The Dozen

Sharing the love

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:56:49 +0000

Dear Mysterious Heart Poster Person,

Thank you for spreading the love. Whoever you are.

<3 Egg

Curiosity Killer

rband — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:30:52 +0000

I just got a new phone. I love it. Everything seems totally seamless now. I can stay connected to the people I love, the work I do and have access to all the information that I "need" whenever I want. The sheer scope and power of this phone was heightened when I discovered an old Sony Discman in a closet I was de-cluttering in a new year spree. Man, that thing felt amazingly old. It played 1 CD and was completely indescructible and ENORMOUS. I was blown away by the realization of what my phone could do in comparison. Then I saw this comment about smart phones in an online article I was reading yesterday:

No single other device has been associated with such a wholesale deterioration of a national culture, lack of ability to survive without stimulation or titulation, destruction of the strength to sustain solitude and demonstrate self-sufficiency and loss of resourcefulness to meet even the most minor challenge. We have become a nation of infantile, sensation hungry, distraction-crazed muppets with the attention spans of gnats on mephedrone and a sense of entitlement dwarfed only by our petulant complaints if we don't get what we desire immediately, whether we deserve it or not.

Then I came across this piece in the British newspaper The Telegraph about obsessive smart phone users who are hearing "phantom vibrations" because they are so fixated with checking for messages and updates.

All this made me stop - maybe I need to reframe this new phone thing a little. It has to serve me, not me it. It needs to feed my curiosity, not curb it. It needs to help me be laser focused, not a "distraction crazed muppet". Maybe my new years resolutions need to extend to a few rules about this phone...

Best Test Drive Ever

rband — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:09:30 +0000

We're big fans of Mini cars at Egg and are loving that the brand is striving to retain those hipster drivers as their lives change by adding bigger vehicles to the fleet. However, like all good brands, Mini knows what has to remain in the brand vault - the values that are unshakeable and stay at the core of everything they do. The sheer fun and exhilaration of driving is part of Mini's appeal and that is firmly communicated in the latest offering from agency BSSP. To launch the new Mini coupe, the brand ran a contest, asking drivers to describe "The Best Test Drive Ever. Period" - in 6 words. The winner got to shoot a film of his description. Mini exudes the confidence that comes from knowing exactly who they are...and it is perfectly captured in this 2 minute film. I had fun watching...imagine how much fun the driver had in making it.

Advertising and Media

Mini

Billboards in Nightvision

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:44:07 +0000

Teaching an old dog a new trick is difficult business. When it comes to advertising, the classic billboard is about as old a hound of the print breed that you'll find. Sometimes they move, wave, blind, use a lenticular lens, or countdown to grab out attention. But, more often than not it's creative (and often times provocative) messages that captures our attention best. Here's a great example of the "not" with a very unique twist.

Until now, we've never seen backlit electroluminescent billboards. Using patented low voltage electro luminescent Light Tape® lamps, Jeep has partnered up with Activision to promote the special edition Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited. It claims to be "the toughest in the world", or "any world" for that matter. However, at first glance, the imagery is generally unassuming and fairly bland in the flavor of your typical Jeep advertisement.

Then, after nightfall, the action begins.

Checkout this other billboard experiment by Gillette: http://theideagap.com/post/3490332397/multi-stage-billboard-experiment.

Advertising and Media

Billboards

Just a Second

rband — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:51:29 +0000

How long do new brands have to create an impact? I'm not talking about how long a company will give a new brand in market. I am talking about how much of a consumer's time can a new brand expect to attract? Let's not forget that simply getting a new product into a store is an achievement in itself and even if you're only able to command a consumer's attention for a second, there's a lot that can be said in that fragment of time. These beautiful 1 second films, courtesy of a competition run by Mont Blanc watches prove it in spades.

Creativity

Beauty of a Second Films

So Beautiful

cwilshire — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:03:15 +0000

I'm a huge fan of Marc Newson's work with Ikepod. The Hemipod watch is on my lifetime wishlist. Occasionally I'll visit the website just to drool a bit. This time I was totally captivated by the intro video that features a beautiful film about their hourglasses. I love so much about this... the film itself, the celebration of craftsmanship, the fact that they make such a simple ode to time itself. As another hero of mine (Dieter Rams) once said: "Great design is as little design as possible." I'm sure this is exactly what he meant.

Design

Back To The Future: An Uncertain Time for Detroit

anthony — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:54:52 +0000

The city of Detroit once stood tall, a shinning beacon of American capitalism, culture and character. The legacy of Henry Ford and the assembly line, a thriving middle-class, and an automotive industry driving growth in the post WWII economy are reminiscent of better times for the country. Sadly, while the rest of the U.S. continued to move forward, the 1950s were the pinnacle years for Detroit. The economic and social decline that would ensue for decades later caused irreparable damage to the city's image and brands.

Today, as the country slowly recovers from recession, Detroit seems to have emerged from it disparity — though perhaps this is an illusion. It appears as if the city hit bottom and is rising up into a hotbed of creativity, innovation, art, music, and (dare I say it) maybe even jobs. The brands most closely associated with the city's decline have experienced a resurgence. Chrysler and GM are back in the black after a bailout and bankruptcies, and the Ford namesake invokes national pride (if only because they managed to do the same without restructuring or government assistance). Together, they've displayed a resilience and perseverance that is fueling the inspiration of hardworking Americans in the Motor City.

Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" slogan has become a rallying cry for buying domestic and the American manufacturing base. The commercials have accumulated tens of millions of views and for awhile #importedfromdetroit was a top trending twitter hashtag driven by proud residents and consumers. In the technological age of tangled, overlapping and instantaneous feedback loops, companies can not afford to mismanage their social media efforts. Since dumping New Strategies at the beginning of this year over a tweeting mishap, Chrysler hired Ignite in an attempt to protect what has become both their, and the city of Detroit's, brand image. And good thing they did, because another slip-up occurred.

It was an unfortunate oversight by both Chrysler and Wieden + Kennedy to introduce the Chrysler 300 into the campaign, because it's come to light that the vehicle is assembled in Canada. Only a few days ago a lawsuit was brought against Chrysler by the Made in USA Foundation on the merits that, “Chrysler’s false advertising is likely to cause substantial injury to consumers who seek to buy U.S.-made vehicles.” Ironic, considering that Fiat Group, an Italian automaker, owns 25% of Chrysler Group LLC. Making matters worse, it appears as though Chrysler and Ford have both been in the practice of removing country of origin labels from their car windows at auto shows.

Is this only bad press for Chrysler or could the mantra “Imported from Detroit” and the city’s negative reputation have a harmful impact on Ford and GM, too? Does showcasing a personality like Eminem leave the city with a bad rap (pun intended)? If so who's left to fight for the image of the city of Detroit and the Big Three? In 2009, Kwame Kilpatrick and the city council came close to losing the North American International auto show (one of the largest annual revenue generating events for the city) because of their mismanagement of the city's dilapidated expo center, Cobo Hall, amongst other things.

Second only to cars, Detroit’s pride rests in one place: sports.

The Red Wings are always a great team, but hockey season is just getting underway. The Pistons may not even play this year because of the NBA lockout. In a game 6 breakdown the Tigers lost the ALCS; and after an unlikely winning streak, the Lions have fallen to a 5-1 record. They were 5-0 for the first time since (yes, you guessed it) 1956.

So, here’s to hoping the sports teams, the city’s elected officials, and the automakers can hold on to the momentum they’re gaining. Henry Ford said it best, “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.” Now, we’ll wait and see.

Marketing

brand

Data Visualization: Not a Fad

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:48:05 +0000

Three decades ago, only the brightest minds of academia could pore over the dense pages of journals in the libraries of prestigious universities. Then, with the advent of the internet and databases like LexisNexis, any university or college could distribute the same information over a telephone line. Now anyone with a smartphone can instantly download studies with pages numbering into the thousands in a matter of seconds.

When was the last time you downloaded a white paper on your iPad? Did you read it in its entirety?

Our data-driven economy has created data-driven businesses, data-driven thinkers, and a data-driven society. Ironically, the same technology and medium which made so much information accessible has shrunk our attention span to the length of exactly 140 characters. Yet, in another ironic twist, the internet has become a place for two-way information that relies on a loosely knit assembly of content creators. Everyone is fighting for their voice, and fighting even harder for an audience.

This makes it more difficult for academics, governments, businesses, non-profits, and others that often have to tell their story in numbers.

Enter the infographic.

When was the last time you read a tweet, clicked on a bitly URL, and loaded a one page graphic full of facts and statistics? Did you read it in its entirety? A better question is, was it meant to be read, skimmed, or simply viewed?

No longer are we living in an age of poorly constructed pie charts and bar graphs, rather we find ourselves surfing through a gallery full of canvas worthy digital graphics. In a stroke of creative and quantitative genius, advertising agencies have mashed up the strengths of their analysts and designers to creatively tell the story of their clients' research and data. They've packaged it perfectly into a compact and concise attention-getting visual format.

Data visualization has entered its renaissance era. If ever there was a Michelangelo, it would be Jesse Thomas of Jess3.

Checkout some of his team's work on the Jess3 blog.

art Design Research

LEADING MARKETERS CLAMOR FOR NEWEST TECHNOLOGY

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Imagine the ability to be a true “voyeur” as a brand marketer. iPhone and Android technology is allowing marketers to stretch far beyond the traditional focus groups and in-home interviews to conduct extended research studies with unprecedented access into people’s everyday lives.

And the spotlight has been on Egg Strategy’s Over the Shoulder® digital ethnography tool, which has been catching the attention of major marketers such as the Clorox Company, Kraft Foods, a major hotel brand and a leading spirits brand since its debut at the Front End Of Innovation Conference in May.

The Corporate Innovation and Discovery team at The Clorox Company came to Egg Strategy with the task of identifying the fleeting moments when the elusive Gen-Y population felt most at risk of catching or spreading germs. With the Over the Shoulder app in the respondent’s hands, the research team was shown first-hand evidence from the inside of taxis, restaurants, clubs, public toilets. The research participants fed back provocative videos, photos and texts, all while being tracked via geo-location over a 10-day period.

"Over the Shoulder® got us insights into real-life moments that we've found challenging to fully explore with certain target groups,” stated Staci Ball, Director of Corporate Innovation and Discovery, The Clorox Company. “The level of candor we got from our audience through the app rather than through having a live person there was pretty stunning.”

And Clorox isn’t alone. For marketers looking to increase the emotional equity of their brands, powerful insight is fundamental to success. "Smartphone ethnography like Egg Strategy is doing with Over-the-Shoulder is one of the most promising growth areas for market research at the moment,” says Leonard Murphy, Editor-in-Chief GreenBook Blog & CEO, BrandScan 360. “Fortytwo percent (42%) of global researchers we surveyed plan to use some form of mobile-based research in 2012. That's up from 22% who used it in 2011. Mobile Ethnography itself is projected to be used by 24% of the industry, up from only 10% in 2011. That's simply unprecedented adoption-rate growth.

Murphy adds, “There's a huge amount of excitement and interest in Digital Ethnography methodologies like Egg Strategy's Over-the-Shoulder. It opens up the possibilities to get in the-moment, in-the-situation insight that simply weren't possible to access before. Over-the-Shoulder is the right product at the right time to capitalize on these trends."

With Over the Shoulder®, regular people are recruited and paid to download the Over the Shoulder app from the iTunes store or Android Market to their smartphone. They then use the app to answer questions and prompts to document their lives and activities from market researchers seeking insight to how they live, think and buy.

"Over the Shoulder® has been extremely well received in the marketplace so far because it allows us to turn our participants' smartphones into amazing portals to their world and their experiences. With smartphone penetration projected to pass 50% before the end of 2011, there's now an opportunity to get insight into their lives, beliefs and behaviors that 's simply never existed before" said Ross McLean, Director of Over the Shoulder with Egg Strategy in Chicago.

As the market for mobile phone-based insight research rapidly expands, Egg Strategy plans to continue to aggressively develop their industry-leading smartphone ethnography practice with Over the Shoulder as the primary tool.

Click here to download the press release.

NEWSFLASH

LOW FIDELITY ART, HIGH IMPACT MESSAGE

cwilshire — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 23:18:07 +0000

I'm loving the tape art that Stephen Doyle (Doyle Partners) created for the latest NYTimes Magazine article "What if the Secret to Success Is Failure?" Click on the link to see the article and a short film about the process. Illustrates the beauty of using simple, everyday materials to create a profound image. I also love the human element to this art... with school kids literally participating in and around the message, making them both the subject and the observer at the same moment.

Design