Christine Vallee

Doing my morning reading and Jaime Robinson just made me want to run straight through a wall! 🏃‍♂️ She penned a fantastic article in ADWEEK on "How Indies Are Ushering in the Next Era of Great Advertising" I won't spend paragraphs summing up the amazing + SPOT ON feature. JUST THIS - "Any indie that considers pitching or running your business is investing its most precious and limited resources to do so—time, energy, focus, and heart. I cannot overstate the importance of that. Hiring an independent agency means you will hire the people who directly control the decision to work with you. There’s no corporate overlord poking with electric prods. Indies choose where we put energy, how to grow, what to spill blood, sweat, and tears on." 🎤 Drop You work with Quan Media Group you better believe that's true. We'll work relentlessly hard for you. We don't call it quits at 5pm. We don't care about budget. We don't care when your next buy is coming. Who you talk to on that very first call is who you work with. We'll shop your brand also! I tip my hat to brands who have relied so heavily on Holdcos in the past - and now are finally giving Indies a shot. I tip my hat to those who worked at the big shops who aren't "Holdco agency jumping" rather making their next career move one that's into the Indie world. Indies believe in the brands they work with. They love the brands they work with. They share the successes and failures - and will move mountains for those brands. Work with an Indie - you won't be disappointed. #OOH #DOOH #Branding #Marketing #Advertising #Career #Growth https://lnkd.in/ebYFHsfv

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I have recently been catching up on the third season of the The Bear on Hulu. While doing so, and as a Director of Delivery Success at Roboboogie, I've come to realize that the role of a project manager bears a striking resemblance to that of an expeditor in a bustling restaurant kitchen. In a restaurant, the expeditor is the crucial link between the kitchen and the dining room, orchestrating the flow of orders and ensuring a seamless dining experience. Similarly, project managers are the vital connectors between various teams, stakeholders, and clients in the business world. Here's how I see the parallels play out: -Setting the Rhythm: Just as an expeditor establishes the pace in a kitchen, project managers set the tempo for project execution. We coordinate timelines, deadlines, and resources to keep everything moving smoothly. -Managing Workflow: Expeditors ensure that each dish is prepared correctly and in the right order. Project managers do the same with tasks and deliverables, prioritizing and sequencing work to maximize efficiency. -Communication Hub: Expeditors constantly communicate between the kitchen staff and wait staff. Project managers are the central point of communication between team members, leadership, and key client stakeholders. -Problem-Solving: When issues arise in the kitchen, the expeditor must quickly find solutions. Project managers are likewise adept at identifying and resolving conflicts and obstacles that threaten project success. -Adaptability: Both roles require the ability to thrive in fast-paced environments and adapt to unexpected changes or challenges. -Customer Satisfaction: The ultimate goal of an expeditor is to ensure a memorable dining experience. For project managers, it's about delivering projects that meet or exceed client expectations while also ensuring satisfaction for your internal team members. So, the next time you're enjoying a perfectly timed meal at a restaurant, spare a thought for the expeditor behind the scenes. And remember, in the world of business, project managers are performing a similar, equally crucial role - ensuring that your projects are delivered hot, fresh, and exactly to your liking. #projectmanagement #PMI #deliverysuccess #CRO

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As every brand promises to inundate us with personalized and highly optimized content – where will consumers’ preferences shift? When anything becomes commoditized and ubiquitous, humans tend to crave the opposite. Is the ever popular "creator economy" evolving into a "meaning economy”? This intriguing topic is explored in Scott Belsky’s latest edition of Implications.com. It’s a topic that isn’t new. The meaning economy has been spoken about since 2010 – and it's leaders like Scott that remind us not be complacent about it.   From a marketer’s perspective, I'm curious to hear from my colleagues -- what has to change with branding and marketing in order to tell a more meaningful story? If content is free and abundant, how do we stand out to consumers?

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I've enjoyed working with bleeding edge tools and systems my entire career, and with AI - it's no different. Much of my career was focused around delivering exceptional customer experiences in either physical, virtual or digital spaces, oftentimes leveraging immersive media or experiential design as our method for storytelling and driving impact. When I look at the future of immersive experiences, and add the power of AI, I get excited about the transformations that will happen. AI-driven personalization and real-time adaptation will allow virtual environments to seamlessly respond to user behaviors, creating more engaging and meaningful interactions with lasting impact. This fusion of AI and immersive technology will unlock new opportunities across industries, from education and entertainment to retail and healthcare, enhancing productivity, creativity, and most importantly - customer experiences. Buckle up - we're in for quite a ride. #AI #ImmersiveTechnology #ArtificialIntelligence #FutureOfWork #Innovation #TechTrends #DigitalTransformation #VirtualReality #AugmentedReality #MachineLearning #InnovationInTech #AIInBusiness #EmergingTechnologies #FutureTech #CustomerExperience

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I’ve recorded hundreds of Loom videos mapping out processes for folks to follow at this point. And I’ve picked up a few do’s and don’ts along the way. Here are two biggies 👇 🔁 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗲 “What the hell is that?” “Wait, what did I just do?” “Errrmmm just give me a second here” Are just a few of the phrases the senior consultants I work with can expect to hear in the Looms I send them. You’re all good sending someone with years of experience under their belt a Loom where you’re fumbling through a process. As long as you get where you need to be eventually. But if you’re recording something you want a junior SEO to follow? You need it to be much more polished. You don’t want there to be any ambiguity about what you want them to do. I’ve tried mapping out a process in writing before I record a Loom of it to make sure the recording is as smooth as possible. But I’ve actually found it’s faster to just record it once badly, then do a second take. In my experience, you won’t be hemming and hawing your way through the voiceover the second time round. And the end product will be much more crisp and easy to follow. No need to do this for Looms you’re sending to more experienced folks. But trust me: it’s worth taking the time to do this when you’re mapping out a process for a junior SEO to follow. ⏱️ 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗮 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝟮𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 The chances of someone retaining everything you cover in a 25 minute walkthrough video is basically zero. So, break the process you’re explaining into smaller steps. Then record separate Loom videos covering each of those short steps. Then you’ll have a three minute video on how to do this particular step in the process. Someone can just watch that rather than trawl through a 30 minute Loom trying to find the right section. This also makes it much easier to delegate specific parts of a process to different people. You can just send them the Loom of the specific step you want them to handle rather than a long Loom with a note to “just do the bit from five minutes to nine minutes”.

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LinkedIn probably doesn’t need one more voice chiming in here.  Besides, Michael Farmer has already masterfully explained in “Madison Avenue Manslaughter” how we all got here.  I will say that, at FATFREE, we already “burned the old playbooks and wrote a new one” with our founders striking out “on their own, to build something new, better and more resilient.”  That was 20 years ago. Just sayin’. Plug-in. Turn on. Get FATFREE. Purpose-built for modern marketing. #digitalmarketing #branding #marketing #advertisingandmarketing

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some more musings on Linda's little speech: - after a decade of selling NBCu as a brand safe, premium entertainment destination and telling us that working with social networks puts our brands in harm's way, now she is suing us for not advertising on her porn site? - Imagine being a loyal X user and finding out that their leadership is fighting hard to bring you.... more ads? Great, just what I wanted. Can you make sure they pop-up and have auto audio on, too? - Linda should have made that speech from Katie Britt's kitchen - Usually, in videos like that, they make the person hold up a newspaper with today's date. I guess X, being a digital company, didn't want to promote a print product? - If this whole "CEO of X" thing doesn't work out, Linda would be perfect as the sign language interpreter for local law enforcement press conferences - I totally get why sales organizations don't want us colluding and mimicking one another, which is why they NEVER show us case studies or that slide with 100 logos of other advertisers they work with. That would be illegal - I thought the messages on the necklaces were a nice touch. Also a smart move to hide the "Go F**k yourself" friendship bracelet.

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Creative, RMNs and performance are all the rage this week... the COOL company acquires ADventori. CMP and DCO are critical in order to create a vertical stack that serves all of ad tech 😎 Zack Dugow is on a mission! Infillion launches IDVx. Creating shoppable ads across all channels made easy 🎨 FreeWheel launches customized CTV CPA bidding models. All advertisers care about performance, but not all advertisers define performance the same 📈 Grocery TV expands into Pharmacies. RMNs started with on-site, expanded into off-site and are now reaching the inflection point of taking over in store media inventory 🛒 Congrats Marlow Nickell Meta taps direct 3rd party analytics tools integration. Everyone is after advertiser specific conversion data to better optimize models and performance 🎯  GroupM & Pacvue launch integrated Commerce Management Solution. Simplified data, tech and operations tailored to the needs of RMN advertisers 🤝 <Rumor Alert> Criteo may buy Skai - Combining media with digital shelf intelligence is key for RMN advertiser success 🌟 *Sidenote* - Marketecture Media's episode with Mark Mannino did an amazing job explaining the non-media elements of RMNs 🎙️

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Disney introduces boredom and embarrassment to the barely flickering light of theaters. This predictable and, at times, mildly charming anxiety-fueled redux channels metaphorical chaos into a thinly iced tween hockey tryout. The only laughs emerging angrily from deadpan comedic veteran Lewis Black. While the normal hidden adult jokes and double entendres went missing in favor of on the nose puns, this all-too-serious and starkly too-real look into the mind of a 13yr old’s desire to fit in crams itself neatly into this cookie cutter sequel. Pixar perfectly immerses you into a visually stunning and convincingly real Arcadia of classic storytelling, but the music is as dull and flat as all the new supporting voices/characters. It’s as one dimensional as the goes nowhere diversity character development. Some not so novel animation techniques directly stolen from Dreamworks and a little nod to ‘Who Framed Roger Rabit’ break up the panel pushing predictability. Maya Hawke (Anxiety) did a strange thing and disappeared effectively into the driving force of the modern Disney antihero. Phyllis Smith (Sadness) dundered through terrible writing as both the MacGuffin and a stretched plot device. Amy Poehler (Joy) delivers crisp and convincing. LeFauve and her writing team bring back the most compelling, meaningful, and enjoyable emotions that made the original ‘Inside Out’ such a success just before the end credits. If you can mighty duck the cliches that Director Kelsey Mann (yep…the one who ruined Buzz Lightyear) pushes at her audiences you are left with what could have been a Pixar animated short - which this one is missing. And if you’ve stayed this long you deserve to know that the end credit scene is about as useless as my opinions as well.

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This is such a great compact assessment of how organizations should think about choosing who to advance and who to send packing.

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For those that attend tradeshows, events, and conventions like myself, we've all had that one event where we walked in the door and said, "What the hell am I doing here, who do I talk to, or what do I do next"?😨 Ring a bell? Well the initial focus for those of you hitting events should be, starting with the "pre-preparation" utilizing LinkedIn. After attending a very productive expo today, all thanks goes to leveraging LinkedIn before the event! 🎉 I love attending events solo, and LinkedIn is my secret weapon to making the most of it. Here’s how it helps me, helped me today, and how it can help you too: Social Listening: Before the event, I follow event hashtags, join relevant groups, and see what others are buzzing about. This helps me identify hot topics and key players. For you, this means walking into the event with a clear understanding of what’s important and who you need to meet. Engaging Content: I share posts and articles about the event, my goals, and what I’m looking forward to. This catches the attention of fellow attendees and starts conversations before I even step foot in the venue. You can do the same to build anticipation and create opportunities for meaningful interactions. Interact with Companies & Individuals: My 100% go-to. I engage with posts from companies and people I want to connect with by commenting, liking, and sharing their content. It’s all about building rapport and getting on their radar. For you, this means establishing connections and setting the stage for productive meetings. Plan of Action: Using LinkedIn, I set up meetings and conversations in advance. Having a plan means I can hit the ground running and make the most of my time at the event. You’ll find that pre-booking meetings can save you time and ensure you meet the right people. Using these strategies, I had amazing conversations and lined up exciting meetings before the event even started. LI helps maximize my event experience and make the right connections, and it can do the same for you tradeshow fans. Still on the fence regarding WTH to do with an upcoming convention or tradeshow on your calendar? Glad to help & share more 1:1 tips. Shoot me a 📨 #tradeshowtips #conventions #networking #planningworks #linkedIn PS: who's the guy below lol?😕

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I've worked at many ad agencies in my career, in New York, Sydney, Los Angeles, and Singapore. And so many of them make the same mistakes. Here are a few. 1. Forgetting it’s about the people, their people, the staff. Without the talent behind the agency logo, an agency is just a building, a website, and a bank account. Nothing more. Treat the people well and the agency will flourish. Treat them badly and they leave, meaning no talent to do the work, clients notice, and the bank account starts shrinking. 2. Working “for” clients, not “with” them. This is a relationship business and bad relationships break up. Good relationships flourish. Be business partners, not vendors. 3. Too many meetings. The bane of every agency, so many meetings are not needed. Develop better productivity methods and time management. It can be done and when you do this more work can get done without burning the midnight oil. 4. Blending in with every other agency. Once you become “one of the many” you simply become a price choice for many clients, you have no point of difference aside from your fees. 5. Not having a creative person on the leadership team. If your remit is to make creative work for brands, it would make sense to have a creative leader riding side-by-side with the CEO. Oh, and an agency run by a CFO is just an accounting firm where a lot of people wear black T-shirts. 6. Trying to get bigger and not better. Growth means nothing if your agency and the work sucks. Work on what you have first before the idea of growing even enters your mind. 7. Being reactive and not proactive. Show your clients, and prospective clients, just how passionate you are about working on their brand. Don’t just sit back and wait for a brief. Just like a good relationship, show them you’re thinking of them. 8. Allowing the free pitching process to continue. Maybe try and unite as an industry. If everyone said “no” then something would change. Use those bones running down your back. 9. Make working at your agency fun. And no, wacky shirt Friday and free bagels at the reception do not make it fun. Think a little harder about what people may want. 10. Going to the Cannes Festival after laying off staff. That’s just poor form. #advertisingagency #advertising #creativity #creativedirector #creativeleadership  

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70% of media and advertising professionals report suffering from burnout in the last year. 70%! I feel like this article has gone a little unnoticed. That figure is alarmingly high. And in an industry, where mental health and employee welfare are being discussed more and more, surely there needs to be something done to stop it from increasing… We have to set an example. That means not skipping breaks, encouraging our staff to work late, or working while sick and protecting them against unnecessary client requests. Plus bringing in real tangible policies and actions, to actively protect and help our staff’s wellbeing. Over here, we’ve been proudly partnered with Self Space (the world's first on-demand mental health service on the High Street) for over a year – providing free access to therapy and mental health support for all our staff. And they’re not just a plaster to a problem they’re needed. But more than this, we need to make sure these policies and actions go beyond ‘the 9-5’. Because let’s be honest, gone are the days of a clear work-life divide. Post-pandemic, work has increasingly crept into our everyday lives – we work on our phones, from the loo, in our bedrooms, on the commute, during lunch, and sometimes on holiday – so it’s only fair to accept people’s everyday lives will creep into working hours too. Which makes them the employers’ responsibility. If agencies’ mental health initiatives are to succeed, they must support the person, not just the employee. Don’t let this stat go up. https://lnkd.in/emAU-R7E

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ATTENTION ADVERTISING AGENCIES: DON'T GET CAUGHT WATCHING THE PAINT DRY. To paraphrase an old advertising agency saying, “The day you win a new account is the day you begin losing it”. This has always been true in the agency business, but never truer than it is today. Whereas client advertisers once hired agencies for years (if not decades) as “Agency-of-Record” (AOR), today they seem to change agencies as fast and thoughtlessly as I change my socks. There are many reasons for this, which I won’t recount here, and I have no solutions to offer unless you hire me as a paid consultant. But I will say to ALL agencies, hire your own dedicated CMO and keep that new business pipeline loaded with new prospects and introductory meetings (not pitches), because the clients you have today might be gone tomorrow and then you’re in trouble. So, write a new biz plan right now and start prospect outreach today, tomorrow, and every day. Because, as the renowned Walter Payton once famously said on his cancer deathbed, "Remember, tomorrow is promised to no one". 😎       

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Someone described this video as giving off "hostage vibes" and I could not agree more. Linda Yaccarino's delivery is insanely awkward. For those not in the know - X (formerly Twitter) is suing advertisers who decided to pull spend after Elon Musk took over and essentially removed most of the content moderation guidelines that prevented hate groups from using the platform to radicalize people and spread hate speech. I don't know about you... but I wouldn't want my brand to show up next to that kind of content. Advertisers and their agencies have an obligation to protect the safety of their brands. Context matters. It's the reason you won't see an ad for Disneyland in the latest issue of Hustler. It's why sites that spread fake news are being systematically defunded by ethical advertisers (and a major thanks to Nandini Jammi and Claire Atkin for their amazing work in this space). It's sheer lunacy to alienate the group you most need for support - but Elon Musk has proven he'd rather burn things to the ground vs. create a brand safe environment for advertisers. Not to mention that he's the one who told them to F*%k off just a few months back. It's sad to see someone like Linda who was once a venerated ad sales executive be reduced to this kind of stunt. Wild times indeed.

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If you haven’t read the new OUTFRONT Advertising Trends Report yet, here’s a sampler of the media trends covered in the report.

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I'm deeply saddened to hear of the purging of creative talent at a company where several brilliant people I know worked. There's a disheartening belief at some companies that thoughtful, creative, strategic thinking isn't as valuable in an AI and data-driven marketing landscape. Nothing could be further from the truth. My strongest desire is to secure a role as a creative leader at a forward-thinking startup or entrepreneurial-minded growing company that needs exceptional, passionate, inquisitive minds to expand its brand, engage its community, and propel its marketing and creative efforts. If that happens, I could bring a team of people who fit that bill perfectly and immediately transform an in-house creative/marketing team. If you're looking for creative talent — ranging from brand management, design, content development, digital marketing, creative leadership, video marketing, data storytelling, and/or social media marketing, message me. I can direct you to a wide range of talent seeking immediate employment. And I can provide you with the highest recommendation and vouch for their tremendous capabilities.

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When developing positioning, remember that we make judgments considering the environment. Screaming from your balcony at 2 a.m. out of stress is bad thing to do, but screaming in the street at the same time to scare off a stranger following you is a good idea. What smart marketers do is change the perception of the environment and, as a result, change the customer’s expectations about the product. For example, when you go to an expensive restaurant, the environment (interior, table settings, staff, recommendations, limitations, etc.) sets the expectation of spectacular food and service. You begin judging the quality and service from the highest point you can imagine. You expect a special experience—and you are ready to pay for it. What happens when the food is just okay or the service merely tolerable? You feel disappointed because your highest expectations were not met. You’ll tell a friend that the restaurant isn’t very good. Now, imagine the same food and service at a beach café or a street café. You initially set lower expectations and balance those with the level of pricing, which reflects the value. What would you say after eating at a plastic table at this café? "It’s amazing, isn’t it?" In the first situation, the frame of reference is haute cuisine, and you are comparing the experience to Michelin-star restaurants. In the second situation, your frame of reference is street food. Notice that we’re talking about the same product. When you create your positioning or communication, it’s critically important to set the frame of reference to manage expectations and the perception of your product.  Take Ferrari. They stopped participating in car shows, instead choosing to attend private aircraft and luxury yacht events. They shifted the frame of reference. Rather than being compared to other cars, Ferrari’s brand perception became “affordable perfection.” Similarly, Zara positions itself near high-end stores like Louis Vuitton and Prada. By sharing the luxury environment, Zara sets an expectation of fashionability while offering affordable fast-fashion products, elevating its perceived value. An IT company positioning itself as a general IT solutions provider starts competing in the minds of prospects with giants like IBM or Microsoft. By changing its frame of reference to “experts in data transfer solutions,” the company shapes expectations and creates a different set for comparison, influencing how customers perceive its value. In all these examples, the frame of reference sets the stage for how customers view a brand’s offer and shapes their sense of value. Your product’s perceived value depends on the environment and expectations you set. By controlling that frame, you not only meet expectations but have the power to surpass them. When you strategically set the right context, your product becomes more than just a solution—it becomes an experience that stands out.

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