“in your eyes”

and in the same breath as the last post… here’s a plug for the kucoon designs fashion show/party this saturday:

shows are at:
11:30 – kama and caylee
12:15 – kucoon designs

come get your independent fashion fix.

you know you wanna.

    



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quantum marketing

i’ll admit right now that this is not what i ought to be writing about.

i’ve been travelling for more of the past month than i’ve been at home, and just coming up with things to write about that i had no time to follow through on. so now that i’ve finally gotten to shower in my own shower, and sleep in my own bed, and the chance to unwind, there’s really so much else that i’d like to write about other than this.

like…. i’d like to give the ad age article, “Dove Viral Draws Heat From Critics” the “STOP SAYING THE WORD VIRAL!” award.

while i’m at it, i’d like to write about how “cool-hunting” ought to be stopped too. and not the thing where brands support emerging artists and underground communities to develop relevant, authentic consumer relationships, but that whole ridiculous concept that “cool” can exist out of context, like some kind creme to be skimmed off the top of one homogenized, pasteurized mass culture.

i’d like to write a post each for like a dozen different sound-bytes that come out of alex bogusky’s mouth during the course of these interviews: 1 + 2 (it’s like a full semester of jedi grad school in the course of an hour.) i’d like to thank john drake for turning me on the existence of these videos–thanks john!

i’d like to write alex bogusky an email asking if it’s by choice or by chance that he doesn’t have a wikipedia entry to hyperlink his name to. (altho i could maybe think of a couple of other questions i’d like to ask too.)

instead what i’m writing about now is NONE of that. i’m writing about the funniest thing i saw yesterday, which happens to have been on a party flyer:

The image “http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/929/540/92954058-fa15-4590-8949-65db609c8395” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

“$15 at the door. 30 in costume. leave the playa in nevada.”

since apparel is one of the easiest mediums through which to fulfil burningman’s “radical self expression” tenet, it’s been a big deal among parties in the burningman scene to encourage attendees to dress up. for years party flyers have advertised that if you were down with costumery you’d get a discount, and if you arrived in “street clothes” you’d have to pay an exacerbated fee at the door. “playa” by the way, is the term used to refer to the dried up lake-bed in the nevada desert on which burningman is held.

the initial idea in encouraging “playa-wear,” i suppose, was about developing a certain immersive atmosphere at the events. it’s kind of like if you’re into society for creative anachronism type stuff, where you recreate medieval battles on the weekend or whatever, then it kind of kills the whole point if people don’t show up wearing period garb, wandering onto the battlefield in track suits or something. the (re)creation of that other time and place is what everyone is there for, and it only works if everyone participates in the process.

of course burningman, like any other subculture, has its own dress codes and aesthetic mores, and after a while what all those flyers were actually saying was that the admission was $15 higher if you weren’t wearing the UNIFORM rather than if you weren’t wearing a “costume.” to people that didn’t get the memo about what the burningman uniform is supposed to consist of, or for whom costumery is not really their mode of expression, the insistent empahsis on it is incredibly alienating, and to people that aren’t interested in uniforms in general (or this one in particular), it’s pretty frustrating.

the joke on this flyer is that it’s turned the whole thing around, and even come up with a brilliantly catchy slogan for the resistance.

which, of course, reminds me of something alex bogusky talked about in that interview….

The image “http://206.55.119.115/src/mini/SUVbacklash.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

(oh, if you’d watched those videos you’d know there’s no way i could just spend a whole post not talking about anything he says in there.)

so at one point he talks about this mini cooper campaign that cpb did for the car’s US launch. they bought a bunch of billboards announcing, “the suv backlash officially starts now.”

except that this was 2002, this was pre-inconvenient truth, and there WAS no SUV backlash. they needed it in order to have a way to market a small car for being exactly what it was, a small car, so they created it!

and the crazy part is that then it became real!

whether it was sheer luck, or intense prescience, or some kind of more formal consumer insight investigation, that the message worked–and by “worked” i mean, that it really DID herald the start of the SUV backlash in addition to making mini coopers sell–is because there was indeed an anti gass-guzzler movement brewing. before al gore pushed “green” over the tipping point, however, even a relatively small message like this could speak for an audience that was ready for the backlash to start.

in the interview alex mentions that advertising, and, hey, lets be real, ad agencies, have the capacity to influence pop culture through brands. or…. wait, is it brands have the capacity to influence pop culture through advertising? or is it through ad agencies? well, whichever way it is, the bottom line is that the most powerful influence comes from the capacity to articulate something that is already brewing below the surface. it’s like how quantum particles can be affected through simply being observed, so pop culture movements can be influenced by being given expression…..

wow:

“quantum marketing.” (there’s a concept).

perhaps that flyer for the party on friday will herald the start of the costume-mandate backlash? i’ve been repeating “leave the playa in nevada” to everyone since i saw it. the wait for a clever slogan officially ends now (thanks, mike).

    



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stop saying the word “viral”

seriously, just stop.

it’s not cute, it’s not hip, it’s not clever, it just makes you sound antiquated. this is not the 90’s and there IS no more viral. it’s over. deal with it.

“and then we’ll just use a viral blahblahblahblahblah”

i’m sorry, what did you say?

“yes, i said, ‘and then we’ll just use that thing that’s gonna make all our stock go up.'”

uhhmm….

“i said, ‘and then we’ll just use the magic love potion that’ll make people fall in love.'”

wait… what?

“i said, ‘and then we’ll just use that thing that’s gonna do something we have no way of controlling, but i’m gonna say it like we can anyway.”

it sounds like nails dragging across some absurd chalkboard.

all there is is content, expression, and tools. there’s compelling, relevant content, content which says something about me, whether it’s my sense of humor, or my political leanings, or my musical taste, whatever. content that’s gonna express something about who i am to the people i share it with, and that i think they too will appreciate. and there are the tools to facilitate that sharing, (use your imagination…please).

that’s it.

there is no “viral” thing in that equation ANYWHERE. i know it would make your job or worldview or whatever easier if there was, but that’s no excuse. the sun does not revolve around the earth. deal with it.

viral is like the new clothes of the online marketing emperor.

do you even know what you’re saying when you say it?

cuz it doesn’t exist.

it’s actually gotten to the point now where–and i swear, i’m not making this up, but–ANY kind of online content that COULD, potentially, be shared, that is simply share-able is now being referred to as “viral.”

“we’ll just use a viral email,” “a viral widget,” “viral banner”–the entire internet is evidently just a giant contaminated pitri dish of “viral content.” the word is so absurdly misused that it’s completely lost any meaning whatsoever. its utterance isn’t even an incorrect usage anymore, it’s simply just gobbledygook nonsense.

like market forces and falling in love “viral” is a phenomenon. using the word like you think it refers to a type of content (i.e. “viral video”), or a marketing strategy (i.e. “making it go viral”) doesn’t give you cred. to anyone that’s actually willing to confront the inevitable complexity of what’s entailed in designing and encouraging what is essentially just effective word of mouth, saying “viral” just makes you sound out of touch and ridiculous!

so stop saying it.

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/flu_shot_1.jpg

    



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a dynamic sponsorship opportunity for green brands

we are now skeeing sponsors for the Lightning in a Bottle Music & Arts Festival 2008:

Over the past two years The Do LaB’s Lightning in a Bottle Music & Arts Festival has become one of the most beloved, exceptional events within the West Coast’s young, active, environmentally and health conscious, creative community. Powered almost entirely by “green” alternative energy and produced as a model for sustainable large-scale live entertainment, the event is renowned as a showcase featuring some of the most acclaimed and original musical and performance acts, as well as a nexus of community and green education.

In May 2008, Lighting in a Bottle once again returns to Santa Barbara with a stellar lineup on 3 major music stages, and a slew of other attractions that include a dynamic art gallery and large-scale art installations, workshops, interactive entertainment, and much more. With the success of the previous years The Do LaB is expanding LIB08 to 4 days over Memorial Day weekend.

As influencers and leaders within the community, The Do LaB is just as committed to creating an event with the highest caliber of entertainment and ambience as we are to promoting sustainability. We fuel or offset the energy needs of the festival with solar power, bio-diesel, and wind power, and implement sustainable production practices throughout the whole event.

The Do LaB aims not only to produce an unforgettable experience, but to set an example for the creative and sustainable lifestyle. We are currently seeking to build relationships with brands and organizations that share our green vision.

for more information on the sponsorship opportunities available at LIB08 contact: dede@thedolab.com

    



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values-driven consumerism

http://www.icecreamman.com/images/big/070512_lib_lightning_in_a_bottle_jg_035.jpg

just found this photo in the icecreamman.com archives.

    



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