Zombies from Hell

I’ve seen a few interactive YouTubes recently. This one is actually pretty good. It’s got all the trademarks of Kiwi humour (vis à vie Flight of the Concords and early Peter Jackson humour-gore-fest a la Brain Dead) with a watchable plot that keeps you going/choosing. And it’s on brand too. What more do you want? Well done Hells Pizza.

Radiation marketing

The clever chap behind Now In Colour (Andy Whitlock) has come up with a very nice analogy about marketing and it’s similarity with the principles of heat transfer, that is well worth a proper read. It starts like this:

Conduction. The transfer of heat by direct contact
In marketing, this describes direct contact with the product or service. If people can try it, hold it, use it, smell it etc its value is transferred with absolute immediacy. This is often the smartest and most direct way to communicate the value of your product. But of course it’s not always possible.

Radiation
. Radiation is the transfer of heat energy through empty space

In marketing, radiation is traditional advertising and message-based marketing. These communications broadcast information (emotional and functional) about the value of the product and are far-reaching. They are beamed at us despite the ‘distance’ we might think is between us and the product in question.

Convection.
 The movement of molecules within fluids
This, if you’ll allow me to leap (naked and care-free) back across to marketing, relates to the flowing currents of social interaction that transfer information about the value of your product. Social excitement is akin to the heating up of molecules as heat (value) meets cold (absence of said value). I.e. All that social media jazz.

Pop on over and read it for yourself.

There is no Coke.

In the Matrix there was no spoon. Now it looks like there really doesn't have to be. Augmention and Holograms are set to screw with our brains as advertising and product displays go 10 steps further.

Painting the city

Beautifully shot documentary and well worth watching. It crosses the boundary between advertising, entertainment and education perfectly, like the Schweppes film I posted a while back.

It's about the people, not the company

I believe that creating better ways for companies to interact with their customers is a good thing. Although Asi has a good point:

While I strongly believe in the idea that brands should be generous etc., when I see (or do something like that with my clients) I can’t avoid the feeling that… this is the kind of stuff you do when you don’t have a better idea to earn people’s attention - you give away free stuff in a slightly cheeky way.

He mentions another example, that’s quite fun too. There is definitely a story/purpose behind it.

Blu Dot Real Good Experiment from Real Good Chair on Vimeo.

Broke Back advertising

Clever use of a clever idea for pain relief. Via DirectDaily.

Signs

Naming your url

Smashing Magazine posted a decent little article on strategies for naming your url – especially useful for times when you are convinced that the best names have all been taken. And, while your could take their advice you could also try this (sticker on a wall somewhere in London, made me look, and 3 months later check it out. Don’t fret it is safe for work and can be quite interesting).

Read this: Wikinomics

You might have heard a rumour that I have been hanging about in Malaysia for most of October. It wasn’t all white sandy beaches and cocktails at sunset, I also did some serious reading in between. One of the books I have been pushing on just about everyone I have met since is Wikinomics. If you haven’t heard of it read this. If you have heard of it buy it (although I prefer the UK cover, as it was orchestrated by my friends at We Made This). It is the first book on economics I have read. It could be the only one, but it is brilliant, and while they didn’t predict the current collapse of the stockmarket they are on the money for every other page.

HSBC Lumberjack

Quiksilver, original thinking

Quiksilver used to have this reputation for pushing the boundaries. David Carson certainly had a lot to do with it, but recently they haven't been up to much that extreme. Until now. Or have they...