ThoughtSpurs

Procrastination…if you have a spare 4" 16'…

2009-11-09T08:48:00.003+13:00

Love this video on a subject near and dear to my heart.Meant to post it earlier, but I just never got around to it.

I wonder what strategies you employ to break out of inertia like writer's block? I have always found that, sometimes, just starting to write and not worrying about the content is the solution. First map out the terrain, then make sense of the words. Likewise staring at a blank page without a single idea can be overcome by making a mark on the page. A border sometimes helps me in the way that marking lines on the floor of a corridor can help a person with Parkinson's avoid freezing - rather than making it to the end of the hall they can then simply make it to the next mark.

Here's an interesting blog post about overcoming creative block by photographer Paul Indigo.

Bob Garfield - The Chaos Scenario redux

2009-10-27T16:28:00.003+13:00

The Chaos Scenario from Greg Stielstra on Vimeo.

I have just finished reading Bob Garfield's book The Chaos Scenario. Garfield has long been the ad critic for Advertising Age magazine. The thesis of the book is that the digital era has decimated traditional media by radically changing its economics (unlimited supply) and corresponding changes in consumer media consumption.

For such a dystopian view the book is remarkably jolly. Garfield's style is witty and informed. It is hard to argue against his points, even if it means radical shifts in the industry I work in. Personally I welcome the changes and have been preparing for the shift since the late 90's - even, at one point leaving the advertising company I founded, which concentrated on churning out preformatted TV ads, to join Lion Nathan's online marketing business as creative director for its brands in Australasia.

The future may well be uncertain, though I have a feeling much of what marketing communications people will do in the future is similar to the things we do now - in principle. Consumer insights will still drive proactive messaging, cut through will still be critical to success (possibly more important in a fragmented, chattering environment), consumer information about brands will still have value so long as people keep buying things…In practice the skills we will need may be subtly different with an emphasis on listening (Garfield has coined the term 'listenomics'.

Watch the video, it is an excellent overview based on the book - which you should read if you work in advertising specifically or marketing generally.

The first 3 chapters are free to read here

Bob Garfield in Ad Age
The Chaos Scenario Blog

Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon…illuminated.

2009-10-27T12:00:00.002+13:00

I used to lie in bed in the dark listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon through my headphones, marveling at the stereo effects (those were the days…revealing my age).

I rather like this clip of a recreation of the album art in real life. It is a little cheap and cheerful but kind of cool. I have the strangest of impulses to buy a digital copy of the album, which I haven't heard for years. Interesting how related content on the web can trigger that response - which should be instructional for music companies whose first impulse might be to attempt to silence a clip on YouTube for copyright infringement.

BTW - you can still buy the vinyl edition

Via Simon Law's blog - Another Planning Blog

The Element of Surprise in Advertising

2009-10-12T10:49:00.004+13:00

Many years ago I read a book called A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can be More Creative by Roger von Oech. It's a great book. But the parallel here is that some ideas are so simple they are striking.

This Nissan light truck ad makes a simple point - carry a lot in a small space. They could have tried to hard sell with data about the size and load carrying capacity, but that isn't really how advertising works for cars and trucks. It's hard to avoid the fact that a sales person will most likely be involved in the purchase process,…most people don't buy trucks online…so the task of the ad is to engage the reader's attention and provoke interest. After that other elements of the communication chain can do its job.

It pays to remember that boring people into submission has never been a successful communications strategy. In a cluttered communication environment there has to be an element of surprise. The unexpected commands more attention than the banal or familiar.

Apps & Hats, slightly mad, but very clever.

2009-10-10T15:25:00.003+13:00

There is an advertising truism that goes something like:"If you have a straight picture…use a twisted headline. If you have a straight headline…use a twisted image."
I came across Apps & Hats, the quirky iPhone application review show through Twitter (I think)have have been fascinated ever since. There is something weirdly engaging about two women discussing technology while dressed in period costume.But here is the kicker, they deliver the information about applications in a straight way - never referencing the costumes. The presentation style is simple and conversational. They produce an episode every couple of weeks.

Video is more and more important on the web (hopefully New Zealand's broadband speeds will keep pace - I can but dream). If you are thinking of producing content for the web I suggest that the Apps & Hats model is worth studying:

1. Keep it simple.
There is no need to over-egg production - the web isn't HDTV. Your return on investment will never look good if you try to make Lawrence of Arabia on a YouTube platform.

2. Keep the duration manageable.
Brightcove, the US video syndicator says about 2.6 minutes is the amount of time most people are prepared to spend with a clip online

3. Have an idea.
It's not brain surgery to wear a costume - but it is clever to subtly differentiate your product from the thousands of other shows online (not to mention tens of millions of other entertainments vying for your attention).

4. Be regular.
The bi-weekly schedule of Apps & Hats suits my consumption habits.I've found in the past that too much can simply be too much. If you have few resources it is better to spend time polishing the content than pumping out a slurry of stuff. Don't leave too long a gap between messages though, you will lose your audience.

My company has been developing online channels for some of our clients. The most recent is The Drawing Board. Broadcast TV is used to trailer the segments which track the progress of a home renovation. Tell me what you think…

Price Points

2009-09-27T16:19:00.002+13:00

The PriceSpy model takes a new twist - research widely, purchase as cheaply as possible. Dixon's, a price discounting retailer sends out an only marginally tongue in cheek message to customers. Of course Dixon's will have been affected by the web themselves.

The challenge for retailers who sell at full margin is to close the deal before the customer has a chance to go elsewhere. What kind of mechanisms and strategies are available to them?

Make it personal.
In the good old days customers were known by name to vendors. Of course that's not always practical in the 21st century, but it would be possible to harness technology and strategies to make customers feel they are indeed valued by the retailer. An old favourite amongst restaurateurs is to greet guests with 'Nice to see you again…" (even if they have never been to the place before), it elevates the customer's feeling of being special. Not being one to advocate disingenuity, I only use the example to make the point that people like to be acknowledged personally. When social connections are made then there is an emotional tie between the participants in the transaction.

Years ago I worked on the Volkswagen advertising account. One the most interesting marketing initiatives was the introduction of the ill-fated Phaeton, a super luxury vehicle from the makers of 'The People's Car'. When a buyer ordered the Phaeton they would be sent a key to their vehicle with an invitation to be present at its 'birth' the final moments of its construction at the Die Gläsernen Manufaktur (The Transparent Factory) in Dresden. When the owner passed through the factory gates the key would send a signal and an elaborate welcoming procedure would be initiated. The whole process would not only reinforce both VW's commitment to the buyer's status and good taste, but also the sophistication of the technology inherent in the car.

Add value.
Adding value to a customer's experience doesn't necessarily mean giving them something tangible. One of the aspects of the ad (above) that spurred my thinking on this subject is the implication that the shop assistant (or clark, if you are North American) is actually indifferent to you - the pitch implicates that you ought not to be in their domain - a populist/tabloid pitch. The truth is that anyone's money is as good as anyone else's - a dollar/euro is a dollar/euro whether it is wielded by your mum or a footballer's wife. Your job as a marketer is to get your money out of their purse, whoever they are.

Of course value, as anyone who has studied Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance will know, like 'quality' is an a priore concept. It is subject to prior experience and expectation and will, therefore, mean different things to different people. If you know you are paying a higher price than Dixon's will undoubtedly charge, what are the things you will value? Do I have to carry my purchase home - or will you deliver? If I buy a new flat-screen TV that is bigger than an iMax will I have to install it myself? If the picture quality of my new Sony Bravia is the reason I selected it will you help ensure I have the best settings and reception at home?

If I have chosen a Phaeton, or a Lexus with the idea that it sets me apart, makes me a member of an exclusive club of people with better discernment and taste, will you facilitate introductions to other people with similarly good taste through exclusive events and information.

If you are a wine merchant competing with low cost volume wine in the supermarket will you share your expertise with me, so my post purchase dissonance is balanced out with an uncanny knowledge about the habits of the winemaker or the specifics of the terroir. The Wine Vault in Auckland's Grey Lynn suburb does a fine job of this via Wine Vault TV

Make premium service exclusive.
If there are additional benefits for shopping with you (per above), merchandise them. Don't leave customers with the assumption that a higher price is simply extra profit for you. Reposition the competition with your own meme that emphasises why to buy from a store that doesn't just 'stack 'em high and watch 'em fly' (if I might indulge in a nostalgic retail expression.

Of course highlighting the added extras might also take a leaf from the Internet marketing book. To receive the care and attention of our sales staff you must register with us. This could take the form of discrete technological process - log on to the store's iMac and, fill out a short from and become a priority customer then and there. Old fashioned sales technique might also be of use. Qualifying a prospect before spending valuable time with them (our service is a premium offer remember), "if we can match you up with the right TV today sir, how will you be paying - cash, visa or would you care to apply for our store credit scheme' that will help sort the tyre kickers out from the people who genuinely intend to buy.

When all is said and done customers are people. They are as vain, insecure and proud as the next person. They want to be liked and treated with kindness and respect and not viewed simply as an economic unit. People will, ultimately, value what you value. If you take service and product knowledge for granted then so will your customers. Apple computers have created a theatrical retail concept that helps promote the idea that everything in store is worth the premium that Apple seems to command. The concept of Genius Bar in store - knowledgeable staff who will help you to choose a product or overcome a tech problem is, well, genius. It synthesises almost every point I have made.

Remember, wherever you sit on the price spectrum - no one buys anything from people they don't like.

Dixon's ad via Eaon Pritchard's blog Never Get out of the Boat

Toyota does the hard yards

2009-09-25T17:26:00.002+12:00

This ad for Toyota is an excellent argument for making commercials that will create momentum - where people will do some of the marketer's work for them. There was a time when people who bought LandCruisers would have talked up their choice (post purchase dissonance), but now people like me (I don't have a Toyota Landcruiser) will happily embed the commercial on my blog - see above and then point people to it through Twitter - and a host of other social platforms.

It may cause a renaissance in advertising creativity, the sort of messages that were more common in the 70's and 80's, such as the classic Benson & Hedges ads (I'm not encouraging anyone to smoke) or John Smith's bitter. The commercials that people would discuss around the proverbial water cooler.

The Toyota commercial also demonstrates that advertisers are beginning to understand that 'viral' messages don't have to be low budget emulations of You Tube user's style of presentation (of which the recent V energy drink commercial is a good example - chap with rocket pack places road cone on the top of the Auckland Sky Tower).

Brightcove, the video platform recently published a study of online video conducted by Dynamic Content detailing the kind of content that is more likely to go viral:

Laugh-Out-Loud Funny
Videos that are laugh-out-loud funny get passed along to friends.

Edgy
Content that crosses some boundaries and challenges people gets good pass-along.

Gripping
If the video captures your attention and holds it for the duration, it’s more likely that it will get passed along to friends.

Sexual
Content with some non-pornographic sexual angle to it tends to go viral.

"The videos that get the widest viral distribution have these characteristics, but even with only one or two you’ll get more distribution than if the video does not have any of these elements. In niche markets, you’ll also see interest from fans and bloggers who may be motivated specifically by the topic."

Social Media changes lives

2009-09-24T19:02:00.003+12:00

Great video presentation about social media. Did you know that if Facebook was a country it would be the fourth largest in the world?

Tales of the Unexpected - don't give people what they think they want.

2009-09-07T07:05:00.002+12:00

I’m told that the cover of the first edition of the newly relaunched New Zealand Marketing magazine had a cover personalised to its recipient. From what I can gather the extent of the customisation was simply to say something like ‘Hello David…’. I didn’t feel I had missed much. Mail-merged salutation is little more than a 90’s party trick in the era of web 2.0.

It reminded me of Saul Wurman’s comments about customisation in Information Anxiety 2 “There is a tendency to go overboard towards customising when you try to give people only what you think they want.” Wurman thinks customisation is a worthless idea – in the context of customised marketing, web experiences, newspapers and so forth because ‘people often buy what they didn’t know they wanted in what they didn’t know they were looking for’ – a serendipitous effect. If you only get what you thought you wanted, he argues, you don’t get much.

He brings the discussion round to the subject of creativity – the observation of patterns. Without a little meandering you don’t see the patterns in life that permit you to make new connections. As Wurman explains, “If I did a survey of people’s interests they would never list jugglers, etymologists, vibraphone players, or science advisors. But the jugglers, bug person, vibraphonist and science advisor to the ‘X-Files’ were what everyone remembered from the last year’s TED Conference.”

This construct interests me because I have often wondered why I can attend a meeting with a colleague, hear the same information, but come away with an entirely different interpretation of the business opportunity than my associate. We are programmed differently. He or she may have a sales or business management background that conditions them to respond literally to a client’s description of what is required to solve their problem. They are more likely to assume the client’s brief is an instruction – a literal description of their expectations. This corresponds to Wurman’s analogy about searching for ‘boxing’ information on the web. If only information about the kind of pugilism popularised by the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson or Cassius Clay is delivered then the opportunity to follow serendipitous threads and see patterns is lost “Maybe I am interested in violent sports or two person sports. Maybe I would be just as interested in Sumo wresting or tennis or chess?” My colleague is more likely to express a desire to give the client ‘what they asked for…” as a customised service response. Doing so can be a limitation on our effectiveness as a creative business.

When I use the term ‘creative business’ I don’t necessarily mean producer of hare-brained, random ideas – though the hare-brain and an element of randomness may play a key role in discovering solutions that might not be evident to other individuals or firms.

One of the characteristics of creative people, in my experience, is their interest in a wide range of topics. One of my favourite indulgences is to visit my local Borders book store, collect a pile of magazines covering topics I have no deep interest in like yoga, genealogy, model aeroplanes or fashion and to flip through them simply out of general interest and because there is the chance that a pattern, as described by Wurman, might emerge. It might be a social trend or the process might help offer up a solution to a problem I had sublimated earlier but not solved.

Returning to my colleague and client, the literal approach to problem solving – tailoring the solution exactly to the perceived problem is a significant business limitation – the opportunity to beat competitors with an innovation is lost if the problem isn’t taken more seriously.
Teaching design research methods one of the concepts I thought essential for my students to grasp was that of imponderability. To some extent there is no point in asking people what they want – especially in terms of new products and services – because they simply cannot express what they don’t know.

In business the unknown is often an idea that is regarded with some suspicion. Executives with MBAs are trained to analyse and manage the known, the finite resources available to a business. Processes are often conventions, accepted by the majority – and so, therefore, somehow correct, until they are overturned by a novelty or innovation.

The assumption that advertising agencies respond to customised client briefs for individual products led to my invention of Family Health Diary, an advertising product that permits many brands and advertisers to use a pre-formatted idea. It is now a multi-million dollar media product in New Zealand and Australia.

In the beginning my colleagues resisted the idea because it was ‘not what the client asked for’. But, of course, the client couldn’t ask for it because the idea did not exist. Nor would it have existed if I had not been exposed to some random, hare-brained stimulus – one of which was a flirtation with Amway with my then-wife.

Amway is an excellent training organisation and one of the ideas that stuck with me was that the most effective ways of succeeding is to do something once but be paid for it over and over again. As I worked late one night on the pitch for a large pharmaceutical account I found myself resenting the absence of my colleagues who did not have the required craft skills to help put the campaign into a tangible form for presentation. Not only that, but also I have a long held resentment of developing speculative ideas for clients who high-handedly decided from either my business or another’s but didn’t necessarily pay for the process. To complete the ‘perfect storm’ my wife, who worked for the same client’s advertising agency would complain to me about working on products whose budgets were so small that, by the time meetings were conducted to plan and discuss, concepts developed and produced – there would be nothing left for placing in media. It was a self-defeating problem. Because the agency valued the client’s higher spending brands and watched over the control of the account like a tigress tended her cubs, it was better to do nothing about the problem (which the client also assumed, with conventional wisdom, was a hopeless cause and so accepted the status quo).

When my partners and I won the new product launch the client made one significant condition that opened a serendipitous gateway for me. We could have the account on the proviso that we relinquish another pharmaceutical account we held. Little did they know it was dormant and had stopped spending on the product while the FDA investigated claims that it was lethal.

In order to get their hands on the millions attached to the drug launch we had pitched for my colleagues were more than happy to relinquish the languishing account – but I pitched in first: We would let go of the other company’s account if they would spend more with us. It was a risky gambit. We needed the account and would probably have folded if we hadn’t won the business. But the client manager simply said: ‘show me how’. Over the next weekend I mapped out Family Health Diary. It seemed logical to combine many small products under a unified banner and to present in a style that didn’t consume the kind of creative resource that would devour the budget before getting to the media.

Over the years the presentation format of Family Health Diary has changed but its essence has not and the premise remains as effective now as it was then. But the solution would not have ever come about if we had simply followed the instructions of the client – neither they, nor my colleagues could possibly have arrived at the solution because their inputs didn’t reveal the same patterns as mine and their approach to business is premised on matching a client’s perceived need with a tailored (customised) solution.

It seems counter-intuitive not to give people what they say they want. We’re conditioned to assume this is how business should be conducted. I’m not so sure. No market research would have uncovered the latent need for the iPod or iPhone, let alone Lego or the product I have in mind now (I can see the opportunity – but it’s not exactly what the client asked for – and it is vast).

Make room for a little meandering in your thinking. A linear approach will take you to the same destination as your competitors. That’s fine if you want to scramble after incremental changes in market share…but if you want to develop intellectual property that gives you some protection or such a significant head start on competitors that you will have the market to yourself (at least for a while), then maybe tailoring your ideas to a specific instruction might not be such good business after all?

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, You're dead…

2009-08-19T03:16:00.002+12:00

Ok. Let's just say this wasn't the finest moment for either Kiss or Pepsi.
But it does show what happens when marketers try to change the brand narrative. Kids loved Kiss (I did) but Kiss weren't kids. They were what we aspired to.

Putting a kid in the commercial and shoe-horning a Pepsi lyric in the spot was the destroyer (pun intended) of authenticity - i.e. the reason you'd pay the big bucks for big talent.

If you use a successful song - don't mess with it.
if you choose an edgy band - don't homogenise them for the 'family audience'.

Listen or Perish

2009-08-18T08:23:00.004+12:00

Bob Garfield, eminent writer for Advertsising Age has a new book. The Chaos Scenario
. Looks like an interesting read. Better still, the video promo is an interesting watch.

I've ordered my copy (while there is still a publishing industry). It seems a familiar story for anyone with an eye an ear open in the world of social media. But, coming from such a respected source in traditional media - maybe the message won't seem to be a rant from a marginalised disruptor.

Chris Anderson, editor of Wired said "Tales of total industrial collapse have never been so fun! Garfield's analysis of the total disruption of the media industry (and how it may be reborn) is right, prescient and wildly entertaining."

Are you in the game?

2009-08-16T21:51:00.006+12:00

Who doesn't know the Monopoly brand? It is perennial. How would you bring it to life for a new audience or remind those of us who have forgotten how much fun it can be to play that it is still around?

This campaign does a pretty good job of it. While it is relevant and on-brand (ignoring the ordinary and obvious things like digital versions,…yawn - product not brand) it is still engaging and stimulates the idea of being 'in the game'.

The American street names kind of baffle me, but the idea is universal. Especially like the plastic sheen. Nice touch.

Twitter, love it, loathe it, learn from it.

2009-08-04T11:38:00.002+12:00

I have long been an advocate for owning one's own words online. I don't believe in anonymous comments and when I write a blog entry or send a 'tweet' I may only be expressing my opinions - but they are mine.

This morning I had a thought provoking experience using Twitter. I remarked on a New Zealand man who had been shot by the Armed Offenders Squad in a suburb of Auckland. Early reports said the man had moved menacingly towards police called to the scene with a meat cleaver. He refused calls to halt and lay down his weapon and was shot - apparently in accordance with police standard operating procedures.

Reports then began to filter through that the man was a widely known actor and that his action seemed to have been over distress about what the media broadly term 'a domestic incident'. Not an improbable scenario, especially when alcohol is also involved (not that I am certain it was in this matter).

The following day it became apparent that the man had made the call to the police in the first instance himself, giving his own description as a weapon wielding man - surely in the knowledge he would then be confronted by armed police. It has been speculated that he engineered a scenario that would result in his own death. But that is only speculation.

The man survived and is in hospital making a recovery.

Subsequent media reports have further speculated that the man's actions were a 'casebook' response to extreme stress by Maori men. This may be true, but it may not necesssarily apply to this case.

This morning the New Zealand Herald offered a bedside comment from the man's family who had little to say because they had not raised the shooting incident with him, given the trauma of his wound and need to recover.

On reading the reports I found myself forming the opinion that what the man had done was one of the silliest things I had heard. I commented on Twitter that calling himself to the attention of the police in the full knowledge they would respond with force should earn the fellow a nomination for a Darwin Award.

New Zealand is a small place and it dd not take long for friends of the man to react to my Twitter post. The replies were hostile and personal. My initial reaction was to take offence. But I have changed my view.

By commenting about the matter I was no better than the mainstream media. The facts of the case are yet to be fully disclosed. I am sure they will be in a court when, ideally the facts will emerge and he will be justly treated. The man's supporters remark on the mental illness he suffered. I don't want to be insensitive to people with mental illness. I do wonder where the man's friends were before the alleged illness erupted in an act that endangered the man, the police and innocent people in there homes and on the street, but that is another story and, once again I have no data.

When we comment publicly offering our opinions on serious matters that have yet to go before the courts we influence the outcome - some might say we are perverting the course of justice. The news media might argue that the public have a right to knowledge - and I would agree. But speculation and opining is not fact and the media are not the courts and neither is the 'court of public opinion'.

In such a small country as New Zealand I wonder how long before it is impossible to receive fairness or justice when every single person in the court has been exposed to information that will inevitably bias their opinions?

It has got the stage where vested interests lobby for their opinions to be heard; the Police Association do it - I saw their union representative protecting the reputation of his 'Member' after the shooting I have described - not his fault, he is traumatised. Voices 'diagnosing' the man I have been discussing as mentally ill (from a lay perspective - I assume no psychiatrist has had time to examine his state of mind), and so the meme spreads without due process for the facts to emerge without bias or spin.

It all should give us pause for thought. Which brings me full circle. My remark on Twitter about the man in question, whom I had never heard of before, was unkind and unfair. His friends were right to admonish me - I have pulled my head in. I apologise unreservedly for any hurt and or offence and promise in the future that I will pause to think before 'tweeting'.

The death of civilisation

2009-07-26T20:23:00.005+12:00

Before I begin, let me say that Clayton Weatherston seemed to me, like so many other New Zealanders, a creepy, calculating killer before his conviction by jury trial. I had little doubt that he would be convicted of murder. It seemed plain, based on the evidence - whether we liked Weatherston or not (there didn't seem much to admire).

What really concerns me is the mob mentality that has arisen following this trial. Weatherston has been vilified. He is probably the country's most hated person.Even my own circle - educated, reasonable people - felt some satisfaction baying for the killer's blood - happily rehearsing the gossip that a six figure bounty had been placed on his life in prison.

The broadcast media coverage has a lot to answer for in this case. It portrayed Sophie Elliott, the victim, as sainted, beautiful, worthy of celebrity and filled with promise. She was our Snow White in a glass coffin, they reconstructed her mutilated self, like retouching a supermodel in a fashion magazine.

Weatherston was filmed unsympathetically. News items were brutally edited using the same techniques 'reality TV' shows to create 'goodies' and 'baddies' like Survivor and Big Brother. Not that Weatherston seemed to need much help.

Television in particular (I didn't hear any radio broadcasts) lapped it up and polarised the information to the point where only black and white were left. Saint and Sinner. Which side are you on?

The justice system in New Zealand follows the premise that a person accused of a crime is innocent until they are proven guilty without doubt. Weatherston admitted killing the girl but argued that she provoked him to do so. He was afforded the right to argue that defence and show that his crime was not murder, but the lesser charge: manslaughter. In his defence he sought to show that his victim wasn't pure as the driven snow.

Pundits have criticised Weatherston's tearing down of his victim's reputation when she had no possible right of reply. His problem was that it was his word against her residual media image and with each of the five days in the dock; cross-examined in his own defence he dug a deeper hole for himself. He looked and sounded more and more like a twisted, evil bastard sent for a screen test by casting central.

But the law is the law and he was entitled to his day in court and was innocent (of murder) until his guilt was proven beyond reasonable doubt . Just as you and I - and your grandfather, aunt, uncle, son or daughter would be. Before you scream for blood and buy into the knee jerk populist reaction of Simon Power (Minister of Justice) and Judith Collins (Minister of Police) it is important to remember that simple point. We have to have faith in the system as it applies to us all - even when it is imperfect.

Simon Power's desire to fast track changes to the laws of the land that provide for the defence of provocation (which has been also been used by battered women who killed there abusers) is akin to holding aloft a saintly, grisly relic from Sophie Elliott to rouse the rabble behind a change that should be debated and considered thoroughly and in public. This applies to any major change in laws that affect the rights and liberties of the population. Peter Williams Q.C. has spoken eloquently and reasonably on the matter, but it seems seasoned legal minds such as his, who care more for justice than popularity, will be ignored.

Using populist causes to insinuate radical change is not especially new, Hitler was a past master. The cultivated, civilised population of Germany enlisted willingly in a programme that had disastrous consequences for the whole world by turning into an organised mob.

I hope this isn't where we are headed and media will learn that the consequences of their reporting is far reaching. The news isn't supposed to like a trailer for Coronation Street's latest idiotic, murderous frolic. Justice is not a joke or an entertainment for our salacious pleasure.

Weatherston may have damaged his mute victim's reputation but television, radio and newspapers propagated it and cultivated it solely in the interest of ratings and advertising revenue. The subsequent horror was not inflicted on Ms Elliott's family by her murderer but by our insatiable consumption of the despicable to the point where we can't tell the difference between real life and death and Dexter.

On the evening of the guilty verdict TV3 was running promotional trailers on a very heavy rotation for Dexter - a show about an unrepentant mass-murderer who mutilates his victims. The trailer's oh-so-clever lines ran to: "Who put the Laughter into Slaughter" and "Who put the fun in funeral".

We live in a world of cynical media symbiosis. They feed us. We feed them… until we can't seem to manage without the fix. We're junk junkies. As Hitchcock said "Seeing a murder on television... can help work off one's antagonisms. And if you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some."

When Clayton Weatherston is inevitably hurt or killed in prison by an inmate as murderous and psychopathic as he (while guards look away with out collective consent) I won't be cheering. It won't be natural justice - as if that idea is a synonym of the law of the jungle.

I will mourn the loss of our civility.

Pimp My Pump™

2009-07-20T07:05:00.001+12:00

I've been sitting around for weeks now following a heart attack and bypass surgery. Well, maybe not sitting around as such. I made a decision to chronicle my recovery and path to good health with a blog called Pimp My Pump™.

Actually it is more than a blog. I am also writing a book. The idea is simple. I had major, invasive surgery at a relatively young age which I could have avoided. I knew all of the indicators for heart disease and I knew I had many of them. I had even been prescribed medicine to control my blood pressure but I ignored all good sense and the result was a gruesome operation and a disruptive period of recovery.

In the hospital I decided that my experience shouldn't go to waste. If I can persuade one guy between 35 - 50 to ask his doctor to check his heart health then its worthwhile. Hence Pimp My Pump™.

Men's health is an interesting area. In many ways I think it is neglected by comparison to the energy and resources that go into promoting women's health. Campaigners for breast cancer and cervical screening have done an outstanding job of raising awareness of those health issues for women. Millions are spent each year advertising the programmes for screening. The women's health lobby are very vocal as was seen when the New Zealand government's drug buying agency refused to fund the breast cancer fighting drug Herceptin to the same extent that countries seen as our counterparts had. (A Google search shows thousands of pages on the topic).

But men kind of drift in a limbo area. Characteristically we don't pay the same attention to health matters as women. We visit the doctor less (partly because women are more likely to take children to see a family physician); guys also seem to have a mindset that aches and pains will pass - and in most cases they do. It is enculturated in us to 'harden up' and tough things out without complaint. That said, there is also the cultural meme that suggests men are wimps by comparison to women when we are stricken with something like a cold. (It makes for an amusing anecdote but I'd challenge anyone to find credible evidence to support the theory).

I'm not interested in setting up some kind of 'battle of the sexes', that would be pointless. I'm only interested in getting men in the target group to get a heart check and to do a few simple things to avoid heart disease.

I've worked in and around health promotion for years (ironic that I promoted two of the drugs I now take). I have formed the view that most health promotion messages aimed at men fall short of the mark because they fail to take into consideration fundamental communication basics. I don't have all the answers but I am committed to researching the topic and developing educational tools and messages that have some chance of succeeding.

In the mean-time Pimping My Pump is an on-going project. Weight loss, fitness, de-stressing, enjoying a healthy diet are all on my agenda (now that the mechanical reconstruction of a quadruple bypass has been done).

If you have experience of heart disease or are interested in knowing more about the project, don't hesitate to get in touch with me.

If you're male, approaching 40 years of age or are in your 40s get a heart check. It's worth it.

Olympics pimp athletes but object to competition

2009-07-13T06:54:00.005+12:00

Logan Campbell, a young Kiwi Olympian has opened a brothel. He says that its purpose is to raise funds for his bid to attend the next Olympic Games in London. In a flurry of media interest - its a perfect storm in a teacup for media and has been reported as far off as the Times and BBC websites. Sport and sex in the same story - perfect.

Here in New Zealand both the NZ Olympic committee and Taekwon-Do, the sport in question, have expressed indignation at the morals of Mr Campbell. It should be noted that brothels are legal in New Zealand, as is prostitution. So, as a nation, we have no moral problem with the enterprise. It is legislated for and so, you could reasonably assume it is encouraged as an enterprise and source of tax revenue (which then goes in part to SPARC a government agency that funds the NZOC).

The Olympic Games is a monumental money making machine that generates cash from television rights, sponsorships, advertising, ticket sales, merchandising and licensing. It generates this money from blood sweat and tears of amateur athletes around the world who are willing to mortgage themselves to the hilt to participate in the event - mostly with nil hope of winning a gold medal. Middle aged has-beens administer the national Olympic Committees around the world. Many of these people are former athletes. The privileges and perks of being on the committee are often viewed as a fair consideration for sacrifices they made in their youth. Exemplary 'morality' (whatever that might mean) is assumed by the IOC and NZOC, as is apparent in the matter of the brothel keeping martial arts practitioner. But the unintended consequence of expressing moral indignation is that one's own morals will come under scrutiny.

In 1999 scandal rocked the Olympic movement when graft and corruption was revealed at the very highest levels for the assignment of host city status. Cities bidding for the games see vast pots of riches from influxes of development, tourism and international prestige. Whenever there are riches on this scale there will be greed and floating morality. The Guardian covered the scandal extensively at the time.

The choice of a totalitarian regime for the 2008 Olympic host country was a simple disgrace in itself. China stepped up its repression of its people to accommodate the IOC and present a fake face to the world. They even faked the opening ceremony. I wrote about this at the time. Of course China weren't the first dictatorship to host the games, Nazi Germany made its mark on the Games in 1936 - including turning it into a fascist spectacle and introducing the fantasy of the torch relay.

It can't go without mention that the Olympics have received hundreds of millions of dollars in sponsorship and advertising from those paragons of healthy living McDonalds and the CocaCola Company. Amateur athletes are being used to vicariously pimp potentially lethal foods to the young who consider the athletes to be heroes.

For Taekwon-Do New Zealand to publicly declare doubt over Campbell's morals and cast doubt on his future suitability is in itself, morally dubious. What is the criteria for selection? Surely to be the best athlete available in one's sport. Publicly questioning Campbell's morality when he is engaged in a perfectly legal enterprise defames the athlete. Implying that he may not be selected because of it indicates a petulant, corrupt point of view - that an athlete must conform to the social mores of the selectors (what if you vote for a different party or attend a different church than the selectors?).

'Let them who are without guilt cast the first stone.'

Taekwon-Do gets a TKO

Life 2.0

2009-07-10T08:39:00.003+12:00

I have been silent here for over a month. 4 weeks ago I had a heart attack. A week and a half ago I underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery and now I'm back on my feet and easing back into a new phase of life - Life 2.0

The curious thing is that I haven't had any great epiphany. I don't think life has any more or less significance than before. I haven't had a conversation with 'God' (I am still an atheist). Nothing miraculous has happened to me. I ignored my health, I ignored medical advice and the consequence was all but inevitable. In this I realise I am just like a large proportion of men. In the New Zealand vernacular we have an expression "She'll be right, mate" and it close companion, "No worries Mate."

It is culturally accepted, encouraged even, to be self deprecating, rather than to place one's self first in a situation.

This kind of thinking is curious when you examine it. It's for good reason that airline safety messages emphasise that, in the event an oxygen mask should fall in front of your face you should attach the mask first to you, then attend to others, including children.

So, now I have decided that I will look after myself and make me my life's work. I have begun a programme called Pimp My Pump™ which is my personal journey back to good heart health (at 46, following the bypass procedure, I have been told I can expect a 'normal' life-span - all things being equal if I become more active, reduce sugars in my diet, manage my cholesterol and weight (paying particular attention to abdominal fat). There is a Pimp My Pump™ blog where I tell my story and encourage men 35-50 to get a heart check by their doctor. So, in taking care of me I can then be in a position to help others - in case you thought looking after me was the selfish meme in action.

I will be developing a book, for which I have a publisher, and am establishing a charitable trust to educate at risk men about Heart Health - but doing it my way (because I realise worthy-but-dull messages fall on deaf ears).

Anyway. Nice to be back.

Master Of All You Survey?

2009-06-08T13:03:00.006+12:00

I rather like the hokey charm and wit in this promo for US indie advertising agency Boone Oakley.It is simple and different. But mostly it challenges the notion of a 'domain' - asin Master of All You Survey. I've never really thought much about why, but the word 'domain' has always seemed curiously awkward to me - not as much as 'eyeballs' instead of 'visitors' or 'guests', but it has a kind of exclusive, ring-fenced, silo'ed introspection that is so last century.

So. When you visit Boone Oakley you don't get admitted across the moat through the portcullis and into the walled city of their 'domain'; …you get passed directly to a video on YouTube that is navigable and is hyper-linked to other videos on YouTube. It is utterly simple and very charming(especially the reason why the agency name doesn't follow the silly convention of anonymously including the names of every partner - fans of Wheel of Fortune, pay special attention).

Of course there is the obvious problem that the strategy doesn't allow for Google to spider the domain for descriptions and Metatags but, then again…I'm not writing about other agencies am I? And I suspect I won't be alone.

Share it with your friends and marvel at their audactity.

Thanks to Idealog for the heads-up

Follow the link to BooneOakley.com to experience it as intended.

Thought ReStarters

2009-05-29T10:51:00.005+12:00

"So much for Objective Journalism. Don’t bother to look for it here -- not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think of. With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms." Hunter S.Thompson

I haven't written anything here for a month. I have been somewhat distracted with one thing and another.I've also been thinking about the best way forward with this blog. Originally it was intended as a tribute to iconoclasm, but over time it simply migrated into a collection of contemporaneous thoughts, some my own and others I found thought provoking or interesting. Judging from the emails I have received regarding my silence (which is only a perceived silence - if you follow me on Twitter you'll know what I mean) some people enjoyed reading my rants and raves and miss them. As I like to rant and rave it seem only fair that normal transmission be resumed. Perhaps with a slight refocus. No harm in that, it is useful now and then, to take stock.

So, what is this conversation (i.e. ThoughtSpurs in toto) all about?

The initial focus was on brands and marketing, as conditioned by differentiation and iconoclasm. That is a subset now, though. I find it difficult to separate marketing, advertising and brands from society as whole. A challenge for business is surely to overcome the 'them and us' model of mass communications to really open the way for more inclusive dialogues.

The social media phenomenon really does change my perception of the way forward. I have less and less regard for brand messages that are virtuoso - you know the kind I mean - the spectacular set pieces of yesteryear, film making fetishism in microcosm. Today I am more like to be receptive to messages that have far greater relevance and, oftentimes, utility - which might be expressed by the facility for me to understand more or engage more with the message personally. The scale of my engagement is relative. The simple facility to comment or offer and opinion is sometimes sufficient and demonstrates the thought that I, like other people, want to be heard and acknowledged, rather than simply being yelled at or sung a silky siren song by spruikers.

Perhaps this is another reason why I have been contemplating the future of ThoughtSpurs; I haven't really created a sense of community, aside from the loyal cadre of readers, many of whom I know personally. Comments are as rare as hen's teeth. That might simply be because I haven't invited comment, or that I am not remarking on matters you find remarkable? If this is the case, let me know what interests you and we can discuss it.

I have said it often that I don't believe that agreeing is thinking - not that I want to be disagreeable. I do, however enjoy examining a topic from a different point of view than the one my biases and predispositions lead me to by the nose. I once thought that I fell somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan on matters of economics. Since I have been writing this blog I have found and it has been pointed out to me that I am far more liberal than I thought I was. It's hard to be stuck in dogma when you express your thoughts out loud. Not only do opinions become apparent to others, they are clarified in one's own mind in the airing. In any case, though it may be a trope, I often console myself over my changing mind with the remark by Emerson 'A foolish consistency is the hob-goblin of little minds'.

Perhaps the format for ThoughtSpurs should be a discussion of my thoughts and an examination of why I think as I do, and perhaps what if I thought differently. Thinking different, as Steve Jobs and Lee Clow, persuaded us back in the day, is crucial to moving forward.

I began this post with a quote by Hunter S. Thompson (who, along with Chris Locke, is a favourite writer and thinker) not only because I think his remark to contain a pivotal truth, but also because I like iconoclasm, I like 'the crazy ones' and I am suspicious of 'received wisdom'.

I don't know if I have really answered my own questions but I am thinking again and look forward to getting to the nub with you and hearing your thoughts, here, on twitter or out there in the real world. It's important. After all, we may have opposable thumbs but we also have to capacity to hold two or more opposing ideas in our minds - and that is what separates us from chimps.

Real Life Twitter

2009-05-01T18:02:00.001+12:00

Watch Real Life Twitter and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

The ONE thing

2009-04-30T10:28:00.004+12:00

The origin of this blog was my thesis about being The One & Only (1&O). A simple idea that follows Gerry Garcia's thought: "Don't be the best at what you do. Be the only one who does it." If that smacks of monopoly, then I am sorry, monopolies always work for the people who own them. People who create things have relied on the monopoly afforded by copyright, trademarks and patents. I have a feeling that system is fraying at the edges, but we can talk more about that another time.

To be unique or utterly distinctive you have to determine what will set you apart. I had a fascinating conversation with a friend the other day. She was dissatisfied with her life and felt that she should improve all sorts of things that she - frankly speaking - sucked at. She felt anxiety about her weaknesses and had become fixated on them. How could she accomplish anything if she could not communicate in writing? (She has dyslexia). My advice was not to bother with writing. Her talent for interpersonal contact is achingly obvious - attractive, personable and well liked, why not concentrate on those strengths and forget about writing. Or, if writing was important then turn the madcap malapropisms into a strength. Write insane stories of everyday life in uncorrected prose (seriously it would be hard to duplicate her quirky style) - don't apologise. Hey, Bob Dylan has to be the world's worst singer - and yet he has a long, illustrious career behind him and a substantial fortune to match. He has recently inflicted yet another collection on fans, who can't get enough.

What is the one thing that you can do, that guides your energies and keeps you focused. If you're lucky - it will set you apart.

Whether you are a brand owner or an individual - what sets you apart. You might be happy cowering under the rocks with the rest of the river bugs, eking out an existence. But there comes a time when you should let go and succeed or fail in the mad venture that is both life and business. If you've read Richard Bach's story Illusions, you'll know what I mean.

Discuss with me on Twitter

One of the best ads of all time

2009-04-22T22:00:00.004+12:00

Back in the 80's John Webster was a leading figure in the advertising community. He was a believer in telling human stories. In 1988 I clipped an op-ed piece in Campaign (UK) magazine by Webster. Back then he bemoaned the rise of the technology and tricks - which have become commonplace today in advertising. This ad is genius for its idea, or should I say insight - The Guardian newspaper gathers all the facts to offer its readers an informed point of view (presumably instead of a rabble rousing opinion).

Not only has journalism declined, but so has advertising - both crafts that went hand in glove to tell stories that helped us form opinions.

Maybe a nice recession will push the reset button. We'll go back to the truth well told and be suspicious of tricks - except when they challenge bigoted, biased views.

Someone out there thinks you're great

2009-04-22T16:04:00.003+12:00

Here's a ditty from Ze Frank. More of a hug than a song.
Found on the Blip.tv - I like that platform, I hadn't seen it until today. It is interesting how much content I have been viewing as a result of recommendations from friends in my Twitter network, and the recommendations improve over time and I learn to filter and group people by interests.
It is too easy to write Twitter off as an insignificant cutural artifact. I'm not convinced. Twitter is the raw material, not the product.

Talk it through on twitter.

How Trent Reznor shows the way forward in music marketing

2009-04-21T14:33:00.003+12:00

Trent Reznor has a band called Nine Inch Nails.Quite good, by my muso brother's reckoning. What interests me more is how he has become a legend in the music industry - loved by those who believe power should reside with the artists and reviled by those who exploit the artists and alienate the fans - the recording industry.

Reznor criticised Universal Music Group (parent company of the band's record label, Interscope Records) for their pricing and distribution plans for the NIN album Year Zero ('07) He said the company's retail price "Absurd" and said "as a reward for being a 'true fan' you get ripped off","the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more."

In September 2007, Reznor continued his attack on Universal Music Group at a concert in Australia. He urged fans to "steal" his music online instead of purchasing it legally. "Steal and steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealin'."

Needless to say Reznor's comments made news, infuriating the recording industry and the band split from Interscope Records.

The guy is a legend. The video above does the forensics on how Reznor has developed a successful business model that tips the old music industry model on its ear.

In essence Reznor succeed using the following formula:

CwF+RtB=$$$$

where CwF = Connect with Fans
RtB = give them a Reason to Buy
and be rewarded with money.

One of Reznor's first acts of CwF was to place a code on tour T-Shirts, when highlighted letters were combined they spelled out 'Iamtryingtobelieve'. It didn't take long for fans to figure this would lead to a web site. on the site fans were engaged in further decoding what it all meant.

Reznor also irritated his record company executives by leaving flash drives in bathrooms at concerts containing unreleased NIN materia, to be found by fans who, naturally soon began sharing through peer to peer networks. RIAA responded with threats and 'take down notices'. This did nothing to endear RIAA to fans.

But Reznor also offered fans Reasons to Buy physical editions of his tunes - he created a CD that changed colour when it heated in the CD driver - an experience impossible to duplicate or share.

Other RTBs included extra features and benefits.

When he released his next album the first 9 songs could be downloaded for free. Is this guy insane? I hear you cry. Well, no. in short order the album and its variations ranging from a $10 double disk set to a $300 deluxe boxed set - which included a DVD/BlueRay and book, personally signed by Reznor which took less than 30 hours to sell out and raised $750,000. NIN made 1.6 million from direct sales - all the while also giving his music away for free. NIN's album also became a best seller on Amazon.com.

He has innovated in other ways - including profiling his fans by asking them to complete a 10 page survey.

When he release The Slip album sales data was overlaid onto google maps to dramatically display to fans where the NIN tribe was distributed around the planet and building a sense of community.

Reznor uses the web to promote live concerts, the ultimate NIN experience. He not only promotes his own work but also the supporting acts touring with him - who also offer their music for free on a sampler.

He creates community all the time - online through forums, chatgroups and wiki. Fans can also upload the photos and video they have taken at concerts to Flickr, which are aggregated and displayed on the NIN website.

Recently he released hundreds of gigabytes of high definition concert footage with the comment that '..some enterprising fans might make something pretty cool."

He's a genius. But it is nothing that brands, large and small couldn't do (other musicians too)- if only you can shake of fear and the illusion of power and control.

Here's an interview with the man himself: watch and learn people. Watch and learn.

Journalism's red ink.

2009-04-19T21:58:00.005+12:00

The future of journalism is something of a hot topic in the media. Probably because it is a subject near and dear to the media - their bread and butter. Blogging comes under scrutiny for its lack of 'rules'. Bloggers can, and do, say what they want without the fetters and constraints of editors or fear of offending advertisers who, whether journalists like it or not pay for the existence of the mass media.

Amongst the mudslinging I came across this list of suggestions from blogger Peter Cresswell (via the Whaleoil blog who, like Cresswell makes no bones about his conservative/libertarian views). I agree wholeheartedly with the points on the list. The fact is that media in New Zealand (and I am sure the rest of the western world) have created their own crisis by failing to observe an objective standard:

* don't editorialise;
* don't pontificate;
* don't ask how people feel, ask instead what they saw;
* don't report events as if people are outraged, just report the events themselves;
* don't report what "celebrities" do as if it matters a damn;
* don't report puff pieces about actors/musicians/writers as if they're not just puff-pieces for their new film/album/book;
* don't report what everyone knows is just spin) -- report instead what's being spun, and the news that someone is spinning, and who;
* don't assume the whole world has the same values as your friends;
* don't just rewrite press releases as if they were news;
* and don't create the news yourself.
* In short, just report the news. All of it. As if the truth actually mattered.

Here here.