THE DAVEY AWARDS ANNOUNCES WINNERSBEST IN SHOW WINNERS UNVEILED, GOLD AND SILVER AWARD RECIPIENTS ALSO NAMED New York, NY (October 20, 2020) – Winners of the 16th Annual Davey Awards have been announced by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts. With nearly 2,000 entries from across the U.S. and from around the world, the Davey Awards honors the finest creative work from the best small shops, firms, and companies worldwide. Please visit www.daveyawards.com to view the full winners list. The Daveys are judged and overseen by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA). The AIVA is an invitation-only member-based organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media. Current membership represents a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms including: Spotify, Majestyk, Big Spaceship, Nissan, Tinder, Conde Nast, Disney, Microsoft, GE Digital, JP Morgan, PGA Tour, Wired, and many others. Visit www.aiva.org for more information on our judging body. About the Davey Awards: The Davey Awards exclusively honor the “Davids” of creativity, the finest small shops, firms, agencies, and companies worldwide. David defeated the giant Goliath with a big idea and a little rock – the sort of thing small agencies do each year. The annual International Davey Awards honors the achievements of the “Creative Davids”, who derive their strength from big ideas rather than big budgets. The Davey Awards is the leading awards competition specifically for smaller agencies as they compete with their peers to win the recognition they deserve. Please visit www.daveyawards.com for more information. LO:LA is honored to have won 4 Golds & 1 Silver for our work in Branded Digital Content, Websites & Art Direction in the small business, food & bev, and social responsibility categories. A big THANK YOU to our clients NOM, GRRRL and Total Wine & More! #daveyawards #advertising #marketing #branding #digitalmarketing #video #websites #smallbusiness #creative #socialmedia #advertisingagency #content

As a part of my series about “How to Create a Trusted and Believable Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nick Platt. As the CEO and Chief Creative Officer of LO:LA, Nick Platt is carrying out a lifelong ambition to not only re-imagine advertising creative that resonates but is also “Made with Love.” With a career spanning two continents and three decades, Nick Platt creates magic in the moments that matter. Prior to founding LO:LA Nick was Executive Creative Director at RAPP, responsible for all creative output produced in the agency’s Los Angeles office, including creative campaigns for clients such as Toyota, Nescafe, Bank of America, Flemings, Roy’s, and Mattel as well as pro bono work for the Special Olympics and Stand Up to Cancer, among many others. His particular focus was on delivering creative solutions that are simple, relevant and original. He also worked in that role for the past 14 years, 6 years of which he spent in RAPP’s London office, where he was responsible for managing accounts including NSPCC, Apple, Sony, Barclays Bank, and CRUK. During his 30 years of experience in advertising and direct marketing, he has worked at a range of prominent agencies, including Saatchi & Saatchi, Proximity, and TBWA\GGT, among others. He has won numerous industry awards, including the Grand Prix at the New York Festivals, Gold at the ECHOs, D&AD, John Caples, DMAs and London International Advertising Awards. Nick is proudly a big agency ex-pat determined to prove that independent creative shops can be nimble, fast and cost-efficient without sacrificing quality. He’s making outstanding advertising available. Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path? Creativity was always something that was part of my life, I always loved art and problem solving, it was something that just fascinated me. As a creative this was always who I was, what I did and what I wanted to do. To then have taken the step to manifest that by creating my own agency is, to me, the best expression of my life-long passion for creative problem solving. Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that? I almost went to prison for believing whole heartily in something that was an opinion-changing idea. I learned in real time the power of great ideas and the responsibility to deliver them in the right context. Connecting with people in a relevant way is the ultimate goal of everything we are striving for at LO:LA. What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story? Made with love is our mantra, I know anyone can say that, but we really try to live by it. It’s embedded into our framework for what we develop and share with our clients and enables is to provide them with the best solutions. And once we are all invested in this philosophy, processes and outcomes become clearer. Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people? Everything is exciting! But right now, the process of helping our clients stay meaningful to their customers is our focus. Context has changed, yet people haven’t. The imperative to remain real and helpful is driving all our thinking. We have just finished a film for one of our clients that wants to acknowledge the power of the enforced loneliness of COVID-19, how it can be a time of great renewal, and understanding that what we do next as people and brands will shape our collective futures, coming out from this we can be stronger. Ok let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain? To us that is simple, there should be no difference as they are irrevocably linked. But it must start with the brand. The brand story must be on point in order for product marketing to happen. A brand is a promise kept, while advertising is how that promise is expressed. Finding the place of alignment of where the truth of your brand and the most important thing a customer feels is what we look for. Once you have achieved this, the simple and quantifiable things like aesthetics, tone and performance become easy and measurable. Our goal is to help everyone come together to express the idea in a more cohesive and aligned way. Too many times there isn’t a sense of common purpose or focus on a mutually understood outcome. It is the brand idea that ties it all together. When brand marketing is true and right, the product marketing is then simple. Nike has been brilliant at making product ads and brand ads one in the same. Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts? I believe history speaks for itself. When you look at the brands who were rigorous at putting the brand idea first, then you see how many became successful, how many thrived. Any business that has a desire to create efficiencies and believes in a strong and singular brand will win. We refer to this notion as the new ‘ROI’ or ‘RETURN ON IDEAS’. As marketers we are tasked with helping brands become profitable and remembered, we think this becomes paramount in how they behave to drive success. Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand? Be authentic This isn’t so much an example as an observation of the times we find ourselves in. Right now, in the time of the pandemic, the whole idea of “in this together’ and “we have your back” can be received as empty statements and may come back to bite a brand, unless that brand fulfills on those promises. Be singular Say one thing well, say it often, and don’t deviate. Staying true to your brand voice and tone are crucial. And in times of uncertainty, there is a human urge to make different choices, chase or do things that might be different to how you would normally. We urge brands to have the discipline to hold true to who they are, this is key to remaining relevant in the minds of customers. Your brand idea should be a guiding light in good times and even more so in challenging times. Be humble Never brag. Simple rule, but if observed, it will help your brand become more empathetic and respected. We always try to advise our clients against shouting loudly about their product when offering a softer, yet more empathic approach, can be much more effective. Be generous Be generous with everything, always. Your perspective. Your product. Your whole self. Showing the world, you are worth sharing is important, an open and inclusive perspective. Be invitational If generosity becomes a brand mantra, then it is only natural to be welcoming and inclusive. And we feel this is an important step in creating harmony and loyalty with customers. Participation is key in helping the future of a brand, to make it something that is co-created and opening new and undiscovered innovation for the brand. In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that? There are many brands that have done (and are currently doing) a great job of authenticity, being who they are, making their brand believed and wanted right now. The shift and pivot from COVID has produced some interesting examples of this. Clorox, already the go-to authority on cleanliness, has deepened that notion by partnering with other brands who have a point to prove and a customer base to reassure. Personally, I love those brands that have truly put their money where their mouth is. Brands like REI will always resonant with me for their ambition to celebrate ‘the outdoors’, to cherish it above all. Articulating that by actions like closing on Black Friday (because of their fundamental belief ‘That being in nature is more important’) is such a wonderful and powerful articulation of their brand idea, and it resonated with customers. In advertising, one generally measures success by the number of sales. How does one measure the success of a brand building campaign? Is it similar, is it different? Brand success is the ultimate success, crafting a position and tone that connects time and time again. Every brand message is an advert and every avert is a brand message- the point is simple, they are inextricably linked, one needs the other. What role does social media play in your branding efforts? Social media is crucial in the success of a brand today. The discipline needed is to master continuity in messaging and staying true to the brand. What advice would you give to other marketers or business leaders to thrive and avoid burnout? Breathe. I wish I could say the job wasn’t everything but taking the time to look around and appreciate what is around you is important, life has so much more to offer. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂 Make everything with LOVE. Make this your single rule and you’ll be surprised at what you can achieve. Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life? The quote that I really like is “A rising tide floats every boat”. If we all think in this way, to look to help each other, then it can create opportunities and produce benefits for many and in ways we haven’t even thought of yet. We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂 Hamdi Ulukaya - Founder of Chobani. I found his Ted Talk truly inspiring.

Brands used to be in control, dictating what consumers should think, what they should buy and what they should watch. This is no longer the case. The control is now in the hands of consumers and staying relevant has become the most difficult job for a brand. So, what’s the answer? Why are some brands more successful than others at becoming (and staying) relevant? Maybe it is because those brands are ‘elastic’, their ability to stretch over many different product lines, resulting in more relevance and value for the customer, while still staying true to the core of who and what that brand is. To be clear, it’s not just the newcomer brands that have managed to be relevant over disparate products and stealing the limelight. Some storied brands have with effortless grace, managed to remain relevant and engaged with consumers by offering meaningful product extensions. Apple is a great example of an ‘elastic’ brand. They have successfully launched ever more diverse product extensions while always maintaining brand equity. As a brand, they have set the bar for computers, phones and other technology, yet you probably wouldn’t pull a funny face if they next came out with an Apple-branded clothing line. This is what I mean by The Elastic Brand. History is full of stories of brands that have attempted reinvention through new products, yet only to crash and burn. Many of those who have tried this actually cause consumers to question the true intent of that brand. If “Can I trust you?” starts to cross the minds of once loyal customers, that usually signals an impending downward spiral. These missteps come at a cost to the brand — and to the bottom line. The path to reinvention should always start with the DNA of the brand. What do people associate with it? Establishing this is the first step in understanding how to make the next move a successful one, whether that’s a new product line or simply a new method of consumer communication. Once on this path, the right questions must be asked, such as: what discipline or methodology could a brand apply today to stay relevant? How far does a brand have to go to totally reinvent itself in order to remain relevant? Brands often try desperately to stay relevant by offering what they feel are more compelling reinventions of their products. The word “new” seems to be becoming old at a rapid pace. So how do you make the next brand extension stick? It must resonate in a deeper and more emotive way. Customers want to be emotionally connected. Next, one must take a long, hard look at the core of the brand. Is the brand associated with prestige, or is it more functional? What makes your brand known or famous in the first place? Not only is this critical in understanding a brand’s elasticity, but it also has the wonderful byproduct of reminding the team that they can feel proud of who they are and what they stand for! (But this is a subject for another day.) Honda recently had a branded content piece for their music concert series, featuring up-and-coming talent, celebrating them and their potential success. Now it seems these days everyone is sponsoring a concert series, but this stood out. What did Honda do that was so different? The answer was simple. This wasn’t about music content; it was about a true understanding of the brand concept. They weren’t selling cars by the association of their product with music; they were selling Honda’s brand promise: “The Power of Dreams”. By sticking to what was fundamental about the brand concept, they achieved relevance and authenticity. Honda is a functional brand and, as such, has to work harder to make its brand elastic than, say, Mercedes-Benz, which is perceived as a more prestige-based concept. A brand’s elasticity is first governed by a simple perception. The more abstract the brand concept, the more elastic it is and the more it can successfully stretch into other product categories. It’s important to recognize here that people find it more plausible for prestige brands to expand their offerings beyond their normal area of expertise. For example, Mercedes-Benz could more easily develop a fashion brand than Honda. But Honda has no trouble selling anything with a motor in it, from boats to lawnmowers. This is an important distinction. A functional brand has analytical assumptions made about it. The style of people’s thought about a functional brand is more rational. Aligning brand and consumer more perfectly requires both parties to bring something to the table. It also requires identifying the customer’s style of thinking – is it holistic or analytical?” People who think holistically view subjects not only by their features, but also by how they exist in the wider context. They think about more than just the product; they think about that product’s place in the world. Does it affect the environment? Will my friend approve if I buy it? Does this product (and brand) match my values? An analytical thinker, however, questions the features of a product, such as how does this product compare side-by-side with the competition? What’s the MPG? Which offers the best financing deal? No single brand can say, “We only have holistic-thinking customers”, but it can still target them. Or, more to the point, it can attempt to change how their customers think, to be more holistic in their appreciation and judgment of the brand. These two things — identifying whether the brand concept is prestigious or functional and determining whether the customer’s thinking style is holistic or analytical — form the bedrock upon which a brand can determine how to create and benefit from its elasticity; how to shape extensions and communications that are greeted with approval and acceptance, rather than dismissal or irrelevance. As an innovative creative agency, LO:LA is constantly looking for ways to help brands relate to customers, to stay relevant. We take data, insight and intuition and turn them into experiences that make people feel things, say things and then do things. Our goal is to find that sweet spot between the most relevant brand story (the brand’s DNA) AND the most salient consumer truth (how the customer thinks). This is where the magic happens. We call this approach ‘THE NEW ROI’ (return on ideas) Through nimble, intelligent collaboration with our clients and partners, we help guide a brand as it begins to listen and to anticipate their customer’s needs and communicate that through the products they create and the stories they tell.

As an independently owned advertising agency, we know how much being without each other affects our lives and livelihood. And as creatives, we are tasked with looking at every situation through a different lens and finding new ways to connect us all. In these unprecedented times, LO:LA has taken a pledge to help. If you are a business or brand in need of a pivot to your current offering or services, to create new moments that inspire customers, or to take another look at how your brand or business is connecting with the world…we are here to help! LO:LA would like to offer your business a free marketing and media audit- fresh eyes and ideas on how your brand can best make a shift- whether it’s creating new messaging or simply using what you may already have differently. Contact us to discuss how we can be of service. We truly are all in this together. And together let’s keep the wheels of life (and business) turning. Cheers!

It is always satisfying when you get to do what you love. One of the greatest pleasure’s we know as a group of like-minded souls is when we are out on location, pulling a story together. Earlier this year we had the challenge and pleasure to bring to life the stories behind Total Wine & More’s Winery Direct program. Who wouldn’t turn down the chance to spend 10 days in Napa interviewing and filming what are effectively the rock stars of Californian wine making. But I guess that is the rub, how do you do justice to a request like that with limited time and limited resources? Intelligent collaboration is the way we do things and bringing together the right team for this job was, for us, theory in practice. Five days, 10 vineyards, and what felt like an infinite number of products to capture, to do justice to this request was only going to be achieved if we thought differently about things. Just creating content was never going to be enough. Today we seem to live in a world where content is king, but that isn’t enough, less really is more. Rather than just flood the world with more things, we need to create better things, we need to connect with consumers on an authentic, sincere level. On a lifetime value basis, emotionally connected customers are more than twice as valuable as highly satisfied customers, these emotionally connected customers buy more of your products and services, visit you more often, exhibit less price sensitivity, pay more attention to your communications, follow your advice, and recommend you more – everything you hope their experience with you will cause them to do. So, deploying emotionally – connection-based experiences can help drives significant improvements in business outcomes. At LO:LA we seek out and engage with the emotionally connected customer. The Brand Storytelling Report 2015, commissioned by content marketing agency Headstream, revealed that while 80% of people (UK adults) want brands to tell stories, 85% of them can’t remember a good one. So, we’re constantly looking for ways to relate. To us it’s about holding up a mirror to consumers and letting them know the story starts from and with them. “Show customers you know them and show them you care” This then became our mantra for how we went about capturing our content. To deliver on this we strive to be as authentic as possible. We believe that having a nimble crew is not only cost effective for the client, it’s also improves our ability to be authentic. When large crews show up talent has a tendency to feel overwhelmed, especially when they aren’t hired talent. The winemakers we interviewed were relieved when they saw the size of our crew and more relaxed. Nothing was scripted, just a list of questions tailored to capture the topics we needed in the cut. We were able to move around from vineyards, tasting room and barrel rooms, capturing product still photography, b-roll and drone footage within a few hours. Having a nimble crew was a huge advantage for us as well. We were able to cover two wineries a day. Even on days when we drove from one wine region to the next, we delivered on the ask. Each location had unique elements we wanted to identify and capture. With walkie talkies in hand, we would split up and scout the best options and quickly get set up for the interview. Meanwhile, our photographer set out to capture product stills. Very passionately, we were amazed with what he was able to pull off with very little direction. Creating content is a labor of love. Having trust as a team instills trust with the interviewees and the client. Being open to all suggestions and working with a team that shares your passion and strives to deliver the best result is how we deliver on our promise of intelligent collaboration.

As the marketing landscape changes around us, it’s good to look for inspiration in unusual places. Inspiration can be found in life-changing historic events and experiences. Tactical Mastermind In 1804, Napoleon was crowned the Emperor of France and established himself as Europe’s dictator and is widely considered a tactical mastermind. But the aspect that interests me in this particular victory is Napoleon’s invention and use of the Corps system, an assembly of small armies that have everything they need to engage an enemy: infantry, cavalry and artillery. These armies of 10,000 to 40,000 men march together in close proximity — no more than 10 miles apart — and could, at short notice, assist each other in fighting an enemy. At a predetermined time and location could come together to provide overwhelming fire power and defeat whomever stood against them. The Power of Small Teams In 2013, Gallup released a report called “The State of The American Workplace” which showed that smaller companies have more engaged employees. In fact, 42% of employees working at companies of 10 employees or fewer are engaged at work, compared to only 30% of employees engaged at larger companies. We can equate these 10-person companies to 10-person teams. A recent Forbesarticle shared one of Jeff Bezos’rules, or philosophies, at Amazon: if a team cannot be fed by two pizzas, then that team is too large. The reasoning is quite straightforward and basic. More people requires more communication, more bureaucracy, more chaos, and more of pretty much everything that slows down projects, hence why large organizations are oftentimes pegged as being so inefficient. FORBES ARTICLE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/04/15/why-smaller-teams-are-better-than-larger-ones/#3b46ef021e68 FAST COMPANY ARTICLE: https://www.fastcompany.com/3037542/productivity-hack-of-the-week-the-two-pizza-approach-to-productive-teamwork But beyond the virtue of smaller, fully-functioning teams is the magic of decisive leadership. Smaller teams move faster, iterate at a higher frequency, and provide greater innovation for the company. The Volkswagen Golf GTI, one of the most well-known hatchbacks in history, was created by a team of eight. A little appreciated fact is that many of today’s largest technology companies created their first successful products with teams of fewer than 10 people. This point is illustrated by J. Richard Hackman, the Edgar Pierce Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University. His rule of thumb is “no double digits.” Hackman has said, “Regardless of the exact, magic number, the idea of working within small teams is believed to help diminish various innovation killers like groupthink and social loafing. There are several other benefits for working in small teams like more effective communication, greater trust among team members, and less fear of failure”. MIT SLOAN ARTICLE:https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/get-things-done-with-smaller-teams/ Think Nimble It’s Napoleon’s example of what we call ‘intelligent collaboration’ and ‘nimble thinking’ that inspires us at LOLA; the notion that you don’t need everything in great depth, but rather the ability to adapt with just the right understanding of everything that is needed to solve a problem. A network of similar organizations with specialized knowledge can be called upon at the appropriate moment, but not necessarily at the beginning of a project. For any brand, a network of agile, nimble, and skilled people is essential, but the art of bringing to bear the right person at the right time requires a set of lateral moves coming from a more creative mindset. Giving clients this ability is something we strive for.Our goal is to help brands develop efficient, simple and extremely effective solutions. Napoleon’s tactics for winning the battle of Austerlitz is a sure shining example of just that. Sometimes to shape the future you have to look to the past.

Brand president: ‘It’s an all senses immersive experience’ As the leaders of Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar discussed how to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the brand’s first restaurant, chef-partner Kevin Monahan said he wished he could give guests an inside look at the inspiration behind the Chef’s Table menu. That included telling people about his grandma’s Fig Upside Down Cake, a special dessert on the carefully curated menu. “If people can just talk to my grandmother about why she’s so passionate about the dish,” Fleming’s President Beth Scott said, recalling Monahan’s suggestion. Fleming’s, whose parent company is Tampa, Fla.-based Bloomin’ Brands, took that idea and rolled with it. Earlier this month, Monahan’s wish came true when the flagship restaurant in Newport Beach, Calif. debuted a new immersive “Taste the Future” dining event for guests. The 360-degree behind-the-plate experience is reminiscent of Disneyland’s defunct Circle Vision “America the Beautiful” attraction. The wall-to-wall multi-camera movie gives diners an inside look at local suppliers — from Baja California fisheries to Napa Valley vineyards. Flemings Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar chef-partner Kevin Monahan. Monahan and other artisans narrate stories about each coursed dish. At the inaugural Taste the Future event, the dining room “theater” walls projected an aerial view of the picturesque Baja California coast as guests were served a striped bass dish. Waves crashed against rugged, rocky shorelines. A school of sea bass blanketed the screen. The visuals and Monahan’s narration give diners a glimpse behind the plate: “I am inspired by the people who are dedicated to their craft,” he narrates. “When I learned the story of the sustainable striped sea bass farm in Baja, I felt like the coast was calling me. It was meant to be part of this menu.” Scott said the goal is to “transport guests to the time, place and season that their food is from with sensory surprises throughout the five-courses.” When a Wagyu ribeye medallion with roasted root vegetables is served, the film shows chef Monahan using his expert knife skills to cut the delicate vegetables. He can smell their freshness, and he relays that to guests in the voiceover. “It’s like eating a plate out of the garden,” he said. Sanjiv Gupta, operating partner at Fleming’s in Newport Beach, acts as the host of the evening. He often tells a story about the wine paired with each meal. The striped bass dish, for example, is paired with a Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc. The screens show the rolling hillsides of Mondavi’s Napa Valley vineyards. Gupta, glass in hand, tells diners the legendary story of how the famed vintner created and coined the dry, barrel-aged Fume Blanc. Gupta, who along with Monahan was awarded Fleming’s Partners of the Year in 2018, also gives tasting notes to guests. In the fourth course, a Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve from Daou in Paso Robles, Calif. is paired with the Wagyu dish. “It should be luscious and silky to your mouth,” Gupta says. Taste the Future is not just a Disneyland-style visual show. It’s also a sensory experience that brings “storytelling to the next level,” Scott said. At the center of tables, draped with starched white tablecloths, is a box filled with items diners can touch or smell. Each item has ties to the dish they are being served. The first course, for example, is Alaskan octopus (left) served with a squid ink reduction. In the box, diners can touch a piece of the white coral used as a home for the octopuses. Diners can also grab a few slivers of mesquite wood, the same kindle Monahan uses for the second course: smoked tomato soup. “It’s an all senses immersive experience,” Scott said. “It is a creative way to do farm to fork in a different way.” After fine tuning the system for several months, Fleming’s in Newport Beach debuted the first event Aug. 1. The chain plans to offer the experience, which cost $200 per person, once a month. The next one is scheduled Sept. 7. Fleming’s declined to offer the captial investment. In addition to the monthly events, Fleming’s said it is open to create a customized experience for private or corporate events. It could be a curated Paris-themed birthday with a French-inspired menu and a visual journey throughout the City of Light. “We are letting it take a life of its own,” Scott said. And, for now, she said the immersive experience is only available at Fleming’s in Newport Beach, founded in 1998 by veteran restaurateurs Paul Fleming and Bill Allen. There are no plans to roll out Taste the Future to the rest of the 69-unit chain, which has been busy upgrading older venues. The Fleming’s in Newport Beach is among a handful of restaurants that have recently been remodeled to “deformalize” the look of the dimly-lit steak house, Scott said. Eight remodels will be completed in 2019. The changes include adding more natural light and “getting rid of the dark smoky club atmosphere,” she said. Is Fleming’s trying to attract a younger demographic? Not intentionally, Scott said. The idea is to be more relevant by providing guests of any age the kind of experiences they are looking for today, she said. That philosophy is what led to developing Taste the Future, an attempt to turn “fine dining” to “fun dining,” Scott said. “People want something that is more fun and interactive rather than getting steak on a plate,” she said. Contact Nancy Luna at nancy.luna@informa.com Follow her on Twitter: @fastfoodmaven

In the 2005 film War Of The Worlds, Tom Cruise’s character, Ray, is being a bit of a jerk to his estranged son, Robbie, who is being a jerk right back. In an effort to bond, Ray decides to take his son and daughter outside to throw a baseball around in the backyard. During their conversation, Ray says to his son, “Haven’t you heard? Between me and my brother, we know everything.” Ray’s daughter then asks, “What’s the capital of Australia?” Ray says, “That’s one my brother knows”. Intelligent Collaboration. There’s a simple genius at the heart of that joke: you don’t have to know everything. With the rapid rate of change of technology and with it, the constant shape shifting of social media and influencers, there’s increasing pressure to be something of an expert in all the things, all the time. But the saying “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing” cautions us all, drink deep or not at all. Of course there’s a simple alternative to having to know everything, surround yourself with people from different disciplines and different ways of thinking, and talk to them. It takes the pressure away and allows you to focus on what you do well. At LOLA, we like to call it Intelligent Collaboration. I’m sure everyone has an idea of what collaboration is, but I’ll tell you what it’s not. Collaboration isn’t just saying nice things about other people’s ideas while you quietly push your own agenda. Being nice while working in parallel might feel like collaboration because, in theory you’re working on the same project, but in reality you’re not building a stronger solution — you’re potentially destroying it. Right People. Right Time. Collaboration, like insights, should be at the heart of any project, and though it’s a liberating creative exercise, it does benefit from throwing some process around it. For instance, let’s say one of your team, has an idea for a client and brings it to you. As a group, you’d want to throw it around and ask, “Is the idea viable? Have we done it before? Is the client predisposed to this kind of thinking?” Then you should push and prod a little, and try to poke holes to see if the idea is leaking. If it seems robust, expand on it as a group and challenge the team to think about what it might look like if it were a campaign, a Superbowl spot, an outdoor billboard, or a digital ad on Facebook a YouTube pre-roll. Do all this to figure out if the idea has legs. How big can it go and how little can it be and still make sense? You don’t want to run to the client with a pie in the sky idea that could never work in the real world. Next, bring in your subject matter experts. Sure, you can google anything, but what you want is an expert opinion — an outside influence. Doing this doesn’t change the big idea, instead, it opens it up to other possibilities. At this point you want to be open to following the expert’s lead into other areas. The process of collaboration let’s you adapt and evolve, and leads to a solution that you can sell with conviction, safe in the knowledge that you could actually pull this off. “Well, duh”, I hear you say, and it sounds a bit simple, a bit obvious, it’s because it is. So why aren’t we all doing it? Well, some clients are cautious by nature and want the agency focused on the day-to-day. Fair enough, it’s their money. With that in mind, before pitching a new idea, you want to arm yourselves with the best information and make sure your argument for this brave new idea is compelling. We do this by collaborating from the start. The more we collaborate, the better we can ballpark what the investment will need to be and show what the results could be. Take the risk away and it becomes a return on ideas, not just a return on investment. Leave Your Ego At The Door. Just remember, true intelligent collaboration isn’t just about outside opinions; everyone has an opinion, some more helpful than others. However true collaboration means you’re going to have skin in the game. Don’t swoop in at the 11th hour with information the team could’ve used three days ago. Get involved. Run the risk of your idea not getting up. And be ok with that. Be part of building something you couldn’t have thought up by yourself. You might even impress yourself. Realize that there are a million jobs out there that only require effort from the neck down. No matter what your role in this industry, you’re in an industry that actually wants you to think and rewards you for doing it well. Think about it, you’re solving problems — with your brain! That’s rad. You’re making things that never existed before. Why would you not collaborate? Seriously! The odds of getting to something truly great are stacked in your favour if you have smart people to bounce ideas off of. Anything I’ve ever been awarded for came as a result of working with a team of brilliant collaborators. Management and creatives alike need to recognize the benefits of collaborating for the sake of their own careers. Only then will they become more valuable in an industry that pays them to think and create. I say, collaborate or die. Ultimately, as creative problem solvers, “the more, the better, and the different” we can think, the more successful we will all be.

GRRRL Clothing, working with creative agency LO:LA, posted Instagram videos calling for an end to racism, body-related bullying, domestic violence, sexual assault and inequality. One video opens with a voiceover saying: “When we told you ‘no,’ that should have been enough. When we say ‘stop,’ you stop.” To get that message through, the women in the video leave messages behind at stop signs in downtown Los Angeles.

As part of the “The Better Neighbor Project,” the LO:LA Agency recently teamed up with our client Garden Fresh for an inspiring volunteer day at Feeding San Diego. An affiliate of Feeding America, Feeding San Diego works to connect people with food and end hunger. The organization works with 16,000 individuals who dedicate their time to help feed more than 485,000 children, families and seniors in need every year.

How did you get started in advertising? What’s been your career road map? I started in advertising at the age of 19 in London, when I left school all I wanted to do was draw. I wanted to find a job that allowed me to make a living out of my passion, and I was lucky enough to do so. Over the last 30 years, I worked my way up from intern, to Executive Creative Director, to Agency owner. All that time it’s been about connecting with people, creating work that truly resonates with people. Our mantra at LO:LA is that everything is “Made with Love” and I’m proud to say that that resonates in everything I’ve done and that we do. What has been an important, perhaps the most important, lesson you’ve learned in your career so far? Being open and transparent about how you feel, about the work or a situation or a problem we have to solve for. Being myself and being honest have been great guides for developing more interesting and effective solutions. What keeps you motivated? Do you have a personal motto? I so love making great work. The actual process and craft of creation are things I have always loved, and I really believe that the newness of getting a new challenge and then creating to work to meet that challenge keeps me constantly motivated – it never gets old, you know? After all, this job beats working for a living. What excites you most about this industry? So many things! Off the top of my head, I’d say the convergence of technology with the immediacy of access to information, storytelling, the changing role of brands in people’s lives… are all exciting. Navigating this always-evolving industry for our clients is more exciting than ever! Where is advertising heading? What do the next five years look like? In advertising, we’re all creatively driven, and the industry continues to evolve as technology and how we interact with each other changes, so with so many variables, I don’t think I can make an accurate prediction on where advertising will be in five years. But what I’d like to see, and what we’re trying to accomplish at LO:LA, is making sure that the work serves our clients and the people that they’re trying to reach in a more human way. We’ve stopped talking at each other and have finally started talking to each other. I’d really like to champion the humanness of our industry and see where that goes. What advice do you have for emerging professionals just starting in advertising? Be a sponge. Soak in, and soak up, different types of media to see how things work. Be tenacious, be true to yourself and never give up. What’s been one of your favorite ThinkLA memories? Winning a ThinkLA creative award for our creative work on the Toyota Camry. Any closing thoughts for the ThinkLA community? It’s an honor to be part of this community. I look forward to learning, collaborating and contributing to the creative industry. Together we are stronger. Cheers.

Love and happiness are human necessities and should be at the root of everything we do. In business and the workplace, it’s easy to lose sight of those values for the sake of revenue and quantity over quality. But not for LO:LA (London: Los Angeles). Created in 2017, LO:LA is a creative agency with native roots in London, nurtured by the vibrant, collaborative culture of Los Angeles. The agency is fueled by the mantra “Made with Love” and guiding client partners towards the “Pursuit of Happierness.” Their client partners include Cycle Gear, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, GRRRL, Halo Circus, Souplantation, Sweet Tomatoes, The Creative Coalition, and Total Wine and More. We sat down with Founder and CEO Nick Platt to learn more about his award-winning agency.