Point taken...

This PSA campaign in Toronto definitely gets their point across! And in a simple way too. This one is pretty good too.

Tanning Lotion Ad

As a red haired, blue eyed, freckled individual, I don't really get the whole tanning thing, but I do think this magazine ad is really neat. It reminds me a little of a program for the Palm Pilot PDAs that would make the pixels all black, which due to the shiny finish of the screen caused it to function as a mirror. It was a great example of a use for something that was never intended.

Free is the New Paid

Nothing real earth shattering in this article, but it is recognition that companies are opening up to the idea of giving content away and supporting it with paid advertising. It also recognizes that there is a limit to what consumers will accept in this area. It's a beginning...

Old media not dying

Imagine that... old media isn't on its deathbed afterall. Like the printing of books, there are uses that make sense, and uses that don't anymore. Companies have a tendency to do something and optimize it to dig every penny out of it that they can, all the while paying no attention to our culture and trends. When things change, they are caught by surprise and react by trying to use the law to save their outdated business model. If they built the idea of change into their business process, they could adapt with the trends and always remain a viable business. Car manufacturers, music and movie companies, television and radio stations, it's happening across major segments of our economy, but also the most entrenched segments. Ever so slowly, they will come around to the idea, or maybe they will simply go out of business. Either way, the line from Jekyll & Hyde applies, "..the only thing constant, is change.."

Companies to work for

These are a few companies that sound like they would be really cool to work for, but due to their location relative to mine presently, it will have to remain a dream for at least a few years more.

Elephant Design
A bit of a consumer product idea incubator. People post ideas and ones that the community things are viable will be prototyped and if support grows to a level that makes manufacturing it worthwhile, they will do it. It's the reverse of the way most consumer products are developed these days.

Frog Design
Frog Design does work for big clients like Apple. They appear to do cover a range of project types and their process sounds very reasonable. I even found a job description that describes the role I would like, it was that of a person who oversees a web interactive project from beginning to end from the perspective of whether it's meeting the requirements, desired usability, etc. The person is also responsible for keeping up with new technology and evaluating it for possible use in future projects. A "big picture" person... I like that. That job was in Austin, which is the closest, but I'm not ready to move again right now. I like where I am living and there are lots of opportunities to explore. Further self development now will only make me better qualified for big jobs like these in the future.

Yahoo Brickhouse
In an effort to return to its start-up roots, Yahoo has created a separate site with a staff dedicated to exploring new ideas for the future of the Internet.

Google (magazine article)
What geek doesn't want to work for Google right now?

Why do we participate online?

In a capitalist society there is the assumption that people never do something for nothing. This is true, but the reward doesn't always need to be dollars, or even something tangible. In fact, studies have found that paying someone to do something often brings them less enjoyment than if they had done it for fun. Once payment is involved, it becomes a job, it's no longer about enjoying what you're doing. At least that's the psychological perspective... imagine if we could enjoy it and get paid? But the current reality is that many brand sites try to solicit user involvement by the promise of some reward, a chance to win a prize for example. But some of the most successful community involved sites offer no tangible reward for involvement.

Cool print ads

Some cool print ads found online. I'm not sure if they are real, or were used if they are, but some of them are quite good. I especially like the series with the car companies congratulating each other on their hyperspecific awards. And the series following that for the German job search site is awesome!

Consumer representation of brands

When searching for the 20 largest brands on Google, fully 26% of the results returned are consumer generated content including opinions, comparisons and experiences. These not only represent a significant portion of the information potential customers are likely to find, they offer a fantastic window into the heads of a brands users.

Consumers Willing to Disclose Information

I spoke a few posts ago about my desire for more relevant ads online. While the best targeting of online ads is currently done based on the context of your actions on a site, demographics are also highly useful either instead of or ideally in addition to the context. According to a survey of 1,100 people, 57% were willing to provide demographic information in exchange for a more personalized online experience. 34% said they would be willing to allow sites to track their clicks and purchases. (I hate to tell them, but it's too late on the latter point. Click tracking happens already, though not necessarily in a way that is linked to you personally.)

Online episodic fiction nothing new?

The first website to do episodic fiction like that of LonelyGirl15 actually started back in 1995! Not the leading edge concept that people thought. The only real difference today is that it's video-based.