PAUL ISAKSON

Giving Back Time

On Monday, an article in the Telegraph informed us that our smart phones are helping us get 10 extra work days in every year. Yesterday, Bud put up a post that touches on something similar when he notes:

"I watch as we all sit in coffee shops, restaurants, and even movies, with our eyes half glued to our mobile phone. Mobiles quickly went from the thing we pick-up to simply look busy to the things that keep us perpetually busy."

What strikes me about this is that as we've been asked to take our work with us to more and more places outside of the office; our vacation policies, sick and personal days, and ability to do personal things at work have not adjusted along the way.

While a good many of us like to think and talk about how technology is changing marketing, it's easy to forget sometimes that it's also changing nearly every area of our lives. As it does, one thing we should look to help people with is using technology around and with our products so that they can get back a few of those 10 days their jobs are asking them to put in. Maybe they'd appreciate that a little more than the ad we're thinking of interrupting their favorite TV show with...

06 March 2010 in culture, mobile | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

The Spreadability of Cute vs. Funny

Last week's Ad Age Viral Video Chart had the following to say regarding changes in the chart versus the previous week:

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- This week's chart is a testament to the power of TV. Now that the Super Bowl is a fading memory, so are many of the Super Bowl ads, meaning TV was the key driver of their popularity, rather than a groundswell of demand on the web.

This week, only four ads from last week's Bowl-dominated chart remain: Doritos, Snickers, E-Trade and Google, while a fifth Super Bowl ad, from Bud Light, joins the list for the first time. Doritos came in at No. 1 with an impressive 5 million views, even though that's a 73% drop from last week. Gone are many of the ads that generated heat around the game, such as Audi's "Green Police," Tim Tebow's Focus on the Family ad and Motorola's Megan Fox ad.

But while ads from the big game fade, some of the more durable viral campaigns are returning to the list, a testament to their lasting power. It's the difference between a surge in audience powered by marketing and exposure from a big event, and a sustained viral campaign, powered by social media and marketing.

Just look at who's returned to the list: Evian's rollerskating babies are back, of course, for their 31st week in the top 10. Also back are Microsoft's "Project Natal" with 35 total weeks in the top 10, and DC Shoes' "Gymkhana," which has hung on for 34 weeks.

Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" also made the list for the first time. It will be interesting to see if that ad has staying power, or if the humor starts to go stale.

While I agree that a surge in views for the Super Bowl commercials was driven by their airing on TV, I don't agree with the assertion they're making when they say, "It's the difference between a surge in audience powered by marketing and exposure from a big event, and a sustained viral campaign, powered by social media and marketing."

For one, Evian's rollerskating babies video was also made into a TV spot and Microsoft's Project Natal received a big push by Microsoft at last year's E3 conference.

Secondly, I'm more likely to believe that this is simply a matter of content. Jokes are only funny for so long. Once you know the punchline and the element of surprise is taken away, it's not as funny. Whereas with babies (and the same could be said for the popularity of kittens in web video), cute will make a certain type of person smile or feel better no matter how many times they've seen it. So much so, they might use it over and over again at times when they need a quick pick-me-up.

I think the same holds true for the type of content that Project Natal and Gymkhana share. Project Natal gets used over and over in blogs and presentations to make a point about the future of gaming, entertainment and technology. Gymkhana is loaded with a combination of highly technical stunt driving and a few "Jackass" moments. To the kind of viewers who like this kind of content, this is something they can watch over and over again as well.

What do you think?

03 March 2010 in culture, digital, fan culture, social media, viral | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Love Letters

Finally got around to watching Helvetica the other night. Found myself a bit inspired so I quickly and crudely made this in Keynote for fun. Probably will find myself writing a post soon from something in the movie, but for now, just letting it bounce around in my head...

03 March 2010 in design, just for fun | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Bits of Wisdom from Hartmut Esslinger

Thought this was just too full of good advice not to share. Especially the bits about hiring people and having the organization adjust to the people, not the other way around. Would love to know what you think...

01 March 2010 in books, design, innovation | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Looking at Old Yarns for New Threads

Ad Age pointed out this bit from Droga5 for Puma as one of the week's top "viral" videos. Somewhere a few seconds in, I felt like I had seen this before. Something was very familiar about it... ah, yes... men, singing a song in a bar that you may not expect them to sing... Top Gun, Righteous Brothers.

It's no secret that we've been telling the same basic stories over and over again for centuries. So, it's not too surprising that a video using the same formula as a popular scene from an equally popular movie would have decent luck spreading around the web.

The bigger story here is that as more and more things start to vie for every second of our attention, advertising is going to have to do a better and better job of telling short stories that others want to retell if it's going to survive.

One way to approach this could be through an exploration of what kinds of short stories have been shared successfully by the people you're hoping to connect with in the past and then finding new ways to tell those same stories. Looking at some of their favorite movies for a few cues based on popular scenes from those movies is a good place to start.

Not that this is what happened here with Puma and Droga5, but it did remind me of this approach...

28 February 2010 in advertising, culture, storytelling | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Everybody Gets Knocked Down, How Quick Are You Going To Get Up?

"It's not how you start, it's how you finish. It's not where you're from, it's where you're at. Everybody gets knocked down, how quick are you going to get up?"

Just saw this new spot from Nike during the Olympics. I like it. Then again, Nike often does film very well and it never hurts to have a good soundtrack.

What I like more than the spot though is the lyrics, quoted above. It's not failure we need to fear. It's the not getting back up that's the killer.

Toyota, take note...

17 February 2010 in advertising | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Best Buy's E-Cycle Does It Right

Best Buy is trying to let more people know about their Greener Together™ e-cycling program. They've had this program in place for at least a year now, but thanks to their recent billboard campaign, the word is spreading through social media.

This is a good example of two points I talk about with clients and in presentations about social media. The first is that no matter what you're doing, do something worth talking about. If your goal is awareness, your approach shouldn't be to simply put a message in front of people, but to do something that makes them want to tell someone else about it. A billboard spelling the word e-cycle out of recycled consumer electronics does just that.

A second point I talk about is using social media to get credit for the things you do that people might care about, but for one reason or another, likely don't know about. Tell stories about unique things that make up your culture. Share expertise that resides within your walls. Show people the interesting things you are working on. And while this example is being run through traditional media for Best Buy, using YouTube to talk about a billboard you made out of recycled electronics to promote your recycling program helps spread the word about it beyond the market(s) where you ran our OOH buy.

Another thing this program is doing right is that it's a good example of a company doing something good for others and the world.

Is this Earth-shattering, award winning work? Likely not. But I do think it takes a few steps in the right direction for how advertising's role is evolving.

17 February 2010 in advertising, doing good, social media | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Parkour Inspires a New Take on the Flipbook

via 12ozProphet.com / Dirty Dozen Crew

01 February 2010 in culture, design, storytelling, visual storytelling | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Good Advice from Jim Jarmusch

Piers pointed this out earlier this year and it's definitely made the rounds via Twitter and Digg and all that, so I doubt this will be the first you've seen it. (And something tells me Faris probably has this in his archives from years ago and is laughing that it's going round now/again.)

Great advertising and design have always done this—steal bits from culture and make them authentic to the brand/product/service.

There are a couple things I especially like from Jim's quote. The first is this bit:

"Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent."

If you've worked in this business at all, you've undoubtedly heard someone say, "We can't do that! ______ is already doing it." Well, maybe that's true and maybe it isn't.

Sometimes the best strategy might be to disrupt and sometimes it might be to steal. If you're doing it just like they're doing it, then it likely shouldn't be done. But as this piece of the quote tells us, it's o.k. to do things someone else is doing as long as you take them and execute them in your own unique (authentic) way. The key bit is the authentic piece. It has to be authentic to you and you alone.

The second thing I liked in the quote gives us a bit more to that. Which is this:

"... always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: 'It's not where you take things from—it's where you take them to.'"

This fits right in line with my belief that everything can always be made better. In a presentation given by Dan Saffer a while back, he shares (on slide 57) that some of the oldest things around that we use everyday in our lives now took hundreds of years to get to where they are and even then, can still be improved upon.

I think that if you're passionate about what you're doing and what you're working on, you can't help but do this. You won't be able to help but putting a bit of your own soul into it and that will come through. I also think this is related to why so many brands simply aren't that different on the shelf today. But that's another post all together...

So, to wrap this all up, go ahead and steal if that's the best strategy/approach. But don't just steal. Steal and make it better; steal and make it your own.

01 February 2010 in culture, quotes, strategy | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)