The April Ad 2 event – Brains, Beers & Loyalty Marketing – was recently held at the offices of The Lacek Group. Attendees of the event were provided the opportunity to meet with the account teams for round-table discussions. In this setting, they were able to learn the approaches and best practices The Lacek Group applies to each of their clients. This intimate experience provided a rare look behind the scenes of one of the Twin Cities largest agencies.

The Lacek Group, which is part of Ogilvy & Mather, dubs itself a customer engagement agency. Half creative agency, half data analytics practice, this nearly 300-person agency has built their expansive business on being able to analyze their clients’ data and then determine the most effective way to deploy it. “The world of marketing and advertising is continuously evolving. Only the strategies, talent and agencies that can adapt with these changes will survive,” emphasized John Jarvis, chief creative officer for The Lacek Group. “Understanding what our clients’ data is telling us has allowed us to consistently provide our clients what they want, when they want it and how they want it.”

While The Lacek Group has been known primarily as a loyalty-marketing firm, their proficiency for data-driven engagement approaches has recently attracted clients beyond just loyalty programs. With a proven track record of turning data into actionable output, organizations are quickly recognizing the value this will provide to their organization. “We pride ourselves on engaging the customers of our clients in new ways. Delivering a work output that is creatively leveraging what the data is telling us has allowed us to consistently exceed the expectations of our clients and produce real results,” added Jarvis.

The April Ad 2 Event at the offices of The Lacek Group

FREE BEER! Now that we have your attention, it’s time to tell you how you can get free Fulton beer, that doesn’t involve any illicit activities.

Ad 2 is thrilled to be hosting our annual networking event at Fulton Brewing on Thursday, February 28. This “hoppy hour” is a fantastic opportunity to join the Ad 2 crew and your fellow advertising and marketing professionals for an evening of cold beer, live music and dynamic discussions.

This annual networking event is always one of Ad 2’s most well attended happenings of the year. Don’t miss the chance to make new connections and expand your network while enjoying a pint of one of Minneapolis’ finest brews.  A good time is definitely going to be on tap. Space is limited for this event. Register today to secure your spot!

The Details:

What: Ad 2 Annual Networking Event

Where: Fulton Brewing

When: Thursday, February 28, 5:30 – 8:00 pm

Why: Free Beer! (And networking, too).

RE CAP:

The lucky WINNERS of the Fulton drawing include:

Christine Taffe, Haberman: gift card

Katie Peterson, Digital People: gift card

Kristina Eastham, Digitaria: gift card

Monica Granados, Olson: gift card

Eric Simons, Sir Simons: resume review with Digital People

Please look for the gift cards in the mail this week. Thank you, everyone for joining us at Fulton last week!

At the most recent Ad 2 event, a packed house of advertising and marketing professionals had the unique opportunity to hear a rock star panel of industry heavyweights discuss how they each found success. The panel consisted of Tracie Curb-Crowser, Creative Director/Partner of Curb Crowser, Stacy Janicki, Director of Account Management, Senior Partner of Carmichael Lynch, Beth LaBreche, Vice President of Strategic Development, Gage and Erica Hanna, Producer, Writer, Shooter, Director and Editor for WCCO.

What was interesting to hear, was that while all the panelists took a unique path to find their success, three traits were acknowledged as being essential in helping them get to where they are today: personal drive, confidence and empathy.  “Having an insatiable appetite for learning is critical for your success,” said LaBeche. “Never be satisfied with what you know. Take advantage of the wealth of resources available to us to always learn something new.”

The panel agreed that to effectively leverage the knowledge you possess requires the self-confidence to turn your insight into actionable items. “Confidence will come with passion for what you do and by just being yourself,” said Curb-Crowser. “Let it come naturally. If it’s forced, people will see right through it. Lead with your passion for the work you do, and your ideas and input will be better received.”

“Just as important as having confidence is balancing it with empathy. Understand who you are talking to, what challenges they face and what they need to succeed,” says Janicki.  “Regardless if you’re presenting to a client, meeting with a boss or interacting with a coworker, they are all people who may not be receptive to you if you don’t take the time to learn about them.”  “Ask people about themselves,” adds Hanna. “Everyone likes to talk about themselves. Take the time to ask the people what their passions are. You will be amazed at what you will learn by doing this and the new level of connections you can make.”

What became clear by the end of the discussion was there is not a cookie-cutter formula for being a successful marketing and advertising executive…and that’s a good thing.

For more Ad Fed events: Click Here.

There are small Ad Fed events, there are larger Ad Fed events and then there is The Show. The Advertising Federation of Minnesota’s The Show event this year was themed “The Passive and Aggressive,” and did not disappoint as many from the Twin Cities’ advertising community gathered at Mill City Nights on November 9^th.

The unique building layout at Mill City Nights provided multiple levels of entertainment and enthusiasm. On the first floor was the photo booth (operated by Tom Thulen of Tom Thulen Photogrpahy), where attendees could dress in many forms of costume: hats, masks, various plastic weapons while being photographed. These were enough to bring out anyone’s inner aggressor.

The Stratford Companies had a booth and was handing out goodie bags with four different phrases on them: Bullsh*t, WTF?!, Needs Improvement and Unaccepted.

There were tables adorned with delicious items presented by Crave, including: caprese skewers, mini tacos, pita and hummus with different spreads. A second course was served a few hours later: potato bites, pinwheel wraps, mini Crave burgers and coconut curry satay. The final course concluded with: truffle pops, chocolate tulip cups and my personal favorite, cake pops. To feed the estimated hundreds of attendees on hand the food wasn’t far out of reach and there was more than enough to calm and bring out a person’s passivity.

Beyond the food, the real reason for the gathering of this event lay on black panels: the fantastic variety of advertisements and creative work that had been submitted for this year’s The Show. Twelve different categories were recognized: Print, Cultural/Education, Student, Broadcast, Cause, Integrated, Self-promotion, Alternative/Guerilla, Illustration, Graphic Design, Digital Media and Photography. Not to be outdone, each was accompanied by a well-dressed figure with a snarky comment. One example for the Student category: “What an honor. It really should soften the blow of pending unemployment.”. Above the printed ads was a large screen, displaying the winners of each category throughout the latter part of the night.

Finally, in the basement of Mill city Nights were the coveted The Show award pins. There were many winners of gold, silver and bronze pins. The top winner was Brad Harrison of Carmichael Lynch who walked away with 32 pins. The Mono agency left the building with 31 pins.  Also, Ellie Anderson of Carmichael Lynch garnered 26 pins.

The fanfare may have died down and the pins carried home, but one thing is for sure: Mill City Nights, the attendees, Crave and Ad Fed made The Show of 2012 a memorable experience.

Last week Ad 2 gathered at Padilla Speer Beardsley for its very first event of the year, braving cold winds and Viking fans. They ventured to the agency to hear about innovation from folks who have plenty of experience with it. Following a mixing of the minds around Qdoba and Schell’s, in a room overlooking Mississippi River, members gathered to hear senior vice president, Tom Jollie talk a bit about things you don’t usually find at other PR and Marketing agencies.

From boat reels to interactive entertainment featuring Yo Gabba Gabba!, Tom shared one possible path for public relations agencies of the future – one that’s already being formed at Padilla Speer Beardsley.

For more Ad Fed and Ad 2 events, click here.

Any worthwhile recap of the party last Thursday night at agency Carmichael Lynch, for the BrandLab, should start with a long thank you to everyone who participated. Let’s get to it.

Thank you to the BrandLab team for trusting us with the organization’s good name and intentions. They were guinea pigs in every way for Ad 2 Public Service, and we learned so much from the experience. A very special thanks to Kris Newcomer for teaching us how to be better event planners, while giving us the lead to do it ourselves.

Thank you to the Ad 2 Public Service team! They killed it, end of story.

Thank you to the Ad 2 board for supporting the public service team on its first jaunt. It wasn’t the smoothest process any of us have been through (see: aforementioned learning experience), but they stuck with it and stood behind us.

Thank you to Carmichael Lynch for hosting! Thank you, especially, to Ryan Houts for managing the music and Laura Norton for managing the scene.

Finally, thank you to everyone who came out to support. Whether you’re an industry veteran or a newbie, your interest in supporting organizations like the BrandLab make things like Ad 2 Public Service a worthwhile endeavor and keeps us hopeful. Thank you so, so much.

The event was a huge success. We raised more money than expected, introduced more individuals to the BrandLab, and signed up more than 20 new volunteers. On all fronts, we achieved or surpassed our goals.

For Ad 2 Public Service, this too, was a high watermark. With all new Ad 2 volunteers and a committee director with no project management experience, we planned, organized and executed a successful fundraising event. When we present the case study at nationals in June 2013, we’ll be running on completely positive momentum. Get ready for big things!

If you’re interested in helping the public service team continue to evolve its approach and offerings, email Forest Taylor at publicservice@ad2mn.com or come to an Ad Fed or Ad 2 event and talk to us in person.

Spots are filling quickly for The BrandLab’s Back to School party on September 6th, and it’s not hard to understand why.

We’ve got it all:

• We’ve got live music from The Still Sound, Better Bones, Heavy Handed and Foreston .
• We’ve got Lucid Brewing on tap.
• We’ve raffle items – lunch with important people, beer baskets, a year-long supply of butter AND MORE!
• We’ve got pulled pork sliders.

And that’s just the beginning.

Most importantly, all money raised via ticket sales, raffle submissions, etc. goes towards The BrandLab and its expansion into 3-5 more classrooms next year. You can read more about The BrandLab at www.thebrandlab.org.

Register for the event here.
Back to School: A Party for the BrandLab at brandlabbacktoschool.eventbrite.com

Thanks for your interest, your support and time. We hope to see you there!

When I climbed out from my car into the parking lot I was immediately confronted by the scent of freshly cut grass. As I stood and began to walk towards the brown building across the street, little droplets fell from above and struck my face. A mist hung heavy in the air. All was still, silent.

Then, from afar, the calm was shattered by a scream, “FOREEEEE!”

The classic call reminded me why I was there, at Theodore Wirth Golf Club. An exciting beginning, albeit a tad dreary, to what would (eventually) be a day of duffs, whiffs, whacks, hacks, kegs and so much more. I’m talking, of course, about Golferoo 2012, Ad Fed of Minnesota’s annual golf tournament. What follows is the day as this blogger saw it.

12:00 PM | Clubhouse

There was a general sense of despair as the golfers filed into the clubhouse. People spoke in hushed tones, whispers, as they huddled together for warmth and solace. What was usually an exciting time was marred by the bolts of lightning that flashed across the sky. Weather reports suggested the storm would clear up at some point, but in the clubhouse there seemed to be a collective distrust of these “weathermen” and their alleged “predictions.” It seemed more likely Miley Cyrus would perform an impromptu concert on hole 6 than for the dark sky to clear. It was a hopeless place indeed.

12:02 PM | Clubhouse

Sunshine! Euphoria! Hope! The clouds had parted and given way to the sun’s glorious yellow rays. Alas, the meteorologists had redeemed themselves.

12:27 PM | Outside the clubhouse

Pure madness, absolute chaos. Carts, clubs and Bloody Marys whizz by my face as the teams scrambled to locate their golf carts. A muffled, incoherent announcement echoes over the loudspeaker. No one notices. One man runs from his car, babbling frantically, all I can make out was “client, insane, killed the work.”

12:32 PM | Outside the clubhouse

The first casualty of the day — a bag full of Pings goes flying off the cart. The owner’s face contorts into a look first of shock, then anger, and finally sadness as he slowly leans down to recover the fallen soldiers.

12:50 PM | Hole 18

With the tournament (finally) underway, I hop into a cart with Cory Vandenberghe and the honorable intention of locating the keg hole supervising the event proceedings. We rode around the course offering assistance. Much to our surprise we almost immediately encountered the FRWD-sponsored “keg hole.” How convenient.

1:35 PM | Hole 18

45 minutes later and we seem to still be at Hole 18. Somehow we got held up chatting with Kat Duncan, some golfers from Pandora and… um… quality-testing the free beer.

1:48 PM | Hole 7

Overheard on hole 6 after this photo.

“I prefer to smile internally.”

2:17 PM | Several yards and a bottle of gin

On the Forum Communications-sponsored hole, golfers were greeted with a sign that alerted them of a very, very interesting opportunity.

A prize meant for a king, truly.

The gin sat near the back of the green, luring golfers away from the pin and towards the squat green temptress of pine-needle flavored goodness (totally tastes like pine needles, right?). Many tried—few came close—but most overshot the green by 40 yards. Damn you, pesky gin.

3:19 PM | Hole-in-one hole

The hole-in-one hole (say that 5 times fast), sponsored by The Show and Olson, promised $15,000 to any golfer to sink it on their first shot. A lucrative offer indeed.

In three hours at the hole, perhaps the closest to sinking it was the woman pictured below. In the process she earned my annual Badass of the Year award — she backed up to the men’s tees and cranked it 160 yards, nearly hitting the pin and rolling off the back of the green. Whoa!

6:00 PM | Clubhouse

After all of the hubbub on the course, everyone returned to the clubhouse for some tasty nosh and a brief awards ceremony. Some talent rose to the top of the leader boards and took home their due prizes. But after a day of fun, sun, and most importantly, golf, it could be argued everyone was a winner at Golferoo 2012.

If you weren’t aware, the annual advertising industry golf tournament, Golferoo, is this Friday, July 20. I had the chance to sit down with the event director, Cory Vandenberghe to discuss this year’s event…

1. Introduce yourself

Cory Vandenberghe, Director of Special Events for Ad Fed. This includes Bowl-o-Rama, Golferoo and Alphabet Bash (Aug. 9th) www.alphabetbash.com

2. How long have you been involved with Golferoo?

I’ve been on the planning committee for the past 5 years, and I’ve been the director of the event for the last 2 years.

3. What can we expect to see again? What’s new this year and who are the sponsors this year?

We have a couple new sponsors this year: Centro, Cahill Integrated Media, Shapco Printing, Forum.

We have the following returning sponsors: Fredrickson and Bryon; KNOCK, Inc.; FRWD; Celarity; The Creative Group and Running Aces.

Returning favorite holes we can expect to see: Closest to the Gin, M/W Longest Drive, Longest Putt, $15k Hole In One, Bean the Barrister, closest to the pin and Happy Gilmore Drive.

Featured holes that are new year: Minnow Races, Root Beer Floats, and Closest to the Beer.

4. Where is this year’s event held?

Wirth Golf Club

1301 Theodore Wirth Parkway

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55422

Registration and lunch start at 11:30 a.m.. Scramble starts at 12:30 p.m.

5. How often do you golf? What’s your handicap?

I make it out on the links about twice a month. The only thing consistent about my game is my inconsistency.

6. Have you ever gotten a hole-in-one? Has there ever been a hole-in-one in Golferoo history?

Nope. Maybe 2012!

7. Tell me more about this year’s keg hole… volunteers can drink at it, right?

Volunteers can get a beer from the FRWD-sponsored Keg Hole.

8. What is cost of registration?

Current costs:

$105 Members

$115 Nonmembers

$420 Foursome

Walk-ups day of will be $115

9. What’s your favorite color?

Blue.

10. How awesome is Golferoo going to be on Friday? (on a scale of 1 to Super Awesome)

If it were an amp at rock concert, it would be turned to 11!

11. I challenge you to a round of golf — winner gets to finish the keg. Okay, I guess that wasn’t a question, but are you in?

Unfortunately, the keg usually doesn’t survive the day. There is a direct correlation with the hotter the temp, the faster the beer disappears.

Friday promises to be a fun-filled day of drinks, debauchery and of course, golf. With temps expected in the mid-80s, it’s going to be the perfect summer Friday to head out for 18 holes. So grab a team, sign up now, and ditch the office — don’t worry about your work, that’s what interns are for.

Happy golfing!

• By: Grant Spanier, senior advertising student at the University of St. Thomas, Intern at Digitaria and Ad Fed Golferoo committee volunteer.

Isaac Newton has been credited with the saying, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” On Thursday June 14^th, more than 200 advertising and marketing professionals current and alumni attended the first Ad Fed event of its kind, The Mad Men and Mad Women of Minneapolis. This event allowed all to look upon the shoulders of the many professionals and to reconnect or connect with for the first time.

Solera in downtown Minneapolis was the venue for this event and the layout provided the maximum amount of food, conversation and networking. There was a full bar with a large array  of food and beverages served. The consumables were outstanding: braised chicken boca, grilled Spanish sausages, wild mushroom and artichoke grautin, crab cakes, ham and cheese croquettes, veal meatballs with harissa glaze and saffron rice, grilled shrimp pincho and salad mix chefs at Solera. Later in the evening, vintage ads from the agencies in attendance played for guests’ pleasure and entertainment.

And, of course this event included an awards presentation.. Lili Hall of KNOCK won  Ad Fed’s Silver Medal Award. After accepting the award Lili said, “KNOCK isn’t about the individual, so I feel a little uncomfortable accepting this.”

Thank you to all the agencies that participated in The Mad Men and Mad Women of Minneapolis:  Carmichael Lynch, BBDO, Marketing Edge, KNOCK, Martin Williams and Periscope.

Steve Wallace, the man behind concept and execution of the Mad Men and Mad Women of Minneapolis, posed a question to a rapt audience:, “How did we get here? How did Minneapolis become an ad town?” Steve credited this to three major things: isolation (Chicago, being the largest ad market, is hours away), shipping routes, and having a well educated place of creativity. He spoke on behalf of more than 125 Ad Men and Women for this event.

I was fortunate enough to have several interviews with the attendees.

Dick Heyne, former Art Director at Campbell Mithun:

From 1956 to 1986 Dick Heyne was an art director at Campbell Mithun, he reminded me that this was before the computer and they were drawing by hand. When asked for a favorite story about his past, Dick replied that he did have one. It was 1965 and the Minnesota Twins were playing the Dodgers in the World Series. He made a bet with another art director that the loser would have to push a kneaded eraser along a hallway floor with his nose. When the Twins eventually lost the series, it was time for Dick to follow through with his part of the agreement, although he had another idea. “Being a good sport, I paid off the debt instead.” He saw the evolution of the advertising world, especially when it came to women. He wanted me to know that he will be turning 90 in August of this year. Happy early birthday from Ad Fed, Dick Heyne!

Jerry Gale, formerly of Campbell Mithun:

Jerry’s father wanted him to be an architect and discouraged him from going into advertising. But he admitted that he was bad at math. Jerry got to know people at Knox Reeves and was looking for work while attending the University of Minnesota. He got his chance during Christmas vacation. Jerry met and worked with Chuck Ruhr (of Chuck Ruhr Advertising). “Many people thought I was crazy, but Chuck knew that I had nowhere to go but up”.

Patrick Redmond, of Patrick Redmond Design:

When asked, “What made you get into advertising?” He replied, “I love the challenge of being creative and making a positive difference in the world. I believe that great advertising can do that. Advertising is applied creativity.”

Steve Griak, formerly of Campbell Mithun:

When asked, “Why made you get into advertising?” replied, “I knew I could draw when I was in high school. My brother said to me, ‘You’re going to go to art school’. I traveled down from Duluth and met a man at the Walker Art Center where my brother arranged an interview.” He was only 17 years old and would receive the money to go to school via the GI Bill. “They had one advertising class with a small studio,” he said. Steve spoke with a man who then crushed his feelings by saying, “There are five men in there that are better than you. How are you going to make it?” After this encounter, Steve spoke with another man who gave him words of encouragement: “Don’t give up, don’t give up.” Steve didn’t give up. “I got a job as a trainee and kept working. I continued to work and became an art director at Campbell Mithun.” What a great reward for such persistence.

I found Steve Griak’s words to be the most inspirational that night. His “never give up” attitude propelled him to the place he strove to reach. Although anyone’s path maybe long, winding and unexpected, the real challenge is to keep going and never give up on your dreams.

Thank you’s from some anonymous Mad Med & Women:

“Thank you so much for spearheading the Minneapolis Madmen event this past week.  You really seized a fleeting opportunity!  It was a special event for the industry, for our vibrant city, and for countless individuals.  It was a great thing to credit those amazingly talented people for their super-creative work, and to provide a comfortable setting for their conversations with subsequent generations.  One notable moment was seeing a young college student who’s about to do a summer internship with General Mills share a drink with the 82 year old Mad-Man who worked on Bacos and Bugles accounts and invented Hamburger Helper.”

“I am so happy to have had the chance for that unique glimpse into Minneapolis history.  Most of all thanks for giving me the opportunity to let my dad know how fiercely proud of him I am.”

“We all owe Ad Fed for an incredible evening. I don’t know when I’ve had so much fun with my peers. We were all competitors back then! This was even better.”