February 2012
10 posts
3 tags
Newsworthy
Those Fabulous Confabs: Smart talk has never been such a valuable commodity. It’s spawned conferences like TED, Davos, and now a slew of upstart competitors. It has made the eighteen‑minute TED lecture a viral online phenomenon. But are we running out of things to say? (http://tiny.cc/se521)
Is the Internet Just One Big Digital Book? It’s easy to forget that the world wide web as we know it today...
3 tags
Brand News
Google’s Bid to Be Everything to Everyone: A rumored audio device and new testing facilities hint at the search giant’s hardware ambitions. (http://tiny.cc/odt8m)
LEGO Team with Moleskin to Create Hybrid Notebook: all part of their social media and digital rebranding efforts. (http://tiny.cc/felbw)
The Mad Men Brand Set to Re-launch: does this ad add to the intrigue?...
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Add to Favorites
DDB Know More has found a few sites that could become new favs for you…
Vintage Ad Browser
Over 100,000 searchable vintage ads at your fingertips. (http://tiny.cc/prmr9)
Period Paper
Order prints and digital downloads of period and advertising art (http://tiny.cc/rq0hv)
Fast Company Has Branched Out
The magazine now has ‘microsites’ dealing with specific topics:
...
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We Love to Share: DDB’s most recent Yellow Paper on timeless human behavior and how it plays out online. (http://tiny.cc/i1063)
Name Your Price: Accenture examines how pricing is becoming far more customized. (http://tiny.cc/s5zwf)
Statistically Social: want the latest stats on Social Media…look no further. (http://tiny.cc/25859)
Best Retail Brands 2012: Interbrand’s ranking...
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Listen to This
HBR IdeaCast: Designing Spaces for Creative Collaboration. Check out this interview with Scott Doorley and Scott Witthoft, co-directors of the Environments Collaborative at the Stanford University and authors of Make Space: How to Set the Stage for Creative Collaboration. (http://tiny.cc/279a2)
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Tips & Trends
Gross National Happiness: a poll contradicts what we thought we knew about income and happiness. (http://www.economist.com/node/21548213)
Readily Understandable: clarity of writing usually follows clarity of thought, so check out The Economist’s writing Style Guide. (http://www.economist.com/styleguide/introduction)
I Hear You: strong listening skills can make a critical difference in...
2 tags
Quotable
This month DDB Know More shares ten quotes on Shopping…
“A bargain is something you can’t use at a price you can’t resist.” Franklin P. Jones
“Whoever said money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping.” Bo Derek
“I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist.” Tammy Faye Bakker
“People will buy...
5 tags
Well Designed
Wine Not? These stunning new bottle designs are revolutionizing the wine business. (http://tiny.cc/tt4cd)
Design’s Next Frontier: nudging consumers into making better life choices. (http://tiny.cc/ie5fa)
How Do You Like Your Eggs? Faberge eggs get a modern makeover for the craziest Easter egg hunt ever. (http://tiny.cc/ohmol)
Seinfood Posters: if you remember Seinfeld … you will...
3 tags
January 2012
20 posts
6 tags
Newsworthy
11 Amazing Augmented Reality Ads: from VW to Nivea to Disney, a diverse array of brands are using AR to create hype and increasing consumer engagement, (http://tiny.cc/n78qs)
Rethink Social Media Ad Strategy: Companies might be throwing away money in advertising campaigns that target people through online social networks, according to a report from research group TNS Canada,...
5 tags
Brand News
Google’s New Print Ad Campaign (Yes, Print): the giant is running a set of print ads in newspapers and magazines — USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Time and the New Yorker — on the theme of safe browsing and privacy, (http://tiny.cc/e10tw)
jcpenney Nails the American Look: the retailer unveils its new logo..they tend to do this with some frequency,...
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Brandchannel.com “always branding. always on.”
Launched on February 5, 2001, by Interbrand, as the world’s only online exchange about branding, Brandchannel has grown to become a valuable resource for those in the branding, marketing and design communities.
3 tags
Listen to This
Six Pixels of Separation podcast is often a lively discussion. This one may be more lively than others given the guest. Marcus Sheridan (known to many as The Sales Lion) brings a dash of motivational content coupled with a healthy helping of reality-based concepts that will make some of the most seasoned Marketers smack their heads with a, “why am I not doing this!”
Marcus is...
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Go Mobile: Nielsen’s 3rd quarter report on mobile media, (http://tiny.cc/2e5t7)
Campaigns to Capabilities: social media and marketing in 2011 from Booz & Co., (http://tiny.cc/62yn5)
Marketing at Speed: Tribal DDB’s CEO, Paul Gunning, makes a guest appearance in Google’s Think Quarterly, (http://tiny.cc/y86ad)
How Do I Do That?: Hubspot’s paper on creating epic ads...
2 tags
Tips & Trends
He’s not your buddy, he’s your customer: If you try to connect with your male customers by referring to them as “buddy” or “dude,” you’re missing the mark, pal. That’s the advice from customer services consultant Jeff Mowatt, who says you should aim to be viewed as a trusted adviser or reliable supplier. That kind of lingo undercuts your goal.
Positive notes top negative ones,...
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Quotable
This month’s collection of quotes cover Reading…
“Classic’ - a book which people praise and don’t read.” Mark Twain
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” Stephen King
“Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice,...
6 tags
Well Designed
I Want to Go to There: to lure tourists, Norway invests $377 million in stunning nature lookouts, (http://tiny.cc/w8d8c)
Design That Transforms the Eating Experience: food is the most fundamental product we consume, yet most people don’t appreciate the amount of research, design, and engineering that goes into the items at the supermarket or restaurant, (http://tiny.cc/a41dg)
Did You Know?...
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Newsworthy
Fast Company shares its favorite branding stories from 2011 including Starbucks and the Canadian Olympic team, (http://tiny.cc/clzux)
Imagine a strip mall that allows pedestrians to walk up a ramp onto a grassy rooftop to play soccer in the summer and toboggan in the winter, (http://tiny.cc/k5g0j)
Tweeting without fear: how three companies have built their Twitter strategies,...
4 tags
Tips & Trends
The end of corporate e-mail as we know it? Includes a decision made by Volkswagen to deactivate e-mail for its unionized employees in Germany outside of work hours, (http://tiny.cc/6mg6r)
Focus First on Tasks that Bring Real Results. Make a list of the tasks before you today. Then, beside each put a dollar sign if it will bring you revenue in the next 30 days, and a smiley face if it serves an...
2 tags
Listen to This
HBR’s 2012 List of Audacious Ideas
From their IdeaCast series, this one looks at ideas that radically improves business. The ideas will surprise you by their ripple effects (http://tiny.cc/nix1h).
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2012 Social Marketing and New Media Predictions: insights for this year from 34 marketing and business leaders, (http://tiny.cc/xr0pv)
Building brands in a cross-platform world: new research from Nielsen and AdTech, (http://tiny.cc/c7vzb)
McKinsey looks at marketing online: delves into what practices and success marketers are having, (http://tiny.cc/sl3z7)
The fabulous Contagious...
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The Mutual: A “Groupon For Good” That Rewards You For Donating To Nonprofits.
Instead of destroying small businesses with unsustainable deals, The Mutual donates its membership fees and then gives you perks at area businesses for being such a generous person (http://www.themutual.com/).
4 tags
Well Designed
Beer Goggles: For beer and graphic design lovers alike, the delightful visual blog Oh Beautiful Beer will certainly quench your thirst, as its archive covers everything from bottle labels, to wooden box packaging and poster art, (http://tiny.cc/ow0ye)
(not so well designed?) The Best and Worst Identities of 2011, Part I: The Worst. Includes Swiss Airlines, Eurostar and Petco,...
3 tags
Brand News
Body Shop seeks new glow: chain launches makeover to regain allure it once held as earth-friendly alternative, (http://tiny.cc/h0oz8)
The Evolution of Advertising: From Stone Carving to the Old Spice Guy - a fun infographic, (http://tiny.cc/xgvv5)
Kaggle’s Contests: the startup’s competitions lure PhDs and whiz kids to solve companies’ data problems, (http://tiny.cc/p93il)
...
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Quotable
Quotes to make you think as we enter 2012…
“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.” Peter Drucker
“Opportunity is missed by most because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Thomas Edison
“One has to do something new in order to see something new.” Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
“Institutions...
1 tag
November 2011
10 posts
4 tags
Newsworthy
Separating You and Me? 4.74 Degrees! Adding a new chapter to the research that cemented the phrase “six degrees of separation” into the language, scientists at Facebook and the University of Milan reported that the average number of acquaintances separating any two people in the world was not six but 4.74 (http://tiny.cc/v6jvd)
How Blogs Influence Purchases and Recommendations: bloggers comment...
4 tags
Tips & Trends
Your Guide to planning a Great Conference: ten very good tips for putting on something valuable and memorable (http://tiny.cc/cw9jn)
Setting the Stage for Creativity: Most offsite strategic retreats occur in a resort boardroom with an elegant table and comfortable chairs, a notepad and perhaps a copy of some important charts laid out before everyone’s place. Michael Roberto, a management...
3 tags
Listen to This
What Is Sony Now?
At 69, Sir Howard Stringer’s time as CEO of the unwieldy electronics giant is running out. Can he and heir apparent Kazuo Hirai turn it around?
Listen to the Bloomberg Businessweek Podcast (http://tiny.cc/e9vbd)
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How Social Technologies are Extending the Organization: McKinsey’s fifth annual survey on the way organizations use social tools and technologies finds that they continue to seep into many organizations, transforming business processes and raising performance (http://tiny.cc/yd820)
Mastering Marketing in Social Media: PR Newswire offers up three in-depth cases (http://tiny.cc/bw6wl)
Meet...
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Get FLVRD!
This site is organizes by emoticons and runs the gamut of content from design to social experiments to advertising. Its architecture is quite cool (http://flvrd.com/)
5 tags
Well Designed
World’s Most Influential Designers: From design thinkers to hands-on design doers in industries from graphics to industrial to auto design, BusinessWeek’s chosen 27 luminaries represent a diverse cross-section of design disciplines. But all those selected have one thing in common: They are in some way responsible for shaping the world around us (http://tiny.cc/nl27g)
How Yummy is this...
4 tags
Brand News
VW Beetles through the ages: as one of autodom’s most iconic cars gets its latest makeover, here’s a look at its evolution over the last 75 years (http://tiny.cc/n9679)
40 Strangest Agency Names, and Where They Came From: the stories behind the industry’s most oddly named shops (http://tiny.cc/xagbc)
Gatorade Goes Back to the Lab: PepsiCo is bringing the original sports drink...
4 tags
Quotable
Quotes on Creativity provided by my colleague, Pavan Kumar:
“The things we fear most in organizations — fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances — are the primary sources of creativity.” – Alfred North Whitehead
“The chief enemy of creativity is ‘good” sense.’” – Pablo Picasso
“As competition intensifies, the need for creative thinking increases. It is no longer enough to do the same thing better...
3 tags
October 2011
10 posts
4 tags
Newsworthy
The Six Secrets Of Demand Creation: which speaks of “de-averaging” the consumer to be more specific in satisfying want and needs, (http://tiny.cc/ugzlh)
The McRib’s Magic Marketing Sauce: McDonald’s brought back the McRib, but once again just for a limited time. Cruel and unusual? Maybe. It’s also brilliant marketing. Here’s what you can learn from the...
3 tags
Tips & Trends
Weighing hiring choices? Think team spirit: Paul Block, chief executive officer of Merisant Company in Chicago, says that when you’re making hiring decisions, don’t think individually but instead collectively. Assess how each candidate will assist in creating extraordinary team results, and consider factors such as diversity and constructive dissent.
Add creative voices to brainstorm...
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Design in the DNA: How a design ethos can drive business growth is a UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) report commissioned from the Economist Intelligence Unit. The report examines how design thinking might shape corporate strategy and drive business growth over the coming decade, (http://tiny.cc/49nrs)
Redefining Customer Value: corporate strategies for the social web. The rapid growth of the...
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How to be a Retronaut: “the past is a foreign country…this is your passport”. An unbelievable collection of ads, art, fashion, film, music, and more organized by decade or subject. Obscurely cool stuff like “Nuclear Bunker Mannequins”, photos from London in the summer of 1976, abandoned airplanes, Bell Labs in the 1960’s, and celebrities and their vinyl records:...
4 tags
Well Designed
Flagship Stores as Differentiators: 11 insanely cool flagships from around the world, (http://tiny.cc/s7n0z)
Google’s Never Ending Bookcase: WebGL Bookcase, the latest of Google’s Chrome Experiments, is a new way to browse for books online, (http://tiny.cc/uopm8)
Ben Sherman Gets Boring: in its rebranding there have been questions about loss of flare, (http://tiny.cc/94lyk)
Street...
4 tags
Brand News
Volkswagen Beetle Juiced Up: the car company is promoting the 2012 Beetle in Canada with an out of home advertising campaign using augmented reality, (http://tiny.cc/kqdhr)
The Strange Career of Sergio Tacchini: The Italian designer once made tracksuits for the world. Then it went bankrupt. So how did a Chinese investor get the world’s greatest tennis player to wear it again?...
4 tags
Listen to This
Brand Like A Rock Star: Think about some of the most iconic bands in the history of rock n’ roll. It can be anybody and everybody from U2 and the Grateful Dead to KISS and AC/DC. While the guitar riffs stick in our brains like gum on hot cement, there’s something more powerful happening beneath the surface: these rock bands are all amazing brands. The true embodiment of a great brand...
2 tags
Quotable
Great thoughts by Benjamin Disraeli:
“A precedent embalms a principle.”
“Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.”
“As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.”
“Characters do not change. Opinions alter, but characters are only developed.”
...
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