RPA’s ECD Is Releasing His New Book on Instagram, a Page a Day for 160 Days

Jason Sperling's new book, Look at Me When I'm Talking to You, gives brands new rules for fostering loyalty with consumers in an attention-scarce world. And the RPA executive creative director leads by example with a unique media plan for its release.

Beginning June 25, Sperling will publish the book on Instagram—one illustrated page a day for 160 days at @lookatmebook. As a sneak peek, there are already some excepts posted. The idea is to reach people where they already consume media, rather than force them into a different pattern of behavior—a key point of the book as well.

 

– "Look at Me When I'm Talking to You" examines the obstacles that collectively threaten our industry's future and offers up new rules for getting attention in an attention scarce world, inspiring care amidst consumer apathy, and fostering loyalty from an increasingly discerning and departing audience. It offers proven strategies for connecting with today's fickle, fleeing, over-stimulated audience. It has 20% more humor than most marketing books, and 100% more pictures. ———- It's getting harder for books to break through, as well. So in the spirit of disrupting prescribed models and in the hopes of being my best example, Look At Me When I'm Talking to You is going to be the first-ever book released on Instagram. Yes, INSTAGRAM. The home of selfiers and humblebraggarts will now become a home of authors, too. It will unspool page-by-page for the next several months, with a bite-sized portion every day. And because it's being released on social media, it will be a "collaborative" book, combining my thoughts, your comments and consumer perspectives. ———- Look At Me When I'm Talking to You will launch on June 25th. Read it daily by following @lookatmebook.

A video posted by by Jason Sperling (@lookatmebook) on May 25, 2015 at 10:54pm PDT

Sperling joined RPA in 2010 from Media Arts Lab, where he creatively led Apple's worldwide "Get a Mac" campaign. He has also worked on brands including Honda, Pixar, ESPN and Suzuki. We spoke with him about the book, the Instagram idea and more.

What inspired you to write a book in the first place, and how long have you been working on it?

I hate that I'm in a career where most people avoid and detest the bulk of what we create. I want to be proud of what I do and what I make, and of my industry as a whole. So I guess this book is manifestation of that frustration, with some practical tools to help people make things that transcend the usual, expected fare.

The inspiration for the book's idea comes from being immersed in this "mess of opportunity" every day, as well as from watching the way the industry changed so drastically since I first got into advertising. It comes from the day-to-day trials and frustrations of trying to create content and social objects that people will willingly engage with. And it comes from the constant strategizing of how to stand out, stand apart and increase our chances of success.

In 2014, I was scheduled to do a presentation at the Creative Conference in Mexico City. It was canceled, but I was left with a presentation I didn't want to see go to waste. So I stole moments over the next year writing it, sometimes in the passenger seat on a family road trip or in the bleachers during a kid's baseball game (don't judge me). And as you might expect, I would read through it every so often, think it was complete shit, put it down and then pick it back up a few weeks later and keep going.

So many marketing books are dismal. Why is this one different?

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