Get Shouty

Antony Gormley: Bubble matrix, arms and legs bent and apart 2007

When I worked in the music industry I used to have to present each week’s product to the sales team. They would be unusually attentive. At the pub I asked one of the guys what was going on, and learned that I have a bit of an unusual talent. I could predict a top ten song.

I have strong, immediate and visible reactions to things that I think are brilliant, that I think will work. I get  goosebumps.

It’s really useful in brainstorming and allows me to filter and process information really quickly.

The better the stimulus the more intense the reaction I have. If it is very beautiful and true then I have a tendency to burst into tears.

Here are some things that have recently made me well:

• Paul Potts singing Nessun Dorma
• Antony Gormley’s bubble matrix work- these huge sculptures are a balance of delicacy and strength that continue to reveal insight on human shape and form
• And this:
  • Be grateful to those who have hurt or harmed you,
     for they have reinforced your determination.
    Be grateful to those who have deceived you ,
    for they have deepened your insight.
    Be grateful to those who have hit you,
    for they have reduced your karmic obstacles.
    Be grateful to those who have abandoned you,
    for they have taught you to be independent.
    Be grateful to those who have made you stumble,
    for they have strengthened your ability.
    Be grateful to those who have denounced you,
    for they have increased your wisdom and concentration

Last night Australia hosted a full eclipse of the moon.

It’s lovely when an event of nature gets people on the street talking to each other.

Like courage, chivalry is not gender specific
Are chivalry and equality mutually exclusive though?
With the odds stacked up against a kinder world- can you champion both?
The Doctor says “I know that one (wo)man can change the course of history. Right idea at the right time is all it takes.”

Perhaps that could be you?

 
In the depths of a couple of fairly significant international pitches this week and I found a lovely piece of research that made sure any chip that might have been trying to take up residence on my shoulder was firmly given the flick.

This poll sought to determine what prompts brand spenders to search for a new agency, the most effective ways for agencies to engage with clients, and the reasons they choose one agency over another. Among the studys findings:

• In general, clients don’t feel that size matters, but agencies tend to believe it does.
• The majority of clients (83%) don’t feel geographical location is an issue, but many agencies think it is.
• 85% of clients say agencies don’t prepare  enough.
• Most clients (75%) are seeking to buy actual solutions to business problems - whereas most agencies think the client is looking for advertising, PR, design or some other silo-fit.
• Clients want agencies to be far more proactive, whereas most agencies like to sit in the bunker.

Examining the reasons for choosing one agency over another, the study (pdf) found that though “chemistry” and “strength of creative work” scored highly, as might be expected, so did “quality customer insights.” Respondents ranked the various factors as follows:

1. Quality customer insights
2. Chemistry
3. Creative work
4.  Service level / response to needs ongoing
5. Cost control
6. Innovative / strategic thinking
7. Case for ROI
8. Client list
9. Strict adherence to brief
10. Seniority of account team
11. Location
12. Size

I’m refreshed  and invigorated that it is the ability of an agency to see connection between the brand and their audience and the passion that they bring to their work (which is what I take to mean chemistry) that are the fundamental drivers for client agency lerve. Vive L’Amour! 

I’m a big fan of Facebook- I’m mad about the open source nature of its apps. I’m a champion of random encounters with past acquaintances and silly exchanges with people you’ve just met and I love the instantaneous social clusters it generates…

Like this one by the clever clogs team here in the middle of some blog jousting on innovation:

• Name: kick a campbell  
  Description: if you see rob campbell he needs to be kicked

Or this one formed to support my favourite local coffee guys:

• Name: The Single Origin Roasters Appreciation Club
  Description: This group is for all that share the same love of Single Origin Roasters coffee! Please feel free to share your story/experience of this amazing coffee roasting house in Reservoir Surry Hills, who in our opinion serve the BEST coffee in Sydney! 

And in response to the research that has widely reported that the site is costing Australian businesses $5 billion I’ve heartily subscribed to this one:

• Name: The Church of FaceBook
  Description: Hell is other people - Jean Paul Satre
  Beliefs:
  This is religion ‘lite’, you get all the benefits of belief without the guilt and worship is as simple as logging into Facebook
  Here’s a summary:
  1. No more guilt.
  2. Idiots should not be running things.
  3. No restrictions on Facebook in the workplace

I was up for a very shouty piece on what total bollocks this article was but Matt, as usual, has said it first and much better than I could in his post How Facebook will kidnap your children and 3 trillion dollar ransom:

Using their rigorous scientific methodology, I can predict that coffee will cost Australian businesses $20 billion. Seriously, if 3.2 million Australian workers (say 4 from each of the 800,000 workplaces in Australia) spend approximately one hour a day drinking coffee with each other (about the same time the Facebook obsessives are on there, degrading themselves) then that means that coffee is four times as damaging to the Australian economy as Facebook.

It’s great to know that the generation that is leading our country to economic ruin isn’t that pesky GenY group of layabouts but, as Businessweek says, Fogeys Flock to Facebook:

 ” older users are behind the recent traffic surge. In June, 11.5 million of the individual visitors to the site were 35 or older, more than double the number a year before, according to market researcher ComScore Media Metrix. The 35-and-up crowd now accounts for more than 41% of all Facebook visitors.

I’m a big believer that the more rounded the individual, the more connected they are to the community at large, the more interests they have,  the better the perspective they can bring to their work.

I think what’s going on is that we have a pretty dedicated work culture where eating lunch at your desk is the norm and the notion of a watercooler conversation, or a tea break has gone by the wayside. Australians work longer and longer hours and face increasing commuting times, all which lead to social isolation. It could be that the more mature you are, the more you might manage your time and productivity with micro breaks throughout the day to feel connected and replenish your energy.

I know I’m biased but I’ve already been able to steal borrow a lot of people’s homework today. Find out what you might be able to pass off as your own reference here. I liked these:

• Matt Dickman’s interview with Scott Beck the Marketing Director for Harley-Davidson Motorcycles- great to show some clients that not only can their brand use the web for emotional engagement, but widgets can engage people other than ‘the chess club’
• Tell Ten Friend’s An Entry Level Guide to Video Blogging
• And this lovely piece on serious games

Hurray for the gift economy that is the Age of Conversation.

There once was a thinker called Plato
Who said “this world’s second rate-oh,
It’s just a poor copy
Of something less sloppy
Where all is precise and first rate-oh”

And then there’s a nod to Descartes:
“I hope that you’ve taken to heart
That without a safe line
To something divine,
Each is stuck at his self engrossed start.”

But cheer yourselves up my good friends
Though it’s true that the search never ends
We may each in our day
Have our personal say
And feel free to explore current trends.

The poem above mostly stolen and re purposed  from here.

I was reading Rob Campbell’s post The Difference Between Science Fiction And Fiction Is Time, and, well it made me really quite shouty….

I’m a huge fan of having a rant, standing on imaginary soapboxes and not holding back from either fear or favour from sharing my opinions, so I’m going to jump in with both feet on this one. He says

“creativity seems to have been pigeon holed into the ‘output’ of certain industries or arts - as opposed to being associated with anything  where the aim is to create something new/better thanks to brains and imagination and skill.
……..resulting in a World where dramatic innovation is…becoming less frequent

I call shenanigans! Does ‘the World’ think that, or just ad-wankers?

I am interested in where you would get the data supporting the statement that we live in a ‘World where dramatic innovation is…becoming less frequent’, and that young people are failing to flourish as a result.

What I’ve learned from the recent groups we’ve done with University students is that they are (in the main) exited about the dramatically changing world they live in- they talk about technology as a connecting and equalising force, that social entrepreneurship will save the world where governments can’t and that they are confident that they have the skills to navigate a world that doesn’t exist now but that they will create. They’re not waiting for anyone to facilitate their future.

Watch out. Stand back. It just doesn’t get more innovative or creative than that.

Does the Internet not count as a dramatic change and as a catalyst for dramatic change? Like social networks valued in the billions created by people under 25? Isn’t that an example of engineering , innovation and creativity?

 Today a teacher taught her first lesson in zero gravity, answering questions from school children hundreds of miles above Earth.

Teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan was also asked how being a teacher compared to being an astronaut.:

“Astronauts and teachers actually do the same thing,” she answered. “We explore, we discover and we share. And the great thing about being a teacher is you get to do that with students, and the great thing about being an astronaut is you get to do it in space, and those are absolutely wonderful jobs.”

There are so many amazing things happening. So many wonderful fields of endeavour. Science. Medicine. Policy. Literature. Technology. Social Justice. Awesomeness is happening everywhere under our noses. Check out TED. 

As advertisers and professional storytellers we have so many inspirational stories that we can draw on to inspire, inform and engage. We needn’t be limited to rock stars and rich girls.

We have the power to encourage and inspire. We can be heroes. Not ‘them’. Us.

Nothing in the world is softer and weaker than water;
But, for attacking the hard and strong, there is nothing like it!
For nothing can take its place.
That the weak overcomes the strong, and the soft overcomes the hard,
This is something known by all, but practised by few.
Tao Te Ching

I was at the Effectiveness Awards last week with the brilliant Todd. I think it was the second time he got up on stage one of the agency types who were sitting next to me said, ‘who did the TVC on that account?’

-No one.
- “       “

Chatting about it afterwards, Todd said: “30 seconds doesn’t give you a lot of room for seduction” and it’s been making me think ever since, and not just ’cause he really knows what he’s talking about. Todd is also behind one of Australia’s best known TVC campaigns. The ad plays only on one day of the year. Once. It’s over 3 minutes long. And its remembered by 51% of the target group. This is despite it only reaching 33% of them. So there’s a bit of other stuff going on then…..maybe…

How much of our thinking is proscribed by the ad units of channels- not just TV but all channels? We can buy Reach and Frequency and we can build Context and Creativity, but how effective can we really be if all ad messages are interruptions?

During the geek love in between Faris and Iain the guys wrap their heads around that  ‘5 years into the future’ thought, with a great ‘what if’ (which I’m completely paraphrasing):

- What if all consumers only ever subjected themselves to content entirely of their own choosing?

I’m not all that sure that this reality is five years away.

It is possible to create advertising that people look for, that they look forward to, that they talk about, and helps them to buy stuff…. and you don’t have have to rent space on somebody else’s platform to achieve it.

What if…..instead of buying engagement vehicles to deliver an audience to your brand message…you threw away convention and created your some of your own engagement instead.

Keep in your mind that advertiser don’t integrate messages- consumers do.

I’m a huge fan of musical structure as an analogy to allow understanding of layered brand communication. I get told again and again that consumers cannot understand more than one message at a time.

Think of musical round- a simple one like “Row, row, row your boat”. It has four parts. Each voice starts at a different time. 5 year old children can manage it.

So why have a brand song with only one note?

Why not allow you consumers to build their own tune and join in with you as they uncover your song  in what ever way works best for them.

Felix Jung  has used Flickr’s API search functionality to add dimensions the lyrics of Dan Frick’s lovely song  “Astronaut”  The content will never be the same-every time you watch it as each time the Flash file is loaded, new images are randomly pulled from Flickr use keywords in the song as trigger points.

The creator says:

Ultimately, I think that’s the way this project should be: new and surprising with each refresh. I like that it changes with each interaction; I like that it changes over time. In many ways, it’s also what I like about people: there is a lot of repetition, and there’s a whole lot of variation.

I watched it a couple of times- it’s intriguing how you try to create narratives to sequences of images even when you know that they’re random. The effect can be humorous but mostly it’s an unvarnished gentle celebration of the gift economy of Flickr and the beautiful work of both Felix and Dan.

Ahhh  Virgin Mobile….what might have been eh?

More about the project here. Thanks to Lovely Laura and Infosthetics for the find.

 I’m loving digital activism!

The Big Switch helps you take simple, effective action on climate change. Caring about climate change is the first step. The Big Switch gives you the tools to turn your thoughts into action.

To see how your local politician rates, and also access your personalised Action List, your first step is signing The Big Switch pledge of action.

Make personal lifestyle changes, spread the word to friends and get involved in your local community.

This are just the digital links, heaps of information and tool kits here. 

Facebook

• Join The Big Switch group on Facebook.
• Invite your Facebook friends to join the group!

Myspace

• Head to The Big Switch’s Myspace page and get involved.
• Invite your Myspace friends to join as well.

Blogging

• We know you write one! Write about The Big Switch in your blog with a link back to the website.

Email

• Include a line in your email signature (e.g. If you care about climate change, turn your thoughts into action with The Big Switch.)

Banners

• Check out The Big Switch banners and add them to your website. We have four different sized-banners for you to choose from.
• Click here to download them

Discussion Forums and Wikis

• Use The Big Switch’s discussion forums here: Discuss and share resources
• Mention The Big Switch in any online discussions you’re having.
• Wikis allow you to add content or edit the information about various topics. Wikipedia is the best-known example, but there are many, many more. Here’s one to get you started; Envirowiki is an Australian wiki for people concerned about the environment.

YouTube

• We’re still putting together our YouTube account, so stay tuned.
• Maybe you want to make your own video on climate change. Make sure you let us know!

Flickr

• Check out some cool pics on Greenpeace’s Flickr profile.

Social Bookmarking

• del.icio.us: bookmark www.thebigswitch.org.au as one of your favourite websites
• digg: submit links to pages on The Big Switch and let other users vote on the content.

Charles over at Punk Planning had some interesting observations on some of the statements I made in the post Compelling Challenges.

I was talking about an audience of super smart kids undergoing tertiary education, and their finely honed ‘bullshit detectors’ and he asked how that insight was constructed:

scepticism and perspicacity are different. What made me curious was that subjectivity makes it hard for us as adults to accept that we may not have detected bullshit. So how would we secure that information from kids?

In my experience ’kids’ don’t have the same subjectivity barriers when they formulate responses as ‘adults’ might. They’re not overly worried about being objective when asked for their opinion, they celebrate their bias, they believe that you’re asking for ‘their opinion’ not ‘the right answer’.

I’m loving the space between scepticism and perspicacity (and I had to look it up). I’ve been really challenged by the question: what exactly is it that activates BS spidey senses?

Going through my notes to find the source of the tingle , coming up time and time again is a notion of intent. It seems that when there is no value foundation for a brand statement, no proof of claim and no experience other than an organisation simply making money, any brand notion other than ‘buy me’ is seen as BS.

There is a series of fantastic posts about brand values over at Charles’ place:

All too frequently many ‘wannabe’ brands share only one common tangible value and that is shareholder return, or chasing money in plain language if you wish. There’s nothing wrong with making money and indeed wealth creation has many positive effects, but if that’s the raison d’etre for an organisation, it practically sweats from the pores of their executives and makes a squelching sound from the carpets of the boardrooms as we make our way about the C-Suite.

I think what we’re both talking about is the pointy end of Jessica Hagy’s Pyramid of Success: you can make money and you can make an impact, but if you really want differentiation, cut through and brand value then, as a brand, it might be a great idea to start defining what you stand for and set about creating some good too.

indestructible is inhuman
flaws are the setting
that allow beauty to shine

None of the authors and editors of The Age of Conversation receive any material reward from sales.

And yet, only two weeks in and we have sold around 680 books with almost $5,500 raised for Variety, the Children’s Charity.  The energy surrounding the launch of the book has flourished into innumerable activations that don’t look like slowing down anytime soon. Check out the latest press and updates here.

It brings to mind the concept of “gift economies” that I’ve recently been introduced to through a discussion I’ve been having with Matt about the use of Flickr photos in a recent Virgin Mobile campaign.

 Wikipedia, itself a thriving gift economy, says this about it’s most vibrant currency, which can also be manifest in the photos on Flickr or content available through Creative Commons:

Information is particularly suited to gift economics, as information can be copied and transmitted at practically no cost. It can be treated as a nonrival good: when you share information, you do not deprive yourself of the information (although you may deprive yourself of certain revenues that could be gained in the market economy from the intellectual property rights).

Traditional scientific research is an information gift economy. Scientists produce research papers and give them away through journals and conferences. Other scientists freely refer to such papers. The more citations a scientist has, the more prestige and respect he or she has, which can attract funding and positions. All scientists therefore benefit from the increased pool of knowledge.

 Gift cultures are adaptations not to scarcity but to abundance.  In gift cultures, social status is determined not by what you control but by what you give away.

This brings to life Jason Oke’s recent point about cooperation: it  isn’t just the driving force behind the web, it’s also the driving force behind evolution.

He points to an  article in the NY Times by Martin Nowak, a professor at Harvard who studies cooperation:

“Cooperation is one of the three basic principles of evolution…cooperation is essential for life to evolve to a new level of organization…Humans had to cooperate for complex societies to emerge.
We see this principle everywhere in evolution where interesting things are happening.”

Nice. I think what’s happening is pretty interesting too.

I’m sure we’ve all had the same experience,  the “you can’t prove to me that the internet works” conversation.

I’ve recently had a corker, which went something like this:

• men only spend time on the internet doing functional tasks (like banking)
• and
• you can’t emotionally engage men on the internet

The ‘my lord I wish I’d said this’ response might have been

• men spend most of their time on the internet ‘emotionally engaged’
• err….sounds like banking

I’m not a big fan of any sample size of one.