Today I get the pleasure of introducing you to this guy ——————————————————–> His name is Jay Heyman. He’s an author (find my review of his book, All You Need Is A Good Idea here), and a blogger, but more importantly: he’s an idea guy. I love idea guys!
Who Is this Guy? Here’s Jay’s Bio:
I am an advertising agency veteran. My entire career has been spent working in the creative departments of agencies large and small, creating local, national, consumer, collateral and business-to-business communications.
Currently, as the co-founder and creative director of Porte Advertising, a sixteen-year-old advertising agency in midtown New York, I continue to generate the kind of idea-driven advertising that has built clients’ businesses in the past.
Accounts I’ve worked on include Skippy Peanut Butter, the Stage Deli, Oxydol detergent, Trix cereal, Cocoa Puffs cereal, The Curaçao Tourist Board, Anacin, Texaco, Drambuie Liqueur, Beechnut Gum, Frigidaire Appliances, Burgie Beer, Total Cereal, Fruit Stripe Gum, Thrill Dishwashing Liquid, Hardee’s, Kangol Hats, Sharp Watches, the American Arbitration Association, Bistro le Steak, ClearVision Optical, Bounty Resorts, Hero Dog Food, Old Spice Deodorant, Rapid Park Garages, The William Kaufman Organization, Dallas BBQ restaurants, Tony’s Di Napoli restaurants, Prevent Blindness NY and Host Apparel.
Honors I’ve received include the prestigious CLIO and ANDY awards; my commercials are in The Paley Center for Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio of New York).
My creative ability and strategic sense, such as they are, have been honed by a career that has one basic objective: come up with the simple—but unexpected—idea that links the strategic core of the product to the consumer’s needs. I’ve learned that every client—no matter the size—has the same need for powerful creative marketing ideas. Smaller businesses, however, don’t always have the resources and large staff to develop these ideas. That is why I’ve written my book and created this blog.
So… On to some questions!!
Jay, what’s your greatest idea ever? or the one that brought you fame, fortune, and acclaim?
I am still waiting for the fame, fortune and acclaim part. But the concept I usually think of when asked this question, is for a campaign I created that, for various reasons, was never produced. But it has all the elements of what a good marketing idea should be. It was for a brand of timepieces called Sharp watches. The print ad showed a grouping of different scraps of paper, each with a different message on it, each written with a different pen, pencil or marker. Each message said things like, “Curtain at 8:00 p.m. Sharp.” ‘Call Bob tomorrow at 4:30 Sharp.” “Pick up kids at 5 Sharp.” These pieces of paper surrounded these words in the center of the page: “Ever Notice That When People Are Serious About Time, They Always Mention Our Name?” Relevant, unexpected, a great mnemonic and certainly more effective than “Meet me at 5:00 p.m. Timex.”
The smart marketers ask themselves one question: do I intend to be here when the economy rights itself? If the answer is yes, then you have to continue to market your company, particularly if your competition has radically cut back. You must continue to, at the very least, sustain your brand. Look even harder to find good communication ideas, which by definition don’t require massive media budgets.
Exactly. I truly believe that, particularly in these difficult economic times, there is nothing more efficient or economical than the power of a good marketing idea.
Perfect, it is said, is the enemy of good. You, Charles, would still be sitting there pondering your first question for me, wondering if it was intelligent enough, made you appear silly, or if it was insightful enough. And I would be standing motionless, at a creative standstill, discarding every one of my answers because it wasn’t brilliant enough. An idea is good if it sounds fresh and new and grabs attention in a relevant manner. Going for the “good” is not compromising; it is simply more realistic than waiting and waiting and waiting for that one great idea.
[...] Here’s the link to part 1 if you missed it. [...]
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