The following is an ecopop venture that failed to pass our 90-day proof of concept phase in 2011, partly due to a rather difficult creative brief to crack. While we still believe this innovative concept has legs, they have fallen asleep for the time being. Please let us know if you’d like to help us wake them up.

SocioTones is the world’s first brand of charitable ringtones that not only sound good but also send a message and create conversation about socio, economic or environmental issues. And, in the process, provide charitable donations towards a particular cause.

It’s what making a positive difference in the world sounds like. And it’s the next evolution in popular social awareness badges, such as the red AIDS ribbon or the yellow Live Strong bracelet.

SocioTones has ringtones that represent general causes, such as homelessness and cancer, as well as specific philanthropic organizations, such as the World Wildlife Federation to (RED).

Ringtones can be downloaded for $1.99 at a number of popular ringtone websites, including iTunes, as well as through SocioTones.com, cell phone service providers, and philanthropic organizations.

A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the related charity of the purchaser’s choice or the organization specifically related to their custom ringtone.

At SocioTones.com, users can get the full story behind each ringtone and the cause that it benefits. That way, when a person’s phone rings and someone comments, “Hey, cool ringtone,” they can educate them on the cause and what they can do to help.

Here’s an example of a continuous play-style SocioTone created with Beacon Street Studios that could still be used to raise funds for an organization like Ban The Bag or Surfrider Foundation:

BogusBagsSocioTone

Here’s an example of a pulse-style ringtone created with Sasquatch Sound that was designed to build awareness for deforestation and a particular species of bird that is in danger as a direct result:

DeforestationSocioTone

If you’re interested in using these ringtones as a means for fundraising or would like us create new ones for your charitable organization, please give us a ring-a-ding-dong.

Mable was born out of the simple observation that some people, namely those working in creative industries, have way more magazines than space. Table tops and shelves become cluttered and nearby floorspace end up looking a lot like periodical stalagmites at a hoarders convention.

We set out to solve this problem by creating a modern table system that can both store and show off a large number of magazines while still providing a useable table top.

Made from sustainable bamboo, Mable a single table unit that can be added to, arranged, and used as a small to large coffee table or end table. The number of magazines used, as well as the magazine cover graphics, allow you to create and recreate its overall shape and personality every time an issue is added or removed.

Mable was slated to release in 2011. The furniture manufacturer, retailer, and distributor has since gone out of business. While we wait out her fate, you can catch us in our lobby reading a magazine on architecture.

What ever happened to the half shirt for men?

In the 70′s, half shirts were all the rage. As skinny and hairless preteens, we wore half shirts without ever giving a second thought to going out into public. Then again, this was before America became morbidly obese and our own metabolism decide to give up. (Or was it our will power?)

Today, like most “average” men, we wouldn’t be caught dead in a half shirt. We’d be too embarrassed. And we’d be ashamed that we’d let ourselves go this far. Instead, we’d prefer to buy the full shirt, a baggy one, leave it untucked, and try to fool everyone, including ourselves, that we don’t need to change our poor eating and exercise habits. Perhaps if we forced ourselves to bare it all, or at least half of it, we’d finally be motivated to do something about it.

Maybe Jenny Craig, Bally’s Total Fitness or personal trainers could get in on the action and include a free half shirt with their membership. Actually, make that two shirts. One that has “Before” printed on the front. And another that proudly says “After”.

Or, how about one with”12 pack” and another with “6 pack”.

“Say goodbye to this belly. I’m doing yoga now.”

And so on.

If everyone knew that those wearing the shirts weren’t trying to make a fashion statement but a statement that they were making a serious effort to get healthy, perhaps onlookers would be more likely to give words of encouragement instead of dirty looks.

Personal change doesn’t happen over night. It takes time and support from our peers. Why not explore the possibilities to speed up the process? You might just invent a profitable business out of creating positive change.

One of our favorite ad agencies, Mono, created an innovative campaign for Branson’s Virgin Unite to help put an end to homelessness.

“Do Whatever It Takes” is a website initiative that harnesses the power of wacky internet videos and combines it with charitable fundraising sites like FirstGiving. Anyone can make a pledge to do virtually anything, like drinking a gallon of milk in under an hour, for a set amount of money the individual determines, say $100. The online community then contributes to their fund and, if their goal is reached, the pledger does their “whatever” and the raised money gets donated to a homeless philanthropy.

Inspired.

We’d now like to triple dog dare you to think even broader than homelessness or even bigger than Virgin Unite. In fact, last year, ecopop had two similar ideas that could be stand-alone social ventures that anyone is welcome to do with or without us.

The first business venture we called “Good for Something Talent Thingy”. This concept is essentially the “Do Whatever It Takes” idea but centered around the cultural insight that everyone has a talent, let’s put them to good use, i.e. the charitable cause of your choice. Part America’s Got Talent meets fundraising Telethon but actually worth watching, the Good for Something Talent Thingy would be a series of highly entertaining local events that would be filmed for primetime television, as well as have a massive online content component. Contestants would submit their charitable act, such as “A drum solo for Darfur”, online. Those with the most votes or money raised would be invited to perform on TV and raise even more funds via mobile texting, for example. Using multiple mediums not only means more fundraising opportunities but it also gives us more time to engage in the emotional backstory behind our contestants and their charities–reality television gold.

Our second venture idea we’re reminded of is based on what we’ve named “competitive volunteerism”. People love to be competitive and people love to give back to their community. (Or, at least people love watching other people do these things.) Combining the two on a local and global level gives everyone a chance to challenge themselves to do more good than they’ve done previously, as well as compete to do more good than their neighbor. Competitive Volunteerism ups the ante and raises the bar on do-gooding. Because we could all do more good and give more back, faster. The online experience could be a lot like RecordSetter. You post a video of you doing something good for an individual, your community, or the world at large, and someone tries to beat it. Simple. The online community of voters would determine which global citizens the rest of us slackers should out do (good) as well as where your help is needed in the world. Don’t even get us started on the TV show possibilities.

Or something like that.

We love it when we learn about fresh ideas designed to solve a social problem. We love them even more when there isn’t a brand attached to them, unlike Pepsi Refresh, for example. Our hope is that other social entrepreneurs pick up on these campaign ideas and turn them into sustainable businesses with even greater impact. In other words, think about even more media outlets than just web, or better yet, think about a longterm social business venture instead of a short-lived campaign. And think about even more opportunities to give to more charitable organizations, ones that the community can choose from.

The world-changing ideas are out there and “Do Whatever It Takes” is proving to be a fun and successful solution on what I’m guessing was a relatively small marketing budget. Now imagine the impact an idea like this could have with proper seed capital and a team of dedicated creative problem-solvers, like the ones employed at forward-thinking ad agencies, working on only one social venture instead of focusing on the next great campaign for several clients.

Hmm, indeed.

Perhaps now is the time for you, for us, to all get together and step it up a notch. We’ll race you backwards for it.

That guy in front of you at Starbucks is in need of a designer. You’re a designer. That woman that you see every morning thinks your cute but is too shy to let you know. Until now.

Introducing “Seen at Starbucks”, a mobile/web app concept from ecopop that provides the perfect opportunity to make meaningful connections with those whom you regularly see at your local Starbucks. Those interested in participating would be able to create a brief profile with a photo and contact preference, i.e. business, friendship, or dating. Using geolocation technology, participants could opt-in to see which community members are in-store and interested in getting to know one another a little better.

If you like this idea, please vote for it on My Starbucks Idea. If not, well, we’re always making more.

dabball, the first-ever art gallery + games app for the iPhone and iPad, relaunched this week with a completely new redesign, repricing structure, and retro-inspired web commercial to boot.

The new app, which launched in September as a freemium app, has been completely redesigned with a streamlined interface and repriced at $1.99. (Now on sale for $0.99 through the holidays.)

In addition to discovering more than 400 original artworks by 43 international artists, art and game enthusiasts can now play all 400+ dexterity games, download featured art as digital wallpapers, as well as take 20% off their favorite museum-quality prints ordered directly from their mobile device.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, ecopop teamed up with We Are Helsinki to create a commercial that pays homage to a popular peanut butter cup advertising campaign you might remember from the 80’s. (What can we say? Peanut butter cups have been on our minds a lot lately.) Using the same simple analogy to communicate dabball’s unique combination of art and games seemed just too delicious to pass up.

Click here to view the film.

(Film produced, directed, and edited by We Are Helsinki.)

There’s been a renewed interest in ecopop lately and I am both humbled and grateful. Thank you. A couple of recent product launches, speaking engagements, and interviews, including the one that appears on IdeaMensch.com today, has lead me to reflect on just how far ecopop has come since I shut down my brand communications agency, 86 the onions. (Bye 86 the onions, Hello ecopop! on Adland.tv)

Even before I 86ed my childhood dream of starting my own agency there were hints of ecopop already bubbling up. There was the agency-initiated homeless outreach campaign, ProjectHello.com, and the industry speaking engagement that followed. (Rea Promotes ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ by Adweek Staff on Adweek.com) There was the time we sent an intern on his bike 1,400 miles for a cup of coffee. (A Long Ride For A Cup of Coffee by Tim Nudd on Adweek.com) And there was even the time when we promoted reuse through a series of viral web films featuring an 89-year old DJ grandma. (Mountain Dew: elixir for the ages By Catharine P. Taylor on Adweek.com)

When I finally decided to turn my brand of ecopop communication into a full-time business, it was described as a free idea exchange website. (Profile: Chad Rea By Eleftheria Parpis on Adweek.com and Chad Rea: Ideas Too Good to Waste by Michael Karnjanaprakorn on the99percent.com) I would post my business, product, and marketing ideas online, ones that I’d been getting paid by Fortune 100 companies to fork over in the past, and invite others in the online community to build on those ideas. Anyone was free to take them and make the world a better place. The goal was to not only get creative problem-solver types to share world-changing ideas that would otherwise go to waste sitting on their hard drives, and inspire other individuals and companies to change the way we make and buy things for the better. People wrote about the idea behind ecopop.com. People took ideas from ecopop.com. But nobody shared their ideas on ecopop.com. Apparently, I was the only person willing to give away ideas for the greater good. In my mind, the beta test had failed so, about a year later, I pulled the plug on an expression of ecopop that was arguably more about getting other people’s ideas produced instead of our own.

Since then, I’ve turned ecopop.com into more of an online brochure or blog, something I’ve always advised my clients against, and a bland marketing approach that is very uncharacteristic of me, but it serves a purpose. For now, anyway. I still post some of the better ideas we won’t ever get around to producing, and both agencies and brands still commission us for work from time to time, but most of our focus is spent creating our own ventures from the ground up. We started with 10. Two years later, we’re down to four that are still in production. One of those ventures, electricity showroom, is in the process of simply becoming the storefront for all of our product collaborations on ecopop.com. Next year, there will be more social-minded ventures and inevitably more unexpected changes. However, ecopop’s mission is still the same as when I started this journey. It’s the expression or the output of that mission that is ever-evolving. And while ecopop might not currently grace the pages of the advertising trades like 86 the onions used to on a regular basis, we’re starting to be discovered in entirely new circles of cultural influence and, to me, that couldn’t be more exciting. A heartfelt thank you for your continued support over the years and helping spread the word about whatever ideas we think of next.

Looking forward,

Chad Rea, chief catalyst/curator

(Photo courtesy of Darius Kuzmickas, AIGA Portland)

There are enough people in the world who think that Mexican Coke just tastes better. We like it more because it’s made from cane sugar instead of corn syrup and it comes in a glass bottle, not a plastic one. It’s a shame we have pay extra and tax the planet to have our preferred soda shipped to the States when Coke could just make it locally and put it in cans, but we digress. We’re always pleasantly surprised when we discover Mexican Coke, and perhaps that’s part of the charm, but we’d prefer to seek it out instead of stumbling upon it. So, why not make our lives easier by creating The Mexican Coke Finder app? Fans and businesses could even input the locations for you. And by you, we mean, Coca-Cola, their ad agencies, or anyone else interested in executing this idea.

We love designers of all kinds and are always up for collaborating across a wide range of brands, art, and activism. If you’re looking for a way to put your pop culture design sensibilities to work for the greater good, or you’re a leader in sustainable design, you’ve come to the right place. Say hello.