Cheap And Evil Girl

"In order to change an existing paradigm you do not struggle to try and change the problematic model...."

Thu, 09 May 2013 23:58:26 -0400

““In order to change an existing paradigm you do not struggle to try and change the problematic model. You create a new model and make the old one obsolete.””

- - R. Buckminster Fuller (via unequal-design)

CRUCIAL journalism advice in 2k13. (via annfriedman)

Not just journalism - applicable across so many industries that are impacted by the intersection of culture and technology. As ad agencies start to integrate “digital” and “traditional” let’s create a stronger new model instead of force-fitting both into the restrictive existing model.

Audi taps into pop-culture icon Leonard Nimoy, aka Dr. Spock,...

Wed, 08 May 2013 11:51:32 -0400

Audi taps into pop-culture icon Leonard Nimoy, aka Dr. Spock, his younger self, Zachary Pinto and Star Trek fan fanaticism for a not so typical car commercial.

I love Dave Armano’s infographic that shows the difference...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:20:18 -0400

I love Dave Armano’s infographic that shows the difference between Conventional Marketing and Unconventional Marketing. Be ready - the tide is turning and pretty soon the labels will be switched.

Smart People

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:40:03 -0400

I’ve heard a lot of conversation around “what do people really want from us” in the digital space; people = target audience and us = advertisers/advertising. (We’ll save why we separated out digital for another conversation).

I’ve heard - “We should ask them”.

Maybe.

But people only know what they know.

If Thomas Edison had asked people if they needed another way of providing light, it’s unlikely someone would have said “yes, we need lightbulbs!”. Would Einstein have bothered with the theory of relativity if he had put the idea into a focus group? If Steve Jobs had asked people “do you want a new MP3 player” we wouldn’t have the iPod. Thankfully Edison and Einstein and Jobs didn’t have the masses weigh in on the feasibility of their ideas.

I’ve heard - “The answer is nothing. They don’t want anything from us.”

Also a possibility, but highly doubtful for two reasons – again, people only know what they know. Maybe they think they don’t want anything from us because they don’t believe we can give them anything of value (and then we are dealing with a pretty big perception issue that needs to be solved) Even if all they want is just general news and a stock price, that’s still something. And we should make it the best damn something it can be.

Is there a guiding principal to what people want from us online? Yes and its not that complicated and has to do a lot with the basic fundamentals of human nature (in addition to playing in advertising we sometimes pretend to be sociologists, psychologists and anthropologists):

1. They want to seem smart and be accepted. Smart can mean “intelligent”. It can mean “first to know”. It can mean “well-versed”. It can even mean “cool”. It also suggests we have to communicate with some degree of honesty and transparency because if we don’t and people end up feeling stupid because we duped them or if their reputation or social standing is impacted, then we lose them FOREVER. It boils down to a reputation thing and the basic human need to feel accepted. If you don’t believe me, that’s cool. Just prove to me people inherently want to be outcasts and look/feel stupid and I’ll change my mind.

2. They want information that makes them seem smart. And that information doesn’t have to come directly from us. It’s probably better if it doesn’t come from us. It can be about us, but let their peers or people they admire be the ones to share it with them. Or talk about it. Still not sure? Show me someone who actively searches out information that makes them seem dumb.

3. We want to be entertained and/or intrigued. We can’t always play - sometimes fun and games have to wait. Sometimes we can combine the serious stuff and the fun stuff and that’s a win win. But even the most career focused individual is human and at some point, wants to be entertained or interested in something. Not there yet? Ok. Show me people who have no passion for or interest in anything at all. Not even their goldfish. Or a piece of wood. Or breathing.

So answering what people want online isn’t really that hard. The tricky part is understanding all different people who want different types of information about different things at different times.

And that’s not impossible to figure out, if we use a mix of data, intuition, and even some trial and error. Isn’t that the fun part?

Apple’s new iPad ads take a new turn - for the best....

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:09:33 -0500

Apple’s new iPad ads take a new turn - for the best. It’s Alive!

The best Super Bowl ads did not did air on TV.

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 06:13:04 -0500

The best Super Bowl ads did not did air on TV.

38 predictions about tech, science and humanity. What does your...

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 09:12:34 -0500

38 predictions about tech, science and humanity. What does your future hold?

Kickstarter Friday! Love the ACA Camera Kit that converts the...

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 07:41:56 -0500

Kickstarter Friday! Love the ACA Camera Kit that converts the iPhone 5 into a kid friendly camera (including the user interface).

Contagious, in partnership with Fleishman Hillard, released...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:48:38 -0500

Contagious, in partnership with Fleishman Hillard, released their Most Contagious 2012 report. Year-end is a time for overkill on hottest trends, top 10 lists, etc., but Contagious consistently delivers ahead of the curve information (as in - it’s trending upwards, not peaking).

The Revolution continues. It never ceases to amaze me how much...

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:53:48 -0500

The Revolution continues. It never ceases to amaze me how much and how quickly our world keeps changing. Rapid prototyping 21st century style.

Recovery

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:36:05 -0400

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, I find myself incredibly lucky. The Brooklyn area I live in had no flooding, no power outages (even TWC stayed up) and trees are still standing, somehow, with leaves still intact.

Obviously, so many people in the 5 boro’s, Long Island and NY state were not so lucky and find themselves without power. Flooded. Burned down. So many have lost everything.

My hometown of Spring Lake, NJ weathered through (150 year old Victorian houses were built to last), but half of the town is under water, the beachfront is destroyed, massive trees uprooted and all are without power. Other towns along the coastline are not so lucky. Not only has massive flooding occurred, many homes and businesses were destroyed. In some cases, completely wiped out with nothing but a foundation standing.

In some cases, many of the communities hardest hit were just recovering from the impact of Irene last year, which to those of us in NYC seemed like nothing but a windy day.

We are still waiting to hear about the impact of Sandy as she made her way north and west, following the same destructive path as Irene, impacting the very communities that still have not fully recovered from last year’s storm. The destruction is not yet over.

There are many ways to help, of course, the easiest being monetary donations via RedCross and other organizations. But if you have the ability to be more hands on, below are links listing different organizations that need volunteer help. If you can spare the time, please do, but remember, stay out of the way of the professional crews who need to drain the city and get power up and running. The situation is still dangerous and they need to be able to do their jobs to get the city up and running.

NYCService
Gothamist has a local list
HuffPo’s list of organizations is incredibly comprehensive and regularly updated via crowdsourcing.

Please feel free to add other sources.

Apple is back on brand with the new TVC for the iPad...

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 09:56:00 -0400

Apple is back on brand with the new TVC for the iPad mini (didn’t need a genius to figure out how to make that happen).

The price of branding. A picture is worth a thousand words (and...

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:40:06 -0400

The price of branding. A picture is worth a thousand words (and millions of $$$’s).

Facebook hits 1 billion active users - and decides they need...

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:54:35 -0400

Facebook hits 1 billion active users - and decides they need “advertising”. This is ridiculous.

Kindness As Currency

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 08:55:24 -0400

Model Lilly Cole launched Impossible, a “social giving network” that operates on the idea of (hopefully) “pay it forward”, exchanging skill and services for social and philanthropic currency. It’s an interesting idea especially if general good-will can trump cold hard cash.

Springsteen Goes Viral In A Pre-Internet World. (flyover states...

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:32:22 -0400

Springsteen Goes Viral In A Pre-Internet World.

(flyover states still living in the Dark Ages).

The globalization of beauty. Visual search has always been my...

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 19:35:16 -0400

The globalization of beauty.

Visual search has always been my thing - images present a story so much more eloquently than pure text or data. Some very creative - and smart - people created Image Atlas, a visual search engine that categorizes results by country - and gives you a really interesting view into the differences - and likenesses - that exist across cultures.

Of course, the peeps at FlavorWire did a little experiment and did a search on “beauty”. What comes up may surprise you - or maybe not.

What else can we try that might give us insight into the way our world has opened up?

If we only design with the function of something, not what it...

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:50:40 -0400

If we only design with the function of something, not what it also communicates, we risk our designs being misinterpreted. Worst, we waste an opportunity to enhance everyday life.

Bill Moggridge - innovator, pioneer, director of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, designer of the 1st laptop and co-founder of IDEO

Forget Google+ (I certainly have). Just used Pinterest in place...

Sun, 02 Sep 2012 08:59:00 -0400

Forget Google+ (I certainly have). Just used Pinterest in place of Google search. Let it begin.

Finadables! Make your iPhone, iPad, and yourself finable with a...

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 23:49:39 -0400

Finadables! Make your iPhone, iPad, and yourself finable with a digital fingerprint that links your online profiles to all of your stuff.