Creative Denial, Anger, Bargaining, & Acceptance | Permission To When turning pleasurable pursuits into a profession there needs to be barriers to entry or exceptional value that adds economic scarcity; conceivably risk, distinctive talent or financial investment. This is permanently true. Your value-add – if not unique – requires higher risk, or supplementary resources, or less pleasure if your unwilling to settle for lower (or no) compensation. In the 80 / 20 hay day [the 80% worth consuming is produced by 20% of the talent], creative professionals would rely on institutions like the recording industry, art galleries or advertising agencies to organize creative output. Lately, creative professionals are suffering the heartbreak of fading uniqueness and coping with pressures to add value in other ways. The chaos of coordinated groups without institutional control is just beginning. Photographers will find Clay Shirky’s example of Flickr particularly familiar. (via Wikipedia)
A-Game: Brands That Get It Right In this digital and mobile age, the idea of carrying around a weekly or monthly magazine in anticipation of flipping through its ink-stained pages is about as antique a concept as the word “periodical.” So I feel like Andy Rooney going on about how I prefer paper and a stitched-up spine to a cold, hard screen every time. But I do -- or, at least, I did. And then I tried Wired magazine’s first iPad issue, which came out this month. We all know the Internet’s economics have proven punishing for publishing. Of course, more than most magazines, Wired’s content is uniquely positioned to make the transition to the tablet -- both in form and function. The app is chock full of extra animation and video -- including a clip from Toy Story 3 -- and the download takes a while. Here’s the down low on the download: the experience is worth the time and every penny. Apparently, the Wired crew of editors and code writers were building this for a year, and it shows.
Uniqlo’s Six-Phrase In-Store Strategy Uniqlo, the Japanese clothing company that has become one of the fastest growing retailers in a tough economy, is on top of its game. With innovative advertising platforms and smart utilization of social media, the brand has increasingly taken notice, and acted upon, the conversational constructs of the consumer dialogue. At its flagship store in Soho, New York (its lone American location) Uniqlo has taken its messaging strategy to the sales floor, developing a unique science to the way that its employees interact with customers. In an extensive story from New York Magazine, the retailer explained its plans for expansion (stores in LA, Boston) and surpassing the leading global competition, Zara (the world’s largest clothing retailer), by way of a singular spoken mandate on its sales force. “Every day, at every Uniqlo worldwide, customer advisers repeat what are known as “the six standard phrases,” which they are expected to use while on the floor. New York: Uniqlones
Majority Report Technology is driving human behavior at such a pace that it has surpassed content as a mass motivator. If you've ever worked with a hardware company, you know about the endless cycle of product innovations. Color? Take mobile phones. Let's use augmented reality as an example. The app Foursquare is another example. Now, this was not actually a new idea -- the founders had previously made a similar application called Dodgeball that they later sold to Google, but it wasn't very popular. This is all real, right now. The pace of technology development is influencing our behavior, and quickly. Benjamin Palmer is co-founder and CEO of The Barbarian Group.
Learn To Fucking Spell | I Am Paddy Picture a world famous surgeon. Absolutely everybody has heard of this talented individual. She's performed countless surgeries, saved so many lives. She's renowned the world over for being a miracle worker. Now imagine she achieved this notable status while constantly making obvious mistakes with the scalpel. The equivalent of that happens in the world of web design every second. You can be the greatest designer on the planet, have the most intriguing concepts out there, create wonderfully thought provoking experiences for your users, but if you type something like 'I've been freelancing for a number off years', you honestly look like a five year old. To take that to an even further level of embarrassment, many of these same individuals can also be heard proudly stating: How can you admit to that? I'm not talking about spelling the likes of 'Honorificabilitudinitatibus' but simply So, enough of the ranting. And one final thing I ask of you after you've perfected these basic rules. fin
Ad Agencies: Alex Bogusky’s Keynote at Mirren’s New Business Conference First rule of new business: make a list of the rules. Second rule of new business: break every rule on the list. If you want to shake up your thinking regarding agency new business and following conventional wisdom, Alex Bogusky, the highly respected creative director for Crispin and Porter Advertising, shares his perspective. He was one of the featured speakers at Mirren’s annual new business conference in New York. “I hate conventional wisdom,” Bogusky said, “conventional wisdom is learning from your mistakes. Crispin Porter Bogusky’s success in new business came from breaking with conventional wisdom. Alex joined Crispin and Porter Advertising in 1989 as an art director. Under Alex’s direction, Crispin Porter + Bogusky has grown to 900 + employees, with offices in Miami, Boulder, Los Angeles, London and Sweden. Alex was inducted into the Art Director’s Club Hall of Fame in 2008, and in 2009 he received an honorary PhD from the University of Colorado.
6 Stores Across the World Are a Feast for Design Nuts That’s because it’s about the places that are likely to tempt you into spending money on things you may not necessarily need, but could definitely be persuaded to want. It’s my (shamelessly subjective) choice of the world’s best contemporary design stores. They’re the ones that are likeliest to surprise me by showing me things I’ve haven’t seen before, which is why I almost always end up splashing out on something that I hadn’t expected to buy there — and you might too. Jasper Morrison Shop Come with lots of cash or an old-fashioned checkbook — they don’t take credit cards. Most of his perfectly plain products are on sale here as well as his personal pick of the beautifully designed objects he spots on his travels: cookware, cutlery, tools, brushes, chopping boards, and even a camping stove. Moss “Gentle” and “unobtrusive” aren’t the first words that spring to mind when describing the granddaddy of design stores, Moss in New York. Brutto Gusto Now for an anomaly. Tokyu Hands VitraHaus
The New Currency: Ideas or Influence? | The BrandForward Blog One of the things that’s so inspiring about the Information Age is that the possibilities for an individual are limitless. A college drop-out created one of the world’s most powerful companies. A college kid came up with a billion dollar operation out of his dorm room, (and at 26 years old he’s running it). A child from a broken home who didn’t know his father grew up to be president of the United States. Is there anything that can’t be done? When ideas are what create success, can we afford to judge anyone based on their pedigree, education, or age? As was predicted, in the new millennium ideas became currency. In an environment that has evolved to value ideas, every day is a new opportunity to change the world, to be a catalyst for growth, to build something amazing. What’s small is big, and what’s big is flat. That was until the chilling effect of “influence.” Am I the only one who hates cliques? The loss will be great. A lot of ideas that could have and would have connected, won’t.
Let's Kill The CPM Editor’s note: This guest post is written by Shelby Bonnie, the CEO of Whiskey Media. He co-founded CNET in 1993 and was the Chairman and CEO from 2000 to 2006. He served as Chairman of the IAB from 2001 to 2003. Whiskey Media is a content platform with three sites, giantbomb.com, comicvine.com, and animevice.com lots more to come. OK, Advertising Week just ended… does anyone else feel like the online advertising industry is the orchestra, playing on while the Titanic is sinking? We have a problem, folks. I have been in the Internet media space for 16 years and will start by stating the obvious: The CPM has done more to stunt innovation and drag down quality products than any single thing on the Internet. All campaigns start with the best of intentions: “let’s do something creative, engaging, and unique!” In 2002, my first full year as Chairman of the IAB, we made a decision as an industry to kill the original small banner (468×60). Why is the CPM such a problem? Simple.
How to Reproduce the Old Spice Video Phenomena Oh, you know its going to happen, brand marketers left and right asking their teams to "get me some of that Old Spice" social media magic. This recent campaign will be another benchmark of social media achievement. I know this because CNN (CNN International, actually) interviewed me on Friday to get my take on the campaign. Was it successful? In case you are just back from St. For two days (July 13th and 14th), Isaiah Mustafa, dressed only in a towel, responded to fans from a set made to look like a bathroom. Trent Johnson (from the Interactive Department at Wieden) had created a custom program that automatically pulled in people’s comments from Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc., allowing the creative team to write immediate responses.Those scripts drove the development of the videos in near real time. Stats Old Spice YouTube Channel Views - almost 8mOld Spice YouTube Total Upload views - 83m +Total subscribers on YouTube channel 120KTotal Connections on Facebook 616k Was it Successful?