Advertising Biz

I like these three ideas the best. You can read all 11 here.

9. Never, ever rehearse. At least, not as a group. Spend all the time you want standing in your underwear in front of a full-length mirror describing your creative idea or pontificating on why your strategy will change the world, but never, ever, rehearse as a group. Client meetings are about energy, enthusiasm and chemistry. Spontaneity is key. Mistakes are like comic relief.

10. Consider holding a Sex Contest. There was a time, not so long ago, when our agency held an annual (strictly voluntary) Sex Contest. Co-workers received ballots and voted for the person or persons they'd most like to sleep with in the agency, then, over the course of a week we all wrote ads and plastered them on the walls of the agency, vying for your vote. Think what you want, but nothing stokes the creative juices of an ad agency like a Sex Contest.

11. Pitch like you haven't got a shot in hell. A number of years ago, a bunch of us were working late preparing for a new-business pitch that was to take place the next morning. It was my first pitch and I mentioned to Jerry that a few of us were nervous. Jerry responded, "We don't have a chance to win this piece of business anyway, so f–– 'em." His reverse psychology worked. Thinking we had nothing to lose, we were all on our game that day and landed the business.