Review: Moo Cards

Im proud to say im an old-school flickr user since the first week of its inception. Recently came the introduction of Moo Cards. These half-size business cards have your flickr photos on one side and whatever you want on the other. The lifefilter needed a business card for our meetings, and this looked like the perfect fit. After creating them on the website in a couple easy-as-pie steps, they arrived at my door. I can say they look quite gorgeous and are quite handy. They certainly stand out in the pile of standard white cards. Reasonably priced at 100 for $20 these are a great tool for all folks want something unordinary.


Moo
+tag me+
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...

Use Only What You Need

Water conservation is a very important issue in the 21st century. It's this authors opinion that environmentalism is probably the biggest issue facing us today. The Sukle agency dreamt up this inventive ad campaign for Denver Water to encourage people to become more aware of their water usage. Quite a unique and insightful application. Don't you just love clever ads that simply work? We do, its called good advertising. There have been a lot of great outdoor adverts going around lately, we can't help but be enthralled with the state of the business.

sukle
+tag me+
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...

Never Underestimate the Power of Advertising

Attention Thieves,

We have more money inside!


+tag me+
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...

Home is Marvelous

if i ever got reincarnated, I would come back as a cat:

Neverending Naps
Food always waiting for me
Adventures Outside

Read more...

Banksy brings Guantanamo to Disneyland

The ingenious Banksy has a how-he-did-it video posted of his juant to Disneyland. The stunt was intended to highlight the plight of terror suspects at the controversial detention centre in Cuba. What better place than the so-called 'happiest place on earth'. Banksy is notorious for his secretive and subversive stunts - such as sneaking doctored versions of classic paintings into major art galleries. The hooded figure was placed inside the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride. It is understood to have remained in place for 90 minutes before the ride was closed down and the figure removed. Surely one day this man will get caught(we hope not!), but these videos are really flaunting his bravado.


Happiest Place On Earth
+tag me+
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...

Max Factor Ad that Runs

Leo Burnett has really been on fire (can't believe im saying that) lately in the outdoor realm. This max factor ad actually runs when the weather rains. The pictured woman sports finely groomed eyelashes when kept dry, but rainy weather creates black runs akin to real life scenarios to presumably suggest that ladies should make haste in picking up the run-resistant flavor of makeup. So now art imitates life in a sorts. Pretty cool interactivity here, really gives an element most advertisements are lacking- Tangible & Real Engagement. 2 thumbs up.
Maximum Crying
+tag me+
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...

Guerrilla Gardening: Consumers on the Loose

Today's generation of DIYers is driving culture and brands in more ways than imagined. Everything from homemade electric cars and rollercoasters to computers and clothes is being produced by consumers who would rather do it themselves. Influx had a great post on how consumers dissatisfied with the brand offerings from corporations, consumers are coming together to create their own brands and products. These consumers are looking for something different; it can be a radical new product, a personalized limited edition item and/or to be more engaged in the process of production. As influx states "Know How" used to be exclusive; only corporations had it and they rarely gave it away. There were things called 'trade secrets" and "corporate espionage', now information is out and available and if you want to make something it's pretty easy to find out how you can do it yourself, or find someone who can do it for you." A great idea has started across the pond called Guerilla Gardening. Technically its illicit cultivation, but the motivation behind this is to wage a war on neglected public space. They search out neglected gardens, trees, or any public shrubs and give them the love and respect they deserve. I hardly doubt they encounter any haters either! This graffiti gardening is quite a reflection on society itself. The rise of tagging is a great phenomena thats really exploded only in the last 5 years. Not only does it nod to our waning attention spans and quick hits, but its a great organizational system thats waaaay better than the dewey decimal system. Graffiti is or can be technically "the tagging or modification of public space". Guerilla Gardening is a great beautification program that tags public space in a better way. Wanna help to save the earth in your town or city?

Hoedown
+tag me+
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...

How to Pitch and Win New Business by john steel

Influx has a great interview with the lengendary John Steel, author of Truth, Lies and Advertising, one of the de facto books in the planning world. I absolutely love (and miss) pitching. Being a competitive person, pitching has been one of the most satisfying experiences in advertising. I was fortunate to have a great senior planner above me, who allowed me quite a bit of freedom in the process. But my success was due much in part to my great partners and the environment around me. While winning is nice, we all more accustomed to what it feels like to lose. So is the life of pitching. Steel brings up some fantastic points about when to and when NOT to pitch. Steel offers up some great quotes such as:

"I believe that many of the most important lessons about pitching are to be learned from outside of the agency business. At its heart, any presentation is a simple act of human communication, where the aim is to persuade the members of an audience to think and behave differently." -Again very true and sharp. Note that consumers don't always connect with the advertising lingo, bells and whistles per say, but the product or the emotional cache behind it.

"In all of the successful pitches I have made, the most common reason given by a client for awarding their business to my agency was that in their opinion, we "wanted it more." They liked our ideas, but more than that they liked us, and they liked our passion for those ideas." - Steel brings up the importance of the client relationship, which many agencies are severely lacking appropriate attention to. Pitching is also an introductory process, as much as selling an idea or a campaign.

Judging by Steel's interview this book could be a great tool for all those in business who actively seek new clients from real estate to advertising. Take a read of influx's interview and if you fancy by Steel's book.

The Interview
Buy It
+tag me+
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...

Demand Your Artists

I was just thinking the other day how the web is the perfect place to build communities. Eventful Demand is a website that allows fans to start a 'demand' for their favorite artist to come to their city and perform. Clearly this is intended for under-served markets, but is a nice tool for music enthusiasts who are normally at the mercy of bookings. I know fans certainly clamor on band sites for their shows, but ED really shows the collective power of critical mass being utilized by the web. Apparently booking agents have been keeping an eye on this consumer-powered community to see if maybe they should add or change tour stops for their artists. Great idea here.

On Demand
+tag me+
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...

Innovation Comes to Nails

Very rarely are products actually innovated upon in groundbreaking ways. The last quarter century we have seen the majority of innovations in the technological arena. Along comes the Hurriquake.
Found via Cool Hunting, Popular Science's annual "Best of What's New," currently on display in New York's Grand Central Station through this Thursday, 9 November 2006, has achieved the magazine's first-ever top honor, "Innovation of the Year". It is a tricked-out nail designed to protect homes against damage caused by hurricanes and earthquakes. It has been re-engineered to target the common problems of other fasteners that tear apart in high winds and pull through plywood during seismic stresses, the device reportedly provides up to twice the resistance to these natural disasters. Looking at the picture we see a larger head (with easily identifiable markings for inspectors, homeowners and contractors), angled barbed rings at the bottom, a screw shank that fills voids created the rings, and "shear shank technology" that increases strength at primary stress point and an improved coating that allows nails to be more flush with wood, the increased cost in building an average-size house is a mere $15. When i build my home in North Carolina, be assured these are the badboys i will use (along with steel and brick) because we don't build no sissy houses. Head up to the exhibit if you get a chance or check outcoolhunting for more Popular Science coverage.

Hit Me
+tag me+
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...

Airmax battle on Sneakerplay

Sneaker-aficionado site Sneakerplay is an online community with thousands of sneaker photos and members. It is a great resource for whats hot in the sneaker world if you aren't looking for the usual mag hype out there. I was recently challenged (As in last night) to a sneaker battle of AirMax 90's. Please log into the site( if you need an invite, i can send you one) and vote for me.
Battle
+tag me+
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...

nike id studio: Dolphin Air Maxes

I was privileged enough to have some friends with connections to the Nike ID Design Studio here in the city. There has been much written about Nike's ID program and the studio itself is a more-exclusive extension of this. Entry is appointment only and you gotta know peeps to get in. You get to choose from a greater variety of materials and colors (some limited edition) than you do online, though there aren't infinite choices. Apparently im not a VIP but alligator type mods are reserved for those cats (in due time). The studio does quarterly runs on shoe types such as dunks, air maxes, air force ones (the next shoe type due up). I didn't really know what to expect but i did know i wanted something colorful and unique. Let me know what you think.

More Info
+tag me+
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...

Ad Resource: Kidkie

There is nothing like a new a discovery that provides a continual wealth of knowledge and some curious entertainment while we are at it. Run by Martin Edman, Kidkie is a fantastic resource for all things advertising and branding. This Swedish site is irreverantly funny and uber hip and an excellent source for all things addy. Martin constantly searches for new favorites in the advertising world and brings them to light. He also has a great book section, which i am seeing more and more bloggers develop (See Gareth's Bookclub at BrandNew). For all of those who want ad stuff with a quirky Swede point-of-view, check out Kidkie.
Get Cheddar
+tag me+
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...

Chicago is cold

Sorry for the absence of posts....

Im here in Chicago doing some work for my Gatorade client. If you are in town, and wanna grab a drink tomorrow evening drop me a line. On another note, im thoroughly disappointed at the lack of festive spirit here for halloween. :/

Lifefilter@gmail.com


Nice Carpet
-dont tag me-
+del.icio.us
+digg
+marktd

Read more...