Advertising like law, journalism, technology, engineering, medicine, and other professions demands countless hours from its workers. This, despite damning evidence that productivity and creativity fall flat after about six hours of concentrated work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American works 44 hours per week, or 8.8 hours per day. A 2014 national Gallup […]
Are you a mansplainer? Prepare to be disrupted. In honor of International Women’s Day, BETC Sa?o Paulo has launched the Woman Interupted App to combat gender inequality. In 2014, a study by researchers at George Washington University pointed out that women are significantly more interrupted than men. Last summer, during the first “debate” between Don […]
Nick Bostrom is a Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford University and the director of The Future of Humanity Institute. He talked about the ultra fast pace of innovation, hazardous future technologies, artificial intelligence that will one day surpasses the one of human beings and might even take over our future continue
In the age of the ‘selfie’ and social media, might the figure of the Photographer, as observer and recorder of social change, becoming passé, destined to be replaced by a new type of collective ‘portrait’ formed from the aggregation and analysis of big data? continue
The great English writer Samuel Johnson once declared that, “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” Johnson’s beef wasn’t with patriotism per se, rather the issue of it being coopted for the purposes self-interest. In the preceding several hundred years since he uttered the phrase, proof of Johnson’s quote is still readily seen in many pockets of society. Politicians often appropriate the love of country for a broad range of purposes; from securing smooth passage of legislation, to xenophobic fear mongering. To wit, patriotism often rears its head when any standalone merit is hard to find.
The American car industry has a complicated history with patriotism. Since Detroit industry workers smashing Toyotas in the 70s, the call to buy American over imported cars has been strong.
But this is 2014. The problem with American manufacturers evoking the nebulous notion of patriotism is that not only are a slew of affordable imported alternatives available, consumers have never been better informed. Aside from buying a house, a new car is likely the biggest purchase a consumer will ever make. Can (or should) a car buyer suspend rationality for the love of country? The idea of this is worth examining in light of a couple a couple of TV spots from American carmakers, Wieden + Kennedy’s GlobalHue’s Super Bowl spot for Chrysler, and Rogue’s recent spot for Cadillac.
Chrysler’s spot features America’s most revered living icon, Bob Dylan, expounding on the attributes of other nations against the backdrop of gorgeously shot Americana. The spot finishes with a call to action, “Let Germany brew your beer. Let Switzerland build your watch. Let Asia assemble your phone. But WE will build your car.” Dylan assures us that other countries are adept at plenty of other worthwhile endeavors, but cars are central to the American story. To buy a car from another country is treasonous.
The Cadillac spot is more polarizing. A love letter to unfettered self-reliance, the spot seems to know which way its bread is buttered. Unlike the Chrysler spot, it doesn’t acknowledge but rather demonizes the attitudes of other nations, even taking the well-worn path of French bashing, finishing with the phrase, “N’est-ce pas?” While the YouTube commenters formed two camps, one of the, “How insensitive, egocentric, and repulsive.” The other, “Hey butthurt foreigners in the comments: instead of crying, take notes. This is why our country is the greatest in the world and yours isn’t,” the spot reinforces what American buyers of this car will love the most about themselves.
Both spots evoke patriotism, but the Cadillac spot stays strictly in the visceral, emotional space, whereas Dylan’s Chrysler spot ends with a plea of rationality – it’s ok to buy foreign goods, just not cars.
The problem with this message is that is is patently untrue. By many independent (indeed, American) perspectives, Chryslers are a pretty middling choice. The jury is back in — Edmunds, Cars.com, Consumer Reports, and plenty of others suggest that all things considered, Chryslers aren’t a great buy. Chrysler is essentially asking us to sacrifice our decision-making rigor on the altar of patriotism. That’s a pretty big ask boys.
But by embracing only the emotional hot buttons and appealing to what makes them unique, Cadillac’s spot lovingly depicts those with the wallet and the will to buy the ELR. While controversial, this spot is much more relevant and appealing to the sensibilities of the self-made.
Jimmy Darmody from Boardwalk Empire cautions, “You can’t be half a gangster.” American carmakers would do well to take note. Evoking irrational yet powerful emotions can’t be tempered by a call to rationality. IF a brand feels compelled to evoke love of country (and it’s a big IF), then it needs to go hard or go home.
In this episode, we will be talking about knitting machines & digital images, punchcards, knitted Muybridge horse animation, and musical ‘textiles experiment’. Open source Swan pedalo will make an appearance too…. continue
What remains of the Eight Hour Day movement preconized by social reformer Robert Owen in the first half of the 19th century? Is there a new definition of ‘work life balance’?
Artists, along with anyone working in the cultural sector, have experienced this evolution of working standards perhaps more acutely than most people. It seemed thus natural that FACT, in collaboration with the Royal College of Art, would ask them to explore these questions. The result is timely and thought-provoking continue
The artist uses live art, interventions and new media to investigate social and political systems; and to find his position in and to these larger systems.
Some of his projects involved outsourcing the production of a written constitution for the UK to China and having 1,000 dolls voice it, using the price of an African financial index to control lightning in a Berlin art center, testing certain hypotheses about social behaviour in a dinner party. And building an outdoors spiral staircase for cats. continue
Historian Garrick Hileman, sociologist Nigel Dodd and financial activist Brett Scott reflected on the question “Is Bitcoin the new gold?” Shaking up online and offline worlds, the online currency Bitcoin has increased its ‘value’ at immense speed in the last year. Being immune from government interference and private manipulations, it has been celebrated as a new alternative currency by some and condemned as source of unpredictable risk by others continue
With smartphones and the Internet, technology has taken off, and people now use it to run their daily lives. Of course, more importantly, people in business have harnessed smartphone apps to run day-to-day operations and get ahead against the competition. With this in mind, here are seven mobile apps every advertising agency should pitch to its clients.
DoubleDutch: The best mobile event app in the marketplace right now. With it you can organize an event and make things easier on attendees and hosts. Whether hosting a small and formal corporate convention, large or small, a business can make the most of it by using DoubleDutch. In reality, old and antiquated ways are going out the door, and a new entrepreneur must understand that by using the right apps such as DoubleDutch. Remember, as a marketing agency, it is important to talk this one up as it will help an individual achieve greatness. Google Analytics: A small or large business must track website visitors. Otherwise, it is impossible to know which advertising campaigns work and which fail the organization. To get started, one would simply need to download and install this application and then enter their user information. Luckily, this is a free and powerful app that will allow a person to read, in detail, the traffic of his or her site. CardMunch: For the busy salesperson, it is important to have an app which enables them to save business card information. Gone are the days of stuffing them in pockets and taking them home to a large Rolodex. Now, people will want to use and access this information quickly and without any issue. Luckily, with CardMunch, a person can take a quick picture of a business card and even add the individual on their LinkedIn profile with one click. This is, without a doubt, the best app to save and retain business card information. Dropbox: Most people already have this program and use it religiously. Simply put, when trying to save files and edit them across the world, a person should use Dropbox. One can use this on their laptop, home computer, tablet or smartphone. Since it is so easy to manage on multiple platforms, a user will have no trouble with this app wherever he or she is. Evernote: Again, it is pertinent to remain organized while turning a marketing campaign. With Evernote, one can do this without hesitation. To get started, a user would need to download the app, sign up for an account and then start entering information.
TripIT: Often, a traveling salesperson will need to make quick changes to his or her flight or hotel booking. With TripIT, one can access this information easily and without any problems. With this, one can see their reservations and make small changes as needed.
Cisco WebEx: When looking for a comprehensive video chat solution, one should look to Cisco WebEx. With this, people from all over the world can hop on their devices and hold a Web conference. This is a cheap and efficient way for people across the world to work on a project together. Simply put, when looking for the best chat solution, one should download this great app.
With these seven apps, a marketing person can help his or her customers run the best organization and increase productivity.
Usman Haque is an architect who creates responsive environments, interactive installations, digital interface devices as well as many mass-participation initiatives. Usman is the Founder of the sensor platform Pachube, now known as Xively.com.
Today, we’re going to talk about the smart city vs the messy city continue
Digital media are disappointing for books. All books look the same on an iPad, for example. On a monitor, a book isn’t thick or thin, big or small. Features such as a Japanese binding, embossing, letterpress printing, or gilt edging are only possible in print. Consequently, it isn’t surprising that young, contemporary designers, publishers, typographers, illustrators, and editors are enthusiastically ringing in a new era for printed books.
Fully Booked: Ink on Paper is a collection of books and other printed products that celebrate the distinctiveness of design, materials, techniques, workmanship, and production methods–and push their limits continue
“The glitch makes the computer itself suddenly appear unconventionally deep, in contrast to the more banal, predictable surface-level behaviours of ‘normal’ machines and systems. In this way, glitches announce a crazy and dangerous kind of moment(um) instantiated and dictated by the machine itself.” Rosa Menkman continue
Alternative Guide to the Universe focuses on individuals who develop their ideas and practices outside of official institutions and established disciplines. Their work ingeniously departs from accepted ways of thinking in order to re-imagine the rules of culture and science. Some of their speculative visions rival the wildest inventions of science fiction – with the difference that these practitioners believe in the validity and veracity of all that they describe and propose continue
The order of the book is based on necessity, for instance it is important to know what to do to avoid arrest immediately after breaking into a building. And how to get access to drinking water, heat and cook food before dealing with issues of public space and establishing a communal economy continue
In the context of omnipresent telecommunications surveillance, “The Pirate Cinema” makes visible the invisible activity and geography of peer-to-peer file sharing. The project is presented as a control room that reflects P2P exchanges happening in real time on networks using BitTorrent protocol. The installation produces an improvised and syncopated arrangement of files currently in exchange continue
Just when we wrap our collective heads around the concept of real-time marketing, along comes on-demand marketing to steal some of real-time’s thunder.
According to Peter Dahlström and David Edelman of McKinsey, “the coming era of ‘on-demand’ marketing” will revolve around four key areas:
Now: Consumers will want to interact anywhere at any time.
Can I?: They will want to do truly new things as disparate kinds of information (from financial accounts to data on physical activity) are deployed more effectively in ways that create value for them.
For me: They will expect all data stored about them to be targeted precisely to their needs or used to personalize what they experience.
Simple: They will expect all interactions to be easy.
The authors go on to provide some interesting examples. For instance, Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s smartphone app, which reinvents the house-hunting experience by delivering public records (list price, taxes, and other data) at the point of interest.
The authors also make it clear that very few marketers are prepared to meet the demands of info-loaded consumers. I think we can also safely say that very few agencies are prepared to activate real-time or on-demand campaigns. To do so requires not only the ability to recognize the change, but to adapt to it, which isn’t easy given how many of the changes are structural in nature (hence, the rise of content strategists, community managers, user experience designers and so on — positions that did not exist five years ago).
Is it possible that we’re underestimating the impact of digital culture on how things actually work today? In a sentence, if something does not work or is inelegantly designed, “the crowd” may take it upon themselves to remix/fix it, or demand that you do.
So, it’s not “Can I?” It’s “I can.”
The challenge of real-time and on-demand marketing is significant. A brand is a living thing, and digital media is always on. A customer may say “I can!” at 10:00 p.m. on a Saturday night, and launch into a rant on the brand’s Facebook page about how a product or service experience failed to deliver.
A small business typically lacks the resources for 24-7 customer service in social channels, but a big brand is another story. A big brand may in fact operate like an institution from another century, but that hardly matters to the tween seeking input NOW. Thus, big brands like Coca-Cola or Ford need to be present at all times. Open, available and helpful. It’s a tall order, but I don’t think brands can run from it much longer.
If you’re a curator or an artist involved in art and technology you’ve probably heard about Medialab Prado. Chances are, you’ve even been there for one of their workshops. Medialab Prado is conceived as a citizen laboratory for the production, research and dissemination of cultural projects that explore collaborative forms of experimentation and learning that have emerged from digital networks continue
n this photo series, Robert Harding Pittman acutely documents the exportation of the Los Angeles-style model of urban development to other countries such as Spain, France, Germany, Greece, United Arab Emirates and South Korea.
From the construction boom up until the current building crisis.
Anonymization presents under an implacable light a landscape of anonymity made of shopping malls, vast parking lots, arrays of unfinished houses that look exactly the same, green golf courses in the middle of desert areas, etc continue
From enhanced-CCTV surveillance to bench handles, various tracking and prevention systems are employed in controlling the users of public space. These systems are often neatly designed and seamlessly integrated in the existing architecture, acting in a persuasive way on its users. While preventing unwanted interactions between the authorities and citizens, these systems leave no space for discussion or disobedience continue
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
With smartphones and the Internet, technology has taken off, and people now use it to run their daily lives. Of course, more importantly, people in business have harnessed smartphone apps to run day-to-day operations and get ahead against the competition. With this in mind, here are seven mobile apps every advertising agency should pitch to its clients.
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