Erik Hauser, the interviewer, is the Founder of the Experiential Marketing Forum It is with great pride that I introduce the The Experiential Marketing Forum's Profiles in Leadership.  The idea for it arose after I began connecting recently with a bunch of EMF community members who wanted to chat about the economic changes and what was going on with the industry.  Everyone seemed to be asking like-minded questions re: what was going to happen next and how we would all be affected.  By now, everyone kind of knows my style :) - In typical Erik fashion I spent many hours on the phone just talking to people.  The most important part of the conversations wasn’t the part when I was talking - it was the part when I was listening to what the community had to say. It occurred to me that we could create a new tool on the EMF that would offer the community keen insights about our industry and other relevant subject matter from the best minds working with, and around, us all.   In reality the idea flows back to what my mom told me when I was a kid.  She said,” If you find things in life that you like then associate yourself with them - if you can’t find these things - create them.”  This forum is built on the vision of those words  -- and  I still hear her in my head each day.  From a personal perspective, at the time I created the EMF I was looking to create order in the chaos I felt during one of my initial phases of my career.   I needed an outlet where people spoke the same language and understood that a rising tide lifts all ships. The goal was to build a place where people would come to learn - a place where there would be interactions and give and take  -  even among competitors - for the greater good of the industry.   We've named this section EMF Profiles In Leadership because it involves forward thinking practitioners and theorists. I figured that I’d throw out some questions to industry heavyweights and it could be a great learning tool for everyone to see what others are doing to make it through these tough times.  Most importantly, I thought in addition to my own conversations, it would start to help answer some of the questions that the community was posing to me, and in general.   I really look forward to having some distinguished people answer some simple questions that can help the community grow their businesses, perform better at their current jobs or even help someone decide which major to select in college. Click here to visit the Experiential Marketing Forum Profiles In Leadership Archives Would you like to have your profile featured? Click here to contact Erik Hauser.
Martin Bihl 7419 Founder/Creative Director
		Education: Trinity College, Hartford, CT. Writing Major. But my real education came from my dad and aunts and uncles who were all in advertising. I learned what made a great creative idea at the same time that I was learning my ABCs. Books ReadingAn Anatomy of Literature by Foulke and Smith. Great literature is obsessed with why people do what they do – and expressing it memorably. So is great marketing.		Favorite Quote:"To a man with a hammer, everything’s a nail." - Korzibsky Inspirational Figures:Anyone whose eyes are on the prize. Anyone who is interested in solving a problem, and not just adding another comma to their salary. Relationship Status: Married. Since 1988. To the same person. Call it a modern day miracle. I dare to ask age ...:I was born the year Faulkner died. Look it up and do the math.

Short Bio of Career Path:
Started out as a comma jockey at an agency, turning art directors’ tissues into mac comps. And then someone heard me say something about “the target market”, so they made me an art director. Later when nobody supplied me with copy for something, I supplied my own (which the client loved), and suddenly I was a copywriter. Soon I was a creative director at Zipatoni revolutionizing the promotion industry in the late 90s. Then a CD at Renegade in the 00’s turning guerilla on it’s head. And since 04, running 7419, a small yet global agency that helps clients, agencies, and anyone who wants to make a difference, make a difference.

Define your leadership style and "feel" of your agency
I don’t want to tell people how to do their job. I work with people who not only know how to do their job, but who can do it better than I can imagine. So I tell people what the problem is and expect them to use their genius to solve it in ways I never would have imagined. Some people thrive in that atmosphere – both on the agency side and the client side. Some don’t. But the best work I’ve ever been involved with has been created this way. Also the funnest.

Toughest challenge overcome in your career?
Reminding myself every morning that everything is different. That we lull ourselves into a belief that life is static, when in reality the competitive landscape is changing every minute of every day. Second toughest challenge - doing something about it. Third toughest - convincing others that the first two challenges are true.

What was your defining moment at your agency?
When I realized that the business model I’d built was no longer applicable, and I had to figure out what the new model was on the fly. We call this “building the airplane while you are flying it.”

Favorite assignment completed to date?
Why don’t you ask me to pick my favorite child while you’re at it…

Your vision of where we will all be in 10 years (non-apocalyptic:)
People will still be saying that TV is dead. That print is dead. That retail is dead. None of this will be true, of course, but it will make for good topics at conferences and will fill up the trade publications.

Big ideas that cross platforms will rule the day as they always have. Finding people who know how to make them will still be as rare as the ideas themselves – though both they and the ideas will be endlessly imitated poorly.

Best describe your agency:
We’re a small agency that helps people solve problems by making connections. We don’t think about execution until we’re sure we’re really talking about the real problem. Often this is half the battle. Then we focus on who we’re talking to – where they connect with the world, the brand, each other, everything. Then we think about the tactics that are right for that person. And then we come up with killer creative and execute it flawlessly with our network.

Why do clients choose your agency and how have you been able to maintain such long relationships?
We are in the connection business. Actually, every business is in the connection business – it’s just most of them don’t realize it. Connections between people and brands. Between stores and brands. Between people and stores. Between ideas. Between opportunities. Between people. Clients choose us because we understand this. And that’s also why they stay connected to us. For long periods of time.

Advice for those entering into the space from college?
Don’t unpack. Move around. Not just among agencies in a town, not even within a country, but around the world. Be a copywriter in Hong Kong. An ACD in London. Be a creative director in Jo’burg. Why not? What’s the worst that could happen? You’ll get fired? Guess what - you’ll get fired wherever you are. If that’s a problem for you, you should really consider another line of work.

Advice to the smaller shop owners in this tough economic climate?
There will be a lot of pressure to sell on price. There will be a lot of pressure to do work on spec, or jump through ridiculous hoops. There will be a lot of pressure to think that the bad client in the hand is better than the great client in the bush. But there are only 3 reasons to have a client – great work, lots of money, great fun. Ideally your client provides you with all three. But if they’re not providing you with any of those things, they’re not a client. They’re a black hole. And that’s true in any economy.

How you use and define experiential methodology?
Human beings experience everything. An event, sure. But also a TV commercial, a website, an ad on a bus, a display at a store. And the real value of any of those things isn’t the TRPs or clicks or eyeballs. The real value of those things – like the real value of what is commonly called “experiential marketing” – is the impact it has on the person’s life to do something. To tell a friend. To incorporate it into their vocabulary. To purchase. We’ve been looking from the wrong end of the telescope. We don’t need a way to measure “experiential”. We need a way to measure everything in terms of the experience.