The Times They Are A-Changin'

A documentary about journalism might not seem like edge-of-your-seat material -- you’re thinking white guys on computers, right?  But Page One: A Year Inside The New York Times, is gripping -- a spirited defense of traditional print media in its most dire hour.  

Page One follows the goings-on of the newsroom, casting media reporter and colorful personality, David Carr, as the main protagonist defending journalism against bloggers and new media types.

Carr is actually far from a luddite. He calls himself a ‘digital adopter’ while at the same time recognizing that derivative news sources such as blogs and the Huffington Post can’t exist without and can’t replace rigorous, original reporting.

Page One makes clear that journalism as a public resource is what’s at stake -- but it’s also a classic tale of an older entity struggling to adjust to new markets and resources.

TV Guide transformed into an online fan resource; AOL is trying to sell ads instead of dial-up portals.  Can the Times, and the traditional news industry in general, make the leap where the FREEconomics have changed the field?  And if they don’t, will the blogs and aggregators in essence kill off the host organism that feeds them?

David Carr believes the Gray Lady can keep shining, beyond just using new hair dye.

He calls newspapers “branded information put together by people you trust.” The brand, if valuable enough, can live on even if the physical product, delivery method, and business model change.

The Times put up a pay wall in March, the first step in what might be a future largely supported by readers instead of ads or subscriptions.  If the Times is going to be asking for dollars, Page One is  a pretty persuasive infomercial.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/watch_trailer_for_journalism_documentary_page_one_inside_the_new_york_times/

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/browbeat/archive/2011/01/28/david-carr-page-one-and-the-future-of-the-new-york-times.aspx

http://www.thenewsgallery.com/2011/06/page-one-ny-times-documentary-opens-for.html

Small Logo, Big Noise

Not everyone knows the name Les Paul, but everyone Googles. When Google recently created an interactive logo to honor the late musician and inventor’s 96th birthday, the Gibson Les Paul brand received enough exposure and word-of-mouth to fill a stadium.

The logo let users strum, record, and email their masterpieces. Of course, countless work hours were wasted and YouTube videos uploaded.

Through a simple widget, Les Paul updated its image and introduced itself to non-guitar afficionados. Sometimes, small but smart executions deliver a bigger impact than scale and dollars. Rock on.

The Les Paul Google Doodle now has a permanent page, you can test it out and annoy your friends and co-workers.

Click image for the obligatory, guitar-store-banned rendition of “Stairway to Heaven.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnaqjobfkI8&feature=related

Friskies’ Marketing Cat-alyst

You know why Apple never marketed the iPad to cats? There just weren’t enough apps for them. Cat food maker, Friskies, has changed all that with a line of tablet games for the underserved feline segment.

Capitalizing on the Internet’s insatiable appetite for cat videos, Friskies released an ad on YouTube that was quickly imitated by pet owners who rushed to film Fluffy playing with the most expensive toy ever.

The value of technology like the iPad lies in how you use it to serve real human needs and passions. For Friskies, the formula was: 1 open-ended tech medium + 1 community of cat lovers = cheap exposure/good will from consumers.

Sprint aimed for the same market with its Android 4G cat commercial, but Friskies actually integrated itself into the online cat phenomenon by giving people a product to use and share.

How can technology benefit and entertain your consumers? Zippo has an app featuring virtual lighters for concert-goers; Pedigree created a facial recognition program called “Doggelganger” that matches users to their shelter dog counterparts.

As our personal gadgets become more sophisticated, what’s imaginable is often doable. And the impact of marketers spending dollars not on a 30 second TV blip but on an app that interacts with consumers, furry or not, is a welcome development.

But then again, we're also easily distracted by balls of yarn.

Click image for video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaif2uq_0Vc
http://technabob.com/blog/2011/05/20/friskies-ipad-games-for-cats/

Name That Logo!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a good logo is worth even more. A good logo is likable and persuasive (think Obama’s 2008 campaign design); a bad one is...well, the briefly lived Gap fiasco.

A well-designed logo is the literal face of the brand-- an ambassador that conveys corporate identity, personality, a promise. It does all of this instantaneously and has the potential to linger in the public memory far beyond words and slogans.

Need proof that effective logos really settle into the public consciousness? You can test your own recall skills with Sporcle.com’s Corporate Logos quiz. You have 6 minutes to name 36 common brands. It’s a little trickier than it looks, there’s always that one at the end driving you nuts...

Does your logo say what you want it to? Would investing in identity work reinvigorate the brand or will consumers pounce if they feel like you’re changing something beloved and familiar? Ponder these questions as you take the quiz.

It’s a great time waster if nothing else. There’s even a Corporate Logos 2 and 3 for 200% more brand action.

http://www.sporcle.com/games/corplogos.php

Trick or Tweet

Twitter user @oldmansearch is apparently an 81-year old man who was told by his son that Twitter is how you search on Google.

You can imagine, peeking into an old man’s “searches” provides endless amusement: “Diane sawyer swimsuit pictures” -- “Is alex trebek really smart?” --  “Doorbell volume.”  

Though @oldmansearch has racked up over 100,000 followers in a month, it’s probably fake. Hard to believe even a computer-illiterate senior citizen would continue searching without any actual results.

Most likely, this is someone hoping to capitalize on the success and subsequent TV deal around the ‘Sh** My Dad Says’ Twitter feed made popular years back.

Nonetheless, the account is a great example of how Twitter is leveraged for different purposes.  Companies like Dell effectively use it for customer service, TV networks use hashtags to connect with viewers, and others obviously use it for pure amusement.  Or to communicate live during turbulent times across the globe.

Twitter has become a viable people mover.   And from offers to awareness, it’s worth considering how your business objectives could be met by a tweak of these tweets.  

Just use under 140 characters.  Or one really old character.

http://twitter.com/#!/oldmansearch

Google, 12 Years Ago (Or Billions of Dollars Earlier)

Before the Googleplex, before the billionaire creation, the mega-acquisitions and the 20,000th employee, Google was just a bunch of guys holding an all-hands meeting and eating cake.

The video below (fast forward liberally – it’s long) shows founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin leading a meeting of fewer than 60. 

They introduce a new employee and celebrate Sergey’s birthday.  There are presents (see 6:20 for Larry's gift to Sergey) and silly string. Folks sit on the floor or large exercise balls.

Hard to believe that just over a decade later, Google has grown into one of the most recognized and respected companies in the world.

In this video, everyone seems part of a tight-knit group who want to work there, who are happy to be with this little tech company. 

Google’s main asset was always its people, without whom there would’ve been no innovation, no world domination.

No matter what organization you’re in, a culture that gives people creative freedom and a sense of ownership will enable more success. 

It’s true -- just Google it.

Click image for video


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u68QWfHOYhY
http://www.seroundtable.com/google-tgif-13338.html

Jersey Shore Gone Wilde...Oscar Wilde

To promote their Broadway show, The Importance of Being Earnest, Roundabout Theater has launched a video series in which actors recite lines from MTV’s Jersey Shore in the style of Oscar Wilde. 

The results are 'Capital, old man!'  Or 'Slammin'', depending on your view.

Delivering lines like “You like your women how you like your underwear -- dirty” with a Victorian accent and cocked eyebrow, make a mash up that's far funnier for both eras.

What we find most appealing about this idea is the mix of low-brow and high-brow, and new and old media. 

Tagging videos on YouTube with a popular search term like ‘Jersey Shore’ guarantees more exposure than traditional promotion.  The videos have been picked up broadly on sites and blogs given the entertainment factor and the ease of sharing online.

Of course, Monty Python did this jokes-taposition years ago.  Karl Marx losing on trivia in a game show once they veered beyond the Das Kapital questions.  Socrates vs Aristotle…in a soccer match up.

But think about your business now, in a creative, mash-up way.  How could you reframe your content, or delivery, in a way that reached more people, or a different market?

Could Kia create Dancing with the Cars, where non-drivers are taught to win?  And viewers learn the key to stunt driving?  Could an Athenian style restaurant have a Greek of the Week message sent out on Twitter to promote a meal deal and a philosophic insight, Plato-style.

Anyway, The Snookis of the world are probably hitting the club, not the theater.  

But reaching a broader audience by tapping a current cultural rave for what WAS a cultural rave 100 years ago?  That demonstrates a certain 'savoir faire'…and Wilde would approve of it.  Or at least revel in the Situation.

Click on image for video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhk5Rjz7xk0