Influx InsightsInflux InsightsA blog about the intersections of branding, marketing and culture 
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Notes from Web2.0 Expo 2008 (SF)
2008-04-28 22:05:00 This year felt a lot less hectic than last year. Crowds were noticeably smaller than last year, probably because of the economy. Discounting the crowd size as a factor, the buzz seemed more controlled and thoughtful than last year. The question has shifted, thankfully, from how do we make a mashup and put it on Facebook to how do we make the cloud smarter, easier to use and the same regardless of how you access it. Open standards are the rallying call of the day. Tim O'Reilly’s keynote was nothing short of inspiring in my opinion. The takeaway: we are at a critical juncture in human technological advancement and we should all concentrate on how to use any and all of the various inputs around us in new and unthought-of of ways to get people useful information in real time, without regard to desktop vs mobile vs refrigerator. He’s encouraging us to all look at the big picture and do something amazing with the mountain of technology that surrounds us. Obviously O&#... More About: Expo , Notes , 2008
food stockpilling in the us
2008-04-28 19:07:00 The Daily Show puts the idea that Americans are now hoarding and stockpilling basic supplies like rice, into very sharp focus. Sam's Club now restricts rice purchases to four bags per visit.Of course, we know The Daily Show's stock in trade is satire, but the WSJ?"I don't want to alarm anybody, but maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food. No, this is not a drill. You've seen the TV footage of food riots in parts of the developing world. Yes, they're a long way away from the U.S. But most foodstuffs operate in a global market. When the cost of wheat soars in Asia, it will do the same here. Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster. "Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growt...
the congnitive surplus
2008-04-28 06:03:00 Some great thinking from Clay Shirky on the real threat to established media content, the idea that people start doing something useful with their cognitive surplus. "And television watching? Two hundred billion hours, in the U.S. alone, every year. Put another way, now that we have a unit, that's 2,000 Wikipedia projects a year spent watching television. Or put still another way, in the U.S., we spend 100 million hours every weekend, just watching the ads....And this is the other thing about the size of the cognitive surplus we're talking about. It's so large that even a small change could have huge ramifications. Let's say that everything stays 99 percent the same, that people watch 99 percent as much television as they used to, but 1 percent of that is carved out for producing and for sharing. The Internet-connected population watches roughly a trillion hours of TV a year. That's about five times the size of the annual U.S. consumption. One per cent of that is 1... More About: Surplus
consumers are feeling it
2008-04-28 05:52:00 Consumer confidence sank to a quarter century low in the April 2008 survey. The decline was due to high fuel and food prices as well as shrinking income gains and falling home values. “The recent acceleration in the loss in confidence indicates a longer and potentially deeper recession,” according to Richard Curtin, the Director of the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers . Rising inflation, higher joblessness, and smaller income gains has made most consumers more cautious spenders. “Rising uncertainty about future living standards has caused consumers to adopt more prudent spending plans and become more wary of incurring new debt,”Curtin said. Press Release from ReutersPosted by Ed Cotton More About: Feeling
wanted: planners for the world's largest planning network
2008-04-24 17:35:00 This isn't a new plan by Sir Martin for global domination. Instead it's an experiment to try and see if a global network of planners can come up with fast/smart thinking in close to real time. The IPA (the UK's AAAA's) are doing something very interesting this Monday April 28th. They have a conference on Fast Strategy. It's basically planning as you know it, on speed. No time for weeks of research, this is all about coming up with ideas and platforms in hours, not months. Mark Earls, one of the brains behind Planning for Good is taking part in a live contest against some of the sharpest minds in the London Planning scene and needs to build an army to tackle a brief from the UK Government. In short, Mark needs you and your brain. The time difference is a killer for those of us in North America, but perhaps sleep means nothing to you and you will welcome the challenge. The brief will be available at 10am, London time on Monday 28th and he needs your responses up on his Wiki by No... More About: Network , Wanted , Largest
the death of the faceless corporation
2008-04-24 16:51:00 Social networks are now becoming corporate and if you are a company there's no hiding. This trend means the people behind the company get to show themselves and interact with other human beings in the real world. The idea of one-on-one interaction can happen. If you trust your employees you can let them out of their cages and cubicles and empower them to represent your brand in the real world. They can solve problems, answer questions, entertain and inform.They can become friends with customers and in short, they can be your pure brand ambassadors or the best ads you ever had. Of course, this all depends on how brave you are.It also depends on how much you value and believe in your employees.If they are merely dispensable drones who you believe are stealing from you, you know only by their employee number and zip code, you may have some work to do.Welcome to the death of the faceless corporation. There is no nowhere to hide and if your people aren't out there interacting, you are ... More About: Corporation , Death
play is the thing- dopplr's matt jones
2008-04-24 07:49:00 Matt Jones , one of the founders of the travel-based social network, Dopplr, spoke at last night's IXDA event in San Francisco. His presentation was a sort of biography meets sources of inspiration ramble, but it was good. Jones, who spend three years (2003-2006) in Nokia's design research team spent a lot of time talking about play, a core project he'd been involved in for a couple of years.Nokia started by searching for universal human experiences something that required no research, just a book, Human Universals by Donald Brown that lists all the commonalities that exist in the human world.Nokia was searching for its own space in gaming.While Jones and his gang came up with a lot of trend right directions (social networking, hacking, just-in-time situationalists, reclaim the streets,mundane is the new fun, etc) it appears the only thing that Nokia had on its mind was the doomed N-Gage. This play project seems to have informed his philosophy for design he used the idea/quote of ... More About: Play , Matt , Thing
what can your brand learn from van gogh?
2008-04-23 23:17:00 What can your brand learn from Van Gogh ?He never went to art schoolHe didn't start painting until he was 30He started a movement called expressionismHe wasn't an elitistHe wanted everyone to see art differentlyTake a look at this paintingIt breaks the rulesHe rewrites the history of landscape paintingHe reverses perspectiveHe scrambles our assumptionsAre the crows flying towards you or away from you?What are the green things- trees, hedges?He makes paint talkAll this has been stolen from Simon Schama's excellent BBC series "The Power of Art."How can your brand behave more like Van Gogh?Can it challenge conventional thinking?Can it change our assumptions?Can you start a movement?Can it make us see the world differently? Posted by Ed Cotton More About: Brand , Learn
mcmenamins- local power brand
2008-04-23 16:44:00 Mcmenamins has spent the last 30 years building a local empire in Oregon. Starting out with brew pubs and moving onto hotels, wineries and a distillery. The brand remains true to its roots and exhibits a wonderful, infectious and quirky character that helps it to stand way apart from the boring franchise chains. You find character in the names of its beers- Terminator and Hammerhead, in the design of its pubs and hotels and in its graphic design and in hotel rooms named after and dedicated to local musicians. Even its events pack the same quirky feel, from UFO festivals to acoustic sets from local musicians played in an eight-seat capacity bar. Great stuff. Mcmenamins is a testament to what nurturing and sticking to your personal vision can create for a brand. It also shows that you can build a little empire without going national with VC cash and do it all in your own locale. Thankfully, the brand hasn't taken a bucket load of cash from an international brewer to expand the concep... More About: Power , Local , Brand
htc seeks the impossible
2008-04-23 00:03:00 HTC is a company that up until recently manufactured products for other brands in the handset world. HTC now wants to break out on its own and is looking not only to develop its own brand, but also position its products as viable alternatives to Apple's iPhone. That's tough.Posted by Ed Cotton More About: Impossible
the data of love
2008-04-21 02:33:00 "I Want You To Want Me", by Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar, commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art, for their "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition. It examines and organizes data from online dating sites and reveals some deep insights into who we are and what we are looking for. Of course, it also shows us how data can be turned into art. Posted by Ed Cotton More About: Love , Data
are you desperate for attention?
2008-04-17 20:28:00 It appears a number of ad agencies are thriving (with the industry rags and critics!) in the interactive world by simply doing more of what they usually do off line in an online world. They are using online as a vessel that allows them simply to store and share more content than the typical TV spot. So, with these experiences there's lots of content and some depth to the presentation, but something appears to be missing, interactivity. These agencies are operating in what I would call a DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION mode. This leads to experiences that fail to engage because they are simply one way and don't involve or engage the user in any way. The creators want to be noticed and hold the audience in rapture because of the supposed humor, etc. Is this realistic? These sites are usually heavy bandwidth hogs and take ages for the film to load. The experience ends up not being a good one for the user. The DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION mode is all about ego and the selfish belief that for some ... More About: Attention , Desperate
watch out, your green creds are coming under attack
2008-04-16 16:50:00 It seems we are now at a very interesting moment in the environmental movement meets green marketing, trend. The cynics and skeptics are coming out of the woodwork and are ready to bash anyone who isn't thinking this thing through properly and merely trying to "Green wash". This isn't just coming from the expected sources. This is from Core 77, yesterday."At first glance, Feel More Human seems to have everything for the conscious consumer with a modern design sense. The online store has an eco-friendly home and lifestyle section, with tables from Scrapile, sofas from Dutch designer Björn Mulder, and even a Buddha cat perch made from renewable bamboo plywood. There is a content section featuring interviews with inspiring eco-entrepreneurs, a classifieds area where visitors can buy or sell their pre-owned modern design goods, and the whole operation is powered by 100% wind energy.Yet scratch beneath the surface and you'll find that even those with the greenest of intentions h... More About: Watch , Attack
what if products could twitter?
2008-04-16 16:17:00 There's an interesting story on Textually about kettles that send messages. A group that represents the elderly in Australia is looking at some technology that can send a message from a kettle. The thought being that every time the elderly person makes a cup of tea a message is sent to their children, letting them know that they are OK. I think the idea of thinking laterally about how information generated by a product can have additional uses is really smart. Then there's the thought of our products telling us when they need things; cars needing servicing is something we have already, refrigerators needing replenishing is something that's often talked about. As chip technology gets ever smaller and cheaper, it's possible that most things will have the ability to share information with their owners. Even something as simple as deodorant bottle could send you a "money off next purchase" message when it's running low. Hopefully, not applications will be as crass and promotional a... More About: Products , Twitter
wii hacks
2008-04-16 00:19:00 I am interested in the idea of brands delivering something in their products that I am terming- malleability. Meaning, do they allow themselves to be easily adapted and changed for new uses?This is basically hacking. The Wii is one of the more interesting ones of the moment because of its cultural presence and the interesting infa red and motion sensing technology that it has. Here Johnny Lee shows a stunned audience at this year's TED conference, a couple of very cool hacks. I think his comment about spreading the hacks through YouTube is especially relevant. Brands could create whole ecosystems with communities of users who play, develop and share ideas in this way. Perhaps, it's no longer about a closed box, but something that's open and can be constantly played with and its limits tested and explored. Posted by Ed Cotton More About: Hacks
wii hacks
2008-04-12 17:51:00 I am interested in the idea of brands delivering something in their products that I am terming- malleability. Meaning, do they allow themselves to be easily adapted and changed for new uses?This is basically hacking. The Wii is one of the more interesting ones of the moment because of its cultural presence and the interesting infa red and motion sensing technology that it has. Here Johnny Lee shows a stunned audience at this year's TED conference, a couple of very cool hacks. I think his comment about spreading the hacks through YouTube is especially relevant. Brands could create whole ecosystems with communities of users who play, develop and share ideas in this way. Perhaps, it's no longer about a closed box, but something that's open and can be constantly played with and its limits tested and explored. Posted by Ed Cotton More About: Hacks
strange headline of the day: procter & gamble, def jam launch hip-hop r
2008-04-12 01:11:00 More here.. Posted by Ed Cotton More About: Gamble , Launch , Strange , Procter , Headline
dazzling mobile phone stats from nokia
2008-04-12 00:59:00 It's Chipchase day here at Influx Insights, so here's another post with a great slide from his deck. Mobile is a huge business and I am not sure we quite realize how big.One billion + phones are sold a year!!Worryingly, 400,000 phones a day are retired in the US. One surely has to question the sustainability of a fashion driven business. Bring on the modular eco phone...Posted by Ed Cotton More About: Phone , Nokia , Mobile Phone , Stats
would just do it get you to nike+?
2008-04-12 00:50:00 We are now playing in a very interesting world where the efforts of R/GA with Nike + are generating as much news as W&K's Nike commercials did in the mid 90s. I wonder if it's possible to create rich experiences using the same reductive strategic model?The same one that's used to create advertising.I am sure you can't. The world of classic communication is all about being reductive. We talk about funnels, filters, core propositions, single minded ideas, USPs. It's all about distilling the essence down to a single thought and working from there.It's all about creating a smart bomb meme that can puncture mass culture. It starts with the question.What can we do to get people to pay attention to us?If you look at the world of experiences, the question is very different. What experience(s) can we create to delight the user?These questions are radically different and represent two very different worlds.Artist vs. TeamEgo vs. TeamworkOwnership vs. SharingSingle idea vs. Multiple i...
jan chipchase- the life of a digital nomad
2008-04-11 23:53:00 Nice piece from The Economist that follows the life of Nokia's Jan Chipchase (see our previous post)It's a film that uses photos and a phone recording. Jan offers his observations on technology in his work life and life in general. Posted by Ed Cotton More About: Life , Digital
ingenuity in developing markets
2008-04-11 21:37:00 I was fortunate enough to attend Jan Chipchase's Street Hacks (avail for download from his site) presentation at Adaptive Path the other night. He's Nokia's resident field researcher/ethnographer. His function is to help Nokia better understand how people use mobile phone and identify potential opportunities.In his presentation he shared some great examples of how people in the developing world are adapting/hacking and playing with limited resources to deliver experiences they want and need. Here are some of his examples;1. Not An Official Product: Two SIM cards on the space of a single SIM so users can switch between providers2. Stealing Electricity, but with a Meter- from Brazil- It costs to add the meter, but having the meter gives you an address and the "rights" from having an address. 3. A system for airtime transfer gets turned by its users into a banking system- Africa- people can send airtime quicker than money and in towns and villages, individuals exchange that airtime ... More About: Markets
retail experience: nokia vs. apple
2008-04-10 02:35:00 John Dodds over at Make Marketing History has a nice post about the differences between Nokia and Apple in their retail experience. He compares two stores in Oxford St, London and concludes;The Nokia store is a gallery.The Apple store is alive.The Nokia store staff are tech sellers. The Apple store staff are tech users.The Nokia store is a place where you browse. The Apple store is a place where you use.The Nokia store is about surface.The Apple store is about corporate DNAIn essence, it's clear that Apple has a brand and Nokia doesn't. This was fine for Nokia when they had the mobile world to themselves, but it looks like they need some serious brand work to prevent Apple from taking some major share in this space. Posted by Ed Cotton More About: Retail , Experience
is a phone the new watch?
2008-04-08 04:33:00 It must be pretty tough playing in the watch market these days. Most people under the age of 30 are using their mobile phones as a replacement and aren't even wearing a watch at all. At first glance, it appears this might be what TAG Heuer is thinking with the launch of its new phone.However, instead of trying to appeal to the teen and twenty something crowd, the luxury watch maker's new phone costs around $6,000 and is going for the niche uber luxury market.It remains to be seen how other players in the watch market respond.Do the luxury brands extend their brands into a new category? Where would that leave Nokia's Vertu?Do the lower cost manufacturers move into the low cost phone business? Could they compete with Sony and Nokia?Posted by Ed Cotton More About: Watch , Phone
is your brand open?
2008-04-06 23:40:00 Radiohead continues to demonstrate its understanding of the 2.0 world with its new remix contest. Potential remixers download the elements of the track "Nude" from iTunes and then upload their remix to http://www.radioheadremix.com. The band seems to have given up on the whole idea of free and instead charges a $5.99 for the elements. Browsing through the entries you quickly come across one that stands out from the pack; the remix, currently ranked No3 was created by a blogger(s) named Hipster Runoff.It's interesting because it complete take down of the band and their obsessive/nerdy fans. So far, it hasn't been removed and there's always a possibility it could win the contest.It would be easy to remove it and have less to worry about, but it would be tough for the band to live up to in the long run better to have a sense of humor about the whole thing.Unlike Radiohead, most brands aren't happy letting critics into the conversation, clearly in this changed environment, you... More About: Open , Brand
guest column- the spitzer effect and the era of deeds-mark barden- eat big
2008-04-04 15:42:00 Call it the Spitzer Effect : No one can take anything anyone says at face value anymore. In fact, more often than not, what they say might be the complete opposite of what they do. Putting aside the fascinatingly twisted “shadow” psychology on public display here, what are we to make of it all? Perhaps the most jaded response I’ve heard to this latest shocker is the, “is this really such a big surprise?” response. Well, yes! At least it was to me. Maybe I live in a little house on the prairie where we expect people’s walk to match their talk, but yes, it was a surprise. Seems that some of the world lives in permanent Survivor mode, tensed and ready, only momentarily shocked, but in the end, surprised? Not so much.We simply don’t know whom to believe anymore, so all too often we choose to believe no one. It’s a natural defense mechanism to so much dissonance. Cynicism becomes common sense.Oh, brother! Are we in trouble now! At precisely ... More About: Column , Mark , Guest
democratic exclusivity
2008-04-02 18:59:00 I often wonder if brands fail to use exclusivity as a marketing tactic. The idea that they can produce limited quantities of high value and high worth products and services and make them available only to a select and pre-selected audience of high rollers. The problem is, that’s the old way. Perhaps we are witnessing the arrival of something new- Democratic Exclusivity.I’ve recently been following the story of David Chang’s new restaurant in New York, Momofuku Ko. The restaurant only has 14 seats and you can only reserve one online on a first come first served basis. This is especially interesting, because unlike days of old where it was who you were that got you a table, this is all about a democratic process where it doesn’t matter who you are. Instead, if you are prepared to be patient and work, you will get rewarded with entry. Brands could be exploiting Democratic Exclusivity in all its multiple forms; from designer editions, to limited time offers. Coup...
ad agencies- television advertising is the future
2008-04-02 18:56:00 Of course, the moronic title is designed to attract curious and concerned parties who are hoping/fearing that I have finally lost my mind or believe it's just another blogger taking advantage of April 1st.I believe we're in the middle of a radical new wave of content creation, that's in essence an evolution of the television spot, the thing about it is, that this contentisn't destined for to be consumed on a television set, not yet, unless yours happens to be hooked to a broadband internet connection.One thing we've learned in the last few years, is that despite all the advances in new media and the new opportunities that seem to be arriving daily and I include within these, the shoe trays at airport security, there's nothing that comes close to the power of audio-visual content. Now that technology has caught up and we can stream this stuff to any screen anywhere in the world, even that mobile one you carry with you, things are going to get exciting. There's trouble ahead if... More About: Television , Advertising , Future , The Future , Agencies
ad agencies- television advertising is the future
2008-04-02 18:56:00 Of course, the moronic title is designed to attract curious and concerned parties who are hoping/fearing that I have finally lost my mind or believe it's just another blogger taking advantage of April 1st.I believe we're in the middle of a radical new wave of content creation, that's in essence an evolution of the television spot, the thing about it is, that this contentisn't destined for to be consumed on a television set, not yet, unless yours happens to be hooked to a broadband internet connection.One thing we've learned in the last few years, is that despite all the advances in new media and the new opportunities that seem to be arriving daily and I include within these, the shoe trays at airport security, there's nothing that comes close to the power of audio-visual content. Now that technology has caught up and we can stream this stuff to any screen anywhere in the world, even that mobile one you carry with you, things are going to get exciting. There's trouble ahead if... More About: Television , Advertising , Future , The Future , Agencies
we are hard-wired to be info junkies
2008-04-02 18:54:00 There's a good piece in the WSJ about research conducted by Irving Biederman, a neuroscientist at the University of Southern California. His research has found that we crave information, just like we crave food. If there's lots of information to look at and digest, we seem hard-wired to enjoy wallowing in it. This explains why fundamental disloyalty and clicking away from a site to something else is so attractive to us. It suggests that the experiences we create for brands should be multi-dimensional and give the user more control, rather than something that's tightly edited. It appears that we are happiest when we roam and don't want to be boxed in. "In other words, coming across what Dr. Biederman calls new and richly interpretable information triggers a chemical reaction that makes us feel good, which in turn causes us to seek out even more of it. The reverse is true as well: We want to avoid not getting those hits because, for one, we are so averse to boredom. It is somethin... More About: Info , Hard , Wired , Junkies
saab to launch a clothing line
More articles from this author:2008-04-02 18:51:00 It’s interesting how brands are starting to embrace the broader lifestyle concept surrounding the environment. One tactic to broaden the idea is to partner with other like-minded companies to generate a halo effect. Saab , a company not necessarily known for its green credentials, but is now keen to push them, has just embarked on a new program. Saab is moving into the clothing business with the launch a new “Pure BioPower EcoClothing ” collection. The goal is to push Saab’s BioPower technology. To do this, the Swedish automotive giant has partnered with Reflective Circle for the clothing that will include a range of dresses, t-shorts, blouses made from certified organic cotton, other clothing lines will be introduced over the course of the year. The line will be available online at Saab Expressions. The idea of partnering and combining to add impact is interesting in this case.Traditionally, brands have partnered with companies of equal size and weight and in ... More About: Launch , Line 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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