the technology always comes first

In the film PressPausePlay, Bill Drummond makes this point.

Electric guitars were invented because the guitar in 30's Big Band's stuggled to be heard above the brass.

Then along came Hendrix et al, abusing the technology and inventing a genre.

Artists never invented oil paint, or the movie camera but they saw the opportunity the technology gave for creativity.

Here's a couple more for you.

The story goes that the distorted 'metal' guitar sound was invented by Dave Davies of the Kinks who slashed the speaker on his Vox AC30, then launched into the riff of You Really Got Me.

The Roland TB-303 Bass Line synth was originally made as a cheap tool for guitarists who wanted bass accompaniment while honing their licks. Only about 10,000 units were produced between 1981-84 and on the surface it looked like a flop product.

Then in the later end of the 1980s bootstrapped DJs and producers in Chicago found that by overdriving and cranking the box you could achieve the squelchy acid bass sound, and a new genre was born.

Again, all examples of the technology coming first, then artists messing with it - in ways the engineers never imagined - and new artforms coming out the other end.

The lesson here for our advertising creatives is clear. To always be embracing new technologies for their possibilities for creativity.

In particular, the possibilities afforded by mobile, are almost infinite.

For a simple start, mobile can replicate all previous mass media, and then some, particularly with the emergence of Augmented Reality platforms like Layar .

If I was a young creative type out to make my mark today, this is where I would be looking to demonstrate my creativity.

This is the technology I would be abusing, f*cking with, overdriving, cranking and generally poking the box. The tech comes along first then the artist messes with it and creates something new and unexpected.

That's my tip for the day, kids.

Tweet

Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Technorati | Yahoo | reddit

Buddhism, football, art-pop, science and marketing

One of the key pillars in all schools of Buddhism is the doctrine of impermanence, otherwise known as the theory of instantaneous being.

Buddhist thought says that ‘since the body's energy changes in every consecutive instance of its motion, at every instance the body becomes a different thing’.

In business terms it can be seen in any thinking that involves life cycles.
Product, and brands, are all subject to this law of impermanence and pass through stages of life; birth, growth, maturity and death, just as all living things do.

Now the science bit: If we agree with Einstein - all things in the physical world can be construed as energies (E=MC2 etc) – then the logical upshot of this notion of reality is that ultimately reality is subject to the law of instantaneous being because the energy of a body/thing changes all the time.

So Buddhism and science agree, existence actually means ‘efficiency’ or the ability to ‘cause a change or be changed’.

So here’s the thing.
Something that is static, or does not change is unable to perform work - and therefore does not exist.
In simple terms; the only existence is ‘that of change, or impermanence in nature’.

Sir Alex Ferguson knows this.
Man United may be English, European and, now, World Champions but at the start of the next season this means diddly squat. They have to do it all over again.
Nothing stays the same. Who could have predicted Aston Villa challenging for a Champions League spot. Or Hull City for that matter…

Bill Drummond has built this into his own creation ethos, with his ‘choir’ project ‘The 17’.
These were ‘time-, site- and occasion-specific’ performances, where the music was never recorded.
Bill says; ‘The meaning any work of art holds – be it music, visual or literary – is always in flux depending on when it is being listened to’



What does this mean for marketing?
We need to recognise that even the greatest marketing plan is as impermanent as a performance by the 17. When it’s been done, it’s time to destroy it and start again.
The same situations (causes) for success are not going to align again.
Everything changes.
The market changes, technology changes, our business changes our customers change
We may have experience fantastic success yesterday, but that won’t necessarily rock today. And tomorrow we’ll need another plan. It’s about being present in the here and now.

Impermanence - instantaneous being - is a fundamental law of our impermanent world. We must constantly adapt in order to, not only survive, but to exist.

In 2009 more than ever - quite literally, you snooze and you lose.

Tweet

Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Technorati | Yahoo | reddit