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Here's a brutally simple idea.  Take something that is usually fast and frenetic. Then slow it way down to reveal its every detail.

Artist David Michalek has a traveling installation that does just that.  He takes hyper slow motion HD videos of the world's best dancers then projects them larger than life. Here's a sample, though the real videos are much slower.  They take an original 5 seconds of live action and extend it to 10 minutes.

Apple profiled the artist and gets into the technical end of the production.  More to learn is at the official Slow Dancing Films website.

This is how it should feel

Here are some nice examples of where Westin is taking its new Personal Renewal positioning.  For all the strategies out there that attempt to deliver a transporting experience this actually does a decent job. 

The wrapping stuff can really get out of hand if it's misused but in this case I think it actually works pretty well behind the 'This is How it Should Feel' line. 

APG around the corner

As we near the APG next week AdAge just written the expected soul searching piece.  (At least it doesn't include some part of the phrase "The Death of... as we know it.")

And AdWeek writes about the increasingly Crowded Space for Strategic Thinkers which raises the question of strategy ownership.  A few things to knock around the noggin heading into San Diego on Monday.

I'm not really going to go into much on these articles except to say they do get the wheels turning, and as planners there's a sense that we have to consider things like:

- The role of media / context planning with account planning
- A planner's role to lead with simple and single minded thinking in an age where brands behave in increasingly dynamic and complex ways
- User generated content and control over marketing
- The tension between needing to learn first then act deliberately, versus act / learn / repeat
- How the planner armed with a brief or something like it can shape brand behavior rather than simply brand communication
- The increasing role of retail and shopping as an experience and the rise of retail brands over product brands

Am I missing anything?

Not sure how much I will be posting over the course of the conference but it looks like WARC teamed up with AAAA to host some sort of a planning blog here.

And if you happen to be really into writing about conferences as you attend them help is out there from the guy who studiously blogs the legendary TED Conference.

Thanks to TDE

We're on for tomorrow morning.  Hope to see you there.

Link: The Denver Egotist: You Should Know About Coffee Mornings.

How do you say 'insight' in Chinese?

It's official.  Integer (my professional home) has gone global.

American Apparel: Canary in a virtual coal mine?

A few days ago I noticed a small sign posted in the window of the American Apparel next door to where I work and live in Belmar.  It said the store was closing and to go visit their other location downtown.  Next to it was a large sign announcing the impending arrival of its replacement, C.J. Banks. Take a look at their fashions and you can see why I was a little depressed.  It's like the cool kid was kicked off the block and told to go do his 'urban thing' somewhere else. 

The truth is I can't say I did my part to keep AA here.  I never bought a single thing.  The one shirt I did buy I took back because it fell apart.  And I always found their look to be basic yet bland. But that's just me.  The place stood for something in a sea of, well, C.J. Banks and the like (with Composition being the other exception). 

Then I discovered this press release by AA announcing the close of their store in Second Life.  I wonder if it's a signal of something bigger going on in SL.  I wouldn't be surprised.  With all the toe-dipping getting old, it seems most dabblers have run the course of curiosity and there's little else to engage with. 

And what of American Apparel's first life stores?  The AA corporate site is bullish; their last press release is about securing financing and expanding retail locations.  Perhaps Belmar and Second Life are just not hip enough to support the almighty Dov.