[17] Matt Heath and KP:MFCEO

I got a last minute email a few days back that announced a guest speaker was in town to talk about his background in advertising. Come to find out this former Duck alumni happened to work at 72andSunny before getting picked up as a writer for HBO's hit series Eastbound and Down, in just four short years. Oh yeah, he almost got arrested by the FBI for baby trafficking (fake Craigslist ad gone wrong, no worries no babies were hurt in the making of it). I had to go see him. Only about 7 of us showed up, the other 20,000+ here at the University of Oregon really missed out.

The speakers name is Matt Heath, and he is a legend. His message was simply go out, have fun and make sh*t. The theme he kept coming back to about his creative process was "what is the dumbest way I can solve this problem that will make people laugh?" Sure enough, Matt made people laugh, a lot of people. See his blog at http://mattheath.typepad.com/feeding_friendsy.

Matt was always messing around while going through school and this paid off for him, big time. He and another buddy created a stop motion video of a couple yoked out Ken type dolls. It spread around the ad industry and sure enough jobs came calling. Shortly after joining 72andSunny, K-Swiss knocked down 72's door with one goal in mind - "innovate or die." 72andSunny won the account and Matt was to be an integral part of it. Matt and the rest of the creatives were challenged with bring K-Swiss back to life. His strategy? Break off the Nike path of superstar athlete spokespersons and bring on the most out of shape, lazy and misogynistic professional athlete known to man; HBO's character Kenny Powers, played by Danny McBride. After a lot of negotiation and planning with HBO, K-Swiss and Danny McBride himself, the campaign was approved and they hit the ground running.

Matts writing is reflected in all the YouTube ads they produced. They are hilarious and fitting of the Kenny Powers mantra. It helped re-establish K-Swiss as a brand; a brand that doesn't just attract old fuddy-duddies anymore. Matt's work has plenty of recognition but I felt the need to share it anyway. K-Swiss needed innovation and Matt gave it to them.  He did so well in fact that he was brought on to help write on the HBO show, Eastbound and Down. Without Matt's pen, Danny wouldn't be Kenny.

"I'm Gonna Kick You in the Dolls Pt. 1"

(Put Matt on the map)

"I'm Gonna Kick You in the Dolls Pt. 2"

"CEO Kenny Powers"

(K-Swiss YouTube campaign)

"Kenny Powers Signs with K-Swiss"

(K-Swiss YouTube Campaign)

[10] Step It Up Showtime

When Sunday nights roll around I am usually frantically calling friends to see who will be watching the Sunday night lineup. My house only receives HBO and Encore, which might not be too bad if my favorite shows weren't on Showtime. I didn't have a place to go last Sunday so I flipped to Showtime anyways, just in case. Sort of like when you open the fridge three or four times expecting a new food item to appear but never does. Sure enough, no Showtime. What stood out to me this time was the message that appeared in place of Dexter plotting his next revenge.

It said something along the lines of "To order Showtime, call your service provider at..." and gave me an 800 number to telephone. I checked my calendar and I was right, it is the year 2011. I remember seeing those messages in early 2000. In today's world with media consumption at an all time high, the phone-in process seems so archaic. If I am a premiere television brand here is what I would do:

• Create the ability to purchase the network with the click of a button
• Option customers to rent the episode for a one time fee
• Option customers to purchase a season pass for one or more programs at a fixed rate

Consumers demand efficiency especially for media viewing. We see it with the insurgence of OnDemand, iTunes, Netflix and Amazon. Even YouTube allows movie rentals for a low cost now. HBO recognized the demand and capitalized on it with HBO-Go on demand services. This shift has provided people with the ability to browse, download and share television shows, films, books and various other productions. In order for premium networks like Showtime and Stars to stay afloat and not follow the brick and mortar stores into the ground, step up and make the user experience second to none.