Inspired by the Tory Burch Reva flats I wore to work yesterday, I decided to see what the brand was up to on Facebook.  I was excited to find some ‘Fan Only’ exclusive deals (like free shipping on all orders!) and was interested in what I had to do to get them.  Turns out, all I had to do was ‘Like’ the brand, which made it very easy for me to access these deals.

In one of her recent posts, she highlighted an item of the day that included a Fan Only discount for that day only and provided a special link… which then provided me access to the Tory Burch Facebook Store Application.

Yes, you heard me correctly, Tory Burch has her entire e-commerce store ON FACEBOOK!  What I love about this application is the ability to get her product closer to her consumer by providing an engaging and effective platform all in one place.  She makes her Fans’ experience on Facebook a one-stop shop for updates, exclusive deals, and best of all, shopping!

Stay posted for more Notes from the Field…

We invite you to join us and other supporters, like our friends at Hickory Farms, by participating in the Share Your Lunch Money event.   On November 1st we will bring lunch to the office and we will donate our lunch money to Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry™ Campaign to end childhood hunger in the U.S. You can join us by hosting a brown bag gathering in your office, family or community group.

Donations will go to providing children with access to food programs that will give them the consistent nutrition they need and deserve.

So pack your lunch Monday night and donate your lunch money on Tuesday. It’s for a great cause!

RSVP here to participate in the event and to pledge your lunch money!

Join The Cause

Facebook has decided to make us work a little harder for their users’ attention.

1.) CONTENT STREAMLINED: Introducing “The Ticker”

Users now have a Ticker on their home page that streams status changes and other small updates in a constantly updating flow.  Since our window of opportunity will be much smaller, our content will have to be super cool and sharable to make the kind of impact we want.

2.) NEWS FLASH: “The Subscribe Button”

The Subscribe Button lets users choose what stories appear on their News Feed by subscribing or unsubscribing from another user or brand’s updates… so if you annoy them with too much extraneous content, they’ll just ignore you. Relevance is more important than ever!

3.) BUT WE “LIKED” YOU SO MUCH: Hello “Open Graph”

For applications, the new Open Graph actually lets us develop interactive pages to encourage our fans to do more than just press the “Like” button.  Now, fans can share what’s unique about our products.  Chris will no longer simply just like Cheerwine… Chris is now drinking a Cheerwine.  We can even get Angel to say that she’s layering with Cuddl Duds. Would my gifting Hickory Farms be too obvious? Time to get creative with verbs.

4.) THE ONLINE AUTOBIOGRAPHY: “The Timeline”

While User profiles are about to undergo a major change to the new Timeline format, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzPEPfJHfKU), Brand pages won’t be getting this upgrade…at least not yet.  Insights, however, have now become bigger and better… check out how your Facebook Insights are changing here (http://ads.ak.facebook.com/ads/creative/insights/page-insights-guide.pdf)

Overall we think these changes will make it even more interesting to build and maintain your social media programs. More functionality means more opportunity in our book, so we’ll stay on top of all the changes and industry banter for you and be ready to act when the time is right!  Stay posted for more Notes from the Field…

Since I started at wwd&s a year ago, I have survived the “snowpocalypse”, an earthquake, and now, the city’s first hurricane in decades… am I bad luck or what?

The chaos that was Hurricane Irene swept through the wwd&s office on Thursday afternoon faster than the actual storm was moving up the coast.  Paolo was calling Home Depot about plywood installation, Phyllis was inviting us all upstate, and I made plans to get the hell out of dodge.  No way was my first floor apartment going to survive this storm unscathed.

48 hours later I was standing in my completely dry and untouched apartment thinking, “Well… that blew.”

Or should I say Hot agency in the City.  Man its hot in the city this week, but its so much hotter at wwd&s.  With all of our projects running on high at the moment, the staff are literally flying around the office getting great strategy and design out the door for our clients.

I’m in my third week here, and I still stand amazed at the amount of great work happening here on some of the tightest timelines.  Thank goodness our AC unit is working to help keep everyone cool… So we are in fact running wild and still looking pretty!

Thanks Nick Gilder, your song really was our theme song this week.

Being the new intern at wwd&s is more like being an awkward freshman in a group of really cool seniors. My first day here, Phyllis dropped the f-bomb twelve times, Harry had to leave the office to think, Sheena gave me the ins-and-outs of being an intern, and Jason bought Angel a love fern. I could already tell these were my kind of people. Legit and unbelievably cool. Wait, you tell me not all New Yorkers are like this? Nah.

I just moved here from Virginia and took this chance solely to perfect my alter-city-ego, Carrie Bradshaw. I am saving all of my Cheerwine cans in hope to some day recycle enough to buy Monolos. This whole experience is new to me and I can’t wait to soak up all the knowledge that these geniuses at wwd&s will bestow to me.

The time has come. The PORKSLAPS are cold. The Submissions are in. The TONY HAWK is flying to the East Coast.

Wrath of Cannes is tomorrow night! CONEY ISLAND. 7pm.
Drink, watch, laugh and make-out with your neighbor as @Tony Hawk and the @Birdhouse crew decide which finalist will take home the GRAND CONEY and the CASH (among other prizes).

The subway system will be flooded with the young and restless of the Advertising industry.
DIRECTIONS to the venue (Cha’s Cha’s):

Remember, if you bring 4 friends, you get a FREE Wrath of Cannes t-shirt at the door.

And don’t forget to follow @wrathofcannes on Twitter for updates and debacherous pics during the event.

Smell you there.

AdAge, Adrants, ihaveanidea, Agency Spy, NYEgotist and Shots are all over this years’ WRATH of CANNES.

Why? Who knows.

Cha Cha’s? Coney Island? Tony Hawk and the Birdhouse? $1 Porkslap beers? Under the table cash?

No. It’s to see who will have their name immortalized and infamized on The Grand Coney. The trophy that AdAge called, “By far, the best advertising trophy ever”? You’ll have to show up to find out.
Get your creative sh#t together and submit your campaign idea to www.wrathofcannes.com Entries due by June 17th.

And make sure to follow Wrath on Twitter for updates on the show and for general debacherous dialogue: @wrathofcannes

What a difference two years make! In ‘09 I quit my job and went back to school. Here I am now – working at wwd&s in NYC. Laughing at my co-worker’s jokes, whacking piñatas and soaking up as much as a newbie can. What’s really amazing is the culture. At my old job, someone would’ve bitched if I misplaced a pen. I had to mind my language, posture and eating habits. Now I just have to learn to swear creatively and eloquently while eating office Kit-Kats.

Honestly, sometimes I feel a bit out of my element here. Is it really okay to lounge on the sectional for a quick nap while The Black Keys play in the background? Are the visible hangovers from the last night’s office party really acceptable? One thing’s certain. I’ve hit the jackpot! Don’t get me wrong, gallons of blood, sweat and tears go into this agency, but I’ve done the hard part. I’ve successfully switched industries. Yay me! It’s time to enjoy the ride. Goodbye slingbacks and champagne. Hello sausage, beer and flip-flops.

Long hours, hard work, rock n roll and a little bit of luck. And here we are right in the middle of it. Standing in front of a Legend. It’s a beautiful day in Salisbury, North Carolina and we’ve just launched the Cheerwine Legend Campaign with our client Carolina Beverage Corporation. We uncovered some truth about the brand and ran with it. When you hear the commercials you’re not going to believe this but they’re 100% true and they’re also great advertising. We got down in the middle of it and nobody can say we didn’t sweat for this one. It pushed us to the limit and we’re better for it. We think it’s legendary work and we hope it does legendary things for Cheerwine. Read the NYTimes story here.

It’s Friday afternoon at wwd&s and I’m chewing on a Porkslap trying to make up for the damage done by last night’s margaritas.

Chris and I have assumed the position on our respective sides of the couch and are racking our brains for some good Porkslap material.

I don’t mean to brag, but I have been nurturing my relationship with the brand All afternoon. I think we are falling for each other (yes I’m talking about me and a beer can – what? Excuse me -It’s research.)

I just finished my first month interning at wwd&s and here are 5 things that I have learned from my experiences here thus far…

1.     P. taught me that “It’s Ok to hit a woman in Italy.”

2.     Mad Money Billboard taught me not to be alarmed if and when Jim Cramer makes his way into your dreams, it happens.

3.     Observation taught me that “Sorry I am just creative” is a great excuse for just about anything, i.e. “Oh did I take your seat? Oh did I forget to e-mail you back? Oh did I break the handle off the fridge?  . . . Sorry! I’m creative (very).”

4.     The Partners here like to be treated like normal cool people not like Czars or Chilean dictators- how refreshing!

5.     Drinking Porkslap counts as product research.

So I think I’m starting to like this whole “Advertising” business. Plus the people here are not nerds and that’s pretty cool. (Except for Dan. Dan is a nerd.)

Dear Harry,

Everything about this trip has been awesome. Even the flight was great. Remember how I was joking about how they sell porn in airports? Well, I got to sit next to a guy who actually bought some. His mullet was fantastic.

SXSW just flat-out rocks. I’m learning a ton of stuff down here. The Internet will become more intuitive. Keynote Improv kinda sucks, and one day, fleeing criminals will be ripped to shreds by robo-cheetahs.

After the conference we hit Austin’s bar scene. I had a great time from what I’m told. Dan bought a new top hat, Angel tore up the dance floor in hooker shoes and I think Sarah played a fiddle at some point.

Paolo just told me the other Chris is here. Apparently we had a long talk at the bar. News to me.

Hope all is well. Wish you were here. See you soon.

Best,

Chris

It’s ok. I don’t mind. I’ve got stuff to do. But everyone else here at wwd&s can’t wait to breathe the ether in Austin. Their bags are by the front door. They’re all leaving for the airport from work. Gill’s already there. Chris is on a train (?) and will arrive when it’s over.

Everyone is getting “ready” for the trip.

Phyllis takes one last client phone call when her pen goes dry. I need a pen, she screams out.

Angel doesn’t have a pen. Alex doesn’t have a pen. Jason doesn’t have any in the supply cabinet.

Later, as everyone is leaving but me…

HW:  You fancy-asses may be going to sxsw, but you still need  good a pen.

PD:    Ya. I’m gonna bring a bottle of Brioschi, too.

Tomorrow night almost the entire wwd&s office heads to SXSW. While some of us will just be getting drunk off free booze, most of us will actually be working as a Powermat street team handing out goodies. I know at least one of us will be doing both…

This will be my first time going to South By, so I’m not entirely sure what to expect, but here is what I know so far:

1.  It is supposed to be 80º in Austin on Saturday.
2.  For an interactive conference, the SXSW website looks like it was built in 2001.
3.  All the music festivals begin the day AFTER we come back to New York.
4.  I have RSVP’d for over 30 parties happening over the 3 nights I’ll be in Texas, and…
5.  I still have no idea what talks are happening during the day.

I’ll be doing my best to document the Powermat street team and the rest of our trip for a future blog post. I apologize in advance if the footage is all out of focus.

Revolutions sweeping 3,4, maybe 5 countries, mass protests at the statehouse in WI, lawmakers on the lam, my son’s off his star wars lego obsession and on to zhu zhu pets.  Tornadoes in Tennessee. What the hell’s gonna happen next week?

As Donald Rumsfeld said, there are known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns.  I don’t know whatever he meant by all that, but I do have some important questions after 1 week with ‘the Sons’.

Will Paolo’s beloved take him back after his Valentine’s Day ‘gift’ to her. Will someone notice that Alex has mastered the banjo in 3 days. Will Eric make it through SXSW without having to post bail at one point. Will the guy in Bryant Square Park who’s always cleaning his toes, NOT be there when I go for lunch.

Will the Mets hold on to a 5 game lead in September and avoid getting sued by the Madoff trustee?

Will I be able to stop hitting the kit kats? (yah)

Answer to all: Probably not – but as we always say around this time of year. ‘Hope Springs eternal.’

I used to live in London, where Valentine’s Day is considered…well actually it’s not considered a holiday at all. So NYC couldn’t be so different right?

No cheesy video of me playing the guitar, no heart necklace; just something simple and sweet…

My first thought: A bottle of Cheerwine.

Only after I sent my gift did a colleague at work finally fill me in on New York City’s policy on Valentine’s:

“A bouquet of roses and a flimsy note wont cut it. Women in NY expect a card, a thoughtful present and of course a romantic night out on the town.”

My gift: 1 bottle of soda.

No card, no flowers, just a wwd&s sticker labeled “from yours truly”. Shit.

Later on, my beloved thanked me for the tasty drink and told me to drop dead.

Knew it. I should have sent her two.

Really needed this on Monday

At wwd&s, like every company I’ve worked for, I am in charge of ordering snacks. I decided to try a little test of how something new would be received by the staff. When I first started making the orders, Gill told me that I must keep Nacho Cheese Doritos stocked at all times.  I tried to push the envelope by adding Cool Ranch Doritos to the mix.  Well, I’m not going to go into detail about the consequences I’ve faced from that decision, but I will say I’m grateful to be still working.

I had to redeem myself.

My sweet tooth had been alerting me that there were others in this office who love chocolate.  Then one day I heard the statement that gave me the chance to put one “in the win column”.  Harry went to the fridge, looked around, and said, “I wish we had some chocolate.”  I don’t think he intended it as a green light to order candy, but that’s exactly what I did. A gamble? Sure.

I went with KitKats and Snickers. Fun size. I’m happy to report it has been a huge success.  But now, the only problem is that the chocolate seems to go faster than I anticipated. And everyone blames me when we are out. Which is pretty much 5 minutes after I restock.

Ordering snacks is a thankless job which is ironic when you consider the joy it spreads. Which gives me an idea. Almond Joy. Yes.

"them clydesdales aren't funny."

This Sunday, the country will be held hostage by millions of televisions for a few hours. While Super Bowl XLV shouldn’t disappoint, we at wwd&s are mostly excited to see the commercials. (Thanks for nothing, Jets.)

As for me personally, I’m usually half-polluted by kickoff. I’ve found there’s no better way to measure the greatness of a spot.  If my surviving brain cells remember it, it must’ve been a winner. And if I can’t, one of the Sons is usually pretty quick to clue me in the next day. Providing they didn’t conduct the same test I did.

Hope you enjoy the game.

Cheers.