Octavian Mihai

Our bullshit detector gets better and better. Transparency slowly but surely takes more and more space in our communications, politics, business and pretty much in any other social endeavors. However gimmicks still work. The tail is very long… with believers in magic and empty promises. There was a time when advertising was based on strong [...]

[this is a cross-post from the Rock&Social blog] There has been some confusion lately regarding Rock&Social’s services. This post is meant to clarify some of the misunderstandings. We are not a marketing company. We completely understand all forms of marketing since in past lives we worked in traditional and digital agencies. However, Rock & Social [...]

ORIGIN Mid-90′s, 00′s AGE 1 – 15yr old FOUNDERS Web ‘designers’, geeks, programmers, technical background. ADVERTISING IDEOLOGY None. Other: social media and technology is the future. FOCUS On last click call-to-action intent. MOST FALLACIOUS ARGUMENT Create buzz-oriented inexpensive content, invest in SEO Publicize that content on niche hubs and drive users to a corporate microsite Use a [...]

TL;DR: work on brands you consume, keep your intuitive insights, be analytical, ask the right questions, be aware of your customers’ needs and wants, of how your product answers them, of what differentiates the  product from the competition & of the market’s current and future states CONTEXT: advertising, customer insight, branding, marketing strategy. INTENT: This [...]

TL:DR: Stay focused, creative and critical of your concepts. Context: advertising, entrepreneurship, marketing agency, digital marketing Intention: I would like to explore a bit the link between creativity, idea generation and the concept of Big Ideas Creativity What we call creativity is mainly determined by our capacity to: 1. generate ideas 2. communicate those ideas About ad [...]

Context: Advertising & marketing agencies, creative class, creative-on-demand. Brand keepers, creative directors and strategists need to have a deep understanding of the client’s business strategy, the creative direction and customer insights. Intent: This post presents a simple framework to get around the business strategy question. Note that the creative direction and customer insights will be analysed in [...]

Got some mail today. I was told that my writings seem to support a pretty square vision of advertising. My personal position: I dislike hypocrites. Our society and tribe will not get anywhere unless we accept our human condition. I’ll stop here. Catch me for a beer if you want to get philosophical. My official position: Everybody should do [...]

TL;DR (TooLong; Don’t Read):  Creative on-demand workers, particularly those in the marketing sector, are in the business of selling stuff.   Context: marketing, advertising, entrepreneurship, marketing agency, digital marketing  Intention: There is nothing new in this post. I just intend putting things in perspective a bit and simplify the relationship between creativity, marketing and advertising. [...]

Here is my take on the creativity debate. The concept of creativity has been diluted to a homeopathic level. Meaning, it is empty of substance and its only impact is a feel-good placebo effect. And as always there is hope. Let’s get this show on the road. Who are the truly creative people? You answer: Plato, Da Vinci, [...]

Many of you might know, I am obsessed with podcasts. Since the new iphone upgrade, my compulsion made me listen to them at 2x. Here is my current list. Look for them in iStore if you cannot find them on the links I provided. The Accidental Creativity with Tod Henry Ad Age in NY Big [...]