We hold these jeans to be still relevant...

Just in time for the fourth of July, Levi's introduces the brilliant Go Forth campaign, tapping into the youth of America's timeless pursuit of life, liberty, and reasonably priced denim.

The website encourages visitors to write their own declaration of independence, share their stories and photos of a "new" America and even listen to a recording of Walt Whitman reading his 1888 poem, America. The poignant headlines work on many levels - reflecting the current state of these recessionary times while heralding the emergence of an optimistic spirit and even invoking nostalgia for a time that the target audience never actually experienced. All in all, a job very well done. But will it make kids care about good old 501's again? I sure hope so. 

The Real Transformers

Let's set the whole matter of legality aside for a minute. We can learn a valuable lesson from North Carolina University student Joe Carnevale, the infamous "Highway Monster Artist" who created this sculpture (and now faces criminal charges for it). We are all - companies, agencies and individuals - looking for new ways make an impression. To attract attention. To get people to stop what they're doing and give us a few precious seconds of their time. Most are looking to the neverending stream of new technologies to get the job done, and certainly, that must be part of the strategy. But could we be overlooking some very powerful tools simply because they don't look like tools? No one's talking about them. There's no buzz surrounding them. That's not what they're there for. But as Joe Carnevale proves, the world is full of opportunites to transform ordinary things into extraordinary attention grabbers. It just takes courage, creativity and the willingess to do something unexpected.  

Thinking About Twitter

Is Twitter the daily multi-vitamin of marketing-savvy business leaders? Or the crack cocaine of easily distracted so-called multi-taskers?

Holy #####!

Speaking of new iPhones, here's a great little campaign that could just score you one. For those of you still wondering if there are any smart, powerful and transparent ways to use Twitter to drive business awareness, here's your answer. Bravo, Squarespace.

Apple puts iPhones on sale, but at what price?

Forget the 3GS's speed and video capabilities. The real news out of Apple this week was that they were cutting the price of the 3G model to $99.  I get it. We're in the middle of a recession. The market's flooded with cheaper alternatives and a lower price point will lure in buyers who would have settled for one of them. Sprint's about to launch what many have declared to be the iPhone's first real competition. In this climate, the decision does make sense. But in the long run, does Apple stand to lose more than they gain?

The announcement stunned so many people because it doesn't seem like an Apple move. Other companies may hold fire sales to jettison old inventory, but not Apple. They may release a vastly compromised version of something and sell that on the cheap (yeah, I'm looking at you iPod shuffle), but to take the old gold standard and simply throw it in the bargain bin? Not Apple. So why is the company that trained us all to think different suddenly acting like everyone else?

I will admit, the stubborn refusal to drop their prices used to annoy me. I've owned 3 iPods, each twice the capacity as the one before it, and I paid $299 for all of them. When the 80G came out, I remember wondering, what happened to all the 60Gs? They don't go on sale, they don't go to Overstock, they just seem to vanish, replaced by something twice as nice at the same exact price.

But in the end, the decision was never about price. It was about value. And I'm not talking bytes for your buck. I'm talking brain value. Heart value. Apple appealed to best-hunters, not bargain hunters. People who believed these products were so special, so different, so much better than everything else out there, that they were worth the extra money. True or not, Apple successfully burnt this impression in the minds of millions. In fact, pre-price cut (and pre-Pre) they were shattering their own records with international iPhone sales, recession be damned.

Will a $99 price tag lure in new buyers at the expense of a loyal base who's been willing to pay any price all along? Will all those Apple-philes, who have been trained to never wait for the sale, hold off on the 4G in hopes the the 4GX will bring about a big discount?  Worse yet, will more mass-market friendly pricing  eventually cheapen Apple's cachet overall?

The agency is thy shepherd.

Now that Current TV is inviting viewers to create commercials (VCAMS) for big name brand partners, Ad Week has called for traditional agencies to rethink their role: “from serving as creative drivers to brokers and brand shepherds.” In a sense, this is what we do already. Agencies don’t simply churn out creative in a vacuum. We work in partnership with the client to develop campaigns that define, promote and protect the brand. What’s changed is the number of different platforms on which to execute these campaigns.

With sophisticated creative and production tools now readily available to anyone who wants it, agencies aren’t the only ones putting material out there anymore. We’re not even the only ones putting out good material. The winning VCAMS look 100% professional and polished—and they cost peanuts compared to typical agency fees.

So, agencies can feel threatened by the loss of control or get excited by the opportunities it presents.

This creative explosion is less about Joe Public usurping the role of professional agencies and more about, as the folks at Digg put it,  “teaching brands to borrow from the grammar of the experience.” (Case in point: Digg's new advertising model will allow viewers to Digg up ads, thus controlling impressions and CPC the same way they determine news readership.)

On a network built around viewer generated content like Current TV, why wouldn't advertisers  communicate via viewer generated commercials? But whatever “grammar” you’re using, everyone must still speak the language of the brand. And that’s where an agency comes in. Someone still needs to write the language. But instead of doing all the talking ourselves we have to find ways to teach the language to others. And get them excited about speaking it. And in the end, be open to all of their translations.

Of course, the other alternative is to invent the platform. That way, you're guaranteed control of the creative that lives on it. At least until it catches on. 

Big Cheetos and Mini Coopers

When it comes to powerful packaging and perspective, Medium is mediocre. Why do we respond to the micro and the macro? Are we naturally drawn to these things because of the feelings they evoke? Are we wired to prefer one over the other? What do you think?

Lots of small talk:
- Altoids minis
- Mini Coopers
- IPOD nano
- A patch of grass
- Big "small" predictions from the past

Big mouth strikes again:
- Giant cheetos
- Big gulp
- Super-size fries
- The solar system
- Elephants
- The comically large

I love those milky minutes.

Our current economy has led to creative frugality. Yawn. I know we are living in a state of recession but do we need to be subjected to coma-inducing advertising? If there ever was a time to inject joy into our collective consciousness, it is now. That’s why I love the AT&T “milky minutes” commercials. I currently use AT&T, but didn’t choose them based on their advertising. I just admire how they brought a boring subject (telephone minutes) to life in a fun way. The dialogue works. The concept works. I can relate to it. It makes me smile. Will I continue to use AT&T because of those milky minutes? Maybe, maybe not. But, I am more familiar with the term “rollover” in relation to minutes. Good commercial. Now, if only I had an Oreo.

Green Reading

Just in time to celebrate Earth Day, we found out that our winter book The Reds, The Greens and the Sweetest Honey Anyone Had Ever Tasted scored an honorable mention in the Green Book Festival, an annual competition honoring books that contribute to greater understanding, respect and positive action on the changing worldwide environment.

The Reds, The Greens... is just one of our winter storybooks, an annual collaboration with Lure Design, Drive New Media and Doug Scaletta Photography. All these limited-edition winter storybooks will soon be available for sale at Urban Think! in Orlando. Stay tuned for details...in the meantime, check out the companion website, Visitmasonville.com.

Social Media Mania

Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, Blogging. Clients often ask what role social media should play in their marketing programs. Some ask the question with skepticism and doubt. Others with the anticipation that this is the magic bullet they’ve been looking for. Both are wrong. Social media is as important to a business’ marketing plan as any other media might be. That is to say, if it reaches the right audience, if it allows you to communicate a message in a clear and engaging way, if it fits with your brand and mission, then…what are you waiting for?

But be aware, unlike more traditional media, there are some new concerns with this new media:

1. You can’t necessarily market in the social media space the same way you do in traditional advertising. As a marketer, you probably see opportunity. Here are groups of self-defined, like-minded people. Communities with similar interests all congregating in one space. Smells like prime real estate for focused, targeted marketing, right? Think again. Social media mavens are savvy and outspoken. They see these as community-building tools. Opportunities to connect with folks who share their interests. These are social applications, not commercial. Breech their trust and you won’t be forgiven easily. Be inauthentic and you will be excommunicated quickly.
2. If you think that it’s free to join these social media communities, that this is free advertising, think again. Marketing in the social media realm is more similar to a public relations program than a paid advertising campaign, and likewise, it would benefit you tremendously to use professional marketers to help you navigate the media, explore the opportunities and craft an appropriate strategy. Then, it’s up to you or someone in your organization to continue to make the investment in posting, tweeting, blogging or responding. Go dormant and your audience will go away…with a bad impression of you and your organization. So don’t jump on the social media bandwagon just because you think it’s a cheap way to advertise. Jump on because it’s right for you and you’re willing to make the appropriate investment of time and budget.
3. One thing that I caution everyone about is that in the social media world, there is a fine line between the professional and the personal. And often, I believe there is no line at all. With the accessibility of information on the Internet in general, it is getting harder and harder to market your company without prospective clients or customers getting to know an awful lot about you personally. In the social media space, this is even more of an issue. If you twitter everyday and your goal is to promote your professionalism and credibility as a businessperson, keep your tweats from venturing into the personal. If you’re going to have a presence on Facebook, it will be hard to separate your professional from your personal, hard not to intermingle the two. The bottom line is that if you’re into social media, people want to hear from you as a person, not your company or organization, so there has to be personalization, but know where to draw the line and be careful not to step over it.

Here’s what I do think social media is great for:

-       Letting people hear your unique voice

-       Opening the lines of communication so you can hear directly from your customers, clients and constituents

-       Showcasing your point-of-view and your in-depth knowledge of your industry

-       Allowing people to get to know you before they work with you

-       Generating name awareness and broadening your referral network

-       Demonstrating your willingness to share your “gifts,” your knowledge and insight for the benefit of anyone willing to tune in

-       Showing that you and your organization are in tune with how people communicate and congregate these days. That reflects positively on your progressiveness as an organization

-       Getting in front of prospective employees

So, what are the next steps? Start playing. Check out all the different social media opportunities. See what your colleagues and competitors are doing, talk to professionals. (Diane is a great person to call!) And then, like with any marketing effort, formulate a plan and follow through. Also, remember, in most cases social media doesn’t replace other marketing vehicles it supplements them. Just be sure to maintain a connection and continuity within your plan and between the various media, and you’ll surely find what you’re looking for.