Cool jobs. Cooler business cards.
SS+K is a great agency, for which I would love to someday work. They redefine what the industry is doing in order to make themselves stand out.
That is a genius move.
Do you wonder how the Internet works? or do you waste years of your life thinking about how celery is grown and harvested and manufactured and then served fresh to supermarkets?
Watch this ad. It has your solution.
I was silently handed a card in Bryant Park earlier this week that led me to this website. I just found it in my bag and checked it out.
The front of the card is delightful: it has a woman looking over her shoulder at a man who just brushed past her. Of course, they are both stick figures, but the simple image paints a picture with evocative emotion. I loved it.
The website presents an interesting thought. In a city of 8 million people, many of whom are blunt and downright aggressive with their wants and needs (professionally and personally), there is still something about human nature that leads to a need for a place where we can share our missed opportunities with the world. And hope they reverse themselves.
Simple idea. Insightful.
I was talking to my friend a few days ago, and her mention of the recent flooding in Iowa involved her saying, “Pretty soon, there might only be 49 states.” She goes to school there, so I suppose the edgy comedy in her comment was less a comedy and more a reflection of the personal connection she has with the drowning state.
However, I am in an interesting position in this particular current event. My friends from home primarily live and go to school somewhere in the Midwest, whereas my life now primarily revolves around East Coast (1) people and (2) issues. Reading the New York Times today, a thought struck me.
Why do you think a newspaper (especially one as widespread as the NYTimes) would show pictures of an area outside the New York bubble as confirming of stereotypes? I digress, what led me to this unoriginal thought was clicking through pictures of the flooding in the Midwest and seeing pictures of cattle steering clear of floodwater.
Maybe if you look closely, you’ll notice the corn in the background.
This is not a huge dilemma, I know. However, I felt compelled to raise a flag. Not a rescue flag, mind you, as this pales in comparison to the assistance that is needed in places like Iowa and Illinois right now — instead just a thought flag.
An interesting spin on typical boycotts. Sex and the City exudes an amazing fashion sense and draws others with a sharp eye for hot trends . . . but the use of fur is, for good reason, not up PETA’s alley. So, they’re (positively) striking back.
Quickly, I wanted to comment on a particularly great viral clip out there — I just watched it this morning for the first time and found myself hooked. Or, buttoned, I suppose.
Apparently over 3 million other people are in the same boat as me. Over the years, I’ve found Levi’s to be a great brand to watch from an advertising perspective. Almost like a great movie: highs, lows, bootlegged copies, etc etc. But this classic jeans brand that produces a solid product to a loyal fanbase will find it difficult to attract new “wearers” in the increasingly fragmented media landscape (my least favorite four words ever uttered).
That’s one reason why this video is so cool.
Another, is that it’s got the same collective feeling as the Burger King “I Am Man” commercial, where one man starts doing something and keeps walking, and more and more join in. Soon, they’re all traveling (where, who the hell knows) together.
Finally, the jumping-flipping-falling into jeans is something many agency people might not be able to think up — it just simply isn’t in their “genes.” Or rather, their age is showing. The repetition of such a youthful cast doing something with Levi’s jeans that most older people simply cannot do creates a build-up of anticipation to see (1) if the next guy will make it safely ‘n snugly into his pants and (2) how he’s going to one-up his predecessor. I think all the guys featured in this video will be able to have more flipping children.
Great news for the viral world.
1.) Don’t follow your competitors.
2.) Combine two ordinary things in a different way.
3.) Protect your ideas.
These ideas certainly aren’t new, but he frames this concept around the philosophy of thinking outside the box. My favorite part is when he interprets this exhibit to mean that New York runs the world — although this may be somewhat true in certain industries (especially when you ask a New Yorker), this doesn’t hold true when taken literally. But I digress . . .
It raises the question: Where should brands look for inspiration? In order to be inspired and stand out as a unique brand, you have to think outside think outside the box following these 3 points. It follows nicely to take a gander at art (especially that of the MoMA) for a creative and unique stance on certain issues that may parallel nicely with your brand.
What would be your hypothesis for an experiment in which a family holiday party is lacking either a TV or selective channels (i.e. all but Lifetime, Oxygen, and the Home Shopping Network). Yes, this design tests both sexes in different ways, but I’m looking for an overall shift . . .
