bonfire

On Tuesday morning I was able to steal an hour of time from Steve O'Connell, owner and Chief Creative Officer of Stick & Move Advertising- I also made him late for a meeting. Steve is a former CP+B copywriter who's work included Mini, Truth, Ikea and Virgin and who's current agency has already done work for accounts like Schwinn, Vitamin Water, Adidas and more. Steve was awesome to talk to and really re-charged my own creative battery. Not knowing myself from the mail delivery guy, I appreciate Steve taking the time to talk and just wrap about advertising.

Edited for time purposes and formatted to fit this screen, below is a recount of our conversation.

bonfire: So you moved from a copywriter at one of the hottest advertising agencies in the world to small-agency owner, what's the biggest difference?
SO: The biggest difference is the advantages that came with working at CP+B. In my first few months on the job, I was in LA shooting a million dollar commercial for Truth and thinking "yeah this is what I could do the rest of my life". As a CP+B representative, people would roll out the red carpet for you. Now without that name attached, it's alot more difficult. I've also had to switch my thinking from solely being a creative towards being a business owner. They are completely different mind sets. As a business owner I have to think of the big picture and treat the agency as a client.

I would say the other big difference would be that we as creatives got spoiled at CP+B. Working on Mini, we were a group of creatives coming up with big ideas. It was awesome but eventually we became spoiled and it came to the point where we knew we would create something great and they would ok it. It was almost boring after awhile.

bonfire: Well in my opinion, I don't think any outdoor campaign has come close towards being as innovative as the work you guys did for Mini, expect maybe the Chick-Fil-A work out of Richards, that's pretty awesome.
SO: Yeah, I love the Chick-Fil-A work. We really did love working on the Mini outdoor work and there are ideas coming out for them today that we introduced back then, just at the time technology wasn't were it is now.

bonfire: I think every creative goes through that thought process. We create this idea that will reshape advertising, only to have it rejected by a client or never make it in the pitch, then you see that same idea a year or two down the road winning a clio or lion. I know for myself, I at least use it as a guage that as a creative, I know I have the ability to compete with some of the best agencies and thinkers in the world. Just wrong time, wrong circumstance for my idea.
SO: Yeah it's the very definition of the ad world for creatives, it takes things all coming together for ideas to fully be realized. It does suck to see something you came up with realized by another client and agency but I agree, at least it lets you know you're thinking.

bonfire: Let's shift gears and talk about Stick&Move, your creative philosophy centers around "conversationality", what's the idea behind that?
SO: Conversationality is our philosophy and belief that brands need to talk to the consumer rather than at the consumer. They have to be willing to listen to the consumer first then respond with an engaging message, it's essentially a two-way street. Think of it like this: a brand is a person at a party and everyone else at the party is the consumer. You as the brand don't want to go up to another person at the party and completely talk about yourself the whole time. They'll just see you as a douche, instead you need take interest in the other people, let them talk and listen. By doing that, you'll be more likely to be invited back to the party.

bonfire: So conversationality is the opposite of douche branding?
SO: (laughing) You could say that.

bonfire: Do you feel that clients really get into the concept of conversationality?
SO: The ones that hires us love it and even started to adopt it in there everyday structure. As far as the ones who come on the website and hate it, I'm not sure they usually don't contact me.

bonfire: Don't you think it's time google analytics came up with a way to measure that?
SO: It would definitely help us out if they did.

bonfire: How do you feel about agencies going to digital and what role must digital play going forward?
SO: Many clients are now switching a majority of their budgets towards digital, so it's good to invest in that now if you're an ad agency. Do I think tv and print will completely go away, no. For quite some years there will always be a need there. However, the activity for digital is going to be there and people who start now will have a greater stake in that work as it continues to move in that direction.
bonfire: Do you think social marketing plays a significant role in that future?
SO: Its plays a role but until we fully figure out how to track it and use it effectively it will stay a support vehicle to main stream advertising. The thing with social media is that it's hard to prove so clients are less likely to fully commit to it until it can be measured.

bonfire: What are some of your suggestions when it comes to obtaining new business for smaller agencies in the current economic climate?
SO: I think the single most important key in going after new business is dedicating a majority of your agencies time to it. It has to be on top of mind, all the time and where you put most of your resources. It's also about believing in what you're doing as an agency, know who you are and what type of work you want to do.

bonfire: When going into a new business pitch where do your ideas come from?
SO: They are always inspired by the client we are working with. When going into a new business pitch we act as if we're the consumer, what would we want to know? Once we figure that out, we think of a creative way to communicate that message.

bonfire: Do you think the key to getting new business lies in the creative or the strategy?
SO: I think it's really a case by case basis. Knowing the business you are going after will help you determine that. But we've won some account with just a creative tv pitch and some accounts required larger thinking and strategy. Every client is different, know what you're going after and cater your pitch to their needs.

You can find Stick & Move on the web at www.stickandmove.com