One of the sad downsides of the current economy swing towards freelance, internships, etc., is the lack of classic advertising training that used to be part of the entry level job experience at most big agencies.

When I started my first agency job at Backer Spielvogel Bates, we did a one year program in which we worked across all departments of the agency, including account, creative, production and media.  Very valuable experience which gives you a better understanding of how an agency works, and more appreciation for the skills we depend on in each respective department.

In this big agency experience you also get an introduction to basic pricipals of working in a client service busines.  "We appreciate the opportunity our clients give us to work on their business, and we are committed to their business success."

At BSB we drank Miller, and BBDO we drank Pepsi.

And at ICON Worldwide, when we build FaceBook fanpages, blogs, apps, etc., we "Like", "Share" and download.  We never ask our start up clients for free samples, we pay for them.

(A) We are proud of our work, and (B) we have promised our clients OUR work will help them succeed so we do our part to contribute to their metrics of success.  Most importantly, (C) they have paid us for this work, and in ANY day and age, we appreciate the opportunity to prove ourselves.

So, I appreciated this memo from Leo Burnett, a classic reminder not to forget who puts a roof over our head (Falkon ;) and food on our table.  As well, I miss the age of legendary agency leaders whos name was their brand:

Click here to download:

75890465-Leo-Burnett-Note.pdf (137 KB)

I have no real way of verifying the authenticity of this ad.  I can, however, validate it simply as a good idea...

Although Switzerland Tops the 2011 Global Innovation Ranking pubblished by INSEAD and the United Nations the scores for the creative and technology based industries in Switzerland were amongst the worst.  

Switzerland is a small country with no natural resources, a highly educated workforce and an export based economy with a concentration of scientific, life sciences and pharmaceutical companies.   Its’ cities, Zurich and Geneva consistently rank amongst the highest standards of living. 

With a massive concentration of science and pharma related industries, it is no surprise that Switzerland scored highly in areas such as patent and trademark applications:   

• Trademark applications (1)
• Quality of research institutions (2)
• Science Outputs (2)
• Employment of knowledge workers (4)
• University & Industry collaboration (2)
• Knowledge Creation (4)
• Computer Spending (1)

When you think of Innovation, you think about new ideas, technologies and the ability to build businesses around this. In Technology and Creativity Switzerland ranked at the bottom of the list:

• Business Environment (30)
• Time to start a new business (75)
• Cost to start a new business (23)
• Online participation (56)
• Strength of investor protection (119)
• Creative services exports (97)

There are two key messages here:  The Swiss need to start looking elsewhere for innovation. Pharmas patents are under pressure, many will expire in the next two years. India reengineers many generics, and more and more research is being moved to China.

Simultaneously, Switzerland needs to improve its rankings related to Creativity and Technology.  Although firms like Google and Yahoo maintain major operations here in Switzerland, the innovation is coming out of US headquarters. There are a too few examples of Swiss based companies who have developed and successfully launched innovative creative and technology products.  Paper.li and IA Writer are two isolated examples of innovative creative and technology products that have succeeded outside of Switzerland.  But there are also lame examples of companies who have taken a great idea and repackaged it as a Swiss start-up.  DeinDeal, is a good example of the Swiss imitation = innovation model, it's ok, but Groupon did it first.

The Swiss Opportunity, Science & Technology Innovation

Consider what would happen if Switzerlands once leading design community was reinvigorated, technology brought up to date, and joined in collaberation with the scientific community. The possibilities for real game-changing innovation are amazing.  There are awesome movements happening right now bringing design, technology and healthcare together.  New initiatives such as GE’s crowdsourcing program for Cancer treatments, or 23andMe are just two small examples of how science and design can partner.  This should be Switzerlands mandate for future innovation.

Particularly in the current economic climate, Switzerland is well postitioned to promote investment in innovative platforms.  With strong govenment support, venture resources combined with the already present pharma and science leadership, a terrific platform is already in place for REAL innovation.

We think we are getting closer.  The ongoing discussions across all media about how pharma companies, patients, and foundations can come together effectively and responsibly on social media.  We find ourselves in a unique position as a combination of current clients, such as Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research and the Swiss Association for anxiety and depression, merge with prospecive clients and projects.  We do believe there are success stories out there.  One of them is in the recent experience of the Michael J. Fox Foundation who were able to register 500 new clinical trial participants inside of one month, with social media spreading the word.  What is clear from this experience is, social media doesnt happen by itself, it needs a clear set of objectives, and strategic roadmap and a dedicated personnell to support the effort client side.  I've added a few slides to the ICON Blog.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7376848n&tag=contentBody;storyMedi...

Hello Jonathan, Thank-you for your feedback. When Google+ becomes a bit more established and develops an API, we will begin to consider it as an autoposting destination. Thank-you for using Posterous! Kathleen

Seriously, the travelling salesman in me could not be more excited.  Imagine the PPTEverywhere possibilities:

On Thursday, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published a new patent application from Apple that shows the company could be planning on adding mini-projection devices to a coming iteration of its iPhone line and/or developing a projection add-on for MacBooks and other Apple portable devices. "Today's incredibly detailed patent application reveals how they're working on pico-like projectors for iOS devices and how these projectors will work with a shared workspace in presentations," according to Patently Apple via Atlantic.

While we watch Europe and the United States plunge towards new economic lows, Switzerland is actually struggling to maintain a balance between it's own successful management and the rest of the world's failures.  The New York Times,

"With the rest of the world so untidy, Switzerland looks pristine. Despite a generous safety net, this tiny nation does not have other onerous expenses, like a big military. Its current account surplus is an enviable 15 percent of gross domestic product, and it has low debt. The economy grew 2.6 percent last year; unemployment is around 3 percent."  

The Swiss Franc has become a comodity with the stability of gold in an uncertain market. The impact of a strong Franc is not all good, for export driven businesses, a large portion of the Swiss economy, a strong franc means higher prices.  And normal tourists are finding hotels and meals priced out of reach (a typical, smile meal can cost CHF60.- or $80).  On the other side, the actual Swiss population is, no doubt, enjoying shopping in New York right now.

Living here, you come to understand two strengths of Switzerland versus the EU and particularly the United States.  First, economies of scale matter.  Switzerland is a small enough country that it can react quickly to market changes, impose regulation when needed, etc., in a way the EU and US are too unwieldy to do.  

Secondly, the Swiss system of direct democracy is a far more honest form of politics than the US representative system.  We saw this in the debt ceiling debate.  In the US, we elect officials based on promises and versus the competition.  Once elected, our individual influence is lessoned by distance and the forces of big business lobby groups.

Now imagine is each US citizen was given the option of voting for a debt ceiling hike, or a deficit reduction program.  Imagine what would have happened if, as in the Swiss system, our politicians had to reach out and convince every one of us of their position.  Hard work, but likely far different results.

As mobile app development takes off, in a huge way, it's amazing to think about of the internets largest brands, each with big Microsoft funding, bungling the launch of their mobile applications.  FaceBooks much discussed upcoming iPad app., was reportedly discovered in the code of its iPhone app, see NY Times.  The formal FB app has still not officially been released.  And, yesterday, Skype introduced its new (and far overdue) iPad app., in the iTunes store, only to pull it down almost immediately, see CNET.  It's back in the store now, and a pleasure to use.

The awesome take away from these episodes is only this: All aspects of mobile application development are now in a constant and rapid state of evolution encompassing, business case scenario, screen design & user interface to the actuall development and coding (native apps vs. HTML5, etc.)  Unlimited resources, access to the best developer talent does not save anyone from the pitfalls of working in such a new area.  It seems clear that the point of influx is upon us: consumers have signalled their acceptance of mobile platforms and companies are ramping up investment in meeting this demand.  Agency's, designers and developers have a great unchartered new medium to delve into, not without occasional misstep.