Join the überpositioning game

In marketing world we often define the competitive situation within the boundaries of other commercial companies in the same sector. Some visionary companies see themselves being part of a broader context and hereby define themselves as being in the business of “documenting life” (film, camera, phones, MP3 functionalities and all sorts of file-sharing companies comes to mind”). Some even realize that brands can be a part of actual popular culture.

Below are a couple of the positions already taken if your company wants to join the überpositioning game (I don’t remember where this list comes from):

Anne Frank The Diarist
Philip K. Dick The Futurist
Gary Null The Nutritionist
John Brown The Abolishionist
Harold Bloom The Theorist
Malcolm Forbes The Capitalist
Colson Whitehead The Intuitionist
Helen K. Foo The Dentist
Jean Paul Sartre The Existentialist
Mahatma Gandhi The Pacifist
Thom Jones The Pugilist
Philip Johnson The Postmodernist
E.T. The Alienist
Thomas Pynchon The Mist
Robert Motherwell The Abstract Expressionist
Martin Dressler The Tobacconist
E.O. Wilson The Sociobiologist
Leni Riefenstahl The Propagandist
Dave Brooks The Loyalist
Edward Hopper The Realist
Chris Martin The Scientist
Robert Penn Warren The Formalist
Sade The Sadist
Donald Antrim The Verificationist
Norah Jones The Sitarist
Piet Mondrian The Colorist
Carole Maso The Masochist
Kurt Vonnegut The Satirist
Henri Matisse The Fauvist
Mrs. O'Leary's Cow The Arsonist
Gabriel Garcia Marquez The Magic Realist
Romare Bearden The Collagist
Martha Stewart The Imperfectionist
Oliver Sacks The Neurologist
Narcissus The Narcissist
Thomas Merton The Trappist
Peter Eisenman The Deconstructivist
Oscar Schindler The List
Evan S. Connell The Rapist
Juan Gris The Cubist
Paulo Coelho The Alchemist
H.D. The Imagist
Jonathan Franzen The Correctionist
Arthur Miller The Dramatist'

From street to gallery

Barry McGee is one of those cool graffiti guys who made it from underground legend - with the notorious tag name Twist - to hot property in the art world. I saw his recent pieces in Copenhagen gallery Nicolai Wallner. I especially like the way he puts a three dimensional feel to his things combined with the theme of old frames with fresh graphics/pictures in them.

More about him here:
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/mcgee/index.html

Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow

I went to this seminar the other day conducted by the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies. I got to hear the excellent speaker “Mr. New Marketing Manifesto” John Grant. It wasn’t that much what he preached - having read his books and articles (and similar thoughts from other self proclaimed marketing gurus) – but moreover his ability to tell them in an engaging way. He was talking about the demise of the old marketing world with it’s fixture on positioning, image, trends & messaging and change into embracing uncertainty, brand realities, “being the trend” & “touching peoples lives”. Some of his newer thoughts should be released in an upcoming book. Anyway here are his 10 rules for building brands “in a Marketing 2.0 way”:

http://www.dontstop01.com/doc/John%20Grant%20-%20presentation.pdf

Mind map extravaganza

From Henrik Werdelin’s Digital Notes blog there is this great link to free software where you can just dive in to the wonderful world of Mind Maps.

“http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Henrik Werdelin Digital Notes blog:
http://coolburger.com/linkblog/

Yuki, Malkmus, Beatles & Jay-Z & Beck

There is nothing like those rare really good music videos – either intriguing short stories, new amazing technical features, cool graphics, surprising appearances etc. Stuff that often transcend into popular culture and soon after is to be found in adland.

Beck – Black Tambourine – directed by Associates In Science
http://www.partizan.com/partizan/musicvideos/?associates_in_science

Stephen Malkmus – Baby C’mon – directed by Lana Kim & Andy Bruntel
http://www.the-rivalry.com/lana/video/malkmus2.htm

Dj Dangermouse (Beatles & Jay-Z) – Grey Video – directed by Ramon Pedro
http://www.partizan.com/partizan/musicvideos/?ramon___pedro

Yuki – Sentimental Journey - directed Nagi Noda
http://www.partizan.com/partizan/musicvideos/?nagi_noda

Most of them by the way from excellent Production House Partizan se more here:
http://www.partizan.com/partizan/musicvideos/

Youth Report

Energy/BBDO has conducted a generational report that has more interesting gems on the global youth tendencies and brand preferences overviews than the usual “next big defining report”. It’s called “Genworld" and there is more insight and downloads here:
http://experiencethemessage.typepad.com/blog/2006/02/the_future_genw.html

The get smarter guide

In the Guardian there is an interesting article on everyday optimization of your brain – off course it comes with a “how to guide”. But the Tuesday advice “Select unfamiliar words from the dictionary and work them into conversations” should be no new exercise for people working within strategy and planning.

Here is the article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1723801,00.html

The week based “how to”:

Saturday
Brush your teeth with your 'wrong' hand and take a shower with your eyes closed.

Sunday
Do the crossword or Sudoku puzzle in your Sunday paper and take a brisk walk.

Monday
Have oily fish for dinner, and either cycle, walk or take the bus into work.

Tuesday
Select unfamiliar words from the dictionary and work them into conversations.

Wednesday
Go to yoga, Pilates or a meditation class, and talk to someone you don't know.

Thursday
Take a different route to work; watch Countdown or Brainteaser.

Friday
Avoid caffeine or alcohol; memorise your shopping list.

Thanks to Henrik Werdelin's Digital Notes(http://coolburger.com/linkblog/)

BBC joins the engagement age

I’ve posting an awful lot about consumer engagement and co-creation projects lately and it’s not only because I personally believe it’s one of the most potent marketing trends but it seems a lot of foresighted marketers and media owners have seen the potential lately.

BBC has an interesting project here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/calc/1xtra/index.shtml

It’s explained as follows:

“Radio 1 Superstar VJs is part of a new kind of service the BBC is piloting, which is not just about enjoying its content but using it to create your own. On this site you'll find nearly 100 clips to download, watch, mix and share under the Creative Archive Licence, all chosen with VJ's in mind and including skylines, sunsets, seascapes, wildlife, time-lapse photography and retro gadgets. We will be adding more clips and programmes soon and have just launched the Open News Archive offering around 80 iconic reports for download.”

Moments & Mashups

I recently saw an exhibition with the French photographer Brassaï who is famous for his uncensored, lyrical and sometimes raw pictures of Paris by night in the 1930’s. But what really caught my attention was a brilliant quote that summed up his philosophy and actually captures the wonders of the recent empowerment in mass documentary of everyday life provide by web 2.0 tool like Flick on the picture side and YouTube on moving pictures. The quote simple says “Extract the eternal from the momentary”.

Talking about Flickr there is an interesting article here in the online edition of Wired linking to the 10 best Mashups of Flickr. It’s a clear example of how strongest marketing efforts in the technology area today is the massive creativity from consumers that use data from sites like Google, Yahoo and Flickr. The probably most famous Flickr Mashup is the “spell with flickr (http://metaatem.net/words) which even a supposedly London creative hotshop has made its website front page graphics (http://www.bmbagency.com/)

A mashup, for the unfamiliar, is a hybrid web application that uses data from an outside source to drive a web service. Mashups can be created using data culled from RSS feeds, public databases, or any open data source.

Rock'n'roll & Advertising

Virgin has done it again - doing a truly involving campaign for its digital music business. It’s once again Ground Zero who’s behind and this time it’s not print but a film. For me what’s better than something than combines the world of communication with almost nerdy music quizzing? It’s really difficult though, but then I guess you have to see it over and over again.

The film is at:
http://www.natl.tv/work/virgin/movie.html

Thanks for the tip to Crackunit.