New York, the city of bright lights.

New York, the place where dreams come true.

New York, the city of inspiration and chaos and everything in-between.

But what is it about eight million people stacked on an island that produces some of the greatest success in the world?

If you’ve never been it’s hard to explain. I know I certainly didn’t believe the hype before my first visit less than a year ago. Something about the way people adapt to live in such a ridiculously condescend space breeds a special kind of being. The competition may be fierce, but with such a wide, diverse population, the possibilities are endless. In that small 8-by-2-mile island you can find an expert in any industry: art, business, finance, advertising, theater. Not to mention the scores of struggling freelancers – in any trade imaginable, you name it. Diversity is truly the secret to the beauty of NYC.

As you walk through the streets, you can’t help but look up, down, and around. On just a two-minute stroll you realize you have passed through decades of architectural style and an endless mix of culture: Chinatown, Little Italy, the financial district, etc.

You’ll find Ad Age’s Agency of the Year, and then just six blocks away you can stumble into an art gallery dedicated to the mockery of advertising and consumerism. Yet somehow, it all works in harmony to create a city like no other. It all fits together so perfectly.

If you want to go about your daily business undisturbed or live a quiet life, don’t bother even considering a career in New York. Stay far, far away. However, if you crave disruption and want to find inspiration in places and people you never thought possible, I encourage you to step outside your comfort zone and take a bite of out the big apple.

VIGOR: active bodily or mental strength or force

ZEAL: eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something

For me, these words are the product of passion. Put these two words together and you get something magical – something no one can take away from you. You discover purpose.

How do you find purpose that yields vigor and zeal? You fall in love. Me? I’m a lover of many things. These things excite me. They inspire me.

What feeds my zeal and demands my desire to live with vigor throughout the day?

A large cup of coffee with a good, challenging book makes me want to change the world.

Robust conversations about life with close friends could be my retirement plan.

Sitting in a strategy brainstorm is fascinating to me. Something about chewing through ideas to arrive at a product that will awe is phenomenal.

Feeling a football lightly fall into my fingertips makes the hair on my neck stand up.

Writing music. The sound of my heart coming out beautifully on paper or the vibrations of a guitar running through my fingertips is a feeling that cannot be replaced.

Those are a few things that drive me. And might I say, in all humbleness, I am damn good at those things. They are all things I am thankfully gifted at. Why? Zeal. Vigor. I haven’t always been successful at them. But when I felt like giving up on something so dear to my heart, I made the decision to arrive at the challenge because life without passion is empty. A passion was instilled in me and a certain zeal transformed my mindset. This zeal gets me out of bed in the morning, brings joy to the act of going to work, and puts a smile on my face when I go to workout. This zeal drives me to live with vigor, rather than sloth and lethargy.

Life is beautiful. When we find the things in this life that make our blood flow, pursue them. Viciously pursue them no matter the hurdle – age, current abilities, critics. Nothing is impossible when it is met with vigor and zeal.

So what drives you? What gives you that zeal to pounce out of bed and live resiliently when times are tough? What makes you hurt when you fail at it? What fills you with vigor?

Company Culture:

Culture is one of the most important elements to any business plan. You can have all of the money and personal connections in the world, but without a unique company culture, your brilliant plan will slide into the uniformity of the market. Why is this? A business without welcoming, motivated employees is just a place for uninspired people to spend their society-scheduled time to be someone’s employee from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. A business with passionate employees that has a love and belief in the company they represent is one that will draw in new clients, as their passion for the company will radiate in their pitches. If your employees believe your company’s mission, so will potential clients. That is how your company will separate itself from competitors that have equally helpful services and propel your company into becoming a powerhouse in the market.

Individual Style:

Though each workplace has its own culture, no two cultures are the same. Each company has something that all of the other businesses do not have: a particular team of professionals. From an individual’s style of writing to the shoes on their feet, each brings their personal style to work every day. The combination of personal styles develops into an unduplicated company culture. As new individual styles are added to the mix, the company culture can be finely tuned or morphed into something completely different. In a society of so many businesses within each market, it is more pertinent than ever to let personality play a leading role in hiring new team members, as the addition of a new personal style could change the dynamic of any office.

As a fairly new addition to the team, I am proud to say that I am a part of the unique, fun-loving, energetic and innovative team that is OMG Agency. On picture day, I plan to express my personal style by wearing my sparkly shoes. As I envision my shoes gleaming in the sunlight, they seem to be a perfect representation of not only my bright outlook on the communications market but also my belief in OMG’s future.

The fact that it’s set on the South Side plays a huge role. There are usually several references per episode of something Chicago, if not South Side outright. Even if there are discontinuities – you often notice street settings which are clearly not Chicago – the show does a pretty good job of replicating the Canaryville neighborhood in New City.

Arguably, however, the most dominant sign of Chicago’s influence is the presence of the beloved Chicago L. The rusty support structures and concrete pilings are featured in many scenes per episode, and even when they are not, you can hear the creaky trains come rumbling by or see the contact flashes of the electric third rail in the night.

Several high-profile scenes are even set aboard the trains themselves or near the stations/platforms. Check out the video below for an example of a typical scene.

It makes me wonder, really, why the producers feel the need to so visibly prove that the L is there.  Is it that the L plays an important role in any Chicagoan’s life? Is it there to illustrate Chicago’s heritage, because the L randomly came plowing through your neighborhood a hundred years ago and you have been accepting it ever since? Does the L just usually happen to be around, in one way or another, during pivotal moments in the lives of Chicago residents? Or is it just used as a motif to connect the plot lines in the show?

To me, the L represents something else. If you live within earshot of the L in Chicago, you begin to form a relationship with it. Even if you hate it, you can always rely on it to be there. Every 10-20 minutes, the soft (or sometimes loud, almost startling) rumble reminds you that it’s there, almost like waving hello or asking how your day has been. The gentle reminder of the urban connection becomes something you can depend on, not just a utility for travel about the city.

To me, that’s comforting. It would help me to love my neighborhood. Inadvertently, I think it helps the Gallaghers too. Though life isn’t easy on the South Side, they can always rely on the L’s presence. Scenes in the past have included a heated brotherly brawl under the Pink Line tracks and a romantic hang-out session in the shadows of the rusty steel that spawned a teenage relationship and possibly a child. The L is a very real and sacred part of Chicago, and Shameless rightfully includes it as an integral part of the show’s setting.

The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. Mine? I can’t decide. No, really. I have difficulty deciding. I am bad at shopping for gifts, drive-thru employees hate me, and I couldn’t tell you which bar I think we should go to next. But nothing exposes and takes advantage of my problem more than a trip to Target.

I was doing okay until I strolled down the cereal aisle. I couldn’t help but notice the stuffed rows of cardboard boxes screaming for my attention. I was a celebrity. With so many candidates, coupled with my inability to choose, picking a brand of cereal became a test. I walked by and considered the offering – cereal that tastes good, cereal that’s good for you, and some that are neither of the two.

It’s interesting because conventional wisdom suggests competition between brands benefits the consumer by providing them with the power to choose, but sometimes more choice isn’t always better. (I know… #firstworldproblems)

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m very fortunate to be in a position to make decisions instead of forcing my hand, but I REALLY don’t need 60 different choices of cereal. I just want some breakfast.

So how do companies (cereal or not) overcome this problem of clutter?  How do we, as consumers, come to the purchasing decisions we make? How do YOU make your decisions, whether they are low/high involvement purchases? Tell me in the comments section below, and please feel free to leave any cereal suggestions as well!

Even if everything would have gone horribly, I can still say that Business Class was well worth the flight. After examining the goodie-bag provided by Delta and informing the flight attendant to keep the mimosas coming, I put the K-Pop hits on full blast and relaxed. Thirteen hours on a plane and 6,000 miles later, I landed in Seoul, South Korea. I went there to visit my friend Brittany who was teaching English in Gumi, a city just a 2.5 hour train ride south of Seoul.  I also went to Hong Kong to visit a friend and coworker, Anna, who was visiting our company’s Hong Kong office for the week.

Upon my arrival in Seoul, and my ensuing 4 hours of wandering, I finally reached the place where I would call home for the next week. My time there took me to a café where I could eat gelato every morning for breakfast, to the N Seoul Tower, the tallest point in Seoul where I could see over the entire city, and to every shopping market where I could have spent every dime I had.

Normally when I go to different cities I like to submerge myself in the culture and live as if it is my home.  So I did just that. Brittany and I ate everything in sight and drank Soju until the wee hours of the morning.

Clubbing was also a must! Now typically I refuse to pay any sort of cover here in Minneapolis, or anywhere in the states for that matter, but we were told club M2 was worth the ₩20,000 [ ≈$20 USD]. It felt like a Korean version of Jersey Shore – vodka Redbulls and fist pumping to house music all night long. I mean, I do love me some house and don’t mind vodka, so all in all it was a successful night.

From Seoul I headed to Hong Kong. A 40 degree increase in temperature and English speaking folk everywhere made my transition nice and easy. When I arrived in Hong Kong I had to stop at the Burger King inside the airport before I did anything. I was craving it for some reason. I blame it on the advertising in Korea. They made the Whopper look like a million bucks and for some reason I just wanted to have it my way.

During my connecting flight to Hong Kong I was delayed in Shanghai for five hours. While waiting around, I ran into the Marketing Director of Converse – Asia Pacific.

Now I have been obsessed with Converse for the last three years and even started a blog about all things Converse. He informed me that there was a Converse store in Seoul that I could go to and get any picture of my choosing printed on my shoes. Once back in Seoul I headed to the store, where I discovered they no longer offered that service. Instead I found myself purchasing three pairs of shoes… Lucky for me, my feet are considered large in Korea; therefore, 2 of the pairs I bought were on clearance.

I plan on going back to Asia in the near future. I loved the time I spent in both Seoul and Hong Kong. I am very thankful to all of my friends who helped make this trip possible and grateful for the time I got to have alone for self-reflection, as in this busy day and age we tend to forget to spend some time with ourselves.

]]> http://www.omgagency.com/blog/seoul-glad-i-took-a-vacation/feed 0 http://www.omgagency.com/blog/my-leggings-have-super-powers http://www.omgagency.com/blog/my-leggings-have-super-powers#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:45:34 +0000 Alyssa Adkins http://www.omgagency.com/?p=722 Eh, Mondays are such Mondays. More coffee is necessitated than usual. Toothpicks are required to keep my eyes open in my Astronomy lecture. And, I am late to everything. And I mean everything.

Last Monday was different, though. Not because I didn’t wake up late for class. Not because I didn’t slip on the ice running to said class. Not because I didn’t spill my burrito all over me at lunch. I’ll be honest – I did all of these things. But throughout the day, I found myself with a silly little grin on my face. There was a spring in my step. I had a Joseph Gordon-Levitt –esque moment as I walked across campus.

(Ok, fine. That only happened in my head.)

As I sat down after dinner that Monday, I realized the oddity of my mood, especially considering the crazy, messy day I had. Don’t get me wrong, this is what I want every day to feel like, but why on earth did I feel so damn good on a Monday?

And then I glanced down and found the source of my bliss.

Have you seen any article of clothing that is more ridiculously splendid? I’ll answer for you – No, you haven’t.

Although I believe my floral print leggings have super-duper “day-maker” powers, unfortunately, not everyone does. But that doesn’t mean that not everyone can have kick-ass Mondays like mine. It’s all about the focus. So choose to focus on the little things that make you want to dance. Focus on the smiling barista that served you at Starbuck’s. Focus on the really awful joke you heard from a co-worker. Try it. You’ll be surprised at how grand every day can be, even your Mondays.

The most basic need for a business or brand is of course, money. It’s what fuels everything to create and deliver value to customers. Enough is needed to sustain the business, pay people and grow. But when money is in vast supply, it just becomes a scoreboard.  At this point, it is politically correct to refer to this as being “stupid rich” and we all know that there is more to life than money.

Example: Exxon Mobile

Passion is the next level. Passion is the backbone of any great business or brand. It is what makes a business or brand unique, different and memorable. The passion for what they do and believe in enhances their products or services. To reach this level, however, you do not necessarily need a comfortable level of revenue. What is unique about passion is that it often drives the basic need for money.

Example: Apple

Making a difference is the final level. This is where a brand or business becomes nearly immortalized. It accepts a higher purpose by recognizing that it needs to do more than create value for consumers. It’s not simply opening up a philanthropic effort and throwing millions in it to get tax breaks. People can smell bullshit a mile away when they hear about a business or brand “contributing to the community” or “giving back to what matters most.” The businesses and brands that make it to this level care deeply in customer satisfaction and do it for more than creating long-term loyalty.

Example: Virgin Group (have a better suggestion?)

Bear with me that I had to generalize significantly to fit my thoughts in this tiny post. You might not get it right away, but just think about the meaning behind the “why” of marketing.

(Pause)

(Pause)

(Keep thinking about it, you might get it)

Good, you got it! Right? Well if you don’t get it, here is a hint: the why is not the value proposition. It is more central and personal than that. By defining why, purpose is created. Purpose has meaning, and meaning gives life to the brand or business. The why of marketing is the reason for everything a business or brand does. The better answered why, the better the business or brand.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve noticed that the actual vehicle being advertised in recent car commercials seems to take a backseat to the message and brand personification. So what’s with the change in strategy? Why fix something that’s not broken?

Memories come to mind of Best Buy’s transition from advertising specific products to building a successful, integrated marketing campaign that focuses on the experience of the stores themselves. This move also seemed to begin the death of competitors like Circuit City and Ultimate Electronics. Best Buy’s change in advertising strategy is a prime example of the shift that’s occurring in the auto industry. Less focus on the product, more on the brand experience.

Audi has been a leader in pioneering this change. Their “Goodnight Moon” commercial focuses on showing an alternative form of luxury to its consumers, one filled with innovation, style, and a modern touch. Audi is selling a lifestyle here, a personality even, appealing to a generation striving to stay young forever and a crowd that wants to show off their success but has no desire to do it in the way their parents did. And of course we can’t forget the ballsy but intriguing shot at Mercedes.

Keep your eye on Audi. From their unique approach to their commercials and branding to their well-managed social media presence, I think we will be seeing a lot more of them.

This past weekend (with former OMGer Matt Roussin by my side) I took Melbourne, Victoria by storm. With street art in every alleyway and an excessive number of outdoor markets, coffee shops and cafes, Melbourne seems to be a safe haven for the Right-Brained. It was about 10pm on Saturday night when we decided to check out the infamous Melbourne cuisine. Matt, my friend Julie and I sat in a classy-yet-casual Italian cafe, perusing the menu for something we could pronounce. After a few pints we got to talking – life ambitions, the places we’ll see, the people we’ll meet, where we’ll be in five years. Matt and I bantered about the book and feature film ideas we had in store for the world if we could just get our big breaks. After a particularly good pitch by Roussin, Julie broke her silence. “How do you even think of that stuff?” She seemed completely dumbfounded that anyone could just dream up such a fable.

She doesn’t seem to understand why I do anything the way I do. Why I take the opposite route than her to our villa. Why I don’t mind that we don’t have a TV this semester. Why National Geographic is my homepage, or why I prefer candids to posed pictures. It frustrates her, I think. Her brain doesn’t work like mine. It’s the same way with my friend Tiffany. She once asked me if I re-painted the background of a painting I had done a few years back. When I replied, “Yes, I needed a change,” her only response was, “I would never do that.” This is the same girl who claims she doesn’t dream. I always remember my dreams, and I always dream in color. Who knows what that means.

Even in my family of seven I’m a blaring outcast, cluttering my room with trinkets and my knuckles with earth tone rocks. I’m pretty sure both parents think I’m constantly “on” something. So many believe creativity is the fruit of a drugged labor. You don’t need drugs to fashion something interesting. No one should ever assume that. Thinking against the grain is what makes the world move forward.

So often, we don’t take the time to understand why people tick the way they do. A lot of Right-Brainers are quick to cry wolf when the world doesn’t understand them. The truth is, we’re just as guilty. We’re quick to judge the “suits” and those peers who don’t listen to The Current. Maybe it’s in defense, maybe it’s pretentious. Whatever it is, the world would be dry toast if we were all the same.

I think us creatives. Right-brained. Crazies. Whatever we are, I think our gift is never losing touch with our imaginations. A lot of us will never be gifted in the art of algebra or chemistry. When I think numbers, I see each number as a color.

Go figure.

So whether or not Pink’s theory is correct, there will always be the Melbournes of the world to accommodate the right brain. There will always be a need for both avenues of thought in this evolving world. Life might be easier if numbers were my thing, but it’d be a pretty boring world if no one saw colors instead. The ones who see colors march to a slightly off-beat. It’s not always consistent, but if you’re a true Right-Brainer, it always compliments the melody.