by the minneapolis egotist / August 16, 2018 / In an effort to make his own positive difference, Chris Preston, principal and creative director at Minneapolis-based marketing agency Preston Kelly, is reaching out to the political candidates vying for election in the mid-terms with an open letter arguing for the effects of positivity. Dear candidates, Congratulations on your win in the primaries. As you[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / August 3, 2018 / I’ve been fortunate to work with and learn from massively talented, varyingly patient, and endlessly good-natured people over the duration of my short career. If one of the steps in self-growth is to not only come to recognize your ability at self-awareness, but also challenging yourself to come to terms with it—oh buddy have I been growing lately. This industry does a grand job of putting p[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / July 13, 2018 / Background I’m a Christian. My younger brother is a gay man. If you pay attention to current events and trends, you know that these two demographics haven’t always gotten along (which is unfortunate). Sometimes the LGBTQ community and the Christian community have even been at odds with one another. This theme of conflict between the LGBTQ and Christian communities arises in the first episode [Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / June 1, 2018 / After 23 years in the advertising business, for the first time ever, I’m doing Ramadan a bit more on my terms. In the past, as I’ve fasted from food and drink from dawn to sunset every day for a month, I’ve had to endure a litany of agency barbecues, client meeting pizza leftovers, and “donuts in the kitchen!” It’s like free food just knows when Muslims are doing Ramadan. Now, on my ev[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / May 14, 2018 / After just 30 days of being out on my own, untethered by the too-fast-or-too-slow-moving agency clock, I find myself in a highly unfamiliar position. It’s 11:27 am and I’m home, lounging on my living room sofa, writing this piece. It’s neither billable nor due at any particular time. So weird. I’m either caught up with all my work or I don’t have any work to be caught up on. Glass half e[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / May 10, 2018 / What do most people think of when they hear "Minnesota"? Well, according to this mostly accurate guide (everyone knows the home of the Juicy Lucy is The 5-8 Club, not Matt's Bar—sheesh) from Movato, the answers include: Cold weather. (Yes, but only for seven months out of the year. Okay, sometimes eight). "The Land of 10,000 Lakes" (Per our license plates, yes, but actually it's closer to[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / April 25, 2018 / “How long will three ad campaign concepts take?” “Two weeks.” Not entirely sure which century this conversation took place in, but the answer has certainly held up nicely over the years. Two weeks to kick off the project, noodle on it, stress over it, come up with heaps of concepts, decide which three have the most promise (or which three suck the least), make the copy sound less salesy,[Read More]
by the minneapolis egotist / February 1, 2018 / As I sift through brief after brief chock-full of segmentation profiles and mandatory personalization variables, my mind longingly wanders to the good old days of advertising. Well, the ones I’m old enough to remember at least. It was a special time for copywriters like me where a single headline spoke to everyone, not just this segment or that segment, and a righteous call-to-action (one, of co[Read More]
