We write ads or people die

Thanks to Meme Huffer for this find.

I found this interesting

This is what I'm currently reading. Mostly focused on business, especially 'presentationzen' and 'Master Class in Brand Planning: The timeless work of Stephen King'. You need to understand history before you can change the future.



Found this piece about cellphone novels in Japan fascinating.

"Of last year’s 10 best-selling novels, five were originally cellphone novels, mostly love stories written in the short sentences characteristic of text messaging but containing little of the plotting or character development found in traditional novels. What is more, the top three spots were occupied by first-time cellphone novelists, touching off debates in the news media and blogosphere.

“Will cellphone novels kill ‘the author’?” a famous literary journal, Bungaku-kai, asked on the cover of its January issue. Fans praised the novels as a new literary genre created and consumed by a generation whose reading habits had consisted mostly of manga, or comic books. Critics said the dominance of cellphone novels, with their poor literary quality, would hasten the decline of Japanese literature.

Whatever their literary talents, cellphone novelists are racking up the kind of sales that most more experienced, traditional novelists can only dream of."

Not sure if this is a local phenomenon or something that will take off globally. Time will tell.

And, last but not least, if you need some entertainment, it doesn't get better than this:

"On August 6th 2007, Mark Gagliardi drank a bottle of Scotch...
And then discussed a famous historical event.

That night history was made...Drunk History."

Banner Ad of the year

It's the time of the year when you go to a Xmas party, drink one or two too many and end up driving drunk. The consequences can be dire: ranging from loss of your license to killing yourself, or even worse, others. The UK Department for Transport and Leo Burnett wanted to creatively communicate above sermon and worked with Weapon 7 on the execution.

They came up with such a clever ad, it just floored me: An ad in rewind.
So, whenever you head out to your party and need a little reminder to keep it to two glasses of wine, just click here.

Hat Tip to 30gms.

Collaboration

I just read Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book, ‘Creativity’. He defines creativity as happening in the intersection of an individual who sees a new pattern, a ‘field of accomplishment’ (the ‘experts’ who can understand and accept the individual’s creative idea or act), and a ‘domain of knowledge and action’ (a body of knowledge mediated by symbols and bundled into systems, like geometry, art, or legal systems, which makes up what we call a culture).

If you think about it, this makes every creative act an act of collaboration. It's not an indivdiual act, it's a group act. We tend to focus on the achievements of individuals. But we need to become better collaborators.
We need to ask questions so that other people can think about the ideas and form their own opinions which they feel comfortable sharing. This will allow for more new ideas, allowing for open comments and looking at the world with fresh eyes.

You can be a creative genius but in the end it's all about the others. Surround yourself with people from all walks of life: different experience, different educational and cultural background. And see what happens.
You can't be creative by yourself. We're in it together.

Great commercial

A real simple and cool commercial from Nike. It seems they got their mojo back. Who else wants to play soccer?

Creators Series

The Creators Series, a multidisciplinary spring conference dedicated to emerging creativity, comes to Los Angeles from June 14-17. One of the pioneers of Web 2.0< Jonathan Harris, speaks Saturday, June 16 at 1pm.
I'll be there.

Information vs. Entertainment

You can explain the DSG Gearbox with diagrams, product demos, technical mambo jambo. Or, you can come up with a creative execution that says more than any product information. People don't buy for rational reasons. It's all about emotions and how to connect with consumers.

We grow out of creativity

If you do have 20 minutes to spare, please take the time to watch this presentation from Sir Ken Robinson, making the case for revolutionizing the educational system by focusing on creativity instead of just mining the human mind.

Sir Ken Robinson is one of the best speakers I've ever seen and you will be highly entertained, laugh out loud and, in the end, be deeply touched.