Happy New Year's Eve

I am on Pasley Island.
Life is forever blissful.
This isn't me... BTW.

Winter Solstice

It only looks glamorous in photographs.

Panda Cheese commercials - For the Love of Cheesus

so freakin' funny.

Forbidden and Forboding

Holiday Party Season just began. Get your pretty on.

pictures courtesy of: etc.

WTF WWF - PDF

A way smarter idea (brilliant in fact) compared to this doozy.

Still day dreamning

I am still writing papers... slowly.
Look what I found on Perez Hilton.

Can you believe it? Without a courageous, albeit crazy mom, and without the internet, Sam would just be saying that last night all he did was go to a concert.

I love when good things happen to good people, and when it shocks the hell out of others.

Daydreaming is much more fun.

I am supposed to be writing a paper for class. But instead I am distracted by the internet, again. I found this overly romantic website in my adventures. It really brings out the sucker in me. Check out some of these pics. Its the equivalent of a quick chickflick... dreamy :)










( I just had a thought... is how I feel about the amazingness of this site the same way guys might feel about porn? hmmmm)

Pass the ball....and get on with the game.

I agree with Nash... enough is enough.
I agree with Jordan... excuses, excuses.

Snore... I am done with billionaire ballers with bruised egos and confused confidence.

While we are talking about F#ck...

I am in NYC this weekend staying with some serious Glee and Gwenyth lovers... for those you who are like minded you will appreciate how amazing this song and video are with about G-squareds' help.



I have seen Gnarls Barkley twice... yep braging a bit... and they brought it big time both times. Watch my fave clip from the first time I saw them in Chicago.
Enjoy here.

F#ck or F#ck ya?

Take a read at the recent Fast Company article on the demise of the advertising agency. Evolve or die.

LeBron - what? Part Deux

I love this kind of stuff!! Cleveland has a thing or two to say about his pontifications.

Thanks Julian for sending this along.

Le

Nerds

I came across a Nerd Boyfriend website.

Hilarious.

But honestly, who isn't a nerd? Even Eddie?? He is pretty foxy in that red leather outfit in "Delirious".

I tried so hard to not be a nerd in highschool. That backfired. It doesn't matter what I wear or do, or listen to or hang out with now, I will always have that humbling inner nerd, and I love it.

Duh... why did it take us so long?

Imagine the brilliance? no paper role.
These kind of obvious zingers remind me that the voice between my discovery of the next post-it note, or the zipper is becoming deeper and deeper apart.

However, in the eco-fail department... SunChips pulled its overly crinkly, bags in the US... but not in Canada (yeah us).

Influencers Film

Of course its a film... Influencers do not make movies. Jeeessh!!

I totally poached this from one of my fave influencers, Kerri.
Check her amazingness out on tumber here.

INFLUENCERS TRAILER from R+I creative on Vimeo.

looks like something we should all see.

LeBron - what?

Nicole, thank you for always sending me great little tid-bits to comment on.
They always make me stop and think.

Today's gift from Nicole is LeBron's new NIKE commercial.


Yes, LeBron we get it... you think we (or is it Cleveland?) demonizes you for wanting to play your best basketball ever. All I have to say is 'Just do it.'
You earned it, you worked hard. Go out and win big. Just don't forget to give back.


As for Wieden Kennedy, who I think did this ad, I love your work (one link per word). Almost always. But I agree with my dear friend Nicole, perhaps a tad 'Tiger-inspired.. non?'. I think the concept is interesting - trying to humanize a god (okay... we all know that's a stretch). But is this the strongest idea? (you already know how I feel about the execution)...No, I don't think it is. Too soon. I would've liked something less selfish, less LeBron. Less King James. I would've preferred something about the good that comes from change and challenge. Challenges are everywhere, but its what you make out of them that separates the players from the ballers (or something like that).

Anyhoo... LeBron, I wish you well. I am super fan. If I didn't already admire (read love, but that sounds creepy) Steve Nash so much, maybe you would be my #1(3).

Say hi to Bosh...where is his ad? Toronto is still feeling burned.

Truth

Idle hands do the devils work.

I always loved the honestly of this line (althought admitedly I have not been exposed to the Smiths a whole lot)....and I like the clever imagery that accompanies it in this piece... courtesy of Cup of Jo.

Kanye's Opus

I watched the whole thing.
Did you?
Click here to watch Kanye's Runaway.

Personally, for me the highlight was seeing Vanessa Beecroft's art direction in action.

Superior Positioning

Over the past few weeks I have been working on a brand positionig exercise for a client. The brand is one that sees itself as 'superior' to the competitive space in which it occupies. And while perusing Facebook in a moment of procrastination I came across this on a previous colleague's wall.

This photo was reportedly a billboard seen at Yonge & Sheppard, across the office from the Canadian HQ of Procter & Gamble... makers of Old Spice. (Thank you to David Pullara for bringing this to my attention).

My question to you is this. Is this an example of superior positioning, or jealousy? Is this a rentention tactic or an aquisition strategy? I have my thoughts, but before I get to that let's take a journey back through 2010... and them to the early 90s (if we can dare make it that far).

Old Spice struck gold in 2010. A dusty old brand that has been reinvigorated. Hilarious commercials, layered with an extensive social media campaign has resulted in significant market share for this brand. I have heard upwards of 6-8% growth. Those are not light numbers people. That's impressive.

I have been watching the Old Spice evolutino for a while (check out this previous post from 2008)The advertising is cheeky, seductive humour attracts the primary household purchasers... women...And if women buy the product, love it, and ideally sleep with their men more often because they now 'smell like a man', men too will learn to love the new Old Spice.

The hallmark Old Spice ad of this most current campaign is this one:



The last line "I am on a horse" has become part of everyday lingo this year. I love when brand language makes it manstream. (Remember Wazzzzup?). Sure a nice Cannes Lion always helps, but a forever nod to authenticity on the streets is bankable.

For the record, while I find Axe's billboard f'n hilarious. It is feeling sorry for itelf. I might not have direct ROI, but what it does say is 'watch it P&G, we don't like what you did to our share... game on suits!'. More than anything I would love to see what Axe comes up with next, but I have no appetite for them to do it on the backs of Old Spice's horse. Fight back for your share, but make it clean fun (pun intended).

Now, way back in the days before Nirvana and Soundgarden, perhaps even in the U2 loving 80s there was another kind of turf war. The Japanese motorcycles were establishing themselves in the US market. Honda had come out with their 'Follow the Leader' campaign. It was essentially billboard with a bike and this headline along long stretches of desert highway. As the story goes, someone from Yamaha's ad agency was a press-check for another client when they say the Honda billboards coming off the presses. Within days the Yamaha team had identified where all the Honda billboards where posted and then paid premium for the board right after the Honda board that read 'Follow no one'.

For some reason the Honda/Yamaha story for me is competitive and superiority claiming poetry. For some reason the Axe/Old Spice one for me feels like petty childhood antics. Are they the same and I am blind to it, or is there in fact a strength of strategy in one that that other lacks?

The difference a month makes

September kicked my ass.
I worked every weekend, including labour day. I became both a night owl and an early bird... honestly, there should only be the option to be one. I was part of a team that won a significant piece of business for the agency... despite being asked if I have ever taken a marketing class (it f'n sucks when wit trails behind me by about 10 minutes....ooh the responses I have crafted ever since) And I started school.

I am a proud student of OCAD University's Masters of Design program in Strategic Foresight and Innovation. And I LOOOOOOOVE IT!

My Dad has asked me to describe the program in 50 words or less, as he is tired of trying to explain to people what I am doing, and that no, in fact I will not be designing kitchens when I am done.

Well Dad, here is the ABSTRACT:
At the heart of the program is problem solving. Its not the traditional analog problem solving like there are two villages separated by a big river, now build a bridge. It is human-centric problem solving for more complex (wicked) problems. Global warming, aging and public transport, access to water in rural communities. It looks at problem solving by spending time where it counts by framing the problem, identifying stakeholders, before jumping into protyping and specific solutions.

Here are my 50 words:
I am studying how to deconstruct human/user/community centered issues with a focus on providing solutions to these complex societal problems. At the end, I will have some seriously amazing tools in my tool box to handle, identify, and ultimately find solutions for complex problems by using design principles.

And in the meantime, I get to hang around with a bunch of smarty pants, experiment and watch great videos like this that celebrate creativity and innovation.

Making Future Magic: iPad light painting from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

The impossible sell jobs - Kia Soul car advertising

my boss showed this to me... I still have tears from gut-wrenching laughter on my cheeks.

Much like how coke's eyeball/brain ad was hard to sell... this one would've been a doozy. But the payback is in spades - 2.8viewers and counting.

Monday Morning Musing

Ever feel like these little guys?

Happy Friday

I am off to a cabin this weekend. Yeah WEEKEND!

And a special treat for you all...I love these posts at Cup of Jo

Cyber-rific

I once came across this photo of a girl who went as Lo-Res for halloween.
And then I came across this video (thanks Ang). I am thrilled I could reunite them both here in cyber-space.

Bigger than life

I saw these lovely gems - rather branded art installations - on Cool Hunter. Oh, Cool Hunter... how I miss thee! I had forgotten to renew my weekly newsletter when I moved jobs.

I think these brand/corporately bought, but amazingly entertaining installations were fantastic and whimsical eye candy. And I kind of want to run into the middle of the big yellow ball installation, cause chaos, then watching them flutter back into place.

Delightful delight.

Modern Love

I was in New York twice this summer. The last trip happened to be the same weekend as the world cup final, and that Sunday afternoon I left my friends at a pub and headed uptown to the Museum of Modern Art. I needed my own version of culture, and while I like football, I don't like it enough.

I started my MOMA journey on the top floor and worked my way down. The work is always gorgeous and always inspiring. And I am finding myself much more familiar with the work and able to more fluently speak to the pieces and to the artists. But something struck me... it was a twinge of boredom. That sounds so terrible to say when I am amongst such beauty. But I guess because I was more familiar the 'wow' factor was somewhat lacking. I was craving sculpture, more interative, more dynamic, more experiential, more 3-D. Jackson Pollock and Lichenstein are no doubts inspiring pioneers, but their work was 2-D hanging on a wall. I was starting to wonder where the new modern was.


As I got to the lower levels the work really started to come alive. The creativity was being applied across all mediums..... and then I entered into this room and experienced this first hand.




It is a sonar sculpture. The experience put a smile on my face. To the visual eye it was nothing but white screens placed 6ft apart. But to the ear and a walking human being it was a cacophony of sound. Each screen was the voice of one person say the days of the week... and not necessarily in order. You would hear something like "Monday, Monday, Sunday, Friday, Monday". When you stood close to it you could hear the distinctive voice, whether it be a man, woman or child, but as you moved away you would hear the entire choir of different voices saying different names of the week. The total sound all together sounded like low-level buzzy noise at a cocktail party.

It was inspiring. I loved its similicity. I love that you have to experience it first hand to know its beauty. I love that the artist took full advantage of the space to share something one could only genuinely be present to understand.

This experience reminds me of an installation I saw at the Saatchi Gallery in London last June. There was a series of motorized wheelchairs with a variety of eldery dressed up military of various ethnicities/cultures all wheeling around and not crashing into each other thanks to motion sensors.

This is all just to say that I am getting really excited about how installations are pushing the boundaries of how one engages with art. I know this sounds like platitudes.... but I am genuinely excited about it. I feel alive when I see something inspiring, and don't get me wrong, I love the classics of modern art. I really do. But I am excited about this new experimental direction that sculpture is taking and I can't wait to see what else is out there.

arrogant and ignorant

"I actually don't know a rapper before me that liked white people more than me. I don't know a rapper that wore tighter jeans. I don't know a rapper that collaborated with more white people than me."

- Kanye West told viewers during a live Ustream chat with fans












Kanye,

When did rapper become a synonym for black?

Peace and Love,
Eminem

music not to miss.... Phoenix

Saw these guys last week.
It was absolutely dreamy.

Right on Target

So true.
These little greeting cards are perfection.
Target sucks all my money out of my bank account.
Thankfully.. or not..there isn't one in Canada... yet.






www.fomato.com

Did you know?

that Anne Bancroft was 35 when she did that scene (posted below) in The Graduate?
My dad told me that that nice random Cliff Claven fact the other day.

She looks like she is 45. She looks hot... but at least 45.

I am 33. Ick! Am I delusional in that I don't think I look even close to her age? Am I so desperate for validation that I am fishing for it on the internet? Yes... I am.

Anyway, age is but a number. Right??

Speaking of age... here is me likely not being my proper age at all at Lollapalooza this past weekend in Chicago.

wink

Raging against the Machine

I need a jet plane out of this day.... desks and sunshine, summer and work... they just don't go together like Gin and Tonic do... or me and Pasley Island.

Here are some songs (and their videos) that make me wanna rage.

New Starbucks Frappuccino ad - the media mix.

I often get asked about my thoughts on anything new at Starbucks. I take it as a compliment. It's probably the brand I feel I know most intimately, and now that I am no longer in the inner workings, I get to think harder and smarter about it now in my attempt to piece together the 'why' behind a new initiative.

Recently Starbucks introduced their new customizable Frappuccinos... and in a typically non-Starbucks way, they advertized it, in high frequency and rotation television in Canada.


At first, I have to be honest. I didn't love the ad. Ultra product focused, less experience focused. But afterall it is a new product they want to push, so blenders and clean ingredient makes sense... but not always good creative.

I am also not a big TV advertising advocate. Starbucks does a great job with their social media programs that you'd think that TV would be pushed out of the mix altogether. I can't believe I am saying this.... but TV wasn't such a bad idea for the Frappuccino product.

Much like annoying songs on the radio that play on high rotation until they trick you into like it, I now enjoy the ad. I know it, back and forth, inside and out...I have been beaten into complacency.
Now,in my pure cynicism way, I am not attributing this to the creative work, but the media work.

Starbucks was smart. One spot, all the time = one consistant message.

There are alot of advertisers out there who are concerned about their branding and message break through. And concerned with message burn out. You only have to look to Rogers Cable or any of the big banks to see it. These brands have about 2-3 different messages in market, at relatively high GRP rates. And with all of their cues and'brand badging' (I don't love these conversations with client...I think it's beyond ridiculous sometimes)there is no message breakthrough.

My advice to them, taking a page out of the Starbucks media mix for this summer.
One message, One Product. Make it somewhat entertaining.

Be a purist.... it can work.

Happy Birthday Spencie - and Happy Weekend

turn that frown upside down Darth, it's Spencie's birthday and he deserves a good time.



You can buy the picture here.

Apples new Facetime ad

I am very impressed.



Apple hasn't done an emotionally based spot in a long time.

Think Different was probably the last, and it was still rooted in the inspiration and innovation.

Apple's advertising, in my opinion, fits into 3 typical categories: competitive differentiation (PC vs MAC), Innovation (iPhone, iPad demonstration type ads) and experiential (which as of late has been demonstrated in the TV and billboard executions for iTunes and iPod).

This is a wonderful example of how Apple has evolved beyond these three pillars. Beyond innovation. And I would arguably say beyond experience.

This spot is about the truth of technology. It's a marriage of the genuine meaning innovation, and this technology, brings to your life.

It isn't about the iPhone, its about the software in it. Much like how iTunes were the emotional catalysts for iPod.

It's a beautifully poetic spot. It broke my heart and inspired me about 10 times in just one viewing.

Thanks so much for sending it to me Nicole V.

Feeling the Love

Sometimes my romantic, mushy love side takes over.

Wouldn't it be so amazing if you came home and your loved one spent the time and energy (read: love and thoughtfulness) putting this together to put above your little nest of a bed?

I certain think so.

click here for more from this designer.

click here and here for more love.

Happy BASKETBALL weekend

Andre 3000 + basketball + Nike = HEAVEN (click here in case video doesn't work)

What cute little ditty... diddy?
NBA finals are upon us and the Lakers are up 1-0 against the Celtics.
Bryant is a Giant but come on Celts - beat 'em bust 'em. If the Suns can't get it, you should.

Happy Weekend!

Paul Rand - get familiar with this man's work

Banksy was here... in Toronto that is.

I go away to Vancouver for a week and Toronto gets taken over by a cultural who-dunnit of the most amazing kind.
Banksy and his trusted cans of paint are stirring up is it or is it not art controversy all over the street.

Come on over Banksy.... spray paint my front door... do whatever it takes. A Banksy installation are nothing sort of stinging social commentary. Love it or hate it - he sprays truth. And I would welcome it, and the increased culture cred any day.

Torontoist has the best collection of posts on Banksy's Toronto invasion.

Click here to read it.

Click here for my 2008 post about Banksy and his New Orleans installations. Now this is a commentary.

vik muniz - waste land

Its HotDocs time again and I have seen 4 films.
But this one was the best.

Find it, watch it, be open to finding creative solutions to connect and bring confidence.

A beautiful piece.

He is famous for creating images out of interesting/unusual elements... like a peanut butter and jam Mona Lisa or photo of a a sky written cloud.
Watch the Waste Land trailer below.