suz keen

suz keen: "I connected Blogger to my http://flavors.me page - http://flavors.me/veuvehole"

Bb major magic

This is one of those times where I'm reminded why I adore technology and how it relates to music. Get lost in this collaboration called In Bb 2.0 where a bunch of musicians play ambient sounds and tunes along the same tones. The results are glorious.

B is for B-cycle.

Alex Bogusky (CP+B), Humana and Trek have teamed up to create B-Cycle, which will be implemented for a pilot in Denver. The B-Cycle program is solar-powered and will be installed as stations all around the city. To use a B-cycle one can swipe either a credit card or a membership card. Watch the video below for more. Also note how nicely the video is executed. Look for B-cycle stations around Denver this summer.

Great use of Twitter - Tony Hawk Style

So there's this excellent twitter skateboard hunt that Tony Hawk started up where he plants a board somewhere then tweets a clue as to it's location. From there it's finders keepers. Now he has sent numerous boards to his contacts across the globe, they plant the board, then give him a clue to tweet to his twitter followers. See the full article here.

The Web "Tubes"

notcot.org posted a fascinating web trend map.

"The Web Trend Map 2009 by the Information Architects gives you the perfect overview of the internet, with the 333 most influential web domains and the 111 most influential internet people mapped onto the Tokyo Metro map."

My friends in Insight & Strategy (they get all the cool toys) printed out this map in a large format for me. I've been staring at it ever since. No, I'm not on mushrooms, it's really that cool.

muxtape relaunch

I was one of those music nerds who made hundreds of mixtapes growing up and loved receiving them from others. On the new Muxtape platform, bands can promote and market themselves, while people like me can discover new music and create a mix from the available music.

The hope of course is that the site's library of available music will grow and grow so the selection is always fresh.

Check out the interview Rocketboom did with the creators here.

Uniqlo - Try A New Approach to CRM

We usually moan and groan about working in the segmentation questions our CRM group develops. No doubt they're very important and we're playing pin the tail on the donkey without them. It's just that after collecting all the necessary information that a typical registration requires for a promotion, to ask even more of a consumer is painful for them and painful for the designer.

I came across this Uniqlo Try promotion to get the word out about their newly launched Bra Top. Hundreds of women participate in a video survey with a wide range of questions, many of them CRM types of questions. The site uses a filtration system so that visitors can see and sort through the videos that apply.

It was eyeopening for me to see those questions tackled in a fun way rather than viewing them as a necessary burden.

Totally Rad Newsreader

Just was turned onto this way to organize feeds. It's more visual.
It's cleaner. It's fresh. I likey.

Twistori is Rad

Thanks to a comment from Michael, I discovered Twistori and I can't stop! It's a filter for Twitter based on simple words: love, hate, think, believe, feel and wish. Fascinating. Imagine the applications for brands and people who have become a brand. Based on a filter of simple words, one could find out a lot.

Big Fan of this Vodafone Promo

This Vodafone promotion started awhile back, but I wanted to post about it because it's still alive. I'm still getting links from people with the streaker and it makes me giggle every time. Ideas like this one are simple brilliance. I wonder what kind of conversion rate a fat little red streaker gets you.

MySpace Finally Gets Clued In

Oh hey! Great idea guys! Let's not make our stuff look like a dumpster fire!

Get the deets on MySpace's plans for a redesign here.

It always surprises me how people don't realize the importance of good user interface design. Or how people don't realize the importance of good design period. In-store, online, product design or otherwise. People like things that are pleasing to the eye. It's an experience. Make it clean. Make it pretty. Make it hot.

"That's Why I'm a Card Member"

I'm sure you've seen these beautiful American Express spots and campaign over the last year. They've always caught my attention as they've casted interesting celebrities and professionals and they tell a great story with the perfect balance of glimpses into who this person is and what they do, rather than people we see in the tabloids all the time. I just saw this one and it has to be my favorite.



I have to ask, is the end line really necessary? I think showing the back of the card and leaving it alone would've been more powerful. I feel that way about all these American Express spots. They evoke an emotion and garner attention then they tack a tag line on at the end. It's a bummer they couldn't have branded these more elegantly.

Presidential Campaign Buzz

I love stuff like this. Similar to We Feel Fine and Coke's World Chill, Presidential Watch 2008 is a site that tracks public consciousness through the blogosphere. And it just looks cool.

I Heart Design.

Finally! No more low-rent looking web invites. While Evite has brilliantly monopolized the online invitation biz in the past, I have always yearned for something more sophisticated. Introducing Pingg. So clean and well designed.

I'm a Fan of your Brand.... For Now

Attention brands using Facebook. So you've added a brand page to Facebook and people have become a "fan" of your brand and they wear that badge on their profile pages. How easy is it to have a brand page on Facebook? You can create one in a minute or less. And it costs nothing. So congratulations, you have a brand page and you think you're a player in the space. Welcome to the party, the keg is in the garage.

*insert buzzer sound here* WRONG

This won't last for long. I've become fans of various brands and none of them have anything on their brand page that would make me revisit. Not one. Naturally, I consider the brands I vouch for to be pretty rad, and I'm sure everybody else does too for their chosen brands. But if you're going to play in this space that is interactive (which, last time I checked, pertains to a two-way means of communication) then you better figure out what you're going to offer us quickly.

I've become a fan of brands on my profile and I've opted in to communications. Not because your current brand pages are fantastical, but because I'm waiting to see if you get it. I cannot BELIEVE you're passing on this opportunity! I'm asking you to talk to me, consumers are pulling. Why are you ignoring the tug? Nevermind, don't answer that question, I'm sure you have a million excuses. Don't care. Just fix it.

Soon I'll realize that this relationship is one sided and I'll dump you. And all of my friends will see it in the feed. And then they're all going to laugh at you. But really, not a positive right? I'm willing to bet that the kinds of people who are up for vouching for your brand and displaying your logo as a badge on their profile page are either early adapters (important to any brand) or they are your loyalists (also important to any brand). Pretty influential types of people right? Those people wouldn't become fans of your brand if they weren't actively and voluntarily participating in word-of-mouth for you. We're seeking you out! Can you ASK for anything better after years of you talking at us? So please, if you're going to show up to the game then bring your strategy to win. Retain me and the others who are throwing you a bone.

FWA Site of the Year Award

The FWA (Favorite Website Awards) chose the Goodby Silverstein & Partners/North Kingdom site Get the Glass for their site of the year award. I have to say that I agree, that site is best in class from all angles. If you haven't spent much time with it, shame on you. Set aside 15 minutes and experience the site of the year.

2 of my Favorite Things

iPhone and Starbucks = a good match. "iPhone/iPod Touch application that allows the users to purchase their favorite Starbucks drink without waiting in line. This application also includes QuickPay, a swipe transaction system using semacode technology." Check it out.

Microsoft + Digital Cart Displays

Microsoft and MediaCart will be serving up ads to supermarket shoppers based on their shopping lists, past behaviors and purchases via the shopping cart.
Sounds pretty rad to me.
Read about it here.

Classic.

This isn't new or anything, but it just crossed my path again.
And I love it.

Radiohead - Democratic Payment Experiment

My friends and I were curious as to how this would work out for Radiohead. However, speculating that it would be a success.

Some background: Radiohead released their latest album, In Rainbows, as a download from their website. It's pay-as-you-wish. And it worked out well for them. Read more about the deets here.

Cool Branding Elements Table

Rollover each branding element to discover each definition. Groups include: Advertising, Direct, Branding, Marketing Communications, M&A, Misc.

Built by Kolbrener, branding experts

HOT, JUICY BURGER!!

I spent some time on Wendy's "Hot, Juicy Burgers for Life (that's right)" site. Let me tell you, it's cracking me up. Wendy's thinks that everyone deserves a hot, juicy burger and invites you to join the cause. The more you interact, the more points you get, the more rewards you reap. The CRM model is nicely intertwined with the content, it's so much more seamless than just standard data-collection.


Find out Why - Join the Cause

Dove Beauty Campaign Continued.... "Onslaught"

This is a brilliant follow up to "evolution". Take a look at "onslaught". I was wondering what they were going to do next, this is even more moving to me than the evolution spot.

More funnies from CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder.com has done some really humorous advertising over the last year. Monk E-mail is one of my favorites and their tv spots are funny EVERY TIME. I saw this Facebook posting in the newsfeed the other day and it cracked me up. The first two thumbnail pics are irreverent but clever. Good all-around holistic campaigning. For a long time monster.com would be at the forefront when thinking of job searching websites. It would be interesting to see if Career Builders efforts over the last year has won them some of that mind share.

Throw Food at a Ninja

My friend Paul sent me this recipe for spinach filled fish rolls. In my mind I was thinking, "that sounds vile, WTF". I entertained the link anyway. At this site you can grab food items and throw them at this mini ninja who jumps all around the content and talks smack to you while launching his own food items at you. Hilarious, and a great use of Flash video.

How to Make a Beer Website Sexy...

... without "twins". Enter the Leffe Abbey and discover the world of this 800 year old beer brand.

cool marketing use of twitter

Chuck Bartowski is the main character of this highly anticipated show on ABC called "Chuck" (naturally). Chuck is twittering as a lead up to the show. When it comes to twittering, I myself am more of a voyeur. I found this to be pretty engaging and funny. Thanks for the tip Armand.

Tired of all the social networking?

Arsebook is an anti-social utility that connects you with the people YOU HATE.
...Unfortunately it's fake.

Good post from Advergirl

I frequent this blog and thought this posting was solid gold. It's all about important tips for getting into the ad/marketing biz.

Local Review Meeting Places

I've been trying to use yelp.com lately to read, post and research local joints. It's very thorough and informative but I'm here to cast my vote for Tupalo.com. At yelp there is a stock photo of some chick in her late twenties that we're all supposed to relate to striking a pose. The design and compartmentalization of the site isn't intuitive and after using Tupalo for so long Yelp just feels low rent. It's kind of like buying the Method soap and never going back to your basic Dial. Good design goes a long way for me.

What site do you use when looking up new spots around town?

Something I knew all along...

Web designers are the new rock stars. The site DESIGNCHARTS scans traffic from their network of websites that award web design... then they push the top 40 every week. The FWA seems to be missing from their network list (and I'm sure there are others missing) but it's a good aggregator all the same. Check it out here.

Tracking brainwaves for testing

I'm not a huge fan of testing concepts, it always feels so CYA to me. But this is pretty interesting. A company called Emsense has developed a solution for reading consumers' intellectual and emotional reactions to advertisements and video games. Read more about it here.

Smirnoff's Tea Partay follow up

Watch Boyz N The Hillz claim the west side. It's not bad, but as per usual, sophomore attempts are never as good as the original.

Widget Madness

Internet-enabled democracy

Mash up Survivor, Second Life and a Florida timeshare and you get Tribewanted.com. For about $230 a year, you get a membership in a global tribe located on the undeveloped island of Vorovoro (Fiji). The fee entitles you to a weeklong stay on the 200-acre paradise (travel costs not included) but what's more is access to the tribe's online presence. You can participate via email and forums to make consensus decisions, select leaders, and even designate holidays.

The Complete 2.0 Web Directory

Discovered this site, Go2Web20.net, courtesy of Paul and I think it's so well put together. Here's the gist:

+ As a visitor, you are probably active in the web 2.0 community and you are one of those labeled as 'early adapters'. Are you?
+ A directory of web 2.0 applications and services
+ Converges both Flash and AJAX technologies

Let's Get Physical

In recent years Flash has broadened as an Interactive tool offering more than just a platform for animations, websites, games and RIA's but a whole new world of Interactive possibilities.

Dig: Engaging Installations. Alternative Interfaces. Calm Computing. Interactive Environments. Making things and Exploring the User as the Interface.

At FITC in Toronto I saw a session by Craig Swann (CRASH!MEDIA, check out their labs) and it blew my mind the way he was bending the technology. Trippy almost. I won't geek out too much, I'll just encourage you to take a look at the work and open your mind to the possible applications.

FACE2FACE2FACE
ONEWORD
Light Tracer
Wrong Plug
Mossalibra

Click Here!! Learn More!! Enter to Win!!

Do these calls to action (or, CTA, I'm kind of an acronym whore) really work? I'm usually too close to the creative to tell whether they garner more clicks or if they are there purely to ruin my life. We have this debate on our team all the time. I also feel like we've been talking about this for years.

How necessary is it to tell people what to do? Since most people on the web are just scanning information anyway perhaps it is important to tag everything with obnoxious CTA for the user's subconscious. Personally, I can't stand it. In fact, the only thing I hate more is when every sentence ends with a slammer (AKA exclamation mark)!

This post touches on the subject and also has entertaining comments.

What kind of geek are you?

I'm an omnivore. Click here to find out.

Good post about "viral"

The Catch Up Lady blog. One of my favorites (thanks for the introduction Morgan). This is one of the better case studies for "viral" I've read in awhile. I would say 50% of the brainstorms/ideation meetings I've been to over the last year have tactics sectioned off on big sticky white pieces of paper for in-store, web, print, etc... then viral. And it doesn't feel right as "viral" isn't a medium, it's a result. My favorite part of the Catch Up Lady's post is the last sentence: "Just goes to show all those agencies and clients out there that you don't need a ton of money, or fancy microsites with flash components to make something go viral - just a die hard fan base and a really f'ing creative idea."

I think the thing we often forget about is that some of our products don't have a die hard fan base. We get to caught up in executing the tactics and we don't spend enough time on "a really f'ing creative idea". Things like Batman have die hard fans. Not things like batteries or coffee creamers. Sure there are brand zealots but we should reward them in relevant ways, not put "viral video" as a line item in our estimates because it's all rage.

Online ads mid-TV show

I just wanted to rap a little bit about the good, bad and the ugly of my favorite ad vehicle right now. Settle in, this is a long one. You won't be sorry, I've done all your homework for you. Read.

I've been catching up on some tv shows online lately (abc.com) and for the most part, I'm a fan of how they're treating the advertising throughout the show. So much that I can't tell you the last time I've watched a show I wanted to on the TV, even when available. I skip them on purpose so I can watch them online later.

Each show has a sponsor. They get their little logo up above the video player and the show is split into thirds. At each third of the ways into the show the sponsor of the show gets their 30 seconds of ad space.

The Good: Chase

I might be biased here because I'm a music lover and I adore the Stones. So I was somewhat excited to see 4 remixes I could listen to of "I'm Free". I say "somewhat excited" because clearly nobody should be remixing any music from the Rolling Stones. It will never get better than it already is (not even the Hot Chip version, sorry guys, love you, call me). I digress, I previewed all of the songs and it was so great to have something to do while I waited for the next portion of my show to load. Notice the links to iTunes for purchase. Also notice the "Click to continue" button in the upper-right. That means that the 30 seconds had already passed and I was still spending time with this ad because it was interactive relevant content. I would be interested to see the stats about how many people actually clicked the tab "tv spots".

More from The Good: Florida Orange Juice



Who wants a Pinata Party? I do! And Florida Orange Juice threw me one. I was provided with fun games while I waited for my show to load. I got to swing a virtual bat at a virtual pinata. Seriously. Good times. It was kind of hard too, took me a few swings. Once again, I was playing this game well over the 30 second break time.

Check out the last screen capture I posted for Florida OJ. A little less irreverent but a very good idea. I took the quiz about the health benefits of orange juice and I actually learned a little something. I mean, what the hell else am I going to do while I wait? I so appreciate the chance to interact especially after experiencing what some of the other sponsors are doing. Read on for the Bad and the Ugly.

The Bad: Advil



People used to think that if an idea can get brought to life in print than it can live in any medium. Now people think that if an idea can get brought to life in a tv spot than it can live anywhere. It's almost insulting. Why would I want to be bored out of my mind by some ad talking at me on my computer where I'm allowed to interact with everything else? So I can't tivo this ad, you win Advil. But I'm for sure pissed off that you haven't put any thought into how to garner the attention of this particular audience. While your TV spot runs in my browser window I will get up and walk away for 30 seconds. I would rather get up off my extremely comfortable couch then sit and mouth-breath and watch your ad. Notice the second screen capture. This was a link off the original boring page. Why not put that in there? Atrocious headline and all, interacting with that page is far better than a commercial.

The Ugly: Olay

First of all, I love that it's now just Olay, not "Oil of Olay". I always thought that having the word "oil" in the name of a beauty product was terrifying. Not sure when you changed that up but good call. Kind of like when Kentucky Fried Chicken went to just KFC. Moving on.

Not a lot to say here. Olay slaps a bad TV spot up there and it's painful. I'm probably more in the target for Olay than I am for Advil, Florida Orange Juice or Chase and they have managed to alienate me the most. I can't even tell you what the spot was about as I was that disinterested. But I'm sure it was something about how their Definity product will make me look like the supermodel in their ad. Where have I heard and seen that before? Oh, right. In almost every ad for a beauty product out there.

Take these examples and do what you will with them. Even with the bad examples, I'm much more open to these ads than the commercial breaks I'm bombarded with on television.

Advertising on Tokyo subway walls

Subway journeys are a little less mundane with advertising on the walls. Thousands of snapshots are taken from a TV advertising campaign, each one is put up on the subway wall in the order the ad plays out on TV, and that subway wall becomes a flicker book. I've seen this done in NYC as well. Pretty rad, click here to check it out.

Follow Your Folly

I came across the recent redesign of New Belgium's website via a print ad in Esquire magazine. The content of the site is basically the same content from the prior site (at least the navigation map is the same). There does appear to be more video content here now though. Very playful and fun site layout.

This Is Living by Sony

I'm not going to say much because I'm still not sure what is going on here. All I know is I've spent a lot of time on this site and I'm still confused. Yet I can't stop. Is it a game? Is it a movie? Is it both? I love the art direction. Set aside some time and play with this site from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Then tell me what you think it's all about.

No More Allnighters with FedEx/Kinkos

FedEx/Kinkos launched a promotion touting their Print Online product offering. The website features some nerd named Rick who welcomes you to the site and says you can either poke around his office on your own or just watch him use the Print Online feature. YAAAAAWWWWN.

It's too pushy. It's clunky. Everything is referenced back to selling the product to harshly. The internet as a medium isn't a good place to shove branding and product down potential consumer's throats. It's just rude. Creatively there are some holes too, the video jumps in places where it should stay smooth. And I feel like if you're going to cast a nerd to host the site he should at least be an endearing nerd. Rick is the bad kind of nerd. Full on dork. You bore me Rick.... I'm bored (as I throw my head back and rest the back of my hand on my forehead). It's just not enough. Not funny enough, not smart enough and not very entertaining. There are a lot of sites out there right now that include dropping you into an environment/experience with a site host and they are really really good. So I don't see why FedEx/Kinkos would launch something this drab.

One more thing. It's interesting how they don't tell you what can be won right up front. It's a 7 day trip to Maui, Hawaii. With Rick. Just kidding. But you have to click on the sweeps button to find that out.

Sunsilk Color Showdown

Sunsilk launched a campaign that pits brunettes against blondes called the Color Showdown. I can appreciate the idea of competitiveness but it's hard to get into it when it's over something petty like haircolor. Especially since the obvious answer to the better haircolor is brunette. Maybe I'm biased but the blonde model they're using for the site is wearing mom jeans so even if I were blonde, I wouldn't vote for that camp. Now who's petty?! Us girls can be quite caddy sometimes so I think they'll get some good response.

Seriously though, this site is very content rich, lots to play with, but in my opinion it's over the top. It's sensory overload and I have no idea where to look or what to do first. There is a lot going on here. So if I'm having a hard time muddling through all this content I would imagine a blonde's brain might spontaneously combust. I joke, I kidd.

Coca Cola Zero microsite

I love the concept behind the Coke Zero site. The idea is that Coka Cola is suing Coke Zero because it tastes the same. Don't miss the videos. I could do without the "da da dada de daaaaa" at the end of all the vids though, super annoying.

If You Can't Beat'em...

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a quirky little viral game. Or, just take out some long-held frustrations with that little bastard who wouldn't let you near his Lucky Charms. Maybe someone should see if they want the beer bottles sponsored? Hmmm... Hmmm... Hmmm...

For more info, go here.

hanes wants to rock your socks off

Hanes is giving away three indie rock tracks a week through Rhapsody. The promotion has been going on for three weeks now. The best part is, you only have to watch one ad total - a :30 TV commercial that links to Hanes' online store - and then you can download any and all of the songs you want. (So my one view got me all nine of the songs posted to date.)

via [ themusicmademedoit ].