Apple: Cool to the core

Aaron Russell nicely summarizes the story of 18 year old British student Nick Haley whose home-made video tribute to the iPod Touch became a national television commercial.

As the amount and quality of user-generated content grows, companies need to find effective ways like this to make use of the content and empower and embrace their devoted users.

The cobblers' kids DO have shoes

The old expression "The cobbler's kids have no shoes" holds true for many businesses and their websites. Often marketing agencies are terrible at marketing themselves. Great shops have websites where you can't shop. Information technology companies are often lacking information and using old technology.

But here are a few examples of web design companies whose sites serve as an endorsement of the quality of their work. Their kids are walking around in some spiffy shoes.

Digital Kick - be sure to click around and explore.

AgencyNet - very creative design. Navigating can be a little confusing.

Avenue A / Razorfish - very clean and clear.

352 Media - integrates video onto their homepage. Also see MindComet.

New City Media - attractive design which highlights their portfolio.

Red Clay - beautiful imagery.

Ironworks - a shameless plug for my employer.

The reviews are in

More and more people turn to the web these days to perform product research before making significant purchases. They find information, advice, pricing, comparisons and product reviews. The end result is a very educated customer who often knows as much about a product as the sales person at the store.

Inside CRM has put together a great list of sites providing product reviews for everything from cars to computers to toys. Read and heed.

Limitless paper in a paperless world

I could probably do this if I had the time...and the talent. And some paper.

Amazing. Reminds me of these great paper sculptures by Peter Callesen.

Wisdom of the aged

Found online. From the very wise Dave Barry:

"15 Things it took me my whole life to learn"

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. (This one is very important)

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

13. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.

15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

The soft sell

My wife drives a Toyota. Having bought a car from them in the past makes us a prime marketing target for Toyota today. The theory goes "You liked us enough to buy from us one time...Consider us again when the time comes. And isn't now a good time?"

Recently we received a mailing inviting us to take a look at their new lineup of 2008 vehicles and consider one. But what struck me was the URL they were directing us to on every page of the fold-out: Toyota.com/shop. Just shop. No implied pressure. Come look, learn, compare.

This is very different from the Toyota ads I've seen on TV for the last few years. They all promoted the website BuyAToyota.com.

Now this could just be a matter of relationship marketing - current Toyota customers get sent to "shop" while new acquisitions go to "buy."

So I looked up some of the newer ads for Toyota like this one and this one, and they both end with simply "Toyota.com."

Not that Toyota has ever struggled with sales, but maybe we're seeing a shift from the hard sell to the soft sell.

Another car manufacturer, Mercury, struggling like many American car companies, says simply "You've got to put Mercury on your list."

With consumers being inundated with more advertising messages than ever, helpful, suggestive, but not pushy marketing seeems to be the current trend.

Creativity

"Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people."   - Leo Burnett

"Always look for a second right answer."   - Chic Thompson

"And you know
I'm so wired-up
Don't need no coffee in my cup
Let it all hang out
Let it all hang out"
- Van Morrison

Email deluge: How to keep your head above water

Cameron Moll has a nice post about different ways to manage your email in-box and make sure it's not overwhelming you. Be sure to read the comments.

A few good creative men

"We write ads or people die - You CAN'T handle a bigger logo!"

Friday fun: The way it never was

Google in 1960:

On logos and branding

Branding, like advertising, is one of those things many people simply can't quite believe actually works. Or at least they don't think it works on them. A brand is not something you can touch or hold. It's more concept than concrete.

But when I think about branding I think of the consistency of the BMW hood or the hidden arrow in the FedEx logo. I see the waves of water in the Dasani logo. I see white earbuds, swooshes on sneakers and the "Golden Arches." Alligators on polo shirts and the Yankees in pinstripes. Or the symbolic power and beauty of the Red Cross logo. I associate green and yellow with John Deere, orange with Home Depot and yellow with Best Buy.

A brand identity is a powerful thing that, when done well, can help associate a company with ideas and connotations that tell a story, reinforce marketing concepts and provide a clear, consistent message to consumers.

Oh, and my children can spot those "Golden Arches" from at least two miles away.

The future of the Internet

Information Week has recently launched an ambitious new website to chronicle the changing face of the Internet.

Through investigative reporting and a "moderated blogosphere of internet experts" called ThinkerNet, they aim to cut through the hype and help us understand the ways the Internet is changing and how those changes will affect our lives in the future. I'll definitely be checking this one out in the weeks to come.

Did you know 2.0

From my friend John: A fascinating and thought-provoking update to the original "Shift Happens" video from Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod.

My favorite stat: If MySpace were a country it would be the world's 8th largest.

IdeaStorm

Move over "Contact Us" page. Dell has launched a website called IdeaStorm where anyone can post questions, comments or suggestions about Dell's products. Those ideas can then be viewed and ranked by the community-at-large bringing the best ideas to the surface. It's a ingenious way to engage and empower their customer base and provide a feedback mechanism. And it works too. Recently comments and suggestions led Dell to deliver a new option of an open source operating system on Dell computers.

IdeaStorm is a great example of a company using technology to better connect with its customers (and potential customers).

Fight for Kisses

Haven't played the game yet (other than in real life) but the trailer is hilarious and very creative.

Fight for Kisses

Friday fun: Use your illusion

There is nothing animated or moving in this picture.

"My eyes is going crazy."

10 rules for a great website

Seth Godin has put together a nice list of principles to consider when creating a new (or maintaining an existing) website.

While I understand the point, it's often impossible to "fire the committee" in the real world. The key is to gather requirements and ideas from the stakeholders but keep the key decisions in the hands of a select few. But if the committee is truly "fired" and feels like they are not being included in the process, the project will fail.

PostSecret

Frank Warren, the founder of the incredibly addictive blog PostSecret has just released his fourth compilation book, A Lifetime of Secrets. The book, like the blog, is a visual collection of actual secrets revealed by anonymous people on postcards.

Take a look at the trailer for the new book below. (In other news, books have trailers now!)

The disposable web

Make a website for your reunion. Your Mom's birthday party. Your annual vacation.

You can create a "disposable web page" for countdowns or timed events. You set the count down clock anywhere from 0-90 days from the creation date. Create your content, share the link and editor key with friends or family to allow others to edit the page too. Check it out here.

An alternative to Lorem Ipsum

Often when designers are mocking up a website or a print piece they will insert "placeholder text." The idea is to show the reviewer what the site or piece will look like, without worrying about the content.

Designers often use what's called Lorem Ipsum text which looks like this:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

The idea is to simulate real text - sentences, a realistic combination of short and long words, etc. You can get your own Lorem Ipsum text using the Lorem Ipsum Generator.

But if you want to use something clever and different, try this text I found at css-tricks.com. It uses every modern-business buzz-word and cliche in the book. Feel free to cut and paste it into your next design project.


Completely revolutionize high-quality niches after mission-critical expertise. Professionally deploy standardized total linkage before interoperable architectures. Quickly formulate future-proof meta-services through cross functional portals. Holisticly procrastinate timely results vis-a-vis principle-centered human capital. Distinctively incubate emerging systems and collaborative best practices. Compellingly exploit next-generation technology via web-enabled results.

Professionally disintermediate 24/365 web services via intermandated technologies. Holisticly disseminate flexible web services through professional results. Enthusiastically empower integrated channels and standards compliant channels. Proactively brand end-to-end process improvements rather than resource sucking results. Phosfluorescently envisioneer excellent growth strategies rather than equity invested outsourcing. Assertively build progressive data whereas process-centric processes. Dramatically visualize highly efficient sources via accurate applications. Efficiently engineer orthogonal infomediaries for cross functional ROI. Conveniently restore alternative functionalities after intermandated systems.

Credibly aggregate dynamic synergy and one-to-one testing procedures. Credibly synergize out-of-the-box growth strategies via timely mindshare. Synergistically embrace extensive schemas and multidisciplinary processes. Monotonectally synergize 2.0 sources before resource-leveling sources. Professionally grow value-added results before client-based internal or "organic" sources. Uniquely network alternative processes for interoperable solutions.

Quickly fabricate out-of-the-box relationships via top-line e-services. Uniquely restore market positioning synergy rather than long-term high-impact manufactured products. Monotonectally plagiarize high-payoff interfaces rather than business internal or "organic" sources. Credibly synergize plug-and-play interfaces rather than intuitive results. Compellingly expedite fully tested outsourcing vis-a-vis impactful synergy. Energistically build strategic value and excellent portals. Holisticly deliver revolutionary users before extensive value. Uniquely leverage other's low-risk high-yield e-services before multidisciplinary action items. Dynamically formulate proactive metrics via just in time e-business.

Yahoo Search

I would still consider myself more of a "Google Guy" than a "Yahoo User" but I must admit the recent upgrade to Yahoo's search feature is pretty cool.

Yahoo now suggests ways to phrase a search request as a user types into the query box, providing a list of related concepts and produces links to related photos, videos and music on the main results page.

I might actually use Yahoo now. You know, if the Google site is down or something.

Netflix benefits

So let me get this straight...Employees take as much vacation as they want, they're paid salaries considerably higher than their peers, and stock options vest immediately.

Sounds to good to be true, right? But it is true if you're an employee of Netflix.

Word find

"While battling Napoleon's army, English General Henry Shrapnel (1761--1842) noticed that original-flavor cannonballs just weren't massacring enough enemies for his liking."

Read about more interesting words and the people they are named for. I had no idea.

Everything is Miscellaneous

We all know that the ways we organize, access and assimilate information has changed in the digital age. But sometimes it takes someone as smart as David Weinberger (author of The Cluetrain Manifesto) to help us understand what the implications are. He does that in his new book, Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder.

From this review, this looks like a book I'll definitely be picking up.