our money where his mouth is

have you seen the controversial gm commercial with ed whitacre?



people don't like that gm chose the ceo as the face of the ad when people are distrustful of people in suits now more than ever. to me, the controversial part is where whitacre says we're putting our money where our mouth is. politics aside, there are more problems with the ad.

vp & social media lead at razorfish shiv singh offers some insight into gm his blog that you might not get anywhere else. basically, that gm is missing an opportunity to start dialogue.

the problem is, how does gm regain america's trust after going bankrupt? the question of whether or not gm has any hope of turning over a profit is certainly subject for hot conversation. how do we divert the conversation back to cars? more specifically, how do we divert the conversation away from politics and onto something that will encourage consumers to buy cars?

pj orourke (take him or leave him) says in the wallstreet journal:

The American automobile is —that is, was— never a product of Japanese-style industrialism. America’s steel, coal, beer, beaver pelts and PCs may have come from our business plutocracy, but American cars have been manufactured mostly by romantic fools.

many have suggested, america's love affair with the car is over. i think this metaphor might be a bit unfair. i think america's relationship to the car is listed as 'its complicated' on facebook but it certainly is not over.

the problem with witacre's ad is that he fails to acknowledge the rift in the relationship. i don't expect him to get down on his hands and knees and beg, such as the entirety of the reinvention campaign, because that would look desperate.

cover letter to razorfish

I am applying for the assistant media planner position because my unique background in film and video will provide me with insight into how to best engage people with innovative media. In my experience working in the film and video production industry, I learned that behind every successful creative decision lies both quantitative analysis and real human relationships. Bringing my experiences to Razorfish, my goal is to continue to build on these lessons while gaining a buyer’s perspective into media production.

Last summer, I made a documentary about Pike Place Market singer-songwriter Tommy Dean. I played Pennebaker to his Bob Dylan in my homage to landmark music documentary Don’t Look Back. Making The Tommy Dean Show taught me so much about harvesting a valuable second-hand experience from hours and hours of footage.

Currently, I am working with Rys Fairbrother. He sells video advertisements for vacation rental homes in central Oregon. Successfully completing these videos while working remotely, I have had to build strong communication skills, while organizing a systematic workflow and displaying initiative. Success on this project requires patience and clarity to develop a systematic workflow to compensate for the lack of face-to-face interaction that we often take for granted in business.

My most valuable experience was an internship with Guy Roadruck at Media Plant, a creative services group downtown. Media Plant taught me the value of systematically plotting the progress of multiple accounts, enabling all team members to quickly identify projects ready for action or waiting on assets.

Volunteering with KEXP and The Northwest Film Forum, I saw a despairing gap between what artists want to produce and what clients want to pay for. I read in an interview with Shiv Singh in which he comments on media professionals who task themselves with “educating and enlightening our clients” and I like how Singh counters this mindset that the relationship should be more symbiotic, that “we learn equally from each other even about new phenomena…”

If Singh’s remarks reflect the sentiment of the company, then I am happy to submit my application to Razorfish. I look forward to developments to come. Please contact me if you have any questions.

service and client, growing together

I am applying for the the assistant media planner position because my unique background in film and video will provide me with insight into how to best engage people with innovative media. In my experience working in the film and video production industry, I learned that behind every successful creative decision lies both quantitative analysis and real human relationships. Bringing my experiences to Razorfish, my goal is to continue to build on these lessons while gaining a buyer’s perspective into media production.

Last summer, I made a documentary about Pike Place Market singer-songwriter Tommy Dean. I played Pennebaker to his Bob Dylan in my homage to landmark music documentary Don’t Look Back. Making The Tommy Dean Show taught me so much about harvesting a valuable second-hand experience from hours and hours of footage.

Currently, I am working with Rys Fairbrother. He sells video advertisements for vacation rental homes in central Oregon. Successfully completing these videos while working remotely, I have had to build strong communication skills, while organizing a systematic workflow and displaying initiative. Success on this project requires patience and clarity to develop a systematic workflow to compensate for the lack of face-to-face interaction that we often take for granted in business.

My most valuable experience was an internship with Guy Roadruck at Media Plant, a creative services group downtown. Media Plant taught me the value of systematically plotting the progress of multiple accounts, enabling all team members to quickly identify projects ready for action or waiting on assets.

Volunteering with KEXP and The Northwest Film Forum, I saw a despairing gap between what artists want to produce and what clients want to pay for. I read in an interview with Shiv Singh in which he comments on media professionals who task themselves with “educating and enlightening our clients” and I like how Singh counters this mindset, that the relationship should be more symbiotic, that “we learn equally from each other even about new phenomena…”

If Singh’s remarks reflect the sentiment of the company, then I am happy to submit my application to Razorfish. I look forward to developments to come. Please contact me if you have any questions.