meritandrew.com http://meritandrew.com The official website of Merit Andew Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:09:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Steve Jobshttp://meritandrew.com/posts/steve-jobs/ http://meritandrew.com/posts/steve-jobs/#comments Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:03:21 +0000 admin http://meritandrew.com/?p=441
  • Steve Jobs may be the greatest innovator and entrepreneur we’ll know in our lifetime. This article “What I Learned from Steve Jobs” is a must read/must apply. It is particularly relevant to my colleagues in the ad biz (many of whom I know are in focus groups right now/doing market research and the like). Of these 12 points, I locked onto #7 “Changing Your Mind is a Sign of Intelligence”. While this may appear to be a slap on the back, it is vitally important in both business and in the creative world. When we are wise enough and confident enough to be wrong, we unlock our greatest potential.
    • ]]>     http://meritandrew.com/posts/steve-jobs/feed/ 0     The Company Retreathttp://meritandrew.com/posts/company-retreat/ http://meritandrew.com/posts/company-retreat/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:20:16 +0000 admin http://meritandrew.com/?p=153

  • We humans are a rather directionless and emotional bunch by nature. We often find ourselves in situations and have no idea how we got there. I tend to find great humor in it. For the most part, everyone is real busy. We’re running from here to there. We’re talking to people. We’re texting things. We’re moving things. Whew. Wow, what a day.

    Busy is looked upon as a measure of success in our society. “How’s business?” “Busy, we’re very busy.” “Wow, that is great.” Busy isn’t great. “Jim is busy filing for bankruptcy.” “Todd is busy downsizing.”

    While most people have no real master plan, most businesses do. With this “master plan” in mind, we’ve found great success in creating it, sharing it and driving it forward with the company retreat.



    • It’s a tried and true method we’ve employed for 10 years now and if there were one thing that we can attribute to our success through thick and thin, it’s our annual 4-day retreat to Palm Springs, CA. These four days and the prior months of planning leading up to the event, set the tone for the whole year. It is here where we drive a stake in the ground and collectively own the goal. “This is what we are going to do.”

      While there is no formula to it, we rent a sizeable mid-century modern house (one must be inspired by their surroundings) in varying locations (never the same one) where we can spread out, think and work. We cover all aspects of our business and are ready to reinvent ourselves at any juncture. We never hold onto the past as we forge plans for our future. We do this all as a collective with each individual in attendance responsible for his or her area of expertise. We never work/sit for more than 2 hours on one subject. We evolve these retreats every year. Some things work and some don’t. Each year is more productive than the last. The itinerary is a good balance of tactical planning and creative inspiration, with a sprinkling of visits from our personal trainer, hiking and the inevitable wine tasting and late night swim.

    • While we tend to focus on the quantifiable at the retreat, you can’t quantify the feeling of building something together and seeing it come to fruition year after year.

      This retreat is expensive and time-consuming and it’s the best thing we do all year.

    • These photos are also on Facebook!

    ]]>     http://meritandrew.com/posts/company-retreat/feed/ 0     NZ Book Counsel’s “Going West”http://meritandrew.com/posts/nz-book-counsel%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cgoing-west%e2%80%9d/ http://meritandrew.com/posts/nz-book-counsel%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cgoing-west%e2%80%9d/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:18:45 +0000 admin http://meritandrew.com/?p=151 This is a great use of stop motion. I love the style of this piece and the message is spot on.

    ]]>     http://meritandrew.com/posts/nz-book-counsel%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cgoing-west%e2%80%9d/feed/ 1     Fage’s “Gain”http://meritandrew.com/posts/fage%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cgain%e2%80%9d/ http://meritandrew.com/posts/fage%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cgain%e2%80%9d/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:17:40 +0000 admin http://meritandrew.com/?p=149 Excellent writing and amazing cinematography. This caught my attention while whisking past “other ads” on my DVR. I now associate Fage’s Greek yogurt with being a smart creative mind. It’s the only yogurt I buy now to live this dream.

    ]]>     http://meritandrew.com/posts/fage%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cgain%e2%80%9d/feed/ 0     TC Bank’s “Dream Rangers”http://meritandrew.com/posts/tc-bank%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cdream-rangers%e2%80%9d/ http://meritandrew.com/posts/tc-bank%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cdream-rangers%e2%80%9d/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:16:08 +0000 admin http://meritandrew.com/?p=147 This is a truly inspiring piece and it’s based on a true story. If all ads were like this we wouldn’t need DVR’s.

    ]]>     http://meritandrew.com/posts/tc-bank%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cdream-rangers%e2%80%9d/feed/ 0     John Jay of W + K on Creativityhttp://meritandrew.com/posts/144/ http://meritandrew.com/posts/144/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:14:15 +0000 admin http://meritandrew.com/?p=144 I love this piece. It’s rich in content for any creative in the ad biz. Just watch it.

    ]]>     http://meritandrew.com/posts/144/feed/ 0     Where Do Ideas Come From?http://meritandrew.com/posts/ideas-from/ http://meritandrew.com/posts/ideas-from/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:12:41 +0000 admin http://meritandrew.com/?p=142 Unfortunately, we’re supposed to learn all of this when we die and THEN things should become abundantly clear. Ironically, we’ll possess all of this knowledge when we need it the least. So before the inevitable dirt nap, we toil as individuals and collectively to find ideas that inspire and sustain us.

    While there is no formula or trading post for where these things come from, what we do know is where ideas don’t come from. They don’t come from places of stress and chaos. These are sacred places where the ad biz has cornered the market. They own this category like Donald Trump owns bad hair. Interruptions, stress, lack of sleep, lack of exercise and poor eating habits are the great idea suckers. In the “idea” business, this isn’t good.

    So, intrigued by the idea of seeking the best ideas, we’ve been making unbecoming gestures and passing wind in the general direction of things that interfere with our creativity and our work. Some of us have even shouted, “Gosh darn it.” Actually, just Austin said that.

    One of the vehicles we’ve employed as a team is a company warrior workout every Friday at 400pm with our personal trainer, Eddie, at Innovative Results. This has proven to be the great “palate cleanser” at the end of a week…one final hour together of living in the moment, and at times, in great pain. Regardless of the type of week we’ve had, we end it all in gym clothes, sweating, pulling for each other, pushing hard and trying not to puke. At the end of it, there is a great sense of achievement that seems to parallel the mountains we also climbed during the week. It is unspoken, but we all feel it. The physical work we do together at these workouts has manifested in healthier lifestyles and we can see that in our faces and in our work. The warrior workout at 400p also ensures that everyone can be home at a good hour on Friday to enjoy the really great things in life. With good health, with personal challenges and with time to experience new things, we unlock our greatest potential. The warrior workout is no silver bullet, but for us, it has proven to be an effective tool in our arsenal to stay at the top of our game.

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