“Knowledge is bad for us. Give a bookie 10 pieces of information about a race and he’ll pick his horses. Give him 50 and his picks will be no better, but he will, fatally, be more confident”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Author of The Black Swan
Planning quote - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Published November 18, 2008 Comms thinking type stuff , Communications , Planning 0 CommentsTags: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Planning quotes, The Black Swan
Anyone looking for a funky retail space?
Published November 18, 2008 Communications , Divergence , Random observations , Uncategorized 0 CommentsTags: Funky retail space
If so, I found one down Crown Street at the weekend. You might have previously known it as the ‘Puf N Stuff’ Clearence store. Contact details for Justin & Victor below.
A little drop of happiness
Published November 13, 2008 Communications , Random observations , Research 0 CommentsTags: Brands, Happiness, Crackunit, Credit Card readers, Co-op
Iain of Crackunit posted about this nice little touch to the shopping experience by the convenience store Co-op. Whether this collects valid, useable information is beside the point, at least I feel like they are trying to make me happy. Here’s his post.
Happiness as a campaign metric?
Published November 12, 2008 Advertising , Brands , Comms thinking type stuff , Communications , Planning , culture 0 CommentsTags: Brand, Campaign Metrics, culture, Happiness, Society
This is arguably one of the hardest metrics you could possibly sell to a client, mostly because it sounds so warm and fuzzy. But once you get over this minor factor it has a significant reflection of how people’s values are changing.
A recent Contagious article refers to the next virus to take hold of society after the Internet as the ‘awakening of the consumer’. Here’s an extract…
“Awakening Consumers are waking up to the fact that we are all living on this little rock suspended in space. That our natural resources are finite, and our system of production and consumption, as it stands, is not sustainable.
Awakening is a process, and no one gets it right all the time, It is like when you are brushing your teeth and let the water run, then looking at the mirror you say, I am letting the water run. And once you start, you can’t stop. The process itself is contagious. Just how contagious? Next time you go shopping, see if you find yourself thinking about the values of one brand over another. If so, welcome, you’re a carrier.”
Now I like this as a sentiment but I think it is in some ways a lot simpler than that. I don’t believe it’s just about consumers being more socially responsible and aware of how their behaviour affects the bigger picture. Whether it’s the general day to day stress of life or the financial crisis people increasingly value happiness over wealth and materialism.
And just to highlight this point Adrian White, analytical social scientist at England’s University of Leicester has created the world’s first ‘happiness map’ creating a list of the happiest countries.
“White’s study, to be published later this year, was developed in part as a response to the British media’s fascination with life satisfaction. A recent BBC survey concluded that 81% of Britain’s population would rather the government make them happier than richer. Despite its often bleak weather, England ranked relatively happy at 41. White says: “There is increasing political interest in using measures of happiness as a national indicator along with measures of wealth”.
You can read the full article here.
So if the British Government can do it in dreary old England why can’t brands? I would guess it’s because if many were honest with themselves they wouldn’t get very good results.
Will Obama continue riding the social media train?
Published November 7, 2008 Comms thinking type stuff , Communications , culture 0 CommentsTags: Obama, Social Media, US Election
It’s been great following the Obama campaign and it’s a fantastic example of how brands and people can really harness the power of digital communications. However, for this post I’m refraining from adding to the praise, there’s quite frankly too much out there already, I just wonder whether he will continue this approach throughout his tenure in the White House? I for one would find that commitment an astounding achievement. The signs are looking good already with this new site.
The ability to get an insight into the life of the American President and have a dialogue with The White House at that level will surely prove to even the most closed and anally retentive organisations that this approach is here to stay. And here is a great article from Harvard on the 7 lesson organisations can learn from Obama.
Japan is the user experience capital of the world
Published November 3, 2008 Divergence , Planning , Random observations , culture , travelling 2 CommentsTags: Japan, travelling, User Experience
Japan undoubtedly thinks of everyone. Even those people who are travelling with dwarfs and would like them to watch you do your business. Is this post too wrong?
80 things you actually really need to know about advertising?
Published October 29, 2008 Advertising , Brands , Comms thinking type stuff , The weird world of agencies 0 CommentsTags: 80 things you actually really need to know about advert, 80 things you need to know about advertising, Adnews, Advertising, Communications, Digital
Adnews’ attractive publication with the evocative title has been sat on my desk for a few days now but I’ve only just found the time to flick through it, and flick through it I did. I know this is to celebrate 80 years of Adnews, so I can’t be too hard and I may be being unfair, but to call it ‘80 things you need to know about advertising’ is somewhat misleading. It is essentially a chance for people to pat each other on the back and talk up how great traditional advertising is and whilst look back on the golden era. Which is fine, but I don’t really, really, really need to know this.
I also got a small feeling that there was a distinct lack of ‘things you needed to know’ relating to digital?
Out of the 80 things only 3 mentioned digital and none of them were remotely helpful, or productive. Here they are…
‘Who created the first Internet viral ad in Australia and what was it for?’ An Internet Viral ad?? An interesting concept in itself but it roughly translates as a TV ad that was popular on Youtube. Now I like the Carlton Draft Big ad mentioned, but surely there is a better example of viral content on the web?
‘Will mobile ever overtake online spend?’ Who cares, it’s what people are doing that counts and technically more and more people are online on their mobile.
‘Is digital marketing resource intensive?’ The question was so confrontational and unproductive I didn’t read the article
Out of the 80 things these were the lowlights…
‘What is so fascinating about advertising?’ Arguably answered by this other question ‘Does advertising have its fairs share of wankers?’
‘Are consumers really more ad savvy these days?’ They are more everything savvy
‘Can advertising ever be art?’ Yes, it can be anything it needs to be. A film, a blog, a book, an adventure, even a 10 pound note.
‘Which ad agencies have the best offices?’ Who cares
‘Why is there no innovation in the ad game?’ First of all there is, everywhere I look there is innovation just not ‘in the ad game’.
Now it wasn’t all bad. Out of the 80, I really only needed to know the following four
1 # Should advertising reflect society?
2 # How do you connect with new Australia?
3 # Can you build a globally successful brand without ads?
4 # How do clients develop strong communications for global brands in local markets?
I feel bad binning this as it’s a very valid celebration of Adnews so I thought I would help them out and see if we can compile a new list of ‘80 things you actually really need to know about advertising’ and I will do this for free. Hopefully with your help. So I’ll get things rolling by adding the fifth which is
5 # As more and more people ignore, switch off and close down, how can the industry advertise without advertising?
To show there are no hard feelings, you can order a copy of the Adnews book by calling: 02 9213 8325. And if you are interested in the history of Australian advertising then it is highly recommended.
Well only for a week then I will be back to normal. Anyone in Tokyo who fancies a sake then give me a shout.
Don’t come to Sydney it is kicking off
Published October 10, 2008 Random observations , travelling 2 CommentsTags: Gangs, Random observations, Sydney
I have been to some rough places in my 28 years. Rio’s Favelas, La Paz’s San Pedro prison, watched kick boxing in Bangkok, stood next to the infamous Ultras of River Plate during a BA derby and Sompting Village cricket ‘ground’, which can get nasty are up there among my faves. But when I got to Sydney I was in for a nasty shock. Basically I moved into my apartment with a roof top terrace and as I was admiring the view of the harbour bridge, I was horrified to find that someone had thrown a per of shoes over the power lines. Yes, I know scary as, I need to move I hear you say! As I walked around I saw more and more of these intimidating objects and after many sleepless nights I asked someone yocal what the hell it was all about. Apparently this is how the gangs in Sydney mark their territory.
The rise of Friendspam?
Published October 8, 2008 Social brands 2 CommentsTags: Facebook, Friendspam, Social ads, Social Networks
I don’t know why I’m using Facebook less and less these days, perhaps I’m too busy, maybe my online life is more professionally skewed or perhaps I just sub-consciously don’t like the new interface? But when I logged on today my inbox was full with what I can only describe as ‘Friend spam’. These are friends who I haven’t seen for ages but have a vested interest in peddling their own stuff my way. Perhaps it’s the media circles I’m in darling, but it it’s a bit irritating. If they were such great mates they would know I’m half way across the world and can’t come back every Friday to listen to him DJ.
In response to this I have lovingly installed this anti social networking app. But on a more serious note it’s going to be interesting to see how people react to things like social ads and general developments in the monetisation of social networks. Essentially they will live and die by how contextual they can make the ads. There will probably be the usual ‘join the get rid of social ads group’, then everyone will get get over it.
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