The Future of Advertising 2

here's the first part, btw.

"People have arrived at a certain degree of development, they are more sensitive and have more spiritual force, and so their problems are more acute.."

The way I see it the future of advertising will be determined by the future products, which in turn will be determined by the the people's needs and moods... and we can clearly see a growing interest for products of more experiential nature. There will be a lesser demand for physical things (i.e. no more new pencil holders, pls!), but a higher demand for new experiences that would last much longer then a few seconds of a print ad or 45 sec. of a TV commercial. In fact future TV commercials will look more like movie trailers with product placement... offering consumers chances of participation in freshly created stories, scripted or unscripted, role playing or reality games, funny or unnerving contests, educational as well as entertaining programs, etc..

Last year I posted an idea for a car brand (or a car rental company) ... a road adventure reality show "Lost in a city"... where participants are transported (blindfolded!) and dropped in an unknown to them place (new country or city) with only a credit card, a map of the place and car keys ( brand of their choice). After a couple of days of exploring the place they would arrive to a special pickup place to be transported back to their original homes. Their road adventures would be recorded and published online. No selling propositions, no logos.... think of it as bmwfilms.com a few years back... but instead of actors real people. (NB: events could be scripted or not)

Anyway, today I came across this article "High end thrill-seekers pay to be kidnapped" from springwise.com that tells us about a new business startup Ultime Réalité that offers experience seekers a menu of realistic custom made high end experiences ranging from being woken up in a morgue surrounded by corpses to being hunted down by a serial maniac. What's also interesting is that the requests, according to Reuters primarily come from top-level executives seeking an extreme-sports alternative. Prices for basic kidnapping start from 900 €.

The way I see it, brands should embrace this new experiential medium and instead of crafting persuasive selling messages start offering persuasive (as well as relevant to the brand) life experiences.
For example, Fallon has launched a campaign to introduce the new name for Charmin toilet tissue, 'Cushelle'. TV spot shows a koala hugging a Cushelle pack of tissues. Experiential approach to current Cushelle campaign would be, for instance, to let the consumer to hug the koala and experience the softness ... instead of imagining it from the picture. If this is not appealing enough (as I suspect), lets drop the koala and create a more rewarding experience of family friendly softness - i.e. to offer real homeless people a chance to spend a soft-n-cozy luxurious weekend with a real hospitable family in their own home! (with Cushelle tissues in their private toilets of course!)

Idea: Creative agency of the future

here's a link that explains how the agency would charge their clients

link to other site

cocktail party shots

beer& shrimp cocktail:




barbie-pee & whiskey cocktail:



milk-whiskey & watermelon:

Chinese happy new year

fun in bed after bike accident

Idea: NATO condoms

Durex and NATO have one thing in common - it's all about protection!
To celebrate NATO's 60th Aniversary Durex produces special edition condoms:

Magick Arts

magician's circles of work:

1. eclectic chaos version



2. planetary forces, sigilised mandalas version



work in progress...

Idea: Temporary “friend list” swapping on Facebook.

Imagine you have an opportunity to find yourself surrounded by complete strangers and see how they interact, their interests… and maybe if you like someone you can invite them into your own circle of friends!

i.e. You have 150 friends. For 1 day your list can be swapped for 150 random strangers. If you have only 30 friends, you get 30 strangers.

This idea probably needs to be done with cooperation of Facebook, which is most likely because this project promotes more connectivity within the social network.

Idea: Buy a doll and sponsor the child

There are plenty of children in the 3rd world countries who would benefit from public support. The is also a trend of buying very realistic looking dolls… and they cost between 150 and 500 $!

Why not to make dolls that are exact copies of the real children in need and use it as a marketing tool to raise money for their support?
A project in cooperation with children support organization, perhaps?

For example:

Idea: Audio-Visual Lie Detector widget

This application can detect subtle changes in voice and speech delivery pattern.
Also it can track the eye and body movement of the speaker.
All the data is processed and shows a high probability result if the person is telling the truth or not.

Idea: Recycling old TV ads into game quiz

The idea is to recycle already existing classical (otherwise non-interactive) TV ads by adding to them a layer of interactivity.

How it works:

On a special website a viewer is offered to watch a random classic TV commercial and in the end he is presented with a set of random questions related to the just watched commercial. For example:

Idea: FB Fantasy Friends

Why not develop a widget that would allow to create personal fantasy friends list? Or people you really admire and wish to become friends with?

Here's my personal FFB list:

Idea: Hopscotch credit card number

The idea is to encourage adults to exercise by hopscotching for a bonus. All they have to do is to make 16 random hops on a specially designed hopscotch mat that works like a numeric keypad.
The person who hits the right digital number of the credit card gets a reward, i.e. a credit card loaded with free 500€ to spend.



click on the pic to enlarge:

Everything is OK

Danny and Charlie go out to St Paul's Cathedral, the London Stock Exchange, and the Bank of England spreading a universal message of peace and love.



Danny cheering up the miserable commuters on the Northern Line, London July 2009:

Idea: How to sell Swine Flu

This is in response to AdAge's post announcing that Government PSA Urges Americans to Get Swine-Flu Vaccine . Called "Together We Can All Fight the Flu," the campaign features seven 30-second TV commercials, three radio spots, online banner ads and outdoor ads that remind Americans of the importance of being vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus.

To be honest, it sucks. Not just creatively, but also strategically.

The campaign fails to solve the main problem - credibility issue. Everybody I know (including myself) believes that the whole swine flu propaganda is a political ploy which has been artificially hyped up to instill more fear in the populace. (Very similar to "war on terror" strategy.)




Here's a better idea how to sell swine flu:

Instead of showing sheeple bragging about being vaccinated why not show those unfortunate souls who already have been infected with the virus? I would like to hear them and not some actors on pay roll. Who are those victims that the government so desperately trying to make us believe are real and many?

According to the Centers for Disease control, 22 million Americans have been infected with swine flu, and nearly 4,000 have died from the H1N1 virus.

Better yet, the most convincing ad for me would the one that shows members of the government themselves taking the shots!

Idea: Climate Wars game

According to conspiracy theory H.A.A.R.P. (High Altitude Auroral Research Program) is developing weather manipulation technology capable creating earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis and other devastating natural phenomena that can be used as a secret military weapon. (Otherwise why the project is owned by US Military and is highly secretive?)

Why not design a strategy game that would popularize HAARP's science program as well as educate general public about the dangers involved should this technology be used as a weapon?

The game is a realistic simulation of earth environment that can be played online and allows to manipulate weather conditions of the planet thus creating floods, drafts, tornadoes and earthquakes. Apart from that players can apply mind control weapons by using real time sound waves to alter emotional states of their adversaries.
In the course of the game players would not only learn about the use of technology as a mighty weapon but also different survival strategies in dealing with consequences of various climate cataclysms, i.e. moving population to safe areas, building infrastructure, setting up rescue operations, etc.






General benefit of the game:

Making HAARP's technologies transparent (by introducing them to public awareness in an entertaining format) would make their military use in the real world more difficult. It would not only alert general public of the possibility and dangers of it's military use (and create more watchdogs groups) but also would stimulate development of its peaceful applications.

Idea: Famous brand to sponsor crop circles

As we move closer to 2012 more people get interested in exopolitics (study of political relations between humans and extraterrestrial civilizations) and crop circles phenomena.

According to International Crop Circles Archive (ICCA) appearances of crop circle formations worldwide are increasing and now capture imagination even of the "mainstreamers".

It would be a good idea for a big brand to sponsor a piece of land specifically designated for communication with extraterrestrial intelligence through crop circles medium.
By this I don't mean "shaving" a huge brand's logo on the crop field or anything like that. The project should not be a gimmick but rather an experiment with an objective of possibility to
establish a meaningful dialog with ETs.

From a marketing perspective the project would contribute to the brand's progressive image (open-minded, forward thinking, etc.)

i.e. below is an example for Apple brand (since they claim: Think different)



I can't imagine Microsoft doing it, but if it did, it would definitely help the brand to change it's rather uninspiring mainstream image into a more forward thinking and progressive... as well as winning hearts and minds of millions of crop circle enthusiasts worldwide.

Other potential sponsors who'd benefit from this idea: BMW or Mercedes, Google or Yahoo, Shell or alternative energy groups, etc.

Really hot cat!

+ 49°C in the shade, south india.

Idea: video highlights widget

Problem:

When friends send us video links, why do we have to waste time watching a whole video clip when only a few parts of the video maybe interesting?

Solution:

Why not develop a special widget that would allow us to select the best parts of the video and send our friends just these selected parts of the clip?

Below are some examples of potential sponsors:



the idea would also work for a juice brand:



... or newspaper with "no frills" approach:



translation of Bild newspaper slogan: Who has important things to say makes no long sentences. This applies to video as well.

Mind vs Heart

The following map shows limitation of human mind in perception of the ultimate reality.
Higher knowledge of reality is achieved through integration of all the senses, i.e. 5 senses of the mind (which interpret material plane) and the 6th sense of the heart (which transcends the material).

Mystic arts

My ongoing project: Sacred geometry (metatron's cube) meets chaos magick (sigils).
Each sigil (loaded glyph) represents a specific wish to be manifested. The intent is to produce one sigil a day over a period of 151 days (the number of circles in the structure).




151 circles, sigils are placed from the centre along the clockwise spiral (1-150) which is looped up with the last one (151th) right in the centre.

Symbolism: black - colour of akasa (black hole, plane of probabilities), golden circles - colour of material plane (earth), 151 = 7 (" PATER NOSTER " = 151, 7 = mystic number representing the center of the humanity's connection to its source, god, Christ consciousness - or whatever name you prefer.)

Liars hate silence

link

Idea: dirty mouth soap wash

A soap brand produces viral videos with famous "dirty talk" rappers being "mouth washed". Their original music videos would be re-edited and a 'clean' word would be audio superimposed on each bad word , i.e. "love" for "fuck", "lovely" for "fucking", "ladies" for "bitches", etc.

A graphic representation of soap foam could be also flashed in sync over the mouth. All 'nice' words could be spoken with a voice similar to Sam from Microsoft "text-to-speech" app.

The Magician

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...