Hasta La Creative!

Over at a blog called Cajunboy there’s an email from a guy who was in a focusgroup which he deducted was for Microsoft. Seems they might be testing out a new hero for their next ad campaign… Namely Johnny Knoxville a.k.a that Jackass guy.

But what struck me as the funniest thing out of all of this was that it appears as though Johnny Knoxville might be their answer to Justin Long. We were shown some marketing material featuring Knoxville, including one commercial in which he falls and drops his PC in Jackass type stunt, but then a “don’t worry about losing your data if your computer becomes destroyed because you’re a jackass because the new Windows automatically backs up to files for you” message was delivered.

Wouldn’t that be a hoot? Too easy for apple fans to knock them down with a thousand jackass jokes. I’ll start with the easy one: “Don’t be a jackass, buy a mac.”

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I can’t give away the ending to this video as it would destroy the point; you’ll have to watch to see how effective it is.

The Awareness Test is an interesting viral video that’s been generating a lot of buzz this week. It’s intention is to promote how easily we can miss things when we’re focused …

I’ve long said that major corporations and marketers simply don’t want to “join the conversation,” so to speak. They’d prefer not to engage in two-way dialogue with their customers and would just as soon keep the one-way megaphone.

But now comes a very persuasive little handboook for those very marketers, The Open Brand: When Push Comes to Pull in a Web-Made Worldby Kelly Mooney and Nina Rollins.

Despite its small size (think of it as a Lonely Planet Guide to Web 2.0), it’s a very thorough compendium of all the definitions, types, and issues surrounding new media, a new type of “engaged citizen” and what it means to “open up” a brand to all the new forms of marketing. As it is, it’s a very of-the-moment book, that is to say it may be all different a year from now.

The Open Brand is chock-full of case studies, diagrams, and techniques for moving brands along. And it also broaches a number of legal issues surrounding blogs and the “fair use” of materials in consumer-generated ideas.

If you, your agency, or in particular a client of yours needs an introduction, replete with glossary, to get them up to speed on new media and Web 2.0-type ideas, The Open Brand is a great place to start.

Special thanks to FSB Associates for providing me a copy for review.

(TrendHunter.com) When Victoria’s Secret announced they thought their image had become “too sexy” and irrelevant to their customers, much of the fashion world was confused.

In order to create the shift to a less sex-related angle, they’ve had to relaunch their marketing campaigns and create new products. One such p…

“Harmonix Music Systems Inc., developers of the music video game Rock Band and its predecessor franchise Guitar Hero, reports that more than 6 million game levels based on songs have been purchased through its online music store since the game launched in November 2007.

Since launch, Cambridge-based Harmonix has been adding downloadable content weekly, and now has more than 70 songs available for purchase, officials said. With an average cost of about $2 each, the downloaded tracks could have brought in up to $12 million additional revenue to Harmonix since the game launched.”
— Mass High Tech

In-theater games such as NewsBreaker will soon become a part of the usual moviegoing experience. Our friends at Brand Experience Labs say that they have partnered with National CineMedia and will begin “rolling AudienceGames out to the top 20 markets on about 750 screens” after the initial test.

“National CineMedia operates the largest digital in-theatre network in North America through a venture of AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, and Regal Entertainment Group, the three largest theatre operators in the U.S. Our national theatre network includes over 15,000 screens in over 1,100 theatres in 47 states, reaching more than 600 million moviegoers annually.”

Very exciting, especially combined with industry rumors that 3D cinema is coming back big time.

(TrendHunter.com) I’m an origami fan! Last year I saw a bar in Barcelona that had decorations made entirely of origami. I was so inspired, I’m already working on some design ideas based on origami, the Japanese paper folding technique.

But the guys featured in the video above made a step by step tutorial on how to m…

(TrendHunter.com) I am not sure how good these artsy wooden knuckles would be in a fight but I think they are just awesome. Also, it would be easier to get them through airport security than the real ones.

The totally badass $40 wooden knuckles are hand-crafted in Nashville by woodworking master gangsta Mitch Rober…

(TrendHunter.com) Ice hotels are now popular across the freezing north, showing off everything from ice bars to beds made out of ice. In Findland, cold-looking lodging have happened to become quite a hit.

For something more becoming, there are now glass igloos for those travelers who want extra warmth yet still wan…

(TrendHunter.com) The world’s most expensive cognac which is packaged by jeweler Jose Davalos, is the Henri IV Dudognon Heritage dubbed as the DNA of cognacs. This ultra expensive liquor which has been produced since 1776, is aged in barrels for more than 100 years. The cognac is then bottled in a bejeweled bottle wh…