Stan Lee method of creating comics based on trust

I have always been a Stan Lee fan – mainly for his creative accomplishments and innovation in the field of comic books. If you don’t already know, he is the creator of Marvel Comics.

During the early years he was confronted with the daunting task of creating a 32-page graphic novel on deadline. He figured out that the smartest thing he could do is trust his artists to help tell the stories. He would give them a basic idea of a plot and then allow them to draw how they imagined the story going. Lee would then write the copy after the drawings were done. Although the method may seem unorthodox, it did produce interesting story development. Stan relinquished control of his own ideas to others because he realized that the efficiency of the outcome and the talent of the artist would produce excellent work on deadline. This is a great example of maximizing your creative capabilities around a structured need.

Below is an excerpt from an interview Stan had with "Rascally" Roy Thomas, another creative genius, via telephone:

Stan: I did full scripts in the beginning, but then I found out how good he was just creating his own little sequence of pictures—and I did it in the beginning with Ditko, too—but when I found out how good they were, I realized that, "Gee, I don't have to do it—I get a better story by just letting them run free."

Interviewer: The amazing thing is, not only could you get Jack and Steve to do it, but that other artists who had always worked from scripts—Dick Ayers, Don Heck, and others—could also learn to do it and be quite successful with a little training from you.

Stan: I will admit that a lot of them were very nervous about it, and very unhappy about being asked to do it. But then they loved it after a while.

Interviewer: I think that John Buscema, too, thought it was a little strange at first, but got to really like it. Then, when someone would give him a full script, he didn't like that.

Stan: Absolutely right. John Buscema is amazing. He was never thought of—it's not the popular idea that he was the most creative guy, storywise. And yet, he was as creative as anybody else—probably as creative as Jack. Well, you worked with John.

Interviewer: Sure, quite a bit: Conan, Avengers.

Stan: He only needed a few words. He didn't even want a big synopsis; he wanted the skimpiest outline, because he wanted to do it his way. And his way was always great!

Interviewer: I remember plotting the first story of this villain called the Man-Ape in The Avengers with him for five or ten minutes over the phone. I wanted to give him more, and he said, "Nah, that's enough." [laughs]

Stan: That's exactly what he did with me. And I was never disappointed.

[Entire Interview]

A great example of creative teamwork and someone willing to give up creative control for the sake of producing the best product on a deadline.

Alex Raffi is a partner and the creative director for Imagine Marketing.
Contact Alex at araffi@imnv.com

“We’ll Figure it Out”

My business partner Alex Raffi has a favorite saying: “We’ll figure it out.” He says this when we’re in the middle of a particularly sticky situation; some graphic design challenge or technical compatibility issue that isn’t in the manual. (Confession: We don’t even own a manual.) We’re on a tight deadline, the client is counting on us, and we find ourselves, once again, in uncharted territory.

Know what happens? We figure it out. Always. Sometimes it doesn’t look exactly the way we had envisioned it. (Usually it’s better.) But after all these years together, our team has confidence we can make things work. That’s because two (or five or eight) heads are better than one. One of my standard jokes is that, when we put our heads together, we have a whole brain. Like most jokes, it’s based on truth.

This, it seems to me, is the essence of creativity. We don’t care how we get to the solution, just as long as we do. Elementary school teachers would hate us because we can’t show our work. (But we can duplicate it.) It’s a messy process. Creativity always is. Sometimes, if we think they can “hang” (as my kids say), we’ll invite the client in to collaborate. But most clients only care about the final product, as well they should. It’s similar to when I drop my truck off at the mechanic’s. I don’t want to watch them take the engine apart or see dozens of pieces strewn all over the garage floor. (Besides, they charge extra to watch.) I just want to come in, pick it up, turn the key and hear the engine turn over smoothly.

That “can-do” attitude has permeated our entire organization. It’s become part of our cultural fabric. It reminds me of that old inspirational sign: “The difficult we do immediately. The impossible may take a little time.”

But not too much time. After all, we’re on deadline.

Brian Rouff is the managing partner of Imagine Marketing.
Contact Brian at brouff@imnv.com

Grandma knows best

Growing up, I spent a lot of time at Grandma Anne’s house. Each morning on her way to work, my mom dropped me off, and Grandma Anne took it from there. She made breakfast, she packed my lunch, she walked me and a friend to elementary school and came back after school to walk us home. She made afternoon snacks for me and, if applicable, my friends, and made sure I finished all my homework. She hosted birthday parties. If I was sick, she took care of me while my parents were at work. She played games and did puzzles and baked treats. Nothing was too much for Grandma Anne to handle.

Grandma Anne was also big on teaching me life lessons. It seemed she was determined that, if nothing else, I would learn these two things from her: “Time doesn’t wait for us, Melissa” and “Take pride in your work.”

I heard the second of the two most often thanks to Grandma Anne’s daily review of my homework assignments. “Don’t you take pride in your work, Melissa?”she would ask each time she looked at an assignment that involved my handwriting or, God forbid, math (Much to her chagrin, any white space on the paper was, to me, the perfect place to work out a problem. Scrap paper? Please.). It must have irked her to no end when my answer to that question was almost always: “No. It’s homework; who cares what it looks like?”

Looking back, it turns out Grandma Anne’s lessons were some of the best in the business. Luckily for me, I learned them despite myself.

• “Time doesn’t wait for us.” Arrive early. Meet deadlines. Respect others’ time.
• “Take pride in your work.” Or, “Anything worth doing is worth doing well.” No matter what you’re doing, do the best job you can. Do things right the first time. Be known as someone who’s dependable and doesn’t need to be micromanaged. Have standards and adhere to them.

And one more she taught by example instead of with words:

• Be the best you can be. If you’re a sales person, be the company’s top seller. If you’re a business owner, run the best business in the industry. And if you’re going to be a grandma, be the best, wisest grandma around.

Melissa Rothermel serves as director of media relations for Imagine Marketing.
Contact Melissa at mrothermel@imnv.com.

Customer service philosophies from the cartoon world

As an adult, I can honestly say, I’ve learned a lot from cartoons. Bugs Bunny’s instant black hole and Wyle E. Coyote’s antics aside, the business of cartoons impressed many customer service techniques on me while I worked for a large cartoon retail store during college. And many of those ideals still crop up on a daily basis. The company wasn’t Nordstrom’s or Tiffany and Co., but the expectations I have for customer service is largely based on what I learned surrounded by Marvin the Martian figurines and Tasmanian Devil T-shirts. And it quickly became apparent those skills transcended work – they were skills for life.

Never say “I don’t know” - This phrase was a big red X in the cartoon world. We were expected to replace it with “I will find out for you.” And, over the years, it’s really worked for me. When anyone asks me a question, if I don’t know, I’ll find out. Granted, Google has made things a lot easier in this realm, but for the most part, when you are known as someone who can either find the answer or exhaust all possible resources trying, it creates trust and dependability. Every client, no matter the business, wants those two traits.

Say “please” and “thank you” - This should be a no-brainer but it’s commonly forgotten. I can’t tell you how many times a “thank you” would’ve made a stressful situation better or “please” makes doing a daunting task less daunting.

Be nice - Whether you’re letting down a hopeful mother who just wanted a Tiny Toons T-shirt for her toddler or speaking to a client who is having a generally bad day and taking it out on you, nice is usually the way to go. “Kill them with kindness” has never been more true. Understanding where someone is coming from also helps. We’ve all had bad days, but it makes it a little easier to take when the person delivering the bad news is nice about it.

Call or e-mail people back when they reach out to you - In a world of Facebook, text messages and smart phones, the only means left out of our modern communication reach are antiquated smoke signals, pigeons and Morris Code. The other ways are more convenient when you’re trying to reach someone but not as convenient when you’re the person being reached. In the cartoon retail business, building relationships with other stores meant calling them back and sending them inventory when they needed it – promptly. This method applies to business and real life. When you call people back, they know you respect them. Even if it’s answering a question via text, getting back to people is important.

If it’s just as easy for you to do, do it - When a customer asked for a size or character we didn’t have at the store, we would offer to call another store. It seems simple enough, but there have been many times I’ve been in stores and the option is just not available. I have to do it myself. Today, there are many things in life I would rather people do themselves, but sometimes going the extra mile creates contentment. For example, a client calls and makes a simple request. It’s probably just as easy for them to find the answer themselves, but when you do it, you get more out of the relationship – dependability. In a sense, you just made their lives easier if only for a few minutes.

Follow up - Following up with clients who purchased high-end animation artwork at the store was the stronghold of the company’s customer service. Did the framed piece arrive in time for Timmy’s birthday? Did the sculpture of Daffy Duck arrive intact? If a client had a big meeting, follow up to see how it went. The feeling that someone cares goes along way.

Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call - In an e-mail-heavy world, it’s easy to get caught up sending an e-mail instead of picking up the phone. There is nothing to lose by speaking to someone voice to voice. Sometimes, a person on the other end makes all the difference. Swallowing a communication form of stage fright may make the difference between a positive experience where everything gets done quickly and a slow moving one filled with frustration and miscommunication.

These ideals go beyond just working in retail – they work in everyday business as well, no matter your line of work. Customer service isn’t just about the customer; it’s about the people around you and the environment you create. A positive environment creates positive results. And it’s pretty difficult not to be positive around cartoons.

Thanks, Bugs Bunny.

Tiffannie Bond is the media relations specialist at Imagine Marketing.
Contact Tiffannie at tbond@imnv.com

Contestant implements marketing techniques to come out on top

Currently I'm watching “The Great Food Truck Race,” a reality show that pits gourmet food trucks against one another as they travel from city to city. Each week, the team with the lowest profits is sent home.

Nom Nom Truck caught my attention after winning the first two weeks with profits nearly double those of the second place team. Not knowing how delicious the food produced by any of the trucks is, though I imagine it's all mouthwatering, I began deducing other reasons for their success.

The owners of the Nom Nom Truck are business school graduates, and their savvy and understanding of marketing shows in their results. On the show I've noticed two things making a big difference for them.

1) Media Relations. As the team approached its next destination, Santa Fe, NM, they got in touch with a local paper and were able to get a mention in it that the "famous" Nom Nom Truck would be in town for the day. The soon-to-be fans came in droves, overwhelming the truck. A second truck tried to piggyback off Nom Nom Truck's newspaper mention and set up shop right next to them. But it was clear the patrons were there to try out the truck they'd heard so much about and showed no interest in the other truck, which ended up being the bottom team and going home that week.

2) Graphics. Nom Nom Truck has created a visually pleasing brand that they consistently implement into all of their materials. They use a bright yellow and green scheme throughout, which is most apparent on their truck. (Other trucks on the show have resorted to remaining white and slapping a logo on the side.) The visual appeal of the Nom Nom Truck draws people to it, curious what it is and what it's offering.

On “The Great Food Truck Race,” the sole thing determining a team’s success is its profits. That may not always be the only measure of success in business, but it does serve as a reminder that, at times, having a great product may not be enough.

Wes Thurman serves as art director for Imagine Marketing.
Contact Wes at wthurman@imnv.com