Fender Music Instruments Corporation — Online Branding, Creative Direction, Web Development

Fender Music Instruments Corporation (FMIC) sought an online makeover in 2008 for launch in early 2009. These were the days before CMS / Wordpress based driven sites took over the market—and if I recall, one of the last sites I developed using basic HTML with Flash (AS2) technology after I designed the concepts to finalize. I recall this project landing in my lap as igniting an incredible sense of joy to be able to work on a globally well-known brand I loved, specifically the Fender American Telecaster. Overwhelmingly disappointed and bored by the entire experience is the best I can describe how it ended up—as is what I’ve discovered with other blue chip accounts. I believe the too many chefs in the kitchen metaphor takes over and affects results, sacrificing creative out of the box approaches in favor of budget-minded, conservative ideas. This became the latter.

You can tell by my initial concepts where I started (the first 5 pitched ideas), and where it led based on their requests. The account came to by one of Fender’s long-time contracted photographers, Steve Pitkin, whose official Studio is centered here in my hometown. Pitkin Studio has shooting Fender products and roster artists for the better part of 30 years. Steve called me up and asked if I was interested in expanding his studio from being solely photography based to more of a full marketing firm services option for his blue chip accounts. Enter FMIC.

This led to a domino effect of work for Fender and Pitkin Studio, as well as other accounts Steve contracted to me to grow his business. I was quite shocked by the direction Steve and FMIC chose to go with, but the customer gets what the customer wants. Steve’s conservative influence played a large part in their direction, too—and ultimately, Steve got what Steve wanted, too. Playing it safe with a corporate conservative online approach took precedent. I recall feeling extremely letdown by everyone involved on this account. Their decisions to bypass full screen product centric online marketing in favor of a boxed grid already felt dated in 2008 and 2009.

Everything felt trapped and contained, and I expressed the direction they were choosing to go with would be outdated within a year to two years less. Despite their inabilities to listen to the one person who determined their online branding and functionality was aged out of the box, I reluctantly did what I knew was wrong—and I was more than right. I had abandoned Flash/HTML web development by the end of 2009 to focus entirely on Wordpress technology and clients willing to trust my direction; CMS website dev utilizing HTML/PHP/MySQL and 3rd party app plugins. As of 2019, it rules much of what every living organism sees online, on any device, anywhere on earth.

Pitkin Studio attempted to bring me on full time and in-house in early 2010 to grow their business into a full servicing firm—but a handful of lowball offers and smoke and mirror discussions forced me to sever a business relationship. A final effort offering me a base 48k (after trying to offer a lowball 28k) to come inside with bonuses hitting 100k on an annual was tossed my way. To some that’s an awful lot—but in advertising and marketing, a contract Creative Director like me with skills covering dozens of roles, triple/quadruple whatever you’re thinking I’m worth and start there as a minimum. This is business, not charity—and I have the arts to work for nothing when I need to exercise my anti-capitalist demons.

At the end of the day, Steve’s creative direction skills are perfect for corporate, safe, marketing initiatives. I get it, and for me it wasn’t about the money, it was about respect and freedom. I enjoyed working for myself in my space, not Pitkin Studio’s space. Northern Illinois businesses have an awful lot to learn about respecting people with work ethic, experience, talent, leadership skills and continued results no matter the national and regional economic conditions—as there was a National Recession going on during this period of my employment—to attempt taking advantage of professional creatives such as myself. Offensive on many levels : )