Visual Taste

Vinspired Voicebox

2009-09-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

Voicebox is brought to you by V an independent charity aiming to inspire a new generation of young volunteers, by funding and supporting voluntary organisations all over England to create inspiring and diverse opportunities.

Voicebox is a data visualisation project, curating young people’s views on issues that matter, visualising the findings, and then setting the data free for you to do the same. The aim with Voicebox is to better understand young people, so we can deliver programmes better suited to their needs.

The project sounds pretty interesting to me, check it out for yourself here.

Jay-Z Rhapsody commercial

2009-09-01T02:55:00.000-07:00

I love this ad for soo many reasons. Not just because the link has reached my inbox 9 times already. This ad for me shows one great creativity and most importantly as understanding of the audience i.e. hip hop fans. Simply said 'Jay Z fans get it' reason being is that the ad recreates all of his album covers, sometimes you dont have to try and talk to everyone, just the people that care.

10 Great creative online destinations

2009-08-19T02:18:00.000-07:00

Whenever I find myself in a creative void, I have a list of web sites that I can visit that instantly give me a shot of inspiration. I try to visit most of them everyday, and have found that by studying these great sites on a consistent basis has expanded my own capacity for being creative. Opening up to other’s creative work is a great way to broaden our horizons and helps us think outside the box. Below I have outlined my top 10. Enjoy!

1. SpringWise – A database of great ideas that any entrepreneur can act on to help you start the “next big thing”. There are some great, fun ideas, plus they showcase the latest trends of entrepreneurship.

2. WhyNot? – Much like SpringWise, WhyNot? has lots of user-submitted ideas for any ambitious soul can take on and develop. However, WhyNot? is more of a community for entrepreneurs than SpringWise, which can be a bit more helpful at times, I really use both of these sites as a way for me to think alternatively.

3. Digg – You can find a smattering of news, tips and other odd things on the Digg homepage. Digg’s users find the best of the web, and the community voting does a wonderful job of showcasing quality news and compelling links.

4. Del.icio.us Popular – I love the del.icio.us popular page. One can find the most creative and interesting articles and tools on the Internet on the Del.icio.us popular page. It’s basically a barometer of what’s hot on the web with designers and techies alike.

5. Tumblr – Tumblr is another one of my personal favorites. Aside from creating your own Tumblelog, the Tumblr homepage showcases the best links, images and videos that people are sharing around the web.

6. WisdomQuotes - Nothing inspires more than a great quote from someone smarter than myself. I’ve done entire blog posts based on an inspiring quote.

7. Seth Godin’s blog – Aside from his uber-savvy marketing advice, there are plenty of untapped ideas and inspiration that he shares frequently with his readership. And you better believe that if Seth Godin dreamed it up, there’s a good chance he’s on the mark.

8. DocStoc - You can find some incredibly creative and informative documents that can lead to many ideas. You’d be surprised at the great content you can find at DocStoc.

9. Kottke.org – Jason Kottke has been posting interesting and creative information on the web for the past 10 years. He’s a favorite of many bloggers, and rightly so.

10. How to Change the World – Guy Kawaski is a fun guy with great ideas. Though his blog is geared slightly more to the marketing crowd, it’s full of great ideas. I think the most stimulating thing about Guy’s blog is that it’s written with great voice and lots of humour.

Refining your idea

2009-08-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

Hey world, I have had a long and eventful weekend, and as some of you may relate, that means my Monday is going to be less productive than usual. So far I have caught up on some reading and made some calls. Then I took out my idea book and started to refine.

Creative individuals have plenty of ideas. Great big, earth-changing ideas. Unfortunately, not many of them ever evolve into anything fruitful. Why? Because having an idea is only half the battle. The real challenge is refining the idea into something than can and will happen.

There is a fine art when it comes to refining an idea. It’s what separates good ideas from great ideas, and will ultimately define your success.

Most ideas have a clear cycle, I am going to attempt to breakdown some points for refining your ideas.

Make it usable
An idea is worthless unless it’s transformed into something useful. Incredible ideas can turn into stupid ones very quickly if the idea isn’t doable.

What makes an entrepreneur great isn’t necessarily the greatness of the idea he has. A special entrepreneur is one who can make the idea happen.

Define it
To refine the idea, you have to first define the idea. By creating a definition for your idea, you’ll make a clear focus on what the idea is going to do. How is it going to help? What will it do? How will it do it? These are things that have to be carefully thought about in the early stages.

You may find that you’re constantly changing the definition to your idea, and that is totally normal. You might change the definition many times before the project is done.

Make it sellable
If you’re going to invest time, sweat and money into an idea, it needs to have a business plan. In other words, can it make money?

Money plays a huge part in refining ideas, whether creative types want to believe it or not. Money is what gives you the ability to create the idea, and later to sell the idea. Some people don’t want their ideas to have anything to do with money, and that’s totally fine. You should figure out up front if you want to make money from your ideas or not. Most people do ;)

Does it makes sense?
After you’ve done the other three steps, I find that if I can explain my idea to my parents or grandparents without them walking away scratching their heads, than the idea has been well defined. What may make sense to you might not make sense to anyone else. If you’re finding that nobody is understanding a) the core concept of the idea or b) how it improves something, you’ve got trouble.

And that's all folks, hope you have fun refining

Reading Makes You Better at Life

2009-08-10T01:45:00.000-07:00

Recently I’ve been on a huge reading kick, picking up everything and anything I can get my hands. With the wonderful advent of Amazon, you can easily and cheapily get any book you want.

I’ve found that no matter what I read, the act of reading every day has helped me in nearly every aspect of my life. Here are a few of my ways that reading can improve the quality of your life.

It makes you smarter:

Those that read have a higher intelligence, and general knowledge than those that don’t. In Anne E. Cunningham’s paper What Reading Does for the Mind , she found that reading, in general, makes you smarter, and it keeps you sharp as you age.

No matter what you’re wanting to do or become, you can’t do it without more knowledge. Reading is an excellent way to get where you’re wanting to go.

Reading reduces stress:

Like most form of entertainment intends to do, reading distracts your mind from whatever is going on in your world at a given time. Fiction is meant to the best for this, although I don't read an abundance of fictional books. Whatever it is your reading, you can bet it will relax you.

Given that I’m a pretty high-energy person, reading forces me to sit and be still. This daily act of making myself be quiet and still has been nothing short of miraculous for my life.

Improved analytical thinking:

Cunningham’s studies have found that analytical thinking is boosted by reading. Readers improve their general knowledge, and more importantly are able to spot patterns quicker. If you can spot patterns quicker, your analytical skills receive a boost.

Increased vocabulary:

It’s no secret that reading increases your vocabulary and improves your spelling, but did you know that reading increases your vocabulary more than talking or direct teaching? Reading forces us to look at words that we might not have seen or heard before.

Increased vocabulary is especially crucial for bloggers or writers. All successful writers will tell you that in order to write well, you need to read. Every day. You’ll be surprised at the words you start incorporating into your writing.

Knowing what other people are saying and using the perfect words to convey your feelings is a critical part of being a better human. Better listeners are more successful in life.

Helps prioritize goals:

Many times we’re certain we know what we “really want” in life. Yet I’ve found that activities like reading show me things I didn’t know about myself. My mind will drift to things that I’d really like to do, and it isn’t long that these little lapses in reading start to cycle. The same sort of goals keep popping into my head, allowing me to see what I really want to do.

When you remove yourself from your work environment, you’ll start to see things that you might really want to do, that you’re not doing yet. Reading gives you a chance for your to wander.

Conclusion

Ok so there are a few ways that reading makes you better at life, I urge you all to pick up a book today and start reading. We make time for the things that are important to us. How much TV do you watch? How much time do you spend trawling the web? You could easily replace reading with those activities.

Peace

Johnie Walker - Commercial

2009-08-08T04:06:00.001-07:00

This is simply advertising as it should be done, they say all great brands, be it people, companies or charities have a great story. This commercial is the perfect example of a great story being told.

YouTuber's - Selling out

2009-08-07T01:58:00.000-07:00

Not being a youtuber myself, at first I thought the girl in this video was a bit crazy. On the second listen I realised that she makes some really good points, about when it's ok for brands and people to work together, and how transparent they should be.

italktosnakes gets the VT seal of approval, check it out.

10 youth myths - Slideshare

2009-08-07T01:42:00.000-07:00

Morning peoples, today's gem comes from slideshare, before I share it with you, I want to highlight if you don't know already how great slideshare is for gathering information and gaining knowledge.

Mobile youth are particularly good, and regularly produce greats slides like this, '10 Youth myths', check it out

Top 10 Youth Marketing Myths by Graham Brown

View more presentations from Graham Brown.

Is this the future of brands?

2009-08-06T01:58:00.000-07:00

Sally hrouda recently wrote a compelling piece on the future of brands. Many of the topics are familiar, but I appreciate the way she has condensed a lot of information and opinion into a very concise piece. Worth reading, check it out below:

Brands and companies are moving forward from traditional and tradigital marketing into a period of social engagement that maximises participation. They used to be able to treat their audience like herds, forcing their message upon them. However, people are now like swarms, connected to each other through digital touch points (mobile phones, cyberspace, computers) moving through currents, in no direction.

The millions of micro-interactions occurring in the realm of social media (Facebook, YouTube, Google, blogs, twitter) have led to the birth of brand ecosystems, living, breathing organisms that are about stimulating brand conversations. A strategic planner previously drew out the most powerful insight into human nature through obtaining a “helicopter quality”, having the ability to look at facts from an overview viewpoint. But in this changing environment it is imperative that they break down the barriers between brand, channel and consumer and listen within currents to react quickly to cultural trends (mobile, gaming, music, celebrities) and predict future movements, whereby pushing brands into a desired destination. There is an opportunity for brands to use tensions, or brand memes to challenge competitors or the status quo. Providing the ecosystems with new experiences that gives them something to talk about and influence society to build their own communities, or tribes around brands.

Due to the increased transparency of governments, countries and brands in the economic downturn and conflicts people have become disillusioned by institutions and instead are turning to each other for more credible advice. A brand’s success will derive from its ability to build trust, which will in turn build a strong brand affinity. They will need to prove themselves, not just advertise their benefits, but empower people to build stories and co-create content via channels, which then transform into brand platforms. Karim Temsamani explains that Google is at the very beginning of expanding its capabilities into image/video search and translational services. Ultimately brands will become intangible as constituents signal dynamically and brand experiences cross borders through cultural ecosystems. People in society will be able to be a part of global conversations and global ecosystems, becoming creators of global brands. A strategic planner will need to become a live thread between ecosystems and their agency to create innovative dynamic experiences, before they become outdated.

People are aligning themselves with brands to create their avatar. For a company or brand to influence people to gravitate towards them and buy their products they will need to be create movements. What if Fairfax created a movement for real journalism or Google for knowledge? And as a result new media standards are set and everyone becomes educated. Knowledge could provide people with skills, improving an economy and cultural tensions between societies. A strategic planner will have to plan to build movements not just nail an insight.

Rene Descartes once stated an individual exists because “I think, therefore I am”, however in the future we will evolve to “I link, therefore I am”. By 2020 people will link to brands, which will be a holistic experience created between products, conversations, movements and people through virtual and real interactions.

Global youth insight into importance of the weekend

2009-08-06T01:52:00.000-07:00

Found this interesting video on the global youth opinions/insights regarding the importance of the weekend. Worth checking out, how do you feel about the weekend?

New music monetization models

2009-08-05T01:26:00.000-07:00

I was recently talking with a close friend about the increasingly bleak outlook of the music industry, we were both attempting to predict what the new music model may be. I was suggesting its going to be a middle ground between, brands, artists and a cause. Clearly not a well thought out solution, but I am sure there is something in it, give me a couple more months and I would have cracked it.

If you cant wait until then PSFK, recently put up a post entitled 'Album as Advertisement or Application', worth reading, check it out here.

Spiritual vacation to Egypt

2009-08-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

The reason for July's post absence, is I took a much needed spiritual vacation to Egypt. The trip was monumental for many reasons. First I turned the grand old age of 25, which for me is a big deal. I really connected with the lady in my life and I got to touch and absorb the history from arguably the most significant place in the world. I can honestly say that this trip has changed my life, having experienced what I did I can no longer be the same person.

Before going I could never have imagined that a single trip could do so much for my soul, but it truly has. I would urge everyone to take a trip to Egypt for the right reasons and just take everything you can in. I mean it's the place where Moses wrote the ten commandments, which is literally the base of all world law. That alone could represents the places significance to the world, without even mentioning the pyramids, the Nile,the red sea, Sphinx etc .

I don't believe there is much more I can say, except seeing is believing

LUPE FIASCO - THE L.A.S.E.R.S. MANIFESTO

2009-06-29T02:19:00.000-07:00

Great socially focused campaign featuring Lupe Fiaso, I agree with almost every word. Check it out!

One Day - Introducing Kooley High

2009-06-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

'One Day' gives a great insight into hip-hop culture is, following up and coming rap group Kooley High. The documentary directed by Napoleon Wright for Becauseus Films in association with M.E.C.C.A. Records, is a good look, check it out!

One Day - Introducing Kooley High from BECAUSEUS on Vimeo.

Like minds

2009-06-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

Hey one and all, yesterday I had the most inspired meeting I have had in ages. It was with a gentlemen named Troy Kennedy, who seems to be more like me than me (if thats possible). It was the kind of meeting that when you finished talking you feel like you have known the person for a life time. He introduced me to a lot of ideas and I am going to share two of the best:

1. The Greun Transfer:(TGT) is a show about advertising, how it works, and how it works on us. Hosted by the inimitable Wil Anderson, TGT decodes and defuses the commercial messages that swirl through our lives, with the help of a panel of ad industry experts.

The show is Australian, and has just been picked up by BBC Three, its great so check it out.

2. The Million: which is a integreated campaign with Verizon, Samsung and the New york school board. It just picked a D&AD pencil, again its amazing so check it out, video here.

A brief guide to world domination

2009-06-15T13:44:00.001-07:00

So I have been indoors most of this evening, on the internet looking for intersting information, taking in a myriad of topics, titles, feeds, links and pics, like most people in my generation. Every now and then you stumble across a true gem.

That gem is A BRIEF GUIDE TO WORLD DOMINATION. its amazing, It’s also free, so there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t at least check it out. Here’s a taste:

I should warn you now that this report
is not for everyone. In fact, it’s probably
not for most people. Instead of writing
for the general public, I spent about 35
hours writing these pages for a small
minority of people interested in living
life on their own terms while making a
dramatic, positive difference in the lives
of others at the same time.
In short, I wrote it for people who are
serious about ruling—or at least chang-
ing—the world.

Book of the Month: Here Comes Everybody - Clay Shirky

2009-06-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

I have decided to start a monthly book recommendation, as I read soo much I thought I would share my favourite books with you.

This months book is Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky, its all about the new world of collaboration and it repercussions. Like the video above shows, lead and people will follow

Pharrell: On being an artist...

2009-06-10T05:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't heard any music from Pharrel in a while, but here he gives some advice about being an artist, I believe these wise words relate to anything anyone is trying to achieve. Like Iverson said ' I'm not talking about the game, im talking bout practice', check it out

A few ways to stay creative!

2009-06-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

OK so hopefully you can relate, sometimes I find it challenging to stay creative or just turn it on and off when needed. I decided so scour the web and put together a list of ways to stay creative. Here goes nothing:
Some of these tasks include:

1. Find Inner Peace Before Starting Tasks

While I do try to be at peace and free of negative thoughts most of the time, on occasion I can get run down with incessant mind activity. If you can relate to feeling angry, frustrated or stressed at times, then you need to realise that being in this mode is not the best place to come from when you want to work on creative projects.

Instead, I use a number of techniques that help me relax, whether it be meditation, taking in my surroundings or simply focusing on my breathing. Anything that helps me get into a calm mood. From here, with an empty mind, I find it much easier to produce some creative output.

2. Be Willing to Explore New Ideas

If you ever get too stuck in a mindset that your way is the only way and you know everything about a topic that you need to know, then you could be missing out on some purely genius information. Even though I might have a good idea of how I think things should be done, I’m always willing to explore new ideas.

If you stay fixed and isolated in one area of your life it can easily cross over into your more creative pursuits. This doesn’t mean you have to accept or agree with everything you see / read, but at least give new perspectives a chance before dismissing them.

3. Always Take Notes

Since I started taking a lot of notes in my daily life, I honestly have no idea how I lived without them in the past. Whether you are an artist, a writer, an engineer or anything that allows you to use your imagination at times, be ready to take notes whenever necessary.

I tend to read informative books rather than ones based on fantasy or science fiction, and always keep a small notepad with me to write down some real gems I get from the content. Similarly, if I’m out and about and something comes to mind, I’ll keep notes in my phone and then upload them to Google Docs later in the day.

These simple but useful notes have helped me massively when it comes to the likes of article ideas, design inspiration and more.

4. Outline a Core Structure for All Projects

I’m sure this is a case by case example, but for the life of me I can rarely sit down and work effectively unless, I keep a structure of what I want to stick to and then flesh out ideas from there.

Even for this blog post, on a piece of paper I wrote down the title and my six main points first. Only then did I open up a text editor and start turning the points into paragraphs. Not only does this help you stick to your goals, but I find having a structure first of all can greatly increase efficiency for any project I undertake.

5. Follow Other Creative People

This is by no means in order to steal pieces of their inspiration, but you could see it as stealing some of their workflow. I love seeing how people in my industry plan their work days and I can see certain bloggers’ posts on the topic tend to be some of their most popular.

If there are people you look up to in your niche, see if you can find out how they structure their days, where they get their inspiration from and what makes them ‘tick’. If they’re well known it’s likely someone has done an interview with them and asked them questions like this.

6. Tidy Loose Ends Later

This especially applies to writing, but this tip can be used in many other creative outlets as well. I find that I work the best if I stick to a core structure, but then just let my imagination flow, not worrying about spelling mistakes or slight imperfections in design.

I believe that if you spent all the time you are trying to be creative, also being logical and fixing up mistakes, it not only leads to less inspiring results but it is a much slower process. Let your mind wander, see what you come up with, and tidy the loose ends when you are finished.

Foreverism

2009-06-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

Trendwatching recently released an interesting post about Foreverism: Which encompasses the many ways that consumers and businesses are embracing conversations, relationships, and products that are never done. Driving its popularity is technology that allows them to find, follow, interact and collaborate forever with anyone & anything.

Thought it was worth sharing, so check it out

Channel 4 - Tribes

2009-06-07T06:30:00.000-07:00

Channel 4 have released the results of some youth research they begun in 2006 to build new dialogues with agencies and advertisers and to help shape more effective communication with young people.

The study is a guide to youth culture in the UK, from the street up. The 26 most interesting and influential tribes have been identified and brought to life through the interactive website www.uktribes.com. Users can explore tribal attitudes, motivations, music, fashion and art through video, photography, blogs, young journalists’ commissions and loads more.

Building on the qualitative foundations, we launched an online game to gain an idea of numbers. findyourtribe.co.uk was seeded on tribe specific websites and woven into editorial pieces.

Air Yeezy

2009-04-14T02:39:00.000-07:00

Yeah I know I am about a week late with this post, and everyone in the know is sick of the Air Yeey hype, so this is for those that aren't knee deep in streetwear culture, and might have missed the wave or should I say craze that the infamous Kanye West has brought to the sneaker game with his Nike Collaboration. You dont have to take my word for it, check the video below. Brand managers take note

Divine Design

2009-04-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

Hey World,

I know its been a while, apologies but the universe has been keeping me busy. If you hadn't already noticed, some would say I am relatively spiritual not on a sciencetology level but more on the enlightenment tip.

Any who my spirituality has led me to be a strong believer in divine design which is the universe's way of rewarding intention, passion and purpose. That said the universe was definately listening to my intention, passion and purpose when it put me in the path of Nick Jankel-elliott, broadcaster, practical philosopher, leadership expert and personal development coach. Since our meeting we have been working on what I see as the future of mass collaboration and peer-to-peer learning, hence my lack of blog love, dont fear though things are back in order.

I really just want to make the point to one and all, of how important it is to first understand what it you really want, and then to dedicate as much time as possible to achieving it, then be patient and things will start to happen.

Mash-up Society

2009-03-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

I was sent a great mashup video link this week, Like most mash-ups some talented person has spent time finding, editing and remixing different footage to make a brand new entertaining video.

As we see so many of these videos sometimes we forgot or just don't appreciate the skill involved in creating one, the video below is great example of the talent it takes to produce great content.

Another quick thought, is what we can achieve in this increasingly connected world, lets all try and make the internet a better place. Enjoy

Sometimes things are just meant to be....

2009-03-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

I am sure you have all been in situations that are coincidental some call it fate others destiny, some just put it down to luck. I like to call it divine design, a phrase coined by Deepak Chopra, the author of the infamous ' Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. In this very book Deepak, talks about the law of least effort, and how we all manifest everything that happens within a lives. He states once we recognise this, and become conscious of our thoughts, we can apply the law of least effort, to bring us everything we desire.

I'm sure the sceptic in you is saying yeah right, well check this for a story. I have been living the life of a freelance marketing consultant for while now, I have worked with some amazing people, but as you know the freelance world can be a bit sparadic. Because of this I thought it may be good to get a part-time marketing position for 2-3 days a week to tide me over. Within 24 hours of breathing life into this thought, I check Gumtree and see what in essence appears to be the perfect job post. So perfect that I dont think I could have wrote a more fitting job description myself.

'A marketing assistant / exec assistant to grow our business and consumer brands, help radically raise our profile, and change the world a little bit.' http://www.inner-revolution.com/

I haven't got the position yet, but if this doesn't demonstrate the law of least effort I dont know what does. So in closing the more aware we become of the power within I thought, the more successful as people we are.

Three reasons why fear is a creative's friend

2009-03-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

For the creative person, fear is always nearby. But in spite of the close proximity, it’s usually a very strained relationship. Fear is one of those emotions that most of us are trying not to have. Because it doesn’t feel good, it’s been coded as a so-called “negative” emotion. And we’re so keen to avoid this negative emotion that we find ourselves avoiding situations that elicit fear for us, so we code the fear-inducing situations as “negative” as well.

But, fear isn’t bad at all. All emotions have a positive purpose that serves us. Have you ever thought about the positive purpose of your fear?

Fear is a signal you’re learning

Because we’re designed this way, we tend to respond to ALL unfamiliar experiences with fear - even if they’re not dangerous. So long as you’re taking yourself into new territory, and growing, you’ll always feel some fear along the way. From a creativity point of view, fear is useful because it makes you more alert when you’re learning and growing. And fear is a signal that you’re learning. In fact, if you’re telling yourself you’re learning in a particular area of your life, yet you’re not feeling any fear in that area of your life, you’re probably not learning.

Fear lets you know what’s important to you

A third purpose of fear is that fear let’s us know what’s really important to us. Think about it: when something isn’t important to you, you probably don’t care what happens with it, and you won’t feel fear then. It’s the stuff that’s closest to our hearts, that we really care about, that we feel the most fear about - because it matters to us how things work out. With so many choices available to us these days, alot of creative people find it difficult to figure out what’s really important to them and decide what they want in life. A really counter-intuitive, but easy way to figure whether something is genuinely important to you is to notice how much fear you have about it. The more important it is to you, the bigger your fear will probably be.

Fear holds creative tension

When there’s an unresolved problem or a gap between where we are and where we want to be, a tension develops. The bigger the gap, the greater the tension, and fear we’ll feel. Alot of the time, in order to relieve the tension, we change our vision of where we want to be or stop asking that unresolved question. Successful creative's embrace this tension, knowing that tension is an important part of the creative process. Creative tension motivates our unconscious mind to continue searching for a resolution, even while we go on with our other tasks or go to sleep at night, those epiphanies that you have, where the idea just seems to have popped into your head out of nowhere.

So next time you feel afraid, stop and remind yourself that fear works. And then check which purpose your fear is serving, and ask yourself, “Knowing that this is the purpose of my fear, what would I love to do next?”

Adidas TV

2009-03-02T05:22:00.000-08:00

Branded TV stations have had a chequered history. Audi TV launched in 2005 to a mixed reception, but is still going strong. Meanwhile, Bud.tv from Budweiser recently pulled the plug as it failed to attract the young, male-dominated crowd it was targeting as visitors to its 'destination' website.

So what will the fate be for adidas.tv, which soft-launched last week on adidas.com's basketball sub-site? There already seems some controversy surrounding the launch.

A selection of adidas-branded video clips could be downloaded from the beta site via a free adidas-branded player and embedded into blogs or any one of 25 social networks that are compatible with the service. This is great branding tool for adidas that will help spread its content far and wide across the net. There was also the adidas.tv widget which will relay regular content updates when these become available on the hub. The site was initially slated to offer 75 clips created by adidas and its partners, but this is expected to increase quickly, with channels covering specific sports, alongside a dedicated adidas Originals channel hosting short films. In short, adidas.tv is expected to become a hub for all adidas video content.

I believe adidas is well positioned to create content which is well suited to the sports community and will be picked up across the web by there intended audience. That isn't to say that every brand can provide the correct engaging content for the audience they serve. Adidas has a history of non-traditional marketing, and regular gets involved in collabarations which don't necceasarilly just embrace sport culture but youth culture in general. This is why i think adidas.tv wil be a success. I am sure more brands which try and follow suit as it becomes increasingly difficult to reach your target audience, as media becomes more and more diverse.

How be to a Mastermind

2009-02-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of talk in the blogosphere recently around the topic of the 'Mastermind'. Eben Pagan says 'Possibly the most important and profound action you can take to create change, transformation and success in your life is to build and participate in a “MasterMind.”'

So I guess your wondering what is a MasterMind?

A MasterMind is a group of people who have common interests and goals, who get together on a regular basis to support each other in growth and development toward actualizing those interests and goals. It’s a dedicated group of people who share at least some values, perspectives and objectives in common, who understand that the power of the “group mind” is exponentially more powerful than the sum of the individual minds from which the group is composed.

The first person that explicitly described the concept in detail is Napoleon Hill (in his book “Think And Grow Rich”).

Hill said that no individual can achieve great power with out a MasterMind. My experience (and the experience of every powerful person I know) confirms this idea.

One of the most “magical” powers of the MasterMind is that it affects you on a subconscious level… without you having to “do” anything.

We humans are programmed by everything that happens around us. We tend to be MOST programmed by what we see, hear, and experience others doing.

Not what we read, not what we think, not what we feel. We’re influenced by the OTHERS around us. We literally become those that we surround ourselves with.

Want to know how much a person makes per year? Find their five closest friends and average their incomes. That’s the answer.

Want to know how healthy a person is? Find their five closest friends and average their health.

Want to know what a person’s aspirations are?

You get the picture.

So how does one create a MasterMind group, and how does one make sure that they’re doing it “right”?

Here are a few pointers, based on my experience:

1. Make sure most of the people in the MasterMind are FAR beyond you. At least 3-5 years down the road you’re trying to travel. 5-10 years is even better. This isn’t a non-profit organization or a charity event, so don’t treat it like one. You’re in this to GROW. (All the while knowing that if you grow to your full potential, you’ll be able to do much more effective charity work later in your life.)
2. If you do allow others who are behind you on the road to success in your chosen area, make sure that they have MASSIVE POTENTIAL. You’d better be feeling in your gut that they’re a super-star, and it’s only a matter of time before they pass you.
3. Meet regularly in person. If you are located in different geographic locations, it’s fine to meet by phone often. But get together live, in-person regularly.
4. It’s great to have a few different MasterMinds for different parts of your life. A physical-health based MasterMind can be just as valuable to you personally as a financial MasterMind. Again, just make sure that the members are beyond you.
5. Make sure that the people you invite to the MasterMind can add massive value to the OTHER MEMBERS. Remember, you’re inviting people who are beyond you. They’re going to get a lot more value from the group and the other members than they are from you. Carefully select members who will get value from each other. Keep yourself out of the equation mentally.
6. Be the “hassle remover” for the group. Handle the schedule. Handle the details. Do the annoying administrative stuff that noone else wants to do. You be the one to set up the teleconference bridge meeting line, or the meeting space reservations. You be the one to walk next door and tell the neighbors to be quiet because they’re disturbing your meeting. You be the one to go out and get more drinks for the group because everyone is thirsty.
7. Remember, the value to you isn’t the tangible things you’re going to get. Don’t focus on material gain. What you’re going to get is the personal GROWTH that comes from being around evolved beings. Let the others have the perks and material rewards of the group. You sit back like the “dumb fox” and allow your mind to receive the higher-level transmissions that are coming from the others around you.

DJ Vinroc - The Art of Beat Making: "Believe"

2009-02-02T08:52:00.000-08:00

I am a sucker for short film, and DJ Vinroc latest video making a beat for his song "Believe" plays like a short film, I thought I would share my appreciation, check it out below. ENJOY

The Art of Beat Making "Believe"-Vinroc from Vinroc on Vimeo.

Cooperative platforms

2009-01-30T03:23:00.000-08:00

“Digital is not a silo”, the term has quickly moved from just explaining how digital is merging with other channels, exemplified amongst others by projects such as Esquire and Mini. To explaining something much bigger:

How digital platforms don’t exist in isolation, but are cooperative platforms, the backbone in the network of activities inviting the participant into an idea or context.

A silo is a platform where the communication to a large extent happens inside it’s walls, where its mostly concerned with it’s own storytelling and effect, removed from the other platforms. TV, Radio and print can all be interpreted as such stand alone channels.

Digital on the other hand, doesn’t exist in isolation, it’s a set of cooperative platforms. And we need to utilize this kind of platform strategy if we are to meet the challenges presented by next generation advertising as suggested by Tom Himpe in his book Advertising Next. We need to build our stories in a more complex range of interfaces between the product, or the products services and the customer. We need platforms that all work and function together in order to create the larger, more complex story, the true story.

Phenomenology - The Obey Manifesto

2009-01-28T06:47:00.000-08:00

I came across an old theory or explanation by Shephard Fairy on the logic behind his sticker and stencil campaign, this is a reallg good and insightful read, so I thought I would share it with you.

The OBEY sticker campaign can be explained as an experiment in Phenomenology. Heidegger describes Phenomenology as "the process of letting things manifest themselves." Phenomenology attempts to enable people to see clearly something that is right before their eyes but obscured; things that are so taken for granted that they are muted by abstract observation.

The FIRST AIM OF PHENOMENOLOGY is to reawaken a sense of wonder about one's environment. The OBEY sticker attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the sticker and their relationship with their surroundings. Because people are not used to seeing advertisements or propaganda for which the product or motive is not obvious, frequent and novel encounters with the sticker provoke thought and possible frustration, nevertheless revitalizing the viewer's perception and attention to detail. The sticker has no meaning but exists only to cause people to react, to contemplate and search for meaning in the sticker. Because OBEY has no actual meaning, the various reactions and interpretations of those who view it reflect their personality and the nature of their sensibilities.

Many people who are familiar with the sticker find the image itself amusing, recognizing it as nonsensical, and are able to derive straightforward visual pleasure without burdening themselves with an explanation. The PARANOID OR CONSERVATIVE VIEWER however may be confused by the sticker's persistent presence and condemn it as an underground cult with subversive intentions. Many stickers have been peeled down by people who were annoyed by them, considering them an eye sore and an act of petty vandalism, which is ironic considering the number of commercial graphic images everyone in American society is assaulted with daily.

Another phenomenon the sticker has brought to light is the trendy and CONSPICUOUSLY CONSUMPTIVE nature of many members of society. For those who have been surrounded by the sticker, its familiarity and cultural resonance is comforting and owning a sticker provides a souvenir or keepsake, a memento. People have often demanded the sticker merely because they have seen it everywhere and possessing a sticker provides a sense of belonging. The Giant sticker seems mostly to be embraced by those who are (or at least want to seem to be) rebellious. Even though these people may not know the meaning of the sticker, they enjoy its slightly disruptive underground quality and wish to contribute to the furthering of its humorous and absurd presence which seems to somehow be antiestablishment/societal convention. Giant stickers are both embraced and rejected, the reason behind which, upon examination reflects the psyche of the viewer. Whether the reaction be positive or negative, the stickers existence is worthy as long as it causes people to consider the details and meanings of their surroundings. In the name of fun and observation.

Shepard Fairey, 1990

A thousand words....

2009-01-25T14:17:00.001-08:00

Check out Ted Chung's mesmerising short film, A Thousand Words below.

Jeffrey Wells describes it in this way:
... an elegant, concise and very affecting portrait of big-city loneliness and instant connections that flare up and are gone seconds later. The emotions are halting and delicate but true. Beautiful piano score.

A Thousand Words from Ted Chung on Vimeo.

What We Own And Where It’s Made

2009-01-25T13:56:00.001-08:00

I wanted to share this series of posts by VerySmallArray, I loved the simple but effective posts, showing a bunch of photos called ‘What We Own And Where It’s Made’. This kind of concept that is soo sincere and intriguing, reminds me why I love blogging. Companies reading this should take note, it really is more about how you are doing what you do, than about what you are actually doing.

I am your future...

2009-01-18T13:42:00.000-08:00

Very good presentation by the people at MobileYouth.org, they really bring home the differences between research agencies and the actual people they are researching.

mobileYouth.org I am...not interested in mobile marketing

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: cell student)

Joshua Allen Harris

2009-01-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

Interesting artist Joshua Allen Harris speaks about his art, and how his idea spread

Music is .....

2009-01-12T04:40:00.000-08:00

To me this quote best describes music 'asides from silence, music is the only thing that can express the unexpressable'. You know the feeling when you hear a tune and it communicates exactly what you were thinking but couldn't articulate, making you feel like 'ooh i'm not alone'.

I believe this is why music is so important to culture, because it allows people that are very different to have something in common. Its like when you go to a show you will see people different ages, different races all feeling the same vibe.

Bob Marley sang ' when the music hits you feel no pain', again for me this couldn't be more true. Often when I need inspiration, motivation of just comfort my first salvation is music.

I also feel I have learnt soo much through music, music was originally designed to pass on messages, although for certain music this has lost its way, there is still a big amount of great message music that is trying to guide us closer to truth.

At the end on Common 'like water for chocolate', pops rap breaks it down.

Hip Hop, Hip Hop, the language of the underground railroad
In it's purest form
Yeah true hip hop is just like the Underground Railroad

If the message is not for you
It can sit on your nose and your brain remain froze
So when you see me traveling on a spiritual high
I'm flying high with Cee-Lo
Or maybe watching my long's heart dancing to a De La flow

Everybody knows there's no fruit on the tree without The Roots
And Black Star said we are what we are
The Knowledge Of Self Determination
And my little homie KG
Up there in Minnesota milking 10000 lakes

Keep the heat on em', we got to be kind to the growing mind
So if your heart is real
You will hear Big Will and Ms. Lauryn Hill
If your love is true, you will hear Badu-ism

And you can't go right until you go left
and get some ingredients from the music chef Jazzy Jeff
Children, I've travelled this globe
north to south, east to west
And whenever my soul appears lost
I turn to the musical stylings of a Tribe Called Quest

Check out a good post on the future of digital music here

Ari - Cease and Desist

2009-01-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

Great short film entitled Cease and Desist about artist / designer Ari Saal Forman who mash-ups the Newport cigarette brand into a cool “Nike-like” sneaker. Branding, addiction, sneaker culture and legal infringement are explored. Check it out

Were All in Power

2009-01-09T15:54:00.000-08:00

Producer Exile, has just put out his directorial debut, and its fucking amazing. Its created in stop motion and for me is the perfect example of engaging content. Check it out for yourself. Advertisers take note, you cant put a price on authenticity

Exile "Were All In Power" from Okayplayer on Vimeo.

Check out Exile explaining the concept behind the video below

VIMBY - EXILE

CultureLab’s Trends to Watch For in 2009

2009-01-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

1. Rockstar and Skater Hip Hop will continue to gain in popularity (Lil Wayne and Kanye respectively are the icons: watch for Charles Hamilton, The Knux, 88 Keys, Black Milk, and B.O.B)
2. Classicsm is the new racism
3. The 90’s grunge era will influence in ‘09 as the 80’s did in ‘08
4. Sneaker Brands to watch: Supras, adidas, Yums, and "Vulcanized" Shoes
5. Streetwear brands to watch: Rowdy, KR3W, Volcom
6. Twitter goes to the masses
7. Classicsm, Ethnicity, and Lifestage will creep into online social network choice: Facebook: older, more affluent and more educated, MySpace: younger, less affluent, Black and Hispanic skewing
8. C.R.E.A.M., Wu-Tang’s mantra will ring very true in ’09, cash will be king!
9. Creativity in digital hustle
10. Prepaid Cell Phone service will explode as the economy continues to slump
11. Smartphones as status symbols
12. Rise of the Black and Hispanic geeks
13. Asian pop culture will continue to grow in popularity
14. Renaissance of creativity in business, politics, music, and entertainment: watch for new music genres, new art forms, new ideaologies, and new ways of film-making
15. Low budget but creative aesthetic in fashion, film, and music, “Thrift Chic”
16. The urban elegance movement flourishes, i.e. Obama, Diddy, Maxwell
17. Big Government will be cool
18. The role of narrative and storytelling will grow in all art forms and advertising/promotional outreach
19. DIY- arts and crafts
20. Common Craft-style "what is" and "how to" videos will become an increasingly popular resource for education of online applications and communities

Apples new release

2009-01-06T09:04:00.000-08:00

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

50 Youth Marketing Trends

2009-01-02T11:42:00.000-08:00

PART 1: 50 Youth Marketing Trends for 2009 by Graham Brown mobileYouth.org

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: teens kids)

PART 2: 50 Youth Marketing Trends for 2009 by Graham Brown mobileYouth.org

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: blyk djuice)

PSFK: Good ideas in social media

2008-12-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

PSFK recently had a Good ideas in social media talk. I found the discussion pretty interesting, but way too long. It touched on social media and the struggle between transparency and professionalism.

For those that cant sit through the whole video, it concluded with the panelist's stating their most significant social media feature foe the future.

1. Ambient social connectivity
2. Brands embracing social utility
3. Event organisation - fan networking
4. Socialization of media, eg. currenttv
5. Location based connectivity

China social media insight

2008-12-07T15:22:00.000-08:00

China seems to be leading the way in many aspects of the world, and the web is no exception. With the most Internet users in the world (253 million), China is a particularly interesting place to observe the rapid development of Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM). Shanghai-based CIC have released a new series of white papers to allow us to try and understand the chinese IWOM environment.

Q3 WP Topic one-The Chinese IWOM Landscape_EN

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: china iwom)

Ypulse founder on how to approach Generation Y

2008-12-03T04:01:00.000-08:00

Gen Y expert Anastasia Goodstein explains the kinds of online tactics you need to engage with youth markets. Hear her best insights into youth marketing and she reveals her top business marketing tips for engaging Gen Y.

The Seven Misconceptions of Youth Marketing

2008-12-03T03:38:00.000-08:00

This Seven Misconceptions presentation from threebillion is just a little how-to-guide on how to avoid some of the more obvious pitfalls in youth marketing.

The Seven Misconceptions Of Youth Marketing

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: marketing youth)

Wunderman Network - 20 Principles of digital markerting

2008-11-25T05:58:00.000-08:00

I was down at the Wunderman offices on Monday, to have a chat with one of my industry mentors. Word of advice if you meet someone along your life journey that you really respect, first tell them and then try and arrange regular meetings. Who better to talk to than a person that is in a position you would like to aspire to.

Anyway whilst waiting in reception I noticed an interesting book entitled 'How to think digital', within the book it states the 21 principles of digital marketing, I left out the last one because it was a shameless plug. These lists always interest me, they wont always be revolutionary, but they attempt to give clarity to a lot of information, which cant be a bad thing. see below.

1. Talk to people at the right time: the moment of truth.
2. The most powerful medium is word of mouth.
3. Marketing is about getting people to do things.
4. Watch what happens after the click.
5. Keeping people waiting is a sin.
6. You're a dataphobe. Get over it
7. Don't wait for the dust to settle.
8. A relationship can last a lifetime.
9. Find the perfect partner.
10. Use the channel of we.
11. Experience is what matters.
12. Handle privacy issues with care.
13. Digital media will keep evolving.
14. Work on predicting the future.
15. Develop a closer relationship with truth.
16. The consumer is i control relationship.
17. Leverage the power of now.
18. Boring isn't boring at the moment of truth.
19. Localization isn't just translation.
20. Just because its digital doesn't mean its better.
21. All warfare is based on deception

Improv everywhere "welcome back"

2008-11-19T16:44:00.001-08:00

Welcome Back from ImprovEverywhere on Vimeo.

Young adults engagement with brands online

2008-11-17T06:39:00.000-08:00

A new global survey conducted by Synovate in conjunction with Microsoft reveals the extent to which young adults are willing to interact and engage with brands as part of their daily online activities. When asked about their online brand engagement in the last month, almost a third (28%) had talked about a brand on a discussion forum; almost a quarter (23%) had added brand-related content to their instant messenger service; and almost one in five (19%) had added branded content to their homepage or social networking site.

If you dont know get to know here

Optimism in Fashion

2008-11-17T05:19:00.000-08:00

Dazed and Confused, is coming out with a December issue all about the unlikeliest of topics: optimism. Not just any kind of optimism, but fashion optimism

Dazed presents 18 of the freshest young fashion talents of the year here on Dazed Digital. For the December issue of Dazed & Confused, the fashion team gave reason to be cheerful with a shoot by Daniel Sannwald styled by Katie Shillingford and Robbie Spencer. Pierre Debuscherre also made a film to accompany this energetic shoot, which showcased the new designers, the new faces as chosen by the Dazed fashion team and and above all it asks people to “Smile!”

Design , Marketing, Service ?

2008-11-14T02:40:00.000-08:00

Russell Davies the planning messiah recently brought a interesting point to my attention that i have given some thought to. The business model that supports creative industries is fundamentally wrong, most large organisations operate in 3 silo's doing design or content, marketing and aftersales or service, dealing-with-the-consequences-of-what-the-other-two-silos-have done.

What makes this model wrong is no silo ever talks to any other, because the process almost always proceeds steadily from left to right. Design make stuff and pass it to marketing who then work out what to say about it. There will probably be some broader corporate direction that will attempt to make this stuff more seamless, integrated and coherent and to connect the end to the beginning, but it always gets swamped by the organisation. By the time a product gets to someone like the advertising agency no-one wants any more thoughts about how the product might be improved.

This isn't a revelation is has been the way organisations operate for years. However, it should be noted that people actually experience the product in a different order. People's experiences of most consumer products starts with the communications or marketing. The experience starts with the product or service second. It's not because integrating marketing and design thinking isn't a good idea, it's because it's organisationally / politically impossible.

Mental Detox, 10 Things to do

2008-11-13T06:17:00.000-08:00

Iain Tate, recently wrote on his blog crackunit about his experience at Adbusters Mental Detox Week. Basically it meant he stopped doing screen and computer based things for a week, think about that again and it is actually a lot harder than it sounds.

I think any digital native, can relate to what Iain learnt, I have listed the 10 points below.

1. Phones are good
2. Email can wait
3. Ipod breed Ipods
4. Pens vs Pixels
5. Screens and sleep
6. The fractulisation of stuff
7. Computers create width not focus
8. I felt cut of from stuff not people
9. Without computers I felt less creative
10. Computers are easy to hide behind

This is a great post read about each point in detail here

Beyond The Valley

2008-11-11T02:47:00.000-08:00

Hopefully you have made it through to this page.

Its funny how things happen, some call it fate, some call it destiny I call it divine design. Beyond the Valley is perfectly aligned with a concept I have been working on, and would love to tell you more about.

Asides from this, my background seems to align perfectly with the company culture. I work with the Daydream network, London's first user generated arts magazine. As well as being a Youth advisor to the Tate and INIVA. GT the current digital advertising agency of year is where I had been most recently applying my trade with the industry.

Ultimately I am passionate about Art, Social Media and Culture. I dont just talk about, but I live it which is why I am perfect for Beyond the Valley.

Iain Tate: On Becoming a Creative

2008-11-10T03:43:00.000-08:00

Iain Tate founder of Poke, talks about what it takes to become a creative. Landing a job at a creative company itself requires some out-of-box thinking, but there’s no need to make things too complicated for yourself either. Once you’ve identified your skills and the type of direction you’d like to head in, coming up with a thoughtful marketing plan for yourself says a lot to potential employers about the type of imagination that you’d bring to their firm.

Iain Tait offers 7 things to consider when seeking the next step in your career:

Get yourself a portfolio
Spend a bit of time making your portfolio nice / neat / test it / proof it
Be clear and upfront about your role in projects you’ve worked on
Have an opinion on aesthetics / design / interaction / type / sound design / whatever…
Brand yourself
Do some light detective work
Put your plan into action

Full article here

Trendwatching

2008-11-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

Trendwatching.com recently published there top 15 trend questions. Its worth a read check it out:

If we look one more time at our aforementioned definition of a consumer trend:

“A manifestation of something that has unlocked or newly serviced an existing (and hardly ever changing) consumer need, desire, want, or value”

and we agree on ‘unlockers' being anything from a change in societal norms and values, to a breakthrough in technology, to a rise in prosperity, then it’s easy to see how trends can and will emerge all over the place. In the end, it's all about ideas, ideas that translate—to technologies, to revolutions, to products—and ideas that spread.

Which brings us to the following: larger entities like countries or cultures or brands that are setting trends are of course all dependent on individuals who set things in motion. So rejoice: anyone can be a trend setter.

Full article here

Are Brands Compromising Their Morals to Increase Sales?

2008-11-06T10:06:00.000-08:00

Mediaweek recently published an interesting article entitle 'Ads for Respected Brands Hit Racy Sites'.

As pop-culture and celebrity gossip blogs continue to see increased traffic, particularly with the youth demographic, advertisers’ views on what counts as acceptable have started to change. Given the uneasy economic climate and tightening budgets, it’s become increasingly important for mainstream brands to be mindful of where their ad dollars are going. As a result, following the crowds, even if that means entering non-traditional venues on the web with less respectable material, makes a good deal of sense. Despite the inherent logic of this move, some in the media still question whether this issue has more to do with negligent ad networks than with any real shift in attitude. In either case, it’s always been a challenge for manufacturers to reach a new audience without alienating their loyal base. The takeaway from this seems to be that a quality product or service will go a long towards keeping your customers regardless of the occasional media misstep.

Read the full article here

Matt Mason: Abundance

2008-11-02T11:10:00.000-08:00

Mr Pirate himself Matt Mason talks on abundance

@ Yahoo! Video

Next Generation Marketing

2008-11-02T09:33:00.000-08:00

Next Generation Participation

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: collaboration brand)

The way we influence and interact through the internet is constantly changing. We’ve all witnessed how user generated content has brought new creative potential to consumers and opened up the doors of online collaboration. While user generated contents impact on marketing and the way youth consume and create web content is significant, some believe it still has a long way to go. Screenplay’s Strategic Director Helge Tennø offers a compelling argument on the limitations of the current means for online collaboration, deeming them too rigid and presenting “artificial barriers” for participation:

The essence is that we need to start looking at collaboration as something richer than getting participants to contribute their preset format content in a serial, one dimensional, string, within a rigid structure of publishing.

Collaboration is all about creatively collecting and combining a collection of data, making it accessible anywhere, through anything, with incentives for collaboration.

Interview with Director of MTV, Dave McElwaine

2008-10-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

PSFK tracked down one of the big boys from MTV to find out where he gathers inspiration for one of the worlds most recognized brands. Here's what he had to say

1. So what are you up to right now?

Designing mobile phone panels for MTV x Sony Ericsson ‘100 Panels’ Project. Designs to be exhibited at a creative summit in Tokyo this fall.

2. Tell me about this or the last creative project you were personally proud of – big or small.

MTV’s Summer Sizzle ‘06 Campaign. A series of live action spots showing massive popsicles, choc ices and ice cream cones melting on the beaches of California to the astonishment of the locals.

3. What did you draw upon to inspire you for this project – (could be anything).

Claus Oldenburg’s oversized sculptures and drawings of everyday objects.

4. Why did you use these inspirations? What human emotions do they play upon that you felt necessary for this project?

Disbelief.

5. In your day-to-day work – how often do you feel inspired? Is it important to be inspired?

It’s important to want to get out of bed.

6. How do you kick start your off-days: How do you find inspiration?

I tend to write off an off-day. I find inspiration from searching - mental archives, my reference library, picture search engines and just wandering.

Thank You

brands as connection tools

2008-10-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

Shared Egg is an interesting project that attempts to visualise the connection points between friends. It maps the common areas that bring people together using a combination of interests and brands. It illustrates that brands can be the connective tissue between people; people share a love of brands and an have affinity for them.

Here's an isolated look at the Nike relationships within the map....

It raises some interesting questions..

1. How do brands connect to bigger themes, interests, ideas and emotions?

2. How are brands leveraging those connections?

3. How do brands enhance those connections?

4. How do brands bring communities together?

While many have questioned the role of brands in social networks and communities, Shared Egg illustrates that people can be connected and linked by brands. It still remains to be seen how brands best leverage this opportunity to activate and build out these connections and these communities.

Why trends and inpsiration matters

2008-10-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

Ed Cotton (Influx Insights / BSSP) explains why trends and inspiration matter. Approaching the whole idea of his talk from a creative perspective, Ed describes how account planners or other individuals responsible for briefing creative people can package their message up in a way to get them to pay attention.

10 Don’ts for Digital Branding

2008-10-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

Ruby’s Pseudo recently published a nice collection of insights on marketing to teens, and brands trying to reach youth in the digital world.

Don’t be too flippant and don’t give youth the basic facts they’re looking for; i.e. - What it is? Where can I get it? How much does it cost? etc.
Be approachable and accessible to youth.
Don’t redirect visitors to another site.
Don’t use background music. Youth can see through a false ‘hip’ image.
Don’t create a Facebook profile for your brand.
Don’t target the emotionally vulnerable with insincere “‘Single? Broken-Hearted?”" questions.
Don’t target a small age range, allow your brand to grow with its users.
Don’t blatantly rip and appropriate youth-produced content onto your site. This once again presents a false image, of which youth can see through.
Don’t use pop-up advertising. It irritates rather than entices.
Don’t push the boundaries of social network interaction.

Success Strategy for Creative Projects

2008-10-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

This picture has no relevance to the post I just like it, anyway I just came across an interesting post from the good people at lifedev , its about the approaches to starting a creative project, check it out.

The Soak Cycle

When it comes time to washing dishes you take the grimy dish and put it in water to let it soak. Time and water+soap do the hard work. With time the water and soap break down the grease and grime. Similarly letting your project soak will allow your brain to work on the project even while you’re doing other tasks.

Soaking is when a project is thought about but not actively worked on. The project is reviewed at specific intervals. This gives your natural creative instincts time to work on it.

Think

The human brain is a powerful tool. Giving it time to work on a project will lead to a more creative, better solution. Schedule times to think about your project. Depending on the scope or length of the project you may schedule 5 minutes a day for a week thinking about it or an hour every two weeks for 3 months (or anything in between).

When you schedule thinking time, be sure to give yourself enough time to think. Write down notes of your conclusions so you can refer to it in the future. Try to take different approaches each time you begin a thinking session. Many times you’ll get that “Aha moment” (a good idea) when you least expect it, so don’t worry if you feel blocked. People report inspiration frequently in the shower. Giving yourself time to think will give you more shower days to let your brain think about it.

Layer

During your thinking time find ways to break down the project into small parts. Do a few little steps for the project to give you a better understand of what it entails. Do a five minute task. Do any tasks that take just a few minutes to delegate. They should be delegated as soon as possible so the receiver can plan accordingly and it’s not an emergency at the last second. This process is called layering where you “layer” your successes. It allows you to know you are on the right track and gives you tangible results.

Discuss

Put layering and thinking together by scheduling time to talk to people. Talk to thoughtful people about the project, even if they don’t have expertise about it. Just talking about the project will allow your brain to crystallize your thoughts. In addition, others may provide a new perspective on the project you are tackling and give you a new wave of ideas.
Rinse…Repeat

Enlist others to look at your project as you’re working on it. This gives you an outsider’s view. Get a coworker or friend that you can bounce your work off of. Try to get someone whose ideas you respect but who thinks a little different than you. Show them your progress so they can monitor if you’re fulfilling your mission.

You don’t have to listen to them. Just listen to why they are saying it. They may say you should make an element red. They don’t necessarily mean it has to be red- but it has to contrast from the background. Again you see how outside ideas can trigger new thinking and ideas.

Full article here

Humanising Brands

2008-10-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

Unwind the mind

2008-10-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

It has been a very hectic week, feels like there is so much to do and so little time to do it. In order to be truly productive, you have to have a clear mind. Clarity comes when you give your mind a chance to rest.

A over worked mind, is one of the biggest obstacles to productivity, I have kindly put down some ways to get mental breaks. This is kinda like my therapy, compiling this list will actually help me to practice what I am preaching.

Get More Sleep!

Not only does sleep recharge your body and at the very least keep you healthy, it also gives your mind a chance to rest. Literally. If your mind hasn’t been recharged when the day has started, you’re already 2 steps behind.

If you’re finding yourself getting a little sleepy in the afternoons, take a 15-30 minute power nap. Studies have shown that 20 minutes in the afternoon provide more rest than 20 minutes in the morning.

Music

Although some find music a hinderence when their working, personally I work best with the right music in the background. For me, the best music to work to is jazz. Wordless music seems to work best, but everyone has their preference. What’s important is that it adds a little something in the background, but shouldn’t be something that you’ll focus on too much. It’s just kind of there.

Switch’ It Up

One of the best ways to give your mind a break is to switch up your tasks. I can type on something for 30 minutes, get up and do a load of dishes, and come right back feeling quite refreshed. Not to mention that I’ll probably still be working on what I’m typing subconsciously, while I do the dishes. This way my productivity doesn’t take a hit, and I’m still finishing those “tasks”.

Switching it up may mean switching locations too. Work at a coffee shop, do something outside, it doesn’t matter.

Variety is the spice of life, don't forget.

Do Something Fun!

It’ll actually increase your productivity because you’ll be more refreshed later. Taking breaks is just as (if not more) important than the work.

“Breaks” can take many forms, and the only mandatory thing is that you enjoy it. If you have a job behind a desk, give your legs a stretch by doing something active. If you’re in the manual labour biz, go and get a massage. The important thing is to just do what feels good (within the legal realm of course).

Does success validate your opinion?

2008-09-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

'Does success validate your opinion' that's my thought of the day. I like to blog as do a lot of people, and in my blog I present my opinion, as again a lot of people do.

Currently I am a relatively unknown blogger, like many other Joe bloggs, so I have been thinking at what point does my opinion become validated. Is success the proof that your opinion is correct, if so and 20,000 people read my blog daily, does that mean my opinion is now more valid than it was when 5 people read it.

Or if I become successful for a reason not related to my blog and start blogging, is my opinion automatically validated because I am a success in my own right, so must hold a valid opinion.

In closing please answer the question DOES SUCCESS VALIDATE YOUR OPINION?

The secret of the web

2008-09-24T02:47:00.000-07:00

For all those that are yet to follow Seths blog, below is in his view, his best blog in the last two years entitled: The secret of the web (hint: it's a virtue)

Patience.

Google was a very good search engine for two years before you started using it.

The iPod was a dud.

I wrote Unleashing the Ideavirus 8 years ago. A few authors tried similar ideas but it didn't work right away. So they gave up. Boingboing is one of the most popular blogs in the world because they never gave up.

The irony of the web is that the tactics work really quickly. You friend someone on Facebook and two minutes later, they friend you back. Bang.

But the strategy still takes forever. The strategy is the hard part, not the tactics.

I discovered a lucky secret the hard way about thirty years ago: you can outlast the other guys if you try. If you stick at stuff that bores them, it accrues. Drip, drip, drip you win.

It still takes ten years to become a success, web or no web. The frustrating part is that you see your tactics fail right away. The good news is that over time, you get the satisfaction of watching those tactics succeed right away.

The trap: Show up at a new social network, invest two hours, be really aggressive with people, make some noise and then leave in disgust.

The trap: Use all your money to build a fancy website and leave no money or patience for the hundred revisions you'll need to do.

The trap: read the tech blogs and fall in love with the bleeding-edge hip sites and lose focus on the long-term players that deliver real value.

The trap: sprint all day and run out of energy before the marathon even starts.

The media wants overnight successes (so they have someone to tear down). Ignore them. Ignore the early adopter critics that never have enough to play with. Ignore your investors that want proven tactics and predictable instant results. Listen instead to your real customers, to your vision and make something for the long haul. Because that's how long it's going to take, guys.

The power of spoken word.

2008-09-21T03:13:00.001-07:00

This young man, is a great example of the power of spoken word. There is something to said, about the ability to speak publicly. Now clearly this youngster is a remarkable child, to be able to so confidently address 20 thousand people, but he must have had some support, empowerment, and teaching to get this point.

So if one individual can learn to speak so greatly, at such a young age, there is nothing stopping others. We really need to start giving our younger kids more, to enable them to be the best people they can be.

In a funny way, this video is very inspiring to me, DO YOU BELIEVE!!!!!!!!!

Ideas and Inspiration From Social Media

2008-09-18T02:23:00.000-07:00

Most people think that social media sites are only useful for finding what the latest news is. While that is one of the main functions of these sites, many times a pretty creative thought or article lands on the homepage.

Social media communities are built around information that inspires. People don’t want to talk, argue, or debate about a boring topic. They won’t vote for something that’s uninteresting or dumb. A community doesn’t exist around content that isn’t inspiring.

The key difference between social media sites and search engines is that humans are making the recommendations. This is why using social media as a “filter” for news and inspiration is a fantastic idea.

Sometimes Google isn’t the best place to find creative solutions or ideas. Sometimes the best place to search is through the archives of sites like Delicious or Reddit or Friendfeed. These sites have information that has been thoughtfully submitted on interesting web sites or topics. The difference between a search engine and social news or bookmarking site is that people filter the results.

There’s no shortage of creativity to be found at social news and bookmarking sites, they’ll often give great results for finding something very specific. A general rule of thumb is this: If people take the time to bookmark, submit or vote on a story, it’s more than likely to be a better resource.

Hispter Rap

2008-09-16T04:03:00.001-07:00

Jay Smooth's illdoctrine vlogs are always interesting and thought provoking. This one I thought was especially interesting, Jay puts his views on the issue of Hispter rap out there, what do you guys think? Is there really even a such thing as Hipster rap and if so is there a need to hate on it?

New Music Strategies

2008-09-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

We have all been hearing the talk for a while know that the music industry is dying etc etc, well I recently met a guy called Andrew Dubber at a conference and he has laid out some fresh approaches for online music business.

Thing 1: Don't believe the hype - There’s a great deal of discussion about music online in the mainstream press, and there are a couple of predominant threads to that coverage. Mostly, it’s not true.

It pays to be able to separate fact from fiction and hype from reality when it comes to the online music environment. Especially when your livelihood depends on it. Here are the two most important things to watch out for:

1) Technological determinism
2) People tend to lie

Thing 2: Hear / Like / Buy - There are lots of sophisticated tricks and tips for marketing music, online and off. But if you mess up this one fundamental principle, you might as well not bother at all.

Music is pretty much unique when it comes to media consumption. You don’t buy a movie ticket because you liked the film so much, and while you might buy a book because you enjoyed reading it so much at the library, typically you’ll purchase first, then consume.

But music is different — and radio proves that. By far the most reliable way to promote music is to have people hear it. Repeatedly, if possible — and for free. After a while, if you’re lucky, people get to know and love the music. Sooner or later, they’re going to want to own it.

Thing 3: Opinion leaders rule - How do you know what music to buy? Often, another person tells you - generally in some mediated way. Different media, different people, same principle.

Other than hearing, then liking, the most common and reliable way to find out about music is via the opinion leader. Often this will take the form of a press review or column — or some sort of radio feature. Occasionally, it’ll come from the telly. If you happen to respect the opinion of the person or institution telling you that the record is great, the chances you’ll be persuaded are reasonably high.

Thing 4: Customise - All this talk about the music industry online overlooks one simple fact: there isn’t one. There are many. One size does not fit all.

You’ve seen the website. It has a landing page with a photo on it and a little bit of blurb. There may be one or two things that move on it, or it might even have an animation. It has a fairly simple navigation system along the top or down the side. The links say things like About Us, Gallery, Downloads, Contact, Our MySpace — and the links take you to exactly the things you might expect when you get there.

Thing 5: Connect - It might seem an obvious thing to say about using the internet, but if you don’t connect, then you might as well not bother switching the damn thing on.

Having a website is not a promotional strategy. If you’re going to have a website, you need to have a promotional strategy.

Your promotional strategy should generate traffic — and, more importantly, repeat business. In order to get people to check out your website, it can’t just be tucked away on its own little shelf in the world-wide-library (to stretch the metaphor).

You can download the complete ebook here

Are you a creative generalist?

2008-09-09T15:07:00.001-07:00

What, Specifically, Do Generalists Do?

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: interesting interesting2008)

These are the background slides from my presentation on June 21, 2008 at Interesting 2008 in London.
www.CreativeGeneralist.com

SlideShare Link

Are you a slave to technology?

2008-09-08T16:47:00.001-07:00

Its a debate that has been happening for a while, bur Keith Boesky has an interesting essay on the implications of letting “the computer” do everything for us. He foresees a bleak future, where almost everything is mediated by computers and little technical mistakes could have dire consequences.

His take, is that computers are not necessarily becoming smarter, but humans are getting dumber, due to reliance on technology. Although a bit paranoid, these ideas are food for thought.

Boesky explains:

Some people identify the Singularity as the point computers become more intelligent than humans. But intelligence is relative. By trusting the bots as we do, we are making ourselves less intelligent, less independent and more reliant on the machines. My grandfather ran a drug store in Detroit. He could take a stack of numbers as long as his arm, run his finger down them like a blind man reading braille, and add them up faster than anyone could punch them into an adding machine. Later on, he would stand next to my dad with a stack of number and add them up while my dad punched them into the calculator. My dad never got the answer any faster than my grandfather, and my grandfather never trusted the calculator. I couldn’t add a stack of numbers as long as my little finger if you lit a fire under my ass. I rely on calculators to do it. The portion of the brain my grandfather developed so well, completely atrophied on me. More significantly, the distrust of the bots atrophied as well.

The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success

2008-09-08T02:09:00.000-07:00

Hi peeps, this book the practical guide to the fulfillment of your dreams has recently come into my presence. I wanted to share the 7 spiritual laws with you, although I would strongly suggest you buy a copy.

1) The law of pure potentiality: The source of all creation is pure consciousness... pure potentiality seeking expression from the unmanifest to the manifest. And when we realise that our true Self is one of pure potentiality, we align with the power that manifests everything in the universe

2) The law of giving: The universe operates through dynamic exchange... giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy in the universe. And in our willingness to give that which we seek, we keep the abundance of the universe circulating in our lives.

3) The law of 'Karna' or cause and effect: Every action generates a force of energy that returns to us in the like kind... what we sow is what we reap. And when we choose actions that bring happiness and success to others, the fruit of our karma is happiness and success.

4) The law of the least effort: Nature's intelligence functions with effortless ease... with carefreeness, harmony, and love. And when we harness the forces of harmony, joy, and love, we create success and good fortune with effortless ease.

5) The law of intention and desire: Inherent in every intention and desire is the mechanics for its fulfillment... intention and desire in the field of pure potentiality have infinite organising power. And when we introduce an intention in the fertile ground of pure potentiality, we put this infinite organising power to work for us.

6) The law of detachment: In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty... in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is the prison of past conditioning. And in our willingness to step into the unknown, the field of all possibilities, we surrender ourselves to the creative mind that orchestrates the dance of the universe.

7) The law of 'dharma' or purpose in life: Everyone has a purpose in life... a unique gift or special talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ectasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals.

Open Source Creativity

2008-09-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Creativity is something that’s not easily contained. In fact, it’s contagious. When creative people start putting their heads together, some amazing things happen. It’s a rare occasion when an incredible idea is solely created by one person.

I know, I know it can be hard to let go of our ideas. There’s that little creativity myth that says that keeping our ideas to ourself is much better than sharing them. After all, what if someone steals them, I think this is kinda old school thinking, today its all about collaboration.

Big idea man Seth Godin opened my eyes as to why “giving away” ideas is a great thing. Seth made a beautiful point. 99% of the time the problem isn’t someone stealing your idea, it’s you not actually doing it. So what better way to put an idea into motion than having more people help?

There are many ideas that I’ve had that never would have come close to completing without the help of others. Sharing ideas is critical.

Its important to start changing the way you think about your ideas if you’re going to start letting other people work on them. Pretty soon you’ll have people questioning every aspect of your idea. This is a necessary and healthy aspect of collaboration. If you’re really wanting to let other people (more than one, at least) start working on your ideas, you’ll have to be able to do three things.

1. Realise you can’t do everything on your own - There’s a tendency as idea owners to want to control and do everything. People don’t want to just add input, they want to work on the idea too! Remember, these people have the same goal as you: they want the idea to get better and better. Give up some responsibility. You’ll find happier collaborators and more time for yourself to work on other ideas.

2. Allow for the free exchange of ideas - Now that the idea is open to other people’s interpretation, there are obviously going to be new and different ideas spinning off of it. Some ideas may be so revolutionary and different that they completely change the scope of the original project. That’s totally normal. Remember: The idea is now bigger than just you. You have to be willing to be accept that someone else may have an even better idea than yours.

3. Trust other people - Allowing other people to work on your idea ultimately requires more trust. By letting other people work on the idea, improve the idea and even rip the idea to shreds takes trust. Lots of it. You’ll have to accept that these people working on your idea want the idea to succeed too.

So Much Pileup

2008-08-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

Mike Davis, a designer and DJ from Minneapolis has started a great new blog So Much Pileup, that showcases graphic design and illustration from the 1960s through the early 80s. Lots of visual inspiration for all you designers I strongly suggest you check it out,

Mike’s motivation for creating a catalogue of vintage design:

Any designer’s studio or home is filled with books, stickers, posters, postcards, and other pieces of history. I started this blog to share some of the work from my collection that’s inspired me as a designer, primarily from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. I’ll be posting logos, postage stamps, motion graphics, packaging and promotional design from the time I consider to be the golden era of graphic design, just before computers took over and anyone with a copy of Photoshop and 10 fonts started calling themselves designers.

OBEY - Shepard Fairey

2008-08-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

OBEY is a company/brand that I always look out for, and take inspiration from its success story. Fairey created the "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign in 1989, while attending design school. This later evolved into the "Obey Giant" campaign I'm pretty sure you would have seen the posters on a wall near you. This campaign has grown via an international network of collaborators replicating Fairey's original designs. Fairey has also spun off the OBEY clothing line from the original sticker campaign, He uses the slogan "The Medium is the Message" borrowed from Marshall McLuhan.

Fairey's story shows how a simple sincere idea, can grow into multi-million company with a vision, a bit of talent and lots of dedication.

Check out Fairey explaining his story at detail here.

Key Points:

* “A lot of stuff for corporations – it’s not even that they don’t mean well, it’s just that they’re a little bit clueless as to the right way to go about addressing what skateboarders, street artists, punks, and hip-hop kids want to see. So finding someone who can be a liaison to that culture and help them deal with it authentically can be a real benefit for the artist and the company.”

* “After getting some attention for my stickers, it really opened my eyes to the idea of putting something in public that people see and get curious about. It really opened my eyes to the power of communication in public space.”

* “I think almost everything I’ve achieved has come from me perusing what I felt really strongly and passionately about and not second guessing my instincts and trying to have a level of authenticity.”

* “My idea was always to make my work seem bigger and more important that it really was. The result was, it started to resonate with a lot of underground culture types – skateboarders, people into punk music, etc – but additionally from people representing companies that wanted to identify with that demographic as well.”

* “There’s so many times where you go, ‘OK, should I be spending more time on my art or on my business?’ And I’ve found that I’m not happy doing either exclusively – that its all important.”

PR?

2008-08-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a lot of talk around the effectiveness of PR recently, I have summarised some opinions.

Jason Calacanis tells budding entrepreneurs that they don’t need a PR agency.

As both subject and writer it feels like I’ve learned a lot about how the PR and the press works–especially in the technology business.

My philosophy of PR is summed up in six words: be amazing, be everywhere, be real.

You don’t need a PR firm, you don’t need an in-house PR person and you don’t need to spend ANY money to get amazing PR. You don’t need to be connected, and you don’t need to be a “name brand.” Today, many bloggers lament how much press folks like Kevin Rose and Robert Scoble get. They say that they get too much attention and that they got this attention too quickly and without earning it.

Michael Arrington, founder of Techcrunch, has similar suggestions:

I can’t speak for big media journalists who’ve been in the game for years and years, but from my experience with blogging for a few years, I agree that PR as a profession is broken.

They’re trying to apply the same rules they used when the number of journalists covering their companies was a manageable, chummy lot. Today there’s a whole spectrum of people writing about startups in big media publications, large and small blogs, Twitter, Friendfeed and everything in between.

Most PR folks don’t read blogs and certainly don’t understand them. All they see is a Google alert with their clients name, and rush to put out a fire. Down the road they may try to bring those bloggers into the fold, largely relying on word of mouth as to the best way to approach them in lieu of actually reading the blog itself.

That leads to the occasional massive clusterfuck and some truly hilarious moments that I would like to write a book about some day. To sum it all up, the relationship between bloggers and PR firms is shaky at best. Or at least it should be. Some bloggers really cultivate PR relationships, but for me PR is the last refuge when I’m attacking a story. They keep trying to put out the fires I’m starting.

So back to practical advice: what do you do if you’re a startup looking for help in getting the word out about your company? First off, don’t hire PR help until the volume of inbound requests by press are simply too much to handle without help. That’s way down the line for most companies.

UK Youth and Muisc

2008-08-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

Raised in the "always on" world of the Internet, on-demand content and social media technologies, today's youth has different expectations and media consumption behaviours than previous generations. This trend is especially evident when it comes to music. Driven by iTunes and the iPod, the youth of today have a big appetite for digital music, ring tones and all things mobile.

A study from Jupiter Research found that "worldwide, mobile music generated 4.4 billion dollars in 2005 and is expected to generate 9 billion by 2009...Mobile music now accounts for 15% of the entire music market--and youth leads the way (Juniper Research: Mobile Music: Ringtones, Ring-backs & Full-tracks (second edition & third edition)."

In February and March of 2008 the University Of Hertfordshire conducted the largest U.K. academic survey of its kind, When they looked at the music consumption behavior and experience of young people (aged 14-24).

Among the findings:

* Around 90% of respondents now own an MP3 player. They contain an average of 1770 tracks - half of which have not been paid for;

* 14- to 24-year-olds love music - arguably more than any previous generation;

* 58% have copied music from a friend’s hard drive to their own, and 95% copy music in some way;

* 63% download music using P2P file-sharing networks;

* The CD is not dead. Even if a legal file-sharing service existed, over 60% say they would continue to buy CDs;

* 42% have allowed P2P users to upload music from their computer. Much of this behavior is viewed as altruistic;

* 80% of current P2P users would be interested in a legal file-sharing service - and they would pay for it too;

* Money spent on live music exceeds that spent on recorded music.

Feargal Sharkey, chief executive of British Music Rights, summarises what this all mean for the music industry:

“The music industry should draw great optimism from this groundbreaking survey. First and foremost, it is quite clear that this young and tech-savvy demographic is as crazy about and engaged with music as any previous generation.

Contrary to popular belief, they are also prepared to pay for it, too. But only if offered the services they want. That message comes through loud and clear.”

Go Hard or Go Home

2008-08-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

Over this bank holiday weekend I was selling drinks at carnival, what seemed to be easy money turned in to the hardest two days of work I have ever done. Although it could have also been the best, sometimes its easy to forget what hard work feels like, when your in the business of creative thinking. Over the last two days I definitely proved that i still had the hard graft in me. I turned from a savvy marketer to a blue collar street trader, the thrill of the hard sell kept the adrenaline going. It had been a while since my direct selling days, but I found my self quickly into the swing of things using all my charm and wit to sell drinks. I had forgot how much skill it actually takes to judge and adapt your communication style to so many different people.

The main learning from my carnival experience is poor planning is certainly a recipe for disaster. Possible due to ignorance or arrogance I assumed due to the sheer amount of people any sort of drink would be easy to sell. Not so true we managed to sell out all the red-stripe on the first day, and just a few soft drinks. Had I done my research I probably would have found out that beer was going to be the best seller and not bought an equal amount of Giuness and soft drinks.

It was the quick thinking to concoct a punch and give away free samples that really saved the day. We managed to create a frenzy around our Carnival punch, this turned an almost waste of time, effort and money, into a great learning experience and profit.

Moral of the story is always research and plan a strategy for the task at hand, and if you don't be prepared to work, like my basketball coach use to say GO HARD OR GO HOME.

Music: John Legend - Green Light

2008-08-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

This is my tune for the bank holiday, I just hope wherever I am it gets a play!

Beyond the Thinking Mind

2008-08-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

The human condition: Lost in thought.

Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the conflicts of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalised sense of self that is conditioned by the past.

In you, as in each human being, there is a dimension of consciousness far deeper than thought. It is the very essence of who you are. We may call it presence, awareness, the unconditioned consciousness. In the ancient teachings, it is the Christ within, or your Buddha nature.

Finding that dimension frees you and the world from the suffering you inflict on yourself and others when the mind-made "little me" is all you know and runs your life. Love, joy, creative expansion, and lasting inner peace cannot come into your life except through that unconditioned dimension of consciousness.

If you can recognise, even occasionally, the thoughts that go through your mind as just thoughts, if you can witness your own mental-emotional reactive patterns as they happen, then that dimension is already emerging in you as the awareness in which thoughts and emotions happen - the timeless inner space in which the content of your life unfolds.

The stream of thinking has enormous momentum that can easily drag you along with it. Every thought pretends that it matters so much. It wants to draw your attention in completely.
Here is a new spiritual practice for you: dont take your thoughts too seriously.

How easy is it for people to become trapped in their conceptual prisons. The human mind, in its desire to know, understand, and control, mistakes its opinions and viewpoints for the truth. It say: this is how it is. You have to be larger than thought to realise that however you interpret "your life" or someone else's life or behaviour, however you judge any situation, it is no more than a bundle of thoughts. But reality in one unified whole, in which all things are interwoven, where nothing exists in and by itself.

The thinking mind is a useful and powerful tool, but it is also very limiting when it takes over your life completely, when you don't realise that it is only a small aspect of the consciousness that you are.

Wisdom is not a product of thought. The deep knowing that is wisdom arises through the simple act of giving someone or something your full attention. Attention is primordial intelligence, consciousness itself. It dissolves the barriers created by conceptual thought, and with this comes the recognition that nothing exists in and by itself. It joins the perceiver and the perceived in a unifying field of awareness.

Whenever you are immersed in compulsive thinking, you are avoiding what is. You don't want to be where you are. Here, Now.

Dogmas - religious, political, scientific - arise out of the erroneous belief that thought can encapsulate reality or the truth. Dogmas are collective conceptual prisons. And the strange thing is that people love their prison cells because they give them a sense of security and a false sense of "I Know."

Nothing has inflicted more suffering on humanity than its dogmas. It is true that every dogma crumbles sooner or later, because reality will eventually disclose its falseness, however , unless the basic delusion of it is seen for what it is, will be replaced by others.

Unless we start to act Beyond the Thinking Mind.

The Paradox of Creativity

2008-08-22T03:01:00.000-07:00

Always one to try and improve my creative process I found this article very helpful. Merlin Mann over at 43 Folders has done an interesting analysis of how creativity works. The theory is that creative work gets done best in a seemingly paradoxical cycle of laser focused activity, and lazy idea gathering, idling and re-charging. In essence, creative people combine playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility.

Mann breaks it down:

Most all makers with longevity talk about a process that involves regular, scheduled work periods that allow generous time for warmups and getting into what Csikszentmihalyi himself has called, “Flow.” For as long as he or she can stay in that Flow state, a good artist is capable of synthesizing unbelievably disparate material and ideas in a way that’s often satisfying and productive. For those who cannot, it means another morning of video games, Facebook, and binge eating.

43 Folders: “Attention & Ambiguity: The Non-Paradox of Creative Work”

Solving Problems

2008-08-21T02:49:00.000-07:00

One of the things that everyone, everywhere has to do on a regular basis is solve problems. I thought it would be worth jotting down a few of the different ways you can go about solving problems from what I have learnt from my agency days (but I think that this applies to anyone in business - creative or otherwise).

So the first part of solving any problem is to question. The time honoured Who? What? Why? When? How? Is a great place to start. In advertising this could be are we talking to the right people? What are we trying to achieve? Why do we want to do this? When do we want to do this? How are we going to achieve it?

Each one of these questions can trigger a whole load of new questions that help to understand what it is your trying to achieve and the best way to achieve it.

Which takes us nicely on to arguably the most important part of solving any problem, working out what the problem or objective actually is. Often the problem you’re given isn’t the real problem.

The more specific the problem the better. It’s much easier to work out the answer to a problem when it’s absolutely clear in your mind. So rather than trying to solve “increase brand affinity by 10%” how about “help people to fall in love with the brand again”?

It’s often easier to solve a problem if you can break it down into more manageable chunks. For example, Sainsbury’s famously reframed their problem from “add £4 billion of sales annually” to a far more comprehensable “Increase the average basket size by £3.32″.

Now you know what your problem is you need to read as much as you can on the subject. James Webb Young, one of the greatest advertising men of all time, had a specific technique for generating ideas was:

1. Gather the raw materials - the immediate problem & your general knowledge
2. Work these over in your mind (To this I’d add: Write your first thoughts down, no matter how bad they might be. Keep on writing more stuff. Give it time. Write more stuff down.)
3. Do something else/sleep on it
4. Have the idea
5. Shape the idea to make it useful and practical.

He also believed that “ideas are new combinations”. So when trying to create that little bit of inspiration try combining two unexpected elements e.g. big but personal (HSBC The World’s Local Bank) or small but tough (VW Polo).

Another technique is to think of great ideas in other sectors and categories and apply them to your problem. So if there’s an idea that always works in fashion retailing you might want to think about whether it’ll work in publishing.

Once you’ve got your solution, remember to keep the explanation as simple as possible so that anyone can understand it and pass it on.

The Death of Advertising

2008-08-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions has come up with a series of videos that highlight the changing relationship between marketers and consumers.

The Break Up
by geertdesager

Throwaway Society

2008-08-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

We buy more stuff and throw it away faster than at any point in our history. The House of Lords has criticised the British fashion industry for contributing to a throwaway society. A Science Committee report today attacked 'fast fashion' outlets such as Primark for selling clothes so cheap there is no incentive to repair them.

Similarly buying a basic television has never been so cheap, relatively speaking. In the past, people would call a television repairman to fix the telly if it was broke. Nowadays you would pop down to the high street to buy a new one - which probably doesn't cost more than you're old one did five years before.

"Our attitude to technology has changed from using something until it breaks beyond repair, to constantly replacing it because something cooler is in the market," says Tom Dunmore, editor-in- chief of the gadget magazine Stuff.

Mark Strutt, senior campaigner at Greenpeace, says: "We consume vast amounts of electronic goods and throw them away. Mobile phones are a classic example, where they are more or less designed to be thrown away after a few years. Another prime example is the MP3 player, which does not have a battery that c be changed or recharged."

This thought came whilst taking one of my regular West End trips, as I always leave with something to write about. Although the way things are going Primark will soon have killed the high street. Yes I am saying this now in gest, but I wonder in five years how false that statement will be.

W+K five rules of creativity:

2008-08-20T03:54:00.000-07:00

I have had this for a while, just came across it today, the infamous Wieden & Kennedy's rules to creativity:

1. Act Stupid.
“Our philosophy is to come in ignorant every day. The idea of retaining ignorance is sort of counterintuitive, but it subverts a lot of [problems] that come from absolute mastery. if you think you know the answer better than somebody else does, you become closed to being fresh.” states Jelly Helm, creative director.

2. Shut up.
“The first thing we do when we meet with clients is listen. We try to figure out what their problems are. Then we come back with questions, not solutions. We write these out and put them on the wall. And then we circle the ones that we think are interesting. More often than not, the questions hold the answer.”

3. Always say yes.
“What I’ve learned from improvisation is to let go of outcome and just say yes to what4ever the situation is. If you say an idea is bad, you’re creating conflict–you’re breaking an improv rule. You want an energy flow that moves you forward, as opposed to a creative stasis.”

4. Chase Talent.
“Find people who make you better. It’s best to be the least talented person in the room. It’s reciprocal. It challenges you to keep up.”

5. Be Fearless.
“Do anything, say anything. In the worlds of our president, Dan Wieden, ‘You’re not useful to me until you’ve made three momentous mistakes.’ He knows that if you try not to make mistakes, you miss out on the value of learning from them.”

Favela Chic

2008-08-19T03:09:00.000-07:00

This really got my visual taste buds going, French photographer and street artist JR has produced another inspiring public art project in Rio. Known for his massive scale black and white portraits, JR recently covered a hill side shanty town with his trademark imagery. The photos make the houses almost seem alive with the intricate emotional details of his subject’s faces popping out. This latest project is part of a series called “Women Are Heros”.

Anti-social marketing

2008-08-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

When is the business world going to fully embrace this thing we call social media. A recent report has revealed that brands are still unsure of how best to leverage the large communities on social networking sites such as Facebook.

Tim Hoang reports. 'Despite the clamour by the marketing industry to affix 2.0 to all things vaguely Internet-related, it would appear that marketers are still struggling to fully utilise social networks as a channel of communication.'

That said there has been an increasing spend by marketers on social media sites. eMarketer recently predicted that by 2012, £285 million will be spent advertising on sites such as MySpace and Bebo. The popularity of social networking sites continues to be strong with around one-third of the total number of Internet users in the UK accessing them last year.

In the report, JupiterResearch underlines how difficult it can be for marketers to fully embrace social networks. However, it has made a series of recommendations in order to get the most out of social networks:

• Marketers should promote their pages with paid adverts rather than relying on viral marketing to get the message out. The vast majority of marketers attempting to generate viral buzz don't succeed in getting users to pass along their messages.
• Advertisers need to engage users on the page. Even simple forms of engagement, such as contests, on average doubled the number of friends acquired by each branded page.
• Marketers must appeal to social networkers' love of multimedia to get noticed. Social Networkers are twice as likely to visit a branded page focused on media content than a branded page focused on products.

Read the full article here

Designing Effective Virtual Environments

2008-08-17T06:27:00.000-07:00

How often to you surf the web, and come across a site that is full of clutter. Clutter is the stuff that has no “place”, doesn’t belong with its surroundings, and serves little to no purpose. Honestly this happens to me quite often, so it’s no wonder most web pages are abandoned within a few seconds of viewing.

Whether intended or not, a person’s home and the way you present it are physical manifestations of your personality just as the design and content of a corporate website are virtual manifestations of a brand. Environments, both real and virtual, affect human perception and behaviour.

Here are few points to consider when designing online environments to attract, comfort and retain visitors:

Visual Elements: On a website, color, typography, iconography, and other imagery should be considered as carefully as an interior designer considers surfaces, furnishings, and art. Are they appropriate for the target user?

Colour: There are appropriate uses of colour for specific messages targeted at specific end users. Once an appropriate colour palette is defined, a designer can use it to direct users to specific content, organize that content, and create an appropriate environment.

Typography: Too many typefaces in one place is like cramming a room with furnishings from different eras. Stick to a theme, and visitors will be more comfortable and get a better sense of the message the type is sending.

Imagery: Imagery (photos, illustrations, icons) should enhance an environment by promoting a message or feeling. Iconography can be a helpful cue for web users, or it can be unnecessary and even misleading.

Content: A clearly defined hierarchy of information is crucial to helping users understand what a site has to offer and finding the information they seek.

Navigation and User Feedback: If a visitor has to think about where they can click to get more information, or click through multiple pages to get to specific information, they are not likely to stick around.

Music: U-N-I 'Beautiful Day'

2008-08-15T03:54:00.000-07:00

Visually I am tasting this today, I not sure how it is where you are, but around me its a 'Beautiful Day', so this tune couldn't be more appropriate. These guys are amazing, if you don't know get to know

Power of Imagery

2008-08-15T03:31:00.000-07:00

Have you ever thought about the power of images, and how in turn images can shape our thought. Me neither, but Errol Morris has in a recent article in the New York Times he examines the 'power of imagery' and goes on to talk about why we need to question the images we view. He finds that people will tend to believe what they see, even if it’s not true. Changing history can be as easy as changing the photo - either content, or simply the caption.

My dad always told me that the story in more powerful than man. There is no denying that this has been evident throughout history, colonial powers throughout time have doctored images, artefacts and scribes to make sure the story that lives on is in their favour.

Morris interviews Hany Farid, a Dartmouth professor and an expert on digital photography:

(Farid) “And even like this missile one. You start putting it out there and saying, “Oh look, this picture? It’s a fake. This picture? It’s a fake.” But you know what people remember? They don’t remember, “It’s a fake.” They remember the picture. And there are psychology studies, when you tell people that information is incorrect, they forget that it is incorrect. They only remember the misinformation. They forget the tag associated with it. They did these great studies, especially with older people. They give them information about health, Medicare, Medicaid, that kind of stuff. And they say, “this information that you heard? It’s wrong.” And what ends up happening is, that information gets ingrained into their brains, and even if they are subsequently told it’s wrong, they end up believing it.”

If you dont know then get to know

Why Threadless Rules

2008-08-13T04:27:00.000-07:00

Threadless in my opinion have possible the best social media business model, outside of direct social communication web-sites. Here are a few reasons why:

1. It’s not Web 2.0.
Threadless isn’t about Web 2.0 buzzwords, technology for technology’s sake, etc. Threadless is about kicking ass as a real, profitable company and taking care of its customers (the loyalty of customers is the #1 priority).

2. Community…no, really.
A lot of sites pay lip service to the notion of building a community. Threadless actually does it. And it’s not just having a blog or a forum (though the site has those too). Check out the site’s navigation where “Shop” and “Participate” are given equal treatment:

It’s no accident. Threadless isn’t just a place to buy stuff. It’s a place where people do stuff too. The people design the shirt ideas, decide which shirts get made, post to forums, upload photos of themselves wearing the shirts, etc. The result? People are attached to Threadless. As Don Norman says, “We are much more emotionally attached to products for which we feel some involvement.”

Threadless makes people feel like partners, not just customers. That’s why people become MySpace friends with Threadless. They start blogs about Threadless . They care what happens.

Read full article here

What happened to the passion?

2008-08-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Is there something about the world that makes people give up on there desire to change the things they find fault with in the world. By this I mean does the pursuit of money, happiness and general need to survive take over peoples consciousness, also what part does the media play in this?

This thought was partly borne out of my recent redundancy. Its funny how until you leave a situation, its difficult to rationally judge the situation you were in. In my case this situation was a job within one's of London's best advertising agencies. As good as this job was, I now realise how much it took over my life, as most jobs do. Depending on how you view it, my job had either evolved or stopped my desire to change the things in the world that I didn't like. This leads to wonder how many other people this has happened to.

I can remember my passion to rid the world of its problems when graduating from university. This passion seemed to go once I entered the world of work. At which time I was also in-taking news coverage without question, by reading the free newspapers to and from work.

With a clear mind I now question the very purpose of these newspapers. Understanding that the media is one off, and probably the powerful forms of communication, along with Word of mouth and advertising. Is the plan to in-turn brain wash people with irreverent news on their journeys to and from work, gradually building peoples tolerance to the subjects and topics in the messaging.

Anyway not to the digress from the point, I wonder why life does this to people. Is it just that people weren't really that passionate about the change they wanted to affect. Are we as people generally happy with the routine monotony of working 9 -5, paying bills etc, etc, and how much of this is a result of the media reducing the collective consciousness of the people.

Ask yourself this question, Are you still passionate? If the answer is Yes, are you working in, on or towards your passion. If the answer is no, one more question WHY NOT?

7 Design Guidelines

2008-08-12T03:33:00.000-07:00

Smashing Magazine, recently posted an article '7 Essential Guidelines for Functional Design', this is a great article, but more interesting to me is how easy it is to adopt these functional design guidelines to most aspects of life.

At the heart of every piece of practical design, whether it be a website, product package, office building, manufacturing system, piece of furniture, software interface, book cover, tool, or anything else, there is a function, a task the item is expected to perform. Most functions can be achieved in a variety of ways, but there are some basic elements a designer needs to take into account to create a product that best fulfills its intended function.

The guidelines:

1. Consider the product’s goal.
2. Consider who will be using it.
3. Consider what your audience intends to do with it.
4. Is it clear how to use it?
5. How does your user know it’s working?
6. Is it engaging to your users?
7. How does it handle mistakes?

Read the full article here

The end for trends

2008-08-12T02:58:00.000-07:00

Are we witnessing the end of trends? The JC Report has some interesting thoughts on what constitutes a trend in today’s world. In a series of posts titled “The Death Of Trends”, they explain how in the fashion world there’s no longer “big” trends.

What’s really going on here is that instead of the massive global trends big trends like “Green is the new black!”, there are now thousands of micro trends that can come from anywhere and anyone.

From the JC Report:

It’s not just designers who are contributing to the end of boldface trends, however. Armed with broadband and blogrolls, consumers, too, are rejecting the commandments of the editorial elite, taking inspiration from peers around the world to craft their own personal interpretations of style. Rather than buy into one trend from head-to-toe, like the “preppy” or “punk” movements of decades past, consumers are appropriating eclectic influences and remixing them like a DJ does with music. It’s now common to see stylistic mash-ups, like a demure Stella McCartney floral-print blouse coupled with Alexander Wang’s grimy cutoffs and finished off with a pair of Balenciaga’s erotically charged knee-high gladiator sandals.

JC Report: Death of Trends Part 1 / Part 2

Companies using twitter

2008-08-09T03:13:00.000-07:00

How Do You Use Twitter? from biz stone on Vimeo.

Releasing creativity

2008-08-06T06:33:00.000-07:00

Everyone has been there, that dreaded mental void when everything goes blank, and you enter a creative block. LifeDev recently put together a list of 15 tips to help relieve this situation.

And it goes a little something like this:

1. Start cleaning your immediate area
2. Impose a deadline
3. Use a different medium
4. Define the problem clearly
5. Surround yourself with materials
6. Relax your breathing, cool your nerves
7. Create a mind map
8. Ask a friend
9. Think with your eyes wide shut
10. Sleep on it
11. Don’t be afraid to use Google
12. Don’t be afraid to ask questions
13. Crank on some tunes
14. Exercise
15. Perspiration, not inspiration

Read the full article here

Hub culture: Everything Everywhere

2008-08-05T03:43:00.000-07:00

Dejour Magazine has a fascinating interview with Hub Culture founder, Stan Stalnaker. Author of the forward thinking 2002 book Hub Culture: The Next Wave of Urban Consumers, Stalnaker shares his insights on where the hot spots of cultural innovation are happening now.

Stan on the connected world:

In my view the ‘butterfly effect’ is a repercussion of this shift towards a revealed collective identity, where we finally realize (really realize, feel) that the tree falling in the Amazon affects our beef in New York, that the bottom of the pyramid bears the weight of the top, and that our actions, no matter how small, contribute to a combined common reality. As the ‘top of the pyramid’ in recent years has realized that they are part of a common hub, I think soon the rest of the planet will see that too. This means that farmers in Africa and factory workers in Vietnam and taxi drivers in Shanghai will soon find solidarity with each other, probably driven by low cost mobile technology, with nodal connections already at 3 billion and counting. This will change our view of the world and force us to address some quite awkward issues. Can Paris Hilton really skank the bling when half of Africa can watch her in real time? Is flaunting excess still acceptable when you’re finally face to face with someone who has nothing? It will have to shift.

As transparency drives efficiency, there will be no other place to live than this global village, and it means we’ll all be competing on more open playing fields. Right now its good, but in the long run, its a race to the bottom unless we find ways to build value at all levels. I think that will be addressed through collective systems that pay out on the micro-level, and Hub Culture people will have to prepare for the day when not just blue and white, but green and black collars are all outsourced to the global market. At that point, the size of our networks and the value of our reputations will be immensely important.

Read the full article here

Fashion in the Mirror: Self-Reflection in Fashion Photography

2008-08-04T14:23:00.000-07:00

This piece is currently on view in the Fashion in the Mirror: Self-Reflection in Fashion Photography exhibition at the Photographer's Gallery in London.

William Klein (born 1928) is an American fashion photographer and filmmaker based in France.

Once considered photography's bad boy, Klein is one of the formative voices in street and fashion photography. His work has been called chaotic, disorganized, threatening and abrasive, as well as explosive, evocative and playful.

Social Media

2008-08-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

Social Media has been the buzz word and topic of the marketing industry for a while now. For all those who aren't so familiar with this topic, Essentially social media incorporates the online technology and methods through which people can share content, personal opinions, swap different perspectives and insights into world issues.

Below I have shared the five most infamous examples of companies leveraging Social media:

Subservient Chicken from Crispin Porter and Burger King

Dove Evolution Video and Real Beauty Campaign from Ogilvy

"Will it Blend" Viral videos from Blendtec

Kryptonite Bike Lock YouTube Video

Dell Hell Post from Jeff Jarvis