Tuesday, January 23, 2007

No Wonder.

According to psychologist Cliff Arnall, yesterday was the most depressing day of the year. He sites weather, collective falling off of New Years' resolution and coming down off of the holiday high as reasons why most people are, well, in a bad mood this time of year.

Guess I'm not the only one who's been in a bad mood the last couple of days.

Here is the story at npr.org.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Believe in



I pass the time at my sometimes mind-numbing day job by listening to NPR podcasts. One of my favorite segments is This I Believe. The show takes essays submitted from listeners, picks the best and allows the writer to read his or her essay on the air.

A couple of months ago, I heard an essay by Jon Carroll, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Jon believes that Failure is a good thing.

Jon's thoughts are similar to W+K's encouragement of failure. It's good advice for portfolio students, because the idea of allowing yourself to fail seems simple, yet is hard to grasp. Hope you enjoy.


Demetri Martin and Windows Vista Take Over Comedy Central (For an Hour)

The result was one of the single most interesting and well executed interactions between the web and traditional media. The interplay between the two mediums was as interesting as the interaction between Demetri in his special and Demetri playing himself in a fictional series of shorts. The concept was very strong, the execution was brilliant and for once the commercial message enhanced the viewing experience.

Earlier this week, I checked out www.clearification.com. I found a series of videos starring Demetri Martin as himself. The videos chronicle Demetri, a "winner in life," as he faces a breakdown and subsequent rebirth at the Institute for Advanced Personhood or the I.A.P (Episode 1 of 6 is below). The site, hosted by Windows Vista, promoted his comedy special and tour. The videos were hilarious, I laughed, and waited for the special. By itself, the website was awesome, and had me feeling like Vista was a cool product.



At the first commercial break of the special, I was shocked to see one of the characters from the videos (Dr. Lovett from the I.A.P) show up and announce that the broadcast would be clutter free. In other words, no ads. Throughout the show, Dr. Lovett guided the audience through outtakes from the show's taping, instructional videos and more information about the I.A.P., who's mission is to remove the clutter of modern life from people's lives. Although some local ads were broadcast, most of the ads were removed from the program and replaced by Dr. Lovett's entertaining commentary.

The strategy, Windows Vista removes clutter from the computing/new media experience, was executed brilliantly through the two mediums. the creative was original (although obviously drew inspiration from the likes of Wes Anderson and Jared Hess) and the message was extremely relevant to a younger audience who's undoubtedly captivated by all of the exciting things happening with Apple.

Better yet, the ads enhanced the viewing experience. In and of themselves, the special and the interactive components were great. But they were made all the more interesting and entertaining by their interplay. I can't ever remember a commercial message hijacking a show and actually making it better. Aside from the crappy local commercials, I didn't once reach for the Tivo remote.

It should be said that I'm a huge Apple fan. The PC disenchanted me long ago and I switched last December. But had I seen all of this, I definitely would have thought twice about it. The whole experience made stuffy and boring Microsoft seem cool. It added a depth to the brand that I haven't ever seen. It was like the nerd from school showing up after summer break and being incredibly cool. The incongruence made me take notice and from the message I received visiting www.clearification.com a couple of hours after the special, I wasn't the only one.



In the meantime, I'm going to try to find out what agency did the work. I'll also be anxiously awaiting the next installment at www.clearification.com.

UPDATE:
- Apparently, I'm way late on finding clearification.com. Looks like it launched in October. I can't remember seeing any promotion of the site at Demetri's comedy show in last September.
- According to the New York Post, the agency is McCann-Erickson. Nice work.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

I Don't Even Know What to Say Except I Want One



I just finished watching today's Keynote address at Macworld. Unbelievable.

Aesthetics, design and ease of use like I have never seen and it's extremely impressive. But the iPhone strikes a chord with a more fanciful and childlike part of me. It makes me feel like I'm looking into the future. It's like something I would imagine finding in the backyard like it was discarded by aliens as their ship passed overhead.

It's probably going to be a couple years before I get my hands on this thing and I can't wait.

He also took a shot at Microsoft's Zune. Today's keynote further underlines the difference between Apple and Microsoft - true innovation vs. new features for old thinking.


Nike + iPod


I received the Nike + iPod kit, Nike+ shoes and a Nike+ armband as a late Christmas gift. It's a fantastic experience and I'm disappointed I didn't get the whole set up sooner.

To chart my progress, I've created another blog over at terapad.com. You can link to it here or find it in my links section.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Nike+, Nike-

Nike +
It's been a little over a week since I was given a Nike + iPod kit, Nike+ shoes and a compatible armband. The entire running experience has become easier, I've learned a great deal from the data I've collected and I'm more motivated than I've ever been outside of the days when I ran competitively.

I've also enjoyed sharing the experience with a blog and I love the ability to compete with people from all over the world. To me, the partnership with Apple and the product experience is a strong brand experience for Nike. From the incorporation of the power song to the congratulations professional athletes give you after a personal best, Nike has tapped into a running experience that's unparallelled. Nike is about challenge, competition and winning. The Nike+iPod is a strong expression of those ideas and allows users to experience them.

Nike -
Now if only Nike could create a strong brand experience inside its Atlanta retail store. While the physical aspects of the store are in line with the brand, the staff seems to go out of its way to destroy the atmosphere. To echo Ernie Schenck's post about buying a BMW, Nike seems to have forgotten that branding also takes place at the ground level and not just in advertising and product development.

The sales staff inside the store, in my experience, have little knowledge or experience with the products. Some didn't even know the basics about what types of shoes fit what types of feet. How can a Nike representative not know the most basic thing about sport while representing a brand that's all about sport? Rarely have I come across a salesman at the Nike store who even half-way represents challenge, competition, encouragement and victory. Decking somebody out in Nike gear doesn't make them an ambassador for the brand.

I love Nike and the Nike+iPod is enough to switch from running-centric brands like Saucony, Brooks or Asics. But what a missed opportunity inside the Nike store.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Christmas at Mema's House

Images from the Holiday Season



The Holiday Season treated me very well. Again, I feel lucky to have a roof over my head, food in my stomach and a wonderful family.

Santa brought me a video camera and my brother and I shot a little video on Christmas day. I'm going to post it to Google Video and will have the link soon.