Pixar Excellence

To celebrate the Oscars picked up by the latest Pixar movie, "Up" Sunday night, I sat down and watched the movie for the second time tonight.  Throughout the film, I was moved by so many things that I'd waste time listing them all.  Once again, Pixar struck movie gold and took me on a ride that few stories have in a long time.  The Academy agreed, nominating "Up" for Best Motion Picture (in addition to Best Animated Film)-an honor given to only one other animated film ever, Beauty and the Beast.

I've been thinking a lot about brand for the past few weeks.  Tonight I began to think quite a bit about the brand of Pixar.  Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monster's Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up.  15 years, 22 Academy Awards, 6 Golden Globes and 3 Grammys.  There's a certain level of expectation that I feel when I see Luxo Jr. jumping on top of the modest "PIXAR" logo and replacing the "I".  No matter what the story, I know that I'm in for one of the best movies of the year--each and every year.  I have never been disappointed.

That, plain and simple, is brand.  A lot of people think that branding is the act of creating a cool logo and sticking on everything that goes out of the office.  A consistent look to everything and everyone else will know who you are and what you stand for.  But I believe that branding is so much more than that.

Every person has a brand, every department, every organization.  When people think of you, what comes to their mind?  Dependable or erratic? Hard-worker or lazy? Collaborator or lone ranger? Excellent or inferior?  Every day, with every decision you make, with every discussion you have, with every product you produce, you are building your personal brand--one that will stick whether you like it or not.  If you're building a good brand, there are likely good opportunities on the horizon.  Build a bad brand and it's difficult to overcome.  That's why companies often find the need to "re-brand" because their current brand isn't working like it used to.  But how do you re-brand yourself?  Most people move to get a "fresh start" assuming that their environment was the problem.  Unfortunately, after a while they learn that they carried themselves with them.

There are so many different options available to us these days that we don't get very many opportunities to build or destroy our brand.  I will not buy another Dell because I've had such a terrible experience with my laptop even though I've only used one in my life.  I will never shop at a certain online music store again because the only representative I ever talked to on the phone gave me the run-around to preserve a sale.  But, I will spend good money to take my family to see a movie that I've never seen before simply because of one word-- PIXAR.

Aaron

Creativity Quirks

I have a weird habit.  In fact, I don't even remember how it got started.  But if you're like me where you have to be creative on a deadline, you can't sit around and wait to feel creative.

Coming out of college, it was one of those ideas that no one ever really prepared me for.  But for my first job I realized early on that I had to be creative whether I felt like it or not.  People were depending on me to get the job done, and I couldn't sit around and wait for that amazing idea to jump into my brain.

So what do you do if you can't think of anything to write?  You start writing.  Then you write some more.  And in that process of writing, good ideas begin to emerge.  Not every single time.  But consider throw-away ideas the process of your brain making room for better ones.

But what happens when I get writer's block?  My weird habit emerged somewhere along the way.  I get up out of my chair and walk around.  No particular direction or plan.  I just get up, grab a drink, walk a hallway.  Walk it again.  Talk to a friend.  I don't usually move on to a new project because I'm not really stopping.  I think my brain just needs to fill up again.  The distraction works.  I sit back down after a couple of minutes and start writing again.

It's not even a conscious thing for me anymore.  You can probably tell how much trouble I'm having with a project by how many times I get up and walk around.  Weird?  Maybe.  Does it work for me?  Definitely.

Have any creativity quirks you'd like to share?
No one will think you're weird.  Promise.

Aaron