Brett Macfarlane

Social Implications

Lift sounds interesting.  Sure some great speaks and likely many neat tech ideas and insights into why they work or why we need them. 

But what really excites is this line in description of its purpose:

"to explore the social implications of new technologies."

To explore the social implications of X is a good way of looking at what we do and how we could do it better.  It implies an unknown, some discovery and removes the limitations of things like "media" or "channels."

Rather than burrowing down a mine shaft and asking "does this TV ad work" or is this an effective mobile application" ultimately we need to simply explore the social implications of an idea.

- Did you share it?

- Did it make me laugh?

- Did it remind me of someone who I will now call, visit, email or Friend

- Did it give me something to talk about in the car share tomorrow so Tom the blabbermouth doesn't take all the attention and I can be respected as a entertaining compatriate."

- Did it change the way I see the world, better or worse?

- Did it change the way I see myself, better or worse?  Stronger or weaker?  Inspired or detered?

I like how Lift is focused on the social implications of technology.  When you dig into it, implications of one things have cascading implications on other things.  Social implication of a new application will themselves have social implications on another "thing" it replaces or improves. 

Technology often looks at itself within its own buble or technolgoy or at the expense of all things non-technological. Nice to open itself up, and allow us to be arm chair socialogists.

Right, now back to making things.

Introducing Sprize by The Gap

The Gap quietly launched something very interesting here in Vancouver.  Something called Sprize.  The mechanics of it are pretty straightforward.  Apparently this is only in Vancouver at the moment.

This really is exceptional.  Just the latest creative sales promotion tactic by the folks at Gap Inc. for their various brands.  But Sprize is certainly the smartest.

Shopping has always been as much a psychological game as the utilitarian pursuit of buying clothes to protect our soft human skin from the elements.  High streets are a consumer chess game where retailers try to get you to buy today something that likely will be marked down tomorrow.  The Gap has become notorious for "wait till it goes on sale."

With Sprize The Gap is essentially calling their own bluff, saying that they know that your know that the starting retail price is just the first offer.  And you negotiate with time by coming back tomorrow to see if it's marked down, or buying it today and 14 days later come back for a price adjustment.

With a Sprize account you almost look forward to paying full price to see how much money you "win" in your account.  So now, not only does Gap encourage a sale in the present, you'll be coming back in to spend your winnings.  Smart, smart, smart.

Pair this with their renewed efforts to elevate the fit and quality of clothing designs plus a badly needed re-invigoration of their retail environment.  But realistically, those improvements are just moves to chase the more nimble brands that have been eating their lunch - Zara, H&M, American Apparel and Urban Outfitters amongst others.  Sprize is a genuinely differentiating move in an increasingly commoditized category.

Going beyond a fresh coat of paint and slogan shows this old dog still has some tricks up its sleeve.  Go on you.

Getting It Done in Vancouver

After all this talk about doing things, went and checked out something done in a big way here in Vancouver. 

The new expansion of Vancouver Convention Center opened last night and held an open house today.  It is stunning, an amazing example of architecture, design and landscape melded into one phenomenal structure.  It is anything but a typical lifeless convention center.

One of the most remarkable features of the 1.2 million square foot facility is the 6 acre living roof.

More on it over at Fast Company.  Pretty proud my city incorporated a green roof on such a massive scale that further enhanced the stunning design.

Word of warning, if you happen to be speaking or holding an event better make sure the content is good enough to compete for attention from the gorgeous views of the water and mountains. 

In full disclosure and celebration of my integrated peers our design group did the branding, digital group the digital stuff and our social media group the social media stuff.  Good stuff.

Digital monocle

The resistance to urban spam is palpable.  And yet the past's version of the future, as often informed by the Minority Report, is of a disturbing world of digital urban spam calling out at us.  Or as many Digital experts hope sending us emails with coupons as we walk by given stores.  All in all very depressing.

What is exciting is how our mobile devises with all their built in intelligence gathering inputs are on the verge of becoming our digital monocle.  People who want to communicate (ie. advertise) or inform about the physical world can do so without installing static real world content, or even fancy loud talking digital screens that change depending on the time of day, weather or some other variable.

Instead you can install virtual content in the real world.  All visible by using your phone as a sort set of goggles, or a digital monocle, where all the content goodness is visiable and interactive when you raise the phone up and point at something in your phisical environment. Something like this:

It's almost like your dashboard on an Mac.  All the info and functionality are hidden behind your main view, able to come into focus with a simple raising of the phone.  And we don't have to walk around with some fancy set of eyewear with a headsup display.  All anyone really wants and needs to carry is your keys, cash and mobile phone.  The barrier to adding an intelligent set of eyewear is ginourmous to say the least.  This little bit of research from Jan Chipchase is insightful along those lines.

Now surely someone is already writing the headline "death of out of home advertising."  Stop being silly.  It's not going anywhere and will remain effective.  But with a digital monocle it could become a more intelligent.

Social Media Register

This is a great resource from Peter Kim on major brands active in social media.

What is really interesting to me is how active big brands are in this space.  Incredibly active.  Not always innovative but definitely in the mix. 

It is also interesting how a lot of small regional brands have really done a great job as well with social media.  It's the brands in the middle, say regional or national, that have a hard time leveraging social media.

Sent Folder Detrius

Looking for an old email today came across this gem from the soon to be wife on assumed (correctly) future habits upon receipt of a shiny new iPod.  The year was 2004.  She was about to bring me my first iPod back in the days there was a $200 savings purchasing in the US.  Amazing to think that a blue hued dot matrix screen was soon cool back then.

WEEKEND CLAUSE:
I, Brett T.T. Macfarlane, do hereby promise and commit to give my full, undivided attention to my lovely, American girlfriend (Lynanne Coffey) the ENTIRE weekend she is here, from Friday, July 30-Sunday, August 1, at approximately 3pm and henceforth not become distracted by my new toy, Ipod, which she graciously will bring across the US-Canadian boarder for me.  By signing this contract, I do forego my rights to play, download, upload, inload, fiddle with or tinker with the Ipod unless said behaviors are approved by above mentioned girlfriend, who does like the Ipod herself, but has been stricken with the feeling that she will no longer be the most exciting part of the weekend once the delivery of the Ipod is made to myself.
____________________________________________________________
Signed                                                  Dated

Got me thinking that there might be a branch of law called specializing in proactive dispute resolution whereby anticipated disputes can be mitigated by simple form agreements prior to anticipated behavior. Reading about the dissolution of a major white shoe law firm may be a sign even that stodgy industry needs to innovation in a way that adds value rather than protects or extracts value as law tends to today.

Think Different

One of the biggest red herring discussions today is how digital and interactive change everything.  This isn't because they aren't important, or true, but because they are embedded in much bigger changes in society and technology.

Only in the minds of marketers is 'digital' something special or a discipline.  Ask yourself, are any businesses today not digital?  Even the most mundane and commodified industries are using digital technology to rework their businesses.  Just like steam power did many moons ago.   John Deere's self driving wheat combines are my favorite example.

What is evolving more dramatically is the questioning of many of the fundamental thought structure paradigms of economics, research, and psychology. Sometimes due to access of new technology, sometimes due to access to new information and sometimes access simply to new minds framing what we new or didn't know in new ways. 

Twitter, gets a lot of coverage, I love it, but realistically is changing the lives of very few people.  Whereas, mobile phones, in their most simplistic form without browsers or bejeweled are dramatically changing the economic and family structures of the Third world. The most thought provoking article I've ready this year is on Nokia's research around how people live with their handsets and the role/impact of a phone in their lives.  The power and impact of mobile really hits home when you look at societies that need this technology to access things we in the first world have enjoyed for years - mobility, self identity, financial leverage and freedom to communicate further than you can yell to name a few.  That's awesome in its truest meaning.

So often people try to prove or justify a particular opinion or the slice of marketing one happens to be peddling or allowed to peddle.  And yet at no time have we better been able to step back and objectively find and offer understanding of the very people we and our client's are trying to engage.  Try to figure better ways to make products they want to choose not have to choose, or simply won't choose.  Speak to them in ways that engage and enrich not simply reach and proposition.  It's a simple shift but a damn hard one.  Sometimes feels like leaving port with no destination, but that worked out for Captain Vancouver and some Spanish explorers to discover the city I'm living in right now.  That said it is a mental paradigm shift.  It's looking at what we know differently and not being afraid to try something new.  This deck I cam across on the blog of Paul Isakson had some great thoughts in this regard, not to mentioned the mandatory new agency model rally cry.  No matter some great material in there.

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Integrating Digtal Thinking

There's been a lot of debate and stone throwing of late, as Cannes seems to instigate annually, between "traditional" and "emerging" agency models, particularily around the area of digital.  This was a very good and fair article by Robert Rassmussen of R/GA summarizing do's, don'ts and what really matters.  Worth the read.

The connectors

Something I've been thinking a lot about lately is in a more integrated world, where all aspects of business from product design to sales channels and marketing gets ever more complex to a higher degree of technical difficulty do we manage the teams that must produce the work.  But not just get it done, but get it done right and great.

One of the biggest challenges at agencies is quite simply operational when it comes to developing creative.  Just as in innovative companies how to innovate is as much an operational challenge as it is innovation itself.

Having specialists and deep creative thinkers are essentials to success in any creative/innovative field.  But when in comes to pulling together not just the ideation but the production of ideas there are increasing numbers of hands touching an initiative.  Just as there are increasing numbers of opportunities either due to new production techniques, sales platforms and places to reach consumers.

What if the most important emerging new role in industry is the person who connects all the moving parts.  They must be good at dealing with people naturally, have an appreciation for creative/innovative processes and attracted by the idea of creating links between all the moving parts.  And they are empowered and recognized to do so.  They are not managers.  Or account handlers.  But connectors. 

For example, take Russel's post on pre-experience design and the point on the VW night driving campaign.  This campaign was a fantastic marketing initiative that was produced in fairly tight timelines amongst a couple other concepts tested.  If the marketing campaign could quickly have been part of the product development 'campaign' there could have been some amazing product integration.  Imagine a special night driving mode - instead of sport mode, and custom night driving soundtracks, headlamps configured for driving empty city roads and naturally an updated VW version of the film C'Etait une Rendez Vous.

Chicken or the egg

As technology becomes more and more pervasive in everything we do, including advertising, in order to come up with new innovation you have to take one of two approaches:
1. Keep tabs on new application in other areas and think of ways to apply them relevantly to the creative marketing challenge at hand.
2. Think of something first, then find the people to build it.

The former you see in things like Subservient Chicken or the Sith Sense for BK.  Both of which, as I understand CPG innovated by keeping tabs on cool and nifty new technologies, or applications of technologies from other industries.  Subservient Chicken came from the porn industry of all things. 

What is really interesting is when you can do the second, think of it then find the people to build it.  This happens in certain areas, like visual effects and in particular website design.  But it would be safe to presume that this will only accelerate as the pace of adoption or duplication itself accelerates.  People will be lining up to find a marketing application when something new gets innovated.  But hopefully we will continue to push innovation into what "could" be possible rather than what "is" possible.  Then instead of small steps you make leaps.  Can't help but to think that's what the R/GA team on Nike+ team did.

Here is a neat example of thinking of something first then finding a way to make it.  In a funny way I can't imagine how else could one have thought of this.

Running real value

I have always been an advocate of the Nike brand and the creative work they do.  And of all the things they have done, their runner's ecosystem is the most impressive.  A post by Bruce Nassbaum of Business Week kind of points out how often people miss out on the breadth and richness of the Nike running experience.

I think he made a great point about Nike+ being what social networking is all about, and something a lot of agencies can learn from instead of some crappy "we gotta be in social networking" campaign linked to tile cleaner.  But,I think a lot of people mistake of Nike+ as just a social networking experiment, or an innovative pedometer.  The bigger thing here is a brand, Nike, rather talking about running and trying to increase perceptions of value to runners, instead creates actual value for runners by developing a new training aid and community for runners to rally around.  It is so much more than just a networking site.  It is Run London, the Nike Runner's lounge in Vancouver and other cities, training podcast with Paula Radcliffe on iTunes and countless other things.  They all are part of a runners ecosystem where Nike doesn't just inspire you but gives you the tools and community to become a better or more devoted runner.  Take away the social networking or add something else next year and the ecosystem is just as rich and broad.

Sucking the soul of creativity

While few will deny Wallpaper's best days were when fellow Canuck Tyler Brule was at the helm, it still remains a nice flip through tome in the old airport lounges.  It was a celebration of a certain brand of primarily design based creativity.  However, it seems they are befalling the gradual soul sucking effect of being parented by mega-multi-national parents (Time Warner).  Good thing this has never happened in the advertising industry...

>> Style counsel <<
        Office advice for staff

    Wallpaper* was the embodiment of 90s style and
    luxury design. Recently the magazine has moved
    from its Jasper Conran-designed home in Covent
    Garden to Southwark, and a new building they
    share with publishing stablemates like Practical
    Parenting and Motor Caravan Weekly.

    So, well done to the editor's office for keeping
    up their reputation with this email to staff:

    "It has come to Tony's attention that the office
    is looking rather...  common these days. Yes,
    its been hard to give our bit of the Blue Fin call
    centre that extra Wallpaper* touch, but just coz
    we're in the same building as everyone else
    doesn't mean our space has to look normal.
    Creative clutter, good! Random stacks of paper,
    boxes, and corporate looking desks, bad! Please
    make a little effort to keep your work areas
    looking interesting.
 
    P.S Hedi Slimane will be in our offices to meet
    Tony and Nick from 3pm - 5pm tomorrow, look sharp!"

*Courtesy of Popbitch.

Super-Bud

In a few short hours, the blogosphere, AOL, and even people around your living room will be writing and talking about ads.  No event has more hype about the hype and ads that fuel the hype than the Super Bowl.  While it will be interesting which Bud Light spot comes out on top of the USA Today poll, which advertiser is derided for wasting their $2.6 million US dollars on a :30 slot, and whether consumer generated ads are rightfully deemed letdowns it will be even more interested to see what happens with bud.tv for which we've been promised a big launch post game.  Kudos to Bud for taking content into their own hands and creating a pipeline for distribution.  It will be interesting to see whether this "channel" succeeds.  There will be those who in a knee jerk will write it off as just another grave of TV commercials, which if it's just thirty second clips of product talk then  I agree.  But if they deliver on what they have promised, it could be a very powerful move by them. 

You see, the one big thing missed by many who claim the death of the thirty second spot is that moving picture with audio is a compelling and unparalleled means of storytelling when done well.  There really isn't anything better.  Bud has promised us compelling content in formats longer than :30, undoubtedly it will involve some product, that's to be expected and fair, but if they do a great job entertaining us they might just win our attention.  I hope so.  But if it's just another archive for TV commercials, then it will be hard to be optimistic.

Corporate World Meet Web2.0

Corporate World Meet Web2.0
Originally uploaded by gtmcknight.

The much hyped web 2.0 companies have a unique esthetic with their logos - rounded corners, gradients and reflections. Someone has gone and given the same treatment to blue chip and mega brands. I really like them. Much better than the late nineties early new milenium craze of cortoonish influenced logo redesigns.

Technology and Media

We are endlessly inundated with talk about new media, fragmentation, blah, blah, blah.  But what is often forgotten is that new or evolved media is derived from new or evolved technology.  Social networking has always existed, but was formerly limited to the people in a room or on other end of the phone.  MySpace and it's peers have eliminated the barriers and allowed for far more complex social networking.  The New York Times today had a neat article on where computers will go in the future.  They did this neat illustration of research on social networking. 

We in advertising and media are used to a one way, single path communication stream.  The pipeline into a TV or a single newspaper ad in front of a reader. The opposite with how people are learning to communicate and socialize as seen through connectivity and social networks.  Popularity and peer to peer hand offs as connectivity and social networks continue to boom.  Social networking right now is primarily about socializing, with a few brands muscling into the picture.  What if in five years once technology allows, the model of media delivery looks more like this picture, than the traditional straight pipeline.

Well, it's already starting to look like this.  As seen in today's AdAge article on the latest Dove spot.  What will be interesting is that we finally have a real focus group.  People will note what they like by votes of every time they watch.  In theory, if the philosophy's of creative agencies hold true, people will vote for "great work." Sounds great!

Pace of Change

Firstly, happy birthday to the IPod.  Five years ago yesterday it was released.  This link shows a video of the official release by Steve Jobs.  It's five years old, yet still feels kind of revolutionary.  At times change and digital evolution feels unimaginable and ridiculously fast.  But at the same time, it takes quite a while.  Just think about how all the promises of the web during the dot com boom, back in 1998 and 1999 are just now coming true.  Democracy of information and user generated and controlled content has only really taken off in the last year and gone mainstream.

Keep the change

Banking is easily one of the dullest and slowest changing industries.  Which is what make this solution to Bank of America's challenge of attracting new customers so great.  Rather than duplicate competitors with free chequeing, extended hours or fancy branch interiors and advertising the heck out of it (See Washington Mutual.)  They chose to innovate a new way of banking by creating a Visa where for every purchase the purchase amount is rounded up to the nearest dollar and the variance is deposited into the customer's bank account.  Here's a better explanation.  Basically, they create and give you spare change with every purchase.  It's very cool and the 99% retention rate speaks for itself .   

Innovation, the introduction

A while back I mentioned that I'd expand on why I'm so big on innovation.  It's about time I started to do that. 

We all know that our industry is centered around "creativity."  And traditionally, creativity was expressed in tidy little :30 or maybe :60 bites.  However, as every new publication is spouting these days, the rules of the industry are changing.  It's no longer about tidy little bites but a chaos of content.  This is where creativity comes in.  Bob Scarpelli often preaches within the DDB network that we need to "create our own media."  Which is awesome.  But it's important to note that this is not a creative exercise but an innovation exercise.  Innovation is coming up with a new technology, a new approach to using an existing property or an idea that transcends anything that currently exists.  Simply it's something new.  Subservient Chicken was innovation.  That Japanese bar code thing that won the Titanium Lion was innovation.   Pepsi's plug in transit board was innovation of the medium. 

Conversely, a well dressed street team isn't innovation.  A brilliant new story or metaphor based TV ad that fits into a purchased commercial space isn't innovation.  A billboard with some form of 3-dimensional structure isn't innovation.

In an age when average people can innovate (Google, YouTube, Flickr) and create waves, so to do we as advertising agencies.  Or communications companies as our parents refer to us.  However, the challenge is how to you create innovation?

In my view, it all comes down to motivation and incentive.  If I'm a creative person, and I'm motivated by awards, if I work in a traditional agency the easiest way for me to win an award is to come up with a wonderfully creative TV ad.  Why would you spend any time innovating, or "creating media" if you can just work within the box you live and achieve recognition and success.  This is not to say creative people are lazy or out of touch.  This is not at all the case, but even the most integrated agencies still need to divvy up creative folks into specialized groups.  And human nature makes it hard for someone in one group to cross over into another without hurting feelings, being laughed at or worse not having anywhere to bill your hours.

This is where account planners and account services people are going to play a bigger role in pushing the big agencies forward.  We are the ones who will set the course amongst all the internal "channels," get clients to buy off, and create an environment that fosters innovative thinking, not just creative thinking.   

It's about recognizing that innovation is creative, but creativity is not necessarily innovative. 

The Great Gravity of Status Quo

In this day and age, positive views towards a brand are ephemeral at best.  Consumers expect brands to be ever improving.  There is something about human nature that requires change.  You as a brand could be doing what you do at a constant rate over time, but equity of consumer perception will decline progressively.  Gap fell into this cycle as each round of people dancing on a white backdrop got less and less interesting.  But they stuck to the "it worked once so it's gotta work again" mantra.  They are still trying to figure out how to get their mojo back.

For those favoring the status quo and fending off the barbarians at the gate, author Seth Godin of The Purple Cow fame has a great post on Top ways to defend the status quo.

Art of the Drive Through

Art, commerce and everything in between.  The Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver has made art accessible to the masses (if you drive) with the first drive through art gallery. 

I've always distrusted artists who distrust commerce.  Art more or less started as a commissioned act by kings and queens.  This project, acknowledged as marketing as much as art, is not just great example of invented media but a great example of the original spirit of art.

 

Dinner for 6

Ever since I read Jon Steel's Truth, Lies and Advertising I've always been consumed by the pursuit of finding better ways to find insights and learn about consumers.  I strongly believe this is through finding better questions or ways for people to articulate their thoughts.  I loved Jon notion of looking through the eyes of the child.  In particular the drawing for two cars at a stoplight, one a Porshe and the other a regular car, and the "Asshole" thought bubble above the driver of the regular car looking at the Porshe owner. 

In this quest for intriguing questions in this blog - Fantasy Dinner Party - I'm exploring a favorite on of mine "If you could invite anyone over for dinner, dead or alive, who would you invite and why?"  Contributions welcome and encouraged.

Talking Innovation

The ad industry talks a lot about creativity.  But the word "creativity" has lost its meaning.  We all agree that a high percentage of advertising out there is crap, yet every agency hangs out the "we're creative" flag.  While creativity will always be part of what we do, what we really need to be talking about is innovation.  I'll explain this in coming posts.  But as noted in this post from Leo Burnett Toronto, innovation is a hard thing to talk about. 

My view has always been either you are or you aren't.  It's kind of like cool, and if you need to say you are, you probably aren't.

Poor Clients

Working on a pitch.  Actually quite a cool project up for grabs, but couldn't help to feel bad for the prospective clients.  In addition to ourselves they have to sit in front of at least four other agencies try and tell them how "creative" and "unique" they are.    Which everyone agency side knows is bunk for all but a sliver of agencies.  I say this knowing mine is truly creative and unique.  But still, can't all we agencies collude and agree to no more dog and pony shows.  We are each allowed one meal, our preference, to meet and chat with prospective clients.  That should leave more money for raises all around and no working weekends...