March 2009
22 posts
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F1 back on the Beeb - great opening trailer!
“The BBC’s trailer “The Scream of Science” that was shown before the main BBC Formula One titles for 2009 Australian Grand Prix.”
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"House Rules" is coming out in paperback March...
Some exciting news from Rachel in NY. Target (the huge American retailing store) has chosen House Rules as one of their break-out titles for the Spring — placing ‘a nice big order’ — and it will be available in stores after March 24th. If you can’t wait until then, the book can also be pre-ordered online.
House Rules can also be purchased at Borders, Barnes and...
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Whoa, vital statistics...
• 94% the wealth acquired in the next four years, will be acquired by women
• 69% of household health decisions are made by women
• 74% of all NBA & NFL apparel is purchased by women
• 91% of new home decisions are made by women
• 81% of grocery decisions are made by women
• 60% of the online population are women
• 62% of all workers are women
• 66% of PCs purchases are made by women...
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"Possibly the best viral you will see this year"...
“Ed Robinson, founder of The Viral Factory, said “We wanted to show the wonder of LEDs, and how they will change the ways we see screens forever. The problem is conveying this technology in an amusing and attention grabbing way outside of the traditional audio/visual forums.”
Source: UTalkMarketing.com / Samsung’s electric sheep - possibly the best viral you will see this year
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(viral) Inside Today...
“A look inside the studios of the BBC’s flagship current affairs Today radio programme…”
After appearing on the show, our friends at Rubber Republic were invited by to come up with a viral. The results have been pretty impressive. [DD]
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"How semiotics helps brand strategy"
“Semiotics is the study of human cultures, and particularly of communications; futurologists are using this to look at how cultural change can contribute to a brand’s understanding about future behaviour, by using the ‘twig-to-branch’ approach. For example, if consumers are concerned about having white teeth, this forms a twig growing on a branch that is ‘visual...
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www.ABoyNameSue.com
— Original source: JPG Magazine / Untitled
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…and it certainly was. I had a great Birthday. Thank you.
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"Rebranding your business?"
— Source: Growing Business Magazine, Mar. 2009 Comment:
Business owners and leaders are forever being bombarded by so called “branding specialists” intent on over-selling an ability to get skin-deep in helping define an organisation’s culture, personality, vision and values. Which, for the record, is not enough.
So called “specialists” can sometimes take the form...
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“23% of British pupils have no idea what Auschwitz was. 2% think it is a beer....”
– Source: www.AskTen.co.uk
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"What to do if people are messing with your brand...
1. Don’t fight it. Trying to cajole, warn, threaten or even sue someone who is misusing your product or making a joke will only come off as heavy-handed. “Maybe some Neanderthal thinks that they can control this, but the reality is no one can,” said Pete Blackshaw, exec VP of Nielsen Online Digital Strategic Services. And antagonistic attitudes will only invite more criticism and...
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Smarties - possibly a Class A(ct)?
How To Smoke Smarties
I’m sure the US brand manager has had a particularly bad week - certainly not the Social-Media exposure they were hoping for. Let’s hope they haven’t resorted to this to seek comfort. [DD]
— Source: AdAge / ‘Smoking Smarties’ Videos Create Blaze of Unwelcome PR
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Pick a number, any number!
Strangely enough, on Wednesday as I darted across town en route to a meeting, I called in to the Kall Kwik on High Holborn to pick up a couple of urgent print runs.
I was having my typical ‘how’s business’ chitchat with the manager there and he mentioned that they had recently submitted, via CompeteFor, a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire for the London 2012 roster. As a...
Post-it notes game "it no workin'". Are 3M not Mac...
Clicked the link from the BrandRepublic article and, alas non. Blank. Tried again using FireFox, and exactly the same thing happened. Zip.
Perhaps I have too much time on my hands, but still. Help?
PS: You probably can’t read this anyway. For some unknown reason, we’re still suffering from not compliant PC issues.
— Source: DigitalBulletin / BrandRepublic.com
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Thanks @JayRab. Very cool...
“HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam. Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands.
Take a look at HEMA’s product page. You can’t order anything and it’s in Dutch but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens. Don’t click on any of the products pictured, just wait and see what happens. And...
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Marbella. New York?
Not an obvious comparison, but Mark Wilkins compares the re-branding of New York to Marbella, proving it not to be as easy as one might first think.
“Thirty years ago - in 1977 - the iconic “I♥NY” logo was designed by graphic designer, Milton Glaser in support of the marketing campaign for New York State devised by advertising agents, Wells Rich Greene…Their goal was to promote...
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"Blah blah blah. Blah!"
How to communicate online with the right language
“Some consumers have preconceived expectations of where and how they’ll find the information they need while other seem to ‘go through the motions’ of researching online, but their decision making process and site selection conforms to a pre-existing opinion.”
— Source: UTalkMarketing / CDA
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Our Top 10 inappropriately overused words (5-1):
/cont… 05: ‘Caveat’
Anyone who works in marcomms, need I say more?
04: ‘Dichotomy’
Always seems to drop in to pitch-planning dialogue, sending a shiver down my spine. Also happens when I hear “managing client’s expectations” (in a Man·cu·ni·an accent).
03: ‘Zeitgeist’
We appreciate it but tis so so so overused, non?
02:...
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Our Top 10 inappropriately overused words (10-6):
Two Sundays ago, whilst leisurely reviewing the papers, sipping on a glass of Malbec, @Larkers and I started to deliberate words we considered to be inappropriately and overused. As a result, we casually started to collate in to a league table of opinion.
The list, so far, is but a gentle mix of words used in general conversation and the overly jargon-fuelled marcomms industry — which is...
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"There is no living with thee, nor without thee" —...
A marketing favourite, Mr Al Ries discusses the synergies that exist between basic heartfelt emotional attachment, being at the front of the queue and the overall influence each has on consumer supply and demand…
“What’s love got to do with it? Plenty. But you need to figure out how to create that love. And the best way to do that is to get into the consumer’s mind...
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10x10: 100 new homes by 10 of the world's best...
The 10x10 Project is a fantastic initiative — inviting 10 of the world’s best architect / designers to help design and build 100 new homes in one of the many townships that make up the vast area known as Cape Flats in South Africa.
Already, architects and designers such as David Adjaye, Thomas Heatherwick, Tom Dixon and Shigeru Ban have submitted designs… — Source:...
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Q. A new identity for Sweden's EU presidency...
Sweden unveils EU presidency logo “Openness, dialogue, that Sweden belongs to the core of the EU; light, midnight sun, the Nordic light, openness. A sign that we have nothing to hide,” read the winning submission from the Stockholm-based advertising firm Bacon.
So, I’m interested in this, however, I am particuarly interested in finding out more about ‘Bacon’ in Stockholm but...