What does LIFE OUTSIDE THE BOX stand for? Let us explain.
Most Americans wake up every Monday morning fighting the monotony of "Monday, fun day." The start of such a blissful week of work. And if you are part of an Advertising Agency, you're lucky enough to have this anxiety feeling on Saturday mornings or Sunday nights. We consistently ask ourselves, did our client see the beautiful 2-page spread we killed ourselves on? How much did it pop with the other 356 real estate ads all screaming basically-free homes! My personal favorite is when I've been at a grocery store buying wine and cheese for my well deserved "Chicks night in" and 3 people behind me at checkout cursed me out because I was more concerned with reviewing a Press Release than answering paper or plastic. Hey, I brought my recyclable totes though.
Yes, back to the anxiety, joyous Mondays and why we choose to live our lives outside the box.
I loved working at one of the best Ad Agencies in the country. It was fast. Furious to say the least. And when you had to turn away business in this economy, I think you're doing pretty well. Well the agency was at least.
It's about giving your undivided attention to each client. Let's not push out an ad or a billboard because its due 2 minutes ago...let's creatively and STRATEGICALLY think this through. Money is scarce for most companies especially in the marketing budget (even though, you should start considering...well I won't go here yet, hopefully point taken.) I was tired. I couldn't sleep and I realized going to the Doctor to treat an ulcer was becoming a weekly event-on Saturdays, of course-no time during the week. Our clients felt gypped. They wanted ideas, comfort and a sense of security from someone outside their industry, but they loved our work. But time is money. And when you're forced to limit your time because you have 12 other accounts at once and 2 more accounts coming on, you start to lose yourself a little bit.
Living your life outside the box means doing things your way. The way you envision it. My best friend told me the most sound advice ever when I called from my New York office at 1am on a Sunday because I realized I had given my life up. "Just Do You" she said. I wasn't doing me. BS'ing some clients because the team hadn't started their website yet even though we took 50% down was not my idea of professionalism. The boss didn't care about it because he wasn't the one who had to figure out what to say-Turn and Burn never seemed more appropriate. It was then that I realized I had so many talented people I surrounded myself with that were in the same boat. My team was amazing and did whatever we needed to do. We just needed a different pilot and co-pilot. We didn't want to give it up because of our inability to take a breather. We all fell hard for designing, consulting, getting drunk in the conference room so we could "clearly" come up with funny slogans for a client advertising to drunk karaoke-ers, just to turn around and sober ourselves up for a 7am meeting. Damn, that was actually a lot of fun (try bringing a few breathalyzers to one of these creative brainstorms.)
We want to work because we enjoy working. We want to personally tie ourselves into every brand. Big or small. We want to be normal on Saturday mornings, ix-nay the ulcer-eh (my canadian friend would be so proud), even Saturday nights because we have balanced ourselves out. We have a great handle on every account. Let's face it, one person can't have 12 accounts riding on their shoulders alone strategically. And I'm going to say the L word. We fall in LUST with our clients. We run circles around other agencies with fresh ideas. And we treat you like family. Your success is our success.
So if you feel empowered to go bungee jump over your lunch break, maybe you feel like screaming BINGO in the largest casino in Arizona just to get a reaction, whatever it is Just Do You. Make decisions, go with your gut, continue learning and most importantly, live your week OUTSIDE THE BOX.
Combine your business with a lot of fun. And if you're in a situation where you can't, try wearing an ugly christmas sweater to the office. You never know who you will get a chuckle from. Laughing breeds positive energy, the kind of energy Monday- fun days need.
Salud!
Kim
