11 Comments
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Mark Ronquillo's avatar

“Success leaves clues.”…love this. I didn’t go to ad school nor take a marketing class. I just kinda fell into advertising. Studied the work I liked to figure out why I liked it, and wrote my ass off til I got the same feeling. Many years later, still writing my ass off :)

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Ernie Schenck's avatar

Yes! Mark, this is what I mean by osmosis. Cracking the code. I went down pretty much the same path. Award show annuals were my ad school.

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Ernie Schenck's avatar

I’m a big proponent of creative osmosis. The idea that we can absorb or ingest the frequency on which great work--or in this case, greatness-- manifests. In my opinion, there’s a kind of greatness code that can be broken. It’s definitely important that we try to find greatness, but so too is it important that we let greatness find us.

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Rob Schwartz's avatar

Great point, Ernie. As you astutely point out, great ideas sometimes just come to us. Proof there might actually be working Muses.

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Ernie Schenck's avatar

Greatness is a code. And like almost any code thats ever existed, it can be broken. We are our own enigma machine. If there's such a thing as a Muse, it's us.

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Cameron Day's avatar

Great post, Rob. My father used to always coach me to look at great work and try to figure out what the brief was. I was instantly reminded of his words as I read yours. Bravo!

#theadvertisingsurvivalguide

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Rob Schwartz's avatar

I love a good “Guy Moment.”

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Rajesh Rajoo's avatar

Thanks for the wisdom. I always look forward to your mails. And now I'm really intrigued at what you'd find at the workshop...

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Rob Schwartz's avatar

Thanks for the kind words.

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sandy greenberg's avatar

Hey, love this. Can't wait to hear what you discover.

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William Taylor's avatar

Very nice, Rob. I appreciate the wisdom.

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