Charles Lam

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION  I  MAMMOTH ADVERTISING

Your idea about the perfect working day: 

My perfect working day allows for a balance between my creative work (animation, storyboards and prototypes)  and management of our banner deliverables. Doing the latter sometimes allows for ideas to stew in my head. Other times it totally takes over my day. =(

Your muse best comes when: 

My muse comes when I’m free to do some associative thinking–quite often, that’s during my commute. When it comes, you can zone out even if you’re listening to something or checking out defaced subway posters. It’s a pretty cool feeling when you’re itching to get in to try an idea out. But sometimes it’s a more gradual thing and you just need to let your thoughts sit for a night.

What needs to be changed/improved in order to achieve ultimate engagement with users:

I think we all need to keep trying new things. Not just preach it or when it’s convenient. I always attempt something new in my projects. It can be something technical or visual. I’m not sure if everyone else has that mindset. So I think it starts with the clients down through the publishers. I like how there are more viral efforts now. But I’m not sure there’s a magical format that will snag engagement. It has to be a progression because we’re earning the user’s trust in the online space and that will be a slow progress. 

Favorite Brand Experience:

I still remember the HP Touchsmart expandable mainly due to its design.  But also because I had been looking for some good examples from different verticals to show the team and stumbled upon the ad while it was getting accolades. It’s a good example of layering the experience so you don’t bombard the user and you can get them to interact with it some more.  We also have upcoming campaigns with Showtime that should be similar in philosophy. Look for it!

The impact the recession will have on online advertising:

What I’ve already seen so far are smaller media plans, where it’s more focused on a few units. And in a way, that’s good. It’s a more focused approach where you’re trying to do more with less. Plus, sometimes an expandable shouldn’t be in every dimension available. It’s okay to leave a few crayons in the box. I think media plans will continue to be lean but hopefully it’ll spur more experimentation too.