Blake Mycoskie gets it. At the IDEA conference yesterday Blake was the first speaker, and he set the tone for the entire afternoon, as speaker after speaker echoed his sentiments. Blake is the guy behind TOMS Shoes, a worthy company with a worthy mission. For every pair of TOMS purchased, Blake gives a pair... »
I attended Ad Age’s IDEA Conference today. Those of you familiar with this blog will remember that last month I was involved with Interesting New York, a really cool ‘un’conference. IDEA was somewhat similar, with some really terrific speakers presenting thought-provoking concepts in 15-20 minute sets. Over the next couple of days I’ll share some of... »
It’s hard to remember, but there was a time before email. Back then we didn’t give much thought to the symbol above the 2 on our keyboard. The @ symbol was seldom used, an alpha-numeric appendix – useful occasionally, but you could certainly live without it. Email changed all that. The @ symbol is now... »
Last night I watched a couple of Peanuts cartoons with my kids. Saying that Peanuts is genious isn’t exactly a revolutionary idea, the brand has been around for 50+ years. But watching It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown reminded me of some of the reasons it has lasted so... »
Great piece by Virginia Heffernan in the NY Times magazine yesterday on the Hitler Lost Cause Meme. People have been taking a scene from the 2004 German film, “Downfall” the story of Hitler’s last days and tweaking it, often with hilarious results. Here’s one titled Hitler Plans Burning Man (German with English subtitles, but... »
Picking up from earlier this week… Micah Solomon highlights the new “eco-cards” from the Four Season’s Hotel. Nicola Davies shares an amazing video on the evolution of video games (must viewing). Paul Groves enlightens us on the health benefits of flatulence. Share Marketing talks about the importance of social media in tough economic times. Ray Cha of Weather Pattern... »
It’s very chic to talk about the power of the consumer and how important it is to engage them with your brand. There are many great examples that are brought up showing the benefits (Pabst Blue Ribbon) and plenty of examples of what happens when you don’t (Delta). But less frequent is the example of... »
Nike – the gritty American underdog that took on the Establishment (adidas). Nike – the champion of the rebels and rules breakers. I love Nike, always have. I love their products and I love their marketing. But it looks like they missed and missed badly on a recent marathon held in San Francisco. You can... »
I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Dubai a couple of times. It’s a remarkable place with lots of energy and electricity. Check out Octagon’s First Call blog for the latest trend: Celebrity investment. Francis Anderson weighs in on the Mac v. PC ad wars (which are really the Mac v. Microsoft ad wars. I’m a fan... »
Mr. Blackwell has died at the age of 86. He deserves to be remembered for a couple of reasons. First, it can be argued that he was one of the pioneers of celebrity culture. He first started critiquing the fashion sense and style of Hollywood in 1960. It’s not a stretch to say that... »
