noise and blurry images

a new address

2010-05-15T13:00:00.003+01:00

hello you lot,

Just a really quick one to say that after 18 months of blogspot blogging, I've decided it's time to have a bit of spring clean and think about the layout etc a bit more.

After an evening or two trying to get my head round the dizzying amount of options I've plumped with wordpress and gone and done the slightly egoistic thing of buying my own url - yes that's right, I've hit the big time

so...from now on you'll be able to find all the usual noise and blurry images nonsense over at www.hughdewinton.com

any feedback much appreciated

Cheers

Hugh

"change"

2010-05-10T12:28:00.009+01:00

When I leave my office to get some fresh air I can't walk for more than 50 metres without bumping into a photoshopped picture of David Cameron looking angry or a typically nice fluffy statement about how we all need 'change'. So they won the most seats and once they come out of the 45th meeting with the Lib Dems and pay their pret delivery bill they will hopefully have decided how to take things forward.

Below are a few observations on the last 5 weeks from a bloke whose life really won't change dramatically whoever gets elected but nonetheless found the whole thing fascinating.

1. You'll never agree with all of a parties policies

I was occasionally amazed by the assumption that there should be a party that should align themselves exactly with the way you think, act and behave. It's up to the individual to think for themselves about their priorities. People who get angry because they haven't found a party that represents a soul mate who you'd sit up all night chatting to and eating cookies with don't get it.

2. People don't read manifestos. Fact.

OK so we had the odd short you tube friendly film to outline manifestos but we had far too many times during this election when Nick/Dave/Gordan said 'well, if you read our manifesto'. Apart from Nick Robinson and a handful of journalists who's job it is to read them, manifestos (the actual books) are bonfire fuel, the ideas are not. Parties need to rethink how they communicate their core ideas in a way that is actually interesting and engaging to read.

3. Real change doesn't just come from Government, it comes from mobilising and inspiring people

Yes, we all agree that it's not the sole responsibility of Government to improve living standards, community cohesion and the country as a whole but the sentiment attached to 'big society' was very vague. It seemed to imply that if you get out of the way, the community will take ownership and get on with things. The real battle is instead persuading people that 'doing stuff' is rewarding, this is the hard bit however and one I'm not convinced the Tories wanted to approach head on. I for one, know I should be 'doing' more, whether it be helping other people or helping myself but the barriers in the way are not Government imposed but usually personal. It's going to take some seriously radical policies to get me to start planting geraniums in Battersea park for the good of the community. Show me some kind of tangible benefit and I'll be more inclined.

4. The value is not in the word 'change' but in the actual 'change' you're proposing and how that will affect the voter in the real world

To me the conservatives 'Change' communication said 'we need something different, these guys have been crap for you'. It was intertwined so heavily into everything they did that it didn't allow a great deal of time to actually explain what the change was. This won over the suburban Tory faithful who don't need any persuading when it comes to Labours incompetency but did it do enough to inspire those floating voters who perhaps voted labour or Lib Dem for the first time during the Blair era? well not enough to win a majority. Change isn't inherently good in itself, (the BNP also wanted change), it's the actual change that's going to win over middle Britain that matters in the long term.

brand utility

2010-05-05T17:14:00.000+01:00

A useful guide to the brand utility

View more presentations from Ingmar de Lange.

telling a story

2010-04-27T12:57:00.000+01:00

As much as I like this....

I can't help it was influenced by this

transparency vs concealment

2010-04-27T12:41:00.004+01:00

Found this on Colin Drummonds excellent blog. It pretty much sums up the concerns of an old guard that once viewed secrecy as one of the main pillars in the creation of a successfull business. How it now competes with all this talk of transparency is fascinating, especially as it's never been harder to hide things even if you wanted to.

I'm not convinced you can dabble with transparency, if taken on it should be a major identity trait for a brand and something that runs through not just communication but every artery of the business. It should be visible in everything you do. By only partly endorsing it, a brand risks further embrassment further down the line. When I see a brand being honest, I assume it's an all encompassing message, not something that merely applies to a sector of their business where they've got nothing to hide.

A world without planes

2010-04-26T21:36:00.005+01:00

I've been searching around for the ultimate wise man take on the ash cloud shenanigans that have consumed much of of our collective storytelling / moaning over the past week or so. Alain De Botton takes first place with this:

In a future world without aeroplanes, children would gather at the feet of old men, and hear extraordinary tales of a mythic time when vast and complicated machines the size of several houses used to take to the skies and fly high over the Himalayas and the Tasman Sea. The wise elders would explain that inside the aircraft, passengers, who had only paid the price of a few books for the privilege, would impatiently and ungratefully shut their window blinds to the views, would sit in silence next to strangers while watching films about love and friendship — and would complain that the food in miniature plastic beakers before them was not quite as tasty as the sort they could prepare in their own kitchens.

Sometimes it takes the pause button to understand and appreciate what we all view as 'normal'. Maybe it's a button we should start pressing ourselves a it more, it's an underrated option.

c/o bobulate

how to promote music volume 1

2010-04-26T17:39:00.000+01:00

Logorama

2010-04-15T09:29:00.001+01:00

Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

the dream team

2010-04-14T10:23:00.000+01:00

FULL SCREEN
The Sounds of VTech / JRocc at Timeless SXSW

RIP Steve Reid

2010-04-14T08:51:00.001+01:00

baby elephants

2010-04-12T12:42:00.003+01:00

BBC website 1997

2010-04-05T10:43:00.006+01:00

I've just read this fantastic piece on the development of the BBC website since it's inception in 1997. Above is the original homepage.

For me, this picture says so many things about the state of digital in 1997 but also just how important and progressive the BBC has been in understanding the potential of online as a platform for its complete spectrum of output.

In a weird way it's made me a bit nostalgic. Never again will i have to spend 5 hours on Napster to download one james brown track or ask my parents if I can 'dial up' and then have to explain what I'm doing on there anyway. It's easy to forget how much has been accomplished in such a short period of time.

put a smile on your face philly style

2010-04-03T11:26:00.001+01:00

this is the kind of big, ambitious stuff that just makes you want to head out to Philly on the next plane. love it.

c/o kitsune noir

A Love Letter For You from Megawords Magazine on Vimeo.

the web wasn't built with ad breaks

2010-03-31T09:39:00.002+01:00

Heard a lot of good stuff about bud caddell and mike aruz's talk at SXSW. here it is in all it's glory.

Web Video Thunderdome: Branded vs Unbranded, You Decide – 2010 SXSW Interactive

View more presentations from Bud Caddell.

just a thought

2010-03-30T10:54:00.003+01:00

All the comments below the ad suggest the song is part of the shoes identity - why can't the song come with the shoe?

Age of Conversation III

2010-03-28T11:07:00.005+01:00

Shameless plug alert...

I've been lucky enough to be part of the fantastic Age of Conversation series which I'm sure some of you are already aware of. For those that aren't, my contribution is one of 300 contributions from marketeers, thinkers, writers from around the world all commenting and adding their two scents to the ongoing discussion surrounding social media and the dynamic between brands and people.

Just looking down the list of contributors, I've got a gut feeling that this is going to be a unique and immensely relevant book release for anyone with even a remote interest in the role of brands in an increasingly interactive and social landscape.

You can find out more here - book out in April

Full author list to go up soon

cash gordon fail

2010-03-23T12:38:00.001Z

courtesy of meg pickard. Also worth checking made by many's stance on the whole thing.

django django - storm

2010-03-21T18:09:00.001Z

my tune of the week.

a matter of time

2010-03-17T15:58:00.002Z

a nice idea but a couple of questions:

- is there a problem to solve in the first place?

- will this make the process more time consuming than it already is?

- Do people want to sign up to another social network? don't they want to simplify their digital socialising bringing it into one space?

- people will still leave the site to google locations if they haven't heard of them where they will be confronted with a mixture of aggretagated amateur reviews and foodie/journo reviews - how could the site get round this issue of inefficiency?

a life of gaming

2010-03-17T15:49:00.002Z

related to my gaming post of last week, here is some more chat on the concept

Habana Vieja

2010-03-09T15:03:00.002Z

a video about a place I've actually been. It really is as amazing as it looks (if not a little more touristy...) - via brainpicker

HABANA VIEJA from Van Royko on Vimeo.

games and the real world

2010-03-07T19:27:00.009Z

A few blogposts/speeches have really grabbed my attention this week and got me thinking about the number of routes open to us given what we're now realising is possible through advances in digital technology. Thinking about the future is an amazingly provocative and exciting prospect to the point that it's easy to forget it's actually us that's building it, one TED conference, blogpost or moment of self conscious behaviour change at a time. I guess the thing is though, is that yes it's true that it's us who builds the future but I don't mean those folks who work in tech, product development or consumer insight alone but instead those people combined with the members of society who adopt new behaviours as a result of the opportunities put in front of them. Sometimes these opportunities are in the first place crowdsourced ideas that originate not from a brand or think tank but instead in someone's bedroom.

Jesse Schell is a man I've never heard of before yesterday but after a little digging when watching his extraordinary speech at Dice 2010 I found found out he was one of the worlds leading figures in computer game design. It's not hard to see why, his slightly awkward but amazingly engaging presentation style soon revealed he had been thinking hard about what the hell is going on in the world of gaming and what wider implications it could have for brands and behaviour change.

He put the success of such things like Penguin Club, Mafia Wars and Farmville down to a series of clever psychological insights that showed these, on the surface of it, quite simplistic games understood human needs within an increasingly digital world. Somewhere in there was a fundamental change, we weren't looking to games to escape from the mundanity of physical life to instead go and shoot people in a fictional world , we were using these games to increase the amount of real human interaction. That's the thing about these games, although in a digital space, they are offering a real world connection usually with our 'friends' or 'followers'- it's proved amazingly powerful: Farmville now has more users than there are twitter accounts (I almost fell off my chair when he said that).

So there is a real world connection and once you start thinking about this, you see it everywhere. People want authenticity, a story and something that connects them back to the real world. Spending an increasing amount of time within the digital sphere has started to feed into an insecurity that they're losing grip with the real world - the one with mountains and other stuff where you are expected to know how to change a tire, put up a tent in under 10 minutes and cook good crispy roast potatoes.

The more I think about it my consumption habits have become increasingly digital but at the same time follow this trend - I've gravitated towards brands who give me the story and philosophy behind the product I'm buying and make me feel part of something (recent trivial example: bought a pair of howies trousers only to realise that sewn into the inside of the waistline were the words - 'always make tea out of a pot'). Brands such as Howies and Rapha are so involved in their approach to their worlds that they run lectures, festivals, write magazines and ultimately give people like me the chance to feel more real. I love them for it and incidentally spend more time than ever on their site going through all the videos and articles.

Jesse Schell rightly thinks we're going to a world where gaming will become a social norm, cycling rather than driving will score you points with TFL and drinking Doctor Pepper five times a week will mean good old Dr Pepper will start offering you perks and discounts as you climb up the leaderboard ahead of your fellow fizzy drinking rivals.

So what will come out of this increasing need for connection back to the real physical world? hopefully there will be a few things - useful post digital stuff like the newspaper club, more brands and organisations using games to change behaviour through tools like four square and as Umair Haque stated in a great post a few weeks ago a transformation in a companies end game - instead of being great, they need to focus on being good and actually try and explain their purpose and how it fits into the real world.

Frank Chimero boils this very eloquently in a recent blog entry...

I want you to produce real, valuable, lasting objects and services that allow me to be social with the people I care about. Let me be loved by the people who love me, and let me love those that I love. Sell things that help me to express my identity and nourish my curiosity. Make things that utilize my propensity use tools and to play, my need for accomplishment and my delight in completion. Let me make something. Let me connect, let me excel, let me feel something and let me finish. Let me be a human being.

Might have to print out that quote and stick it on the wall at work.

Dig(g) Transparency

2010-03-05T15:34:00.002Z

Was just reading Ideo's excellent monthly newsletter on transparency and came across this excerpt from Digg.

DirtyVicar: So this Digg article is just marketing? Man, I feel like a chump.
0x1b: You new here or something? When did you ever think Digg wasn’t about marketing? How do you think they pay the bills?
Chompy: Dude, “normal people” haven’t gotten anything on the front page since 2006.

It coincides with a chat I had this morning with a client where we saw our competitor was being name checked continuously on Twitter. Once we dug a bit deeper it turned out that almost every one of these tweets was from a marketer simply laying claim to be first onto the competitors new piece of 'innovative' marketing reported in the trade press.

What happens when people realise networks are chock full of marketers? in Diggs case there has been a huge backlash. I don't think the same will happen in Twitters case as usually pages are used as self promotion tools and people are very transparent but it this example does raise some interesting questions.

sketch a move

2010-03-04T17:01:00.001Z

last video for a while, i promise

Sketch-a-Move from Superflux on Vimeo.

what do we do again?

2010-03-04T11:52:00.002Z

funny how a band are now better known as producers of cool video content than producers of cool music.

miniature NYC

2010-03-03T12:53:00.000Z

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

c/o BBH labs

salsa

2010-03-02T12:36:00.001Z

love it...best 'takeover' i've seen in yonks - you've actually got to visit the vimeo site to get the full experience.

“And Then There Was Salsa” from Frito Lay Dips on Vimeo.

the post crisis consumer

2010-03-01T09:05:00.000Z

BBC6 revolt

2010-02-26T16:45:00.004Z

Been an interesting day watching the backlash against the BBCs potential closure of 6 music, a station with a niche but very loyal following (guess I include myself within that).

By 10am, the save6music hashtag was in full swing and 0.2% of all tweets worldwide concerned this topic.

The protest at times seemed to almost verge into panic as fans of the station suddenly realised they were going back to the dark ages of Radio 1's mockney tones and teen targeting or Radio 2's endorsement of only the most MOR major label endorsed dross.

Did the BBC really not understand the 6 music audience? do they care? is this merely a political stunt to ward off the incoming Government to make any further cut backs?

All I know is that there won't be a commercial station producing the indepth and niche content 6 music has provided since it's creation. If Absolute want to prove me wrong with a 5 part documentary on the state on minimal techno then I more than welcome it but to say it looks likely that a commercial rival will grab the now vancant territory left behind by the BBC's new strategy is very optimistic.

the future is almost here

2010-02-25T13:47:00.005Z

I've come across two things this morning that at first glance look like something out of robocop. the future usually feels like something you can't touch but with the pace at which augmented reality and GPS are integrating into the physical world it looks as though we're going to reach that weird crossroads sometime soon where we're using tools you only ever thought they used is big budget hollywood blockbusters. I'm secretly quite looking forward to it.

Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

and then this from psfk - a flashlight for want of a better word

mount kimbie (live)

2010-02-24T15:15:00.001Z

ahh, cannot wait for these guys to announce some London dates

king of the apps

2010-02-23T14:23:00.000Z

c/o of andy kinsella

shaun white + red bull

2010-02-23T10:34:00.002Z

this is probably the coolest thing i've seen a brand do in recent memory. just think of all the content that can now be drip fed from this sectretive world that red Bull created. They have genuinely helped a very talented person be even better.

a non scientific look at facebook

2010-02-19T12:44:00.000Z

c/o of brainz

great to good

2010-02-16T17:15:00.002Z

in response to this, here are two possible actions:

People: individuals should concentrate on taking back responsibility for their actions and realising that ultimately they are the only ones living their lives, not the brands.

Brands: brands should read this post and forget about being only being great, they've got to be great and good. Only then will nanny state vitriol from The Guardian cease and people realise that companies can play a positive role in this world.

For the record I'm writing this on a mac, about to go to the carling academy and jotting down notes with a free pen some other brand gave me. it's not all bad.

creating a new format

2010-02-16T16:06:00.003Z

The key to manipulating and creating better uses for all of the data out there is simplification, usability and presentation. No one understands this better than Stamen design who've just done another cracking job, this time on the Winter Olympics.

In doing so, they've pretty much created a whole new way to follow every minute and story of the events in Vancouver.

Follow it live here

Buzz reaction

2010-02-15T14:33:00.002Z

Expectations and excitement were always going to be at feverpitch levels when Google finally admitted that real time sharing was a big deal for them. Google Buzz was the result and far from wowing the masses, it has proved to be one of the most devisive tech launches in recent memory.

Here are three must read articles, all taking a different stance on the search giants strategic move towards territory owned primarily by Facebook and Twitter

Mashable investigate in detail how Buzz is going to change things (and tackle the privacy issue in the process

The Guardian decide that Google have stepped over the line going for lowest of all possible insults, a comparison with Microsoft

Molly Wood wonders how Google could not learn from the various privacy errors Facebook has made over the past few year

recapping

2010-02-12T08:57:00.003Z

Matt Sadler, author of the excellent blog infomagination recently made a point about the utilisation of content in relation to Pogos mash up/remix/notquitesurewhattocallit of the Pixars 'Up'. It's one of those pieces of content that simultaneously reminds you of the cleverness and emotiveness of the film whilst taking the 'up' brand in a new direction and potentially to a wider sub audience.

I completely agree with Matt that it's a neglected area within the wider sphere of brand communication and deserves more interrogation from the brand in question - whether they're an animation house, crisp brand or rather outdated male cologne. With regards to the latter, surely this ad is ripe for the you tube video response treatment? (Within my own little world, I have see three separate friends share this in the past 24 hours- all via different methods)

So why aren't more brands using these kind of strategies to trigger the emotional touchpoints previously reached with past work? well I think there are a couple of key points.

The new work assumption

A misguided assumption that new work must equal um...new work. Just look at Google did during the superbowl. They ran with a piece of emotive storytelling that had already been in the ether since November 19th 2009 (on another note, a very interesting way of using You Tube to gauge the reaction to a piece of content before using paid for media).

Does the brand have permission?

Just like with music or publishing, some brands don't have the permission from the public to do the greatest hits / look back thing (think about Rooney bring out an autobiography at 21 or a one hit wonder band doing a greatest hits) - to a certain sector of the crowd it may seem wrong - does this matter? I'm not sure...with regards to those two industries I've always thought an artist / person has to have enough of a story to tell before they can launch into this kind of thing.

Progress, not an abrupt halt

Any recap needs to avoid any insinuation from it's fans that the brand has run out of ideas and has instead decided to give itself a self congratulatory pat on the back (a kind of self regulated bonus - something we know doesn't go down too well). A recap therefore needs to be a slowing down rather than an abrupt halt, the important bit is that the brand is still adding value to the relationship with the viewer and displaying progression towards something better in terms of what they offer.

Loads more to think about on this but there are my thoughts so far, I'll leave you with my favourite recap / set of highlights which for my money has spawned an unlikely star and potential mini series. Introducing King Curtis...

and here are a few more interesting thoughts courtesy of Helge Tenno's tumblr...

lets ignore copyright for a second...

2010-02-05T10:41:00.005Z

I watched a really cool programme on BBC4 last night - the one about the history of latin music. A great history lesson and some classic scenes from East Harlem back in the 60's. It got me thinking why can't I get more of this stuff when I want it?

The definition of TV is blurring so quickly. Conversations now need to qualified, are we talking about the on demand service, a streaming UGC website, the real time thing coming through the box in your living room or the phone or tablet that are now able to broadcast? I'm not too concerned with the semantics of it all but do think that it's an industry that needs to effectively turn itself on its head and look at new models. The only two truths we know right now is that those that will remain king will be the ones with the most interesting and relevant content, if these viewers can share their experiences easily this will only multiply the good experiences with a content providor.

The BBC within this context is a very interesting beast. It is sitting on an unbelievably big mountain of priceless content that occasionally gets drip fed into the public space (6 music and BBC 4 being good examples). There is one flat cost for all inhabitants of the UK that would want to consume this content.

So in a world where extra online space costs so little to make it almost irrelevant - could the BBC look at new options to monetise it's content? Ignoring copyright laws for a second, could the BBC create tiered memberships allowing users access to different parts of it's huge catalogue of content. Perhaps you're a wildlife enthusiast, how much would you pay per month to access the BBC's entire collection on this subject matter? Being able to stream any program whenever you want. A kind of TV Spotify if you will with more layering...

With a tiered system like this, content could be rented out based on the users needs and interests. The technology is there, the law might not be quite yet, but the BBC suffers enormously from a consumer surplus problem.

There would be no need to get rid of the flat fee at the bottom end, but perhaps the BBC could focus it's distribution of historical content based around people rather than it's stations editors. They'll soon find out what people really like.

London 1927...in colour

2010-02-02T17:14:00.001Z

tweet art

2010-02-01T14:44:00.001Z

first time i've ever seen twitter used for anything but words, kind of cool and if nothing else a new use of a communication platform. definitely works on a shock level when you first see it...

upular

2010-01-31T21:19:00.000Z

wonderful stuff

BBC Winter Olympics

2010-01-25T14:00:00.001Z

amazing new idents from the BBC

c/o of Andy Kinsella

Chinese internet habits...

2010-01-21T16:01:00.001Z

c/o Noah Brier and the FT

data.gov.uk

2010-01-21T09:44:00.008Z

Big step in the right direction for the government and the liberation of all that data out there. Here is the best article I've found on the subject written by Tim Berners-Lee himself.

Thought this excerpt was particularly poignant as to the function of the web and the opportunities that lie therein...

It's re-use of data in new - and often unexpected - ways that creates both social value and opportunities for economic growth. It's not our job to say where data might be useful; it's our job to unleash it and allow businesses and independent developers to build innovative services which they can then deliver to users. That's the story of technology through the years - and the way the World Wide Web itself has grown over the last twenty years.

c/o of shawn allen

This all feels very relevant given that I had my bike nicked by some reprobate this week. Could we use the data that I then supply to insurance companies and the police in a genuinely beneficial way? I'm going to write a note to each person in my block telling them to watch out (or something like that - haven't quite worked out the editorial tone) but wouldn't it be cool if a letter or email was automatically generated once a month with the crime stats visualised in the area that could then be explored further on a hyperlocal website which linked into the bigger national picture. People would vcertainly feel a lot more connected to the community they lived in if they were given the tools to find out more and interact in a way that suited them.

The whole thing makes me want to get on the blower to these guys and start briefing them, just need to find a willing client...

New fourtet album!!!

2010-01-19T10:41:00.004Z

can't tell you how long I've been waiting for this - judging by the first two back to back listens it's been worth it

There Is Love In You by Four Tet

courtesy of Ian Tait

quick hands required

2010-01-16T17:29:00.002Z

i've never seen anything like this - guess the nearest thing to it would be stop motion but that doesn't really do it justice

parkour motion reel from saggyarmpit on Vimeo.

Genres vs Body Parts

2010-01-15T14:48:00.002Z

Spearheaded by tunes like this it appears hip hop is leading the way when it comes to talking about peoples um, butts...Predictably, those into Gospel are't so keen on discussing their love for this body part.

courtesy of flavorwire

So you're a Brad Pitt fan I see...

2010-01-12T22:42:00.006Z

Came across this awesome infographic on the New York Times site courtesy of designer Stephen Gates today. Interesting on a number of levels,

Firstly it's my view that infographics are a great resource for the established content providors to differentiate themselves from the blogging masses, they're interactive, easy on the eye and work whether the reader is just browsing or looking to explore on a deeper level. Surely the introduction of the much gossiped about tablet will excel their importance in both the physical and digital spheres.

Secondly, Netflix deserve a pat on the pack for having the foresight to put together something like this - they could have quite easily (as so many brands do) sit on a whole pile of data and do nothing with it

Thirdly - given the level of insight this infographic offers us into New Yorks DVD rental habits there is so much potential for the next level of brand communication to play on the funner side of this or look to create bespoke communication based on each postcodes differing habits (e.g notice how Manhattan seemed to be obsessed with Mad Men but couldn't give a toss about anything Jack Black does). I can see the printing presses for the personalised (post digital moment - drum roll please) newspaper wurring into action as I type...

Ian Tait on 2010

2010-01-10T14:16:00.002Z

ian tait or poke london gives us a few predictions of how the next twelve months will pan out

For the ride

2010-01-06T12:37:00.003Z

Really cool Royal Enfield campaign from India

Can't help but think this type of creative approach is a much needed antidote to the current batch of car and motorbike advertising out there. simple insight (the trip), real people - awesomeness. I just hope agencies in the UK will be as honest with their brands, not every person aspires to simply drive/ride to show off or for increased convenience. Some shoose to drive/ride for the intrinsic love of the whole experience. They don't need another reason.

In a way it's a similar strategic outlook to cult bike clothing company Rapha

where the Japanese lead, others follow

2010-01-05T12:27:00.001Z

For me, the Japanese are leading the way on web design right now. Minimalist, lots of flash, simple navigation, incredible animation or photography.

Here are a few of my faves

via workup and leanmeanfightingmachine

via workup and leanmeanfightingmachine

James Cameron thinking

2010-01-04T22:17:00.003Z

courtesy of youmightfindyourself

2010

2010-01-04T14:11:00.004Z

Things I'm looking forward to being part of / seeing happen / spectate from the sidelines

1) The general election and how the parties communicate with people

2) Hyperlocal - google goggles, streetview, GPS, QR codes - we've got the tools - how will brands and people use them

3) Digital paywalls - will they, won't they - a potential watershed moment in the history of the internet

4) Mobile - This is the year that Apples competitors finally arrived and it is on a ship named Android armed with smartphones.

4) Fires - lighting lots of them, seeing what works and resonates, tweaking, learning - reminding brands that they are always in beta

5) Google wave - someone will find a use for it beyond tweating 'who want's an invite?'

6) Post Digital - utilising the power of digital to make stuff in the real physical world. Aka - newspaper club, blurb.com, Russell Davies

7) Magazines embracing digital - think tablets, apps, Paul Morley redifining journalism to include text, video, podcasts and more focus on story telling

toy soldiers

2009-12-27T14:58:00.001Z

Toy Soldiers from Alta Media Productions on Vimeo.

history of the beatles

2009-12-26T12:38:00.001Z

customer service is communication - isn't that what we do?

2009-12-22T15:04:00.013Z

My new favourite company in the world (it's a regularly changing thing) is IDEO . I came across them having read a great article in Wired (UK) telling the story of how the company tried to tackle what Wired called 'urban rage'. Ideos design thinking came up with a lovely, potentially implementable idea that focussed on generating some positivity out of a favourite British pastime - queuing.

I've since loaded them up to my increasingly cluttered RSS reader collection and is fast rising to the top as one of the most thought provoking and waffle free blogs / websites around.

The latest newsletter / blog post which got me thinking was based around the perception from the brands point of view as customer service as a largely negative thing. Surely this whole area needs to be reinvigorated given the changes in technology and behaviour that are occuring at such a rapid pace. It's now an area of real opportunity as CB&P and twelpforce showed this year.

here is a little snippet:

Today, real-time connectivity is changing the game. New communication tools are supporting open access, robust feedback, direct participation, and immediacy of information. We are seeing consistent evidence that one-way, linear flows of communication are shifting to continuous dialogue through multiple channels.

It's a question that's been on my mind for a while now - how far can a traditional media agency or comms planning department migrate into this area? We sit there knowing that everything communicates and anything can potentially be media but can an advertising or media agency look for monopolise this ground?

I'd say yes it can, the current system is broken - it's time for a new approach based around 'design based, open minded, ignore the commission for a second thinking', maybe even a new type of company? who knows... Maybe that way, media agencies can drag themselves out of regressive pigeonhole they've so dutifully placed themselves in.

Free at all costs

2009-12-22T10:06:00.010Z

I'm still in utter amazement how slow Time Out have been on this, to compound my disappointment they've brought onboard Smirnoff to brand the whole thing. This might make it free to the end user for the first 6 months and therefore help build up a loyal following who can activiely market the app to their friends but this does also erode what I think is one of the key strengths of the Time Out brand, it's impartiality.

Now I appreciate the commercial pressures of a traditional media company, relying on declining revenue from two key sources:

a) subscription and newstand readership of physical magazine

and

b) display advertising revenues (on and offline)

...but jumping into bed with a brand for a limited period in order to create a free app shows a little too much desperation in my view. Whilst 'free' does obviously play a part in creating a successfull app and take up in the short term, it is ultimately the utility that the app provides that will seal it's position in the app store chart in the long term. Don't get me wromg, I appreciate Chris Anderson's opnions on the subject but do we always need to strive towards free at all costs?

If we are to look at The Guardian's recent foray into the world of apps, we see a different approach. The Guardian are dogmatic about free online content but understand that there are environments where a person, who has a relationship with the brand, will be happy to part with their cash if they can see the brand is doing more than transferring content from the paper or website and creating something genuinely cool and useful for the out of home or on the underground context. Their range of iphone features seperate this digital offering from the site in a number of ways to offer a totally new experience for the Guardian reader - increasing the value and amount of interaction with the reader. It's still early days but I'm confident that the average Guardian reader will identify that the brand understands what the user does and doesn't want.

What I value about both the Guardian and Time Out brands is that I ultimately trust what they say, if I'm looking for restaurant reviews or films to go and see I treat these sites as bastions of quality, intellingent comment. Suddenly teaming up with a drinks brand brings into question (for some) this impartiality and independence which most readers see as the core value of these two publishers.

Free is good, but should never be a sole aim, sweeping all else aside (core brand values included), can't Timeout see why they're the no 1 things to do site? it's because we trust them - this trust is the one thing that differentiates them from the competition, lose this and they're back on a level playing field with a number of inferior, younger competitors.

problems of a different type

2009-12-17T15:51:00.002Z

how will magazines adapt to life in a digital world?

2009-12-17T15:42:00.001Z

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

Google Goggles

2009-12-08T13:13:00.000Z

2000 - 2010: splintering scenes and technology

2009-12-07T17:54:00.009Z

Panda Bear - Person Pitch, the surprise choice in Pitchforks top 10 albums of the decade

Just reading this Guardian piece debating whether Pitchforks 200 albums of the decade is a significant list that we should take note of. The answer for me from both a music fan and cultural observer angle is yes definitely. Those guys went beyond the guitar based music with the odd exception mindset that the NME and Q had to one where any album, whether it was from a Norwegian disco producer or Brooklyn 4 piece was listened to and assessed on a level playing field.

I've got to be thankful to them for some of my musical highlights: Clipse, Portishead, Grizzly Bear, Hercules and Love Affair, Mark Pritchards incredible 'feel the spirit' folk comp. Their level of music geekery is both completely impartial and unrivalled. They are the guys who spent sunday afternoon making mixtapes with the kind of attention to detail an ipod user wouldn't ever understand.

More intriguing than the who is in/out/massively overrated is the effect technology has had on what we've listened to. There seems to have been a splintering of tastes towards the second half of the decade as the information via digital platforms becase more accessible. This was the decade that the music industry changed from tour to promote cd to recorded music to promote tour and artist as a brand. As it became easier to find out about music beyond mainstream media channels (remember MTV anyone?) people went onto the web and explored - they came across sites like myspace and pitchfork and never looked back. The long tail theory for music at least has most certainly happened. This article in the Economist makes the point much better than I ever could, we've all seen the Kings of Leon reach world domination and know that bands no longer need a deal to get themselves out there, it's now the ones in the middle that face the biggest challenge in a splintering world.

This quote sums it up...

So what was so intriguingly odd about their top 10 albums of the noughties? I was immediately struck by the fact that seven of the albums were from 2000 and 2001, with one other record from 2002 and another from 2004. The only album from after the mid-decade point was Panda Bear's Person Pitch. Now what significance can be derived from this dense clustering (eight of the ten) of "greatest albums" in the first three years of the decade? You could interpret it two ways: firstly, music deteriorated as the noughties went on, or secondly, it grew harder and harder for people to reach consensus about which groups mattered, what records were important. The first scenario seems unlikely, so I'd have to go with the second. It resonates with how the decade actually felt: diasporic, scenes splintering into sub-scenes, taste bunkers forming, the question "Have you heard X?" increasingly likely to meet a shake of the head or a look of incomprehension

So there will always be the big hit making stadium touring mega stars. There is a human need to be part of something with other people and not all of us are prepared to spend hours geeking out online to find that swedish skiffle band to then go and check out in Mile End. We want human interaction, an excuse to be social and something that gives us an identity but there is a limit to the time and effort that we're prepared to put into it.

The big stars deserve every penny they get for holding onto their audience in a time when technology has created a profound change beyond 'the hit' - there is now a massive part of the market made up of splintering sub cultures, niches and groups all of whom can survive with very little corporate involvement of any kind.

Not a great time to be an A&R man, an incredible time to be someone with a good idea and a nack of communicating well with people.

when real time goes wrong

2009-12-02T11:13:00.001Z

courtesy of cnet news and Tom Callard

traffic light rethink

2009-12-01T17:22:00.002Z

what a fantastic re-creation of an item we all thought didn't need improvement.

public spaces, interactivity and post digital ramblings

2009-12-01T11:54:00.009Z

This use of redundant street space is great. Phone boxes are part of our heritage yet if you see someone in one now you're convinced they're either cheating on their wife, plotting a terrorist attack or looking for some shrapnel in the rejected coins hole. It's definitely time for brands / the powers that be to reclaim the street and show they understand how technology has changed the we way we use these public spaces.

So how can we bring these iconic structures back to life, create usefulness and genuine value? The opportunities seem endless given their ubiquity, cosyness and the public affection for them. The recent resurgence in pop up shops looks like one avenue that could be explored.

I think the lesson here is that interactivity isn't exclusively digital, it's potential lies everywhere. This is a medium that is at it's best when it's two way communication rather than dictatorial and one way. I guess the risk summed up in that question: what if no one interacts? the answer to this is simple. It's a field of communication where aside from thorough research and intuitive planning, it must be understood that putting an idea into the public sphere involves the 'r' word. A great example of a campaign that nailed it was CP&B's Shocking Barack.

Here was Alex Bogusky's take on why the idea flew:

That’s the thing about this that’s so fundamentally different than anything that has even a tiny media buy connected. With media you know you’ll get something but here, there is a very real chance that absolutely nothing happens. Yet we were also confident that what we were doing mattered and that, maybe when something matters, it has a chance to get noticed.

Mark Earls nails it when he talked about lighting fires, don't get obsessed with the one big sexy idea, try stuff out, see what resonates and what doesn't and learn from it. Following this appraoch allows for a greater understanding of people like about you and what they don't, more importantly, it frees you from the shackles of focus groups, one way mirrors and bad sandwiches.

charging up the digital world

2009-12-01T10:39:00.003Z

If the world becomes increasingly reliant on digital and the number of devices in the house increase then we'd better find a way of understanding how we're going to power charge our lives.

3 months of tweets

2009-11-30T16:33:00.001Z

my tweet cloud from last three months, amused by the way boom made it in there. got to stop saying that.

facebook fan pages - the long tail

2009-11-30T11:25:00.002Z

Very interesting long tail visualisation of facebook page fan numbers courtesy of Dan Calladine, author of Digital Stats

I'd love to see some stats on how many pages a typical user is a fan of. As the total number of 'pages' increase, I get the feeling that there will be a slowdown in the uptake or a need for users to cull those pages that are starting to irritate with endless updates or become irrelevant in their lives.

I'm currently a fan of about eight pages I think and whilst I enjoy the president of the USA popping up in my newsfeed alongside Lindstrom (the scandinavian balearic disco wizard), their relevance will undoubtedly decrease over time unless they keep their respective outputs of interestingness at their impressive levels.

One could argue that this is the worst possible way of measuring the success of a brands foray into facebook. Afterall, it's not how many but who and what are they doing that we should really be asking.

data storage visualised

2009-11-30T09:25:00.001Z

courtesy of Gareth Kay

Interact

2009-11-26T22:13:00.003Z

"If you interact with things in your life, everything is constantly changing. And if nothing changes, you're an idiot."

my favourite quote from a great interview with Umberto Eco courtesy of the best digger of interesting out there Russell Davies

Battle of Big Thinking - my thought for the day

2009-11-26T10:41:00.003Z

Given that the biggest and best minds in the world of brands and all that are fighting it out today at the Bristish Library in The Battle of Big Thinking I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring from the comfort of my own desk (given that I couldn't escape work for the day)

We tend to treat campaigns as having a start and end date because that’s easiest for us, it’s how we’ve always operated, and it’s the context that the board understand marketing should be in. We’re in control and we’ll dictate how active we are and the crowd will respond accordingly. Once the campaign finishes, we’ll sit around, try and work out if it worked and put it forward for a few awards if the statistics look impressive.

The problem is, we’re no longer operating in a context where the brand dictates the situation. It’s a collaborative, increasingly digital, real time environment where ideas can spread like lightening if they’re remarkable enough or flop horrendously. As important as the idea that is immediately put out, it is how the people who it reached react to it that is more important; what they do with it, if it resonates – from here on in an infinite number of things can happen, this should be the fun bit for the brand but instead it’s perceived a something uncontrollable.

How can we still call this chaos the campaign? We can’t, the idea is out there, it’s being passed around and there is no way you can put an end date on it. The traditional definition of the campaign is dead within two way brand communication. This should be a cause for celebration.

In the real world, people have identities and rarely change the, they live in beta, trying stuff, working out what suits. If a brand was a person, it would be wearing a flat cap and tweed to one party and then rock up two months later having not seen anyone wearing a string vest and talking in a new accent. Being at every party isn’t necessary, I don’t go to them all (some look crap on Facebook) but I do just try to relax, get a few beers in and actually provide a bit of fun for the people around me, I also never go AWOL. If brands moved away from campaigns and behaved like the rest of us, they might start to understand how to be truly social.

google without news corp

2009-11-25T17:49:00.001Z

so what will google look like without Newscorps output? um, not that different by the looks of it.

Visualising history

2009-11-25T12:58:00.002Z

What's particularly great about this is the way it creates a debate. I for one sat there willing on the imperialist bubble of Great Britain whilst I'm sure those on the other side of the globe were doing similar passive supporting with their homeland (allbeit with a little less guilt for their country's previous behaviour)

Definitely the best visual history lesson I've had in recent months, could these types of methods be used within education?

maybe 10 years ago...

2009-11-25T12:48:00.002Z

Whilst there are a few useful snippets in here that really jump out when you place the behavioural charateristics associated with the channels side by side, this chart does seem to be look at things from circa 1998.

The worrying thing is that it isn't, it's just appeared on boingboing today.

One great example of the ambiguity of TV has to be Channel 4's very recent decision to place all 4OD content within the brand new 'shows' section of Youtube. A fantastic resource that understands that people want good content to come to them in the places they hang out.

It's making less and less sense to silo departments in an agency context as content starts to slow like water between channels.

statistically...things are getting better

2009-11-18T11:06:00.010Z

I mentioned the tripartite view back in september, the difference between perception and reality with regards to the state of 'things'

Colin Drummond picked out this very useful infographic from new scientist which puts data into the equation.

There are obviously numerous metrics for measuring this stuff but what rarely happens in the context of news reporting or conversation is the emphasis on data relative to x years ago. Instead the now is mentioned usually with emphasis on this period we're living through being the most dramatic and extreme time since...um, the last one.

it makes now feel important, looking back it usually wasn't, just another day slowly progressing towards better very gradually.

The thing is though, people rarely think in terms of statistics. They think in terms of personal experiences, emotions, connections, stories and the information they are exposed to. We need to frame brand communication within this context, if brands can make utility rather than vacuous messages then maybe people will start to believe that things are getting better.

Lego / Sony vids

2009-11-16T09:46:00.001Z

nothing like an entertaining clip to start the engine on a monday morning

Challenging Definitions

2009-11-14T21:25:00.004Z

live music is on the up, it's now practical and easy to share your experiences in real time, people will always want to share stuff that they think is cool.

The Flaming Lips understand this, why should a gig just be a stage with people on it playing music to a crowd with pint in hand when there is the opportunity for so much more?

Their recent gig at the Troxy, London challenged this definition - it became a 'remarkable' event for the levels of interactivity an psychedelic madness on display. People who were there obviously connected with it, my facebook newsfeed has seen a steady stream of pics, bad videos and energised status updates all praising Wayne Coyne and his band of merry men. They were rewarded with conversation and attention, the digital currency.

Respect to the band for thinking big and challenging the parameters

the difference between trends and insights

2009-11-11T12:17:00.005Z

If nothing else, Twitter is the most effective way of following trends in real time. It's like watching a brook turn into a white water rapid as ideas, topics, arguments gather or lose momentum amongst the connected world.

Here is a really cool visualisation of the world saying 'good morning'

GoodMorning! First Render from blprnt on Vimeo.

The thing is though, there is a stark difference between identifying a trend and identifying an insight or an opportunity for a brand to add value to the twitter stream. Trends are merely patterns of behaviour and have little value to a brand unless they can be utilised.

Jer Thorp sums it up really nicely with the last line of his post on the project

"I’m guessing that in the hands of people with more than my rudimentary statistics skills, these kinds of data sets could tell us some interesting – and (heaven forbid) useful things."

So this is where the planner comes in, turning the noise into a fully functioning orchestra.

just another recession?

2009-11-10T18:09:00.003Z

via felix salmon and the big picture

What few seem to have realised about this current economic downturn / recession has been the severity and pace of it relative to the past 5 that we have experienced (well this is my first proper one but whatever). Is enough attention being paid to this difference or are we lazily just opening the recession strategy draw and pulling out what has worked previously. I'm no economist but it seems the broad definition of recession (successive negative growth for 3 quarters) could be leading us to believe this is just another cyclical downturn. The stats above lead me to see it as something a whole lot more serious.

sort of revolution

2009-11-09T11:36:00.001Z

I think this clip (via mashable) illustrates the now quite famous Clay Shirky quote pretty well:

"A revolution doesn't happen when society adopts new tools. It happens when society adopts new behaviours"

Behaviour change: doing vs saying part deux

2009-11-09T09:39:00.004Z

Think I'm pretty late on this but definitely worth mentioning as it ties in really nicely with the behaviour change ramble I posted last week where I talked about Katy and Rorys different takes on creating behavioural change for the better.

Volkswagen have created a platform for such thinking, a really refreshing find given the template that many car brands follow for shifting units (I once stayed in a hotel in the highlands where three seperate camera crews were filming car ads at the same time on pretty much the same winding roads)

I'm sure given the success of this, the brand will look to direct more of their thinking into this 'fun' realm.

Here is an example which would sure make me take the stairs...

a new place to scribble

2009-11-05T23:54:00.002Z

I've been trying to work out what the best thing about our new office is and I think I've finally come to a decision - it's the floor to ceiling white board space which dominates the board room. a great place to scribble it all down. here is our first attempt - somewhere in there is the makings of a great strategy.

mobile thinking

2009-11-04T17:56:00.001Z

thoughts on this to come soon but thought it was worth bunging up first

Social Network In Your Pocket

View more documents from Mike Arauz.

behaviour change: doing versus saying

2009-11-01T19:20:00.006Z

Behaviour change is at the core of almost all brand communication briefs. The brand are trying to make something happen, simultaneously inspiring, differentiating and ultimately making a few quid.

I mentioned recently the need the need to do rather than simply say - suggesting that saying should be used to help people discover the doing. If there ain't much doing then the brand needs to go back to the drawing board and asks some big questions about who exactly the are.

On this topic two really interesting talks have broached on this subject from very different angles. On the one hand is Rory Sutherland, head honcho at the IPA who made a brilliantly entertaining talk at the recent TED conference in Oxford promoting the importance of perceived value as a behavioural change mechanism (the diamond Shreddies example feels like it came from deleted Nathan Barley episode).

Katy Lindemann of Naked Communications talked of the need for play at this years Playful event (really wish I could have gone - looked great), it is after all at the root of learning. This approach entails a need to put something out there, but places the thing that is out there as a product or idea in beta, not finished but ready to be improved by the people the brand is trying to connect with through collaboration . The play bit is the learning and the value, combine this with a sense of connection with other people and you hit two key human needs - fun and social interaction.

Make it easy for the idea to spread and the most vital connection between people will happen.

If big organisations did follow this mantra of Katy's we could all be having a lot more fun and reading a lot less 'research' or top down communication that ignores our need to smile and ultimately have fun. Feels so weird that we should forget sometimes what seems so obvious.

Playful 09 - Gamechanging & Change Through Play

View more presentations from Katy Lindemann.

it's good to share

2009-10-28T12:58:00.002Z

pleasantly surprised that talk talk want to share their research, great stuff - lots to take in.

it happens when no one is watching...

2009-10-28T10:44:00.002Z

Great interactive outdoor from Amnesty International

The kid in india...

2009-10-28T10:19:00.007Z

Excerpt and quote from simon fuller speaking at the government's digital creative industries conference C&binet (courtesy of Guardian Unlimited) that for me shows a really good understanding of the warning the music industry has given the rest of the wider I.P communinity. The gravitas of this change is already being felt wherever there are gatekeepers clinging onto an old model based around simple distribution and the sale of a resource that the internet has made infinite and almost impossible to control. The barriers are coming down yet these organisations are desperately trying to push them back up to resore the status quo of 40+ years.

Fuller added that TV networks and film studios are "quite far behind" the music industry so they should learn from the music industry's experience with illegal downloading.

He said "powerful entities", such as the major music companies, were not likely to disappear, but added: "The future is increasingly about individual ideas so powerful and potent they spring out of nowhere."

He referred to his own operation, 19 Entertainment, as a "bespoke aggregator". "The next big idea could come from some kid in India. That's the way it should be – I'm excited," he said.

If a song was once finite (on CD) and is now virtuaully infinite (digital) due to the crashing down of the marginal cost, what does this mean for 'ideas' that once needed paid for media? Lets not pretend anything has happened over night here, there isn't a revolution going on but there is gradual change that it seems many big organisations are still unsure what to do about. Radical restructuring is the only answer in my eyes

a working framework for better brand communication (visualised)

2009-10-20T23:22:00.001+01:00

Here is my working framework from before but given a visual lick of paint...

A Working Framework For Better Brand Communication

View more presentations from Hugh de Winton .

the good stuff is out there...

2009-10-19T11:56:00.008+01:00

It's been a pretty tough weekend to remain positive about the future of quality journalism as a rather dark, bigoted, journo created cloud overshadowed much of the conversation about a young mans tragic passing. The justification for this article? that he was gay.

Putting Jan Moir's appalling article to one side, there was also enough compelling journalism out there to remind me that the large majority of those employed in the profession are of the highest calibre and deserving of their audiences. Here are a few pieces I found that restored my faith (and a few excerpts that put a smile back on my face)

Victoria Coren on the future of the Royal Mail

The Royal Mail don't have that problem. They know what people want. We want regular deliveries, a post office in walking distance and a happy postman familiar with the round. And yet they won't provide that.

It's as if they, a state company, have looked around at lucrative private businesses and thought: "Hmm… Virgin Media take days to send technical support… Amazon aren't contactable by phone… Apple computers need to be upgraded every couple of years at enormous expense… maybe we'd better become shit as well."

Caitlin Moran on why the internet is a nicer place to be

Cyberspace has such a gentle civility to it as a method of communication that it makes all other alternative look like acts of borderline war. Telephones, for instance. My God, but as the days go by, they seem more and more brutal. How did we ever start using them in the first place?

When you call someone, essentially you suddenly materialise in their life, screaming, “ME ME! ME ME! IT’S ME! TALK TO ME!” The telephone was first invented at a time when you could readily purchase cocaine in any chemist. I think we can draw our own conclusions. Using one is an act of superlative self-confidence — the kind of thing only contestants on The Apprentice would do; or, maybe, Bono.

The internet, on the other hand, is a communication method of infinite precision and subtlety. E-mails quietly line up in your inbox, like swans waiting for bread.

Tyler Brules monocle on a very unusual media platform in Liberia -

Charlie Brookers take on the trafigura / carter-ruck shenanigans

the Trafigura debacle is one of the very few occasions where the cloaking device of the super-injunction has actually malfunctioned, leaving the hovering mothership visible, which raises a worrying question: what else don't we know about? Literally anything could be going on. Like the mysterious "dark matter" that scientists believe makes up a huge percentage of the universe, an entire alternative reality could be thriving just over our shoulders. Dean Gaffney might be made of staples. Hitler could be alive and well and currently in negotiations to present the Radio 1 breakfast show. Kellogg's could be raising an army of the damned and declaring war on Norwich. How many other "invisible" stories are out there, shrouded by thick legal mist?

Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo

2009-10-18T14:27:00.001+01:00

back to the media stuff with the next post, (honest) but first I just had to put this out there. wow.

Theophilus London - Enjoy The Sun

2009-10-18T12:28:00.002+01:00

every time you listen to this it will get better

Theophilus London- Enjoy The Sun (Prod. By Machine Drum) from GFCnewyork on Vimeo.

speed, honesty and fairness, that's all we ask

2009-10-16T14:40:00.007+01:00

Fascinating day so far watching two stories unfold...

1. Jan Moir

Mail journalist has the audacity to speculate that Steven Gately's death was not the result of natural causes, blindly ingnoring the coroners verdict in a bid to push her homophobic agenda. Twitter erupts, facebook follows suit and now messrs Brooker and Greenslade are all onboard writing articles. The pressure is well and truly on all in a matter of hours.

2. TFL

Blogger notices elderly gentleman being manhandled by TFL staff. Blogs about it, gains traction - public appalled. Terrible timing given that Boris put the costs of London transport up yesterday. TFL respond within a matter of hours via You Tube and promise full response asap.

What has struck me has been the speed with which things have happened in both narratives. From initial snowballing to widespread public denunciation can be a matter of minutes given the technology available.

All eyes on the Mail to see what they will do. The last time I checked the Jan Moir hashtag, there was 1014 tweets in last 29 minutes. If this carries at the same speed for the rest of the day, The Mail will have achieved a quite respectable 10,000 negative comments from the public in one day. Even by the this papers standards this is good going.

google wave cinema

2009-10-16T10:39:00.001+01:00

cor blimey, these mash ups are like London buses...

first one i've seen concerning Google Wave. (via rubbish corp)

mash up central

2009-10-15T17:35:00.001+01:00

one of the best mash ups I've seen in a while...

shifting content into a more social space

2009-10-14T17:27:00.002+01:00

Boone Oakley were one of the first guys to move their central hub into the web 2.0 space - others have follwed since, most interstingly Gap with their born to fit campaign.

Jan Chipchase

2009-10-14T15:19:00.004+01:00

Jan Chipchase is an intriguing man. On the one hand he's probably got one of the coolest jobs in the media / tech / strategy as head of research at Nokia design, obviously a very intelligent, intuitive bloke with a unique understanding of how we all operate. On the other hand he specialises in a particular line of stating the bleeding obvious, travelling around the world before uncovering news that phones are as important as keys and wallets. Here he is in 2007 at TED...

So until the other day, I wasn't particularly overwhelmed with his work. This all changed however when I took a good look at the speech he made at the PSFK organised good ideas salon, a meeting for some of todays more interesting thinkers.

Here are the ten key insights Jan shortlisted, look beyond point one (yes, I did indeed cringe) and there is some real goodness in there:

* Keys, money, and a cellphone are the three most important things that people will carry with them. This puts cellphones in the category or items required for survival.
* Universities don’t always turn out the best researchers. Chipchase always ensures that those traveling with him have the mental and emotional capacity to support their ‘book intelligence’ with ’street intelligence’.
* Global brands effect spaces in which those brands have not reached. An example of Afghanistan’s very own Kabul Friend Chicken was given, wherein the same logo and brand colors were used for a restaurant mimicking the fast-food chain.
* There will be a generation of people that will have their entire life translated into data. This data will be fed into services and products that attempt to guarantee their satisfaction and personalized relevancy.
* Limitations spawn innovation
* The cone of uncertainty is also the cone of opportunity
* Interesting does not mean relevant
* History is not absolute
* Everyone has a story to tell, but not always a space to tell it
* Human behavior changes slowly

For me, I think he's really touched on something with 'interesting does not mean relevant'. Ideas are central to good brand communication but it doesn't end here. There's plenty of interesting stuff, relevance in this context equals benefit and therefore value. I'll look to explore this territory over the coming weeks

over and out

Bogusky: Baked In

2009-10-13T09:33:00.001+01:00

Watch live video from Baked In on Justin.tv

RG/A: Technology and Platforms

2009-10-12T17:16:00.007+01:00

Great stuff from Bob Greenberg (Chairman, CEO & Chief Creative Officer) & Barry Wacksman (EVP, Chief Growth Officer) of RG/A. It's a little long but well worth it if you've got a spare 37 minutes and 56 seconds.

Two points

1. Technology

Maybe it was just their smooth talking and powers of persuasion but I definitely took out of it that as the digital world develops and grows at the continually alarming pace, it is those agencies that are structured with technologists at the heart of it that will create the most succinct and in tune work.

On another note, it will definitely be easier for these agencies to (for example) move into TV spot advertising and steal work from traditional agencies than it will be for traditional agencies to restructure to develop and create digital platforms. Technology is now at the heart of what we do - agencies need to reflect this.

2. A Role For Campaigns

A second and to me central point to 'the future' is the role of the campaign (I wrote about it here). Their importance is definitely waning but perhaps here we have found an answer as to how they will work within the new continual beta context within which we are now entering. Simon Kemp and I discussed this briefly recently, whilst a platform/idea/or new brand strategy might be a irresistible and an automatic cue to start booking tables at every award ceremony going, the campaign is what pushes this platform and enhances discovery. Without this key step, the brand and agency fail to achieve the potential value. So, in conclusion, let's talk about campaigns as the key to discovery and stepping stones that go on top of the platform, not instead of.

Maurice Sendak / Spike Jonze discuss 'where the wild things are'

2009-10-09T09:51:00.001+01:00

finding it pretty hard to contain my excitemtent about this...

Bike vs Helicopter

2009-10-05T09:58:00.000+01:00

courtesy of PSFK