Floyd Hayes
New York based Ideas Crafter
What do you tell your parents you do for a living?
Marketing
What do you really do for a living?
Devise Marketing ideas and make them happen
Give an Example
FOR EXAMPLE: International hotel group “Yotel” approached me to devise an experience for their guests. The hotel were renovating their public area. A 30ft drywall had been placed between the construction work and the rest of the social area.
The brief was to use the wall to:
- Create a fun experience for guests
- Support the brand (playful)
- Create some PR value (earned media and social content)
- Be cost effective
My Idea:
- My idea was to cover the wall with lego.
- Invite guests to create lego pictures on the wall
- Take a pic and post to the (then new) Instagram
- Hashtag the pic and get a free weekend via a social media sweepstakes
- I devised and brought in the production team.
Results:
- Hundreds of guest entries
- Approx 3 million dollars of “earned media” including The TImes and CNN as well as trade coverage
Here’s a picture:
For more see http://www.floydhayes.com/#/yotel-installation/
Miles, this was pretty much my perfect gig – it plays in the space between real life and digital, it also provided utility “useful marketing” as I like to call it.
How has your work changed or not from non digital to digital to both?
I work in real world experiences and use digital to amplify those experiences
Define the perfect client?
A perfect client wants to create genuinely weird and wonderful experiences for the public. They love my thinking and allow me to “be myself”
A perfect client is a human being, someone I can break bread with.
They are smart and honest
They make me push myself creatively
They are good humored
They also pay within a reasonable time frame
How do your clients determine your value? Ex media exposure, what else?
Various ways, often:
- Earned media coverage (which can have a equivalent ad space dollar value attributed)
- Social media (views, likes, shares)
- General brand elevation (they know if it is on brand and if it has helped their cause)
- Positive word of mouth
- Foot traffic – both at the physical experience and passing traffic “ambient views”
- Web traffic
- Last but certainly not least, sales.
What’s your optimal situation?
I like to dip in and out of creative flow, both on my own and with small brainstorm groups. I also like to move about. Desk for a bit, walk for a while, change up the environment, keep stimulated.
Freelance or staff?
I want to be on staff now but I love a juicy project too.
Initially, I wanted to prove that I could do what I do via my own tenacity and skill, I’ve now proved I can and would love to work in a full time role again, but for the right people.
This may be related to “perfect client” but…
Only two clients have ever asked me this, and it was a smart question and one I greatly appreciated as it should actual thought and respect re: The Creative Process. Is this how best to manage creativity?
“How do you like to work?”
Simple but important.
I’m talking about the big ad agencies here:
Often an Account person is charged with managing creative people. From an account point of view it makes sense to get all the creative people together in a “war room” and brainstorm all day until the “big idea” arrives.
It’s a smart use of creative resources, space and time.
Expect it may be the very worst way to get the creative juice flowing.
Don’t get me wrong, when a big Co pays my day rate and insists on an all day brainstorm starting at 8 in the morning… I smile and get on with it. Try my best.
But it’s not how I want to work and it’s not the best method of generating the best thinking….
Reach Floyd Hayes
+1(917) 684 1870
Fun and Effective
http://www.FloydHayes.com