Welcome to the Stack for April 30, 2012. This week we heavy up on video, explore Otaku culture with Henry Jenkins and see how one agency used gamification for a higher purpose: Unlocking the free beer fridge.

Be sure to check out the video of David Rees, the Artisanal Pencil Sharpener (really). It’s a great contrast for videos one and two which explore a more digital life. Get it all here.

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Y&R Dubai Channels the New Aesthetic for Harvey Nichols

Creativity was the dominant theme this week, from Hologram Tupac at Coachella to the wisdom of Milton Glaser.  I continue to be fascinated by the rise of the New Aesthetic, as digitalism continues to become more pervasive.

Actually, quite a bit to enjoy in the stack this week, including a couple of long form videos. If you are a fan of the television show The Wire, you’ll love the video essay on the visual style of the show. For those looking to expand their horizons, watch the BBC program on infinity.

Finally, if you manage to ‘go viral,’ Ben Lashes is the bloke you’ll want to get in contact with.

Check out those and more in The Stack. If you’d like to get my weekly stack via email, you can subscribe here or check out the form on the right.

From Casey Niestat's #MakeItCount video for Nike.

So, I’m really starting to dig the way Delicious has created this idea of ‘stacks.’ For the second week in a row, I’ve put together a ‘stack’ with my cultural findings for the week. Check out my most recent Emerging Culture Stack here.

If you’d like to get my weekly stack via email, you can subscribe here.

This week’s theme music: A Beautiful Mine, by RJD2.

Mad Men Returns
After 17 months, Mad Men finally returned to our tablets, laptops, mobile phones and television sets this Sunday with a two-hour season premier that charted as the most social premiere of 2012 with 106,000 comments from 64,000 users. According to Bluefin Labs, Mad Men received more than twice the social buzz of any other drama that premiered in 2012. Alcatraz, which made its debut on Jan. 16, received 43,000 comments; Smash, which premiered Feb. 6, received 56,000 comments; and GCB, which premiered Mar. 4, received 21,000 comments. And while the episode seemed to receive widespread praise, there was something missing for me: advertising. Other than one scene in which Peggy has a meeting to pitch a new concept to Heinz, there was little in the way of the business of advertising, and without that, Mad Men becomes just another primetime soap opera for me. I appreciate that not everybody is going to be interested in the ‘inside baseball‘ aspects of the ad industry, but look at a show like The Wire. That show was almost 100% industry details (police, drug dealers, schools, politics, media) and it did just fine. I hope Mad Men fines space for more time about the creation of advertising.

In other SocialTV news, ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars is a show that should be on your radar screen. According to SocialGuide and reported by Mashable, Pretty Little Liars‘ season 2 finale “Unmasked” generated themost social media buzz of any regularly scheduled series in TV history. Some 50 topics — including five worldwide trends: Ezra, Garrett and Melissa, Spencer, Mona or Jenna, and Black Swan — trended on Twitter last Monday. By any measure that’s quite impressive, especially for a show that airs on a network most people probably couldn’t find without their cable guide.

Ok, Then What’s Next?
Right, so you’ve missed the Pretty Little Liars train and you want to get in front of the next cult hit show? Give MTV’s I Just Want My Pants Back a look. It’s a smartly written look at the life of a group of twenty-somethings as they try to get through life as best they can in Brooklyn and is based on David J. Rosen’s novel of the same name. The show’s website is chock full of content and with MTV’s social media machine revving up (read the Ad Age article How MTV and its shows got 100 million Facebook likes) this show has a chance to be a breakout scripted series for the network. Key factors that may drive its success? Cast members live tweet during first airings; UStream’s with a variety of the cast and producers (including Doug Liman and David J. Rosen) where they interact with fans and answer live viewer questions; and they’ve already generated 43,000+ likes on the show’s Facebook page. Read more on the show here.

Beautiful Design Can Make The Complex Simple
It seems the importance of design has had a renaissance in recent years. Agencies like IDEO and brands like Target have put an emphasis on the practice and the growth of data visualization and infographics as a means to tell a story has exploded on the Internet. This week I came across the simply elegant site, Inception Explained. One of the more enigmatic films of recent years made quite comprehensible, thanks to the efforts of Matt Dempsey.

Google Continues Its Foray Into The World Of Advertising
Project Re:Brief is a Google effort to reimagine classic ads in our modern world. In their words: This year, Internet advertising turns 18-years-old.And yet despite almost two decades of innovation online, digital ads are still being used to simply inform more than they’re being used to connect, engage and entertain. So we designed this experiment to re-imagine what advertising can be and push the boundaries of how creative ideas and our technology can work hand in hand.

The ads chosen to be reworked include the classic Coca-Cola “Hilltop,” Avis’s “We Try Harder,” Alka-Selzer’s “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing,” and Volvo’s “Drive it like you hate it.” I encourage you to explore the site and see how these spots are reimagined for today’s online/digital/social world.

When The Digital Goes Analog
Two continuing themes for me have been my admiration for PSFK, and my belief in quality print publications, whether they be experimental efforts like theNewerYork lit mag or ‘work as a lifestyle’ tome, Monocle. So when I read last week that PSFK was launching a new magazine called, Need to Know, well it was like chocolate and peanut butter coming together. So, this week I’ve stepped away from my weekly Kickstarter Support Project and ‘invested’ in this worthy effort. Read my mini-interview with PSFK’s Piers Fawkes for more. I think it’s saying something when a brand like PSFK, purveyors of digital ‘in the know,’ decide that print is a relevant medium for them. I’ve already ordered issue #1, I let you know my thoughts when it arrives.

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How the SxSW was won.
Two constants you hear about the SxSW conference are: “It used to be so much better before the big brands got involved,” and, “Who got the most buzz this year?”  This year those two notions merged as it seemed to me that American Express and Nike were probably the big winners coming out of Austin. American Express sponsored a Jay-Z concert that was not only the hottest ticket in Austin, but also generated more than 16 million views as it was live streamed on YouTube. The production included three camera angles that viewers could choose from and social integration via twitter with the #JayZSyncShow hashtag. Also generating a lot of heat was Nike with their Fuelband. As Digiday explains,Nike is now a tech company.  Mashable had the announcement of Nike’s release of the API for their FuelBand so hackers can take it to the next level. So, what does it mean for SxSW, and specifically SxSW Interactive, if American Express, Nike and Jay-Z are the ones generating the buzz? Does the event need to rethink its mission and purpose?  Does another event take its place as the launching pad for unknowns? The next few years will be critical for the development SxSW.

But before the conference is branded as nothing more than a platform for big brands, consider the case of Bina48.   Bina48 is the first robot panelist in SxSW history. As explained Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., Bina48 (also in attendance were actual humans: Brian Duncan of Terasem, Stephen Reed of TexAI and author/researcher John Romano of thedigitalbeyond.com) is based on the “mind files” from one Bina Rothblatt. Mind files are made up of units of information about a person, based primarily on their social media presence (video, pix, blogs), but also of psychological tests, Bainbridge surveys, and Sensecam data. Duncan told us that the Terasem hypothesis is that, given a comprehensive database, future intelligent software will be able to replicate consciousness. Rich personal data + a powerful AI = a virtual ‘you’. For this panel, the goal is not just artificial intelligence, it is digital life after physical death.

This robot is so far down in the Uncanny Valley it can’t even see the sky. You can read more on Artifical Intelligence as SxSWi here, but one thing I don’t ever see covered is how this will effect, or be effected by, brand communications. What methods would brands use to connect with A.I.? How would a robot react to a commercial? Seems like a question better left to scienc fiction writers perhaps, but my guess is that within the next 10 years we’ll be thinking about it more seriously.  I’m looking forward to seeing Bina48 in person later this month at TEDxHarlem.  I’ll have a further report then.  

  
Is the future variable-priced advertising?
In other technology news, this story about parking meters in San Francisco got my attention. The smart meters will have variable pricing depending on time of day and demand. In this way they hope to positively effect traffic patterns around the city. More on the plan and technology here.  Again, I ask the question, “how will this sort of technology effect brand communications?”  Would smart billboards in Times Sqaure, and other parts of the city, have variable pricing that could literally change hundreds of times a day based on traffic patterns, pedestrian volume, even weather? If so, what sort of systems would have to be in place between brands, ad agencies, media buying agencies, cities and the owners of the billboards to create the most efficient market? Perhaps Bina48 could play a role.

My son, the hacker
My 13-year old son doesn’t have a Twitter account, so I was a bit perplexed when he asked me to open up Twitter on my laptop. He then took over the keyboard and within 10 seconds said, “that’s your password, right?” I looked at the screen and yes, that was in fact my password. He had hacked Twitter, or maybe it was Google Chrome that he had hacked. Either way, it gave me pause. While certainly computer savvy, and into video games, my son is by no means a computer programmer (or future member of Anonymous). But that’s the point.  The old stereotype of a ‘computer hacker’ in his parent’s basement is completely outmoded. Being able to tweak the system is no longer the province of hardcore Wired magazine-reading techno-nerds. Nor was this some sort of illicit information gathered in some clandestine attempt to steal information. He was quite proud and open about it. Why shouldn’t he be, he’s part of a generation raised on cheat codes and Easter Eggs. The question is, how do we build brand messages into the hacks?  Yes, finding out my password was fun for him, but imagine if instead he had found a coupon for his favorite fast food joint or downloadable content (DLC) for his favorite game.  That’s the future of marketing to millennials.

An Underground Highline?
This week I’ve broken one of my Kickstarter Project rules. When I started this at the beginning of the year I said I wouldn’t support projects that had already achieved their funding goal. The point here was to help projects get funded, not jump on the bandwagon of popular projects. But I’ve decided to make an exception for the Lowline: An Underground Park on NYC’s Lower East Side. There are two reasons I’ve decided to break my rule for this project. First, this project is so awesome in scope and ambition. It will be an absolute game changer if it it realized. Secondly, though they have passed their original monetary goal, additional funding will help take the project to new levels. Check out the video here. 

This week’s theme music: Tweet your favorite Jay-Z song (#title) with #JayZSyncShow and maybe he’ll play it live from SxSW later today (3/12/12). Details here. 

What’s going on at SxSW?
Y&R is teaming up with several of our sister agencies to provide on-the-ground commentary of all the happenings in Austin. Check out the lowdown on the panels, parties, food and general zeitgeist here.

“The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed” - William Gibson
As marketers, we usually focus on the content that is available on the Internet. This week I was intrigued by two clever approaches to providing access to the Internet.  The first, Homeless Hotspots, is in beta test at SxSW. Created by BBH Labs, Homeless Hotspots utilizes homeless people as mobile wifi spots.  As SxSWers roll through town and find themselves in areas with weak signals, they’ll find Homeless Hotspot representatives from which they can get high speed access. It’s an intriguing notion and novel solution to two problems.

If that solution leverages a low-fi technology (people), then Electronic Countermeasures is something straight from a sci-fi novel – a swam of mini, flying robots create a wifi network. The man behind the idea, Liam Young, descibes it like this: “These drones would fly off and hover above the city, and create ad hoc connections and networks in a new form of nomadic territorial infrastructure,” he says, “a flock of interactive autonomous drones that form their own place specific, temporary, local, Wi-Fi community–a pirate Internet.”

Intriguing and wildly dissimilar approaches to solving a similar problem.

Gender Roles – Shaping Language, Re-inforcing stereotypes
As we come off a week where gender roles and women’s sexuality drove the political conversations, two items caught my eye. First was this care label on a pair of men’s pants. While details of the brand behind this aresketchy, it raises some interesting cultural questions. Is the label meant completely in jest, a thumbing of the nose at the politiclal correctness of this time?  Is it meant as a declaration to men to reclaim the “traditional” gender roles? Is it actually a stab at men, famous for not reading instructions? Is it merely a somewhat obvious grab to garner publicity, any publicity, for the brand? Madhouse, the UK shop stocking the pants has been back-pedaling, so that seems unlikely.  And to what degree should we be upset by this? In my house I probably do about 70 of the laundy – wash, dry, fold & put away. Should I be offended by this? If so, because they are in essence demeaning my wife, or because they are demeaning me? It’s interesting to think how else they (or another brand) could use this space.

Elsewhere, linguistics researchers are looking into the role that women play in shaping our language.  Carmen Fought of Pitzer College, in speaking to the New York Times stated: ”If women do something like uptalk or vocal fry, it’s immediately interpreted as insecure, emotional or even stupid. The truth is this: young women take linguistic features and use them as power tools for building relationships.”  

A Social Game from a magazine? A TV show from a car company?
For 19 years, SELF magazine has hosted an event called Self Workout in the Park in New York City. This year, they’ve added a Social Gaming element to the program. According to The New York Times, ”The Self game, in addition to bearing the Self brand, will be sponsored by several marketers, including BlackBerry, 7 for All Mankind jeans and Skype, which will be integrated into the social game play. Plans call for the game to be playable on mobile devices and computers.”

For the past several years Ford has done a great job of driving marketing innovation in the social space. That continues with their latest project, Escape Routes. According toMashable, the show will premiere on NBC and mun2 on March 31. The show, which will run for six episodes, features a cast of six teams of two who will vie in a road trip competition. This is a great example of a brand embracing not just Social TV, but Intermedia. We’re moving towards an entertainment landscape that has transitioned from watching a show, to talking about a show online to engaging with a show online – in real-time. As this trend continues, ‘event-style’ shows will keep viewing watching, thus forcing advertisers to up their game as viewers shift between big and small screens. The :30 second will need to be more engaging, not with cute animals and talking babies, but with additional content relevant to the program.

340-ton boulders and a video game for the 99%

Guns N’ Roses, The Doors, Red Hot Chili Peppers. Los Angeles has had its share of rock stars. But none bigger than the 340-ton boulder that made its way to the L.A. County Museum of Art last week. As the LA Timesreported, the rock, part of an art installation, has become a sensation in a town know more for superficiality than being down to Earth (or being part of the Earth), the rock’s 105-mile journey has generated carnival-like parties, parade-style onlookers and well-wishers and of course, the true imprimatur of 21-century celebrity, a Twitter account. This is one of those perfect examples of things that you simply can’t manufacture. Can you imagine an agency going to the museum to pitch this? Or how completely lame it would have been if they had created an official party for the rock? No, something like this just happens, or it doesn’t, and that’s the world we live in right now. The question for marketers becomes – how, if we cannot create these things, do we leverage them?

Equally organic is the video game Keep Me Occupied. An effort from the people behind the Occupy Oakland movement. The game resides in a moving console called the Oak-U-Tron. According to the the game’s programmer, Anna Anthropy (via Wired.com), “The game [marries] the idea of the social movement where everyone who’s playing contributes to the overall success of everyone,” says Anthropy. “Someone who’s maybe not super good at videogames might only get to an early switch, but they’ll still stay behind and hold that switch and help all future players to still be contributing something that’s significant.” Check out the gameplay here, and see the game in action here.

Insight on the creative process from Ridley Scott
Last week we saw the clever trailer for Prometheus, the latest epic from visionary director Ridley Scott. This week I discovered this gem, a video entitled Blade Runner Convention Reel. It’s a look behind-the-scenes at the creation of the world of the depicted in the film. It’s a deep meditation on storytelling, and more importantly illustrates the difference in approaches between a film like Blade Runner – a film that was added to the National Film Registry – and something like this week’s ‘blockbuster,’ John Carter.