ThoughtSpurs

I participate in a new blog about social media . One of my fellow contributors (and the founder of the project) Justin Flitter left a video post which demanded a reply. I have concerns that the novelty of 'social media' is overwhelming common sense and experience? I hope the last thing you take out of my reply to Justin's post is any sort of Luddite view. It's just that I feel the discovery of access to media isn't such a novelty really for people who have had something to say and which they can articulate with at least a modicum of skill - mass media has to be fueled with content. In a way it is like a teenager discovering The Beatles today. New - but old. I have to confess that I didn't really understand the central thesis of Justin's video. But some of his points stimulated the following thoughts of my own: I have worked in social media all of my working life, since 1983 anyway. That may sound paradoxical but assuming broadcast or mass media isn't so...

How do you build a chocolate brand? from edenspiekermann_ on Vimeo . Building brands takes time. Nice designs and packaging don't automatically constitute a brand. It really does depend on people forming a relationship with the product that, ultimately, they feel somewhat proprietary about. Great design ideas and implementation are far more likely to provoke that sort of response. In the chocolate market TCHO is really distinctive. The associations with chocolate seem to hark backwards. This brand is decidedly contemporary. The care and attention lavished on the presentation supports the idea of a premium experience with none the usual cliches. If the opposite of love isn't hate, it is indifference. I imagine that people will have fallen in love with TCHO and the equity in their brand is building. I can't believe that indifference is a possibility. TCHO website Video via Idealog magazine

Love this video on a subject near and dear to my heart.Meant to post it earlier, but I just never got around to it. I wonder what strategies you employ to break out of inertia like writer's block? I have always found that, sometimes, just starting to write and not worrying about the content is the solution. First map out the terrain, then make sense of the words. Likewise staring at a blank page without a single idea can be overcome by making a mark on the page. A border sometimes helps me in the way that marking lines on the floor of a corridor can help a person with Parkinson's avoid freezing - rather than making it to the end of the hall they can then simply make it to the next mark. Here's an interesting blog post about overcoming creative block by photographer Paul Indigo.

The Chaos Scenario from Greg Stielstra on Vimeo . I have just finished reading Bob Garfield's book The Chaos Scenario . Garfield has long been the ad critic for Advertising Age magazine. The thesis of the book is that the digital era has decimated traditional media by radically changing its economics (unlimited supply) and corresponding changes in consumer media consumption. For such a dystopian view the book is remarkably jolly. Garfield's style is witty and informed. It is hard to argue against his points, even if it means radical shifts in the industry I work in. Personally I welcome the changes and have been preparing for the shift since the late 90's - even, at one point leaving the advertising company I founded, which concentrated on churning out preformatted TV ads, to join Lion Nathan's online marketing business as creative director for its brands in Australasia. The future may well be uncertain, though I have a feeling much of what marketing communications pe...

I used to lie in bed in the dark listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon through my headphones, marveling at the stereo effects (those were the days…revealing my age). I rather like this clip of a recreation of the album art in real life. It is a little cheap and cheerful but kind of cool. I have the strangest of impulses to buy a digital copy of the album, which I haven't heard for years. Interesting how related content on the web can trigger that response - which should be instructional for music companies whose first impulse might be to attempt to silence a clip on YouTube for copyright infringement. BTW - you can still buy the vinyl edition Via Simon Law's blog - Another Planning Blog

Many years ago I read a book called A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can be More Creative by Roger von Oech. It's a great book. But the parallel here is that some ideas are so simple they are striking. This Nissan light truck ad makes a simple point - carry a lot in a small space. They could have tried to hard sell with data about the size and load carrying capacity, but that isn't really how advertising works for cars and trucks. It's hard to avoid the fact that a sales person will most likely be involved in the purchase process,…most people don't buy trucks online…so the task of the ad is to engage the reader's attention and provoke interest. After that other elements of the communication chain can do its job. It pays to remember that boring people into submission has never been a successful communications strategy. In a cluttered communication environment there has to be an element of surprise. The unexpected commands more attention than the banal or fam...

There is an advertising truism that goes something like:"If you have a straight picture…use a twisted headline. If you have a straight headline…use a twisted image." I came across Apps & Hats , the quirky iPhone application review show through Twitter (I think)have have been fascinated ever since. There is something weirdly engaging about two women discussing technology while dressed in period costume.But here is the kicker, they deliver the information about applications in a straight way - never referencing the costumes. The presentation style is simple and conversational. They produce an episode every couple of weeks. Video is more and more important on the web (hopefully New Zealand's broadband speeds will keep pace - I can but dream). If you are thinking of producing content for the web I suggest that the Apps & Hats model is worth studying: 1. Keep it simple. There is no need to over-egg production - the web isn't HDTV. Your return on investment will ne...

The PriceSpy model takes a new twist - research widely, purchase as cheaply as possible. Dixon's, a price discounting retailer sends out an only marginally tongue in cheek message to customers. Of course Dixon's will have been affected by the web themselves. The challenge for retailers who sell at full margin is to close the deal before the customer has a chance to go elsewhere. What kind of mechanisms and strategies are available to them? Make it personal. In the good old days customers were known by name to vendors. Of course that's not always practical in the 21st century, but it would be possible to harness technology and strategies to make customers feel they are indeed valued by the retailer. An old favourite amongst restaurateurs is to greet guests with 'Nice to see you again…" (even if they have never been to the place before), it elevates the customer's feeling of being special. Not being one to advocate disingenuity, I only use the example to make th...

This ad for Toyota is an excellent argument for making commercials that will create momentum - where people will do some of the marketer's work for them. There was a time when people who bought LandCruisers would have talked up their choice (post purchase dissonance), but now people like me (I don't have a Toyota Landcruiser) will happily embed the commercial on my blog - see above and then point people to it through Twitter - and a host of other social platforms. It may cause a renaissance in advertising creativity, the sort of messages that were more common in the 70's and 80's, such as the classic Benson & Hedges ads (I'm not encouraging anyone to smoke) or John Smith's bitter. The commercials that people would discuss around the proverbial water cooler. The Toyota commercial also demonstrates that advertisers are beginning to understand that 'viral' messages don't have to be low budget emulations of You Tube user's style of presentation (...

Great video presentation about social media. Did you know that if Facebook was a country it would be the fourth largest in the world?

I’m told that the cover of the first edition of the newly relaunched New Zealand Marketing magazine had a cover personalised to its recipient. From what I can gather the extent of the customisation was simply to say something like ‘Hello David…’. I didn’t feel I had missed much. Mail-merged salutation is little more than a 90’s party trick in the era of web 2.0. It reminded me of Saul Wurman’s comments about customisation in Information Anxiety 2 “There is a tendency to go overboard towards customising when you try to give people only what you think they want.” Wurman thinks customisation is a worthless idea – in the context of customised marketing, web experiences, newspapers and so forth because ‘people often buy what they didn’t know they wanted in what they didn’t know they were looking for’ – a serendipitous effect. If you only get what you thought you wanted, he argues, you don’t get much. He brings the discussion round to the subject of creativity – the observation of patterns....

Ok. Let's just say this wasn't the finest moment for either Kiss or Pepsi. But it does show what happens when marketers try to change the brand narrative. Kids loved Kiss (I did) but Kiss weren't kids. They were what we aspired to. Putting a kid in the commercial and shoe-horning a Pepsi lyric in the spot was the destroyer (pun intended) of authenticity - i.e. the reason you'd pay the big bucks for big talent. If you use a successful song - don't mess with it. if you choose an edgy band - don't homogenise them for the 'family audience'.

Bob Garfield, eminent writer for Advertising Age has a new book. The Chaos Scenario . Looks like an interesting read. Better still, the video promo is an interesting watch. I've ordered my copy (while there is still a publishing industry). It seems a familiar story for anyone with an eye an ear open in the world of social media. But, coming from such a respected source in traditional media - maybe the message won't seem to be a rant from a marginalised disruptor. Chris Anderson, editor of Wired said "Tales of total industrial collapse have never been so fun! Garfield's analysis of the total disruption of the media industry (and how it may be reborn) is right, prescient and wildly entertaining."

Who doesn't know the Monopoly brand? It is perennial. How would you bring it to life for a new audience or remind those of us who have forgotten how much fun it can be to play that it is still around? This campaign does a pretty good job of it. While it is relevant and on-brand (ignoring the ordinary and obvious things like digital versions,…yawn - product not brand) it is still engaging and stimulates the idea of being 'in the game'. The American street names kind of baffle me, but the idea is universal. Especially like the plastic sheen. Nice touch.

The origin of this blog was my thesis about being The One & Only (1&O). A simple idea that follows Gerry Garcia's thought: "Don't be the best at what you do. Be the only one who does it." If that smacks of monopoly, then I am sorry, monopolies always work for the people who own them. People who create things have relied on the monopoly afforded by copyright, trademarks and patents. I have a feeling that system is fraying at the edges, but we can talk more about that another time. To be unique or utterly distinctive you have to determine what will set you apart. I had a fascinating conversation with a friend the other day. She was dissatisfied with her life and felt that she should improve all sorts of things that she - frankly speaking - sucked at. She felt anxiety about her weaknesses and had become fixated on them. How could she accomplish anything if she could not communicate in writing? (She has dyslexia). My advice was not to bother with writing. Her tale...

Back in the 80's John Webster was a leading figure in the advertising community. He was a believer in telling human stories. In 1988 I clipped an op-ed piece in Campaign (UK) magazine by Webster. Back then he bemoaned the rise of the technology and tricks - which have become commonplace today in advertising. This ad is genius for its idea, or should I say insight - The Guardian newspaper gathers all the facts to offer its readers an informed point of view (presumably instead of a rabble rousing opinion). Not only has journalism declined, but so has advertising - both crafts that went hand in glove to tell stories that helped us form opinions. Maybe a nice recession will push the reset button. We'll go back to the truth well told and be suspicious of tricks - except when they challenge bigoted, biased views.

Trent Reznor has a band called Nine Inch Nails.Quite good, by my muso brother's reckoning. What interests me more is how he has become a legend in the music industry - loved by those who believe power should reside with the artists and reviled by those who exploit the artists and alienate the fans - the recording industry. Reznor criticised Universal Music Group (parent company of the band's record label, Interscope Records) for their pricing and distribution plans for the NIN album Year Zero ('07) He said the company's retail price "Absurd" and said "as a reward for being a 'true fan' you get ripped off","the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more." In September 2007, Reznor continued his attack on Universal Music Group at a concert in Australia. He urged fans to "steal" his music online instead of purchas...

The future of journalism is something of a hot topic in the media. Probably because it is a subject near and dear to the media - their bread and butter. Blogging comes under scrutiny for its lack of 'rules'. Bloggers can, and do, say what they want without the fetters and constraints of editors or fear of offending advertisers who, whether journalists like it or not pay for the existence of the mass media. Amongst the mudslinging I came across this list of suggestions from blogger Peter Cresswell (via the Whaleoil blog who, like Cresswell makes no bones about his conservative/libertarian views). I agree wholeheartedly with the points on the list. The fact is that media in New Zealand (and I am sure the rest of the western world) have created their own crisis by failing to observe an objective standard: * don't editorialise; * don't pontificate; * don't ask how people feel, ask instead what they saw; * don't report events as if people are outraged, just report ...

It's not enough to make a beautiful commercial. Which Honda has done. Now you need to produce a documentary to go with it: When your customers are media savvy they might well be interested in seeing the background story - Some of us enjoy the extras on DVDs as much as the film. One of may favourites was the creative process behind HellBoy 2. Discuss with me on Twitter

Here's an interesting mash-up of contemporary information graphics and a timeless tale by the brother's Grimm. And grim it is when Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother is dispatched by the wolf. The clip was exectuted, if I might indulge in the theme a little further, as a school project by a Swedish Chap. I am assuming he's not in primary school - though these days who would know? Discuss with me on Twitter

There always comes a time in advertising when the ad makers decide it's time to reference themselves, with a knowing wink to the audience - nudge, nudge. This mini commercial is intended to be spread, as I am doing now, on the web. I rather like it. I'd probably be disappointed by my new Mini if it couldn't perform as if it was an invisible HotWheels track though. What do you think? Chat about it with me on Twitter

Charlie Booker is still the funniest media observer I know of (though, if you know anyone funnier, feel free to send me a link). In this short piece he says what advertising agency people say amongst themselves, but don't really want you to hear. I warn you now. It's not MadMen. But I'll wager it's the best TV you'll see today. Thank you BBC, for sharing your content. Tell me what you think on Twitter.com/joegreenz

A Twitter friend, Kirsten Wright wrote this on her blog: Creativity Test Creativity is not to be taken for granted, it is not something you ‘have’ it is something that you must work at, and practice, to keep strong. I practice my creativity daily, by writing, twittering, designing and researching. I am always trying to find new, unique ways to practice my creativity. One of my favorite ways is to pick a photo from flickr, and create a marketing campaign for a product, using the image. I don’t do it for work, or because I have to, but because it helps my mind to stay sharp and think outside of the box. So, I figured I would let you all try it with me today. Here is the image that I chose: And here are the questions you have to answer: 1. What product would you use this image for 2. What would the tagline be for the product 3. Where would you promote it (web, billboard, tv, etc) 4. What would you expect people to visualize when they saw the image 5. What other colors woul...

When we grasp an idea or a concept we often say 'I see' -even when the information might have been delivered in writing or verbally. Our minds paint a picture, the bits of information become joined and a meaningful picture forms. If it is meaningful we say that it has made an impression or have gained insight. I won't say that I think 'visually'; I'm not sure that is what is happening inside my brain at all. But I do know that I think more clearly and have better comprehension, faster when ideas are presented to me with the support of images or graphics. Of course not all images are created equal. Some can be baffling and serve only to amplify the speed of confusion. But well thought-out graphics can be a godsend for conveying ideas - with that metaphor in mind it reminds me of how paintings and stained glass windows helped dramatise the liturgy for an ignorant peasantry. There is a selection information graphics here which illustrate a range of contemporary tec...

I have great admiration for mark Somerset, author of Cork on the Ocean - I've written about the book before. During the festival he's reading Cork and the follow up Cork and the Bottle. Both are beautiful stories. My favourite is the first. Here's the message from Mark: SPIEGELTENT STORYTIME - AOTEA SQUARE, 15TH MARCH As part of the Auckland Festival I will be reading both Cork on the Ocean and Cork and the Bottle in the Spiegeltent, Aotea Square this Sunday 15th March. Come on down for a 10am start - The Spiegeltent is an amazing venue and best of all it's free! SIGNED BOOKS AVAILABLE ONLINE - DIRECT FROM US! Have you had a chance to check out Cork's great new website www.corkvoyages.com With our new online store you can now buy signed copies of Cork on the Ocean and Cork and the Bottle direct from us! So if you're looking for a special gift, or wish to get the latest Cork adventure for your own family, click here! A LITTLE CORKER Finally, as a friend of Cork,...

I went for a walk through Auckland city last Saturday. I thought it would be nice to take the 'Walk of Art' a route through the city that follows a line littered with art galleries. I was shocked by what I found. Tbe Old Auckland Art Galllery is completely out of commission while a contemporary extension is added to the heritage building that houses most of the city's collection. The New Gallery, an old, converted telephone exchange across the street was showing a rag-tag exhibition of works referring to the New Zealand landscape (a show that lacked coherence). It was exasperating. And every gallery we hoped to view was shut. Seems to me that the weekends would be the perfect time to invite the public into art galleries and exhibition spaces of all kinds. Private galleries play an important role in inducing and inducting new people into the world of the arts. If they are simply a store-room for work, seen only by the usual suspects who only ever visit when there is an openi...

The other day I posted an edition of a children's story I painted onto the web to share with some of my friends in Twitter. The feedback has been terrific. So now I'm sharing it with you here. It takes about a minute to read. Leave a comment on the site. Itchy Feet was created for my son's fourth birthday. He just marked his 17th. I'm working on a sequel now.

This device is remarkably similar in concept to Twitter - the microblogging site that is getting a lot of attention these days. If you haven't tried Twitter you can follow me here .

"Why does one chess player play better than another? The answer is not that the one who plays better makes fewer mistakes. The one who plays better makes more mistakes, by which I mean more imaginative mistakes. He sees more ridiculous alternatives. The mark of a great player is exactly that he thinks of something which by all known norms of the game is an error." Jacob Bronowski Bronowsi was a British mathematician and biologist of Polish-Jewish origin. He is best remembered as the presenter and writer of the 1973 BBC television documentary series, The Ascent of Man.

I am lost for words.

This paperback cover is a classic expression of the value of wit in communications. There is a time when everything should be literally spelled out and then there is something to be said for engaging the viewer in such a way as to make them a part of of the communication process. The greater the level of engagement, the higher the liklihood that the person reading the message will adopt it as their own. After all, they had to work to decode it. The risk is that some folks won't be able to crack the code, but you can't please everybody - and the same risk is true for even the most blank, expressionless communications.

There is a line in the Wild One when Marlon Brando's character is asked "What are you rebelling against Johnny?" With a dismissive curl of his lip Brando/Johnny sneers: "Waddya got?" That's the famous line. The one I prefer is when one of the rebel biker gang asks a local in the bar: "What do you hicks do around here for kicks?" "Oh,…The roses grow. People get married. Crazy as anyplace else." Crazy as anyplace else. Now there's the rub. Often I meet with clients who agree with everything I say about being authentic; being The One & Only™. They nod and agree. "Yup, that's what we're all about. We're The One & Only™ alright. That's us…yessiree Bob" Then they tell me what they are doing to promote themselves to make the most of their distinctive qualities. "Well, we kind of match our competition because that's how things are done in this category." Lockstep. It is then I realise that our p...

I advocate interestingness in advertising - that people don't want advertising, they want things that are interesting and, sometimes, that is an ad. The commercial about tests the theory to breaking point. In it hundreds of topless Aryan women take to the Air - to the sounds of The Ride of the Valkyrie. While it is not the first commercial ever to use the idea of formation sky-diving or the Wagnerian sound track, or female nudity - I will wager it is the first to combine all of the above. The result is comically bad. Admittedly I am not familiar with the product being promoted - and I don't speak Danish but I wonder is their is a sly insider joke that I am not privy to. So, is it interesting? I am inclined to say it is more curious than interesting. But it serves to underscore the point that advertising can be as interesting as all get out, but if it is irrelevant then it will likely enough pass unnoticed and change no behaviour. Likewise I am baffled by this commercial by BBH ...

A dear friend shared a poem with me. Try I as I might, I didn't get it. And I did try. I wrote a poem in reply. Not intended to insult (though it did). I'm sorry for that. But am grateful for the revelation that poetry offers. I recommend opening up your intellectual channels, rationalism and realism by connecting your thoughts outside the constructs of prose. Here is my reply to my friend. If you can figure it out let me know. Blimey. Bucolic Beowulfian Epic endymion Hippolytic Haiku Iambic I said Pentametric parabolas 'neath perfect parasoles Pirouetting piously Promulgating petrification Sensationalising stupefaction Serenely cerebral Suddenly sodden Nakedly nude Smirking prude The silent ryhming mime says make mine a double and make it snappy for I can but shed crocodile tears Boatshed dreams of tarninshed beams lampen lumpen lampoons of chronic Harpoons Call me Ishamael But call me Light and day egging on in the porcelein pavlovas of all our Tomorrows

Interesting analogy. Meme Huffer again.

Once again, if it didn't ring so true, this clip would be frightening, or maybe it is scary because it is true. Via Meme Huffer

Ok, admission. I owned a Porsche 944 Turbo. I loved it. In fact I have never owned any car longer. To me it was the ultimate vehicle for anyone who likes to drive and has a young family. 50/50 weight distribution (thanks to the front engine/rear gearbox layout), fantastic grip from vast tyre footprint, 2+2 seating with a rear hatch you could grow tomatoes in. Perfect. Capable of 150+ mph, but docile in town. It was brilliant. At this point I'll skip over the incident that required the engine to be rebuilt - well it had high miles - at a phenomenal cost. After the rebuild I couldn't justify selling the car. So I kept it - then I moved in with my girlfriend and her kids - together we had five - so the Porsche had to go (I replaced it with a 735i BMW - the Graf Spee - to transport them all (another story for another time - though I can tell you a Mac Powerbook will not survive being run over by one of these babies). The Top Gear roadshow is here in New Zealand. While I'm impre...

"Someday, someone will make a movie of your life. Make sure it doesn't go straight to video." I agree with the sentiment, but in the future I wonder whether the long-tail will mean there is no silver screen at all? Via Crack Unit

Generation Y is getting a bad rap (possibly deservedly so), I was interested in this clip which is clever and thought provoking (Via planner Paul Isakson's blog - follow him on Twitter ) Another interesting link from the same source is Honda's movie - Failure the secret of success . I guess I relate to the concept - I consider myself a successful failure. Follow me on Twitter

Find more videos like this on AdGabber Saatchi & Saatchi Wellington have produced a video for Wellington Zoo that looks to me as if it has been made solely for use on the web. It features images of Zoo animals disturbed by the sound of a woman, apparently reaching sexual climax to a syrupy tune that sounds like Barry White. The problem with the ad isn't that it is cheap and cheesy, but that, having watched it I have no idea what the Wellington Zoo are promising me. Is there to be an orgy at the Zoo on 'Adults only' Valentines Day? Heaven forbid there is any hint of bestiality. This kind of 'ad' actually demonstrates the value that bodies like the Advertising Standards Authority and Commercials Approvals have in governing what is distributed. When snot-nosed creatives can bypass the system and make stuff on the cheap it kind of ends up like the sort of graffiti you might see in the boys toilets at a high school - except animated. Verdict, cheap and nasty. Not e...

I've posted before about argument let's reprise The Art of Reasoning: With Symbolic Logic by David Kelley. It amazes me how often some, or all, of these quirks is deployed in everyday life: Ad Hominem: Using a negative trait of a speaker as evidence that his statement is false, or his argument weak. Appeal to Majority: Using the fact that large numbers of people believe a proposition to be true, as evidence of its truth. Post Hoc: Using the fact that one event preceded another, as sufficient evidence for the conclusion that the first caused the second. Appeal to Force: Trying to get someone to accept a proposition on the basis of a threat. Appeal to Authority: Using testimonial evidence for a proposition when the conditions for credibility are not satisfied, or the use of such evidence is inappropriate. Appeal to Emotion: Trying to get someone to accept a proposition on the basis of an emotion one induces. Begging the Question: Trying to support a proposition with an argument...

Russell Brown is one of the most read bloggers in New Zealand; intelligent, informed and always interesting he added the following note to a blog post about voter turnout in Iraq. "The other evening I felt the need for a cool glass of wine. I was passing the Pt Chev Liquor Centre -- our local tag-strewn hole in the wall -- so I stopped and bought a bottle. Yes, it was a bin-end special ($14.99), and it was a 2006 sav blanc -- you're certainly risking the zip having faded there. But it was worse than that. The wine was gone: an overpowering boiled-asparagus reek overpowered anything on the palate. It was undrinkable. So I put the cap back on the bottle, retrieved the receipt and the original bag, and took it back the next day. I think I was being reasonable: I wasn't demanding cash back, although I didn't want to risk another bottle of the same wine. I'd top up the credit and get something I knew would be fit for purpose. They wouldn't consider it: on the basis ...

Most provocative, best production values, most timely. Feel free to disagree (it's not 1984). C heck out SuperBowl ads, past and present on the AdWeek site

I don't know what to say about this. I don't respond to it on any kind of intellectual level. I will say that I love it. Oh, ok, cerebral kicks in - I like it better than the Cadbury commercial discussed below. Picking it as a web phenomenon.

According to Faris Yakob , if you want to make the kind of movies (for brands) the Internet likes, this is the recipe: Leave out all that stuff about the product. As much as you can anyway. Make people feel something nice, link that association to your brand. Give people things to copy, or respond to, or play with. Don't take yourself or your brand too seriously. Ok, I guess if your brand is Cadbury, you have 100% understanding of what your brand is, you have 100% distribution you can get away with it. Oh, and if you share the colour purple with Alice Walker/Whoopi Goldberg - and millions of dollars/euros to spend on media (and PR). But other than that I'm not sure the theory will apply to many brands in the real world. Not sure it has the charm of the Gorilla ad either. Music lacks iconic charm. Talent not furry enough. Gag not especially funny (seems like something from America's Funniest Home Videos). I'm backing Relevent, Distinctive and Competitive...there's a ...

I wrote Vanishing Act Christmas last year. I've just decided to give away the download version for free. Click here to get your copy. Of course you can still order a copy of the physical, hardback edition. Tell a friend, the more the merrier. Write a review and win a hard copy.

Don't watch this if you are easily offended. A nicely executed commercial for condoms that could qualify as a product demonstration in a hard category.