Umar Ghumman

Product Design + Visual Culture Online

2011-12-18T08:13:00.001-08:00

These are two fantastic micro documentaries from PBS Arts as part of their Off Book Series. The first one looks at the world of product design and the second one talks about the online visual culture.

Product Design

Visual Culture Online

Hegarty on Advertising

2011-12-16T14:03:00.001-08:00

I like biographies but since most of them are too dry or too dramatized I tend not to read them (Also I have toned down reading marketing books, most of them say the same thing just from a different angle, especially the new social media/influence/WOM types, plus if everybody is reading the same stuff, they end up with similari-ish ideas - that is just my POV). I finished reading John Hegarty's Hegarty on Advertising and I can truly say that the book was a breath of fresh air, I didn't have too many expectations and that is why I liked it even more. The book's two part approach, documenting the journey to creating a great agency and a how-to advice approach for people connected to the advertising industry makes it very interesting.

Hegarty covers it all, Tissue meetings, creative directors, technology, storytelling, culture and more but the part that stands out the most for me is his belief on having a philosophy for the agency. He talks about how his agency was the first one to have a no-creative-presentation-in-the-pitch approach (Yes, everybody says that now) and that is what made it different, standing by something you believe in (and not working with any client that want's to pay for you to slap logos on).

The most memorable takeaway would be the constant belief in narrative.

(BTW there were three typos in the book)

Image source: Advertolog

Dancing Paper Stop Motion

2011-12-15T08:55:00.001-08:00

<p>FRICTIONS from BURAYAN on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

Nando's Last Dictator Standing

2011-11-27T08:26:00.001-08:00

I love Nando's.

Why The Guardian is Succeeding

2011-11-13T08:23:00.001-08:00

The Guardian is becoming quite a force in journalism and a truly social media organisation, they have broken down their approach in five simple steps which any organization can use to become social.

1. Commission, write, edit, and curate with the web in mind.

2. Anticipate and plan for likely interaction. Is this a conversation? How would you like people to respond? Sometimes you need to invite particular kinds of contribution. If you think your content has the potential to get heated, tell the moderators in advance and keep an eye on it yourself.

3. Participate and encourage participation. Keep an eye on conversations you start and get involved where relevant and possible. Invite particular perspectives and tease out interesting kernels into new ideas and conversations.

4. Recognize and reward quality contributions. Give attention and praise to things that are constructive or interesting. Don’t reward negative behaviour with attention.

5. Keep it up! Try and build some digital engagement activity into your daily routine, even if it’s just running Twitter in the background and reading/responding to comments once in a while.

The complete interview with Meg Pichard, Head of Digital Engagement can be found at Google's Think Quarterly.

The following is a detailed interview with Alan Rusbridger, Guardian's Editor, who talks about how the newspaper changed course four years ago and become a digital organization, including working round the clock, not sticking to old business models, being open, aggregating, linking and becoming part of the web instead of just being on the web. (Skip to 18:50 to read about Guardian's approach)

Fashion of Artists by PBS Arts

2011-11-12T17:02:00.001-08:00

The Fashion of Artists, the latest episode of the ongoing PBS Arts web documentary series Off Book, talks with six artists about how fashion influences their work and what it means to them.

Google + Fashion

2011-11-07T05:52:00.001-08:00

The spot is from W+K Japan for Google, promoting the image search function.

<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/17203320">Fashion Show with Google</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/robbinwaldemar">Robbin Waldemar</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

Viral Marketing Cheat Sheet

2011-11-04T05:56:00.001-07:00

Via Kiss Metrics

Hitchcock Angry birds

2011-10-26T06:08:00.001-07:00

via Lenkendall

Disney AppMATes: The New Mobile Application Toys for iPad

2011-10-17T10:14:00.001-07:00

ZOMBIES, RUN! Running game & audio adventure for iOS/Android

2011-10-17T09:05:00.001-07:00

Bring back Storytelling

2011-10-11T12:44:00.001-07:00

So I am big fan of the show Madmen. Don Draper, the Creative Director (in my opinion he is more of a strategist) is great at understanding human behaviour in the context of a product, he creates stories that not only persuades the consumer but also solves the business problem. The carousel is a brilliant example of how story telling works. There is absolutely nothing new about it, this has been the foundation of the advertising industry since the dawn of time but has been forgotten. There has been lots of talk but little walk. Once upon a time marketers believed that agencies could deliver these stories, and that is why agencies were valuable, now marketers know that they can do a better job and have started to use agencies as production houses. As Cindy Gallop, ex-chairman BBH puts it, we have to bring back the storytelling aspect of our jobs back, only then we can add really value and restore our long lost glory. For now, most of us just delivering ad ideas and not ideas, we need to go back and create ideas that are rooted in narratives.

Picture courtesy: Old School Hooligans

Social Media Propoganda Posters

2011-09-26T06:20:00.001-07:00

Via Design-Milk

The Evolution of The Advertising Executive

2011-09-20T13:17:00.001-07:00

via Adverblog

Papercut - enhanced reading experience for iPad

2011-09-19T07:19:00.001-07:00

I like the idea but I do question visuals being distracting. Also I like to create visuals in my mind out of words not being fed to me, maybe I am old-fashioned.

Dear Great Teachers, Thanks for Teaching us!

2011-09-15T06:05:00.001-07:00

Very touching. TBD just launched Thanks for teaching Us, a campign to show gratitude to teachers.

I want to build something of my own

2011-09-08T06:12:00.001-07:00

My favorite quote these days.

The magic of truth and lies (and iPods)

2011-08-16T07:16:00.001-07:00

Perfecting your craft

2011-08-15T08:35:00.001-07:00

This American Life’s Ira Glass describes the painful moment when your ability to execute on your ideas does not yet meet your own aesthetic standards – and how to push through it.

I think I am going through the first phase.

Find the complete article on 99% - 10 Awesome Videos On Idea Execution & The Creative Process

The Power of 'Like' Marketing

2011-08-15T06:46:00.001-07:00

via Kissmetrics

The new digital brand

2011-08-12T07:34:00.001-07:00

Old marketing” is about to take ownership of both customers’ and investors’ imagination and cash flow in the “connected” space. “Free”, “discounts” and “coupons” seem to be the new digital brand.

Read the complete piece by Helge Tenno here.
Picture courtesy - Dreamer7112@Flickr

A trip of a lifetime

2011-08-08T14:51:00.001-07:00

3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films..... a trip of a lifetime

The Time for Mobile Is Now

2011-08-08T05:44:00.001-07:00

I'm Comic Sans, Asshole

2011-07-25T05:53:00.001-07:00

Making of the AIR METT 90

2011-07-19T16:49:00.001-07:00

If You Want To Succeed, You've Got To Assume No-One Cares

2011-07-11T06:52:00.001-07:00

This was the best part of the article - "Every second of every day, year in year out, our industry pumps out a deluge of mediocrity that provides people with yet more evidence that our stuff really isn’t worth spending that much effort attending to."

Read the complete piece here.

Renata Salecl: Limitless Choice

2011-07-05T06:10:00.001-07:00

Creative wisdom from Sir Ken Robinson

2011-06-28T07:00:00.001-07:00

Bridging the gap between offline and online

2011-06-24T07:23:00.001-07:00

Finally, QR codes put to good use. I think they have successfully demonstrated how to bridge the gap between offline and online.

Taglines timeline

2011-06-22T06:04:00.001-07:00

via thinkingalaud.posterous.com

Business and consumer paradoxes

2011-06-14T06:02:00.001-07:00

I am not surprised, at all! from IBM

Apple statstics for iProducts

2011-06-10T06:51:00.001-07:00

10 Apple statistics from Apple's WWDC 2011 (as reported by Techcrunch):

1) 25 million iPads have been sold in just 14 months

2) 2/3rds of all mobile web browsing is done through mobile Safari

3) There are 225 million iTunes accounts (with credit cards attached and ready to spend)

4) 15 billion songs have been sold through iTunes

5) Apple has 18 million songs in their total iTunes Store library

6) There are now over 425,000 apps in the Apple App Store — 90,000 of them are built for the iPad

7) 14 billion apps have been downloaded in less than 3 years

8) 130 million iBooks have been downloaded in a little over a year

9) After just 9 months, there are 50 million Game Center users (Xbox Live has gotten 30 million in 8 years)

10) There are now 54 million active Mac users

via Nick Burcher

Effort and ideas

2011-06-09T06:49:00.001-07:00

via Brand DNA

Strong is Beautiful

2011-05-31T07:25:00.001-07:00

Loving the new Campaign by Goodby for WTA.

John Jay of W+K on creativity

2011-05-26T06:11:00.001-07:00

Strategy Caldron

2011-05-03T13:13:00.001-07:00

Fillet of a Quora snake,

In the strategy boil and bake;

Eye of YouTube and toe of banner

Wool of Linkedin, and tongue of Flickr

Facebook status and QR code sting,

Mobile app and twitters wing,—

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a strategy broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn, and strategy caldron bubble.

Yeah. I know. I did a pretty terrible job with Shakespeare's work, he must be turning in his grave but the point I'm trying to make is this - digital strategy has come down to tactics. Just tactics. Social networks, QR codes, apps, avatar apps, banner ads, takeovers, social games and (insert any other digital platform or cliché Facebook execution). Talk to a ‘strategist’ and if he is a regular one (I really mean bad here) he will talk about these, if he is smart, he will talk about leveraging human behaviour in the interest of a brand, taking a customers problem and a brands problem and then using his ability to understand both, then coming up with a SOLUTION that leverages these channels or any RELEVANT channels - creating something that adds value and is participatory.

If you haven't understood my rant, Read this. If you still don't get it, you need to leave this industry. Now.

Piggybacking? - Stop!

2011-05-01T11:02:00.001-07:00

So I watched the UFC 129 last night, the highly televised event, with the biggest crowd North America has ever witnessed for a UFC event. I couldn't help but notice the giant logos plastered on the octagon, on the poles, the shorts, t-shirts, yup, you name it and had a logo on it. Every single brand on earth had something to do with the UFC, even the commentary was full of 'brought to you by' and 'in theatres soon' crap - old tricks , classic piggybacking.
So here is my question, how many people watching the UFC gave a shit about these logos and interruptions? I'm guessing very few, the only thing it will do is fan a marketer's ego when he sees an increase in brand recall of 0.78% a few months from now. Really marketers? Is that the best you can do? Whatever happened to permission marketing? Or innovation? Remember when nobody cared about basketball and then Nike came in and made rock stars out of basketball players? Re framed it as entertainment? Innovation, not piggy backing, maybe not the best example but you get the idea. So next time you have these urges, ask yourself, how can I up MY game?

Sum it up in ONE or TWO words

2011-04-25T06:22:00.001-07:00

A very interesting and simple thought from Francis Ford Coppola's interview at 99%,

"When you make a movie, always try to discover what the theme of the movie is in one or two words. Every time I made a film, I always knew what I thought the theme was, the core, in one word. In “The Godfather,” it was succession. In “The Conversation,” it was privacy. In “Apocalypse,” it was morality. "

I love the 'one or two word' approach. If you can sum up your brand or campaign like that it makes every body's job easier, the agency's, the consumer's and the marketer's. Examples that come to my mind are Safety for Volvo, Driving Machine for BMW and Obama’s Change and Hope campaigns. Let’s make an effort to learn something from Mr. Coppola.

Y U No Do shit?

2011-04-18T06:23:00.001-07:00

I have been contemplating to write this post for a few months and today I finally found the courage to put it down. I have a bone to pick with the 'thought leaders' of the marketing industry, people who are big on twitter, have popular blogs, offer unsolicited marketing advice on a daily basis, speak at me-me-me conferences and have written a book or two on marketing - you know who you are. Here is my question, how many of you have actually put your own words to test? Have you made anything? Done something spectacular? Solved an actual marketing problem? And have case studies to prove? My guess is fewer than 10%. There is more talk and less do. How about not tweet for a week and leave all the other narcissistic tools and do some thing? be an actual practitioner?! I think that would really benefit you and the rest of us. If you need help finding examples look up Einstein or Gandhi or the Old Spice Guy. Yeah. I'm done.

Nike is awesome!

2011-04-04T06:51:00.001-07:00

Born to create drama!

2011-04-04T06:46:00.001-07:00

Moving to the next phase of branding

2011-02-28T10:05:00.001-08:00

Milton Friedman has long argued that the social responsibility of a business is to maximize profit. This view however is fast changing, not from the side of the businesses but from the side of the consumers. It will no longer be viable for business to pursue profit olny but become meaningful brands, enter a new phase in branding. Umair Haque calls this change in preferences from the consumer a tectonic shift that is taking place right now.

How we communicate through innuendo

2011-02-24T06:18:00.001-08:00

Indirect speech act or reading between the lines, another interesting talk by RSA.

Uniqlo does it again

2011-02-23T07:42:00.001-08:00

Uniqlo, the same retailer who has been coming up with unique ways to use twitter and other digital platforms has come up with Uniqlooks, their own street style Web site.

I'm no copywriter...

2011-02-23T07:24:00.001-08:00

via philliplee.tumblr.com

Branded Content is King!

2011-02-23T07:07:00.001-08:00

I don't think people care if it's branded content as long its ENTERTAINING!

Symbiosis and Marketing

2011-02-22T06:46:00.001-08:00

Symbiosis – the long term interaction between different biological species. Isn’t that how good marketing should increasingly become? Creating those environments for consumers and brands, floating ideas that create opportunities for co-creation? So how do you do this? Find common grounds, find a match between a brand’s needs and its customer’s needs - intersections.

Plan for participation from the start

2011-02-21T14:07:00.001-08:00

I came across a great post by Richard Huffington, the Director of Strategy at Saatchi and Saatchi UK. The most interesting nugget for me was this: plan for participation right from the start, common sense I guess if you work in planning but then again common sense is not very common. To be in participation heaven, you need to do the following according to Richard:

Start by making sure your brand cares about something that people care about, that it has a point of view on or a contribution to make to the lives that they lead.
Do something interesting with this. Being interesting IS the social currency of our age and the only currency we have to work with as the value of paid for conversations declines.
Then and only then do you deserve to ask the question. How are we going to enable people to join in and play?

I have picked out things from the article, for the complete post you can go here.

Image courtesy: GreenBoy

If Filmmakers Directed the Super Bowl

2011-02-08T06:53:00.001-08:00

I would definitely watch Tarantino and Jean-Luc Godard's version.

Extreme Sitting in Germany

2011-02-08T06:41:00.001-08:00

What is innovation?

2011-02-06T14:09:00.001-08:00

And I am going to steal this...

2011-02-04T07:14:00.001-08:00

I stole it from here

Facebook Magazine is here!

2011-02-01T08:10:00.001-08:00

Yes you heard it right, there is a magazine for Facebook in Sweden. With users growing everyday, new products and feature, the potential could be huge.

Be very afraid....NOT!

2011-02-01T07:47:00.001-08:00

Really Motorola? I don't think the folks at Apple are worried.

Amnesia Connect ... Inspired?

2011-01-27T09:08:00.001-08:00

via vimeo.com

love it!

Nuff said really

2011-01-14T06:34:00.001-08:00

via branddna.blogspot.com

Facebook 2010: The Saga Continues

2010-12-23T06:51:00.001-08:00

via flowtown.com

A Year of Twitter

2010-12-14T06:03:00.001-08:00

via flowtown.com

Anatomy of a great idea

2010-12-03T07:33:00.001-08:00

via theplanninglab.com

How about a nice big hot steaming cup of...

2010-12-03T07:20:00.001-08:00

via mehreenkasana.files.wordpress.com

Drinkspiration - Home Edition

2010-12-01T07:13:00.001-08:00

via youtube.com

Probably wouldn't work on a PC, but sits well on a tablet.

The Nissan Juke iAd Demo

2010-11-25T05:55:00.001-08:00

Nike – The World is watching you

2010-11-21T15:54:00.001-08:00

To promote the Street Basketball Nike event called “The World is watching you”, a whole re-design was made by Nike. More here.

Mother does IKEA Kitchens

2010-10-13T06:41:00.001-07:00

Mother brings Jona Lewis's classic back. The video showcases IKEA Kitchens. Love it!

You can check out the channel here. Enjoy!

It's not technology it's what you do with it

2010-10-06T06:35:00.001-07:00

Nokia's new spot for the N8 Smartphone

Are books dead?

2010-09-26T10:06:00.001-07:00

Just when you thought that books were dead - IDEO presents the opportunities that are available and arising. Very interesting look on where they may be heading...

These boots are made for walking...

2010-09-05T17:15:00.001-07:00

British brand Nice boots recently came out with a new campaign. It features Coleen Rooney, England footballer Wayne Rooney's wife. The campaign was done by Leo Burnett London. The campaign may not be a Cannes or a D&AD winner but it is quite memorable. The micro site directs to the ad and has all the required elements including e-newsletters and downloads. The only critique - the share-ability factor (twitter, Facebook) could have been paid a little more attention to. Never the less, its nice!

Street slide from Microsoft

2010-08-13T06:17:00.001-07:00

Amazing stuff from Microsoft, a new and more immersive way to access street level information.

Be Nice or Leave

2010-07-17T12:23:00.001-07:00

Very interesting thoughts on Social media from Faris Yakob, the Chief Innovation Officer at MDC Partners. My favorite bit is 'all media is social', more on this in a later blog post for now you can enjoy the deck.

<div style="width:425px" id="__ss_4652213"><strong style="display:block;margin:12px 0 4px">Be Nice Or Leave: IRL Edition</strong></object><div style="padding:5px 0 12px">View more presentations from Faris Yakob.</div></div>

A new kind of experience

2010-07-06T07:49:00.001-07:00

Previously I wrote about how the iPad is going to be a game changer. Touching stories is exactly whats changing things, it is a film exclusively for the iPad. User experience has been built into the production so that the viewer can be part of it all by touching, shaking and using the iPad for everything it has to offer.

This is the first wave of creations that are going to impact the way we are going to consume media. It’s only a matter of time that we see more amazing stuff.

Rockstar Planner?

2010-06-23T06:21:00.001-07:00

Are you a Rockstar planner? Do you have it in you? Listen to planners at Anamoly, Arnold, JWT NY and more to find out what skills are absolutely essential for an A-list planner. My favorite bit is by Paul Wilmington of Naked - If you are in this business, it better be your hobby'.

For the complete series go to PSFK's YouTube channel.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Bringing Cassette back

2010-06-23T05:59:00.001-07:00

Erika Iris Simmons, Atlanta based artist produces work from recycled materials. Her recent works 'ghost in the machine' is based on the philosophy that our spirit lives on long after we are gone. She pays tribute not just to the late icons but an almost obsolete medium - cassettes. Her complete work can be viewed here.

Pot noodle goes clubbing

2010-06-22T06:08:00.001-07:00

Acclaimed music director Joseph Kahn who has directed music videos for Lady Gaga, The chemical brothers, Janet Jackson among notable others teamed up with Mother London to do a spot for Pot Noodle. The spot features a guy with an attractive girlfriend who turn their apartment into a club after throwing a pot noodle on the turntable. I like the spot but I don't know how this can be justified from a branding perspective, Al Ries would probably be grinding his teeth.

Cadbury Flake: Unfold

2010-06-20T16:11:00.001-07:00

I love Fallon. The agency behind Cadbury's Gorilla spot and Eyebrow dance. This is their latest work for Cadbury flake:

Marketing Basics by Gordon Ramsay

2010-06-06T05:12:00.001-07:00

Gordon Ramsay is the celebrity chef, host of hit TV shows like The F Word, Hell's Kitchen and my favourite Kitchen Nightmares. For those of you who are not familiar with him, he is the chef who screams vulgarities at pretty much anyone who comes in contact with him on his show and brings them to the verge of breaking down. I do not recommend or condone his actions but I have to admit the very same people are the one thanking him in the end.

So why am I talking about him? Well I just finished a complete season of Kitchen Nightmares and I feel he offers some lessons that are valuable to marketers.

Focus

Al Reis talked about the concept of finding your niche - cherchez le creneau; Ramsay reiterates the same thing. Are you the best Indian restaurant in town? Do you have the best roast beef sandwiches? Whatever the case, you have to find something you are good at and that sets you apart. I guess this is marketing 101 but too often ignored.

Listen to your customers

One of the first things Ramsay does once he takes on a new project is observes the customers. He asks them questions. Why they eat there? What do the like about it? Have they had any bad experiences? He goes and talks to people in the neighbourhood, the competition and this is what serves as the basis of his overall strategy. Something planners call the ‘key consumer isight’. The lesson is to be in touch with what is being said about you, whether it is in a forum or in a published article or the e-mails you get from unhappy customers.

KISS

Keep it Simple Stupid – Ramsay rips and tears the restaurants, whether it’s decluttering the menus or the space people wine and dine in. He brings everything back to basics; you don’t have to have a long menu or complicated recipes with secret sauces to be good. I think this is one of the most valuable lessons, having an offering that is easy for you and your customers to understand instead of having complicated operations.

Don’t be afraid

There are some moments in this show that just excite me. On numerous occasions Ramsay has taken the entire staff of the restaurant to promote the restaurant. My favourite being when he promoted an Indian restaurant in UK and doing a bollywood-ish dance routines in the city square and sampling food items. This sort of direct marketing is an excellent source of word of mouth but also builds good will for the brand. It never hurts to take initiative and do things that are out of the ordinary.

Communication is the key

Whether you are running a kitchen or a business, you need to fully be in touch with your employees, customers and partners. Open channels of communication and not being blindly dependant on others can guarantee success of any project. Not everybody has Ramsay following up on them so make sure that things are well communicated and understand who are involved this removes ambiguities and blame games.

I guess the number one lesson for me from Gordon Ramsay is that he is so passionate about what he does; he is never shy of rolling up his sleeves and getting things done. Being involved every step of the way, pushing people to their best and being committed all the way.

Another viral marketing lesson could be the stunt he pulled of a few days ago, more here.

How the CIA solves problems...

2010-06-05T07:03:00.001-07:00

I stumbled upon on Iqbal's blog today and found this great list. Its the Pheonix List, used by CIA to encourage agents to look at a problem from many different angels. I think its a very handy list for all the planners and strategists.

The Problem

Why is it necessary to solve the problem?

What benefits will you receive by solving the problem?

What is the unknown?

What is it you don't yet understand?

What is the information you have?

What isn't the problem?

Is the information sufficient? Or is it insufficient? Or redundant? Or contradictory?

Should you draw a diagram of the problem? A figure?

Where are the boundaries of the problem?

Can you separate the various parts of the problem? Can you write them down? What are the relationships of the parts of the problem? What are the constants of the problem?

Have you seen this problem before?

Have you seen this problem in a slightly different form? Do you know a related problem?

Try to think of a familiar problem having the same or a similar unknown

Suppose you find a problem related to yours that has already been solved. Can you use it? Can you use its method?

Can you restate your problem? How many different ways can you restate it? More general? More specific? Can the rules be changed?

What are the best, worst and most probable cases you can imagine?

The Plan

Can you solve the whole problem? Part of the problem?
What would you like the resolution to be? Can you picture it?
How much of the unknown can you determine?
Can you derive something useful from the information you have?
Have you used all the information?
Have you taken into account all essential notions in the problem?
Can you separate the steps in the problem-solving process? Can you determine the correctness of each step?
What creative thinking techniques can you use to generate ideas? How many different techniques?
Can you see the result? How many different kinds of results can you see?
How many different ways have you tried to solve the problem?
What have others done?
Can you intuit the solution? Can you check the result?
What should be done? How should it be done?
Where should it be done?
When should it be done?
Who should do it?
What do you need to do at this time?
Who will be responsible for what?
Can you use this problem to solve some other problem?
What is the unique set of qualities that makes this problem what it is and none other?
What milestones can best mark your progress?
How will you know when you are successful?

The Hidden Influence

2010-05-17T11:42:00.001-07:00

Amazing talk by Nicholas Christakis; he presents the idea that your social network can influence and impact your life in ways you have not though about. You are your culture, your friends, and your neighbours.

Posted via web from Umar Ghumman

Cookie dip!

2010-04-29T09:34:00.001-07:00

Volontaire created this sweet campaign for the Swedish brand of biscuit Ballerina. The campaign revolves around the idea that people love to dip their cookies/biscuits in milk before eating. In this video they decided to dip a parachutist into a pool of milk with a packet of biscuits in his/her hands from 4500 meters.

People can also post videos and pictures dipping their cookies on their website. How do you like your cookies?

The new game changer!

2010-04-19T20:42:00.001-07:00

Some inventions have had profound impact on our lives over the course of time, starting from the invention of the Abacus, to Asipirin, the barcode, the Blackberry, the light bulb and the credit cards among many but only few have been complete game changers. The invention of the printing press in 1454 revolutionized and started a new era of modernity and represented a complete shift from earlier practices.

We have seen similar changes in the recent past. Google, which started out as a meager search engine has come a long way. Google’s products such as Google Voice, Android, Nexus in the telecom domain, investments in content, ownership of YouTube and Google TV in the media domain makes it a game changer not just in one industry but many others. Their successful advertising model coupled with the success of their other products earned them $6.7 Billion dollars in the first quarter of 2010. Google has converged many industries, from media to telecom to of course technology.

So what am I trying to get at here?

Well, the iPad, the latest offering from Apple could be the next game changer. This 9.5 X 7.5 tablet has the ability to converge video content, print media and interactivity of the web into a single platform, therefore impacting all of them (Yes I know it does not support Flash, but we will get to that later). It is a new way of consuming content, away from the printed world and integrated with rich video and web features. Some recent examples include AKQA's iPad app for GAP and BBH’s app for Cadillac. The device has had other significant impacts as well:

Fedex recently bought advertising space on the iPad applications from Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek
Advertisers including Unilever, Toyota Motor, Korean Air and Fidelity have booked space on Time’s iPad application
The Wall Street Journal said a subscription to its app would cost $17.99 a month, and the first advertisers included Capital One, Buick, Oracle, iShares and FedEx

These marketing change is just a hint of what has yet to come. Game Changer. No?

Some more examples below:

<p>VIV Mag Interactive Feature Spread - iPad Demo from Alexx Henry on Vimeo.</p>

Dr. Marten's bringing it back

2010-04-09T07:28:00.001-07:00

The BMW films, five feature quality iconic short films produced in the early 2000's and directed by leading Hollywood directors, went on to become decade's best promotion. The concept was the brainchild of Fallon. Dr. Marten's, the grunge, punk rock inspired brand is trying to do something on the same lines. It has commissioned 10 directors to produce 10 videos of current brands performing classic songs that reflect the brand's personality. And yeah all the band's are wearing Doc's. The Duke Spirit video is pretty nice!

What are you thinking?

2010-04-01T06:28:00.001-07:00

Vancouver 2010 just ended and advertisers are on to the next big thing, Fifa 2010! We are soon to see a lot of soccer centric campaigns coming our way. Powerade has already created a cinematic masterpiece as part of its 'Keep Playing' campaign. I am not a big soccer fan (football for you English folks) and you don't have to be either to enjoy this wonderfully crafted piece. The inner-thoughts concept adds a new dimension to video viewing, you can actually see a separate video about what the athletes are thinking, and you are returned right back to the program, where you left off. Sapient Nitro is the agency behind this, same folks who created best job in the world campaign and won at Cannes last year.

You can watch the video on Powerade's You tube channel

Avis/DDB - a successful client agency partnership

2010-03-29T17:41:00.001-07:00

Successful marketing campaigns require clear understandings of goals and expectations. DDB produced one of the most successful campaigns of all time for its client Avis and became part of Ad Age's top 100 advertising campaigns . The Avis Advertising Philosophy was framed and hung at both the client and agency offices. How many agencies today are following the same trend?

Vintage beer cans

2010-03-28T16:05:00.001-07:00

Is it just me or do these look like gasoline containers?

Evolution of Marketing - Infographic

2010-03-20T13:28:00.001-07:00

Ever wondered how advertising and marketing came about? Flowtown has put together this amazing info graphic

Sid Lee does Adidas again!

2010-03-19T13:07:00.001-07:00

After the house party, Montreal based Sid Lee is back with its 'Celebrating Originality on the Streets' campaign for Adidas. I was a big fan of the house party campaign and I am falling for this one too.

'Tis the season of emotion

2010-03-16T17:02:00.001-07:00

A lot of good ads this seasons are just full of emotion. Just like this Tropicana ad:

And this Tim Hortons Ad:

Other emotions beside humor in advertising work as well. The authenticity and realness of these ad make them a big hit for me!

Internet killed the video star?

2010-03-15T08:07:00.001-07:00

People who developed TV said radio was dead, people who are big believers of the internet say television is dead – None of this is actually true. Media in all of its forms will always survive as long as there is interesting content that is being delivered through those channels and value is being provided. The more things change the more they stay the same; hence interesting content is still the King. Media fragmentation, clutter and multiple channels are challenges in marketing but in the end people’s attention has to be harnessed in all of those media forms. Efficiency of ROI and media channels can be debated and talked about – the efficient delivery of a message into a medium has no value if no one is paying attention. The challenge again is the same – creating campaigns that break through and people actually pay attention to.

Leo Burnett's Humankind Philosophy

2010-03-15T07:18:00.001-07:00

"In the people era you need acts not ads" via Leo Burnett blog

Lessons from the Peter Chao brand

2010-03-10T07:23:00.001-08:00

I don’t know if I should be saying this but I am obsessed with Peter Chao. For those of you who don’t know him, Peter Chao is a YouTube celebrity who makes videos about the most random things. His famous videos include commentary on Kanye-Taylor Swift fiasco and Justin Bieber. He has developed a huge following both in Canada and outside. His top 10 videos have fetched more than a million views individually and the top video with more than 2 million views to date.

I am a Peter Chao fan and I think he can offer some good lessons to marketers on brand and community building.

Unique: With his overall image of being outspoken, loud and vey stereotypical, you would think that his content would be strange. But the opposite is true – He has publicly embraced his Asian heritage and culture and his Canadian lifestyle. His accent, his commentary with curse word that can easily rival Eminem or Slipknot and his awareness about things around him, saying things that other people would not want to say, makes him a hit and attracts so many followers from Canada and around the world.

Leverage Social Media: Youtube is his claim to fame, with a total of 38 million total upload views, a Facebook page with more than 110,000 fans and approximately 17000 twitter followers. He is using Social Media to drive loyalty, tweeting about his engagements, new things he is working on and at times random comments that makes the followers/fans just crack up, but most of all its this constant interaction and valuing of his fans that has contributed to his success. He recently invited his fans to show up at a Vancouver nightclub to meet him as well.

Content: He produces videos on a regular basis. The videos that he puts out are funny, relevant to his brand and target audience and carefully thought out. Making people laugh is one of the hardest things to do, and he has produced funny and entertaining videos on a consistent basis. His Justin Beiber video was produced as a result of an overwhelming demand from his fans. It is this great content that makes people keep going back again and again.

Peter Chao recently entered the Doritos Viralocity Competition and has half a million views in just four days of posting. Here is his entry to the competition:

Best ads Super bowl 2010

2010-02-08T15:12:00.001-08:00

Doritos - With a great super bowl ad last year created by two brothers as a part a challenge, the strategy of crowd sourcing is definitely paying off for Doritos. It has found a good way to keep itself relevant and engaged with its target audience. No fancy ad agencies here, only the best ideas from aspiring creative individuals. Ideas that are witty and spicy. And this is my favorite one.

Google - Yup Google has done it again. They made us change the way we think about search and now about the Super bowls ads. No celebrities, no fancy gimmicks and no lame jokes. Their spot was clean and simple and the best part is that it will have a lasting impact on the mind of the consumers.

Coca-Cola – Since Pepsi was out of the game this year. Coke did not waste a minute to remind people why it’s still the real thing and world’s best brand. The Simpson’s spot was my favorite.

Snickers – I think this ad pretty much summed up what a great spot could be. Snickers positioning as the best candy bar is well communicated with this funny and focused ad. Plus who doesn’t like Betty White playing football?

http://www.myspace.com/fanvideo

Myspace not dead yet

2010-01-30T16:31:00.001-08:00

How often do you hear the phrase that Myspace is dead? Pretty often I suppose, especially looking at the visitor trends. But MySpace Music is planning to come back with a bang. The UK relaunch of Myspace Music was done by guys at BBH London. They have created smart and engaging work, a series of interactive films that reinforce the core MySpace offer of music community. Visitors can create a playlist of videos and watch the artists take turns to make a personal dedication. Artists that are featured on the www.myspace.com/getrealclose include Guetta, Furtado and Fifty among others.

I don’t know if this will be a Myspace’s big comeback, only time and data will tell but for now it’s a brilliant piece that celebrates collaboration and the love of music.

http://www.myspace.com/getrealclose

Think Google!

2010-01-09T01:32:00.001-08:00

Google has officially launched its own phone; the phone is available through Google’s website www.google.com/phone. So why the phone? It’s very obvious that Google wants to take control and a piece of the app market from Apple. Although this approach is good but Google in my opinion is thinking long-term, or maybe the very long-term. It is focusing on the mobile web future. As .COM was to the Internet the .MOBI will be to the mobile net. That is where Google is heading for leadership.

Technological advancements will make phones cheaper, affordable, fast and easy to use. This will reduce Apple’s leadership and its share of the app market. Google has already acquired Admob, the world’s largest mobile advertising platform, strengthening the notion that Google is just not there for the app market share.

Basing your future and strategy on something like apps, in my opinion is short sightedness. Although no brand can predict the future with 100% certainty but keeping a close eye on your competitor and being a devil’s advocate once in a while doesn’t hurt either. (Hint Hint, Apple!)

Sexy Hermes window installation

2009-12-07T07:54:00.001-08:00

A sexy and innovative display by Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka. The display is at Hermes Japan. Love it!

Koodo's interactive experience, Samsung Instict did a better job!

2009-12-02T09:52:00.001-08:00

I just came across the new interactive experience by Koodo Mobile. I am not sure but I think it was done by their AOR, TAXI 2. Something very similar was done earlier this year by Fjord Interactive for Samsung Instinct's teaser campaign. Wind mobile is also a big hit with me because of the interesting analogies in their videos. Using YouTube as a delivery mechanism is catching on, its great to see Canadian brands and agencies coming up with ideas that are relevant, informative and entertaining.

Koodo - Sugar Streak

Samsung Instinct - Follow your instinct

Wind Mobile - Power of Conversation

The future is unknown

2009-12-02T09:05:00.001-08:00

Tiger Woods has been in the news a lot lately from Advertising Age to Entertainment Tonight . Tiger Woods is aligned with the best brands in the world including Nike, TAG and Gillette. What is happening to Tiger is what has happened to many brands who thought they are/were invincible (Martha Stewart, Exxon, American Red Cross, Barry Bonds etc. ). This is again a classic case of unpredictability and uncertainty. Life happens and it is impossible to predict the future. Your Brand may be on top of the world one day and fighting a PR nightmare the next. The best advice for a brand facing a nightmare is to come out and tell the truth, take steps to correct the problem and then go into hiding.

The strategy is to come clean with it or the speculation will continue. The Tiger Wood's Brand can be fixed, you know how we all love comebacks!