Ruby Pseudo Wants a Word

Martin, 19 [Bury, UK] on 3 brands that 'get it right'... Nice

2009-07-10T15:50:00.004+01:00

I recently set about getting some new bloggers to the network and set those interested several briefs they could write around. Those who got chosen [and we're still reading through them now] will become a fully paid up Ruby Writer... Martin, a 19 year old living in Bury in the UK, is the first up...

"Being a teenager and a student people, throw advertising in my face on a daily basis, whether it be a flyer for the SU bar or some big organization trying to sell me their latest creation, whatever it is - I don’t like it; it either goes straight in the bin or I just keep walking. I believe when marketing to the young you must speak to our interests and think a little outside the box.

One brand that does this fantastically is Adidas. It gets the four P’s of the marketing mix almost perfectly right. It’s pricing may not be the cheapest, however, I know you get what you pay for and most youths would pay that little bit more for Adidas quality. It’s easily accessible for the youth market, being placed in its own stores around city centers and also branches like JJB etc and the product itself is often a lot more stylish than its competitors, which a big factor when I purchase anything. As for the promotion their guerilla marketing is some of the most innovative I’ve ever seen; for example their graffiti campaign across Manchester brought the brand right down to street level and seriously engaged with urban youth culture. Likewise their giant Adidas shoebox placed in Leidse Square, Amsterdam, created a buzz, teenagers where seen climbing and sitting on it. It’s this kind of unconventional advertising that leaves a lasting impression.

Another brand I think is successful at targeting the youth market is Orange, they’re very good at playing to our interests! For example, their Orange Wednesday promotion was a very clever ploy, I personally love going to the cinema and I know an awful lot of people that use that service; a couple of friends have even changed networks just so they could take advantage of the offer. The events they sponsor are also exactly what the demographic care about, for example sports, music and film. Orange have sponsored The Rugby World Cup, The BAFTAs and Glastonbury are all events either friends or myself have watched.

Coca-Cola being the huge organization it is, obviously is very good at its marketing, however, I think it targets the youth market particularly well for a few reasons. Much like Orange, it taps into the medium of cinema, but in a different way, through product placement we’ve seen it in many top films, Borat, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Kill Bill are to name but a few. They have also tapped into the obsession young people have with the idea of celebrity, their endorsement list features some of the biggest names in show business 50 Cent, Missy Elliot, Kate Beckinsale and Christina Aguilera have all endorsed Coca-Cola products, For many this leads to the mentality that if it’s good enough for my favorite celebrity then it’s good enough for me. I also have first hand experience of Coca-Cola’s more localized way of marketing. They invited my college to their plant where we received talks on brand history, site tour and even free product samples, I think it was a good way to get young people really interacting with the brand. Maybe it was subliminal brainwashing but I really did come away with a better opinion of Coca-Cola...

Mini Interviews on Twitter...

2009-07-10T09:29:00.002+01:00

Voicebox

2009-07-09T12:57:00.003+01:00

One of the many perks of working with the Ruby Pseu crew is the opportunity to both be involved in some amazingly exciting projects, and to have the pleasure of working alongside a whole heap of very interesting people. And so is the case with the vinspired Voicebox project that I have been fortunate enough to become involved in.

As we've often spoken about here at Ruby, the demonisation of our nations kids is something we feel is inherently wrong and with words such as ‘stupid’ and ‘feral’ being banded about, it is doing more damage to a section of society that probably least need the spotlight of our nations vitriolic media centres trained upon them. The fear people feel around young people is a clear example of how the media have both forced opinion and turned the British Youth into folk devils. The Voicebox project is working increasingly hard to make a difference to these perceptions in an attempt to get to the core of the issues that plague the kids; by talking to the kids [and not about them or around them] – by giving the kids a discernable, open voice and, importantly, one that will be heard, Voicebox will hope to be able to affect the way people think about the youth. Gathering data from the nations much maligned young people, Voicebox is going to try to find out how young people spend their time, what they care about, how many binge drink, how many take drugs, carry knives and much, much more.

The aim of the project is to better understand young people, so the more people that take part, the more detailed picture the project will get. The data will be completely open source too, as vinspired are encouraging people to take the data visualisations to play with and the data to use for their own purposes. By making the project open, Voicebox will be proffering the voices of these kids to a much wider, broader audience.

Help them be heard by checking the site here.

Image taken from the site.

The Reality TV debate...

2009-07-07T16:07:00.007+01:00

Last time it was The Facebook Debate, now we're on to a subject that's a little broader. After the launch of yet another series of Big Brother, The Instant Classic suggested we have a chat chat about reality television, what it creates, influences and in turn what we all think of it...

The Instant Classic: Big Brother spawned the job title "Celebrity"... people with no real discernible talent other than doing outrageous things to keep them in the public eye. This has led to an explosion of people desperate for fame, and they see Big Brother as that avenue for success.

Elliebell: I think our ambitions used to be to become an astronaut or a doctor, now - thanks to Big Brother - ‘fame’ has now become a creditable career in its own right.... Fuelled by gossip magazines, there is no longer a social need for neighbourly gossip. In turn we have found our niggling need for scandal in the short lived stories of reality TV stars..

Roxy: It has never been easier to be famous but people have also never been famous for a shorter amount of time. We’re always so quick to blame the idiots who go on these programs but us talking about them, criticizing them and even - ultimately - sometimes emulating them, all means the concept of overnight celebrity has worked and we’ve helped it along the way.

Whathehelle: But Big Brother is the epitomy of the ‘get famous or die trying’ mentality. It has much to do with the demeaning activities of the ‘celebrities’ born from the show, I think people now, more than a few years ago say, are more focused on being famous for the ‘right’ reason in adverse to becoming famous for doing something stupid in a public forum. The ‘get famous or die trying’ mentality doesn’t endear itself to me and nor does it to many of my friends.

J Bullets: The term 'Reality TV' is a self contradiction because this is NOT reality. Big Brother, may be one of the least fabricated shows from the genre but it's still pretty whack... I mean sociologists have shown us that 'observer effect' means people will act differently in front of cameras anyway.

The Instant Classic: I agree with all the points raised so far (and that's pretty rare). With regard to the comment "in creating the get famous or die trying culture Big Brother has also killed it", Big Brother has also managed to pretty much commit suicide, possibly a victim of its own success. Never before has a program died so slowly, battered along the way by the constant controversy that made it a success.

Roxy: I’m not sure I agree with Big Brother creating the “get famous or die trying culture”, now hold on before you all start to tisk and tut. I will say it contributed to the rise of this attitude, but celebrities doing anything and everything they could to be famous was not just led by Big Brother. Look at Jordan for instance, she stood as a candidate for a local election. We all knew it was a piss take but it shot her to fame, a page three model was appearing in broadsheet newspapers and in my opinion, good on her. Ben Elton, he did anything and everything, he wrote countless amounts of books, had a chat show, co-wrote a musical, he’s famous for sticking his fame hungry nose where it’s not wanted or needed. The list goes on.

J Bullets: But shows like "I'm a Celebrity" encourage this "stay famous or die" culture which I think is pretty degrading for these D-list celebs.. but each to one's own. When you're in the public eye, I think it's crucial to know when to stop. When you're times up, it's up. These desperate attempts to stay famous are just embarrassing. Nobody wants to see Peter Andre eating bugs in a jungle and doing ring tone advertising campaigns. No-one wants to see Kerry Katona on our screen for more than 10 minutes and doing Iceland adverts. Where does it stop?? At finding Paris Hilton's British Best Friend or at finding potential grooms for the oh-so elegant Jodie Marsh?

Roxy: I’m going to defend reality television, or at least it’s origins and early forms. The first series of Big Brother was amazing, it was genius, it was interesting, everyone watched it. The first ever reality TV program [of the game doc sub genre], An American Family was also incredible, it took the way we think about other people and other sub-cultures to a new level, reality television in some forms was and still is educational, socially educational.

Whathehelle: Still, I wouldn’t ever consider jumping onto TV simply for the sake of it [I’ve turned down reality TV before in actuality], it would have to be for something I either strongly wanted to do, or strongly believed in...

[Ruby: Ha! I snuck a final word in before publishing... For me, this man always wins the debate... Neil Postman, 'Amusing Ourselves to Death'... Well good...]

Nice...

2009-07-07T14:55:00.002+01:00

Nice, nice.

Please, Don't Be That Guy

2009-07-04T10:06:00.002+01:00

I was enjoying a sunny Sunday listening to music and catching up on some work for the week when the Tatianas track I was just starting to get into, abruptly stopped. I flipped over, a few tabs back, to see what was up and right there, on the band's MySpace profile, a giant ad was plastered on the player. I had to manually X out of the box with the ad to start the music back up again.

Here's the thing, I totally get that ads make the world go round and keep MySpace and similar sites in business (hopefully) but there are so many other ways to use your ad dollars. It is after all, a great site with fresh original content that's ripe for smart, integrated sponsorships. But why anyone would want their brand positioned as the brand that completely stops the experience for its users escapes me entirely.

Please take this as a short but important warning from the digital kids you're trying to reach: If you're ever tempted to trade all reason for possible impressions and run ads that completely interrupt the experience, recall the glory days of high school basement parties and imagine yourself as the parent who walks down stairs, turns on the lights and turns off the music to tell everyone "Party's over!" right as the party's hitting its peak of pubescent epicness. Please, don't be *that guy.* You're just wasting your money.

Image borrowed from Tommy.

10 Notions to consider about how kids use their phones... Next: Hyperreality

2009-07-02T07:56:00.002+01:00

In the last post around this, I mentioned Gaby - who was in stark opposition to Gabo... Working in London as an events organizer and fashion girl, Gaby begins her case study piece with: 'I have a BlackBerry Bold because it looks good… On top of this, I can receive e-mails and I can use BBM [BlackBerry Messenger] – which I love… '

HYPERREALITY:

The sense of hyperreality, however, comes in just a few sentences later: 'Technology makes my life so much easier and quicker, without my phone and the Internet I think I’d struggle to stay on top of things and in touch with people. It would also be extremely difficult, and boring to communicate with people, I wouldn’t have anything fun to entertain myself with and keep up with trends or contact my friends to network or to research'.

Boring. Normal conversations would be 'boring'. Isn't that amazing? Technology has eased and cajoled its way in to our lives, flattering us with its facility to relieve and reduce. But has its utmost pervasiveness meant that we no longer understand what constitutes ‘conversation’, or ‘communication’ for that fact? With technology blanketing our lives, we hear consumers like Gabby suggest that a ‘normal’ conversation – i.e. one that happens outside of technology - would be considered dull and un-entertaining. Quick fire, online conversations have become the norm, fragmented and enveloping. Modern conversation has become hyperbolic within the realms of technology, we no longer think we can live without it. Of course, for many years we did. Funny how things change…

Gabby believes she couldn’t do her job without the Internet, perhaps – to an extent – she couldn’t. But her work is primarily to do with people, looking after those wishing to be on guest-lists, ensuring they feel special, and acting simply as a sycophant of sorts. She is networking without the value of ‘face’, staying online to stay on top of things, but this type of common concierge is simulated. The presence of people and personality gone. Too often phones, technology and all its associations allow ‘absence’, it no longer seems necessary to meet and greet, you can do it all online. More and more we see brands and initiatives that bring people together become increasingly popular. I think we might be missing each other…

Coffee mornings race across the globe, with online sites like PSFK and bloggers alike understanding the importance of spending time face to face with people. Book clubs crop up, film nights launch and people beg to have letters sent to them in the mail from friends. More and more, the expectation economy is booming. Internationally, we see the saturation around brands talking about music and hosting events, competitions, parties and festivals in the same vein – all of this bringing together hundreds and thousands of people. Whilst Skype et all have their place in closing the travel gap, brands must not forget individuals, characters, simplicity and grace. Manners, as we always mention, are evermore key.

In some ways, its saddening that people don’t have time for car boot sales, picking up the bric-a-brac of times past, imbued with stories and people’s lives. If we had known that technology would barricade us unto ourselves so much, would we have run this far? The new wave of technology must genuinely be about connecting people, about bringing back timeless time, about mentoring memories and capturing culture. Not racing past ‘the now’ and accelerating us in to grand, gaping voids…

UK QUOTES AROUND INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY OVERLOAD:

“Its funny, we use all this time on the Internet and on our phones just working out ways to spend time face-to-face. It’s absurd” Carolyn, 22, UK
“It’s the bane of my life. I have over 100 emails a day, Twitters to reply to, people sending me messages on Facebook, texts coming through to my phone. I find that a lot of my ‘to-do list’ is about replying to these various messages, in all these different places, it’s fucking odd.” Jenna, 25, UK
“I am constantly overawed by information, most of my day seems to be saying ‘Oh, I didn’t know that’ and you forget that you also know things people don’t know, but I spend all my time thinking I don’t. I think our heads are going to burst in a big hale of microchips, cables and mess. Poor us.” Ellie, 19, UK
“I constantly question the reliability of the information I’m fed, I think this distrust is pretty common although I am quite quick to question anything and everything I hear, bit of a cynic in that sense.“ – Anna, 21, UK
“The fact that there is millions and millions of Internet pages with useless information on them is something that I doubt will ever be amended though it needs to be looked at, as it is just cluttered mess. I hate the fact that if you click on the wrong link you end up teleported to some random site trying to sell you something that you have in abundance, like toenails, when all you really wanted was to go to check the football scores?” – Maduka, 18, UK
“Information overload to me is when I seem to have no time or space for my own thoughts or opinions. When everyone else’s (friends, colleagues, companies, brands) take up the majority of my head space. I guess it’s when I don’t seem to have time to relax and be selfish with my time which sounds quite selfish but I think it’s something that is necessary to everyone in order for them to see the value in the information they’re actually given ” – Solomon, 21, UK
“Information overload means my head being on the brink of explosion, it’s more of a panic that I have so much to do, see, read and in general consume and just not enough time.“ – Rosie, 22, UK

10 Notions to consider about how kids use their phones... Next: Reality

2009-06-29T08:27:00.003+01:00

Continuing our overview of the notions to consider considering [polite, aren't we?] and following on from our first post about it on 'Fluidity', here's our thoughts on reality... With thanks to Edelman, Iris and Celestine [as before].

For this case-study, we worked with Gabo, in Italy. A rather talented and social DJ, music maven and much else besides... He's also one of our bloggers, you can read some of his posts here... The interesting thing about Gabo was that he was in complete opposition to another case study, called Gaby - we'll try not to make this confusing, but her insights - which will follow this post, come under 'hyperreality', they're pretty interesting too. With Gabo, however, he is neither carried away with technical advancements and clutter, nor over-absorbed with the premise and promise of the new. Rather he realistically wishes his software and devices to live up to his lifestyle and his friends to talk to each other face-to-face a little more. Not too much of an ask really, is it?

REALITY:

He begins his polemic with the ‘old fashioned’ wish that his phone wouldn’t break. Just as Sophia, in New York, wants to have a phone ‘that can fall out of’ her pocket', Gabo resents that fact he has to change his phone every three or four months because of the fragility of his devices, the LCD screens shattering and the casing causing problems. As Laureline, in France, also agrees, she doesn’t want the world to end if she looses her phone or if it breaks. When targeting these consumers, whether you’re talking about operating systems, software, or a device, it’s important to promote the stories around their robustness, without falling out of favour with the likes of those who are repelled by the idea of ‘clunk’ and weight... [We hear this a lot].

Gabo uses his phone and mobile time wisely; he relies on Google Maps to an increasing degree. He loves how it can tell him info about a new city, navigate him around his home town and plump up his social life by allowing him to find new restaurants and clubs. He entertains himself through games on his mobile, reads upon it and writes notes to himself so he won’t forget things whilst on the go [like our first 'notion', with the stylist]. Whilst experts and developers may argue the case with Gabo, to him, ‘Internet on mobile phones has been the biggest revolution ever’. The possibility of accessing the world wide web at any time is huge to him, albeit shrouded still in problems. Naheem, in Brooklyn, feels the same way, he wishes the Internet wouldn’t ‘lag’; he finds waiting for a Wi-Fi spot dull, and wants to be able to access the web anywhere. Gabo also has problems reconciling why he still has to pay so much for the Internet. It’s another fair question. This market has been forced, rather strongly, in to buying in to a constantly connected life, yet payment for this is still high. Having the Internet on his phone is not something he necessarily had a choice about; not when you gaze at all that’s been said and done. Trying to do the math around paying such high premiums for it, however, is just something that he can’t add up.

And finally, there’s the reality of Gabo being ‘scared’ of how pervasive technology is. He calls it a ‘mania’ and returns to the idea we look at further in Gaby’s piece about this being some sort of modern malaise, or as Gabo puts it ‘the newest, biggest cultural problem’. They may be the most technically savvy generation we have ever known, but that doesn’t mean all this advancement doesn't scare them in ‘real life’.

GLOBAL QUOTES:

“I would like to have a phone of an original shape, something kitsch like Juno’s phone (from the movie Juno). I’m not fond of the new idea of the phone which is doing everything (music, Internet…). I prefer the phone as an accessory, which can goes with my look, which can participate to say to the world who I am! A kind of fashion accessory, a gadget
used only to phone and be called, that’s all! After all, it’s just a material thing: if I loose it, I don’t want to live the end of the world!“ – Laureline, 18, Paris, France

“My phone could be better if I could access Internet anywhere I want to instead of waiting on a Wi-Fi connection. It would also better if it didn't lag as much. My perfect would still be a "smart phone," but it would have a very good camera on it, would retrieve data better, and would be on a better network. My phone will need a QWERTY pad and a touch screen would be nice but not necessary.” – Naheem, 18, Brooklyn, New York

“My ideal phone is gun metal gray. It’s thin but not too thin; Phones these days feel like they’re going to break. I need a phone that can fall out of my pocket at a show, get trampled on, and still work the next morning. It’s definitely a flip phone with nice, big buttons. I can barely see the buttons on my phone now. I’d really like a phone with a lot of memory, that’s fast and very simple. I’d love to have a good camera on my phone and be able to record over 15 seconds of video.” – Sophia, 15, New York, New York

“All the new types of mobile phone now are beyond what I consider as a perfect phone. The mobile phone manufacturers are more imaginative than me. For instance, it never occurred to me years ago that I could use mobile to log on QQ. iPhone is an example of perfection, N82 is another one. Almost all the high-end mobile can be called perfection. The next one is going to surprise me more, unless you want mobile to print cash (that’s the phone I imagine and desire).” – Xu, 18, Shanghai, China

Like a fireman came in your mouth....

2009-06-25T12:49:00.002+01:00

What a feeling indeed...

10 Notions to consider about how kids use their phones... First up: Fluidity

2009-06-25T09:25:00.007+01:00

In March of this year, we carried out some research for Edelman, in Chicago with Brand Consultant/Genius/God Damned Coolest Lady I know, Celestine Arnold... you can see her talking at PSFK here, it's an intellectual, provocative joy to watch. Within our work, we were looking how mobile is essentially the word we use to describe the moving digital network on which we live. Using case studies, we looked at various facets through which the market are now using their phones, understanding the flotsam surrounding what is no longer just a device to 'make a call from'. As Celestine put it, 'what’s happening now is that communication is taking place between the animate and the inanimate. Objects now have a voice and the power to communicate with each of us'... Our plants can tell us when they need to be watered, we can run from imaginary ghosts on the street playing 'Crossroads' and our phone often has a better memory for keeping track of what we did, where, than we - as humans - do. I know I've said it before, but when Mary Douglas explained 'goods are neutral, their uses are social', she probably had no idea how much the mobile phone would help explain her point.

It turned out that there were ten, key chapters within our final document, or at least - ten key words. Through case studies across the UK, US, France, Italy and China, we found ourselves looking at notions of fluidity, invisibility, agility, reality [as well as hyperreality], vanity, safety, persuasion, simplicity and responsibility. Here, I'm just going to look at the first teen 'commandment', the idea of 'fluidity'...

FLUIDITY:

One of our case studies was a 21 year old stylist living in London. When she talked us through how she used her phone across the various facets of her life, one thing was clear above all else: her relationship with her phone is fluid, flexible and really rather variable. At the PSFK conference in London, there was one thing we discussed a lot – the fact that for youth consumers ‘there is no join’. Speaking about on and offline lives with this market is corporate, their lives are lived seamlessly, and technology must bend and bounce to their will. Whatever you believe they may be using your device for, it is probably many more things besides. Devices, after all, are no longer static or with strictures.

For our stylist and her iPhone, her prose around it was indicative of where this market now stands. She has over 20 applications that she cites as being part of her phone, even including ‘phone’ as an ‘app’. Just as she claims ‘contacts’ is an app. In fact, we would naturally see these as the base of what a phone should be. A phone, without question, is a phone. But to this market, it’s part of what something can do. The equation is far bigger.

For the youth market, their phones play myriad roles across their lives. Within the research, we saw it go from a device helping personal lives, to one managing business lives, whilst entertaining the owners all along the way. With our case study, we see her phone became an extension of her own, public creative life where she checks up on her blog, having added the icon to her UI.

Speed and the agility of the device is this market, often they understood the stresses of their own lives and built their phones around ways to overcome these. Again, with our case study, the directory Fashion Monitor has been added on, as has IM + Life. On top of these, she is checking the weather [across various countries, depending on her schedule], Maps to help her get to social and work engagements [friend’s parties, or press events] and even eBay, where she can check on her sales and bids. Various music applications have also been purchased for her phone, [the iPod not being enough, it seems]. We hear of Shazam, Last FM, and even YouTube.

On top of her absolute dependence on her phone and it’s fluid integration in to her daily life, the was a wonderful whimsy of our case study adding Chanel stickers to her phone. The personality she has applied to the phone as another, ‘customized app’, an annex to her own ego, a highly visible and noticeable nuance to her device that says ‘I’m me, and this is my phone’. Through an increasingly homogenous device, she has deliberately manoeuvred it to be inimitable.

Yet, devices are not always as complicated as our case studies; Xu in Shanghai uses the phone 'simply' yet applies another layer or whimsy, that of the device's light being 'dream like'. Whilst Laureline uses her phone for what we might consider 'basic' reasons, that is not to say she is not aware of all that it could possibly do; she calls her behavior 'boring', and has opted out of getting in to too complicated a relationship with her device. Sophia too, in NY, plays down how much she uses her phone, saying she wants it 'as simple as it gets', yet is using myriad more mechanics on her phone than say, my mum, who would never use the video or camera on the phone let alone understand that it could instant message her friends about a local gig [I expect Springsteen or Neil Diamond wouldn't bank on playing in The Chilterns anyway]... yet whatever dependency they decide to deliver to their device, Mary was right: phones remain neutral until the consumer seeks them social. Here are just a few quotes from kids and their phones...

Quotes:

“My phone Is vital to me for many reasons but one most of all. When I leave my house I hardly ever know what I’m actually going to do. I have a rough idea, but I rarely have an exact plan, so my phone allows me to coordinate my movements’ – Joby, 18, London, UK

“The mobile phone I am using now is just a simple one, the function of which only includes making calls and SMS. When I press it at night, it sparks blue light just like that in the dream, because it is a blue-screen mobile.” - Xu, 18, Shanghai, China

“I use my phone generally just for texting, calling, and taking photos or video. I don’t want instant messenger on my phone. I don’t want a music player. I just want it as simple as it gets. I don’t understand the whole music player craze...My phone really comes into play in my creative life, mostly because it keeps me in touch with people. I mean, I get texts about when I have to go work on Showpaper and my friends who are in bands send out texts about their shows and such. I really love that. It’s so much of a communication factor. I also like being able to take photos when I want to without carrying a camera.” – Sophia, 15, New York, New York,

“I use my phone to organize myself. I am always bombarded with tasks so I have to mark stuff down in my calendar. I also have Internet through Wi-Fi connection so if I need to get a particular email, I connect to there nearest unlocked router in the area. I can write Word documents on my phone but I don't do that as often.” ” – Naheem, 18, Brooklyn, New York

“I think I’m pretty ‘normal’ when it comes to my phone – or boring! I use it to make calls, and text” – Laureline, 18, Paris, France

“Mobile phone is an essential part of my creative life. My SHARP 903 brings convenience to my life and helps to record my life. I’d like to record life with pictures, but it is inconvenient to take a SLR camera with me, and developing ﬁlms of Lomo is too troublesome for me. A camera phone helps me solve all of these problems.” - Ai, 17, Beijing, China

23 things on the 23rd: 23 quotes from kids about 'what they value most'

2009-06-23T19:07:00.002+01:00

We're planning some interesting books and bits here at Ruby Pseu... The first one being around what 'value & worth'... Here's 23 quotes to get things going... More on bits, bobs and books soon...

Sahara, 20
The thing I treasure most is my son... Why? Because hearing him laugh and call me mum each day, gives me the energy and drive to become a great mother/person, better than I would have turned out to be if he wasn't in my life...

Sarah, 20
Family, because of [their] constant and unfailing support and my boyfriend for motivation and security.

Fatima, 20
I value being happy. Items and places can make you happy for a while, but it won't last forever. My family make me happy of course, without them I wouldn't be the person I am today, but lets just say I could not be happy even when I'm close to my family. The only thing I can think of that truly makes me happy no matter what is to dance. I dance therefore I live.

Hannah, 18
Dance... Because it's the only time and place where I am surrounded by people so I don’t feel lonely but also it completely gets your mind off things in life... It also makes u feel good ‘cos your body gets amazing, oh and u get to wear cool things... And when u do the dance routine and have it perfect and perform it, it feels and looks amazing!

Christina, 18
I value my health because without your health u can’t do anything at all.

Alize, 17
My family of course, it’s a bit of an obvious one but where would I be without them? Obvious but true, they made me what I am so I have to value them.

Nathan, 18
Like most people, I value my friends and family the most. They are always there when I need them, and my most treasured memories involve them.
Without them, who would I joke around with? Who would I party with (one man raves aren't that fun)? They provide support when I need it, and without them, well, I may as well be an invertebrate.

Jack, 19
Can it be a concept? It'd probably be free time. I don't think I could handle school/university if I couldn't sit down and do nothing for a while. Time just spent chilling out in front of the tv, reading or playing video games and not having to think about work or cook for myself or clean the house. It'd definitely be inactive free time, like watching tv. Although I play lots of sport and love doing it, I hate it if there's no time to sit about and relax.

Tara, 22
What I value the most would be friends and people I work with. Living in London has given me a chance to meet a lot of forward thinking people who are a huge inspiration to me and I have to appreciate them.

Oliver, 19
Probably my mum init, more so because she’s the only parent I have and throughout everything she’s there for me from start to finish. Oh I also have to say I value my sleep, because for those hours I’m unconscious, nothing bothers me...

Maduka, 19
What do I value most...? Freedom? Honesty? Transparency? Money? Family? People? I think that I value people the most i.e. my family and friends. Granted not the most original answer I look for the best in every person I meet and get to know. Its a lot harder for me to put that kind of trust in material items or even money. In the current climate of financial uncertainty and economic anxiety only by putting our faith in individuals, groups, circles of friends, close family, people can we as a society overcome these difficulties with a semblance of sanity.

Gemma, 24
I value honesty. It's the best policy, whether people take your honesty well or not, it always falls on its feet in the end.

Jayga, 21
I value everything. My mood changes so much that I can love and hate everything in an instant.
I would say my most valued thing is technology.
From my computer to my phone to my consoles it is my release. It is what I use to relax, what I use for fun, what I use for work and what I use to communicate.
That may sound a little sad but it means I can keep in touch with those friends that have migrated to foreign lands or people who live a couple of buses too many away.
It means I can play FIFA with friends from across the country and it means I can e-mail articles to wherever I please from the comfort of my home.

Andrew, 22
My iPod I suppose, probably because it is always there for just putting on and putting me in a good mood. It reflects my mood and I need it. My phone too I guess, even though it is a skanky Samsung...

Emily, 21
Friends, because they just make me happy.

Tarik, 19
My aspirations. Without having the ability to aspire, and to aspire to be more, I would be no where. Aspiring to be more has allowed me to continually pushing my self, whilst the fear of not being able to fulfil these ambitions is perpetual and a constant nag. I have to value my aspirations because otherwise I could start taking them for granted, then where would I be?

Olivia, 19
I value feeling loved. I value that feeling of being protected, feeling loved, cherished, needed by the people around me... I suppose that just means I really value my family and friends.

Giles, 22
My health I suppose, you can’t buy it and without health you can’t have your friends. You can’t have your family – it’s a crucial part of being who you want to be.

Sarah, 20
Oh there’s so much, I value the Internet - my Blackberry – internet on my phones BBM – my iPhone [how could I forget my iPhone] – all multi platform technologies... Phone/music/emails/calls/GPS etc.
Oh and WI FI!

Jemma, 22
I value my mum the most as she standardly is always there for me, and is one in a million...

Leonie, 19
I think most of all I value my dad... I value my dad because he has always been around, my mum left my dad and sum how managed to also keep the house n the kids but through everything he is always there when ever I need him but is never invasive in my life and always proud of me. Also statistically a lot of black men when they leave there partners never see there kids again so I really value that he is always around...
I also value a Chanel 2.55 handbag...
...Oh and a beautiful pair of blue suede Louboutins!

Gabriella, 24
I value my twin because she is a part of me, my sister, my best friend! The one person I can fully trust! It’s all I have since I came out of the womb 8 mins before her.

Rebecca, 22
The thing I value most is a memory that I have of my little cousin Emily, and my tattoo of the letter E coz she passed away two and a half years ago from a brain tumour and I didn't get to spend enough time with her so that memory n tattoo is the only thing I’ve got left to remind me of her.

Karene, 18
The things I value most are the family and friends I've been blessed with who, although it may sound cliche, are always there, through good and bad. Also the opportunities that have befallen me, such as being able to apply for Manchester University, auditioning for X Factor, generally living life. All things worth valuing in my eyes.

Be enthusiastic enough... And people will follow you...

2009-06-11T14:07:00.002+01:00

So what... you might make an arse of yourself in the process, but no one likes vanity in a person anyway... This is genuinely amazing... All from one guy... Look how he 'infects' the crowd with his own dogged determination and enthusiastic energy... Wow... I love it.... [Thanks to @wonky_donky]

It's not big and it's not clever... Why boasting is never best...

2009-06-11T09:11:00.002+01:00

I know, I know, they're trying to explain that they're helping people with domain names, but seriously - what a ridiculous claim to make... You're renaming the Internet? Well, I'm going to set up a Christening service and say I'm renaming the Human Race. How about that?

In the past, many brands have been caught out by similar over-claims... Tetley for talking about health claims that couldn't be proved, Estee Lauder for promising to make wrinkles 'disappear instantly', ExxonMobil who were challenged over their 'natural gas being one of the cleanest fuels' when the use and production of liquefied natural gas cause significant carbon emissions and Kellogg's [you have to love that Kellogg's is covered off in spell check mind] for saying that their sugar laden, fatty biscuits were 'good for your health'... On top of that, any shampoo claiming to make your hair 'stronger' [it's dead, dammit]...

There's this thing called the Internet, you see, [this thing Dot TK are renaming], and um - it kind of helps the consumer check the facts out and stuff. As do agencies like the Advertising Standards... Oops, silly me. Just put a link in there. Perhaps Dot TK won't be 'renaming the Internet' with the same wild words for long... Anyway, I'm off to rename London, busy morning ahead...

Costa... Italian about Coffee?

2009-06-09T09:43:00.006+01:00

If you're so Italian about coffee... Why are you still serving me a latte after breakfast? Not that Italian after all perhaps...

Coco on Digitalism

2009-06-09T08:38:00.005+01:00

Around their 30s, I've noticed more and more people walking away from Facebook... Boys that have finally settled down 'with their missus' and no longer need the space to flirt... People that have actually been caught for flirting have had to leave for the salvation of their shirt sleeves and then there's the mindset that they're at an age where they think they're too old to be having any of it... Last week, however, I was talking to Coco. An amazing 21 year old stylist and London fashion face who had decided to wipe her whole world off the web... I love the insight around removing her blog, and hoping to move to a website, and the 'feeling of excitement' leaving an event when you already know who's going to be there just by looking at the online attendance... But it's interesting to see that even this generation can get tired of being online all the time... It's not something people often talk about... Here's what Coco said...

Facebook
I removed my Facebook first for a few reasons, I was staring at my profile page, refreshing it and waiting for things to be added. I had the application on my phone, and believe I wasn’t really gaining much from it. I had a realisation that all my real friends have my number and email address, so if they really wanted to be in contact they could do so in this way.

I felt fed up of discussing things over keyboards and mice, or viewing guest lists for nights and feeling like the night had already really happened. The excitement of the unknown just didn’t exist for me. This bored me quite a lot.
I decided it was time to speak with people face to face more, write things on paper, in my diary. I like the ideal of feeling lonely at home, and reading a book undisturbed. Not to have this constant feed of communication running from my mind and from my fingertips.

My Personal blog
Blogging for me was about expressing ideas and thoughts that I had while going around my day-to-day life and the things that I do that inspire me. For me my personal blog was like an open diary. This was fun, uploading images thinking of visually creative ideas. I then decided that this was something I just need to do for myself and keeping things private might actually benefit me more. Creating my own website would be the next step for me.

WAH/CLONES/BOXFRESH
I was also contributing to these blogs. I am still contributing to Wah, as my blog is relatively easy and not invasive. I take photos of what I wear. Mostly in a close up way, so you cannot see my face. The Clones I had been working on, as I know the girl who runs it, but being unpaid was sometimes disappointing. As I work on computers all day, getting home and having to sit and work on things for free – or “Self Promotion” they call it! …got a bit tiring*. Then after doing all of this, I got asked to also work on the Boxfresh blog. I have declined the offer, as this is also an unpaid position. I think being ‘discovered’ from writing or dressing in a certain way is fine, but short lived. I’d really like to put out a more professional image of myself now, and not be grouped into a category or image of what people might think that I’m like, or who I am.

I am definitely not denying the fact of internet being an amazing tool!..and I am all about getting involved and communicating with people, but I feel I need time to breath and be myself away from the 'public' gaze!

By the way, we pay all our bloggers, although Amanda's payment gets donated to charity... Ruby....

Freak Out and Invent Something Completely New

2009-05-25T19:57:00.012+01:00

"Rituals seduced the primitive tribes into believing they could control the uncontrollable."

I've been reading Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit recently and this little passage on ritual struck a nerve.

"The unknown is a fearful place, and anything new is a step into the unknown. That fear is why ancient cultures created rituals in the first place. They lived in constant fear of other tribes, of predatory animals, of nature.... They hoped to gain control... by appeasing the gods with rituals."

Since I started working in this industry in college, I was always annoyed by anyone who said "there's no measurement for digital." Too many decision makers use that as an excuse to not fully invest in spending quality time with my buddies in our online hangouts. It is an excuse to follow the ancient ritual of buying paid media, of discounting our friendship and having an unhealthy over-reliance on the ritual of counting impressions, counting clicks.

It's safe, it's been "standardized" as a means of assessing a brand's risk against predatory competitors vying for my peers' attention and affection and against the wildly unpredictable and constantly changing nature of the market environment. We don't question it.

And yes, when you're comfortable with the safety blanket of an impressions report, an IO for a media campaign that promises a billion impressions, it's tempting to trust it, invest in it as a sacred ritual for doing business.

But here's the thing: my friends and I grew up with ads interrupting our shows and now the same is happening in our online hangouts. When you came to join us in our space, with the shiny promise of "brand engagement," we expected more. You can't check the Facebook box just because you've paid a few hundred thousand in homepage ads or you've thrown up a page to dump all of your ad assets. We're demanding something more. We're demanding that you sit down, chill out, have a real chat with us, stick around to build a relationship and become a trusted member of our crew and listen to our feedback.

It's not that there's no measurement in digital, it's just that it will never measure up against measurement standards you've assigned to traditional media and grown comfortable with. It's just that for the first time you can see how many of us actually care that you've shown up in our space; and it's just that for the first time, you see your actual audience rather than projected impressions for a possible audience who may or may not care at all.

It's scary and it's a lot easier to see the value we've grown comfortable assigning to panel data that says your $90 million returned approximately 9 billion (or insert another crazy huge number here) impressions. But you'll never truly experience the ROI of the digital space, if you equate our friendship, our time in the same way you track impressions and our trust will wear thin if you keep spending millions on paid interruptions and 1% on true, welcome interactions.

I'm no expert on measurement but my gut tells me it's time traditional and digital is measured completely differently, more honestly. Because if it's not, I think you'll never see the real value of your presence in this space or the real worth of our time and friendship. That means giving yourself the room to freak out, disregard the tempting glow of ritual buys and invent something completely new. It's up to your marketing team to report on what's actually happening beyond impressions, up to your ad and media reps to sell you something more than impressions and up to your audience to speak up when you are or aren't actually adding value worth our attention and loyalty.

Images borrowed from l*_*l and l*_*l and l*_*l

The success of the Swine Flu Skank: Catch It. Bin It. Kill It.

2009-05-19T22:43:00.007+01:00

Swine Flu is seemingly on the tip of everyone’s tongues, the impending epidemic the frantic focus of podcasts, news broadcasts and newspaper headlines. Everyone’s talking about it, everyone you may think, apart from the kids. Wrong. Usually so unaffected by such piteous issues as a global health epidemic [I was alive for SARS and haven't, to this day, a clue as to what people are referring to when they mention the disease being the last big scare] the kids are the last people one would expect to be the main focal, and vocal, point of the governments anti-flu campaign, ‘Catch It, Bin It, Kill It’ [see the official ad below]. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Thanks to the perseverance’s of a few East London based kids, everyone is talking about catching it, binning it and killing it.

Taking the current frenzied, obsessive trend for synchronised dance routines, generally known as skanks, two youngsters from Leyton have appropriated the government campaign and turned it into a nationwide phenomenon. Garnishing just over 200,000 hits in the first week, Jason ‘JStar’ Dolphin, and Aron ‘Pilot’ Jervis have raised awareness of the anti flu advert amongst kids in a way that no direct government campaign ever could. With catch it, bin it and kill it on the tips of everyone’s tongues, and the ‘Swine Flu Skank’ being played on national radio including across Radio 1, 1Xtra and Choice FM, the young pairing have raised the profile of the Government’s campaign amongst young people magnanimously. I think wez122 sums up the general consensus exactly when he commented on the YouTube video, 'dood, this is soooo much better than the advert, in fact this should be the advert =]...'

Bloody proud of the bunch of them.

19 Minutes with a 19-Year Old, Part Deux

2009-05-19T18:12:00.009+01:00

A few months ago I was approached by a dame named Lily, while I was out and about at the Abbott Kinney street festival in Venice, CA. There were a few things that struck me about her: 1. her AMAZING vintage dress 2. she seemed VERY young, yet confident and bold 3. all of the wonderful compliments that she gave me on my personal style. What can I say; I’m a sucker for compliments.

Anyhow, she asked to interview me and film my closet for a blog that she was working on with her mom called Stylelikeu. It’s a blog that takes people inside the closets of the eccentric and those who see style as endless and fashion as limiting, yet both somehow work together. Upon meeting Lily (and her Mom), it was evident that their love of fashion, flair, fabulousness and “googling over interestingly” dressed individuals was genuine. Come to find out Lily is 19, yup, 19, and she’s a fulltime student, and running this blog, all while doing it with ease and style. Welcome to 19 minutes with a 19 year-old, part deux.

Check out Stylelikeu.com. You’ll see yours truly and a few other familiar faces, like Heron Preston representing.

Name: Lily Mandelbaum
Age: 19
Hometown: Hastings on Hudson, New York
Occupation: Student & Stylelikeu.com

Hobbies: These days it's mostly editing and shooting videos for Stylelikeu! I also love to make jewelry, and play the Violin.

How did StyleLikeYou.com come about? Stylelikeu came about for a few different reasons. My mom has been a fashion stylist since I was little, so I have grown up under her influence and around extremely creative, inspiring people. I have always been obsessed with people's different personal style, and so inspired by anyone who dressed out of the box. My mom and I could sit on a bench for hours just finding and googling over interesting looking people. We always joked about how we wanted to know those people's stories. My mom dropped out of the fashion business to raise my brother and I when I was little, and then re-entered a few years ago. She became increasingly frustrated with the exclusivity and homogeneity that she found in the business compared to how it was before she dropped out. Because of this, our OBSESSION with creative-looking people, and the emerging power of the internet, somehow the idea for Stylelikeu emerged. We basically started just by picking up a video camera and interviewing the people that we already knew with great personal style, and then the whole idea really blossomed and grew as the tree of people we were highlighting grew!

How has your mom, who is a well-known stylist, influenced you? Yes, very much so. Her style is very much influenced by the hippy era that she grew up in, and that has definitely influenced and inspired me. She has always been an advocator for being an individual and also, all of her friends with whom I grew up around were inspirational and opened my eyes to the fashion world at a young age. She is also an extremely passionate person, so that drive and intensity has definitely permeated into my personality.

Los Angeles or New York? I torment myself with that question everyday! I do not yet have an answer. Both cities feed a different part of me. I love the spaciousness, relaxation, and natural beauty of LA and I love the intensity and constant stimulation of New York.

Tell us a bit about your brother? He appears to be the raddest of the rad? He IS the raddest of rad. He is a lot like my mom. Super driven and intense. When he picks something that he is passionate about, he goes all out. Right now, he's super involved in acting, but he is a SICK DJ. He has been obsessed with hip-hop since he was little, and really knows everything there is to know about it for a white boy from Westchester. He's insanely witty and smart and you should totally interview him next!

How do you go about finding people to be part of Stylelikeu.com? We started with the people we knew with awesome style. They referred us to people they thought we would find interesting, who then referred us to more, and so on and so forth! It has become this long tree of connections. We also find some people when we are out on the street, at events, etc... (like me!! Oh it’s me Miss Woody talking).

Where do you see the site in five years? As a social network! The new Facebook! A network of people who think for themselves, are creative, full of spirit!

Why did you start the site? What is the inspiration behind it? Inspiration is all the amazing, creative people we knew from our past. Specifically two girls with whom I went to high school, and my mom's best friend, Lisa Moffie, all who have INCREDIBLE personal style.

How important do you think fashion and style is to the world? Personally, I think that fashion and style are two very different concepts. I think that style is important to the world, because it entails someone expressing what's within through his or her dress. I think that one's style really reflects one's own personality, interests, and background, and that's what I find interesting. There is no ONE form of style that is better than another. It's just about finding what works for YOU, what YOU feel good in, what expresses YOUR mood, feelings, personality, etc.., and I find that to be really empowering and fun. To me, fashion is a little bit more complicated, and often creates rules that don't work for everyone, and that I don't think anyone needs to subscribe to these limiting rules. I know that for me, when I used to care more about fashion and trends, I felt limited and had a lot less fun with getting dressed. It became a task to try and "fit in," but now, especially because of how inspired I have been by the individuals featured on the website, I am all about not following any rules, and being a total individual. Fashion does have value and is exciting, however, as long as the public isn't forced to buy into the business' rules and pretentions.

When I first met you, you casually approached me at the fair in Venice, CA. Is it easy for you to just walk up to people who you find interesting and start chatting? Where do you get that boldness? I used to be extremely shy, but now, from interviewing people and working on the site, I have become a lot less so. I find that the more confident and excited I am about the website, the more people react to me positively. So, I just choose to let my inhibitions go, and be bold, because that way people will feel my excitement and react off of that! Because I am truly ecstatic and obsessed with the site, so I want everyone else to feel that way too! If I am not ecstatic, then I can't expect the readers and participants to be!

Where do you shop? Mostly flea markets (Rose bowl, Melrose), vintage stores in NY and LA, Craft fair type things

Where do you get your personal style? Biggest influences are my mom and her best friend, Lisa Moffie.

Do you have time for boys? Not enough :(

Myspace.com, Facebook.com, Twitter.com: Facebook, if any, but I am trying to stray from it all a bit!

Favorite designer? Marni

Favorite model? Liya Kibede

Favorite music: Nas, Lily Allen, Kanye West, Lykke Li, Janelle Monae, Lil Wayne, Santogold, MIA, Beck, MGMT, Third Eye Blind, Ben Harper, Beyonce (going to her concert next month!!! ), U2....so many many more

Family or friends: Family, but I do love love my friends!!! A lot!

Skinny or fat: Voluptuous! (is that an option?!)

Devices you can’t live without: IPod.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A documentary film maker (for now)

Tattoos/Piercings: Tattoos

What lies ahead: We are hoping to take Stylelikeu to cities all over the world...next on deck are London and Paris. We are hoping to develop the site into a social networking system, as well.

Ruby Round Ups... Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?

2009-05-16T15:34:00.008+01:00

Years ago, I shot a commercial with John Lydon... After Marti Pellow or whatever his name is, Johnny Rotten [he was] is possibly the single most rudest, obnoxious, embarrassing disco dad of a man I have ever met. He has no manners, no taste and his haircut [at his age] is ridiculous. Why, therefore, Country Life chose to have him as their spokes idiot is beyond me...

I am being stared at sideways by him now, in today's Times, I have a feeling he has been glaring that out-dated angry dad look at me all week actually, and he seems to be slandering the fact that Anchor butter is from New Zealand [I actually thought it was an Anchor advert for a while though, what's with the tiny County Life packshot being smaller than the word Anchor?].... At our shoot back in the day, he refused to 'take orders' from me [orders like, 'we're ready for you on stage now please Mr Lydon'] because I was a girl. He would only ever speak to the director [I was a producer] and that's because the director was a sycophant who let out a tiny bit of wee whenever the graceless goat walked on to set. Although actually, he didn't walk, he strutted, like a penguin with stomach acid and an ego problem, and he had a big fat buddy with him too, with equally stupid hair, who was ugly and admiring, slack jawed and stupid and rude to everyone who had to work over-time for his ignorant, vulgar boss.

Now don't get me wrong, I like the sex pistols, I understand their place in musical history, I even remember being terribly giggly about the words 'bollocks' on a record sleeve, but what's so fucking smart about him now? He's a dick. I'm sorry, but he is. Go home, read books, dye your dad hair. But just don't sell me butter. Anti-christ my arse Johnny, you're just out of context.

And on the subject of feeling terribly cheated [the young readers might not get that, youthful poppets], I wonder how the kids in Africa feel when The One Foundation rock up and tell them they're going to give them free water but um, they gonna have to play for it...

Two things you need to do at this point, one is read back the last sentence and notice I've said 'play'. We pay for it, they play for it. Bear with me, we'll get there. The second thing you need to do is know that I've donated over £250.00 to Water Aid recently for the same sad cause. I believe we all deserve clean drinking water and - since I am such a louche wench when it comes to drinking enough of it, even though I have it on wonderful westernized tap, I feel like I should support those who aren't quite as loaded and lucky as us. I could bang on here about everything else we donate to [Amanda's fees for blogging, for instance, she donates back to The Kids Company, a cause we support endlessly] but it's not the point. The polemic here, dear, is this little line on the back of my water bottle:

'A donation [5p] from the sale of this water bottle goes to help fund the unique PlayPump [TM] Water Systems in Africa... As children play on the roundabout, water is pumped out of the ground, providing free, clean drinking water to the people who desperately need it. Simple'.

Simple? You're telling me that's simple? That's frippery and you're being ridiculous. These kids are third world children who are parched and malnourished and you're making them play for their palate? What next, singing for their supper? I know, I expect someone is going to come here and point out how wrong I am, tell me about all the other stuff they do, but seriously - is this not the same weird reconciliation of events we all felt when the Red campaign first came out? 'Shop whilst they drop, hell you might be able to save a few people, and my, isn't your Motorola phone a sparkling, smashing red?'. Frippery is messy stuff, it's the £45,000 widget you don't need your digital agency to build you because KIDS DON'T USE WIDGETS. It's the complicated uploading mechanism you've got for your latest competition when KIDS JUST WANT TO WIN STUFF. It's the built in Twitter and tripe applications and offers when WE HAVEN'T REACHED CRITICAL MASS YET and it's the poor, parched kids pushing a fucking round-about round on 5p you've kindly donated WHEN THEY JUST WANT WATER.

Keep things simple. Keep things nice. And also, I'd recommend using a lot less swear words than me. I'm beginning to sound like a dumb dad I once met... Oh the filth and the fury of it all... Ruby rant done. Bless you all. x

How savvy sorts take advantage of a potential medical crisis and lighten the load, by 'Missing In Action'

2009-05-14T21:12:00.005+01:00

Schweppes demonstrate once-more that the brightest brands and cleverest companies are bang up to date with real time events. All the better when it's done in an amusing fashion and also not just a one off.

[Veet awhile back: http://rubypseudochatchat.blogspot.com/2009/01/genius.html]

After a wee bit of investigation I found they have a blog-stylee website which is filled to the brim with satirical [and somewhat depressingly accurate] cartoons mainly associated with Britain's turmoil. 'The Apprentice' style G20 summit is a personal favourite.

http://schyouknowwho.com/

Smashing stuff Schweppes.

Blast Get Creative

2009-05-13T15:31:00.008+01:00

The BBC, through their youth led initiative BBC Blast, have provided a brand new interactive space located in the Topolski studios in London's Southbank Centre, an interactive area where we, the average web wanderer, have the opportunity, and ability, to add to artwork by controlling a series of machines in the studio. It is, in effect, a semi digitally created installation that allows millions of users to add to the space, whether it be firing paintballs against a wall with four semi automatic paintball guns, or whipping up a sculpture with a huge, modified glue gun. The space is brilliant, almost revolutionary, and, being open to the world wide web, the installation is created by a limitless number of artists, something which I believe will be, and can be, taken further. Using the net as a creative tool in this way can be, should be, and will be, something that shall revolutionise the way we can create - imagine if similar schemes sprung from this kind of interactive service. Internet users could potentially create anything via the laptops, the press of a key the equivalent of a paint brush stroke, whilst allowing anyone to be involved offers the added advantage of increased creative input. It's a nice idea and one that I hope is taken further - I like the idea of being part of a huge art installation. It's the kind of thing I would show people just to say that my input was a minute splodge on the top left hand corner of the wall. Nice.

Check out more about the initiative here.

That T Mobile advert...

2009-05-05T13:23:00.005+01:00

We've just spent the weekend interviewing 24 kids in less than 48 hours... Before that, we'd interviewed 30 kids in London [we still have 30 to go...] over and over again this advert comes up as one of their favorites of the moment... Sure you've seen it, but if you haven't, have a look.... Don't matter what I think, the kids love it... In fact, I hadn't even seen it, but I do know one of my pals worked terribly hard on it, so well done. Not a single mean word from us, gosh.

New film about the highs and lows of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest...

2009-05-05T13:21:00.001+01:00

I haven't seen it, but it's supposed to be a lot of fun...

#herebeforeoprah

2009-05-03T23:32:00.005+01:00

Brands' attempts to reach me and my peers on the Web all too often mimics the kinds of social dynamics we remember from high school. It's like we have two options:

1. Follow the popular kids and join Facebook, YouTube and Twitter after you read in US Weekly that Ashton and Oprah are on it

2. Or establish your own style, values, core crowd and show up to establish your social media street cred because it's the right fit even before Ashton and Oprah ever show up

Digital kids migrate to emerging sites in the same way hipsters leave a neighborhood in NY when the billionth chain store and tourist moves in. But, while these young sites have the respect of my peers, planners still probably give them about 1% of the attention given to their mass market competitors. Most brands unfortunately opt for option one and just follow the popular kids. And what didn't work in high school, doesn't really work on the Web. Sure, your chances of making more friends and fitting in are slightly more tangible in the short term but it's going to cost you a lot more to play and get noticed in the crowd and make it even harder to gain the true respect of the community.

It's happening on Twitter right now and it happened on YouTube, Facebook and MySpace a few years back when our parents and every advertiser with anything to sell and a few bucks to spare joined in.

It's important to be in these giant networks, but all I'm saying is 1% of your time and money invested in a continued search for something fresh is not enough.

Make it part of your core plan to join in before it's popular or cool or your account exec. reads about it in US Weekly. Go where it makes sense, where there's a core crowd with similar values, where you still have a chance to bring something new to the table and establish your relationships before every other brand figures out the ROI. We'll take note and when Oprah and Ashton finally join in as well, we'll respect you for being #herebeforeoprah.

Image of Tom via here.

Run Part.II

2009-05-03T10:47:00.003+01:00

As a little follow on to Whathehelle's post on the 'subculture' of running, Nike have followed this up with another collaboration with legendary illustrator/arteest James Jarvis.

He decorated the Nike Town windows last summer, but this time it's in the form of an amazingly-original-brilliant-fantastic video to sorta convey the toils and joys of running. [I can't quite articulate myself, it's just brill].

As keen runner himself, Jarvis seems to capture the mindset of a runner in the animation, not that I'm familiar with what that mindset is.