A brilliant documentary on "How Trends and Creativity Become Contagious". Although the video is embedded here above, I strongly recommend you to view it on the dedicated website. It's a simple, smart, relevant & absolutely stunning modern documentary experience too.
How do you consider video quality and graphic interfaces in your online viewing experiences?
"INFLUENCERS is a short documentary that explores what it means to be an influencer and how trends and creativity become contagious today in music, fashion and entertainment.
The film attempts to understand the essence of influence, what makes a person influential without taking a statistical or metric approach.
Written and Directed by Paul Rojanathara and Davis Johnson, the film is a Polaroid snapshot of New York influential creatives (advertising, design, fashion and entertainment) who are shaping today's pop culture.
"Influencers" belongs to the new generation of short films, webdocs, which combine the documentary style and the online experience."
This is probably the best slideshare presentation I've read for a long time. It was composed by Helge Tennø, Strategic Director and Digital Planner at digital agency Screenplay in Oslo, Norway.
Smart thinking documented by brilliant quotes from successful leaders, marketers, strategists, CEO's or so called visionaries. What I find interesting in this long -yet completely fascinating- presentation is the overhaul perspective it unveils to our eyes, from the obvious EVOLUTION of consumer behavior, through the new definition of "digital marketing", way to the ultimate long term battle of the brands related to (shared) VALUE.
He introduces 3 ideas representing THE NEW CURRENCY :
VALUE : transports much better compared to "attention" - creating value in the context surrounding the product is positively transforming consumer experience. + DIRECT RELATIONSHIP : "Visualizing the decline of the destination web and the rise of the social media web"... New opportunity : Brands to create direct relationship with consumers. - TIME -the unstoppable force- (love this!) : He quotes: "Time does not exist!". On some media, content disappears. On other platforms it grows, connects and augments.
A rich journey naturally guiding you across notions like the fabulous TRANSMEDIA (Faris Yakob), importance of context and convergence, ARENAS, collaborative creativity, utility, search vs SHARE, idea exchange, etc.
Insightful, to the point, clear, mind challenging, absolute must read if you're related in any way to marketing, communication, advertising or have an open curious mind looking for some clues about the future of the relationship between consumers and "their" brands.
I remember getting caught by a silly quote while watching what one might see as a silly film as well : "Golden Eye". OK, as a James Bond fan, I don't care about the silliness of the film but rather see it as a fairly good piece of entertainment. This said... in the film there is a sequence where 007 (Pierce Brosnan) is having an argument with Defense Minister Dimitri Mishkin (Tchéky Karyo) while Natalya Fyodorovna Simonova (Izabella Scorupco) is quietly watching them. Suddenly, she interrupts the 2 men and says :
"Stop it! You act like... boys with toys!"
Well, believe me or not, this unexpected allegory made me laugh and these words stayed in my mind ever since. So, simply, true. Sometimes men supposed to be, act, behave as adults show themselves off, like (big) little kids. Their toys? Well, could be anything, from dart guns to real guns, the sky being the limit (Mmmm... can't think of any limit, actually!).
The video illustrated above is a good example of "fun adult play". Naturally, and again, we could be wondering if this is a real story... and if they really did it. Usually, I like things to be quite clear, but this film was surprisingly not pulling the trigger for me. Why? Because it is entertaining, fun to watch and creatively insightful. So whatever, I like it as it is. Even if some questions remain... like who's behind? Vodafone? Blackberry? And of course... the now super great classic: "So what? ...and then what's next?". This last question being exactly where the focus should be in order to make it really "different" or impactful.
Last month a video posted on YouTube hit the Guitar Hero fan and gaming community. If you're familiar with the video game "Guitar Hero"... this film will appear to be incredibly creative and surprising. The video had over 1.747.000 hits within less than a month. Recently it was unveiled to be a viral video launched by Activision to promote their last version of the game, Guitar Hero Worldtour. So, at the end of the day, the bike hero video was not made by a bunch of talented kids, but developed by independent shop Droga5 (check their client list and work).
And here comes the debate about "authenticity" again. Is it OK to play with your audience and authenticity or is it just not a good idea? After a quick check, it seems that the feedback after the revelation is very much mixed between "fake = lame" and "who cares it's a fake, idea and video are still stunning". I noticed a tendency to get more votes from the "it's OK" side on this specific viral case. As mentioned in interesting AdWeek article "Viral Video Hits Blur the Authenticity Line" it seems that advertisers are clearly exploring the limits of fake vs authenticity.
"To be sure, there continues to be a fine line between fooling with
consumers and simply fooling them. Like much in viral marketing, it
remains unclear how much an advertiser should reveal during
campaigns." - says Brian Morrissey of AdWeek.
...
"It was awesome only because we thought there were creative kids
doing this in their free time," noted a commenter on game blog
GameCyte. "Now, it's just a good commercial." - [AdWeek article abstract]
I like a related comment found on Twitter and left by Daniel Stein, CEO of EVB in SF the company behind Office Max's "Elf Yourself" :
"I like Droga's Bike Hero. Who cares if it is fake, it is entertaining. New definition of viral video should be 'ads people actually want to see.' "
There is one important thing to consider, though... the kind of product we're talking about and the related target group. OK for a little authenticity play with Guitar Hero Worldtour is one thing. OK for authenticity play with the New York Times, might be another one.
What's your take on this? Is authenticity an absolute must or can marketers sometimes cautiously play with it?
PS : Thanks to Cedric M. for pointing this video to my eyes. Dude... you simply Rock! : )
As promised in my previous post... here is more about TODO interaction & media design, the Italian innovative company we talked about. Again coming with a very nice example of crowd fascination in front of a unique live experience. Talking about ways to give people out-of-the-ordinary experiences... here you go.
Now, maybe some of you have already seen visual things like that before and so might not find it new or innovative. But according to the "creatures" actually reacting to their environment, I see more than a simple light show behind this. That "little extra" is IMHO exactly what makes the difference and drives the live experience into an innovative and unique area. This is why I wanted to find out "how the system works?"... and guess what... TODO brings an answer to people wondering like me (check the video here under).
When the magic brought to the eyes of the public out there is obvious,
the technology behind this is not. TODO did mix different theories,
programs and technologies to make this happen in an unexpected context.
This is what I find "innovative". That achievement (I bounced twice on them!) lead me to check their webpage out. Happy I did, it is full of brilliantideas. I also found there a few words on the philosophy behind their way to... drive ideas into reality, that I'd like to share with you as well. Just LOVE it! Way to go guys ! And please... please, launch a blog... I'll subscribe!
we ask questions
we listen
we research
we take risk
we make mistakes
we like busted knees
we solve problems
we are happy
we'll never retire
ARTIFICIAL DUMMIES, the process from todo.to.it on Vimeo.
Another focus on simple things that keep touching people. Well, this one is actually being "touched" by people. Or... how to energize and entertain a crowd, for example on a live concert, when waiting between two artists. Simply fabulous! This product is developed by Tangible Interaction Design.
Concept via TODO interaction & media design an Italian innovative company to follow. More on them coming soon in a next post. Okay... this thing is really too mindblobbing, I just can't resist sharing with you another Zygote film. People really seem to have punch a lot of fun out of it! Don't you feel like being in the crow, just under that ball now? : )
PS : For those of you who remember the early seventies series (yup!), this is a FRIENDLY bubble, repeat... this is a FRIENDLY bubble. It won't try to stop you escape or swallow you! ; )
Just a thought of the day... on a Sunday evening, after being out of the agency for a week of holidays. "Simply" wondering what kind of new briefings and stories I'll get tomorrow.
Here is a little gem I just discovered via threeminds and that illustrates how creativity and talent can transform a challenge into a master piece. This short film is the work of James Houston, a student of the Glasgow School of Art who decided, for his final project, to respond to the online challenge launched by the Radiohead. The band proposed on a dedicated site a contest to remix their latest single "Nude". Here is what James did out of it. Although he was too late to enter his work within the deadline, I think he deserves a big huge online wave of applause from all of us.
"I've just graduated from the Glasgow School of Art's graphic design course. This was my final project.
Radiohead held an online contest to remix "Nude" from their album - "In
Rainbows" This was quite a difficult task for everybody that entered,
as Nude is in 6/8 timing, and 63bpm. Most music that's played in clubs
is around 120bpm and usually 4/4 timing. It's pretty difficult to
seamlessly mix a waltz beat into a DJ set.
This resulted in lots of generic entries consisting of a typical 4/4
beat, but with arbitrary clips from "Nude" thrown in so that they
qualified for the contest.
Thom Yorke joked at the ridiculousness of it in an interview for NPR
radio, hinting that they set the competition to find out how people
would approach such a challenging task. I decided to take the piss a bit, as the contest seemed to be in that spirit. Based on the lyric (and alternate title) "Big Ideas: Don't get any" I
grouped together a collection of old redundant hardware, and placed
them in a situation where they're trying their best to do something
that they're not exactly designed to do, and not quite getting there.
It doesn't sound great, as it's not supposed to.
I missed the contest deadline, so I'm offering it here for you to enjoy.
Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Guitars (rhythm & lead) Epson LX-81 Dot Matrix Printer - Drums HP Scanjet 3c - Bass GuitarHard Drive array - Act as a collection of bad speakers - Vocals & FX"
PS : And I'm really wondering what my friend Tom (DirectorTom Thomas Clifford) will think about this film. ; )
UPDATE :
Check this film James did as he mentioned it to be his "...first ever project working with live action video". Wow! Definitely worth being pointed here as well. Read the comments on Vimeo and find out how he did it!
If you like Martin Scorsese... it's a must see. If you like Alfred Hitchcock... it's a must see. If you like wine and champagne... it's a must see. If you like out-of-the-ordinary-stories... it's a must see.
JWT Barcelona, lead by Alex Martinez and his team, had a clever and innovative idea to promote FreiXenet, the Spanish sparkling wine (Cava is the Spanish sparkling wine "equivalent" to France's champagne). - More about the context story here.
As mentioned by Craig Davis (JWT's Worldwide's chief creative officer) on his blog, The Good Stuff :
"...the film features not the star in front of the camera but the stars
behind - a striking shift from image to product, from how we look to
what we make"
Now, what I like about this is that it drives your imagination out of the conventional story-telling patterns. Of course it is advertising... and of course, there is a link to a brand. But on a very personal point of view, I didn't feel betrayed by the apparition of the product (like it often happens in branded film content). I loved that they dared to distract our attention away from the product itself and push us back into the film. Smart and talented way to communicate. Last but not least, notice the "insightful link" that says : "GIVE US YOUR OPINION".
So... "if next year you had to do a short film, which director would YOU choose?"
UPDATE: Check "The Good Stuff" original post's comments... seems this story pushed Bob Jeffrey himself (JWT's Worldwide Chairman and CEO) to comment. I think it is a first time, but maybe I'm wrong. : )
As you might already know I am a fan of Michel Gondry's work. When I found out about the last ad he directed for the Motorola Razr2, I really liked the Experience site they set to tell about the film and its making of. Quite interesting to listen to Michel Gondry's interview on the briefing and his creative process to make it happen.
What I like about it is : the idea of giving a free ride to an artist to express his/her vision of a brand through his/her art.
It reminds me the surprising buzz of the late 90ies lead by the BMW Film series "The Hire". Remember? BMW gave an opportunity -and budget- to 8 famous directors (John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee, Won Kar-Way, etc) to create a short film -average of 8 minutes- to highlight the performance aspects of various BMW automobiles (you can find here : season one and season two). My favorite being Star (try it here if you don't have the DIVX plugin) directed by Guy Ritchie, with Madonna, a BMW M5 and fascinating driver Clive Owen -BTW wouldn't he make a fantastic James Bond?-. Don't forget to turn the volume of your computer up while watching this film... the scene over the bridge is simply... exquisite!.
Branded content indeed... but, when compared to traditional
advertising, this project had (at the time) an innovative approach regarding format, story, and
media.
I believe that there is a LOT more to do outside the traditional ad formats. Also there are obviously many ideas to develop by giving willing artists (and I mean young talents as well, naturally!), new ways to share their visions of brands through their art.
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