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Word cloud of answers to the recent Pew Internet question:
“What is one word that describes your experience using social networking sites?”
From here.
So it's far more "good" than "great". Apparently not "boring" and way more "fun" than "entertaining". Which might all support what Brian is saying about the end of Social Media 1.0.
Hickey Freeman started making men's suits about 100 years ago. Actually, they make excellent suits. Throughout the decades when you walk into Hickey Freeman's Rochester, New York headquarters you see this sign carved in oak in the entryway...
Being able to articulate something perfectly is a skill. And it's a wonderful moment when we hear it being done. You know the occasion; someone summarizes a person or thing in one word or a series of concise sentences and just nails it perfectly.
The interesting thing about perfect articulation is that it occurs only in two situations: spontaneousness or well-crafted thought. The former requires a perfect understanding of the subject at-hand usually gained from years of affiliation while the latter comes with lots of writing and re-writing in a focused amount of time. I liken this to writing the truest sentence possible as Hemingway always tried to do.
This month Pearl Jam Twenty releases. Directed by Cameron Crowe, it's a documentary about the career of Pearl Jam. As a fan of the band, proud member of Gen X and purveyor of all things Pacific Northwest, I'm excited to see it.
An article with Crowe in this month's Vanity Fair asked him about what Eddie Vedder brought to the band once he joined. His choice of words made me think about the skill of perfect articulation.
VF: Why did you go back to the band's beginnings as Mother Love Bone with their first lead singer, Andrew Wood?
Cameron Crowe: I wanted to tell that story of lightning striking twice. Nobody believed there was going to be a future for those guys after Andy Wood died, and it's kind of a rock miracle that Eddie Vedder--who was living in California at the time--sent an audition tape.
VF: What do you think Eddie brought to the band?
Cameron Crowe: He brought promise, and also a challenge to their Seattle, set-in-their-ways community. Eddie, as a guy, wants to fit in, but he also wants to tilt against the windmills. That combination of push and pull really helped them. Andy was ready to play arenas with no guilt, and I think Eddie wanted to stay close to fans and build it slowly. He was both an insider and an outsider.
[ Pictured above: Crowe and Vedder in Italy in '93. ]
I saw this the other day...
And then I saw this...
And then I read this really interesting letter, courtesy of the always great Letters of Note, from Phil Hartman to an aspiring comedian. Phil talks about how amateur comedy is too 'on the nail' and too 'shock jock' in its nature and therefore lacks craft and subtlety, which is needed if one aspires to be funny on the level of, say, a Letterman...
Marketing is often the same way.
Like the comedy Phil speaks of, the craft comes from taking something simple ($1 drink days at a restaurant or owing someone a beer) and adding a sense of welcomed thrill like the wonderful McDonald's and Heineken ideas above.
But shock for the sake of shock that we're sadly seeing more of these days seems a bit amateur in marketing, too.
The initial goal (in the year 2000) was to build an e-commerce website that featured original entertainment content--a well-trod marketing maneuver today but eye-openingly ambitious a decade ago, particularly for a fashion house. That year, Ralph Lauren launched the luxury industry's first e-commerce site, created Ralph Lauren Magazine, an online publication with original articles, and Ralph Lauren TV, an original web channel covering fashion, design and sports, and featuring celebrity interviews. Together the pieces formed what David calls "merchantainment," the blending of commerce and content. This strategy echoed Ralph's own distinctive print advertising moves from 30 years ago: The goal was not to push specific Ralph Lauren products, but rather to sell the idea of the Ralph Lauren lifestyle.
"The internet came at the right time for us. Our stores are like movie sets. Our ads are like still lifes of movies. The web let us create truly interactive, immersive movies. It's not about the technology. It's about the brand." -David Lauren, EVP, Ralph Lauren
[ from here ]
When it comes to Account Planning one of the best blogs right now is Martin Weigel's Canalside View. The research and affiliated cultural mentions that go into each post are most impressive. Be sure to check out this one: defining better problems.
Every organization should spend more time defining problems. According to a study cited on Martin's post, campaigns that set hard objectives based on business or behavior results enjoy an effectiveness success rate of 50%. Conversely, campaigns that were based on soft goals, such as attitudinal changes, had a success rate of only 11%.
Defining better problems upfront is the key. And to do this, great insight can be found in the post. I particularly liked seeing the CIA Phoenix checklist.
The Momentus Project is a collaborative effort of designers, illustrators and artists who create visual expressions of some of the most defining moments in US history.
Seeing this effort reminded me of an interview I heard the other weekend with David McCullough who said that "history is the most important topic that could be taught because it's about cause and effect; human action and consequence".
LivingSocial and Mind's Eye Media created the The LivingSocial Taxi which is terrific. A great reminder that LivingSocial isn't so much about discounts as it's about enabling new experiences.
Sometimes you don't really know how dated something has become until you place it side by side with the contemporary. Like the new 'bow tie' Budweiser can from JKR.
This piece of work for Nokia via W+K London is great and we'll probably be seeing it again at Cannes. It's all shot on the Nokia N8. And the making of video is just as entertaining while doing an excellent secondary job at selling the product.
Burberry created the Art of the Trench, a wonderful collage of trenches throughout the world. A great way to showcase the diversity one product can have. Have a trench look to share? Upload it.
It turns out you can have some fun with public service road safety messaging.
This GAP effort really works for me. LA is the denim capitol of the world and focusing on the 1969 Denim Studio gives a feeling to the GAP that's been absent for quite some time. (Unless I missed something.) Of course, the comments along with the video aren't kind. But I like it.
Here's a great extension of Mastercard's "Priceless" campaign by R/GA. The effort is called "Check In To the Ballgame" and all this month New Yorkers have a chance to find 20 decommissioned Yankee stadium seats placed across the city. Once found fans can then scan the embedded QR codes on the seats which will check them in via Facebook Places making them eligible to win VIP tix to a 2011 Yankee game.