Tune In Saturdays: Fleet Foxes

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Fleet Foxes

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Another addition to the Sub Pop artist roster, we've got Seattle's Fleet Foxes. For fans of Band of Horses, Matt Pond PA, or Rogue Wave, this is probably for you. Guitar-driven, folksy and harmonic, the Fleet Foxes debut full length is another charming gem from one of my favorite labels and one of my favorite music towns.

From Pitchfork:

For all the album's winding paths and unexpected vistas, Fleet Foxes' harmonies remain the primary draw, and they've written and arranged these songs to showcase their shared vocals. "Heard Them Stirring" has no lyrics, but it's hard to call it an instrumental. Against a shuffling shaker-and-tambourine rhythm, "Ragged Wood" switches between Robin Pecknold's lead vocals and the band's harmonies after each verse, effectively translating classic rock via folk elements. There's as much Fleetwood Mac as the Band in the song's rousing finale. On the other hand, Fleet Foxes do restraint just as well: "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" features only a lone acoustic guitar and Pecknold's forceful vocals, which switch to a spooky falsetto on the outro.

Buy it here.

Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (mp3)
Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why (mp3)
Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (partial live video clip)

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Honda SkyDive has Arrived

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After teasing us with the behind the scenes footage, Honda in the UK finally released their "Skydive" spot. Although it's not really a spot. It's 3 and a quarter minutes of live footage. Absolutely fantastic stuff, and really captures what it's like to willingly fling yourself out of an airplane.

I'm hoping they'll come forward with the back up plans as well. I've taken up the sport as somewhat of a hobby over the past year, and calling it finicky would be an understatement. It doesn't take much bad weather to turn a "jump" day into a "sitting on your ass in the middle of nowhere" day. Which begs the question, if the sprinkles of rain in the video became a downpour with high winds, what in the hell would have filled those 3 minutes?

Either way, it's a cool 3 minutes. And while I wouldn't call it as magical as Cogs or Choir, it'd be hard to argue the fact that this is a groundbreaking piece of work from W+K, London.

UPDATE: They've also released the proper spot, as well, ending with the "what's next?" line that definitely leaves me wondering the same. Again, we're treading as some pretty cool ground here, although it does feel a bit anticlimactic.

Eat Sleep Blog: Episode 6 or 8 or so

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I know you've all been waiting for this. And now you can all breathe again. The next episode of Eat Sleep Blog, the "I can't remember how many of these we've done" edition with Gavin, Sean and me.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/1066921 w=400&h=300]

Links and Stuff

0:00 "Messy" Prototypes, based on Sean's guest post for Critical Mass (Part 1 & Part 2)

2:22 Should we be freaking out about current economic issues? Will the move of money into digital continue when budgets are cut?

8:35 H&R Block's social media marketing (or multi-touch) programs having huge success. (Ad Age Video)

13:25 Tim Jackson suggests a comment. He has extra time to do so because he's lazy and sits in bed all day.

14:40 How has technology like ooVoo or twitter changed our behavior and how we connect? Liz Strauss gets a shout from Gavin.

18:18 Sean's friends interrupt us on their way to the worst movie ever, Indiana Jones: Crystal Suck.

22:12 Does Twitter's openness actually harm its chances for survival?

24:00 What is the Friend Connect effect? Will we consolidate our sites to the point where we deal with lesser ancillary services to stay with our community? Is Facebook Connect and MySpace Data Availability another attempt to hold on to the walled garden?

34:15 Tim's thumb is attached, so being that he met the ESB attached appendi bylaws, he was dubbed "awesome."

35:45 Mack Rocks.

Participatory Media and Government

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From the Atlantic's Marc Ambinder:

Obama clearly intends to use the Web, if he is elected president, totransform governance just as he has transformed campaigning. Notably, he has spoken of conducting “online fireside chats” as president. And when one imagines how Obama’s political army, presumably intact, might be mobilized to lobby for major legislation with just a few keystrokes, it becomes possible, for a moment at least, to imagine that he might change the political culture of Washington simply by overwhelming it.

What Obama seems to promise is, at its outer limits, a participatory democracy in which the opportunities for participation have been radically expanded. He proposes creating a public, Google-like database of every federal dollar spent. He aims to post every piece of non-emergency legislation online for five days before he signs it so that Americans can comment. A White House blog—also with comments—would be a near certainty. Overseeing this new apparatus would be a chief technology officer.

Sounds fantastic, no? The web has already expanded our freedom of information, but as our leaders become more technologically savvy, it may also expand our freedom participate and be heard.

Tune In Saturdays: the Morning Benders

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ThemorningbendersBeing the sucker for a well-crafted indie pop rock song, I quickly fell for Berkley, See AY's The Morning Benders. I wouldn't call anything ground breaking here, but it'll get your toe tapping pretty quick, and I wouldn't be too surprised to see them pull a few Mobys. I don't know if it's the sloppy Pavement-esque guitars, the keys or the jumpy beats, but it's another nice staple for top down summer driving.

From the Owl Mag:

"Berkley's The Morning Benders certainly know their way around a well-constructed pop song. In their latest release, Talking through Tin Cans, the Benders fuse '60s feel-good summer pop with uplifting melodies about heartbreak. Currently touring with Britain's the Kooks, the band has reached a comfortable setting for their catchy tunes. Singer Chris Chu (who also plays guitar, organs and piano along with Joe Ferrell) perhaps expectedly conjures images of Brian Wilson's treble leanings; however the filter through which he sings creates a unique grainy quality that meshes well with the nostalgic vibe the band rocks."

Home.MySpace.

The Morning Benders - Boarded Doors (video)

The Morning Benders - Waiting for a War(video)

A Viral Hit Courtesy of Viral Hits

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I'll go ahead and set the over/under for this at 8 million views. I was hoping OK go might show up to the party, too, but sadly no. They checked just about everyone else off the list, though. Good stuff, Weezer. I will gladly hand you 10 bucks.

By the way, if you were smart you'd move the album release date to, like, now (instead of June 3). We're an impatient bunch, and torrents like to give me the album right now for free! Thank torrents! (via Tom)

Earned Trust vs. Assumed Trust

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With the news coming down that the Dallas paper, the Dallas Morning News, will be raising their prices to make up for slumping stock, I'm brought back to the argument over what options they, as in the newspaper industry, have. A quick look at the website makes it obvious that they need design help, and they're still not shy about assaulting the audience with pop-ups, pop-unders and interstitials. Trust me, they're good people over there, but the experience has lagged behind a need to add to the bottom line. But even the superior experience of the New York Times and its website doesn't seem to do much for their pocketbook.

Much of the answer, of course, is plainly the distribution of attention. Only so many eyeballs and the pie has been split too many ways already. But I think there's something to this idea of assumed trust versus earned trust. Newspapers are built on this idealized version of truth, the "we report the facts" mentality. They are trusted because they have trust.

Thecuretrust2 Bloggers on the other hand operate on this other level. Younger folks approach the news with a greater level of skepticism, and the generic "blogosphere" is less trusted than the more traditional news vehicles. There is no assumed trust, only the trust earned over time between a writer and a reader. Or even a reader and a reader's friend. The bottom line is that this earned trust is hard to receive, but also much more personal. And these personal bonds between a writer and a blog reader are much more difficult to break. So attention continues to move there.

The same thing's happening in the ad industry now. The traditional marketing dollar is reliant on this old model of credibility. I buy this time slot on television because it affords me not just some level of awareness, but also a level of trust. Or I get this celebrity endorser because their recognition of the company lends validity to the message. I'm just not so sure this "assumed trust" is relevant anymore. Why settle on an assumption when taking the time to earn it can mean so much more?

So no, I don't have any answers for the folks over at the Morning News. But they have to find a way to change the trajectory and connect with this next, paper-less generation. Otherwise it'll be easier than ever for someone else to swoop in and take their place.

The Making of Honda SkyDive

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UPDATE: Honda's "Difficult is Worth Doing" ad will air during a live 3 minute spot tonight in the UK. YouTube will be here shortly thereafter. More here.

UPDATE 2: Looks like everything went as planned. Spot here.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA3GL1mGfCQ&hl=en]

To piggyback the discussion on attention over traditional brand messaging, another unbranded advertising effort has been released by W+K London, though the first I've seen running on television. WK is essentially working to bring to the forefront the built in behind-the-scenes hype that's been created not only by their very own Honda Cogs and Choir ads, but others like Fallon's Bravia series.

The ads simply send viewers to difficultisworthdoing.com, a blog housing the materials for the upcoming skydive spot. It's not tough to figure out the natural connections between the brand and the way the sport is presented, but it's still a pretty big leap of faith, or leap of cash, that enough eyeballs or media coverage will be generated to create a connection between the spots and the car. Especially when you consider that you won't find a single car in any of the videos.

Take a look and let me know what you think. I'm a little torn here, although I suspect much of this will be crystallized when we actually see the spots released. Something tells me this very soft sell in the lead up will probably do much of what Bravia balls did for Bravia paint. Anytime you can successfully make an ad appointment viewing, the team probably deserves a round of high fives.

And Cam, I know I owe you a media report. I'm working on it!

Without Attention, there is No Brand.

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With a time-starved audience and attention-starved brands fighting for a fewseconds of consideration, does bringing an overt brand message to the forefront really matter? Probably not when paid intrusion and actual attention become closer to mutually exclusive. Great content doesn't matter for shit if your audience is too busy making a sandwich to care.

We already know that the audience won’t trust our ads. Does it make a difference how many times you say that "we make whites the whitest" or "every kiss begins with kay" or any other questionable statement of position. If no one is likely to believe you, why waste your time saying it when you could be spending your money showing it.

Which brings us back to content. Rather than spend your time attempting to prove bullshit, you can find out what your audience likes, and work to be that, to make them feel understood or listened to. Take these "ads" from Zach Galifianakis, Tim and Eric commissioned by Absolut.

Have I watched those and thought "hmmm, Absolut is the smoothest vodka," or "Absolut is so clear, it must be good," or whatever else you may be able to say about the generic "vodka" brand? Well no, but even if they did set out to make me believe that, I probably wouldn't have given them the pleasure of my time.

Same goes for this Levis viral. There is no logo, no obvious branding message. And if there were, I doubt if it'd have 2.4+ million views on YouTube alone.

The same could be said for Cadbury’s Gorilla ad, or the Diet Coke/Mentos experiment (though not brand created). They didn't waste time proving out a positioning that probably wouldn't have been believed or watched.

I’m not sure where exactly this leaves us. It isn’t time for us to throw out things like marketplace positioning, but we need to prove it in different places. I doubt if television ad breaks are the place for a rational sale anymore. It’s just easier to be whatever you would have said you are. Google didn’t prove their mission statement by making it a tagline. They just went out and did it. And for anyone that says that doesn’t work for companies like yours, you’re probably just making excuses.