Return to the Red Carpet

Today, I start as ECD of OgilvyOne, New York. 

My brief is to reinvigorate creative in response and reinterpret it for the modern, digital age using online and offline channels. It's a fantastic job, and there's no place I'd rather do it than Ogilvy.

David Ogilvy said direct marketing was his first love and his secret weapon. As many people know, I was at OgilvyOne for nearly six years starting in 1999. I straddled both OgilvyInteractive and OgilvyOne with one of the first hybrid digital-traditional groups covering a range of brands from Cisco to Enfamil. For me, Ogilvy has what great modern creative needs: the understanding of brand, the rigor of direct, the experience of digital.

After four years at two very different digital shops, I'm also returning for an integrated job. The past two years at Agency.com and the previous two at R/GA, have been rich with challenges, people and work — always busy, often innovative, occasionally breakthrough. I hope to bring some of the entrepreneurial spirit and behaviors back to Ogilvy. I am grateful to the people and clients at both shops who were so supportive of what I wanted to achieve with them and who gave me very long leashes to try things, to trust me with their brands, their briefs and the responsibility of helping run a very large piece of business — or even an entire office.

Read the Ogilvy press release here.

Stick, then Carrot: Scare to Response

"It's not safe to fill your prescriptions at multiple pharmacies," the bottom of my Rite Aid receipt read today after buying some new super-strength Febreze.

Then: 

"Transfer all your prescriptions to Rite Aid so we can monitor for dangerous interactions. Talk to a pharmacist today. Plus, ask for your $20 appreciation savings coupons."

Not sure how I feel about the execution of this strategy. Raising the issue of drug interactions and mistake is timely and good support for digitizing records (of which I am a big advocate). But scaring people with that clunky headline doesn't appeal and seems off-brand for service and neatness-challenged Rite-Aid, though admittedly I don't really know what the brand does believe in (though I do for CVS, which I adore).  Unlike CVS or many Duane Reads, Rite Aids in the city are usually kind of sloppy and disorganized which doesn't reassure they're so perfect behind crucial counters like the pharmacy, though I'm sure they're fine as anyone. 

The $20 coupons might get some response though but they seem oddly connected to the scare point above. If Rite Aid believes so much in the headline, then they should offer Safety Coupons or Clarity Coupons or something else that ties in.

This is the same space for the dial-in sweepstakes of which I was so fond and have yet to win. Though they could call any day. 

 

Sponsor My A** Off

May 16 is the next annual Write Your A** Off, a day dedicated to writing to raise money for the NYC Writers Coalition. 

They're an amazing group who bring writing classes and workshops to the underserved, including homeless, disadvantaged kids, elderly and more. 

We spend an entire Saturday writing and talking about writing. Here's my experience from last May if you want a taste of it. We raised $37,000 in one day.

This year, I am trying to raise at least $400 as my part, which is modest but these are tough times for people. At the event, unless I'm deep into a storyline, I plan on twittering as well or perhaps doing a closed status update to the people who sponsor me.  

It's easy to put in $5, $15, $25, $50 or more. Please, please sponsor me here.

Timely Bulls and Bears

This is a painting I've always heard about but finally saw last month with my friend Suzanne. "The Bulls and the Bears" is an allegorical painting from 1879 about the turbulent market by William Beard. Setting is Broad Street, where the current NYSE is on the left. See it for yourself at the New York Historical Society on the upper west side. It doesn't have the wall space and drama it deserves but it's really exciting. 

Customer service and flow: A good experience in NYC

A friend from Paris was visiting this week, and since we both were on vacation and had long lists of clothes shopping to do, we had plenty of time to discuss shopping patterns and customer service, a favorite topic of mine.

Bloomingdale's flagship Men's Store on 59th Street used to quite unpleasant to visit -- dark, creepy, crowded and disorganized labyrinth in the basement. The utterly revamped and redesigned Men's Store, however, is much better, starting right at the subway door and moving up three levels from jeans to designer collections, suits and beyond. Lighting is improved, there is more space between collections, better grouping of collections, better signage and a more comfortable flow to move one self through. On the weekday morning of our visit, it was also semi-empty which was depressing for them but convenient for us. 

Our first sales guy in jeans proactively told my friend about a perk neither of us knew about and from which he could benefit: Bloomingdale's 11% discount for out of country visitors. 

This is really terrific and Macy's might have it as well.

Meanwhile, I was using my tax return money to get a new suit with a 30% discount as part of a pre-sale the following week (I can get the discount now but won't be charged or can't pick it up until then).  The sales are confusing but at least the staff tried to help me figure out which one was best for me to use. 

Over lunch — after visits to Calvin Klein and the required pilgrimage to Barney's — we discussed service experiences between the US and France; my friend noted that in Paris, one would never have "pre-sales" event like that; it's an American invention.  In Paris, the sales person would simply tell you to come back next week.  Pre-sales, though, seem great for businesses getting you to buy stuff ahead of time and perhaps more of it.

Calvin Klein's flagship store on Madison Avenue, in comparison, was clean and sparse but the tomb-like design and sterile feel was uncomfortable and life-less. Staff were friendly enough, but followed you around like you were going to steal something. Clothes were displayed on hooks hanging from the ceiling. Men's underwear were the only thing on sale and were displayed coldly in recessed shelves, leaving little reason to buy them here when you can get them on sale nearly everywhere else from Bloomingdale's to Century 21 (suggestion to CK: hire models for the flagship store. Now there's a reason).  Leaving, unimpressed and hungry for the real world of emotion, we took the elevator too far down and found women in the Home department who seemed like they were in prison. We didn't spring them free, though; we simply left and with our many bags, went downtown to SoHo for more stores and a lovely lunch.