livingbrands

I guess this is what they call transmedia story telling. But whatever the name, I really like the idea of doing what are effectively trailers for movies that don't exist to sell books that might end up inspiring those same films.

And it's more evidence, for all the patent 'the future is 100% digital' nonsense, that there is life in the old publishing dog yet (people like tangibility).

Though it probably helps when the names of the books you're promoting are 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies', and 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'...

I'm in the Independent today talking about the dark arts of food advertising, when it comes to talking with men and women...basically cos the journo liked our Mr Brains ad!

You can tell which bit, as our new biz director has helpfully pointed to it (he also made me use my full name that I never use)...

Where to put 'stuff', that is the question.

Some of the web randomness I come across can sit here.

But a lot would just feel out of place.

Which is why I'm now using Posterous as my stuff repository.

This blog will remain the place for more long form writing, but for things that are just of passing interest, check out Passing Interest.

I completely get this (we only see what we're looking for), and it's well made.

Just not that sure a getaway driver after an armed robbery is the best 'role model' for road safety! Or memory you want to leave viewers with either.

Can't see them being that fussed either way when it comes to hitting cyclists, even if they have seen them (socially concerned violent crims please comment if I'm doing you a disservice).

More pressing things to worry about, I guess, like not being shot by a tactical response unit...

But I could be wrong (happened before)

Two minute version of our new Mattessons Fridge Raiders commercial...

And why not join our Facebook group!

As I ponder Posterous, maybe it's worth doing just so I have somewhere to stick stuff I like that I come come across like this...

(Ffffound)

This photofrom Russell would have made me laugh anyway, but seemed particularly apposite given my previous post on Horizon and dark matter/energy/flow (maybe the cosmologists had seen it as well!)...

 
(Tiago Ribeiro)

I've never believed that science and spirituality conflict half as much as they are often seen to do: like waves and particles they are simply two complimentary ways of being and seeing.

And last night's Horizon gave a good example of this (check it out on iPlayer - it was brilliant).

Titled 'Is Everything We Know About The Universe Wrong?', it looked at cosmology, the Big Bang theory and the way we believe our universe works as a consequence of this.

And, more significantly, how a new generation of cosmologists are unpicking this theory because, well, it doesn't really work: the maths don't add up, the laws of physics fall apart, and you have to invent a whole raft of unprovable, hypothetical concepts to explain what we can now observe (dark matter, dark energy and now dark flow)…and still the gaps remain.

Sound familiar?

It all confirmed to me that, ultimately…and like religion, cutting edge science boils down to faith in the unknowable and unexplainable, and the stories told to provide the knowing and explanation people crave.

Because, 'logical' as the stories were that's what they were doing.

Just watch the guy who has been sat in the bowels of a mountain for 5 years trying to issolate the dark matter that 'must' make up 80% of our universe's mass to see this - so far he's had 2 negligible hits.

Which dramatises the ironic faith-based similarities between the scientific and the spiritual (but in a good way - i think what he's doing is important).

And which also (for me) shows why rational humanists who belittle those with spiritual leanings are themselves being narrow-minded (and I will add here that I have just as little time for those at the other end of the spectrum - the literalists and fundamentalists from all religions).

After all, if you know anything about the more mystery-based, mystical traditions within the main religions, where unknowing is embraced rather than feared, you would notice that cosmologists are using exactly the same language and concepts to try and explain how the universe.

We are looking at the same things, but just using different metaphysical constructs to explain what we see.

A good two parter on the Guardian website, looking at the 'rules' famous authors have for writing fiction.

Won't try and do a synthesis here, as that removes the specific interest value each has - so go and have a read, as there are lessons to learn even if you're not writing a book.

One that did particularly resonate for me, though, given it's day to day relevance in what we do, came from Neil Gaiman.

On the receiving (and, by definition, giving) of criticism, he had the following to say...

"remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. But when they tell you what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong".

Today is International Women’s Day, which I always remember being a big deal when I was a student.

Less so nowadays in seems, in the era of 'New Feminism'. Which is maybe why, in Saturday’s Guardian, Charlotte Raven was asking where this new version went so wrong; a desire for genuine egalitarian liberation sacrificed on the altar of a Katie Price wannabeism; a new vision that promises freedom through ‘being yourself’ but is, in reality, just slavery to another set of images and behaviour.

Maybe it’s because I’m a moralistic old lefty at heart, but this failure (which I’m sure is a failure many wouldn’t accept – and who am I, as a man, to really comment) seems rooted in a common misconception: that social ills and injustices can be solved by market forces, rampant materialism, consumer 'choice' and selfish individualism.

They can’t.

Fact.

It seems to me, that for every (apparently) happy and successful Madonna who has achieved their ‘have it all’ potential though individual empowerment, there are 99 (or 999) others stuck in a cycle of emulation that fails to deliver "what you really, really want".

At best, as Charlotte Raven suggests, this world view of New Feminism has led (and is still leading) to a generation of women who have confused anything goes behaviour and instant gratification with true freedom, living under a veneer of fun and superficial 'enjoyment' that can be passed off as (sometimes delusional) happiness.

And, at worst, it has (in the name of women’s liberation) normalised the sex trade and sexualised children.

Before it seems I am suggesting a return to po-faced, hair shirted self-righteousness, I’m not.

I’m all for fun and glamour and having a good time.

But the moment you decouple this from a sense of morality, responsibility and the common good, and make pursing your own selfish gratification a new dogma, you arrive at a destination no better (maybe even worse) than where you started.

Want one. Now!

(Via PSFK)

Because science has an answer for everything...

(Ffffound)

UPDATE

Forgot the obvious opportunity to introduce those who haven't yet had the privilege, to the full B-movie glory of Megashark vs Giant Octopus, starring (rather bizarrely) top 80s pop moppet Debbie Gibson...

Jamie Oliver won this year's TED wish prize.

His wish: "for everyone to help create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, to inspire families to cook again, and to empower people everywhere to fight obesity".

I know we all get a bit cynical about our Jamie and his tub thumping (it's easy to be healthy when you're that rich and a chef), and to laugh at his mockney geezerness. But his heart is definitely in the right place, and he does put his money and action where his mouth is.

Watch the talk: passionate, and actually rather moving...

So I know we're not meant to use the V word, but at least everyone knows what I mean!

Anyway, this is a possibly 'teaching people to suck eggs' film on the qualities that make an ad go viral on-line, that I put together with my own fair hands for a client presentation (with no apologies for making full use of our own Up Your Viva commercial).

All thoughts and suggestions welcome...

I have also done a little something that looks at why our recent film for Haribo has picked up a bit of a following on line (mainly, because it ticks a lot of the boxes outlined above - who said never work with children!)...

For those what are interested, I put these together using TrakAxPC which, at £20 for the fully functioning version, is a pretty damn fine piece of kit.

Unless you use a Mac, then it doesn't work ;o) 

Loving that the Muppets have been reinvented for a digital age. And that they re doing it so well...

They've been away too long!

(Thanks to Johnnie for pointing out this particularly gem)

Exploring a second career in nature documentaries :o)

One of my amateur passions is an interest in Jungian psychology, archetypes in particular, and how they can be used to help develop more rounded and emotive brands.

Which all sounds a bit navel gazing blah I know.

Back in the day, I wrote articles, spoke at conferences,and even road-tested a workshop approach with a few clients.

For various reason (disinterest of agency I was working for at the time; too many ideas…not enough time to work out which were any good; the fact I couldn't quite decide if it actually gave actionable direction any way) a few years ago I decided to put it all in the box marked ‘revisit when self employed’.

But every now and again I get said box out, dust it down and have another look. Before putting it back in the bottom drawer.

This time tho, I thought I would first upload some conference wibbling I did at the time, with a few tweaks and updates. Seems quite long in retrospect, so I probably didn't present the whole thing. May be of interest to someone tho...

At the recommendation of another agency we work with, I've just started using Dropbox. And it's brill.

Very simple: register and download, and Dropbox sets up a folder on your computer - a 'box' you can 'drop' work into (inc. as many subfolders as you want).

This then mirrors with the same folder on the Dropbox site.

Install Dropbox on another computer, and you folders/files will automatically sync: make changes on a file at home, and the up-dated doc will appear on your system at work. Neat!

You can also access the web-based folders from anywhere you happen to be working.

And folders are sharable with others, if you're working collaboratively on a project...or just want to show your mum some photos.

There's even an iPhone app, for those who can't do without.

Anyway, sign up here.

Lots of comment out there on the merits (or otherwise) of Dove Men + Care, and it's likelihood of success.

As a punter, it works as a concept for me, so can't see why it shouldn't.

Anyway, made me think of this (for obvious reasons, if you know it), and not in a bad way - great film; great scene...

Nothing like how Unilever want Dove Men to be seen, I am sure.

But does show how you can never hope to have 100% control over your brand (in fact, I liked it more with this in mind, than I do having seen the ads!)

This is sure to have the literary purists up in arms, selling a 'classic' off the back of 'trash', but I think it's a really smart bit of pop-culture cross-referencingto breath life into a brand that probably isn't on the radar of most teenage girls (but which they should like once they discover it - it's one of Bella's faves after all)...

(Thanks to Ruby for the original nod)

Just to let you know, the latest edition of my trends newsletter is now out: "emerging trends, new ideas and general thought stimulation"...or so it says on the cover.

Our new Mr Brains commercial gets the nod from Claire Beale in the Independent...

Materalism is out of control.

Our desire for 'more' simply feeds continued discontent.

Our pursuit of 'things' that will bring us happiness makes us unhappy.

Our attempts to 'improve' our lives is destroying the world in which we live.

We need to change our expectations, and start appreciating life for what it is.

We need to stop thinking that what we have will make us happy...

...and start recognising that we can be happy with what we have.

We need to stop feeling that nothing is enough...

...and start realising that nothing can be enough.

Maybe we just need to stop.