When: September 7, 11:30am-1pm
Where: Juban’s
Cost: Free for members; $25 for guests
Please register for this event by Wednesday, September 5, 2012.
Stefan Mumaw, the Creative Director at Callahan Creek, and author of Chasing the Monster Idea, will be speaking at September’s Professional Development Luncheon.
In advertising, ideas are our currency. We generate them everyday. Most are small, average, perhaps even puny. Occasionally, we create ideas that have size, shape and form. Then there’s the select few that we truly believe are monster ideas, the type that change behaviors, shake landscapes and spawn copycats. Monsters are rare and, as such, are prized. We all want to generate more monster ideas but monsters can be anything, we have no idea what they look like. What makes a monster idea? Better yet, how can I know that my idea has what it takes to grow monstrous? Chasing the Monster Idea author Stefan Mumaw will show you what monster ideas look like, he’ll teach you the seven characteristics you need to look for in your ideas to let loose their monster potential and he’ll reveal the reaction all monster ideas should aim to evoke in their audience: curiosity. In our industry, we can choose to chase dogs or we can choose to chase monsters. If you generate ideas for a living or simply want a measuring stick to help predict if your idea is as big as you think it is, Chasing the Monster will help you sharpen your pitchfork, gather a mob and identify the dogs from the monsters.
Chasing the Monster is based on the book Chasing the Monster Idea: The Marketer’s Almanac for Predicting Idea Epicness. At it’s core, it’s an exploration into the seven characteristics found in almost all monster advertising ideas. How did CP+B’s Subservient Chicken website for Burger King define “viral”? Why did XBOX360’s Halo 3 video game sell more units in the first week than any other game in history? Why did the Most Interesting Man in the World completely reverse an imported beer brand’s sales numbers in less than 3 months? Because they all were monster ideas that had something in common: monster characteristics. The talk is fast-paced and full of examples and stories, both of raging successes and miserable failures. It challenges us to look closer at our ideas, see them for what they are and what they could be and provides a measuring stick for our future potential monsters.
Bio
Stefan Mumaw is the Creative Director and Provider of All That Rocks at Callahan Creek, a Kansas City-area ad agency. He has authored five books, the most recent being “Chasing the Monster Idea” which examines the characteristics shared between truly monstrous creative ideas. Previously, he co-authored Caffeine for the Creative Team and Caffeine for the Creative Mind with Wendy Lee Oldfield, along with Redesigning Websites and Simple Websites. He has spoken at numerous creative industry gatherings over the years and been known to embarrass himself and those around him if given the opportunity.