Shannon Shelly

Over the years, I've shared several "how to" presentations about creativity here and on Twitter. People often request them as a PDF, so to start 2025 with a little tidying up, I've put them all in one place, on a Google Drive, for anyone to share and download. Here are the titles for those interested. How to craft a brand voice. 2 fundamentals marketers should revisit. 10 tips for giving effective creative feedback. 5 tips for highlighting product features. 6 ways to build your brand with performance marketing. 3 rules for writing a compelling idea description. 5 media formats that pack an emotional punch. 10 reasons why creatives should start with pen and paper. #advertising #brands #creativitiy

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50+ Million Views, 50+ CGI Creations, and we’re just getting started! 🚀 Thrilled to see Craywingz featured in ThePrint, as we continue redefining what digital advertising can achieve with CGI. From bold, immersive campaigns for Phoenix Malls, Jade Blue, Shivalik Group, and more, we’ve always believed in pushing the boundaries of creativity. As I mentioned in the article, “We started when minimalism was a trend in digital creatives; as the trend kept up, we leveled up.” And level up, we did—transforming how brands connect with their audiences by merging art and technology to craft unforgettable experiences. This recognition is a testament to the passion and hard work our team pours into every project, and we’re just getting started! With 50+ million views and counting, we’re ready to continue pushing the envelope and elevating digital storytelling. Check out the full feature to dive into our journey and what’s ahead: https://lnkd.in/dFu-Bpcp #Craywingz #CGI #CGIAds #CravStudios #ArtMeetsTechnology #Advertising #CGIAds

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Tommy’s Briefs: What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you've ever made? Tom McManimon—Founder of StimulusBrand Communications: “One of the best investments I’ve ever made is working on myself becoming a strong creative director. In that role, I get to influence teams of people and be their mentor, help them rise, and deliver their very best. In my career, I have surrounded myself with accomplished creative directors and learned from them. Another investment I’ve made is in public speaking. It’s one thing to present creative campaigns to CEOs or boards of directors which I have done for years, but another thing to be on a stage in front of a bigger audience—in  service to them. So, I enrolled in professional speaker training (again, from some of the very best) and learned a “thing or two.” I am in a career that requires that you know your target audience. The same holds true in speaking. Creating material that is relevant and meaningful is key. It became important to me to try to share messages and emotional stories that go beyond advertising to lift people and help business leaders have one of those lightbulb moments. To accomplish that, you have to learn to write well, rehearse it, and then deliver it as the authentic you. I was wise enough to surround myself with a team of people who were great at that and they help me every day to be compelling, engaging and on point.

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Are you a manager or leading a team? My good buddy Scott Albrecht was on The Friday Habit this week sharing his knowledge on the hierarchy of team needs. You should check out his book on Amazon and give this episode a listen wherever you get your podcast! https://lnkd.in/gTgCT7NF #podcast #leadership #contentmarketing

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Let’s bring some nutrition into cards. That’s something OPC (Organic Playing Cards) probably thought of themselves when they started to create playing cards with various fruit and vegetable themes. Together their team and I refined OPC’s positioning allowing the brand to double down on the things it is already known for. In a collaborative effort, we discussed ways to redefine OPC during multiple strategy sessions. The goal was to clarify OPC’s voice and approach to ideate, produce, and sell products as a community-first brand. Eager to grow and expand awareness the following are some learnings we discovered. Complete Case Study: https://lnkd.in/ewCPvx3T —- Client: Organic Playing Cards Strategy: Max Jung

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Synthetic beauty makes us confront the reality that data is shaping our perceptions of beauty and style. It pushes us to ask, are we creating trends, or are they creating us? https://lnkd.in/eRqtfVgH

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You remember this Spider-Man drawing meme from a few years back? https://lnkd.in/gXwXApdd You know, the one that shows the level of quality you get when you give an artist 10 minutes vs. 1 minute vs. 10 seconds? I remember when it started doing the rounds, a lot of creative types used it as an example of how much worse their work is when it's rushed vs. when they get enough time to truly ideate. What's funny is, this isn't even the best depiction of that. Imagine instead if you started by giving someone 10 seconds to draw a *brand new* superhero — one that doesn't already exist. My guess is the result would go something like "Uhhhmmmmm.... I dunnnoo.... (hastily scribbles rough silhouette with a cape)". Then give them 1 min and watch more detail get added. And then 10 and watch really rich character and story elements emerge. I see this a lot in organizations that put a premium on sprints and MVPs. It's one thing to put time constraints on refinement, evolution and optimization of an idea. It's another to rush the ideation itself. That's typically not a good recipe for innovation, since (as my example illustrates) when people are rushed, they tend to regurgitate/replicate the familiar. There is something to be said for putting some time constraints on ideation as a generative exercise. And when facilitated with a focus on lateral connections sparking new combinations, there is a way to hack novelty at pace. But often the main value is in getting all the obvious ideas out of the way, and getting the gears turning in the back of brains to let time do its work of mental marination. Then the real gems that team members can't stop thinking about can be prototyped/MVP'd/etc. Have you seen rapid ideation produce novel concepts (in product, comms, org design, etc.)? Or has it tended to churn out ideas that feel like replications/regurgitations, logical/linear progressions and slight incremental improvements on what already exists? #innovation #creativity #ideation #agile #mvp #prototyping #poc

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Oh, brilliant advertising, how I miss you so. Part MCCLXXXIX #whenadvertisingtriedharder #creativitymatters #adsworthsharing #ohbrilliantadvertising https://lnkd.in/eawPbpC6

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Very cool to see this project go live. There's been a beehive of activity swarming around the office (and online, of course) prepping the launch, with none other than Dorte at the center, leading the charge and pulling together everyone's contributions. Our aim: show how cost-efficient technology and solutions can drive the decarbonization of our most carbon-intensive sectors, including industry, transport, buildings, and energy systems. ​ ​ And the best part is that the technology exists already. It's not something that we need to wait for decades to develop. We can make a big difference using a three-step process: ​ First, we reduce energy consumption​. Second, we reuse excess energy and integrate sectors​. Third, we re-source green energy by phasing out fossil fuels in favor of clean energy such as renewable electricity and green hydrogen​. ​ Check out the trailer (you might even recognize the voice...) and then read more about it here: https://bit.ly/45gk733​ ​ #DecarbonizationExplained #Decarbonization #ESG #Energyefficiency #Greentransition #Climatechange #Sustainability #DecarbIndustries #DecarbTransport #DecarbBuildings #DecarbEnergysystems #Energymix​

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As an icebreaker in a recent dance class, we were asked to say our names in melody or rhythm. The result? Momentary embarrassment followed quickly by the freedom of play (shoutout to my freestyle+ play maestros) - but more than anything, an instantaneous and lasting memory of all 20 classmates' names. Is this not the power of sonic branding? Veritonic's recent study revealed that "64% of podcast listeners report feeling more connected to a brand when it has a sound identity as opposed to brands that only have a visual identity." The neuroscience holds up as our brains are wired to connect melody to memory, but brands are slow to prioritize "sound and feel" in their identity and awareness strategies. Now, this study started with listening behavior to begin with - polling podcast listeners about, well, listening. But the direction is still (ugh pun intended) sound... Podcast hosts are even taking sonic branding into their own improvised hands - Dax Shepherd's greatest gift to ZipRecruiter was creating that "get recruitin'" melody in each podcast ad, Busy Phillips did the same for Foria (with an homage to "Gloria") - perhaps creating more actual brand recognition and value than any testimonial could. SO. Brands, like my fellow awkward dancers, may follow the same trajectory: momentary embarrassment (I need a jingle in 2024?!), the freedom of play (yes, yes I do), and invaluable lasting memory. I mean, does Gen Z even know how to spell b-o-l-o-g-n-a?! https://lnkd.in/gd2seDCG

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"Chaos asks questions of you order never will" The wonderful Colleen DeCourcy retells her experience working with Dan Wieden when she took over as Chief Creative Officer at Wieden+Kennedy Her immediate response to me asking about working with Dan was this quote about chaos. We have a natural reaction against chaos because it can be destructive and unsettling but what if we reframed it as a necessary condition for achieving something truly breakthrough 🌪 Chaos propels you forward while order maintains the status quo 🌪 Chaos creates leaders while order creates managers 🌪 Chaos demands a response while order delays it 🌪 Chaos reveals the cracks while order papers them up 🌪 Chaos forces ownership while order delegates it 🌪 Chaos fosters creativity while order fosters compliance 🌪 Chaos requires trust while order replaces it It got me thinking whether there is an optimal mix of Chaos and order required to achieve breakthrough ideas and momentum? We spend most of our time creating order but what if what we actually needed was an injection of chaos? To hear more from this episode check out the links in the comments John Kearon Kerry Collinge Orlando Wood

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So happy that the The Oregonian / OregonLive.com is going back to broadsheet size. Here is a great explanation about Newspaper jargon, formats, and web printing by Editor and Vice President of Content, Therese Bottomly. #editorialdesign #oregonian #broadsheet #tabloid #abovethefold #clippings #byline #newshole #columnwidth #missmanners #dearabby #oregonlive #newsprint #newspapers #journalism #checktheclips #dateline #newsprint #compacteditions

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2nd round in "AI in a box" or a review worth a watch. It's not as catastrophic as the Humane Pin, but that doesn't mean it's good. Looks like good ideas and great products won't come from wrapping your "AI assistant" on real innovation - LLMs - and put it in a box. Sure, LAMs can be interesting, but it's not there as a feature on launch day. Not to talk about other limitations from battery life to the lack of touch control etc. Curious to see what Apple / Google will come up with in the segment.

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Mulholland Drive isn't just a road. It's the way Los Angeles looks at dreams, at the fabric of infinite sleepless nights, and what transpires within them, as they spill over the city's tablecloth. Sometimes, it's the lens through which each of us views our lives from a distance, searching for paths, seeking meaning. In David Lynch's movie "Mulholland Drive," there's no predefined meaning; it's yours to interpret. The open-ended road is there for you, with its twists and turns ready to be explored. It's one of those films where, if you're in pursuit of meaning, the search itself redirects you to what you're seeking. It's the Möbius strip of cinema, where one cannot consistently differentiate between clockwise and counterclockwise turns. It's a loop that unfolds, and the only way to make sense of it is to stay close to your own truth. "Mulholland Drive" means whatever you want it to mean. It might be a daunting promise, granting you so much power over someone else's work, but that's precisely what the author intended. Nevertheless, we often find comfort in letting others do the interpretation for us, allowing meaning to come to us instead of actively seeking it out. We snuggle into someone else's words, avoiding the challenge of uncovering our own truths. David Lynch teaches us to take responsibility for our own interpretations, to have faith in what we think, and to understand that there's no absolute right or wrong in our interpretations. What we say isn't necessarily right or wrong; it's our perspective, and it exists as such. We spend our lives navigating a two-lane highway, marked by "Right" and "Wrong." Whenever someone points to a different path, a detour leading to the open field of freedom where these binary distinctions don't exist, we often hesitate due to the vastness of the unknown. We prefer to remain within the familiar lanes because that's what we've been taught since childhood: you're either right or wrong. However, thinking in this binary way is hardly thinking at all. When you're preoccupied with being either right or wrong, you tend to lose sight of who you truly are. #writinglife #screenplay #movie #screenwriter #film #copywriter

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This article has been written many, many times in my career, yet very little changes. I post this not to rant at the system, but to continue to acknowledge the obvious disparities. Advertising must do better. Let me know what you think, or simply vent. I think we at least deserve that. #advertising #diversity https://lnkd.in/eHmGk-yv

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LinkedIn AI asked me to answer: “Balancing multiple ad projects with tight deadlines in advertising. How can you maintain a work-life balance?” Here’s my response: When this happens, are is always one project that is more pressing than the others. The key here is communication: When that next deadline gets layered onto what you already have, you need to speak up right away. This might mean the timelines get adjusted on your new project, or it could mean that your other project deadlines can get pushed out to accommodate for the new one. This is where project managers meet to discuss how to manage their "resource". It might even come down to brining in additional creative resources in order to meet the deadlines. It's not realistic to expect quality work with no time to do it properly. Good agencies and good project managers understand that and they will advocate for time and resources to do it right.

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Here is my giant face and some original thoughts on the role and potency of Brand Experience. https://lnkd.in/gTvpwrpz Love to here what you think. - #strategy #branding

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Thank you Lindsay Rittenhouse for including me in this thought-provoking piece in Ad Age about our creative industry. I love hearing everyone’s POV and hot takes, but I think I'm still left with the idea that we need to do more for creative minds! It would be an amazing world if every single employee felt supported, nurtured, and challenged appropriately by their manager. LinkedIn is filled with lots of wonderful talk about management and training- but this is a bit of a one size fits all model. What makes our humankind so amazing is the assortment of minds we all have. If we could celebrate differently working minds the same way we have begun to celebrate differently shaped bodies, that would be incredible! Creative thinkers are essentially neurodiverse- they see the world differently and create beautiful things with in it. I think we owe it to them (and to the minds who come after them) to think about how we create a work environment that works for them. The dream would be to allow growth along a spectrum of leadership and management- finding what they are best at (i.e.: maybe it is a monthly lecture to the whole dept instead of an ongoing direct report?) ensuring we don’t lose our most valuable creators simply because they don’t fit the managerial mold. #management #neurodiverse #creative #creativethinkers #managers #design #designers #creatives #manager #leadership #creators

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What happens to all the Executive Creatives? Do they sail away with their 🦁🏆 to an island full of chunky acetate glasses and endless production budgets? It's a question I asked for most of my career. Where do you go after Creative Director? After CCO? Do you stay in that lane forever? It took a while for me to notice them: the creatives who didn't have 'Creative' in their title anymore. Because they became CEO. They started leading Growth, or Revenue, or People. 💡 Of course that's where they go. When you're solving complex business problems, you need someone to balance imagination and reality. Someone who will listen intently to what you're NOT saying, to what you're feeling. You need someone with insatiable curiosity — an opportunity truffle pig, rooting around to unearth the people on this earth who simply must have what you have to give. Creativity is the ultimate business and leadership skill.  So what's happening to this Executive Creative? 🙋‍♀️ No islands (yet). I'm going to keep straying from my lane: this time into a new race where Creative isn't in my title, but it's in my blood. (dramatic? Finally started GoT, sue me.) My new role is telling the story of Native Digital. This group of berserkers moonlighting as marketers, looking for brands who need an injection of perspective-tilting energy and quick wins that add up to long-term growth. I'll continue to pour into the creative powerhouses on the team, to convince every performance media team member that they are also creative, and to help our clients cut through the noise. I've been doing this for years. I won't start wearing power suits or stop getting tattoos. It's just a label change, but it comes with a request: TALK TO ME. Tell me what you need. Ask me anything. Dish out advice. I want to listen.

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