Top of Mind

Getty Images Produces Animated Film Through Photographs

Mon, 28 May 2012 15:48:00 -0400

In what seems like a whirlwind of racing photographs (15 images per second to be exact), Getty Images tells their story through film.

The brief was simple: show that Getty has so many images that you can tell any story by simply tapping into their archives.

The 1-minute video that has garnered 1,771,818 views in just one week demonstrates a clever way to use existing material to generate socially-engaging content.

Why everyone should get off the racial finger-pointing bandwagon...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:12:00 -0400

Why everyone should get off the racial finger-pointing bandwagon and leave Acura alone

After a casting call document found its way into the hands TMZ today, Acura saw itself forced to deliver a public apology.

Allegedly, the document called for an African-American actor that was “Nice Looking, friendly. Not too dark. Will work with a MAJOR COMEDIAN.” The role was for an “African American Car Dealer” who would appear in a showroom alongside Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno. It was the “not too dark” spec that set one rejected African-American actor ablaze.

Unsurprisingly, Acura was quick to wipe their hands clean and blame the casting agency for the casting spec, claiming that the creative direction did not come from them.

Having worked in the advertising industry, I see a few things wrong with this picture. And it’s not the fact that a “not too dark” actor was undesired.

Since when is creative vision subject to political bounds? An advertisement is not an equal opportunity employer. It’s not responsible for being a role model nor bearing the weight of racial discrimination “make-good” policies like those of equal opportunity employers. It’s also not responsible for equally representing all demographics so that everyone can relate and feel good that the brand thinks of them.
Acura knew damn well what the casting call document spelled out. OK, so I don’t know this for a fact and I’m just inferring. However, what I do know is that by convention, brand managers and marketing directors on the client side ALWAYS approve the casting specs that their agency submits before they go to the casting agency. In fact, the whole thing looks like this:

Creative agency of record and client agree on a storyboard and script after multiple painful rounds of revisions. <— Conversations about setting, props, talent, wardrobe, and such usually take place throughout several months of creative development. Client and agency sit through mind-numbing meetings of whether or not to include this phrase in the script or that extra person in the scene and ask to please change the color of that skirt or the hair on this person, so there are plenty of opportunities to discuss a slight hue change.
Creative agency composes a casting document with detailed descriptions about each actor and reviews with the client. Modifications are made and client approves the final version.
Creative agency puts together a detailed document that includes casting specs, props, potential directors for review, budget, and other details, and shares with client.
Creative agency, client, and chosen production company have a meeting to review all aspects of the ad including the shooting board, casting, props, wardrobe, and setting.
Creative agency, client and chosen production company hold another meeting to review the casting to select the final actors for the role. I’ve heard everything from “too sexy or not sexy enough” to “too overweight,” “too bald,” and yes, even “too dark.” This is the reality of show business and actors should be used to it. Auditions can be humiliating, but everyone has a responsibility to choose the right face and talent to effectively convey the message and resonate with the target audience.

Can you count to see how many chances the client (in this case, Acura) would’ve had to see and approve the casting spec document?

At the end of the day, the brand is responsible for depicting actors that represent the demographic of their target audience. They rely on their creative agency to help them procure this. If an actor can’t handle rejection, then he or she shouldn’t be in show business. It comes with the job. Stop using race as an excuse for situations that didn’t exactly go your way.

As for Acura, I get you. You need to maintain a positive public appearance, bla bla bla, which is why you apologized. But you’re kidding yourself if you think that you fooled everyone.

How Instagram inspired me to learn to code: Day 3

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:11:00 -0400

Yesterday I completed the chapter on Functions in CodeAcademy. I’m enjoying the fact that I can relate to functions on JavaScript, as they closely resemble functions in math. I also noticed that CodeAcademy changed their interface. They’ve also added HTML and CSS courses. Very cool. I think I’ll be taking those on once I’m finished with JavaScript.

Best and worst types of TweetsAccording to a research study by...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:28:00 -0400

Best and worst types of Tweets

According to a research study by Paul André of Carnegie Mellon University, Michael Bernstein of MIT and Kurt Luther of Georgia Institute of Technology, Twitter users consider only 36% of Tweets to be “worth reading.” Considering the fact that each Twitter user is worth $71.43, it’s important to understand the nuts and bolts of the content supporting this lucrative venture.

Biggest time wasters at workDespite it looking like an ad for...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:37:00 -0400

Biggest time wasters at work

Despite it looking like an ad for cloud-based services, there’s something to be said about this infographic. I know I’ve wasted much of my time in the past trying to schedule meetings.

How to fascinate: know your triggers to offer the best you...

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:47:33 -0400

How to fascinate: know your triggers to offer the best you possible

Recently, I discovered a gem. She’s smart, sassy and charismatic. Her name is Sally Hogshead and she’s here to show you how to fascinate.

Sally is the creator of the “Fascinate System” and author of Fascinate. I’ve been following her work for a while and was one of the first 100,000 to take her original F-Score test. It’s a really cool system she devised to help us figure out our strengths, use our personal attributes to influence others and offer our best selves to the world.

According to the test, I’m driven primarily by Passion, followed by Prestige. This means that I’m “expressive, intuitive, social, impulsive and enthusiastic” along with being “ambitious, detail-oriented, recognized, uncompromising and focused.”

Well, duh! I’ve been an account person in advertising for most of my career.

Sally defines this combination as The Talent, which is expressive, stylish and visually oriented. Let’s just say, I identify with this. Lots.

Take the test and see how you perform!

How Instagram inspired me to learn to code: Day 2

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:24:00 -0400

Today, I completed my first application. The objective was simple: display the numbers 1 through 20 with a catch. I was to show “Fizz” in the place of numbers divisible by 3, “Buzz” in the place of numbers divisible by 5, and “FizzBuzz” in the place of numbers divisible by 3 and 5. You can see the code I wrote and part of the output below.

Armed with nothing but a blank screen and some previous lessons to draw from for reference, this exercise really stumped me at first. However, it forced me to analyze the problem from different perspectives and draw (I had to dig deep) from what I’d learned. It reminded me of my calculus courses where the more abstract you get once you start assigning variables, the more you need to rely on memory to apply the rules.

On to the second lesson tomorrow!

How Instagram inspired me to learn to code: Day 1It’s been...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:02:00 -0400

How Instagram inspired me to learn to code: Day 1

It’s been less than 48 hours since the announcement of Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram broke, yet it feels like old news already. The story has inundated news feeds, Twitter streams, major media portals, and conversations with family and friends. By now, the world has had time to react with everything from predictive analyses, praise and angry rants and raves, as users dread the uncertain future of the little app that could, especially given Facebook’s less-than-admired past with FriendFeed and Gowalla.

One good thing to come from this whirlwind is a story published on TNW today which talks about how Instagram’s CEO, Kevin Systrom, has no formal engineering training. That’s right. The CEO of the $1 billion app is a self-taught programmer. In fact, he was a marketer who taught himself to code by night.

Needless to say, I was impressed. I’m a marketing person who has always been intrigued by programmers. They sit there in front of their black screens while reading and writing in pretty colors. When they get together, they speak in tongues that I can’t comprehend. They code vigorously through the night, as fast as their tired little fingers can put up with, and then welcome the breaking daylight with a masterful creation that combines logic, ingenuity and aesthetic endowment. And they become millionaires.

Damnit, I want a taste. I’d like a peek into this world. I want to learn what it’s about. More importantly, for non-programmers like myself, programming is shifting from a nice-to-have to a desired or even required skill, to varying degrees. I’ve witnessed this momentum in job posts and have experienced it first-hand in digital projects where my lack of knowledge on the subject has seriously impaired me and my communications with my development team. It’s a skill that is becoming as important as reading, math and science, and schools are starting to catch on, incorporating it into their core curriculum. To substantiate this, just last month, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg even vowed to start learning how to code. Luckily for him and for the rest of us, there’s CodeAcademy, which brings me to the purpose of this post.

After reading about Instagram’s CEO’s night-time rendezvous with code, I was inspired. I have decided to learn to code with the help of CodeAcademy. The language I will be learning is Javascript, dubbed as “the language of the web.”

My adventure began today, when I embarked upon my first lesson. I learned the basics, some of which made sense and some of which did not. As I struggled through the exercises, it became obvious to me that as with any language, I will only learn through repetition and immersion. The good news is that I made it all the way through 42 exercises, earning a badge and points to boot. Not sure what the points are for, but they’ll fill in for stickers. I’m a sucker for positive reinforcement.

I’m excited to see how this turns out. I don’t have a purpose other than to learn and challenge myself to an exercise in focus, discipline and creativity.

Tomorrow, I’ll work on my first project. Wish me luck!

BRIC Internet users prefer text to email for retail promotions...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:41:00 -0400

BRIC Internet users prefer text to email for retail promotions in higher numbers than in developed countries

A March report from Ipsos claims that 75% of Internet users worldwide preferred receiving retail promotions via email over text. The UK and US had the largest percentage of users choosing email over text. However, in BRIC countries, the gap between email and text preference is considerably less.

This presents an opportunity for marketers who wish to capitalize on the widespread usage of mobile tehnology in these emerging markets.

What does this study indicate about the market conditions in these countries? Is it a matter of culture or technology availability?

Every time you Tweet, post, comment, you increase the valuation of social media platforms

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:03:00 -0400

backupify-social-data-infographic.pdf Download this file

The guys over at Backupify decided to crunch some numbers and show us just what our contributions mean for the value of social media’s biggest platforms like Facebook and Twitter… and how timely of them to publish this neat infographic on the eve of Facebook’s Instagram acquisition.

Facebook acquires Instagram, leaving users befuddled

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:00:13 -0400

With 5 million photos uploaded each day and 30 million users, it’s no wonder Instagram caught Facebook’s eye. And with $1 billion to sweeten the deal, the Internet’s in an uproar of commentary. Here’s a collection of opinions from the Twitters. What’s yours?

Here’s my personal favorite.

Luxury takes on a different meaning with Millennials I found...

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 22:35:00 -0400

Luxury takes on a different meaning with Millennials

I found Duke Greenhill’s article on luxury marketing to Millennials to be smart and spot on. Luxury marketing to Millennials must be carefully studied, as it varies greatly from that of Baby Boomers.

A point to consider, however, and one to add on to his first differentiator, is that Millennials are more receptive to understated elegance than Baby Boomers. In fact, for us, the term “luxury” can be extended into “gourmet” and “authentic,” which explains why Millennials hold craftsmanship in such high regard. Whether it’s being the one to discover a local artist, treating a friend to a Thai massage, or purchasing a Norwalk juicer, we’re investing in ourselves and inner social circles through little luxuries that may not necessarily be flashy or hook us through big advertising budgets, but grab us regardless.

Why?

The ME generation has a sense of entitlement, that we know. But we’re a lot more cynical than our parents and unlike them, use technology to research products, compare prices, and purchase items anywhere in the world. Our generation of consumers has a reach and power unlike that of any other that came before us, and this advantage is a luxury in itself. In fact, I would even dare to say that luxury brands, in the traditional sense of the term, are losing favor among Millennials who pride themselves on individualism. As it’s so common to be a walking billboard with a counterfeit Louis Vuitton bag easily acquired in New York’s Chinatown or ordered from a website, it can be argued that some may perceive the brand as a diluted shadow of its former self.

A unique product from a local designer, perhaps even one with a story, may prove more compelling than a mass-produced expensive item endorsed by a celebrity or featured in a music video.

Why Pinterest is so addictiveHow timely is this? Over at...

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 19:58:00 -0400

Why Pinterest is so addictive

How timely is this?

Over at Flowtown, they’ve designed a cool infographic that explains why Pinterest is so addictive.

Pinterest is here to stay, ranking as 3rd most popular...

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 18:08:00 -0400

Pinterest is here to stay, ranking as 3rd most popular network

Pinterest in now the third most popular network, just behind Facebook and Twitter. Unlike its social media counterparts, it’s effective in making it absurdly easy for people to express themselves. No longer must one think of a witty (or contrived) 140-character message to blast out into the world, nor get bombarded by a news feed of emotional outpours.

With Pinterest, you get a regular dose of eye candy presented in a delectably neat vision board. What’s there not to love?

Skype doesn't play nice

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 17:39:00 -0400

Skype just got personal. And not in a nice way.

Taking stabs at both Facebook and Twitter, Skype’s new $12 million marketing campaign cleverly taps into a common concern: the loss of personal interaction. However, I can’t help feeling like the campaign missed the point of social media. Facebook and Twitter help create connections that extend far beyond the reach of Skype. These platforms allow for the mass distribution of messages, instantaneous connections and a deeper insight into the interests of family, friends, and professional contacts. Skype is simply a phone with enhanced features.

Digging into Facebook and Twitter is a mistake. It’s one thing to focus on your competitive advantage and another to compete in a basketball game when you’re a soccer player. Skype, Facebook and Twitter should be complementary services, not rivals.

Who approved this creative brief? Seems like another case of “all-knowing” agency (ahem ahem Pereira & O’ Dell) imposing its agenda on a push-over client.

Ikea app creates personalized bedroom using your Facebook...

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 01:01:00 -0400

Ikea app creates personalized bedroom using your Facebook profile

Ikea is taking information from your Facebook profile to create a customized bedroom on YouTube just for you. The app cleverly integrates social media channels to feature its products, but the promised result is not as comprehensive as one would expect, leaving a gimmicky aftertaste.

After trying it once, it was enough for me to lose interest.

Best 404 Page Ever

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:30:00 -0400

I wouldn’t mind tuning into this every time I hit a dead end: http://visitsteve.com/404.html

$700 million yogurt startupHere’s an inspirational...

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:46:00 -0400

$700 million yogurt startup

Here’s an inspirational story:

http://onforb.es/mRUQHN

Yahoo’s CEO fired over the phoneClearly not the best way...

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 00:34:00 -0400

Yahoo’s CEO fired over the phone

Clearly not the best way to deliver bad news…

http://mashable.com/2011/09/06/carol-bartz-fired/

Big Brands vs Importers for Hispanic Share Big American brewers...

Mon, 23 May 2011 02:11:00 -0400

Big Brands vs Importers for Hispanic Share

Big American brewers and importers continue to go head to head in a battle for share of Hispanic consumers that’s swaying the coveted demographic in opposite directions, but for very different reasons.

While brands like Busch and Miller appeal to price sensitivities, imports like Modelo and Victoria tug away at cultural heartstrings by leveraging an already existing affinity to brands from their homeland.

Acculturated Hispanics seem to be a highly sought-after niche, as brands like Tecate, who previously targeted first-generation blue-collar Mexican-Americans, are releasing English-language TV ads in order to cast a wider net and capture the interest of various Hispanic ethnicities. Corona reminds this acculturated consumer of their roots with ads that tap into uniquely Hispanic insights.

Big brands, however, are dominating by putting their money where their mouth is:

Anheuser-Busch poured $56 million into Hispanic media in 2010
MillerCoors spent 1.8% more on Hispanic media last year for a total of $45 million
Miller Lite is backing Chivas of the Primera Division soccer league in Mexico
Budweiser and Budweiser Chelada are MLS sponsors
Bud Light is sponsoring the tour of Cuban-American rapper Pitbull

With American brands winning over the pockets of 75% of the Hispanic market, it would make sense to reason that importers have a unique opportunity to focus on acculturated Hispanics who value heritage and quality, akin to their exponentially growing, craft-loving, American beer consumer counterparts. In other words, craft is cool, and it’s gaining popularity at a rapid pace that’s got big brewers reacting by releasing their own craft imitator brands. It’s only a matter of time before acculturated Hispanics join the cool kids who reject the mainstream and support the low-budget but hearty tasting underdog. Imports then have one of two choices: either follow suit and launch “craft” brands of their own or strongly push the ethnic card in a way that conveys authenticity, thereby appealing to a more sophisticated, yet undeniably pervasive palate.