"You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope."
-said by somebody to @min_o, originally by Thomas Merton
photo via sabino
We have a problem in that we are clearly ill-equipped to handle creating content at the speed that will be required as more and more companies become their own media platforms. It may be slightly counter-intuitive, but maybe we should look to a struggling medium to solve the problem.
I've been nibbling the idea of the agency newsroom for the past few days. So as we're creating more content strategies and more clients need more content, we're usually not talking about long-view - big strategy, rounds of creative approvals, then big production, focus groups, etc. - sort of stuff. But more fast, hopefully interesting, and low consequence content that has big upside and little risk, the kind of stuff we're set up horribly to actually pull off in practice.
So instead of playing the strategic role of understanding a customer, then feeding the creatives with that understanding, we should be hiring content folks who are immersed in an interest group that also happens to be beneficial to a client. While strategists and creative leads still need broader long-cycle planning and development, these interest specialists cover their area of passion like entertainment and politics reporters cover theirs, with the creative leads acting more as editor than anything else.
Sort of reminds me of the NBC web strategy of creating content likely to be fertile ground for certain advertisers. So as more brands become media conglomerates themselves - why wouldn't we employ a hybrid model that takes that into account?
Or said another way - the whole argument about generalists vs. specialists sort of missed the point. Advertising agencies are based entirely on the interest generalist when what we need is a hybrid of creative and strategic generalists with interest specialists.
photo via theonlymagicleftisart
Mostly because it's been so long since I've done a Tune In - I thought I'd share a few things getting heavy rotation in the iphawd.
John Grant - teamed up with Midlake to create a gem of a record. (play = Marz)
Aloe Blacc - provides the title tune for the new HBO show, How to Make it in America.
Dr. Dog - continues a long streak of awesomeness. (play = Where'd All the Time Go)
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - offers some good hippie fun.
Erykah Badu - pisses off Dallas.
Gigi - some poppy goodness. (play = The Hundredth Time)
Midlake - with their new, very vintage, very sullen, but very awesome record.
The Morning Benders - avoiding the sophomore slump. Bang up awesome video via Yours Truly.
Neon Indian - kinda weird and very awesome.
Ume - reminds me of Record Hop.
Danny Balis - some Teeexxxxxas country.
If the people most likely to talk about you are those that have had some sort of experience with you, it baffles me why we spend such a relatively small amount of time and money making that person's experience one worth talking about.
Advertising human.
SVP, Strategy & Digital, Levenson in Dallas, Texas.
Generally superb individual.
The opinions expressed on this blog are not the opinions of my employer, but may be the opinions of my friends, people I've talked to a few times, co-workers, some drug dealers and my local barista.
If you'd like to chat via the miracle of electronic communication, click here and give it a go.
And of course, the obligatory Linkedin link.
Bobsmade describes their products more like art than apparel. You buy a pair of shoes, glasses or some headphones, give Bob a theme and your favorite colors, and a few weeks later you get a one-of-a-kind thing. And probably a pretty great conversation starter.
With Nike PhotoID, take a picture and get a pair of shoes created from the dominant colors within it. This isn’t just about how the shoes look, but they become a memoir of that experience captured by the photo.
When products are at functional parity, it doesn’t follow that they have the same value. We usually ascribe value based upon all the stuff we talk about it brand-like terms. How does it make me feel, how does it make me look, what will my friends think. Stuff like that.
But these are examples of not just increasing value by creating an environment in which the thing is more valuable, but creating value by giving the product something sort of like a life of its own. It gives them a story tell. Or a story for you to tell. They’re naturally talkable.
Rob Walker is experimenting with these stories with Significant Objects by pairing writers and thrift store items, giving these things a life of the author’s imagination. Even though the story isn’t true, the value of the thing does change.
It makes you wonder how much we can increase the value of the products we sell just by giving them their own stories to tell.
One thing is clear. None of them are spending all that much time selling a pair of jeans. No nods to superior stitching. No time spent to say “shop at Mervyn’s.” They’re selling a purpose, a manifesto and a mood. Mostly, they’re selling a context.
Wrangler spot via Charles Frith
4 Big Myths of Profile Pictures
1. It's better to smile. 2. You shouldn't take your picture with your phone or webcam. 3. Guys should keep their shirts on. 4. Make sure your face is showing.
Metaphorically Speaking - A TED talk from James Geary
"In 2009, more data will be generated by individuals than in the entire history of mankind through 2008. Information overload is more serious than ever."
Digital Media, Storytelling and the Repression of Communication
http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=townhalltalkjanuary2010final-100113112917-phpapp02&stripped_title=digital-media-and-authoritarian-systems
Super Freaky Life-life Sculptures
"A month before the election day, Lincoln received a letter from one Grace Bedell, an 11-year-old girl from Westfield, New York, which urged him to grow a beard because “[growing a beard would] look a great deal better for your face is so thin,” and it would make him more popular. It would prove to be so. When Lincoln left Springfield on February 11th, 1861, bound for the White House, he was fully bearded. On route, he stopped in Westfield and met Grace and he said he took her advice."
