Keeping up

How do you keep up with the latest in tech and gadgetry?

Some companies are starting to ask themselves that same question as the speed of product launches and the invention of whole new networks surpasses what we as individuals can keep up with and react to in time to create communications.  Therefore, some companies are hiring teams of incredibly smart people and opening centers (whole offices, a dedicated room, or a network of specialized roles) who are tasked with one, and only one, job – keeping up.  (Really, we hope that they’re able to help us predict what’s coming up next.)

For us, it’s the IPG Emerging Media Lab that, beyond the blog, keeps us up to date on the latest and creates special reports for our clients or projects we’re working on.

The Media Kitchen and the magazine Popular Science put the Test Kitchen together to accomplish the same goal:   Popular Science and Agency Create World of Tomorrow.

From the article:

“We’re hearing from clients that the cost of waiting has gone up,” said Lori Senecal, president and chief executive at Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal. “Today, ideas are truly great only if they’re conceived and deployed fast enough to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.”

It is an approach that Ms. Senecal likes to call “speed to genius,” even if, as she acknowledged, haste may sometimes make waste.

“It’s important to jump in and experiment,” she said. “It’s worth having a few misses in order to have a few big hits.”

As we become more comfortable with the rapid pace of new technology, we must also become more comfortable with a rapid pace of communications created to leverage opportunities in this space.

Not that we can’t also personally seek out the latest and greatest, but these tools help us to be as competitive as possible, and continuing to support and fund them will be an important part of our own success.

2010
07/12
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PSFK “Good Ideas for 2010”

Knape got all of us the PSFK book “Good Ideas for 2010” after I found a few of their slides online, and as I went through this book I found that there were some really good examples that I wanted to share and expand on.

Very plannery, the section I was really interested in is called “Guide.”  It is described as:  Point out to others the joy of the world around us.  Find, show, describe, illuminate. Kinda sounds like a planning job description, huh?

The two examples that I particularly liked as expressions of guidance:

  • Artist Brett Ian Balogh paints the invisible web of information around us by studying geospatial data provided by the FCC in his project A Noospheric Atlas Of The United States. brettbalogh.com
    • Beyond this example, Brett Balogh does a number of projects that relate information in different ways.  You can find his ongoing work on the website as well.
  • Transportation planners in Tigard in Oregon are mapping ‘neighborhood trails’ like cut throughs and desire trails that define community. prj.kittelson.com/tigardtrails

Both of these examples are similar in that they are showing us new ways of how people can or do perceive their surroundings.  Especially with the convergence of online versus offline lives, it’s interesting to see data applied to life and life applied to data.

We don’t often think about the invisible world of waves and signals even though it is such a big part of our daily lives – from cell phone signal and WiFi to satellite TV and GPS.  We connect to these things but they are almost magical in that they are not physical things we see.

Beyond being perhaps tactically applied to travel and tourism (there are some fun things we could do to tie in a walking tour or see things from a local perspective), something like the Tigard Trails may help us think about the way people want to access travel information.  These ideas only help us connect more deeply and authentically with people.

I think it’s worth looking into other ways and thinking about how people connect with their surroundings.

2010
07/08
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“Book-worthy” work

Something I’ve been thinking about recently…

Creatives often talk about their work in terms of what is “book-worthy” or not – what they will put in their portfolio versus work that needs to get done for the task at hand but may not be the quality of product they would put on display.

Now say anything you want about if this is the way work should be considered, while remembering that this is the personal side of their work, but it is the reality and it brings up a good point to me:  our strategy work should always be “book-worthy.”  I’m not even talking about the fact that many planners now do have books of some sort, but about the quality of our work.

I think it’s an interesting thing to keep in mind when creating strategic work.  Would you use it as a case study?  Would you present it to potential clients and other internal audiences (perhaps for certain bragging rights)?  Would it be a good example for students or fodder for a white paper?

Let’s keep our work “book-worthy.”

2010
07/08
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Japanese “mumble” on Twitter

Twitter a hit in Japan where millions “mumble” online

Give an internet phenomenon to truly digital-savvy consumers and see it explode!  The Japanese have been introduced to Twitter and now a higher percentage of Japanese people are on it versus Americans.

Why is it such a success?  Because internet-enabled cell phones are the norm in Japan and Twitter is best in real-time, on the go.  In contrast, Facebook has not fared so well in the country.

From the article:

“So far, people are flocking to Twitter in positive ways, reaching out in direct, public and interactive communication, debunking the stereotype of Japanese as shy and insular, says Noriyuki Ikeda, chief executive of Tribal Media House, which consults on social media marketing.”

And mumbling?  That term came about as a way to describe “talking to yourself,” something very appealing to Japanese people.  And even the idea of Twitter is described as being like haiku and thus “so Japanese.”

It’s so interesting to look into cultural differences, especially the ways people use these interactive communication tools.  I think we can look at the Japanese market for what they will do with Twitter – that society is so tech-literate that they will think of things that no one else can.  They will be the new trendsetters on Twitter.

2010
06/18
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12-year-old plays Lady Gaga

Greyson Chance Singing Paparazzi

As of now, this (original) video has over 26 million views not counting all of the reposts, etc.

The story:  kid sings like a f’ing rockstar, posts a video of himself on YouTube, becomes an overnight success, is asked to come on to the Ellen show (twice), and who knows all that is going on with him now (record deal, the next Justin Bieber? etc.).

What can we learn from this video?  More and more, people are putting their own products out there for consumption on social networks and it’s paying off big time.  And really, he’s just that good – it’s inspiring to watch this kid.

There’s also something to be said about the power of Gaga here.  Her musicianship came before the outfits; before she started wearing solar systems (here and here) she was pretty normal.

All I have to say is I would gladly take Greyson over Bieber.

2010
06/17
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Everything you need to know about the iPhone 4

Everything you need to know about the iPhone 4

“Think Upgrade”

Sure, the new iPhone 4 is pretty cool, it’s an actual upgrade to the iPhone and I do want y’all to absorb all the techy goodness that you want – it is certainly presented in this article – but learning about the new iPhone is more than that.

For one, I think it’s a good idea for everyone to know about the “new” and “exciting” tech that everyone else is yelping over, even if it’s not your cup of tea.  I found an article that explains those nuts and bolts without being too techy and thus is for actual human consumption.

Second, as a company Apple has already crossed that line between the incredibly technologically advanced stuff and the stuff everybody wants.  It’s high tech that holds a top position in pop culture, and there’s a ton I think we can learn from that:  simple design, straightforward mission, consistency while still being “chameleonic” (great use of that word in the article, eh?), and always pushing boundaries.  Ha!  Case in point:

Hipsters and Yuppies

Finally, how cool is this phone?!  Check the video – it’ll get you pumped.

A final random thought – flip phones were the new and exciting thing, much better than those brick box phones, back in the day (ie – the phone I have now) and now it’s touch phones…but some of those are brick boxes again!  Personally, I’d like the best of both worlds with a touch screen on top and then it flips to reveal a full keyboard for texting, commenting, and emailing.

What’s your dream phone?

2010
06/17
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Welcome to the Front Burner!

As a department, we are constantly sharing ideas with one another.  And I don’t know about you, but I retain an idea for the day, maybe the week, before it is replaced with another email, article, or book.  It’s hard to retain all the information out there in just one brain.

The Front Burner removes the fear of losing those back burner ideas.  It’s a repository of all those cool and nerdy facts, figures and inspiration pieces we gather and share.  We can go back and reference the Front Burner for future presentation examples, white paper fodder, or any other inspirational needs.

Some ideas to get us started:

  • Try to post something at least twice a week.  Remind yourself to go out into the world and bring back ideas.  This can be from books, movies, trips to the museum, or a recent YouTube video.  Take pictures!
  • Since this is a reflection of our department, don’t just re-post, put some strategic thinking behind it and share it with the team.  Why are you posting it?  What are the psychological or sociological impacts?  How does the post affect our clients overall?  How could the inspiration be used to create better ideas?
  • Tag your posts to make it easy for you or others to reference things later.
  • Let your creative writing shine.  Just because we aren’t copywriters doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be flexing our creativity.
  • Send links to our co-workers and clients via Front Burner…this will get everyone used to the blog.

If you have any idea to improve our Front Burner experience, please leave a comment.

My best,

Knape

2010
06/15
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