Friday, December 24, 2010

santa brand guidelines

You'll never write brand standards with a straight face again. Read Santa Brand Guidelines here or, visual learners can watch the youtube version below. Gems include:
The first three letters represent South and North. We are headquartered in the North, but our reach is global.
Santa backwards is antas, which is Lithuanian for chimney.
A brand is like a sack on a sleigh of belief.
Crafted by the genies at Quietroom, a company that helps other companies talk as if they are human. Language-lubbers will geek out on their hilarious holiday card.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

the digital story of christmas: a social media parable

You know how hard it is to sell social media to brand managers still living in 1.0. How to explain that creative is now as much about context as it is about content? This is the best way I've seen to show non-believers how social media works. It's a miracle what Galileeans managed to pull off 2000 analog years ago, isn't it?



A Christmas gift to us all from Garden Broad

Thursday, December 16, 2010

if there's a google doc in the house

maybe I won't have to learn Keynote after all.

Friday, December 3, 2010

i hope this gets to you

Sorry to have to miss Part Two of Boulder Digital Works conference today. But glad they're streaming it so I (and you) don't have to miss out on the percolations. Yesterday Michael Tabtabai (Saatchi, LA) screened a mesmerizing video I haven't been able to remove from my head. See his presentation including other fun artifacts here.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

miracle on 29th street: adland gets digital

It was 8:30 am and I arrived to the Boulder Digital Works conference at the Art Director's Club on W 29th a bit bleary-eyed. But encountering a slide from organizer (uh, experience-architect) Edward Boches woke me right up: Coding is more prized than copywriting. This, in essence, encapsulates how the shift in the advertising business has affected me and legions of fellow creatives. Used to be copywriters and art directors felt our key-tapping, marker-wielding fingers held the power to instigate massive shifts in consumer behavior--but now that power is shared (lion-shared) by those who are conversant in a language that's binary.

Faris Yakob (MDC's eminent Digital Philosopher) opened his talk with a request for show of hands from anyone who knew how to code--few arms went up. Following was a collective groan of frustration from survivors in an industry that for decades was a haven for the liberal-arts-minded. If only, instead of that seminar on Virginia Woolf we'd had the foresight to take a class in the computer lab! No one told us that geeks would inherit the earth, or at least the most profitable part of it. (See entire preso/performance--complete with juggling--here.)

Making Digital Work is a two day conference for agency and client partners looking to learn from some of the smartest minds in the digital business--emphasis on business. You know how digital conferences can be full of hot air, with "ninjas" waxing eloquent on mindsets and theoreticals? This isn't just a think-tank, it's a practical approach to how digital is propelling viable business models. Matt Howell, President of Modernista, described how losing Cadillac sparked an agency reboot which enabled the shop to evolve from making messages to building platforms. Chloe Gottlieb, ECD R/GA shared their formula for success in new(ish) creative collaborations: visual designer + copywriter + interaction designer + creative technologist. Saatchi's Michael Tabtabai showed inspiring examples of "stuff that doesn't suck" and Tim Malbon, Founder of Made By Many, led us in attempt to make stuff ourselves.

However. "We're not in the business of making cool stuff," Faris reminds us. "We're in the business of making money by influencing behavior." Good wake up call for us creatives. A title that applies to anyone working at an agency still in business today.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

evolution of Dove's Evolution

One piece I'm glad to see included in The One Show's "10 Best of the Digital Decade" is Dove's Evolution which some mistakenly believe was a TV spot that never aired. Actually, it's claimed to be the first branded viral video, posted on October 6, 2006. Within a month, it got 1.7 million views (big numbers in those days) and brought the highest-ever traffic spike to its website, three times more than Dove's Super Bowl spot and attendant publicity achieved, according to Ad Age. So I guess O+M Toronto is to blame for the ensuing onslaught of irksome client requests for a viral.

Years ago, I wondered if the creative team took inspiration from an old spot for Maybelline, but according to this interesting (if long-winded) discussion with Ogilvy folks about the campaign, it seems the concept evolved from an educational video the agency made in 2004 to expose students to the hype behind fashion.