I am old enough to know that there will ALWAYS be people cooler (smarter, richer, nicer, etc.) than me.  I am also old enough to be totally OK with that.  But DAMN, just when you think you have it ALL figured out and are on the cusp of rocking the world, a friend (who’s in the know) calls with the dreaded “have you seen these guys?” And they just got $90 million for their coolness.  Damn.

Kathy Griffin is my new hero.  She is unapologetically doing exactly what she wants to do and making an absolute mint doing it.  She is absolutely hilarious and I love the fact that she knows who she is and is perfectly fine with it.

So, what can one learn from watching Kathy?  Figure out who you are (or what your company represents) and what it is you have to offer that is unique from everyone else – even if it isn’t glamorous.  Ego seems to get in the way of a lot of companies’ success – they decide some business  (small clients, smaller budgets) is beneath them.

I find that OEI (that’s how we refer to One Eleven internally) is used to being on the D list – being underestimated is fine with us – we don’t particularly care about being glamorous (the right ideas combined with the right clients matters) and there is not a big ego in the house – we will continue to unapologetically do what we do and make a mint doing it.

Some days it is really hard to have the right idea, at the right time, with the right team. When I talk to clients, they spend a lot of time in the devil’s advocate chair – and I know why they do it, but do they ALL have to play that role? I’m looking for a hero – someone who is willing to ask the smart questions and then take ACTION. We are not talking about jumping over buildings here or outracing freight trains – just a little willingness to explore opportunities we all know make sense. NO, I don’t have all the stats (yet) – NO, I don’t have ROI (yet), NO, no one else has done it (YET!)…but I’m working on it. By the time you trade in your red costume with the tail and horns, one of your competitor’s will have eaten your lunch and I can’t wait!

We spend most of our time trying to plant seeds of ideas with brand teams.  Most days it is exciting and challenging – and some days it plain wears you out.  Today we took the afternoon off and planted a community garden as a team.  Yes, it was challenging – we had to bring load after load of topsoil, then load after load of plants (all donated by local nurseries!).  We worked together to prep the ground, unload the topsoil and then plant each and every plant.  The garden looks incredible and our neighbors were stopping by to thank us for our hard work.  We were all dirty, sweaty and tired…and really proud of what we had created together.

Maybe that is another thing that makes us different than other interactive agencies – we truly are a part of our community – it’s not just about us – we are part of something bigger.  And we are trying to make it even better…one seed at a time.

Looks like I’ll get to use my Italian, finally.  It looks like the smartest place to talk to pharma about mobile marketing is overseas, since you can ONLY talk to doctors and they are ALL mobile.  Logical, right?  We’ve had some really amazing conversations about how to best make this happen – but it may be easier than I thought.  Just today I had 4 conversations about global mobile marketing – and specifically, global mobile sampling and market research.  We have the pipeline, ready to roll – the doctors have the devices, ready to play.   Whoever steps up will rule the world…literally.

We can see the future of marketing to the healthcare professional…and it is mobile. I know this how?? According to our pals at Manhattan Research, 54% of healthcare professionals (HCPs) carry a smart phone/PDA. Hmm, I have the opportunity to get to the hip of over half of the HCPs in the U.S. now – DIRECTLY, with my brand message and samples. “What percentage of the doctors will I reach if I use mobile marketing?” asked one large pharma e-biz person – my response is “What percentage are you going to miss by NOT offering mobile marketing?” – a bigger question. It’s another way to potentially reach your docs – one that P.S. No one else is doing (except the ubiquitous ePocrates – which pimps THEM much more than YOU).

Do you want to have another, wide open line to communicate with your doctors?? Take a chance, open your eyes, pilot a program for cryin’ out loud!!! Mobile Mecca is right in front of you, my friend.

I had an eye opening experience this morning. I was with my cousin (she’s visiting from Seattle), waiting to get a bagel this morning in a shop in my neighborhood. We stood there, cash in hand, waiting for someone to talk to us. No one else was in the store at this point – and there were 6 guys working behind the counter. We waited to be acknowledged and finally ended up saying, “Um, can someone help us?” At that point, the nearest guy (who had his back to us the whole time) turned, and looked surprised to see us there – then we got our bagels…eventually. Jeez.

Business lessons loom everywhere. I took a look around today to make sure none of our clients are standing there with cash in hand, waiting for us to pay attention (I asked my team to do the same!) I’ll make sure to be alert – it really sucks to want to do business with a company and they choose instead to keep their back to you.

P.S. The shop had a tip jar labeled “Tips for the Guys” – I put a buck in – it is the last buck they’ll get from me.