Following up on Mike’s previous post about Google Buzz, I totally get the furor about it. The service definitely needs work, and Google has definitely made a whole lot of big mistakes.

But hey, it’s new. That’s the downside of a service being released by such a huge, publicly visible company. Twitter and Facebook were NOT famous when they were released. They weren’t globally famous for years after they were founded. They had plenty of time to make changes, fixes, and tweaks based on quiet user feedback. Google Buzz had the disadvantage of going very public, very quickly. It wasn’t finished. And it got slammed. Now I wonder whether Google will have enough time to fix it and realize its potential before it gets laughed out of existence.

I think it would be nice if Buzz went back to beta. Google definitely needs more time to tweak it, and they need a setting to get real constructive criticism instead of media snarking. I still think the service has a lot of potential. I like Pete Cashmore’s take on it. If you insist on using an analogy to define Buzz, try this one. Think of Facebook as the local bar, where you go to hang out with your friends, play some games, and just shoot the breeze. Think of Twitter as the village square where you get all the news and have public conversations. It’s a public forum. Then you have Buzz, which SHOULD eventually become a place to focus detailed conversations on IDEAS. Not news, not people, not “what are you doing” or those awesome photos you took on your trip to Cabo this spring, man. It’s a platform to talk about content and have major brainstorming sessions about concepts and projects.

If Facebook is the local bar and Twitter is the town square, Google Buzz (I hope) will be the local college campus.

I’ve said before that I like Google Wave as a productivity tool–an easy way to keep work projects neat, tidy, and collaborative at the office. I don’t find much utility for connecting with friends about random things. It’s a business thing, and I like it that way. I think Buzz will end up being sort of similar in market, although I hope more concept-oriented and less business-y.

If it lasts that long.

To be completely honest, this should probably be Part 1.5. This isn’t actually a blog (it’s a shopping site, I think) and I don’t actually know what they’re saying because it’s all in Dutch. I don’t speak Dutch. However, I think the animation on this site is absolutely gorgeous. Click on the site and just wait and watch. The animation will start in a second. Really fantastic, I promise. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

http://producten.hema.nl/

Oh my God, did you click? Did you watch? It’s amazing, RIGHT? I have no idea exactly what the little pop-up at the end is advertising, but I just LOVE this concept. It’s like an online Rube Goldberg project. It’s fun, engaging, and visually beautiful. It doesn’t hurt that it shows off the technical expertise of the site builders, as well as the fun aesthetic of the people who own it. I think business would be a LOT more fun if everybody incorporated this kind of sense of humor and attention to detail.

On an only-vaguely-related note, anybody who speaks Dutch want to tell me what the site is ABOUT?

I don’t go gaga over websites too often, but this one just made my jaw drop. From the cutting edge design, to the complete integration from every digital touch point, to the overall inspiration based concept - this digital creation - hands down - wins in my book.

Lego Click: According to adverblog, LegoClick “is a a virtual canvas of ideas, inspired moments, quirky stories, solutions and tips, working as a collaborative plateform to inspire people.” In my opinion it could quite possibly be the best designed site, I’ve ever seen. In addition, the collaboration and brand integrated ethos behind the execution is what is truly genius. A must see for any designer and/or marketer!

Below is the short film that Lego did to unveil their brilliance. Go forth and explore Click! more….

I think I’m going to do a series on blogs I like. Some of them might not seem like they have much to do with media or advertising at first glance, but stick with me. I promise they’ll be relevant.

For Part I in this series of Blogs I Like, I’m going to start with Put This On. Their tagline, “How to dress like a grownup,” pretty well says it all. This is a style blog aimed at men, and probably most resonant with guys in the business world who want to look professional, polished, and modern, without looking like a) their dads, b) Steve Urkel, or c) douchebags. It’s a fine line.

Not Good

Good

Obviously it’s a good idea to dress well if you are attempting to make a business deal or get a job or impress people in any way. But it is also a good idea to keep things simple and classy, which is where Put This On comes in. In addition to giving sound style advice (and trust me, gentlemen, I am a GIRL and, as such, I am fully qualified to expound on what looks good on guys), the blog promotes smaller clothiers, vintage shops, and other style blogs. They are also working on videos about specific style subjects, though to date they have only completed one (with excellent production values–Denim).  The thing I really like about this blog is that they practice what they preach–they keep the aesthetics of their site clean, polished, and classy, while providing exceptional content.

And NOW we get to my point about this site. Quality content, sound advice, beautiful aesthetics, and generous cross-promotion. This is the model all websites should adopt. Take heed, media folk. Take heed, and Put This On.

Sounds easy enough, right? We’re all used to hearing the saying “the customer is always right.” It’s common sense, isn’t it?

Apparently not.

It’s old hat at this point to toss around Zappos as an example of a good business model. If you’ve read even one marketing or business magazine in the last few years, you’ve probably heard all about their willingness to embrace social media and their fun, kooky office culture. Which is great. That explains why their employees love it, and therefore why the company reposes such trust in its employees.

But why do the customers love it? Well, because of the fact that the business trusts its employees and encourages its call center workers to do things like spend hours on the phone with a customer to make sure his or her question gets answered, or send a thank you note and flowers, or even direct a customer to a rival site if Zappos.com is out of stock on a particular item. The employees are truly invested in helping the client get what he or she needs and wants, without the usual customer service nastiness and disinterest. A positive experience generates positive buzz. Pure and simple. Any press may be good press because it gets you air time, but positive buzz is the thing that translates into respect and loyalty from both employees and consumers. In the current downward-trending climate, every company should be doing whatever it can to hold on to both.

In other words, trust your employees. Respect your consumers. Both will reward you for it.

For more details on Zappos’s business model, check out this Business Week article.

Alright, I’ve had my winter vacation, I’ve seen the movie, and I’ve finished the game. I liked the movie a whole bunch. A WHOLE BUNCH. Lots of fun, witty banter, and all the things one would hope for in a collaboration between Robert Downey Jr. and, well, anybody. Mark Strong was also enjoyably lugubrious and Rachel McAdams was cute.

The ending of the game? Not so much. The answer to the last code was guessable from the trailers and the reward was a video response from Inspector Lestrade hinting that Scotland Yard would be calling on Holmes and Watson in the future for help with the mysterious Prof. Moriarty. Rumor has it that Brad Pitt might be taking on the chalk-dusted jacket, but I would rather see Colin Farrell.

So, to sum up: fun game, great movie, slightly lame ending. All with impeccable production values.

And not one deerstalker in sight (thankfully).

***DISCLAIMER: Let me just say, before I get into the actual post, that I love Sherlock Holmes. And mysteries requiring deductive reasoning. And witty banter. And steampunk. But most of all, I LUURRRVE Robert Downey Jr. So beware of fangirlishness popping up in this post.***

We at Nostrum have been fiddling around with augmented reality stuff for a while now, and as part of that, I’ve been researching film promotions. Now, as I warned above, I was already excited for Guy Ritchie’s upcoming reboot of Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and the delightfully lugubrious Mark Strong. So when Robert (Nostrum’s Robert, not Iron Man Robert) asked me to check out a promotional game for the film, I was happy to oblige and immediately hopped over to 221b.sh. I landed on a nicely designed page depicting a nice darkly luminous Dickensian-looking London…and a ridiculously long load time. The long load time, combined with the huge “Facebook Connect” button, led me to believe that the game was going to be some lame Facebook game where you get two choices: 1. run away or 2. “fight.” And by fight, they mean hit a button and get a message that says “you just fought and won 20 gold coins!”

I was therefore quite pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a real, participatory game. It’s kind of like the scavenger hunt games that were set up leading up to The Dark Knight, and apparently, for Iron Man 2 (why didn’t I hear about that one??), except the evidence is all in one place. You get assigned a case by Scotland Yard and then put together the evidence to solve it. And here’s the kicker–you need two people to play (ideally). One plays as Holmes and the other plays as Watson, and they each get different evidence and have to consult in order to solve the mystery. Of course, you can play both ends yourself if you’re like me and don’t feel like waiting for somebody else to figure it out. It has all the usual stuff, like automatic status updates and so forth to spread the word, but it’s not a Facebook game.

The mechanics of the game itself are well-done, except that they load too slowly. You watch a video from Scotland Yard or a victim setting up the mystery, and then you read police reports, newspaper clippings, mysterious letters, and so forth, to piece together what’s going on. Then you do some more creative things like chasing down burglars, breaking into buildings, exploring hideouts, and interrogating witnesses. It incorporates strategy games, timed games, hidden object games, and logic games all in one, which is what makes it more fun (and way more participatory) than your average Facebook game. Plus it hints at the premise underlying the plot of the film without giving anything away or relying on teasers like Sherlock Holmes wallpaper or AIM icons (which nobody cares about). In short, it’s fun, it’s intriguing, and it’s well-done.

And it’s ongoing until the film comes out on Christmas Day. There’s a new chapter every Monday. Ok, Holmes, now go find your Watson and get sleuthing.

Alright, I think I managed to avoid too much fangirl blather. What do you say?

The next film in the Twilight series came out at midnight. And it’s already grossing off the charts.
The thing that eludes me is that there’s been little to no branding for the film (that I’ve seen) and it’s still the most popular thing EVARRRRR (according to my 16-year-old sister). At this point I can only chalk it up to the unholy power of teenage girls. Someone please enlighten me.

All I know is that I will be avoiding the movie theater like The Plague, and hiding under my bed, with a stake in one hand and a big plate of garlic bread in the other.

I freely admit I don’t golf. I don’t watch golf. I don’t even play miniature, putt-putt golf (unless it’s somebody’s birthday).

I know NOTHING about golf, except that old guys like to dress up in what would ordinarily be considered embarrassing clothes and spend hours chasing a teeny-tiny ball around with a metal stick. And most of that I learned from Robin Williams (warning–NSFW language).

But I do know social media. And the PGA Tour gets it.

For the pga.com coverage of the PGA Championships, they’re using the Justin.tv/UStream model of streaming coverage combined with live chat. You can sign in using your Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace credentials and chat with other viewers. You can chat with everyone watching, or just your friends on whatever social network you signed in with. I realize it’s not a new or complicated idea, but it’s just nice to see it popping up in such an Old Boys’ Club as golf. This is the group that most people see as LEAST involved with social media and the new communications forms popping up on the web, and yet they understand that being able to watch the matches and talk about it with other fans is the ultimate goal here.  For that, the PGA gets serious brownie points. Pompom hats aside.

So the question for other sports (and any other traditional media-based business), if a bunch of old guys in plaid pants and fuzzy hats get it, why don’t you?

z4

Can you guess what we’re working on?
Another find that we wanted to share with everyone: BMW’s UK Z4’s online launch collateral.

This “campaign” is sick to say the least. It integrates on and offline campaign elements to highlight the goal of selling the car and customizing it to a user’s preference. Plus, there is a very nice tie into the arts as well.

This IS the next level of advertising and we wanted to share some of our finds with our people.

ps this is all Shawn…shout out to our nyc crew!

I saw this recently and it made an immediate impact on me and the team here. By blurring the lines between online and offline social interactions, it is a must see for an CMO who is reticent that this “social media thing” is just a fad.

Props to Sour and their directorial team: Masashi Kawamura, Hal Kirkland, Magico Nakamura, and Masayoshi Nakamura for their innovated and inspiring work. I am just waiting to see how many “copy cats” will be “sampling” this execution over the course of the next few months.

The seed merges 2D and 3D stop motion animation for all to see.
Just something we happened upon and wanted to share:

Out here in LA LA Land, we had the honor of hosting another E3 and what Xbox showcased - IMO - blew the competition out of the water by leaps and bounds….

Please take a second to view this short intro and let me be one of the first to welcome you to what everyone will soon be gushing over…World Say Hello Milo…..now watch your brain be destroyed!!!

PS - ponder this after watching the clip…
Think about how levels your brain just experienced that whole scenario?
1.) Your Screen
2.) FaceBook
3.) YouTube
4.) Xbox’s filming of the interaction between Milo and Real Girl
5.) Milo himself

I know that is a very trite headline, but this game seems to be extremely intense and powerful on the media and engagement side of the coin.

I can appreciate games and still relish in the days of the simplistic ms pac man and donkey kong era of the 80s…
But hold the phone folks and get ready for the newest iteration in the Rock Band Series: The Beatles.

This may force me to finally bite the bullet and purchase. What do you all think? IMO hands down one of the best “Game Trailers” I’ve ever seen…..thoughts???

Dance has been used for quite some time to promote new products, events, places, brands and elevate campaigns with a different artistic approach. I decided to visit a few of my favorite commercials and ads I have enjoyed, both old and new. Below is my first compilation of those commercials that have incorporated the art of dance in a unique way. Various styles can be seen and some have mixed in humor to generate laughs. It seems you can’t go wrong with dancing and music - it is usually a winning combination that’s fun to watch, appealing, and for me, triggers my outgoing perspectives. Read the rest of this entry »

I felt people may need a bit of break from constant barrage of information overload.

So I decided to post something that was shared to me by a good friend and previous Nostrum Employee: Alice In Wonderland Re-Mixed.

Check it out: the site blends electronic music and technology with a disney-fied twist….

A must see and view….

Just a little something I’m keeping my eye on –

I just heard about a project a few friends of friends are doing – and I think it shows (or could show, depending on how the whole thing develops) the degree to which social media and its influence are progressing.

Check their daily orange-inal trip musings or if you want the inside scoop follow them on twitter @orangetoorange

Below is their most recent post, the day before setting sail.

The Day Before from OrangetoOrange on Vimeo.

We’ve all seen city streets and municipal buildings covered in graffiti. Some of us lamented the lack of respect for public property, while others thought, “what a cool display of artistic freedom and self-expression.” Well finally, someone has thought of a way for those two camps to meet that doesn’t involve a mural on a library wall.

WiiSpray Teaser from Martin Lihs on Vimeo.

Designer Martin Lihs has invented WiiSpray, a way of turning a simple Nintendo Wii into a virtual spray can. With nothing but a Wiimote and a bit of Flash animation, you can tag to your heart’s content and then erase it all, as easily as if you were shaking an Etch-a-Sketch. I’ll let the video show you what that looks like, but meanwhile, think of the possibilities! Imagine putting up a screen in a subway station or a building lobby, or even the waiting room in the DMV. People can draw and doodle and make their marks without actually leaving a scratch! What a cool way to get a community art project going, and what great advertising for Nintendo, eh?

I was served this today via youtube. So relevant to my stylings and a great execution showcasing a video game through a social video format targeted solely on likes. I guess i’ll be buying a wii soon.