garden of tweetdom - the origins of twitter
The Garden Of Tweetdom
View more presentations from The Kaiser.
Genius from Marcus, as premiered at the Garden of Tweetdom last month.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Genius from Marcus, as premiered at the Garden of Tweetdom last month.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
permission marketing revisited
I enjoyed this thought provoking aricle; Why Advertising Is Failing On The Internet - by Eric Clemons, on techcrunch this week.
excerpt:
'Pushing a message at a potential customer when it has not been requested and when the consumer is in the midst of something else on the net, will fail as a major revenue source for most internet sites. This is particularly true when the consumer knows that the sponsor of the ad has paid to have this information, which was verified by no one, thrust at him.'
Clemons argues that advertising fails for 3 main reasons:
1. Consumers do not trust advertising
He quotes from Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational - a firm fave at Boat HQ...
'messages attributed to a commercial source have much lower credibility and much lower impact on the perception of product quality than the same message attributed to [non-ad sources].
Neilson's assertion that 78% of us trust peer recommendations above all other media backs this up. I use that chart in just about every presentation.
2. Consumers do not want to view advertising
I'll come back to this point in a minute.
3. And mostly consumers do not need advertising
No arguments there.
As it goes, Ive been re-reading Seth Godin's Permission Marketing in the last week or so while developing some ideas for a client eCRM programme and these two strands seem to intertwine.
To recap on Seth's premise, and I paraphrase...
The effectiveness of marketing directly corresponds to the level of permission the customer has given to receive the communication.
The level of permission we have - Combined with knowledge of customer and relevance of messaging - allows us to deliver 'anticipated, personal and relevant' messages to people who 'actually want to receive them.'
We don't start by asking for sales at first connection. We earn the right, over time, by developing our knowledge of the customer and increasing the relevance of our communication.
3 Steps to leverage permission
1. Offer the customer an incentive/reward to opt-in
2. Using the attention offered by the customer, inform about your products/service and build a relationship.
3. Over time, leverage the permission to influence customer behavior.
Benefits
One of the key benefits of a permission approach is the low cost of getting information to the people who want to receive it. Email, RSS and social platforms mean we can treat customers as individuals, and it means we can let them choose what they receive and in which format.
It is more effective because the person is more receptive to marketing that they have chosen to participate with and more cost-efficient because the prospect has already identified themselves, and the data we have tells us know which level of permission we have to talk to them.
note: see Clemens' point above about 'push'.
Seth's Five Levels of Permission Marketing
1- Intravenous.
This is the ultimate level of permission. The brand who has this level of permission can make buying decisions on behalf of the customer.
2. - Personal relationships
When we have a personal relationship, we have an ongoing dialogue. We have permission to ask more personal questions, recommend other products, even offer products or services on ‘approval’
3. - Loyalty/Points.
Air-miles and Nectar points are examples of this level of permission People opt-in to these programs because of the benefits to them. They offer their personal data to allow us track their purchase history and to send them related offers and information.
4. - Brand trust.
This is the level of trust that traditional marketing aspires to. Brand trust is fickle however, and is hard to measure. You can use brand trust to create brand extensions, or cross sell other products.
5 . - Situation.
This is the most basic form of permission. A customer has initiated an interaction by purchasing a product or making an enquiry. Employees who deal with customers and prospects are the tool to use for situational permission eg ‘Do you want fries with that?’.
I've switched points 2 and 3. Since 1999 when Permission Marketing was first published I think the developments of the social web etc validates moving Personal relationships up the ladder.
So, in a Permission based programme every contact with the prospective customer, should seek to move them one step further up the ‘permission’ ladder.
In many of the subsequent writings following the publication of PM it has been alluded to that their still requires that first 'interruption' to kick start the journey up the permission ladder. Generally that would be the role of some form of advertising.
It does not have to be in the form of an interruption though.
Going back to Clemons' statement that 'Consumers do not want to view advertising' I would argue that this is potentially a bit bold.
Advertising that someone has chosen to view (or participate with) is then permission based. It's how that advertising is distributed that is key.
And as Uncle Bert says: doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result - is insanity.
Friday, March 20, 2009
reasons to join
Oasis singer Liam Gallagher has launched his own line of clothing via his new company Pretty Green. Nothing particularly remarkable about that, although this kind of brand extention is more common in the hip-hop world rather than UK lad (or is it dad?) rock.
What caught my eye on the home page of the site was underneath the sign-up option was another link 'reasons to join'.
Reasons to join.
Members get to comment on Liam's blog, have their questions answered via video and of course get first dibs on the product before anyone else.
Connect with fans + Reason to Buy = Business model.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
They say Rome wasn't built in a day, but I wasn't on that particular job.
It is probably the best book about football i've read, here's hoping the movie lives up to it.
If the trailer is anything to go by the answer looks like a yes.
The Damned United tells the story of legend Brian Clough's short but eventful spell at the helm of Leeds Utd (at the time, the most hated team in England - ouside of Leeds) in the 1970's. Starring Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, and Jim Broadbent, the film is on release from March 27th.
There's a Facebook page with some choice Cloughie-isms and a few pictures too.
Friday, March 13, 2009
SMEBS alert: Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market
The latest in snake oil douche-lit for prospective twitter-spammers.
Just by the title you kinda know where this is going.
'Joel Comm is the leading social media expert to explain the fundamentals of Twitter in an easy-to-follow format.'
Never heard of him.
The foreword is written by veteran of 115 tweets, Tony Robbins
Thursday, March 12, 2009
unavoidable media!
Jeez. These media agencies and media owners (aka the axis of evil) never tire in their endless quest to INTERRUPT and ANNOY ME when I'm trying to get on with my life and FLEECE MY CLIENTS with bullshit measurement like 'millions of..' 'eyeballs' and 'impressions' etc in order that they buy into this bollocks.
'You can't go over it, you can't go under it, you can't go around it, you have to go throught it' FFS!
I honestly thought this was a joke until I witnessed it for real at Waterloo Station this morning.
Go on, chuck your money down the drain.
Mick Jones: the Rock & Roll Public Library
Just been pinged this. Mick Jones, of the Clash, BAD and latterly producer of the Libertines, is exhibiting all the 'paraphernalia of performance and marketing materials of the bands he has worked with. This archive sits alongside a parallel general collection of books, magazines, videos, ephemera, toys and games which mark out his life, times, and influences.'
The 79-82 period of the Clash featured some of the finest hats in rock'n'roll history.
This will be of particular interest...
The exhibition is titled 'Mick Jones: The Rock & Roll Public Library' and runs for a month from 18th March at Chelsea Space, part of the Chelsea College of Art and Design over in SW1.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
anarchy in the uk
I think it was Billy Bragg, the bard of Barking, who famously noted that: if everyone who claims to have seen the Sex Pistols perform in 1976 actually had seen them, they would have needed to have sold out Wembley Stadium for 7 nights on the trot rather than a dozen or so nights in Soho strip clubs, various art colleges, the screen on islington green and a couple of pubs in Dunstable and St Albans.
So follows the story of the 60 or so souls - who braved the wilds of a drab Southwark evening on Monday to huddle in the upstairs lounge of a Borough market bar - as they witnessed the first official live tweet reading 'the garden of tweetdom' by Marcus Brown.
As the story weaves itself into the fabric of social media [mess is] lore, our grandchildren will ask us to replay the mystical night in history as we happily relive; the first airing of the full unedited SMEBS documentary, the reading of the tweets of audience members including @will_humphrey and @johndodds. The megaphone (for twitter broadcasting irony effect), ipod singing and 'ein prosit' interludes.
Where were you on that day in history?
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
not dark yet...
Had to have a wry chuckle at an article on Brand Rebublic that was pinged round the office this week.
Titled 'Personalised DM significantly more likely to succeed' the article claims
'The majority of consumers are between five and ten times more likely to respond to properly personalised marketing offers compared to [superficially personalised] communications..'
According to direct marketing agency GI Direct, 'more than 70% of UK adults take more notice of mail that is aimed specifically and accurately at them'
Apparently their research gave "hard evidence of the critical importance of targeted direct marketing...[Marketers need to] examine the level of personalisation applied in their direct marketing campaigns, in order to ensure, at the least, they are matching competitor standards, and at best exceeding the market norm in order to improve campaign responsiveness and subsequent sales."
Nice try but spectacularly missing the point - and to set mediocrity (match competitor standards) as a benchmark is mildly depressing.
Personalisation is good but without PERMISSION it means nothing. The article fails to recognise this, and this is the big problem that direct marketing - whether on or offline - is still struggling to address after all this time.
If the communication is unsolicited it is SPAM. And what's more - if it's too personalised (but still unsolicited) its CREEPY SPAM.
Why am I getting my knickers in a twist? Here's a laugh for you.
In the last month or so Ive recieved 3 mailshots, from different companies to my home address, personalised to a degree (ie my name, and they know my age) for fucking MOBILITY SCOOTERS. Yes, the things old people drive round the supermarket.
I'm (just) over 40 so according to 'demographics' and 'specific and accurate targeting' I'm on my last legs and will shorly be road-raging round Sainsbury's, presumably looking for food that can be taken with a straw.
Total fail, based on broad assumptions, flaky research and ignorant speculation all dressed up as personalisation. Zero relevance unfortunately and another waste of paper.
Looking forward to the next mailshot for false teeth, hearing aids and zimmer frames.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Marks and Spencer launch twitter utility innovation
UK high street giant Marks and Spencer are beta testing a 3D real-world ‘desktop’ twitter robot utility – known as ‘the tweeting chick’.
The desk robot’s revolutionary voice recognition audio nanotechnology - housed in a deceptive fluffy yellow ‘chick’ casing - allows the device, once pre-loaded with the users twitter account and pre programmed tweet-active keywords, to record and auto-post 'tweetable' nuggets from ‘real world conversations’ thus ensuring off the cuff tweet-worthy remarks are not lost into the ether.
The device is now available in public beta mode as an ‘add-on’ from the checkouts at participating M&S outlets.
In an unlikely twist, Guy Kawasaki was not available for comment at the time of going to press.
Madras Rubber Factory
This fictional album cover randomiser project is a bit of a lark. I was tagged on facebook for this project but thought it might be fun to spin over onto this blog and the related 'sphere.
To create your fictional album:
1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “Random Article... Read More”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Go to "Random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.
5 - Post it on your blog with this text in the tags 'albumcover' and also tag the friends you want to join in (also link to this post if you like, that way I can track 'em and compile - also will give me some much needed technorati juice)
I'm tagging Neil, Sam, Will, Joe, Stan, Jon and Jonathan.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
the ROI of the tiger
Pondering over the Futurelab ‘Reconsidering the Advertising Industry’ report, and in particular chapter 5 ‘Walk the Digital Talk’
The chart below represents the view of a panel of 200 CMOs, polled by Sapient, who were asked about the skills they were looking for in their agency. My initial reaction was one of ‘if only ‘twere true…’
Futurelab also speculate:
‘Digital Agencies often miss depth in communication and strategy….Many “new media” agencies outskill and outthink traditional houses on the digital front. But they often lack the broader perspective that comes with true 360°, ROI based thinking….they chase the technology rather than look at the end customer’s actual media consumption. And all think of digital campaigns rather than using digital as a platform for relationship building.'
This segues neatly onto the ROI of the tiger…
In a recent post Collaborate Marketing's James Cherkoff quotes Nick Gonzales from Inside Facebook:
‘There’s currently a metrics vacuum in the social media space and it’s being filled with traditional metrics pulled from search and display. The only problem is that these metrics don’t make sense for brand campaigns in social media.’
I would argue that it’s even worse than that, in many cases its still the largely unmeasureable traditional advertising that’s viewed as more effective despite the fact there’s not even a ‘conversion event’ ie click through.
James also addresses the ROI question with regard to social/engagement activity.
‘Compared with what?’
With that in mind, allow me to relay to you a true story.
I recently pitched a digital engagement idea which would have delivered:
- Connection with a large core group of BrandX’s most passionate advocates
- Connecting those fans with each other in the brand’s space
- Invaluable data from the above and appropriate permission to continue to engage
- 6 months of activity where the advocates create and share content
- The ability to leverage that content for SEO
- A strategy to reduce dependence on paid search over time
- Something the advocates would ‘advertise’! (ie viral by nature)
- A permanent activity based asset for the brand to reuse.
- The activity was contextual to NPD delivering a reason to buy.
- NO MEDIA SPEND (£0) (zilch) (not a fucking sausage)
- All for the same price as the MEDIA ONLY of a one month press ad across half a dozen national titles.
Whilst the idea was well received the client bought the press ad instead.
Here were those metrics, something like 68% OTS (of 5.5m) at 2.9.
That means 68% of the ‘target audience’ might ‘see’ the ad about 3 times in that month.
These numbers, of course, identify reach only and not any depth of engagement.
Head => brick wall.
With nowhere else to turn I consulted the oracle.
‘The fundamental issue is that it is very difficult to enumerate an accurate "gain from investment" when it is clear that a lot of the new marketing has an almost osmotic effect and works indirectly.
And the defence is this. If the "cost of investment" is low, as is clearly the case in much of the new marketing, then it is equally clear that only a small impact on revenues will generate an impressive ROI. ‘
The upshot is; social media and engagement activities can only be measured in the context of contribution to the overall effectiveness of all the interdependent marketing activity, surely?
The quest continues….
Footnote:
One of Cherkoff’s commenters added:
‘Do you think Nike are worried about the metrics on Nike Plus?’
Totally agree, but can I just state for the record that if I hear Nike+ rolled out one more time as a case study I will literally chew my own leg off and gouge my left eye out with a spoon.
the product is the marketing #371
Was talking to a client the other day about products that are being used in ways other than how the brand might have anticipated. my example was Landrovers - adopted by hip-hoppers in the 'hood - which in turn led to the urban SUV's we now know.
Wish i'd seen this before that conversation.
One for the ladies?
Props to BrandDNA
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
most people won't read this
If I had a pound for every time I've heard some variation this...
Most people do not have an iphone.
Most people are not online most of the time.
Most people don't use twitter.
Most people will not upload a picture/movie etc
Most people will not leave a comment.
Most people will only buy the cheapest.
Most people can't be bothered with x.
Most people are not interested in y.
Most people are not on a social network.
etc etc.
Then what follows usually includes some of these words; eyeballs, reach, mass, target audience, demographics and some generalisation 'persona' profiling.
This is the language of carpet-bombers and spammers. And it is rife.
Here's some other things about most people:
Most people don't click on banner ads.
Most people use their pvr to skip TV ads.
Most people completely ignore posters on the tube.
Most people hate spam.
Most people use their mobile phone principally to communicate with other people.
Most people think it's rude to interrupt.
Most people use the web to connect with other people interested in the same stuff as them.
Most people are literally gagging for relevance and personalisation.
Most people are not interested in you they are interested in 'me'.
MOST PEOPLE ARE FAR MORE LIKELY TO CONNECT WITH MARKETING THAT THEY HAVE CHOSEN TO PARTICIPATE WITH, THAN MARKETING THAT IS FORCED UPON THEM.
diagram from Jonathan MacDonald's 'The Communication Ideal'
spam of the week
I'm looking forward to recieving my $800,000 USD and tickets for the 2010 World Cup in SA as special guest of Prince Charles.
I can only assume this is in recognition of my twitter influence status and, of course, my post of the month in January.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Connect with fans (CwF) + Reason to buy (RtB) = The Business Model ($$$$)
Pure gold! Techdirt's Mike Masnick on Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails' album release and connect with fans strategy.
Why is this important?
BECAUSE IT WORKS FOR JUST ABOUT ANY BUSINESS!
Connect With Fans (CwF) + Reason To Buy (RtB) = The Business Model ($$$$)
found this via hypebot
UPDATE:
It just gets better and better.
The ex-NIN drummer is at it for his solo project. Josh Freese story via mashable.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Meatballs, marriage and Seth Godin – the London Session:
Popped down to the amazing Church House conference centre behind Westminster Abbey on Tuesday to hear Seth Godin talk, in a rare appearance in London.
As a nice touch the afternoon kicked off with a special ‘unplugged’ session with 50 Tribes members and an intimate Q&A with Seth before the main presentation.
Seth was on good form, delivering an almost ‘Greatest Hits’ set, covering the best bits and themes from Permission Marketing through All Marketers are Liars, Purple Cow, Tribes and big doses of Meatball Sundae, before fielding a 2 hour Q&A.
It seemed liked a mixed bag audience of die-hard Seth disciples, new converts and some others who had been dragged along by friends or colleagues to hear the gospel.
The key ‘penny drop’ moment for many of the new recruits in the audience came during the Q&A when someone asked a question around ‘What can I do in my organisation when the bulk of the people in the middle don’t ‘get it’ (in terms of new marketing, collaborative working etc) and are resistant to change’.
The answer was, of course: don’t bother with them.
Focus on finding the others who are embracing new ideas and change, work together with them, and if you can find two or three other individuals each and turn them around before long you have enough leverage to turn the mass in the middle who just want to do what everyone else is doing.
I bumped into Anjali (quel surprise!) - who has kindly summarised the day over at madebymany - and Craig from Sue Ryder Care again (we need to stop meeting like this!) plus I made a couple of new acquaintances – Helen Jerome from Wall to Wall (her company developed ‘Who Do You Think You Are' for the BBC) and had a nice chat with Marcel Baron from IBM’s innovation department.
The clip below is Seth freestyling on meatballs, marketing, marriage and dating. Shot with my Flip Ultra (Flip VRM outreach: I'd like to try the Flip mino...)
Seth Godin in London from eaon pritchard on Vimeo.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
graham brown (mobileyouth) on: the next ten years
excerpt: 'we live in a network era - awash with industrial brands served by industrial agencies relying on industrial tactics using industrial metrics'
more thoughts on mobile and youth marketing - industrial vs social - on mobileyouth.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
question re: ad funded web apps a la Spotify...
Playing with Spotify, its a pretty cool service (don't know if it's the saviour of the music business yet) but i have the same question that i have for all of these ad-funded apps.
What happens when the advertisers pull out? People are ignoring the ads in Spotify the same way they are ignoring them in most other media.
Everything I read about Spotify includes something along the lines of 'the user only has to put up with an ad every 25mins..'
The ad funded model suits the users and the developer
but wheres the value for the advertiser?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Go Home Productions does Nike 'Ignite'
The audio/mix for this new Nike football spot was created by my mate Mark aka Go Home Productions.
The spot, featuring Arsenal v Man United, was first aired in Japan the other day during the Australia v Japan world cup qualifier.
Mark is a big Arsenal fan and has cleverly multi tracked himself chanting 'we've got Cesc Fabregas' into the crowd sections.
Think Tank...and the winner is - ME!
Managed to dodge the paperazzi this morning following my resounding victory in the Think Tank post of the month.
I now join Valeria, Dino, Jonathan and Charles in the Think Tank Hall of Fame.
This musing on Interdependence was the one that done it.
Thanks to everyone who voted.
And well done to Gordon, who ran a close second with the poetic I can Hear the snow, faintly falling through the universe.
Gordon and his posse were also kind enough to give me some valuable tips on punctuation and pointers on my 'eye wateringly dull' content.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
I can read movies by Spacesick
Ohio based Artist/illustrator Spacesick has designed these fantastic book jacket adaptations of classic films in a sort of retro-futuristic style.
There's 24 in all, have a look at them on the Spacesick blog. Excellent work.
Thanks to Clarence for the tip.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Trust - a ten year low for business
Check out these clips from the 2009 Edelman Trust barometer survey.
Mark Earls showed one of the slides at a 'influence and social networks' workshop we attended at NESTA the other day which showed how 62% (globally) of those surveyed trust business less than they did a year ago.
Though trust is up in emerging economies (ie Asia, S America). it's significantly down in 'established' economies (ie UK, US & Europe) and particularly in the industries associated with 'affluence' - auto and banking (no surprise there, then).
Edelman are calling this the 'trust divide'. The other big shift, as we know, is that now we are - more than ever - trusting each other over any other media.
Here's one of the clips with the stats I've mentioned.
Friday, February 06, 2009
the Shopkeeper's tweet readings
I've not been able to write anything here this week after watching Marcus's tweet reading series. I'm kinda thinking he has said the final words on social media/blogging etc. There is nowhere else to go after this. It's over...
Official Tweet Reading IV: Reading Valeria Maltoni from Marcus Brown on Vimeo.
Friday, January 30, 2009
service-positive interactions
Sick to death of hearing about the umpteenth 'great use of twitter'?
Well this one is actually a great use of twitter.
Not some douchebag personal branding twitter spammer bullsh*t.
But a service-positive interaction. (thanks Alan)
If you haven't already (it's spread like wildfire) read this story on the mrtweet blog about how CoffeeGroundz Cafe in Houston, Texas almost doubled their clientele using twitter in a service positive manner.
What's more, the initial interaction was CUSTOMER-DRIVEN, then vendor adopted.
thought for the day #274 thich nhat hanh
'In one sheet of paper, we see everything else...the cloud, the forest, the logger.
I am, therefore you are. You are, therefore I am. That is the meaning of the word ‘interbeing.’ We inter-are.'
Thich Nhat Hanh
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Interdependence.
Been reading Chomsky's 'Interventions' on my commute recently.
He comments on the US media's uncritical coverage of the Iraq war.
Some in the media have claimed they have been critical, but Chomsky argues that it's been the wrong sort of critisism.
'it's not working, it's costing too much, we should appoint a new general...the issue isn't 'how are they going to win', it's what are they doing there in the first place?'
A similar wrong I'm coming across every day is the continued use of 'old media' metrics into the evaluation of 'new media' marketing.
New media is infinitely more measurable beyond 'brand tracker' type metrics and assumptions, and only using technology to develop new more sophisticated methods of interruption is a doomed strategy.
Interdependence rather than integration is a better description of how old and new can work together. The most seismic shift being that it’s now a three-way process with the customers as partners.
Until recently brands have been able to rely on awareness or ‘opportunity to see’ to create interest in their products and services. Where traditional advertising and marketing can still deliver awareness to a point, the new media presents the opportunity to bring a response close. Blurring the lines between brand and response.
By brands focusing on engagement and interaction in these channels, a potential customer is much more likely to connect with an idea.
Principally because the notion of interdependence also means that they can contribute to the idea.
The simple fact is; marketing that they have chosen to participate with will be far more effective than marketing that is forced at them.
and...
How a brand behaves interactively has a greater impact on brand perception than what a brand actually says.
Two points to note.
Point one:
In the digital networked space the brand message often does not arrive.
Or if it does it’s not in it’s intended form.
Case in point is Fallon’s Gorilla campaign for Cadbury’s last year.
Many people’s exposure to the campaign happened first online via the numerous mash-ups and remixes on You Tube.
Whether Fallon intended or even anticipated this is moot, but it does prove that ‘interdependent’ planning requires planning for content that you do not create or control.
Next point:
What Alan Wolk has coined as The real Digital Revolution.
Pre-revolution, me (punter) sees ad - leads to consideration – then,maybe, sale.
Nowadays, it goes like this: See ad - go to Google - go to network, then consideration then maybe purchase.
The networked world might be diminishing the ability of traditional ‘branding’ to influence our feelings about the product or service, but is drawing the transaction opportunity closer. As mobile devices increase in sophistication this gap will close further.
But the interdependence of the network (of which brands are participants too) gives us the ability to research and find out all the details from unbiased sources and that’s what now determines the yay or nay. Brands that embrace this interdependence are the ones that will be in with a shout.
Thanks to Charles btw
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
never mind the pollocks
Nice to see Google acknowledge the birthday of Jackson Pollock on the homepage today.
Pollock was, of course, a force for disruption in the art world in the 50's, rejecting conventions of fine art with a unique approach.
'I continue to get further away from the usual painter's tools such as easel, palette, brushes, etc. I prefer sticks, trowels, knives and dripping fluid paint or a heavy impasto with sand, broken glass or other foreign matter added.'
In true disruptor fashion, he returned to figurative work in the mid 50's once abstract expressionism became mainstream.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
T-Shirt Hell and the forces for mediocrity...
Interestingly, T-Shirt hell, producers of amusing and ironic slogan t-shirts like 'What about all the good things Hitler did?' have decided to close their doors due to the barrage of they-just-don't-get-it mail from the moral 'majority', received in response to their latest t-shirt 'It's not gay if you beat them up afterwards'.
T-shirt Hell guy, Sunshine Megatron says:
'...Anyway, rather than cater to the masses, I'm just going to stop making shirts. It's not enjoyable anymore and I have enough money to move on to something more rewarding. Maybe I'll start my own hooker farm or maybe I'll practice sleeping. Whatever I decide to do, it will be better than this.'
Here's his letter to their customers, T-Shirt Hell says goodbye.
Hat tip to Jude in the office for this.
Friday, January 23, 2009
ars*holes, b*stards, f*cking c*nts and pr*cks
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
on creativity #224 Jean Luc Godard
Friday, January 16, 2009
down in the tube station at midnight
Standing on the platform at Goodge St station the other day I couldn't help noticing that every second poster ad on the platform and up the stairs was a place filler by CBS Outdoor, who own the space. Sign of the times?
Thursday, January 15, 2009
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.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Web traffic: Opinion piece I wrote for Brand Republic
I wrote this for Brand Republic ages ago and had forgotten about it, it just appeared today. In case you can't log in to BR (Ithink you need to be a subscriber, not sure?) I've re posted it here.
As an aside, i think i've been sub-edited as I'm fairly certain that the liberal sprinkling of the c-word (consumer)was not my doing. I've amended it for republication here.
"How to generate traffic to your website:
Conventional marketing usually involves investing a lot of time, effort and money trying to interrupt people who are busy doing something else and probably don't care about your products or services -- and it's usually through advertising.
About 5 years ago I could expect to encounter around 1,000 marketing messages per day as I go about my business. Today with more fragmented media channels, it's closer to 5,000.
The bad news for brands is that I am now better equipped for ignoring their messages than ever before.
The good news for brands is that they have assets to affect this that are massively underused and undervalued, which come in the form of the customers they already have.
More importantly, there's the core group of those customers who are strong brand ambassadors.
Brands need to work out who these people are, get their permission, build a relationship and dialogue, and then ask!
The big question is, can brands handle the fact that no-one actually cares much about them?
People care about their own passions and the groups and communities that they are part of -- even those that are extremely brand loyal only care because their chosen brands make it easy for them to do what they want to do (not vice versa).
We need to give consumers the tools to make their brand experience personal and relevant.
Build the affiliations -- syndicate the content using RSS and embed codes.
Attract visitors by sending them away -- link out to the individuals and groups that are talking about the same stuff.
The nature of the web is not as a communication channel, it's a connection channel.
Amazon.com is of course the great example of this empowerment of the customer: A friend of mine produces a podcast on Buddhism. He has a core community of around 200,000 listeners via his blog and i-tunes. Amazon's affiliate shops allow him to create his own "shop" within Amazon via a widget embedded in the blog where listeners can easily purchase further reading material to aid their practice.
Brands need to think about their site: "Is the content compelling? Is it worth talking about? Have I set in place the mechanisms to allow my best customers to personalise their experience, adapt and share the message? Does my site serve the needs and desires of my customers, not just the brand message? Do I have the systems in place to be able to listen and quickly respond -- with a human voice -- to comments and queries?"
And finally, brands need to ensure that their products, services and customer service is so good, actually forget good, so great that their core group of influential fans have something to shout about."
kissing the tortoise shell...
Like the jazzbo in search of the 13th note, i'm always in search of the killer chart.
I've got one working just now called 'the digital engagement playground' (ie how the interwebs work) - i'll share it with you when it's done but at the nub is a notion I am calling the 'seven C's'.
These are:
COMMUNICATION
CONNECTIVITY
COMMENTARY
CREATIVITY
CUSTOMISATION
COMMERCE
& CHOICE
You will notice I've left out 'conversation'. Partly because it's possibly getting a bit tired and, to be fair, it probably fits in under communication anyway.
Also, it would have given me 8 C's and the Bunnymen trick wouldn't have worked.
Friday, January 09, 2009
the true roots of creativity and innovation - Malcolm Gladwell vid
Compelling video of Gladwell using Fleetwood Mac and the Beatles, amongst others, to illustrate how great art/creativity doesn't just happen overnight - it takes time, experimentation and PRACTICE to “rediscover the true roots of creativity and innovation.”
Devoting time and energy to your craft.
Ive not read 'Outliers' but I'm guessing this story also appears in the book.
I wish I could embed the clip but theres no code.
Take a few mins out to check this.
Malcolm Gladwell at the AIGA Design Conference October 2008
Declaration of Revocation by John Cleese
Thanks to Becky, our Creative Director, who managed to dig out this piece written by John Cleese at the time of George W Bush's election as US President.
Most of the rules still stand up, hopefully there will be no need to recolonise as we have high hopes for Obama, but you never know.
Declaration of Revocation by John Cleese
To the citizens of the United States of America, in the light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.
Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories.
Except Utah, which she does not fancy.
Your new Prime Minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a Minister for America without the need for further elections.
Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.
A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Then look up "aluminium." Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.
The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour'; skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters.
You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' (pronounced 'zed' not 'zee') and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise."
You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to re-spell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation.
Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary." Using the same thirty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "uhh", "like", and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.
Look up "interspersed."
There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with bad language then you shouldn't have chat shows. When you learn to develop your vocabulary, then you won't have to use bad language as often.
2. There is no such thing as "U.S. English." We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize."
3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard. English accents are not limited to cockney, upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier).
You will also have to learn how to understand regional accents --- Scottish dramas such as "Taggart" will no longer be broadcast with subtitles.
While we're talking about regions, you must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is "Devon." If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American
States will become "shires" e.g. Texasshire, Floridashire, Louisianashire.
4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys. Hollywood will be required to cast English actors to play English characters.
British sit-coms such as "Men Behaving Badly" or "Red Dwarf" will not be re-cast and watered down for a wishy-washy American audience who can't cope with the humour of occasional political incorrectness.
5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.
6. You should stop playing American "football." There is only
one kind of football. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very good game.
The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should
instead play proper football.
Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies).
We are hoping to get together at least a US Rugby sevens side by 2005.
You should stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the 'World Series' for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.15% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls' game called "rounders," which is baseball without fancy team strip, oversized gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.
7. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don't believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 2nd will be a new national holiday, but only in England. It will be called "Indecisive Day."
9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap, and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.
All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts. You will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call 'French fries' are not real chips. Fries aren't even French, they are Belgian though 97.85% of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium. Those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called "crisps." Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat. The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat.
Waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.
11. As a sign of penance 5 grams of sea salt per cup will be added to all tea made within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this quantity to be doubled for tea made within the city of Boston itself.
12. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling "beer" is not actually beer at all, it is lager. From November 1st only proper British Bitter will be referred to as "beer," and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as "Lager." The substances formerly known as "American Beer" will henceforth be referred to as "Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine," with the exception of the product of the American Budweiser company whose product will be referred to as "Weak Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine." This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in the Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.
13. From November 10th the UK will harmonise petrol (or "gasoline," as you will be permitted to keep calling it until April 1st 2005) prices with the former USA. The UK will harmonise its prices to those of the former USA and the Former USA will, in return, adopt UK petrol prices (roughly $6/US gallon -- get used to it).
14. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.
15. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.
16. Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).
Thank you for your co-operation.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
value creation v. platforms for creative executions
Pointing you to a great post to kick off the new year around the value creation theme that I've picked up on here too lately.
From Adrian Ho at zeusjones in Minneapolis.
excerpt:
'In our eagerness to extend an idea into multiple channels or forms, I think it’s increasingly important to ask whether we are we actually creating more value or simply making everything we do less valuable?'
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
hell bent on compromise
There's an alarming trend for the young people I see coming into the advertising/marketing business to be desperate to conform to establishment thinking, so quick to embrace the status quo.
To hear 21 year old young fogeys talking about 'personal branding'and 'markets are conversations' is mildly depressing.
Fuck that.
Growing up and learning is not about filling up a bucket, but lighting a fire (not my quote but i'll have it!)
It's the sworn duty of agencies formerly engaged in advertising and marketing to now be engaged in force for good and to lead our clients in that direction.
Ethics, integrity, value creation. We are not all prostitutes.
Changing the way we think, towards these values, not only improves our own lives but - through the power of the networked world - by default uplifts the collective experience of reality.
And we need the incoming generations to lead that.
So put down your iphones and go and smash some windows.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
web2.0 douchebaggery #217 - personal branding
A couple of thoughts on so-called 'personal branding'.
You could easily substitute that term with 'self-consciousness'.
This is a negative thing.
Self confidence, however, is a positive. It is not about ego or pride (so prevalent in this biz!) but it comes from doing what you are doing, focusing on that without self consciously second guessing what others are thinking or being distracted.
Being present.
By not wasting time worrying about being judged or percieved by others we can get on with our work and make it meaningful.
That brings self-confidence, knowing you are doing what is right.
Here's a nugget from Eleanor Roosevelt:
'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent'
In the same way that the opposite of great is not bad, it's average (ie invisible) - the opposite of self confidence is not insecurity or feelings of inadequecy (these are contributary causes or symptoms if you like) but is self-conciousness.
Personal branding is bollocks. Just be f*cking great at what you do, and respect others contributions. Job done.
Monday, January 05, 2009
three buckets
Clients often find it hard to swallow radical ideas if that's all they get to look at. It can be scary, even if they have the appetite for change. I'm finding this method - which i stumbled across in Ken Hudson's book The Idea Generator - useful for; generating ideas and selling them.
Ive adapted it slightly but it's the same thing.
Imagine 3 buckets:
Bucket 1 - Business as Usual.
Banner ads, microsites etc - the usual guff. Traditional methods easily understood.
Bucket 2 - Something a bit different, might be dipping toes into social web, engagement. Stuff like that.
Bucket 3 - Is the game changing, purple cow-ness. The out-there stuff that's going to get them noticed and talked about.
By aiming for bucket 3 when working up ideas at the very least your going to land a few in bucket 2.
And by presenting stuff in all 3 buckets clients can be more receptive to bucket 3 solutions when they can see why it's better/more innovative/remarkable than the business as usual.
pic credit
Mark Earls' : A Brand-free January
I've signed up to this on Mark Earls' blog aka Herd:
Pledging not to use the b-word for the month of January.
Another one to add to the list.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
for Precision Marketing magazine Dec 08: Twitter 2009
Here's a short bit on Twitter what I wrote for Precision Marketing magazine just before the holidays. An intro to twitter; yes people, there are still those out there who do not know.
Add to that this mornings revelations that social media is actually more popular than ever, and this nugget from hitwise which clearly demonstrates it's not just a US thing.
'UK Internet visits to Twitter have increased by 631% over the last 12 months, with 485% of that growth coming this year. Twitter is more popular with Brits than Americans: last week the site’s share of UK Internet visits was 70% higher its share of visits in America. Twitter cannot yet be considered mainstream in the USA, but in the UK it’s getting there.'
Anyway, here's the piece.
As Confucious famously said; ‘It’s difficult to make predictions, particularly about the future’ however I’m going to stick my proverbial neck out and venture that 2009 is going to be the year that Twitter enters the mainstream.
For anyone reading this and asking themselves, what is Twitter?
Twitter is increasingly pulling away as the leading opt-in, permission based communication and listening platform. Google it.
Anytime anything is being said about your company, products, or services you can monitor it and, most importantly, respond instantly if appropriate. In fact you can also use the various freely available tools to track what’s being said about any thing you fancy. Your competitors for instance.
Yes, Twitter gives your opponents and critics a voice too, but that means you can listen and act.
As Twitter progresses towards it’s critical mass it’s increasingly one of the most effective research tools in your box. Simply tapping into that stream of ideas, content, links and commentary focused on your area of business your research has so much more value than traditional focus groups, for example.
Traditional focus groups only tell a portion of the story. On Twitter, groups can form and unform on an ad hoc basis, self-selected around subjects that interest them directly.
It’s no surprise that among the top 5 UK Twitter users (in terms of number of followers) are; Stephen Fry and John Cleese. The trick to adding value is simple.
Have something interesting to say.
And unless you are part of the conversation you cannot contribute therefore you don’t add any value.
The last point is of particular significance for our politicians.
The recently launched Tweetminster.com is a portal that brings together the collected tweets of several UK MP’s, including Tory leader David Cameron, following the lead of the PMs office earlier this year who launched the official Downing St twitter feed.
And, while it’s disappointing that Barack Obama stopped Twittering the second the election was over , his team saw the value of connecting directly to a fanatical group of supporters with real time updates as the campaign unfolded.
The internet is about people, not technology. Twitter is people-driven; so if your business depends upon relationships and interactions with people it’s time to take notice of Twitter.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
NASA 'Money' video by Shepard Fairey
Featuring Chuck D (Public Enemy) and David Byne (Talking heads) amongst others this is the tune of the week and an absolute dynamite video illustrated by artist Sheparde Fairey, of 'Obey' fame.
thanks to Clarence.
myspace.com/nasa.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Feliz Navidad
Probably the last post here before the festive break so just a note to say thanks to all who have read, commented, contributed and shared here in the last 12 months and also to all the great minds who have influenced this content in one way or another.
It just remains to say 'Feliz Navidad' to all and i'll leave you with this clip of EL Vez, the Mexican punk Elvis with his take on the Jose Feliciano Xmas classic, (spot the PiL mashup element).
note:
El Vez was briefly signed to Alan McGee's Poptones label in the late 90s.
Can't resist another little niggle to the music 2.0 evangelists.
The success of Oasis et al gave McGee the opportunity to invest in the long tail, and give a platform to the likes of El Vez and others like the criminally overlooked Jasmine Minks.
This is where record companies still have a role, as a kind of socialist curator.
NGOTB gurus of marketing #236 - George Bernard Shaw
One of my favourite Seth-isms, recently featured in Tribes.
'Remarkable visions and genuine insight are always met with resistance. And when you start to make progress, your efforts are met with even more resistance.... whatever it is, the forces for mediocrity will align to stop you, forgiving no errors and never backing down until it's over.'
I repeat this to myself every day.
Another one I tell myself everyday is this nugget on creativity by George Bernard Shaw. Another heretic, who made it his life's work to challenge the status quo, aka the forces for mediocrity.
Friday, December 19, 2008
tweetminster
More power to the argument that 2009 is going to be the year that twitter really breaks.
Tweetminster is a service that lists all UK MP's who are using Twitter and their twitter id. Following on from the official Downing St twitter feed and social media makeover now you can find and follow your local MP (if they tweet, it's still in the early stages so low on numbers) or some of the bigger names like C*meron*spit* are also on there. Check it out at tweetminster.co.uk.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
dave trott the hard way via persuasionism
Can I just point you to this great story by Dion Hughes from the excellent Persuasionism.
Dion recounts his early efforts at getting a job in advertising as a youngster and an encounter with ad legend Dave Trott.
It's a charming story, and be sure to read the comments as Trott himself responds.
Anyone familiar with his writing will be aware of it's poetic structure, he even applies it to blog comments.
As i said, a heart-warming nice wee story.
Enjoy.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
twitter, google reader, rss conundrum
Posted this over at 140char.com last night.
It occurred to me the other day that i tend to read the blog posts from those i follow on twitter - who 'tweet' new articles via twitterfeed or suchlike - more often than the others in my google reader (which i check once or twice a week at the most).
Wouldn’t be good if there was a twitterfeed - that i can control - that tweets me selected blogs - from my reader - as they happen?
This would save a lot of dicking about between twitter desktop client and browser/feed widget.
Yeah, this kinda happens with friendfeed but I don’t control that - I'm not necessarily friends with most of the authors in my rss reader , whereas with a custom google reader feed into twitter, spec’d by me... is that bit more personal.
Or maybe this functionality already exists? Any thoughts?
Monday, December 15, 2008
Music 2.0 debunked brilliantly
My beef with the so-called music 2.0 evangelists has always been that they focus on business models and distribution rather than the actual CONTENT.
Yeah, Radiohead and NIN have uncovered some interesting TACTICS but what about the actual music? What are they saying about anything?
Same goes for the numerous Myspace careerist popsters.
Lots of nifty marketing but where's the cultural significance ie punk, acid house, hip hop.
Check out the second half this rant from lefsetz letter, which sums it up perfectly.
excerpt:
'We don’t have a theft problem. We’ve got a MUSIC problem.'
'Don’t tell me it’s the same as it always was. It was different in the sixties and seventies. Sure, we wanted to go to the gig to hang out, but we NEEDED to hear the music. We NEEDED to be closer to the geniuses who made it. We felt it was us versus them, the act and its audience versus the system. Whereas now the acts ARE PART OF THE SYSTEM!'
thanks to jmac and dan
TiVO do Dominos Pizza
My friends at TiVO NY tell me they have set up and launched another seamless web and tv integration like the Amazon partnership i reported on a few months back.
Now the custom Domino's pizza utility, that has been popular online, can also be accessed via TV for TiVO customers.
The Domino's app allows you to log in with your web id, there's also no messy account management on tv as you can pay cash when the pizza arrives. Keeps it simple.
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