Suddenly there is something

David Shrigley is a Glasgow based artist which work I got a hold off recently. He has this outstanding original thinking on life’s many small details and absurdities. His work doesn’t concern topics like marketing, advertising, creativity or strategy. But I wouldn’t hesitate one minute using his thinking as an analogy for things like “that one good commercial in that immensely long line of crap”.

See more of his work here:
www.davidshrigley.com
There was also a post about on the APG website:
http://www.apg.org.uk/index.cfm?page=108&zone=1&blog_action=comment&post=42

She unleashed the hip-hop virus

The photojournalist Martha Cooper has specialized in art and anthropology. She is the most significant contributor to the methodically documentation of the subway graffiti during the 1970s and 1980s. There was this great TV-documentary the other day. It was fascinating to see her influence on the rise of the hip-hop culture from underground phenomenon in NYC to global mainstream. Here is a great little interview with her.
http://www.at149st.com/cooper2.html

Christmas present with nice motto

This is maybe my new favourite T-shirt. What a great motto to look at in the morning mirror.

Ain't No Cure For Human Insight

I just picked up the essential Leonard Cohen album. It has been so long since I’ve heard it.

And it strikes me what really is essential is the insights presented so simple and profound…he works as most of us strategist would love to. He capsules everything in a few verses (1/3 size of a CREATIVE BRIEF) – lyrics that are derived from large notebooks, his vast experiences, the whole history of mankind and that sort of stuff. “Everybody Knows” for instance could be interpreted to a lot touching communication…

Everybody Knows (first 4 verses)

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Time in print

Yugo Nakamura is a Tokyo based creative director/designer/engineer exploring and experimenting with various forms of interactive system in digital and networked environment. He has won awards including Cannes Lions, Clio and the One Show and has been shown in Paris’ Centre Pompidou, Vienna’s Kunstlerhaus and London’s Design Museum.

His latest work is a handheld version of a watch in print. Cool stuff.

http://www.lares.dti.ne.jp/%7Eyugo/storage/monocrafts_ver3/03/

Here’s his website

http://yugop.com/

Reinvention of a childhood icon

I just bought this book as a present for some friends of mine’s kid. It’s the story of Christmas retold with Lego bricks.

It wasn’t made by Lego off course. It was made by a graphic designer.

It made me think why Lego don’t reinvent the platforms from where their iconic bricks are made relevant to today’s more technique savvy kids.

Lego’s current economical troubles come from their failed attempts to attract attention to these young consumers. Young consumers that wants more interactive storytelling that could come from Lego bricks occurring in video games, cartoons and even good old fashioned books (It has to be said that Lego are doing a lot of innovative stuff with their Bionicle series for pre-teens but that’s another story).

Miss Sixty the next lovebrand?

The Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts are preaching his Lovebrand evangelism to a huge branding loving audience.

It seems like the guys at the growing fashion brand Miss Sixty have been listening and dedicated their whole Christmas campaign to love messages. So I guess that’s the trick talk about love and people will love you.

Stupid advertising influenced parking

Or maybe it’s just a perfect example of a clear good old product USP very well communicated. Or maybe there were just two cars on the sides of this car right before I captured this picture.

Smart parking

smart

The religious iPod spoof

This is one of the funnier spoofs I’ve seen. I saw it outside London’s St. Lukes church.

Must get gloves

Winter came with frost and snow the other day. Traffic stops. People embrace nature for a little while. Kids are enthusiastic. It’s such a nice part of the year. Then Christmas hysteria begins.

We will win next year

There’s nothing like the good spirits of amateur sports. Personally the soccer team I play on didn’t win the tournament this year. We where close though. We lost in the final round and finished in third position. (No, need to say number one and two got to play the national championships at our level…)

I think there is tons of insights that sport marketers could fire off from amateur sport. In the new funny Nike Shox spots they have captured the potential of Mr. Average in a running challenge with a Hot-Dog stand. Funny too see that it also works for Nike without no high-profiled stars. More of these amateur moments please.

Talk is silver, silence is gold

The world is so noisy so either you’ll have to scream louder or do something completely opposite –e.g. Take the silent approach. I’ll like some more arresting images and room for reflection and perception without noise.

The new paradigm in ad testing suggests testing not only the explicit memory but also the implicit memory. New research methods will more easily show the effects of more silent advertising. And hopefully show that you can evoke strong instinctive, cognitive and emotional feelings even without the screaming.

Let them sing it for you

The Swede Erik Bünger has made this sound project where he let’s famous singers sing whatever words (over 1400 different ones) you put together.

http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/p1/src/sing/default.asp?key=41O1Y29I

Mr. Way to Creative

I just stumbled over this car. The man behind seamlessly has a creative and innovation company that can either be understood as “All for the creative” or” Way To creative” in Danish.

I wouldn’t give him a call.

Architecture as a main branding tool

The great blog http://influxinsights.com/ recently wrote about a tiny coffee shop in New York that is differentiating them from big corporate competitors by using architecture as the main tool.

Few big retailers have really seized the potential of a profound belief in architecture.

Of course some fashion retailers have impressing flagship architecture and also Apple have grasped the potential. But I guess many more ordinary and non-lifestyle chic brands could get their uniqueness from this. Maybe even a funny building for a Toy-store could work.

I’m digging a hole

I believe in the power of lateral thinking as the most lethal disruptive weapon into breaking barriers in terms of media and cross cultural target groups.

The great thinker Edward De Bono says: "You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper"

Do it yourselfish

Despite the fact that most men accept the whole equal rights issue between the sexes there are little corners of modern living we as men like to have for ourselves!

“The sports wisdom conversation”, Silly competitions, “The praise, mysteries and frustrations over women at bars at night conversation“, playing cards, automotive knowledge, and last but not least the very self-realization of us as male species - the almighty do-it-yourself capabilities.
When we put on our tool belt you women shouldn’t bother to be smarter than us or tell us what to do.

So give us this one chance to believe we can create, build, construct on our own.

Most powerful opening narrator ever

There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie Boy and Dim. And we sat in the Korova Milk Bar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova Milk Bar sold milk plus - milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old Ultra-Violence.
(The opening of Clockwork Orange with the voice of Malcolm McDowell)

Rock'n'roll & Advertising

In the vast world of buzzword marketing - whether it’s called branded content, brand synergies, new media alliances, brand integration, Madison + Vine - one of the most obvious and well thought alliances is the new iPod + U2 campaign.

What a smart move to make the special edition black iPod with the automatic loading of the album. I even find the first single Vertigo one of the more explosive U2 numbers in years.

The extended 2 minute video/ad that only figures in the iTunes Music Store is actually a better video then the real MTV video.