The Adnostic

Our parents lived in a simple world and the advertising reflected this. They listened or watched their favorite entertainment programs and gave their attention to the program's sponsor in return. Those were the days. A clear exchange of value.

In the years that passed, the broadcast landscape became much more complex and consumers were given tools to avoid the increased amounts of commercials inserted into their favorite programs - remote controls, cable channels, radio scanning buttons, DVRs - and they used these devices with great glee. Who could blame them? The exchange of value had stopped flowing in their favor and they knew it.

As attention and media channels become more fragmented, consumer attention becomes harder to get and therefore more valuable. The old tricks just aren't cutting it anymore. People are too aware of what their time is worth and a crappy sitcom in exchange for crappy 30 second commercial is the equivalent of 'giving the milk away for free.' That trade holds no value for either party, especially when one party is all too capable of changing the channel until the commercial break is over, recording it and fast forwarding through the unwanted content, or even doing a little covert downloading. That is the reality of advertising in a world of media savvy consumers.

Advertisers are beginning to find better ways to get our attention. The buzzword is engagement, which is a fairly nebulous term. I prefer to think of it in simpler terms - a return to a true exchange of value. Consumers are more apt to listen to and welcome your message when you give them something of equal value in exchange. Something funny, something useful, something beautiful, something that increases their knowledge in meaningful ways, something targeted to a person who will find the message and method of delivery to be of personal significance.

Jones Soda is an example of a beverage company that is giving social networking communities something they find worthy of their attention and possibly even the holy grail of social marketing - public allegiance. Jones is giving MySpace users the gift of well-designed customizable pages. In an online galaxy filled with fugly user profiles what could be more useful than the ability to stand out through good HTML/CSS? It's that kind of thinking that sets a brand up for success in a world of finicky and fickle consumers.

I'm always cautious when a brand wants to enter a new medium. I sometimes wonder if they actually think that the fact that they are there and that they are first is somehow enough to make the venture successful. Brands would likely increase their chances for success in a new advertising venture if they took a hard look at the exchange of value between brand and consumer during that potential interaction and evaluated the balance of trade.

[Inspired by Wired News: Big Biz Buddies Up to Gen Y and an ongoing debate with my boss]

After an agreement, a creative brief, some vague technical specifications, and two months of hard work, the Zen Master launched my blog redesign last night and I love it.

I trusted him to give me a beautiful design, because that's what he does best, but I also asked him for some bells and whistles and he really came through.

- Notice the link roll which is connected to my del.icio.us account. I'll be posting bits of interesting randomness there.

- I also completely demolished and rebuilt my blog links, which now expand and contract to avoid endless lists that stretch beyond my content. I've made them much more account planning and advertising oriented. Considering that this is also the list I use for my morning reading rounds, this means that my mornings are now completely shot.

- I now have a contact form that will hopefully lead to less spam. Then again, who am I kidding?

- My about page has also been rewritten. Sure it's less personal, but readers now get a better sense of who I am and what the blog is about.

- The content navigation is much simpler now. Back-stories and category links have been moved to the archives page, which gives a lot more focus to the most recent entries.

That pretty much covers it. I hope you enjoy the new design.

Zen Master, a big thanks goes out to you. I love you and appreciate all the non-billable hours you put into this.

Street art. Urban art. Graffiti art. Whatever you may call it, it is a form of self expression and social commentary that constantly walks the line between defacement and public good.

Growing up I used to think graffiti was the evidence of social decline and I supported community leaders who wished to rid their neighborhoods of the hastily drawn tags and unwelcome painted walls. I still think tagging is crude, but that's not the point. The point is that graffiti has improved and my consciousness has expanded to the point of being able to accept it as a legitimate art form. It helps that every day I see more and murals that truly express an artist's social commentary (Shepard Fairey), prankster tendencies (Banksy), or are simply well done.

But is it the most important present day art form? Does ubiquity and mass access and ownership make a street artist's work more powerful than an artist's who chooses to hang his/her work in a gallery?

It might. Internet accessibility advocates insist that no human being should be denied access to information and expressions on web due to their disability, political climate, or income level. Would the same not be true for art? Private ownership, galleries, and museums restrict access to art. Not usually in a bad way, but restricted none the less. Graffiti can be interpreted as an ephemeral form of public installation without the mess of a city approval process. Just a prankster, some paint, and the cover of night.

I think we would have less of an issue with outdoor advertising as urban spam if advertisers would see themselves more as artist with the potential of contributing to the public space rather then simply attractors of attention.

[video via PSFK]

I finally got my results back APSotW for the Maple Syrup Proposition assignment, and I still did badly. I was far more on target than my apple assignment, but it came down to a common complaint among my fellow entrants, which was that I didn't dig deep enough nor word my findings cleverly enough:

Lauren

Maple Syrup – it’s only natural.

The sweetener with flavor.

Syrup is the product of nature’s perfect balance.

Sap on tap.

Maple Syrup - Three centuries of tradition in every bite

‘Sap on tap’ is good and simple. (Has someone else done that?) But you’re not telling me why I’d want to eat sap. The rest are OK but not great.

Well, more to work on for next time.

Thanks Russell. I hope you don't give up on the Account Planning School. It must be overwhelming at times, but I can't tell you how nice it is to get experienced and honest feedback.

I was having a conversation about cell phones with a friend of mine at a party and she was adamant about not upgrading.

Me: Why?

Shane: I just want the basics. I don't need any of the other stuff.

Me: But the other stuff is so great! Email, mobile web, texting, photos.....

Shane: But I can't SEE anything on other phones. I want to be able to read the keypad and the screen without putting on my glasses. I just want the basics. Where is the phone for me?

Think of all the millions upon millions of Baby Boomers who aren't that tech savvy, have weak eyes, and who want just the basics, but wouldn't mind paying a little extra for the basics well done. Chew on that for moment.

I wasn't long after this conversation that I started seeing cell phones that do just that, the basics, only in a beautiful, modern, and stylish manner. First is the Willcom R9, which is considered to be the ultimate minimalist cell phone.

They weren't obsessed with cramming as many features as possible into one tiny device, they just focused on doing the basics extremely well and fitting them into a sleek, well designed package.

Then there is the concept Tiny Phone. It's really ust a stick with flip out screen and four buttons that can enter multiple numbers.

This may be too far in the minimalist direction. I could see it working for an aging 007. Unfortunately, they keep replacing them with younger versions, so weak eyesight and arthritis is never really an issue for Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Even though the iPhone has the world abuzz with it's amazingness, it is always good to take a step back and realize that some people are not interested in amazing products. They are interested in ordinary products in amazing packages.

The January LikeMind Coffee Morning experienced a 50% attendance growth from the December Coffee Morning. Upon further analysis, this meant that attendance went from just me and Erika....

to me, Jamie, and my old boss Jay. Going from 2 people to 3 = 50% increase! Gotta love the spin control of data presentation.

Met Jamie, a New York transplant working at Yahoo, for the first time. She's very nice and I look forward to getting to know her better. It was also great seeing Jay again.

We never got into any deep philosophical conversations. Just nice “getting to know you” stuff and catching up. Talked a bit about focus group research and luxury branding (which I've really developed an interest in with all of the design magazines I've been reading) and perception. Jay also updated me on his retail project in Montana - The 9 Mile Schoolhouse Christmas Market. It's an odd project for a Jew who served in the Israeli army, but what are you going to do?

I also got an update on the rapidly declining state of my previous place of employment, which is a shame. No one likes to see a team of smart and creative people be put to waste.

All in all, we covered a lot in an hour and had a marvelous breakfast in the process. I'm looking forward to next month's get-together.

Telemarketer counterscript, originally uploaded by joeclark.

Accessability cumudgeon, Joe Clark, posted this lovely counterscript for throwing telemarketers off their game. I pass it on to you because telemarketing is so last century.

Please do not confuse telemarketers with pollsters. Telemarketers are evil. Pollsters are our information gathering friends. Be nice to them.

I just got approval last week. I bought my ticket, made my travel reservation, and jumped up and down with happiness. It's official! I will making my second trip to SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas!

This also means that the Zen Master and I will be celebrating our one year anniversary in the city where we first met. Isn't that sweet?!

See y'all March 9th!

This was an internal video that was apparently leaked to YouTube by a more tech savvy Kodak employee and it's freaking brilliant. This is a great first step towards shaking up an established and stale brand image. It acknowledges it's own shortcomings, pokes fun at itself, and promises a brighter future in a crazy "oh screw it" kind of way that I desperately want to believe.

Good luck, Kodak. I hope you make it.

This is so bitter sweet for me. I love Nokia and finding out that they are the most environmentally friendly tech company gives me the warm fuzzies. Then I look at the bottom of the list and see my beloved Apple Computers. Say it ain't so Apple! Say it ain't so!

Here is Greenpeace's side of the story.

Here is Apple's.

My opinion - Apple has probably scrambled recently to take control of this story and be more environmentally proactive, but they can probably do a lot more. Given a few years to fully implement greener practices and invest in energy efficient technologies, they can probably make it to their rightful place at the top of the list.

I have faith.

Intersection:

I like this magazine. I like this magazine a lot. I work on an automotive account and I have dreaded the probability of my having to pick up an automotive enthusiast magazine, but this is great. It covers art, transportation, and design in a little snarky British package. It's perfect. A must read for anyone with even a passing interest in luxury automobiles and design.

I especially enjoyed the coverage of the Blade Run, which is the Gumball 3000 over water, and the review of the new Lamborghini with its eye on revival. The dangerous and thrilling exploits of the super rich are always fun and it was interesting to read about the luxury performance automaker's take on being an elite product in a world full of copy cats. Once again, customization and personalization is key.

Dwell:

This issue was primarily about community building through design, but the article that caught my attention the most was "Perpetual Motion Vol. 4" about the future of transportation both public and private. At one point he visited a professor of urban planning at Berkeley who specializes in public transportation issues and she left him with the following words, "Good urban policy needs good rural policy."

Immediately after, our hero takes the BART to the San Francisco Airport and flies to Portland where he is able to take different methods of public transport to a farming community in Multnomah County just outside of the city. Apparently the local government has designated certain areas as designated for farming and prohibits any residential or business construction on those lands. It reminded me of a conversation I had with an Australian grad student in the Department of Agriculture while I was an undergrad. He looked at me and said, "If America keeps building over it's farmland it will one day find itself very poor and very hungry." Good rural policy indeed.

Wallpaper*:

After coveting all of the super expensive modern products and furniture, I found an article about a study on the future of luxury that interviewed a bunch of heavyweight high-end designers for their vision of where luxury product design is going. The final evaluation was attributed to Zowie Broach and Brian Kirby, purveyors of a British fashion label:

"Luxury is an experience that may cost, but it is about history, recommendation and association. This is where the value lies. Luxury items are the spoils of a journey of exploration - the finest souvenirs of our civilizations."

I've been thinking a lot about this concept of experience as luxury. I have read before that as a society of consumers we have grown beyond the need to simply acquire, but that we now require our purchases to say something about who we are - our tastes, our education, our interests. These products may also have the capability to give us stories to tell and even increase our skill sets. Luxury cars that offer the opportunity to learn performance-driving skills. Fine distilleries that give people the chance to brew their own scotch whiskey. Imagine the stories people would tell about brands that give them experiences like that.

Total magazines read so far - 8

We're going to be doing another Coffee Morning in Culver City on the 19th, but this time we've partnered with Piers and Noah to make it a LikeMind branded event.

Coffee Mornings are open to anyone interested in meeting new people and enjoying stimulating conversation. Is that you? Really? Super! Meet us for breakfast at 8am on Friday, January 19th at the Bluebird Cafe.

Bluebird Cafe
8572 National Boulevard
Culver City, California 90232

Upcoming.org

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