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I travel back and forth between Los Angeles and New York often. My main offices are in Studio City, but I also keep an apartment in New York because I’m there every few weeks for extended periods of time. If I’m in L.A., I start my day about 6 a.m., taking East Coast phone calls from all of my East Coast clients: Panasonic in New Jersey, Discover Card in Chicago, and Coke in Atlanta. They are calling about upcoming ads and promotions for outdoor markets.
Usually I work out on my treadmill or my Bowflex and I have a meal. Then I check my e-mails, plan my day and head to work. The first thing I do at the office is check my e-mail again. I have a senior managers meeting at 9:30 during which we talk about clients’ upcoming products. The Wow Factor is a unique company because we have our hand in many stages of the production process of digital content for large-scale outdoor electronic displays.
This company is my baby. It was conceived by me. I am more than a fiduciary head of the company. Everything has to pass my seal of approval. I am always cognizant of the fact that we have to get the client or brand across.
We deliver the whole package to the client. Recently in our managers meeting we were discussing the creation and execution of a live show for Pontiac in Times Square for the unveiling of our new sign. We made that happen in June. When I’m in New York I meet with new clients and do a walk through Times Square to show what Wow Factor has done.
After the morning meeting, I set up new meetings with companies. We maintain all big clients. We don’t have small clients. We did stuff for a few big companies and word spread by mouth. One Fortune 500 company after another started calling.
My assistant comes in around that time and makes my speaking schedule and my travel schedule. I speak at colleges sometimes. Most recently, I was called to speak to an advertising class at College of the Canyons.
Normally in the afternoon we have creative and production meetings. Sometimes we just use the in-house creation team. For the big ideas we have brainstorming sessions where we pull in people from Disney and the creative houses. We call that ‘creating the big idea,’ or ‘content engineering.’ Those ideas are for companies worldwide. Recently I went to Toronto for Coke to create something spectacular for the Canadians.
I didn’t used to have a lunch break. Now I have been on the Zone diet so the Zone chef delivers my lunch and I am able to eat. After lunch and the production meeting, I write scripts. My creative moments come at the end of the day. I lock myself in the office, play music, and I create and write ideas for the next execution or event. And I work on other projects.
Coca Cola asked us to create TV advertising for shows like ‘American Idol.’ We get the brand across to the audience as quick as we can. People TiVo through things so fast they aren’t paying attention to the advertisements as much.
If you are trying to tell a story, it doesn’t work because of the plethora of information. We create something that catches your attention and delivers that product in three to five seconds. That’s the wave of the future.
I usually get home between 8 and 10 if we are in heavy production, sometimes midnight. I TiVo news shows like ‘Nightline’ to catch up on the politics of the day.
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As told to Sarah Filus
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Don Blanton
CEO/President,
Designer & Producer
The Wow Factor
Relaxation Technique:
Two Harley-Davidsons
Handy Man:
“I’m building my own deck at my house. It’s very therapeutic.”
Favorite Place to Go on Business:
London. “I like their customs. I’m creative, but I like the butler-like atmosphere and the formality of having tea.”
Claim to Fame:
Voice of Times Square during the New Year’s Eve Celebration
