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Archive: My blog has now moved to here December
2005
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Always good to see new retail ideas. Launched in June this year, Caravan is a mobile fashion boutique chock full of cool labels that can seen cruising the streets of New York.
Check where they are hanging out, and pop in. Or call and arrange a private showing at your home or work. Not as naff as it might sound, Caravan is already getting coverage in the fashion press and broadsheets. Pun-tastic I know, but in a wired world bereft of contact with real people, there may be mileage in taking you brand to its consumers.
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29th Nov 2005 - Let the people have their say I'm testing out some new online survey software. The questionnaire is very short. And to add interest, starts with Q5 (can't seem to change this). Anyone who want to have have a go will be warmly welcomed. Please click here.
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24th Nov 2005 - Ideas you wish you'd had Here's a bit of on-line entrepreneurship that's got a lot of people hot under the collar: the Million Dollar Homepage. Take one bloke about to go to uni, looking to make some cash to pay his way. Add one (apparently) half baked idea that flies in the face of all good advertising and communication rules. What do you get - loads of money, interviews on the BBC, trips to the US and much, much more. Even an entry on Wikipedia.
At one level this just so doesn't work - a page of small ads sold by the pixel ($1 each), at a minimum 100 by 100 size. But people are paying up (some 'proper' companies). And many others are turning up and clicking through. Why? Well, it's clearly not because of the quality of the ads! But it is because the concept itself is so hypnotically interesting (who are these people?). It shows how vital interesting content is nowadays...even if that content is rubbish ads from dodgy companies! And (very sadly I must admit) it does work for advertisers, having bought something from one site I went to. There's loads of variations-on-a-theme and direct rip offs turning up on-line already, showing how lacking in imagination some people are (and how quickly new thinking spreads in our digital world). But it does make you realize there are still great ideas out there waiting to be had.
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21st Nov 2005 - Better uses for your money Though not wishing to rehash someone else's blog too much, Creating Passionate Users has a good practical example of the ideas set out in the post below. For her latest (I think) video, Sarah McLachlan didn't splash out the usual $150,000 on all the bells and whistles. Instead, she spent just $15 making a video about what that $150,000 had been spent on instead.
As an idea it definitely has stand out, at least from the typical (and typically similar) run-of-the-mill 'glitzy' music vids. Plus, it makes you reevaluate Sarah McLachlan (the 'brand') in a sea of similar female singer-songwriters (the 'product'), improving the chances of consideration. And it arguably contributes something to the world beyond just selling 'stuff', which is no bad thing. Obviously, this specific approach (spend your money on what really matters) has to be handled very carefully if it's not to seem cynical. And (much as it's to be applauded) it wouldn't be right for everyone (and if it became the norm, any impact would quickly be lost). But it does show the benefits of thinking differently about what it means to do marketing and communication.
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This is great in many different ways - clever, useful and fun. No idea how it works, but basically there is a colour chooser palate that links through to various images on Flickr.
Choose a subject (e.g. graffiti) pick a colour, and see what pops up. Like to comment ? (top)
9th Nov 2005 - Old ways…new ways From Creating Passionate Users, suggestions on how to approach marketing in a world of reduced budgets, media explosion and distrustful consumers.
Makes you think even if you don't necessarily agree with all the suggestions. As someone who works in an ad agency, I particularly like 'one 30 second TV commercial' (old way) vs. '200 dairy cows for poverty stricken families through Heifer International' (new way). Like to comment ? (top)
2nd Nov 2005 - Glen...Glen, Glen, Glen Happy to admit that I'm way behind the times here: my excuse is this hasn't run in the UK. But this is dead funny. And shows that rock behemoths don't have to be po-faced and humourless.
If this link goes dead, let me know as I have a copy. Like to comment ? (top)
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