You Sleep When You Die

Timeline helps marketers tell a better, clearer story … but no matter what new tools marketers launch with it, having a solid strategy and the right team will still make the biggest difference. The marketers who take advantage of whatever the latest Facebook game-change is (including Timeline) will be the ones who are plugged in, ready to adapt, and crystal clear on where they want to take their brand and why. Just changing out your cover photo and creating some app icons is not enough!

Sometimes outsiders wonder why I am so insistent about not resting on our laurels at Zimmerman. The answer is really pretty simple: I refuse to let complacency kill a great agency. And as long as I am still above ground and breathing, it’s not going to… Complacency is an epidemic in our industry. And it is never, ever going to be the way we do business at Zimmerman.

Over 26 million Americans live with diabetes. It is deadly, and it leaves amputation, blindness, and kidney failure as its calling cards. This disease is what the subway ad campaign was trying to address. Instead of playing “gotcha” and getting all worked up about Photoshop, the Times should have used the blog to praise the city for doing something constructive about a major public health problem.

If you didn’t have a great family experience growing up … you can get back in the batter’s box and keep swinging. If you were deprived of the blessing of a good education … you can keep swinging. If you don’t have access to a lot of money … you can keep swinging. If your competition has just suckerpunched you … you can keep swinging… The only question that really matters is: Will you?

I think that’s got to be the ultimate focus group test. When a room full of nine- and ten-year-old kids start cheering for your brand, you’ve got to be doing something right.