Grown Up Thinking

Looks like the Apple/Adobe “feud” just got a lot more interesting. Fresh off the heels of Steve Jobs’ condemnation of flash on the Apple blog, Adobe released a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal proclaiming its “love” for the computer giant.

While a traditional media play may seem contradictory for a brand whose product resonates most with the online crowd, the provocative ads demonstrate just how powerful the synergy can be between traditional and social campaigns. Already, there are thousands of blog posts dedicated to the subject, and the twitter-sphere is buzzing as the tech-savvy crowd rushes to choose sides.

Regardless of where your allegiances lie, the Adobe example demonstrates an important point for marketers: traditional and social needn’t be mutually exclusive. When executed strategically (with an inherent understanding of your target’s behavior), a traditional mass awareness play can be so powerful that consumers will willingly turn to social media to weigh in, amplifying your message exponentially. All you need to do is start the conversation, and let your audience take it from there.

Who are you rooting for, Apple or Adobe?

1. EasyJet Holiday Planner: eCommerce through Facebook, with the ability to plan trips with your buddies at the click of a button? Now this is really #nextlevel.

2. Let’s Colour Project: Paint brand Dulux creates an international outreach program to transform communities with color. It’s the kind of fuzziness that warms the very cockles of my creative soul.

3. 6 Foundations of Great Digital Creative: Brilliant slideshow, and a primer for both brands and budding creatives alike on developing better digital.

4. Foursquare Fueling Local Culture through TV: Pop Up Video is kindasortalmost back thanks to a partnership between Foursquare & VH1 (via TechCrunch).

5. CR Annual on the iPhone: Some of the year’s best work in the palm of your hand. Many thanks, Creative Review.

6. Note & Point: Stunning presentations that inspire even the most jaded (ahem) Powerpoint-phobes.

And a few #MusicMonday tunes to love:

“Forgotten Place” by Brooklyn hotties/hotshots Cruel Black Dove. Directed by Emmy-nominated director Noah Conopask.

“Die By the Drop” by Dead Weather. Deliciously art directed. A veritable feast for the eyes and ears.

After uproar over Google Maps leaving some faces and private property captured in their Street View feature unblurred, and Google Buzz’s questionable privacy settings, some major international players are putting their foot down and demanding change. Most of us can breathe easy– Google has been working to address these repeated concerns.

Heads of 10 countries just sent an open letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt demanding that the internet powerhouse step up its game when it comes to protecting users. Overall, they say they want to see Google:

- collecting and processing only the minimum amount of personal information necessary to achieve the identified purpose of the product or service;

- providing clear and unambiguous information about how personal information will be used to allow users to provide informed consent;

- creating privacy-protective default settings;

- ensuring that privacy control settings are prominent and easy to use;

- ensuring that all personal data is adequately protected, and

- giving people simple procedures for deleting their accounts and honoring their requests in a timely way

So I have to ask, do you feel violated? What concerns do you have over Google’s privacy issues? Do you think the open letter is more whiny than it is warranted?

No matter the budget, when brainstorming for a client the eager minds at Mr Youth always start by thinking BIG. We toss around ideas of wild, dream executions to introduce or promote a brand, imagining that money is no object. (“Let’s send one person from every single country to the 2010 World Cup!” or “Let’s build the world’s largest piñata!” –don’t laugh, it’s been done! Well, sorta.)

Typically, reality sinks in quick and we regroup to develop a program that has the same strategic and creative chutzpah our client wants, but that fits more in line with their proposed budget and timeline– to sparkling and dynamic results, no less!

Derrick Borte’s new film, The Joneses, presents a concept that sounds as far-reaching as some of our initial wild and crazy marketing ideas. Embed a fake, envy-inducing family into a wealthy, materialistic neighborhood, outfit them with all of our clients’ newest and hottest products, and get them to get their “neighbors” to want it all? GENIUS… maybe.

The concept here is compelling on a few levels. We know for a fact that consumers trust the opinion of their family, friends (and in this case, neighbors) more than any claim a company itself can make. The Joneses may have something to say about how far some brands are willing to go to get you to buy what they’re selling. Is this an example of word-of-mouth gone too far? Are you swayed by strategic product placement as much as some brands are hoping you are?

Watch the trailer and let us know:

1. Uniqlo’s UT video creator: Clever execution that creates a  cute video integrating your Twitter feed to promote character tees, and a memorable tidbit from a brand that  delivers at least one feel-good surprise every year. (Note: quickly gaining popularity, too, it seems)

2. Hail The Villain: I may not dig metal, but I LOVE how this Canadian band is promoting it’s new album. Users get thrown into a graphic novel style world that challenges them to solve a grisly mystery by finding clues, contacting the band, previewing the album and using a webcam to integrate personal pics. For a quick taste, view this video.

3.Rohit Bhargava’s article on what marketers can learn from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution: Thoughtful and inspiring. Read it here.

4. Granimate: A musical wallpaper creator for the iPad?! Yes please. Preview it (very briefly) here. (via Creative Review blog)

5. Wordle: Ridiculously easy word cloud generator (and the second great design tool I found today. Check out 0 to 255 for color variations in a snap).

And the one thing we’re not quite sure about: Voyurl. Effective connection opportunity or just plain creepstastic? What are your thoughts?

Oh. And check out my Wordle for this post.

If you work in marketing (especially social media) you’ve probably seen more than your fair share of infographics designed to explain complex concepts that you couldn’t possibly have understood on your own. Whenever a good infographic is made it gets passed around the marketing world like a hot potato, but what is it about these images that makes them such marketing gold? I took some time to analyze the elements of infographics, and came up with this list of 12 key elements to creating your own mind-blowing images. If you’re thinking about making your own infographics, keep these elements in mind. If not, just enjoy!

1. 

(Ex. The Social Engagement Spectrum)

2. 

(Ex. Word of Mouth Visualized)

3. 

(Ex. The World’s Top 50 Banks)

(more…)

On my latest trip to LA flying Virgin America, I decided  to power down after a few hours of emails and tune in to the TV offerings. I came across ‘Fly Girls’ a series which airs both on the CW Network and on Virgin flights. The series depicts a group of attractive, young flight attendants going to parties, flirting with in-flight boyfriends (IFB’s), and the usual reality TV girl drama you’d expect from 5 chicks living in a house together.

What I found intriguing is that ‘Fly Girls’ is essentially part advertising for the airline and part corporate recruitment. My bet would be that the number of job applications has increased since the show’s much-debated launch. Attracting corporate talent is always a challenge, and I’d imagine the airline industry faces this everyday. Being a flight attendant isn’t probably high on the list of potential careers for most young adults. But the possibility of being a Fly Girl and partying at LA hotspots (not to mention hanging with Sir Richard himself) may prove to be an enticing lure.

On a complete opposite end of the spectrum, the Army has faced their challenges with recruiting young people to enroll for service. Their solution?  Partnering up with Xbox and Halo 3 to sponsor a tournament and create a connection to in-game battles and real life combat. Through gameplay that simulates the experience of leading a team on the battlefield, the Army is able to create a connection point with teen males and drum up demand amongst new recruits.

So while you’re thinking of ways to make your corporation relevant and attract top tier talent, go beyond the traditional means and start looking at entertainment and new media channels as a way to show off your brand culture to the public and share what’s truly special about your organization. But make sure it fits your brand. For Google, a simple outdoor billboard appealed to their audience of geniuses with a simple problem to solve.  So don’t rush to setup a meeting with an MTV exec to pilot a show about your company.

Do consider new and unique ways to show how awesome your company is to the general public. If you work at a company that sucks, figure out a way to make it awesome, and then tell the world about it.

We all know that product placement is nothing new. It’s a multi-billion dollar market that spans across television, movies, music, sports and more. Whether it’s the Coca Cola cups on the American Idol judging table or the food on top of Joey and Chandler’s fridge in Friends, product placement is everywhere all the time. Sometimes it’s subtle and plays in to the storyline of a movie or TV show; other times it’s more obvious. In Lady Gaga’s case, it’s on the screen and in your face, and she doesn’t care if you like it or not.

She’s known for her eccentric outfits and imaginative performances. In fact, being over-the-top is what made Lady Gaga so famous. Now the artist is starting to be noticed for the blatant product placement in her music videos. And with over 50% of brands using branded content for awareness-based marketing, she is a marketer’s dream come true. In fact, Lady Gaga is the only recording artist to reach 1 billion video views across all online video platforms – perhaps making her blatant product placements the most valuable in entertainment history! According to Neilsen AIG, product integration is more likely to drive brand recall than other forms of advertising, so if all goes according to plan, I’ll never make a sandwich without thinking of Lady Gaga, and I’ll never see Lady Gaga without wanting a sandwich.

Maybe when I finish eating I’ll take a picture with my Poloroid camera, upload it on to my Beats laptop, listen to some tunes on my Hearbeats headphones and call my friend on my Virgin Mobile phone. Why? Because Lady Gaga made me do it.

In the fuzzy afterglow of the Chat Roulette frenzy of the past few weeks, I find myself thinking “what’s next”? Lucky for me, I don’t have to spin my wheels on that brain buster quite yet as two similar sites have already distracted me with their unique interpretations of the random chat craze:

RandomDorm connects college students on the prowl for some dorm-to-dorm interaction (only those with a .edu address need apply).
MyChanceRomance Billed as the “fun way to find love”, MyChanceRomance is a dating site with a Hot-Or-Not mentality that’s bound to give you an inferiority complex.

Not ready to move on from the original just yet? Don’t fret. It’s  still alive and well, even spawning it’s own Chat Roulette Missed Connections site (which I can assure you is comic genius in its own right).

The BEST bait and switch ever. Thank you, Heineken…

And the second best bait and switch. Thank you, Hot Chip.

Kickball, the alternative first Foursquare client for iPhone. (Our prediction= bigger than Tweetdeck).

My Famebook: another example of bringing the online world off. Personalize your own journal with 320 of your Facebook statuses (far cooler than that “Year in Status” update hogwash, we think).

On stealing and borrowing: two sides of the homage coin, from Creative Review and Ad Age respectively.

Unhappy Hipsters: a fun time waster (even for those of us *ahem* who live in Brooklyn).

CMYK Cocktail Contest: Droog & Tasteologie team up to celebrate design and mixology to raise funds for Food Bank of NYC. Tasting color for a great cause? Yum.