratings but did so for the stupidest reasons. The User reviews that I included served as the visuals in my ads and they were pretty damn funny. Some people mentioned that they got drunk before the entrees came out and others mentioned that they never ate there but saw a celebrity leave or found money in front of the restaurant.

I think that the campaign is based on the right stuff and that's because I put the time in last week to do my research. Speaking of which, I have to get back to work on the assignment for next class, Budget Rent-a-Car (Luxury Edition), an offer by the company to let you "ride your dream."

Enjoy the rain everyone. I hope I survive the journey home with all of these books :o(

joeyz101

http://twitter.com/joeyz101

That midnight oil

At the moment (2:16am) I'm hard at work on my ads for the MICHELIN Guide.

I've really enjoyed learning all about the MICHELIN Guide this week and hope that my research results in a creative ad or two that stick on the wall.

My main concern now is making sure that my high level list of ideas are closely aligned with the overall benefit consumers receive from the MICHELIN Guide. If not, then those ideas represent trails not worth exploring. You can write headlines all day long but if the overall idea doesn't sync up with the product benefit, it's all a waste of time.

I've been spending so much time doing product research and thinking of campaign ideas you might say, Joe, you should get out more.

If that's the case, then you (and my mom) are probably right.

But in my defense, I managed to squeeze some fun into these last few days. I avenged a recent tennis loss this past Thursday night, hung out with friends Friday night, attended the NYC Photography Show all day Saturday and then raced straight to a Surprise birthday / costume party (dressed as Spongebob Squarepants).

I also just watched the latest episode of FlashForward tonight as I made a lovely pastina dish for dinner.

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I expect to have a great day tomorrow. It will start with me working on my ads and it will end with my class. Whether I produce portfolio worthy ads or not, I'll know that this week's approach was better than the last and structured enough to reapply going forward.

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Ciao for now,

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joeyz101

http://twitter.com/joeyz101

No turning back

Dramatic title I know, but I just got out of class a few hours ago and I'm in one of those moods.

Tonight we reviewed the ads we developed for the Black&Decker Simple Start Vehicle Battery Booster. Over the last week and a half I wrote about 75 ads for this assignment. I hung my best work on the wall around 6:45pm in good spirits.

Nothing stuck.

The professor's took down all the ads I put up, and for good reason. Their main complaint was that I focused too much on word play and too little on the key product benefit.

I agreed with their feedback and left the classroom inspired for two reasons:

1. It's better than being discouraged
2. I can't afford to be anything but inspired

This is exactly why I quit my job. When I had a good job I could shrug off a poor effort and say "oh well, there's always next week." But now the pressure's on. It's improve or die, well maybe not die but you get the point. I am much more serious about learning from my mistakes and much more aware of what will not happen if I don't improve (won't get a job for one thing).

I'm happy with the way things turned out. I have been playing with my words too much lately, I think it's because I watch too much Frasier, curse the Crane brothers and their witty banter!

My goal for next class is to be concept-strong and word play free.

I just ordered another Advertising Award Annual (circa 1995) from Communication Arts through amazon.com. My professor said he used to keep multiple annuals open on the table as he worked on ads for his portfolio. Looking at the best ads helps you to recognize great ideas of your own as well as the ones that aren't quite as good.

My plan for tomorrow is to attack next week's assignment, the Michelen Restaurant Guide, right away. I developed a Creative Brief Template last week so I'll spend the better part of my day completing it for this assignment. That will lay the foundation for the rest of the week.

My back pack will be a lot heavier tomorrow because I'm going to start taking all of my Award Annuals with me wherever I go.

Until I learn to avoid word play, this is the only way I can guarantee that I'll be heavy on great concept. (ahh! Stupid word play, I did it again!)

joeyz101
http://twitter.com/joeyz101

Breaks allowed

I woke up bright and early this morning, ready to work.

It feels good to be excited about the day ahead. I'm at the library now working on a few things but thought I'd take a break to share the silly picture I took while making breakfast. Really, all I did was hang the sign and take the picture (so what if I arranged the tomatoes and cleaned the counter a bit).

Any time you have eggs on the stovetop and a tripod in the kitchen, you know you're multitasking!

After making, a really perfect, sausage egg and cheese sandwich, I got the ball rolling by reading Simple & Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers, by Jacques Barzun. The goal here is to polish up my writing skills so that I churn out tighter headlines with more punch, pinch and pizazz.

I'll put what I've been reading to the test in a few. Next item on the to do list is to work on my Black & Decker Simple Start Vehicle Battery Booster ad campaign. After that I'm thinking pizza, some things never change, and after that, I'll watch some Adobe Indesign tutorials.

The guy's voice is a little annoying, so is mine, so I deal.

Then I'll dig out an old ad campaign, I'm thinking As Seen on TV, and sharpen it up. I like the ads but I need to come up with at least one or two more to knock out the current weak links and strengthen the campaign overall.

Then comes the fun stuff.

Dinner, maybe I'll make a pizza, probably not, but I could if I really wanted to. Around 8pm I will stretch out and by 9pm I'll be on the tennis court (hopefully winning my match, sorry Rob!).

And one more thing, I'm trying, really hard, to get "into" a TV show (other than Seinfeld). I saw the first three episodes of Flash Forward and I thought it was pretty cool. I'm going to check out the fourth episode after tennis tonight, on Hulu.

Yep, today is rolling along nicely, but the day is long and there's still a ways to go. Hopefully by 11pm I hit that tomato strike.

joeyz101
http://twitter.com/joeyz101

Inspiration in aisle 7

Any time I make a (bad) supermarket joke I always say, you can find thus and such in aisle 7. It's always aisle 7, I don't know why.

After spending the evening in Starbucks working on my ads I remembered that I had to pick up a few things at the store. I ran into the supermarket and took off for the dairy aisle at my usual ridiculously fast walking pace when something stopped me dead.

Old Italian people.

There at the end of the aisle, a bunch of the cutest old Italian people you ever saw were staring me in the face, from Via Roma pasta boxes. I forgot all about the milk and eggs I was supposed to be picking up and started arranging and photographing the pasta boxes, they looked so damn cool.

There is something you should know, I love old Italian people.

More specifically, Italian women, 75+, those chics are my bag of chips. I could listen to them tell stories from their youth all day long. I used to chase them around in Italy (Ciao bella ragazza :)when I studied there. Being around them always makes me feel like a kid and I like that feeling.

As odd as all this is, you could imagine how this packaging grabbed my attention. I wonder what the supermarket staff was thinking when they saw me photographing pasta boxes. Take a look at the photo's below and let me know what you think.

United, a British branding company created a marketing campaign for Tuscan Pasta company, Via Roma. The packaging has personality and that is just what United was going for when they shot the black and white portraits on location in Tuscany. I think it's really smart.

I like Ronzoni, Barilla and De Cecco as much as the next guy but their packaging is so boring. The truth is I'll never turn down a bowl of pasta, but now I want to try Via Roma because they captured the spirit of the people and the region of Tuscany and I appreciate that.

For me, cooking is about so much more than the food. Every dish has a story and any box of pasta that can transport me to Tuscany is a damn good box of pasta. Anyone ever tried Via Roma? Thoughts? In the next week or so I will give it a spin and let you know what I think.

Wow, it's 2:30am! Where does the time go?

I'm currently working to develop an ad campaign for Black & Decker's Simple Start Vehicle Battery Booster. Really that's just a fancy name for a car battery starter.

Let me know if you've ever drained your car battery and had to use one of these products. Was it easy, did it work? Ever have to ask a stranger to jump start your car? Any and all car battery stories are welcome!

joeyz101
http:/twitter.com/joeyz101

P.S. I heard back from one of the part time jobs that I applied for. I'm being considered for the Men's Head Tennis Coaching position. We'll see what happens!

The tails side of things

Just so you know, there is a not so glamorous side to chasing your passions.

As you know, my goal is to become a Copywriter and in a perfect world, I’d do the following to achieve my dream:

Work on my ad portfolio, win all my tennis matches (a guys gotta take a break), churn out a few witty, super creative ads for my portfolio, nail the first interview that comes my way and win more golden pencils than I know what to do with.

But that’s not life.

The reality, for me anyway, is that I’m going to have to get a part time job while at the same time, really be disciplined about using my off time efficiently. I’d actually love to work as little as possible and when I do work, I’d prefer to make loads of $$ and not have to think that much because with all this passion-chasing, I’ve got enough swirling around in my head to really focus intently on anything else.

And no, becoming a male gigolo is not my secret part time dream job desire.

Fortunately, in the one week that I’ve been unemployed I’ve had multiple part time job opportunities present themselves. Nothing is set in stone yet so I will continue the search (it’d be fun to do something completely random like clean windows on sky scrapers or learn the art of Japanese ramen noodle making). The Head Tennis Coach job is my favorite option so far but sadly, I think I’d make more selling Girl Scout cookies door-to-door.

So yeah, having to get another job, not having money, thinking that things might actually not work out, and contending with unexplainable moments of laziness, these are the scary things I’m facing on a day-to-day basis (wow, this is how I sound when I go to confession, only difference is there I usually throw in a "...and a bunch of other things I am probably forgetting at the moment Father").

These are real feelings. At the very least, they’re what anyone thinking of doing this sort of thing will encounter. But that’s just it; it’s all about how you choose to deal with them. You can let everything remind you of how unrealistic your dreams actually sound (how could you quit your job in this market Joe??) or you can use each fear to motivate you, to push you harder.

A lot of what I’m feeling can be likened to my recent folding bike experiences. When you’re riding for your life there’s a lot at stake, (dying comes to mind, for example). But when you get to where you’re going and you feel like you cheated death, you're left with quite a rush and I find myself wanting to feel that feeling again and again.

This is about much more than just getting a job in advertising. It’s about me trying to live life the way I feel it should be lived. Going after what I’m passionate about is so important to me because, I don't think there is a better feeling than how you feel after leaving everything on the table and lying there fully exposed (and believe me, you feel pretty damn exposed riding along 7th avenue at night in traffic).

I've experienced that "here I am, take it or leave it" feeling a few times so far and I know that I’ll never forget those moments (despite the fact that you can't help feeling like a tiny grape that just rolled into a field of angry grape-stomping elephants).

Those moments brought me to life and helped me realize who I am and what I'm capable of.

They've become fond memories that I can revisit whenever I want and they can be used as a source upon which I can draw confidence and be inspired (you get that , "I did it then, who says I can't do it now," kind of feeling).

It’s easy to be prone to violent swings in temperment when you're the one who voluntarily chose to shake the life you were accostomed to upside down and all around. To stay the course you need to be disciplined, organized, (constantly) inspired (that's where friends/family come in!) and you've got to believe. You have to find balance amidst the chaos.

You also need to know that no matter what happens, you can't go wrong when you work hard, believe in your self and stay true to who you are.

joeyz101
http://twitter.com/joeyz101

P.S. Worst case scenario, Joe the tiny grape gets stomped. Stomping grapes makes wine. I love wine, so there. Good night.

Ad Class #2 Icy-Hot

Got home about an hour ago from my ad class.

It was our second meeting which meant that our 1st assignment was due. For those of you who don't know how it works, I'll break it down.

• Each week you get an assignment, last week it was "Icy-Hot"
• We must create 3 print ads for the product
• The ads may (or may not) include a headline and visual and should include a tagline
• All of the students hang their work on the wall and the professors critique the ads
• Ads come down for many reasons (i.e. boring, cheezy, ridiculous, doesn't make sense)
• Best ads stay up on the wall

An ad that stays on the wall is an ad that might just be good enough for your Advertising Portfolio. Most times, even the ads that stick still need a lot of tweaking but at least you know you're on the right track. Big question is how did I do?

2 out of 3 of my ads stayed up!

Each week we put everything into creating these ads, knowing that our carefully crafted lines may very well spend the rest of their day's lining bird cages. It was great to have 2 stick for the 1st assignment.

Really its not that big of a deal. I mean, its not like I quit my job for this. Oh wait.

So yeah, it felt great. I thought that the professors did a great job reviewing work, pointing out whatwe need to avoid (sex jokes, before and after, etc.) as well as acknowledging the positives.

The number of different directions you can take the same product never ceases to amaze me. There were at least 25 students in class tonight and people always seem to come up with different stuff, very cool. What direction did I go? Check out my ads below (the lines, at least).

Ad #1
Headline: Walk the walk, then walk some more.
Tagline: Cool down, warm up. Keep going.

Ad #2
Headline: Desire may push you over the finish line. But will it carry you to the car?
Tagline: Cool down, warm up. Keep going.

I still need to explore what visual I'll use but overall I like the lines. I'm targeting athletes. Icy-Hot is a great product for weekend warriors and the goal of my campaign is to show that for those who push themselves, Icy-Hot is there to provide them with the pain relief to help keep them going.

Tomorrow will be a busy day, I plan to work on past ads I did for Brother Jimmy's, study Adobe Indesign tutorials and start researching next week's assignment: Black and Decker's Car Battery Charger.

In the last two days I put 32 miles on my little folding bike. Tonight I almost died twice, aside from that, it's been a blast. Wow, it's 2:30am, and I'm tired so good night. Let me know what you think of the lines I wrote for Icy-Hot (after some positive feedback from award winning industry folk, I can take a little criticism).

joeyz101
http://twitter.com/joeyz101

The day after Sept. 30th

For me, September 30th represented the end.

The end of what I will refer to as the first chapter in my career. I have to say, the send off was great. I know that my colleagues are all very happy for me and were able to sense that I am making such drastic changes because I am serious about chasing my passion.

My team and I said our goodbyes over a "Little Italy" lunch (they know me well!). They also presented me with an awesome card. It's a picture of my face "photoshopped" on Rocky Balboa's body. The card says something along the lines of, "The Eye of the Tiger cannot be stopped. But it can be distracted by doughnuts and pastrami." These are inside "office" jokes that I definitely appreciated. Everyone signed the card and wished me well and I promised to hang the card in my office when I eventually get one at an advertising agency.

While it's always been my plan to leave my full time gig to work on my ad portfolio, I am not altogether against having a job, in fact I'd be up for something part time. Like everything else, I have a list of criteria. For a part time job, they are the following:

- It has to be part time
- I'd like it to be fun
- I want to learn
- And I want $$

I received a nice surprise on my last day of work, when I got a call from the Athletic Director of a Division III NYC college asking me to interview for the position of Head Men's Tennis Coach. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love tennis, so to say that I was thrilled to get this phone call is a gigantic understatement. In a way, this is almost a dream job. I am really noticing that lately, doors seem to close fast and open faster!

The interview was today (Friday Oct. 1st) and in my humble opinion, I completely knocked their pants off. I went into this interview with an unbelievable amount of confidence and for that, I must immediately give credit to some of the guys on my USTA tennis team who wrote me the most beautiful letters of recommendation (with hardly a moments notice). Even if I don't get the job, just knowing that my guys hold me in such a high regard means the world to me. They have become very close friends and are just all around great guys that I respect and admire.

On a very sad note, my beautiful baby peach face lovebird, Peaches, had to be put to sleep this past Thursday. After all the great things that have been happening to me these last few weeks this was a definite low point.

I got Peaches on the last day of school in 7th grade. She was the cutest, spunkiest, little parrot with more personality per square inch than the coolest people I know. Peaches was always able to make me smile. She stayed with us for just about 15 years.

Being that Wednesday was my last day of work, I was randomly home on Thursday and as a result, I was able to be there for Peaches while she was suffering. I took her to the Vet and when the the Doctor informed me of Peaches' poor prognosis I really had no choice but to put her to sleep. The staff was so kind and understanding. They brought Peaches out of the oxygen incubator so that she and I could spend some time with each other one last time.

I am not embarrassed to say that I cried like the little 7th grade boy I was when Peaches first came into my life. I told her that I loved her and I hope she knows that I didn't want her to suffer anymore. Here's a picture of Peaches and I from this past Wednesday night. Although she was sick, I think the special bond we had was obvious right through our last moments together. I will miss her always.



The silver lining in all of this really is that my sudden departure from Corporate America somehow allowed me to be with Peaches. The timing really was incredible, a day earlier and she could have been alone.

Late Thursday evening my family and I went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. I, of course, had General Tso's Chicken (or was it General Tao...I have a theory involving a forgotten General, but that discussion is for another day). At the end of our meal we each grabbed a fortune cookie.

Mine happened to contain 3 fortunes. They were:

- You will be fortunate in the opportunities presented to you.
- You are a bundle of energy always on the go. (Could be why I'm blogging at 2:15am)
- A thrilling time is in your immediate future.

Waves of excitement have been crashing over me by the hour these days (am I wearing a shirt that says, "looking for a wild time?"). If so, remind me not to change. But with each passing day I am less sure what the future will bring.

There is one thing I'm sure of; I'm flying high, sitting pretty and in for quite a ride.

joeyz101

http://twitter.com/joeyz101