Article / MadMen Season 4
The battle of small versus large. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce has a new office, new logo, and a cast of new employees. Season Four kicked off tonight, and this is m first live-blogging event. Twitter has been jammed with activity, and tomorrow is going to be chock full of recaps, and people predicting the small agencies next moves.
Industry / The Catalog Revisited
Barneys Co-Op, the kid sister sub-brand of Barney’s proper is launching a 3D catalog for denim fashions and is slotted for release in August. The Co-Op is geared toward a younger audience, that embraces quality, hip looks, and is not afraid to drop top dollar for fashion.
The publication will come complete with 3D glasses. Simon Doonan, Barney’s voice of Creative , says Barneys Co-Op chose to go 3D with the catalog because it resonates with the store’s audience: “The generation that shops at our Co-Op is having fun with 3D.”
Industry / Brand Signals
While the brand name and logo are not the brand itself, they are core signals that consumers directly equate to the brand. By appealing to all the senses, instead of focusing solely within visual and verbal constructs, Brand Signals allow the brand greater reach, not through repetition, but through impact.
Brand Signals are tangible cues (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell or action) that directly equate to the
brand. These multi-sensory signals provide the tangibility necessary for consumers to understand the
deeper brand meaning that lies beneath the surface.
When brand identity is treated as an aesthetic veneer, the bond between consumer and brand is
often weak and shallow. When brand identity is constructed of multi-sensory Brand Signals it provides
the depth to build stronger bonds through common understanding of what your brand represents.
Brand signals are message delivery systems. Just as goods are carried by hand, truck, plane, boat or
rail, brand signals carry and convey meaning. The key is not to limit the number of signals used to
convey your brand’s meaning.
Working individually and collectively Brand Signals identify and differentiate the brand on two levels.
Categorically, these signals speak intuitively to consumers regarding the type of brand (price, quality,
country of origin…). Specifically, they contain learned meaning that directly equates to the brand
allowing consumers to identify one brand from another via name, logo, packaging and so forth.
While the brand name and logo are not the brand itself, they are core signals that consumers directly
equate to the brand. By appealing to all the senses, instead of focusing solely within visual and verbal
constructs, Brand Signals allow the brand greater reach, not through repetition, but through impact.
This makes a deeper, more meaningful impression. When you limit your Brand Signals, you limit your
brand’s reach and effectiveness.
Brand Signals work individually and collectively. Individually, they convey direct meaning. Collectively
they form the brand experience. As a given signal becomes outdated or out of step with the business
strategy or brand position it can be shelved, replaced or updated. This allows the brand to evolve with
consumers by adapting to changing market conditions while maintaining the brand aesthetic.
/via Strategic Branding
Article / Fly Virgin
I realize I am a bit late to the game on this one, but Mr. Branson you sure know how to treat a person while they are spending six hours in the air on one of your new planes.
First of all the WiFi on the plane is better than most peoples home WiFi from Optimum or TimeWarner. It is totally worth the $12.99 investment Secondly, the inverted order and eat when you want is pretty cool too. I was a little bummed why my neighbors were munching on delicious treat while I had nothing, then I touched the screen… Duh. Oooops time to go, we are about to land. Thanks Virgin!
Industry / Ideas are media
Ideas, Ideas, Ideas. Everyone has them, right? Some are mediocre, while others are revolutionary and at times, can be game changing. No matter which category they fall into, they take time to develop, and everyone knows the age old adage… Time is Money. If you take that thought one step further, one could say… Ideas are Media. My point being is that media, as everybody knows, costs money.
We live in an age where just about anything we can think up as advertisers, marketers, creatives, or technologists… can be done. This raises an interesting question… Is the idea generation process more valuable than the actual execution?
More often than not projects are triple bid. If each shop spends a week generating and refining ideas down to their best three (high, mid, low) and submits them in their proposal and creative treatment, well, there goes nine pieces of media out three doors all for free. Now imagine all that free media floating around in limbo. The only way to re-coup that loss, is to recycle those ideas. This can easily lead to mediocrity, and the dimming of a brightly shining original idea. Reverse engineered ideas can begin to flood the advertising channels almost over night.
The worst case scenario, which I have witnessed several times in the past few years, is the re-distribution of a new a RFP based on a previously submitted treatment. The retro-fitted document then sent out to three other (lower-tier) shops knowing those shops can execute based on a brief, but not necessarily come up with the “million dollar ideas” and are therefore a smaller investment. This begs to ask the question, why isn’t there more money funding original thinking? Remember, you always get what you pay for.
Note: This blogpost now has it’s own T-shirt – Buy it here.
Industry / Cannes Lions 2010
I was in Cannes this past week for the International Advertising Awards. On my first night I ran into just about everyone who is anyone in advertising, I could ever expect to see back in New York City, it is just 1,000 times nicer seeing them in the wonderful world of Cannes. The highlight of day one was smacking @davidondemand on his freshly acquired tattoo. Check out the action here
The second night things started getting a bit more intense.
Today’s reporting from Cannes will be covered not just by myself, but not just by myself but the whole motley crew from @HushStudios
@davidhschwarz - Sun is setting the Croisette. Waves are the backdrop to some rosé and friends. Andrea from Bullet.tv, CatPat from McCann NY. Guy from Nice Shoes. James from Framestore. Next up: AOL party, SapientNitro soiree and a big win for Argentina. Vamos!
@tim_nolan - So I hopped a train from Cannes to the beautiful town of Antibes. I felt like I needed a few hours away from he invasion of American and European advertising people and get back to nature. I stopped by the Picasso museum and saw some awesome work. I am now back in Cannes, refreshed and ready to jump back into the world of AdMen and AdWomen. tonights parties include AOL, Sapient, and Apollo music. Evening updates to come as they occur!
Day three, Last night was a rough one! Massive music party was off the hook, not to mention I had a conference call at midnight from the beach with Los Angeles and New York. During the call I witnessed a man getting mauled by a security pit bull, which was awesome. Cannes proves to be a force to be reckoned with.
The @HushStudios vandals wrapped the night up at Gutter Bar, then ventured off into the streets with about 100 stickers, and grilled till the sun came up.
Our day four/five exit strategy and course, Vive Le Cannes!
- Old town dinner – delicious on an old school level
- Microsoft advertising technology pavilion- one out of five is progressive
- Martinez penthouse balcony c/o @shhmgmt – so classic and amazing
- South African Party – getting dirty on the beach
- The Lift Party Skunk Party – higher level of party
- La Chunga table dance – own right filthy
- Gutter Bar – Debauchery as expected ensued. La croc monsieurs for the road.
- Airport – A ragged crew departs with no sleep to Nice to jet back to the states.
Industry / Hypebeast Activist
For frequent visitors to this weblog, you are already very familiar with what I do and say here. It is basically my perspective on all things revolving around Advertising, Design, Marketing, and the Digital space, but as you all know… All work and no play makes Tim a dull boy… I happy to announce that I have recently joined the Hypebeast team, which gives me a another platform to talk up some of the cooler, but not necessarily industry specific topics that interest me.
Hypebeast was launched in January of 2005 as a one-stop news source for internet-savvy fashion enthusiasts. Frustrated with having to browse multiple sites to keep up with the latest information, the creation of Hypebeast allowed for the latest news to be broadcast through one specific medium.
Over the past three years, the site has grown from small sneaker-based blog to a large well-respected information source within the industry. Features and interviews that profile designers and brands serve as a platform for companies to showcase new and upcoming product, while keeping readers informed of new trends, retailers, and events.
Attracting a vast and diverse readership from around the globe and boasting 16 million page views per month, Hypebeast is the premier destination for fashion and culture on the web. Stop by once an while for some cool shit.
Industry / Creativity CaT (#crcat)
I wanted to recap my visit to the Creativity CaT conference earlier but was struck down with an evil case of the flu care of Hush Studios’ very own David Schwarz thankfully I am back at a near functional state, so on with the review.
The Creativity CaT conference was held at Pier 94 which is one of the most remote locations a Brooklyn based body can travel to. On the edge of Manhattan, the space was a huge warehouse/hanger that resembled something out of Christopher Nolan’s (no relation) Dark Knight. The line up of speakers included some of the usual suspects like; Faris and Nick Law of RG/A.
What I enjoyed much more having heard those two speak a good deal already this year was getting some insight from people like Theo Watson. Theodore’s work ranges from creating new tools for artistic expression, experimental musical systems, to immersive, interactive environments with full-body interaction. His recent work includes the Eyewriter, an eye controlled drawing tool, Graffiti Research Lab’s Laser Tag, laser graffiti system and Funky Forest, an immersive interactive ecosystem for young children. Theodore works together with Zachary Lieberman and Arturo Castro on openFrameworks, which is an open source library for writing creative code in C++, and it was a pleasure to be walked though his projects by the man himself.
I was also stoked to see my twitter buddy Alex Rainert talk about Location, Location, Location. Alex is currently Head of Product at foursquare where he and the rest of the team are working to change the way you engage with the world around you.
One more speaker I want to shift some attention to was Eric Rodenbeck of Stamen. Mr. Rodenbeck is Stamen’s founder & creative director. A 14-year veteran of the interactive design field, he has worked to extend the boundaries of online media and live information visualization.
Needless to say it was a day full of handshakes, networking, and the free exchange of ideas. Exactly what a conference needs to be in this ever changing state of our industry. Kudos go out to Teressa Iezzi and the entire Creativity Mag team for a successful day.
Article / MTV Movie Awards
I spent my Sunday evening doing something I did not expect to do. I watched the entire MTV Movie Awards, and I loved it. The night contained so many things that I like about live television and awards shows… First an foremost there was an unbelievable number time the word FUCK was uttered. Viacom must have paid through the ass to cover all that profanity. Next, I really dug the depth and reach of the celebrity inclusion. As much as everyone wants to hate on him, Tom Cruise killed it as Les Grossman. Tom Felton got an apology from Mark Wahlberg for his uber funny appearance with Will Ferrell, even though I do not think he needed to. Finally the tie in of the cast of Jersey Shore was priceless. I will never get tired of seeing these kids in the cage of MTV. Dare I say, I want my MTV?
Industry / App Review: Wired Magazine
I was waiting for a magazine to “nail” the iPad platform. As a flash developer for the last decade or so, I sat and I prayed that we could avoid the whole “page curl” thing. So many magazines and apps have adopted that convention, and all I could think was WHY??? I mean, a page curl is an inherent to print and paper and has no place in a digital interface. Why would a smooth touch screen ever “curl”? It would not, and should not, is the answer to that.
What I liked about the WIRED Magazine application is that it was instantly usable. There are two simple navigation models. A lateral browsing of top level content, and the deeper diver is a simple up and down gesture. I see so much potential in the deeper content, the embedded video opportunities, and of course the chance to include “live content”.
I am very optimistic to see what happens in issues to come. WIRED has always pushed the platform, and has acted as an experimental testbed for all things media driven. Kudos to you WIRED, Keep it coming.
