Cute Art Direction

Microsoft Office: mac 2008 – a totally cute site. Good art direction.

Social Media is Fun

You know, things like …

• Digg
• Reddit
• StumbleUpon
• Squidoo
• Del.icio.us
• Technorati
• Sphinn (for search and Internet marketers)
• and the list goes on …

Here is a useful article about the basics of Social Media, written by a guy in Cape Town, South Africa. (I heard that because of the sun’s angle in Cape Town, lots of production companies fly there to shoot. The money they save on lighting makes up for the cost of flying there, and everyone lives happily ever after.) I especially enjoyed this bit of advice:

Search Engine Land: 15 Fundamental Truths About Social Media

Create something that is honest. Sony was famously outed online when the company created a fake blog called All I Want For Xmas Is A PSP (no longer live), where two people were trying to get others to promote their wish for a PSP. Turns out these people were actors. Sony subsequently was subjected to a backlash of brand bashing which really highlights the risk involved in a dishonest marketing campaign.

Did you click the PSP link in the above article? Haagen-Dazs bought it!

Oh, Internet. You are so funny sometimes.

Creative Business » Seminar

Neat: A free seminar (in London) about ways to share creative ideas/products/services over the internet.

Creative Business » CBDE Application Pack
… the internet creates exciting new ways to distribute and promote creative works and should be seen by the creative industries as an opportunity rather than a threat.

Too bad I don’t live in London. The question IS … will this be broadcast over the internet, free? That would put their whole philosophy into action.

A day and an email later … the answer is yes! Their kind and timely response:

Yes, we will be recording the presentations, either in audio or video, and will put those online. Please do keep an eye on the blog – http://www.openrightsgroup.org/creativebusiness/blog/ – where we will announce everything. All course materials will be released under a Creative Commons licence, so anyone will be able to reuse, localise or build upon them.

ADWEEK: New Medium Invasion

If you haven’t met Justin Sailor yet, just wait. He gets around. We met through the Snowboard Club at Michigan State University. He was a big influence in my college career, supporting my photography, writing, and obsession with The Smashing Pumpkins. Then we graduated, and he created The Hometown Invasion Tour …

Art & Commerce: Sponsorship Drive: by Justin Sailor

There is indeed a group of young, innovative and talented people who are jumping into a niche which advertisers are only beginning to embrace …

… I found myself walking into the headquarters of BBDO Detroit, seeking sponsorship from one of the largest automobile companies in the world. I pitched my big idea: visit all 50 states in one calendar year while staying with people I had never met.

Jeep accepted my project, and gave me a 2007 Jeep Compass for the road. Rather than a 15-second commercial, they were able to send someone out for an entire year with a vehicle wrapped in graphics that received constant stares on highways across the country.

A great opportunity for Jeep, how could they refuse? He had to give the Jeep back, but I think a lot more of them now that they’re taking advantage of new and innovative ways to advertise. I agree with Justin – This is the way of the future, and anything less is going to die a slow, boring death because no one will care.

Can’t wait to see what he’s up to next.

Squidoo

Squidoo is just one of the fascinating things I learned about today, meeting with the fabulous Ted Cantu, of Search Quest.

More on this soon!

Facebook Has ADS

All over the place. Ads ads ads ads. I added the iLike application today, (because one of my friends dedicated a song to me, and I had to add the application to see it). There are always little applications popping up over there, and I see them as little demographic gold-diggers for advertisers.

Which is fine.

Playing the iLike Challenge is fun. Here’s how it goes: You’re taken swiftly through a bunch of songs, one by one, and asked a) who the artist is, or b) what song by the artist it is. Great There’s even a mix across genres.

But the wacky, off-beat, annoying part is THIS:

A big, fat movie clip ad for Beowulf! Weird, because …

• It has nothing to do with the music challenge I was just taking.
• It’s for a movie that I haven’t seen.
• It’s for a movie that I do not plan on seeing.
• It asks questions that are easily found after watching the clip for about 10 seconds.

So, I thought that was strange. We all know Facebook uses its demographic information for marketing research – but I worry it’s getting too clogged with mainstream marketing. Just sent a little pang of irritation through me.

Another Source: Facebooks “Beacon” Infuriate Users, MoveOn – Silicon Alley Insider

Drivers Size Up Fords (Unknowingly) in New Campaign

I love this new marketing + advertising idea.  It comes from the heart of great advertising, which is having a great product and great customer service.  With that kind of business, the product advertises itself!

Drivers Size Up Fords (Unknowingly) in New Campaign — Commercial Alert
Dozens of people who had recently bought new cars from competitors traded them temporarily for Fords.

And don’t we size up every car we ride in?  Popular people, who often drive people around in their cars, are SO important to the success of the brands they love.

Into the Wild

Have you seen? Have you heard? Into the Wild is the talk of the suburbs and cities, and it’s coming out of the wood-paneling of the ’90s, to a theater near you!

Great book, too. I was gifted the book at age nine. That’s 1992. I savored it like a hot roast beef sandwich, between pre-teen sheets. How thrilling, how interesting, how real-life and how exciting, to read about such a person! I also read Jack London during this period, and formed a very primal prescription for adulthood with those pages.

It’s a story about a guy trying to stick to his morals, a strictly roots-and-berries philosophy of life. It’s about anyone, even you, walking down the street alone with unique thoughts in your head. He chooses to isolate himself, probably trying to extract the marrow of life from this experience. He sure got it.

Going it completely alone is probably more than most of us can handle – in any walk of life.

And if there’s ever been a way to avoid, “going it alone,” it’s the world of blogging. Which lead me to something called IMEEM, a social and media networking site that, until now, was nothing more than a strange word. The Krakauer book must have a relationship with IMEEM, because they have a site there.

I dig it. The site, the book, the dude, the legend. I passed the old dog-eared copy to my Dad yesterday, as he left in a van for Las Vegas. Northern Michigan to Las Vegas in a van (with a girlfriend and a rabbit), not a bad winter plan at all.

Ads that Clean the Streets

Interesting idea!

Radiohead Album Price? “It’s Up to You”

Working to remodel a house in town, the construction guys asked what kind of music I listen to. After lots of blank stares I said, “You know, like Radiohead.” That rang a bell. Radiohead is big. And they’re doing great, big things.

Their new album is downloadable at their website, for whatever price you want to pay. Pretty tidy when you think about it.

My opinion of the album? Good. It sounds like Radiohead. Not mind-blowing, but good. Well worth $2.50.

NYT Article