whizdumb

Radio redux

Since bagging on radio a week ago I heard from Craig with some suggestions on where to find great radio ads. These are from the Radio Advertising Bureau's 2005 Hall of Fame. Naturally the best examples come from the UK. It's interesting to see how different the UK's RAB is from the US version in its resources and tone. My guess is the hit rate for entertaining British radio spots like this one is higher (not sure how much it adds to the brand but it's fun).

iPod compatible gloves

Just when you thought iPod accessories had run their course, low tech meets high tech in these gloves designed to put technology at your, well, glovetips. Special patches in the thumbs and first fingers are engineered to allow easy use of a clickwheel. What a simple and wonderful tweak on an old standard. From REI.

The 17,600 seat screening room

That's a crappy photo from my phone at the Dixie Chicks show last night.  The Pepsi Center was about 2/3 full which was a respectable showing, especially from all the controversy and cancellations around their recent tour.  I'm not necessarily a fan of the band but a friend got us tickets and I was pretty impressed by the sheer tonnage of string instruments they cycled through (at one point there were seven guitars on stage) and their musicianship.  More than just a few pretty country girls.  They jammed on banjos, mandolins, slide guitars, etc.  Also, after Pete Yorn (the opening act) they screened a preview for their new film as well as a long spot for (RED).

I usually hate any form of captive media but in a stadium it's different.  You can get up and walk away if you like to, and you're in a mindset to be entertained.  At any rate, it seems a relevant point of connection with consumers to have in-venue long-form video - as long as it is entertaining and relevant to the music act at hand.  Bono is certainly on to something. 

Cool Hunting podcast

The folks at Cool Hunting put together a nice digest of art and culture from around the world.  Each week or so they post a snappy video, usually after attending an art show or design expo or the like.  It's a great source of inspiration and creative perspective, and subscribing to the podcast puts it all in one place.

The scented brief

Studio 360 did an interview with Chandler Burr, the New York Times' first ever perfume critic.  He recently wrote a book called The Emperor of Scent.  In it he recounts how physicist Luca Turin demystified the sense of smell.  The guy was renowned for his combined prowess in both scent and the written word.  He could go into great - and accurate - detail on the origins of a scent, and could wax poetic on its inspiration. 

Chandler Burr recounted one story where Luca Turn visited a perfume manufacturer in France.  He made friends with the perfumers, the genius scent architects for the perfume houses.  They trusted him.  Enough so that they shared with him their internal brief for the perfume, the coveted document that led to the famous scent.   But they wanted him to describe the scent first. 

He took one whiff, thought about it and said it made him picture Thai silk scarves, whose colors shift and shimmer in a changing light. 

The perfumer almost fell over in disbelief.  She took out the brief and read it to him.  It instructed her fellow perfume scientists to create a scent that would shift in identities, like a fine Thai silk scarf shifts in different light.

What a nose. What a mind.  And what a wonderful way to think of a brief.  Imagine how you would write a brief if it were meant for a scent instead of, say, a print ad or event.  The visual sense is so dominant in our work sometimes I think we almost forget about the others.  Not just in our execution but in how we get there. 

Brilliant nonsense

Heard two stories today that made me smile. The first was about cities that have streets with no sidewalks, speed limits or traffic lights. And no accidents. Seems ridiculous at first but it makes sense. It's human nature to relax when playing within the rules. You go the speed limit, stay within the lines and kinda tune out. But take away the structure and *snap* you have to create your own rules. Rely on your perception and judgment, not that of others'. At least that's how it seems to have worked. Wired wrote about this a couple years ago too.

The second was about blind soccer players duking it out in the 4th annual IBSA Five-A-Side Football Championship this weekend in Buenos Aires. Blind soccer?! I'm not exactly sure how they do it but I know the ball has pieces of metal inside it so they can hear it, and the goalies can see. There's a video that explains it but I haven't watched it yet.

Two little reminders that disruptive ideas are everywhere.

Radio ads suck

Why is it that radio is such a difficult medium for creativity in advertising?  It's a fantastic medium for storytelling and sharing ideas.  But when it comes to ads, suck city!  Maybe it's that it's so hard to disguise authenticity by hearing someone's voice.  It comes off as a sham no matter how honest the advertiser is.  And there is such a culture of overwriting and overacting in radio.  I'm on the lookout for a decent radio spot.  Send one over if you hear it.

White as Milk

According to coloribus this is from AMA Leo Burnett in Egypt.  It's strange... is it a gurerilla execution?  A print ad (if so, what the hell is up with the production value)?  It seems spec or a guerilla one-off.  What is admirable about it is its simplicity and complete lack of gaudy claims. 

McSubtle

Deep ads from McDonald's via TBWA/Frederick, Chile.  The things that agencies abroad get away with amazes me.  Not so much for what is says about them, but what it says about us.

Self flushing toilets must die

I love technology.  It enables me to do things and connect with people in ways I never could have before.  But sometimes tech is applied to things that amaze me in their uselessness.  Self flushing toilets are up there on the list  (so are automatic paper towel dispensers and automatic car door locking features.  But I have little problem with auto flushing urinals, they actually work well for the need).  Not only can I flush the toilet all by myself without hassle, but it flushes at least twice as many times as is necessary.  It's those 'misfires' that really incense me.  Especially the waste of water.  And it's just plain annoying to have a toilet flush prematurely when you're, um, getting settled.  It's a simple user interface and convenience thing.  Those few seconds waiting for the sink faucet to start on its own, or the moment to wait for the paper towel machine to dispense more when it pleases; all these things disturb the natural flow of routine.  That's bad design.

That's a picture of Google's new server farm in Dalles, Oregon.  The main reason they built it was cheap electricity but another was that having it that much closer to west coast user's computers would mean a fraction of a second less waiting time for search results.  Electricity travels at the speed of light and moving it across a few states saved those precious milliseconds. 

The insight there is that people care about their time.  They care about waiting, even if its just a fraction of a second.  Now toilets and paper towel machines are very different from search engines, but time is time.  What sucks is when you have to go, you're a captive audience. You can't click over to a faster bathroom.  At least not yet.