Idea: Obscure Mission Statement Puzzles

Why not add more interactive fun to boring corporate mission statements?

provided by flash-gear.com

Bombay style vs NY style

One day passing by a barber shop called N.Y. Styling I had a whimsical thought: wouldn't it be great if there was a Bombay style barber shop right next door... just for the sake of it! ;)

I think I am missing something unpretentious and natural here... like having my ears waxed with a match stick and being kissed in a forehead afterwards...

The Magician

Idea: Invisible Girlfriends

On evolution of conscious observation, perhaps.

click to enlarge:



more Ufos here

Happiness = Productivity

Mollie Partesotti and Benjamin Alter at the VCU Brand Center created a thought-provoking animation which explains how work spaces need to be re-thought to ensure employee happiness. Showing how dehumanizing workspaces, such as cubicles, are at odds with both well-being and the way we work now, the duo artfully explores the domain of the modern workplace.

Episode 1 - A deconstruction of how we work from Cubes Are Evil on Vimeo.

Politics and social media

The end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics.

Personal encounter with UFOs

This is a bit random post: the pics below were taken at 9:55 am, @ Humbolthein park, 01.08.09 (Berlin)...there were 10 of shiny objects in the sky, moving pretty fast in a tight formation to the south, silently.
the photos were taken by a friend of mine who was next to me at the time of the event. as you can see the sky is very clear... and very bright from the sun... which made it quite difficult to make a sharp shot.
the whole event lasted about 2-3 min... until they vanished.




this is 500% zoom:

My interpretation of the dollar pyramid

Pimp up that Bible !

Just came across a rather curious brief on Mypitch.com from a client called Bible Illuminated. Basically it looks like a desperate attempt to make the old book more relevant to the modern culture - consumerism!
Strategy: To redesign it and pimp up with modern images.

Here's the winner of the pitch, who came up with an idea for a new Bible Illuminated audio book - iPod Cross:



It looks kind of interesting and weird but I don't think that design in itself is going to solve the problem or make any substantial difference. In fact, I believe it is a counter productive move to tie up the old spiritual teachings to something as flimsy and whimsical as modern pop culture. Strategically it is rather naive. It won't solve the problem and it won't make new "recruits" and it won't do any justice to Jesus teachings either!

I understand that the people behind this campaign want to make the Bible more relevant to modern life, but this approach is not the solution and seriously misses the zeitgeist (rapidly increasing disappointment with mainstream materialistic culture). So why on earth would you want to jump on this bandwagon that is heading towards the blind alley anyway?

What would be the solution? In my opinion, if you want to make Christianity more relevant to modern society, action would speak louder than words (or design gimmicks!) For example, focusing on solving world poverty, environmental problems, speaking loudly against politics of war, supporting those who fight against injustice (even if they belong to a different faith, like Palestinians!), etc.

This commands respect and attention and should be brought forth, not the tacky gimmicks.

Hot sauce made & marketed by prisoners

A couple of years back I had an idea that involved jailbirds marketing products for Esprit clothing brand. I remember that quite a few ad folks liked the idea (the claim) but weren't so sure about involving the prisoners in it. To them it seemed a cultural taboo not to be crossed! Fast forward to the present... and we see a different picture - the taboo is no longer a taboo! Check out this website www.jailhousefire.org where prisoners from Florida's Hillsborough County Jail are making and marketing their own hot sauce online:



There you can also see some print ads and a couple of tv ads for the product.
I am not sure if the ads were concepted by the prisoners as well - they have professional look, but are too conventional and bland in comparison to this brilliantly original product idea!

Idea: Gmail Send Later button

... just like the "post options" on this blog.

IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT JOB

Welcome to my vision of the future advertising agency. This is my video application for the perfect job.

Idea: Green grave stones anyone?

following one of my previous ideas on graveyard technology (tombstone slideshow), here's another proposal:

Idea: New 2012 scenario, perhaps?

Check out this trailer for a new 2012 movie. The only interesting thing about it, in my opinion, are special effects. As for the plot - it's a yawn. Hollywood execs use the same old strategy of scaretactics, physical destruction, lots of noise, explosions, etc. This might appeal to an average Joe, of course, but definitely is a misleading interpretation of the global event (21 dec. 2012)



Personally, I would be more interested to see a different interpretation of the event. For example:

Why not to explore a different scenario with the base idea that on December 21, 2012 all people of the earth suddenly become telepathic? What would be the consequences of this global phenomena? And would it change the world for better or worse? And how many of us would survive the sudden change?

I have spent a fair amount of time researching the subject of 2012 and to me it's more about the paradigm change in our human consciousness, and less about earthquakes, tsunamis or falling fireballs. Booo hisss!

Engagement vs Compliance

Below is a very interesting TED talk by Daniel Pink. In December Dan has a new book coming out called Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. This talk will make you (re-)think about work, management, and what motivates you — and those you work with — to excel.

iSnort mobile app

... a controversial iPhone app from PeterMagicJohnson:



1,720,962 views, 1,926 positive ratings (plus one from me ;)

Idea: Personal Data Art app

Here's another mobile app idea inspired by data artworks from http://www.visualcomplexity.com

Wouldn't it be cool to have mob application that turns all the statistical data in our cell phones into individual interactive art visualizations?

click to enlarge:

Sorry I ate your slippers!

featuring Molino (our house dog) on the guilt trip...

Idea: Personal Mobile Oracle app

This is a concept for a mobile phone app that helps undecided to make a decision.
It works as a psycho-digital oracle and provides four possible answers to any given question.

Idea: Inventing New Free

This idea was inspired by the latest book from Chris Anderson "FREE " where he writes about the future of a radical price:

Wouldn't it be cool if a brand offered us a free product from its rival?

i.e. Special promotion with underlying message:

We are so confident in superiority of our product X that we are willing to give you a free sample from our closest competitor for you to judge for your self.



idea can be applied to all sorts of snacks and sodas, tea and coffee brands and other premium products.

Tossers mirage

Charlie Brooker of BBC shares his view on aspirational TV.

Idea: Inspired ears

a quick project for Eyeka Philips contest. Using the existing slogan "Let your ears decide" was mandatory. (Music comes from my mate)

The taste of B.S. marketing

source: http://www.tappening.com/

Idea: AD-EXORCIST widget

an idea for a browser plugin to get rid of those annoying banners and popups while you surf the web

Great product, silly slogan (2)

awhile ago I made a post (Great product, silly slogan) where I criticized a slogan on a website and offered a more honest version ... and today I accidentally found out that the company responded and changed that slogan on their website. Grrreat!
(They didn't notify me about the change directly, but I guess they were worried that I would be asking money for that. Which is kinda silly too :)))

No magick in interruptive advertising

Here's my personal take on why classical interruption ads don't work any more as they used to.

Think of advertising as a dominant and controlling type of person in a social group. He exudes power, authority and influence upon this group... but only to a certain point! As soon as the group starts perceiving him on a conscious level, for example becoming aware of his manipulation tricks (body posture, eye contact, voice, etc.) - his credibility and influence on this group starts to wane rapidly.

The same is happening to the classical format of advertising. It's been around for too long for consumers to learn almost every trick of the trade. Look at the growing trend of online advertising contests where "amateurs" are imitating "professionals" and produce their own ads.
(AdHack, Poptent, Eyeka to name a few)

In other words, consumers became well conscious of the method and therefore immune to it.

Of course, there are still some ad-literate laggards left in the world, but they are no longer a dominant majority and their numbers are constantly dwindling.

To summarize: it is not enough to communicate a selling proposition and put a logo with a slogan in the end. It's too obvious for increasingly critical consumers. I believe that the future credibility of advertising will depend on two main factors:

1. more subtle formats (seeking innovative methods of product placement, for example)
2. integrity of the message ( lovertising / ethics)

here's a classic interruption ad for laggards:



and this one experience engaging for more enlightened ones : )

Benjamin Fulford's vision of the future

Armed also with a contagiously optimistic vision of the future, Benjamin is fully prepared to be the next Finance Minister for Japan. His plans for how he would spend Japan's $5 trillion of foreign reserves to eliminate global poverty are plausible and inspiring as practical steps, way beyond rhetoric, to repair the generations of damage done by a ruthless ruling elite. This is a man with a deep understanding of both East and West, a global economic historian who thinks way outside of the box, a lover of peace who is unafraid to speak warrior words.

In this comprehensive three part video, the first two parts focus on global financial history and Benjamin's most interesting personal story leading up to his approach by the Ninja. The third part contains the details of The Ultimatum itself.




And his interview with David Rockefeller:

A tribute to the cheesy 80's..

Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Video Version

The future of advertising

Prediction: Brand vs Customer video wars

Here's a case at hand: United vs United customers

"Carroll and his band, Sons of Maxwell, decided to write a song about the incident, called 'United Breaks Guitars' and posted the video on YouTube, which has been viewed nearly half a million times since July 6.

United caught wind of the video and apologised to the singer for the dispute, issuing a statement via Twitter, which read: "This has struck a chord [with] us and we've contacted him directly to make it right." source Revolution



After watching this one can only sympathize with the makers of the video.
I wouldn't be surprised to see in the near future more videos like this one coming from ordinary pissed off customers using digital media and expressing their grievances in an artistic way . For example: private videos that make fun of bad customer service in a restaurant, or unfair treatment of insurance company, or just about any product or service a consumer finds a fault with.

This video is a kind of celebrity endorsement for it.

Benefits:

For video makers - fame and recognition
For customers - improvement of the product (brands can't afford to ignore it)
For brands - improvement of the product (and customer relationships)

here's a link to my previous post about a pissed off customer burning his creditcard and making a public statement about it.

Best Job in the World

An open letter to my former boss Jean-Remy von Matt:

Idea: Daily Mirror Special Edition

Why not to have a special event when Daily Mirror online display goes literally mirror?
Imagine you go online to check out news and instead of a normal display you see a mirror image (click to enlarge):



those who have difficulty to read backwards can always click on "normal view" button.
the idea would work as a total surprise and generate a lot of buzz.
for the 1st of April addition, perhaps?

Comment: Great product, silly slogan

the link

why use meaningless and silly slogans for such a great experience that this french company is offering? Enjoying the stars (instead of conquering them) at least makes sense.

Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul In The Streets

a brilliant idea from BBH to let street musicians remix and play songs from Oasis's upcoming album. So simple, so viral.



I wonder why not to let each street artist their own live video streams on the internet? Each profile will have a google map with current location of the artist and a paypal donate button. See my previous idea for beggarcam.com as an example.

Desmond Dekker: feline rmx

one day i woke up in my hut to discover a wild cat mother and a kitten lying next to me.
the mother, probably fearing for the safety of her kitten (dogs, crows, etc), decided to move her family to my bungalow. they stayed for over a week until the kitten was big enough to climb down the staircase.

Spacecollective.org

This is a link definitely worth sharing: Spacecollective.org is a place where forward thinking terrestrials exchange ideas and information about the state of the world we create and inhabit. Inspiring and insightful. Here are a couple of the introductory videos from the site:

Idea: A Fight Tank (mobile emergency service)

Problem: How many times did you have an argument with someone and later really regretted that you didn't record it? It could be for reasons of personal record, entertainment value, educational value or even as a legal evidence.

Solution: Why not to set up a service that offers a special mobile room where customers can sort out their differences in an organized and fruitful manner?

A FightTank van, for example, that can be easily rented out when you need to have that serious talk with someone. Click on pic to enlarge:


All arguments are automatically recorded by installed inside cameras for further study or references. The service promotes a constructive argument and personal awareness.

(A set of disposable vases to smash around is available upon the request.)

Couples who seek an objective opinion may also choose to get their tapes analyzed by an independent specialist (i.e. as a free bonus for customer loyalty :)

Mobility of the service also let's the customers to choose appropriate settings for their disputes, for example, a countryside waterfall, a back street alley, a fairground car park, etc.

Happiness project

Wise men tell us: Unhappiness is caused by our excess of desires and worries over trifle things. Here's a simple idea to communicate it:



Also works on street waste/litter baskets, rubbish bins, etc.

The idea would work for a public health organization, a psychotherapist, spiritual website, etc.

Idea: McPorn

Anti fast food guerilla project idea: large stickers over McDonald's outdoor ads featuring naked obese models:

Idea: Interactive ad on Youtube

United by trivia.

i don't know, maybe it's just me.. but after spending some time out of the system you come back to civilization and look at things afresh... and you see rather psychotic stuff....here's what i mean:


Is the community really obsessed with such trivial bonding ...or is it some kind of conspiracy? )

A healthier option, perhaps:

Audition for a revolution

It's random, but I like it.


“Auditions for a Revolution“, 2006 by Irina Botea.

Idea: LeBay is the new eBay

Strategic reasoning: In the time of recession people tend to buy less and share more. So why not to design a new product that would let people auction their items only for temporary use?
It’s like leasing meets ebay. Let’s call it LeBay for example:




As part of marketing strategy to launch the site we invite special celebrity guests to rent out some of their personal items to general public. The money raised from their rented out belongings will go to a charity of their choice. i.e. Madonna rents out her old sofa to support hungry children in Africa, or Ronaldo rents out his car to support decriminalization of marijuana, whatever.

Idea: Treeman

Concept idea for Treehugger, perhaps?

Idea: Puma Reflex

I was jogging the other night... and nearly run over some dosy street cat. So I thought, why not to have a special night glowing sneaker and call it REFLEX? I know that light reflective sneakers aren't anything new, but what the heck, I wanna do my own design.

Here's what I would like to wear next time in a dark alley at night:



A banner (above) and the product itself (below)

Give a littel love (Indian rmx)

I shot this video where I stayed in the south of india: Pondicherry /Auroville

Idea: Car hire for kids

What if kids, just like adults, could also hire their toy cars instead of buying them?

Below is an example for a well known German car rental brand (Sixt) offering toy cars online.
Done in the same corporate identity style as their "adult" site:

Idea: Fridge with time lock

According to statistics we have now over 1 billion adults worldwide who are seriously overweight. Why not to sell fridges with a programmable time lock?



WeightWatchers and Phillips business venture perhaps?

Pass The Blame Rmx

using footage from Duplicity:

Pass The Blame Rmx from xgeronimo on Vimeo.

Concept Magick Cube

I designed this cube using a sigil magick. The cube is made from red marble and is meta-programed to receive and store energy from places with very strong ambience, i.e. football stadiums, train stations, worship places, etc. I have placed little "bugs" in a few places like that as special transmitters. They connect the cube with the energy source and channel the energy directly into the cube where it is purified and stored for further use. This cube has 3 energy sources:




a close up shot of the magick cube and the "bug" (sigilised pebble as transmitter):



below is a graphically designed map of the concept cube in 2D.
the sigils on each side of the cube are converted into mandalas with a special graphic symbol
to illustrate it's function:

Idea: How to fight video piracy.

Question: How would you deal with pirates selling illegal copies of your original product?

Answer: I would become a kind of pirate too! I would start chipping off a big chunk from their (pirates) profits by starting to sell my own “original fakes” and right on their own turf… aiming to take customers away from them. I would give people an option to buy cheaper versions of my original products (with worse quality, of course).
For example, lets take the famous Kaosan Road in Bangkok where backpackers for 150 baht can buy a copy of any latest movie or software program. It is a very strategically important spot, thousands of tourists roaming in hordes there 24/7! So I would open a small shop there with a big sign:
BUY ORIGINAL FAKE MOVIES HERE! LEGALLY!

And the street vendors selling “not original fakes” (not endorsed by the legal owner) can do nothing, for they have no legal leverage to complain.
The “original fakes” would cost half the established pirate price (i.e. 50 instead of 150 baht) and some popular items I would be giving out for free!

Here's an example:

Thus we'd gain:

1. 50 baht for each copy which otherwise would go to pirates (a million copies sold a year!).

2. economic weakening of illegal piracy marketiers.

3. make a lot of people happy

(Current market price for a fake copy movie is set to 3€ (150 baht) since a few years now. Competition will be forced to match their prices to be able to stay afloat. When this happens, we start offering ALL our products for free. This will eventually eliminate the pirate competition.)

p.s. why not to set up a special counter-piracy enterprise agency sponsored by all major movie studios? With outlets in all major tourist nests in South East Asia and India.

why not even sell a bulk of our legal fakes for pennies to local street vendors so that they would flood the fake market and undermine competitors?

Eventually fakes become almost worthless! Demand for originals will soar.

Idea: Soul-gazing as a dating event

They say, your eyes are the mirrors of your soul. Why not to have a dating service for soul gazers? Or rather a “speed dating“ style event where strangers sit in front of each other for a few minutes or so, silently looking into each other eyes and say nothing (perhaps making notes afterwards).

Soulgazingdates.com anyone?

Or why not to push this blind dating thing further and make it literary blind: blindfolded couples date each other by means of dancing and talking (no visual contact!). This method of dating might would be most appreciated by “touchy and feely” couples.

Idea: Money of the future

In the future we shall have different money currency from what we are having now.
And it won’t be Euro or Dollar or Gold or any other currency attached to a solid object. I believe that the future money currency will be ENERGY. Why? Because everything is energy. And energy is everything. Our future “money” will resemble a system of energy circulation in nature with the same principle applied to our society.

Our future money won’t have a fixed physical property, like coins or banknotes. It will be pure energy, perhaps digitally encoded and divided into special currency units and it could be called something like Energy Currency Unit (ECU), or Chi, or else.



This energy based currency has a big advantage over "normal" money. Money has to be constantly reprinted to control it’s value. Energy, on the other hand, we cannot artificially create nor can we physically destroy it. We can only manage it or transform from one state to another, i.e. kinetic energy into physical energy, etc. Money is abstract and relative. Energy is concrete and permanent. So, a money system that is based on energy principle is a naturally sustainable system (which goes well with the growing in popularity idea of resource economy!).

Another major difference of ECU-Chi currency over Euro, Dollar, etc is that it opens up totally new ways how to earn and manage your energy-money.

Here’s an example: Say you are broke and need some money. With present money system you are obviously not allowed to print some for yourself but have to do some specialized work in order to be paid. In the future you can “make” your own ECUs using your natural resources. Or in other words you can convert one type of energy into ECU-Chi using special “energy converters” (a special technology that would allow us to recycle all sorts of energy and store it). For instance, personal e-converters would be able to transform ordinary physical energy into a specially encoded kinetic type sort of energy to be stored there in ECU-Chi format. When it is full you can transfer your “money” into you bank account or charge up your shopping paycard.
So, if you are stuck with no money you can always have an option to top up you account by converting your own physical energy into "money". Say, a few hours of dancing would produce energy worth approximately 1 ECU-Chi. If you are fit you can make quite a bit of “pocket money”. When everybody can “sweat out” instant money at will, it would make the current concept of unemployment not quite the same. Moreover – there will be less fat people!

Of course we already have examples of this technology trend – night clubs with energy storing floors, gym machines to charge batteries, etc. All this technology eventually will go personal (like computers and cell phones). When this happens, we can expect a radical shift from traditional money value system towards more sustainable and liberating future.

Here are some positive things to expect out of it:

There will be less crime!
There won’t be starving people!
And there won’t be any more credit crunches either!

Idea: A solution to Indian garbage problem.

There are two main problems in India: Poverty and street garbage. Here's a suggestion how one might tackle them:

The Indian government should involve street roaming beggars to help clean the country.



Why not to organize this army of free roaming shudras and pay them few rupees for collecting empty plastic bottles, bags and all sorts of discarded wrappings? It would be much cheaper than hiring special cleaning services and help millions of shudras (untouchables) to earn a small regular income. Say 1 kilo of rubbish for 10 rupees. (So that the next time a beggar approaches me with a stretched out hand, I could point to that rubbish he’s treading on!)

Here’s another point why street begging should be dealt with: begging is a profession in India and is controlled by slum mafia. Often young children are being deliberately mutilated to set them up "professionally".
I was often told by my Indian friends not to encourage this horrible industry by just handing out them money, but rather buy them some food. (Many of them refuse food and demand only money!)