Simon Abrams, Flash Developer, Deutsch Inc. NY

Your idea about the perfect working day:
When everything just “flows” – when things just get done and all the pieces fall into place. Even if it’s a late night, it doesn’t matter – as long as everything just clicks.

Your muse best comes when:
I’m kind of a night owl, so sometimes I’ll get an idea in my head, or find a cool new technique for doing something, and for some reason I’ll be inspired to try it even if it’s the middle of the night. Once I’m in that zone, I don’t like to interrupt it, so sometimes that means I’m up in the wee hours. It’s not ideal, but what can you do…

What needs to be changed/improved in order to achieve ultimate engagement with users:
I think users appreciate when information is given to them in the most concise and unobtrusive way possible. There needs to be something really eye-catching to make them want to interact, at which point we can give them really succinct information, that doesn’t take them away from what they went to a site for in the first place.

Favorite Brand Experience:

Tylenol Sleep Month Campaign.  It’s just beautiful, smart creative, and I think that it gives the user quick, easy access to useful information.

The impact of the recession/changes you have already seen

There has definitely been some shuffling around in terms of our clients, but overall, we’re still really busy. The recession just means it’s more important than ever for agencies to provide clients with precise, targeted messaging, and to let consumers know why their brand is an ally in this recession. And, of course, ROI is the name of the game.