Your Daily Dose of Drama

Madeline Bok

Europeans allow for a lot: dessert and coffee after lunch, 3-hour midday siestas, shoes through airport security, and commercial-less TV programming. Shows across the pond generally run from beginning to end without commercials, with a 7-minute break for advertising in between. As a result, TV spots aren’t the best way to reach European audiences because viewers often occupy themselves with something else between programs.

That’s why TNT’s latest European advertising tactic, “Your Daily Dose Of Drama”, was so impressive. In the middle of a quiet square in Belgium, a red button was placed next to a sign inviting passerby to “push to add drama.” When it was activated, an array of dramatic events unfolded in the square, including a mishandled cadaver, a shirtless fight, and a scantily-clad woman on a motorcycle. TNT found a way to take the commercial out of the television. The drama went viral and was named Creativity Pick of the Day by AdAge. The innovative idea attracted attention across Europe and added a dose of drama to the calmest of siestas.

The Other Side of the Pond

Nick Woods

To use one of the lamest catch phrases in existence, “I work to feed my family, but I play to feed my soul.” Typing that sentence out makes me groan, but it’s pretty true – Social media is what puts food on my own table, but if Napster had never existed, I like to fantasize that I’d be making my living playing guitar. About a year back, the band I play in was offered the opportunity to tour mainland Europe and the UK – And the people I work with were kind enough to let me indulge that fantasy. Over the next three weeks, things here are going to be a bit different, and you’ll get to hear from some other people with different ideas and perspectives than my own. I’ll be sure to check in on Monday, just to assure you I’m getting over the jet lag. And if you feel like following along, Instagram is a great way – I’m at @getpumped. Talk to you all soon!

Prometheus

Nick Woods

It’s old hat to say consumers are bombarded by ads every day, and that it’s a real challenge to stand out amongst the clutter. In 2012, more than ever, an ad sticks with a customer because he or she wants to see it. You can trick someone into looking sometimes, but how well does that really stick? Furthermore, what’s the chance of someone who’s been tricked telling someone else they were fooled? That is, unless the trick is a particularly good one.

Hollywood’s certainly remembered that lesson to lately – Sometimes you don’t even realize you’ve seen a trailer until someone else points it out. Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s new Alien movie (no matter what he says), is the most developed case study. An awesome trailer was just the start – Until you did a bit of research, you probably wouldn’t know that the fictional TED Talk you just watched featured a character from the film. Or that the fake ad on YouTube was for the purchase of your own “David” – Prometheus‘s android character. They’re ads that people waiting for the film want to watch. And they’re ads that delight those who don’t when they discover the big reveal.

5 Things better than 2 Pac’s Hologram

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

Everyone’s talking about 2-Pac’s hologram appearance at Coachella. And while I’d bet it was a bit more impressive live, like I’ve read, the fact remains 2-Pac is DEAD. Also, while it was a cool collective moment to reflect on his contribution to music and wonder “what if” taking this act on tour wouldn’t be THE REAL THING and to me wouldn’t mean as much to witness. Here are five things that are better:

1. Advanced hologram technology in Japan that lets completely fabricated artists sell out arenas.
2. Photoshop is a pretty complex and handy tool. This guy decided to throw a Holiday Party and “invite” all of his celebrity friends.
3. Alejandro Chaskielberg has taken some absolutely gorgeous images of a community in the Turkana region of northwest Kenya at night.
4. A great web based studio lightning simulator to help save you some time.
5. World-class synths in your pocket.

The Second Screen

Nick Woods

Think back a few years, and try to remember how exciting digital cable was when it first rolled out. At the time, providers were explaining the endless possibilities that the new technology could enable – The ability to stream more data to your TV meant content previously only available on formats like DVD could now be paired up with live content. More options meant a more customized viewing experience. But flash forward to 2012, and little, if any, of that promise has been fulfilled. Social media and mobile technology have taken care of it instead.

CNN’s Julianne Pepitone wrote yesterday that 68 percent of tablet users say they’re using their devices “several times a week” while watching TV. That means the demand for integrated, extended content on television falls more and more every year, as long as Americans have an iPhone, iPad or Android at their fingertips. As Pepitone says, “slapping a Twitter hashtag on a commercial or hawking a Facebook page in the corner of the screen during a TV show, is becoming passé.” When it comes to advertising, it’s a trend that might mean shifting our focus from the content broadcast on the big screen, to the community enabled by the small one.

The Best of April Fool’s Day

Nick Woods

I don’t mean to take something like The Kodak Live Kitten Printer too seriously, but who says a brand can’t have a sense of humor? It was April Fool’s Day yesterday, an occasion that proves the strongest brands are often the best at letting their hair down from time to time, to show the world they’re not totally devoid of humanity. Some of this year’s best:

• The Criterion Collection‘s Kindergarten Cop reissue
• Hornitos‘s, ahem, “suggestive” new line of fragrances
• Warby Barker‘s new line of glasses for dogs
• WestJet‘s child-free cabins

Mobcaster

Nick Woods

In 2011, 75 pilot episodes were written for television at a cost of over $145 million. Of that number, just 45 made it past initial development, and only 25 saw actual airtime. It gets even weirder when you consider how many of those shows have already been canceled. It’s a problem creative executives have battled for years – Producing one hit program often requires investment in dozens of others that go nowhere. How do you pick the best idea?

Mobcaster, a new digital crowdsourcing tool taking cues from services like Tugg, is hoping to help. The site lets writers and producers pitch their concepts to an online audience, who offer up donations to put a show into production before it’s posted online. It’s an especially interesting idea because it reverses the trajectory that canceled programs in 2012 often take: An unsuccessful run on traditional TV, followed by a second life online (Arrested Development) or on DVD (Family Guy). Are we seeing the beginning of a new model? Is the Web the new proving ground for broadcast? With so many great ideas floating around, it only makes sense.

Animated GIFs: The Birth of a Medium

Nick Woods

Following YouTube’s move toward more traditional programming, PBS posted a short, 7-minute documentary on the site yesterday called Animated GIFs: The Birth of a Medium. It’s a great, succinct examination of an art form enabled by old Web technology, but proliferated because of new media. And while the subject matter itself is interesting enough – check out Cinemagraphs.com when you get a second – on a deeper level, the fact that a video piece like this was designed exclusively for online consumption is itself a wink to how the world consumes content in 2012. (#meta.)

YouTube going traditional?

Nick Woods

At All Things Digital’s “Dive Into Media” conference in February, YouTube CEO Salar Kamangar talked about turning YouTube into a channel just like regular TV. As he explains it, content is worth more when it’s delivered more efficiently – For example, a “dog on a skateboard video” can command $2 per thousand impressions when it’s simply floating around on YouTube.com. But when it’s packaged as part of a dog lover’s channel, or a skateboarder’s channel, that same video is worth nearly 10 times the price. The trouble, of course, is finding those who are interested – And for that, Kamangar needs to rely on content that’s already available, with a known audience.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that strategy, that YouTube added over 70 videos from the Disney Channel to the site today. Disney, of course, knows exactly who watches its content. Which means it’s a lot easier to efficiently package advertising along with it. So don’t be surprised if kid-friendly suggestions from unknown sources start popping up in the right-hand column next to your Dora The Explorer stream. It’s gonna start happening a lot more.

Super Fighter Team

Nick Woods

A couple days ago, a few blogs started talking about a new video game to be released in 2013 called Nightmare Busters. It’s a relatively standard run-and-gun game, like Megaman or Contra. It doesn’t have awesome graphics or sound. It isn’t in 3D. But the developer producing it, Super Fighter Team, can barely keep up with demand, and has overhauled its no-preorder policy to ensure they have enough stock by the release date. Why all the fuss? Nightmare Busters will be the first new game released specifically for the Super Nintendo in over 15 years.

Remember – Oftentimes the easiest way to find out what’s cool is by looking for what’s uncool. And while retro gaming usually gets a smile and nod for nostalgia’s sake, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who would’ve imagined a new SNES cartridge would sell for $68 in 2012.

Tugg & Crowdsourced Cinema

Nick Woods

While I’m not going to outright complain that I live in the middle of nowhere (because I’ve been to Idaho), it’s tough sometimes getting the freshest of entertainment to come to Milwaukee. Netflix and The Pirate Bay have made it easier to bear, but I won’t lie, it’s a huge bummer when I don’t get to go to the cinema to see movies that I’ve been excited about for a year previous.

Good thing crowdsourcing is the new black, and sites like Tugg are helping to identify demand in the most unlikely places. The new service lets you choose a movie you want to see, and where you want to see it, and then it’s up to you to promote it. If you pre-sell enough tickets, Tugg arranges everything with the theater of your choice, it delivers the film, and it sets up tickets at the box office. Hopefully it’ll let me shorten the list on my desk by at least a few items.

Lilyhammer

Nick Woods

On Monday, Netflix officially stepped into the pool of original programming and aired Lilyhammer. The new show stars Steven Van Zandt, who – for all intents and purposes – reprises his role on The Sopranos as a mobster driven into exile in Norway after he squeals on his boss. It’s a premise that sounds a bit unremarkable, but Netflix isn’t banking on the show itself to draw interest. Rather, the company hopes to sell Lilyhammer based on its status as the first totally original show to debut exclusively via an on-demand format.

It’s a risky move to say the least, especially since the show debuted without any kind of premiere fanfare. You can’t even find it in Netflix’s “New Releases” section. But if there’s one thing you can say about the company, it’s that they understand how people in 2012 want to watch TV (even if they don’t know how much they want to pay for it): Lilyhammer is available all at once – Not in weekly installments. Which plays right into the wheelhouse of everyone who sat and watched the entire fifth season of The Sopranos in one long, pathetic marathon.

 

4 billion views a day

Nick Woods

Yesterday, Google reported a 25 percent traffic jump on YouTube over the past eight months of its service, claiming users are now streaming 4 billion videos from the site every day. According to Reuters, Google says roughly 60 hours of video are now added to the site every minute, compared to the 48-hours-per-minute rate it clipped at back in May 2011. That’s roughly a whole year of content every 2.5 days. Wow.

Those are big numbers, but they might be a bit misleading when you consider the type of content typically posted to YouTube. In 2010, the average length of a YouTube video was 4 minutes and 12 seconds, compared to network and cable programming which runs 22 minutes, or 44 minutes, depending on the length of the program. That translates into a lot more time spent watching regular ol’ TV – Indeed, Mashable reports that the average YouTuber spends 15 minutes a day watching videos on the site, while the average American spends 4-5 hours watching the tube. The death of traditional TV this isn’t – But we’re getting closer. All hail Hypnotoad.

Retronaut.co

Nick Woods

For those already nostalgic for 2011, only two days in, you might take a couple minutes to head over to Retronaut.co. Home to thousands of pictures and image “capsules” from days of yore, the site is a great trip through what’s made history great, or at least interesting. It’s also a pretty hilarious reminder of why looking forward is at least less embarrassing than looking back – Capsules like “Christmas Guns,” “How Wives Should Undress In Front Of Their Husbands,” and “Robocop c.1924” are proof enough.

Here’s to a Great 2012!

Nick Woods

Thanks to everyone who made 2011 such a wonderful year! Have a safe, happy, and memorable NYE!

The Dark Knight Mumbles

Nick Woods

If the new Batman movie isn’t the greatest cinematic achievement of the modern age, it’s probably going to be the biggest disappointment of my life since learning Santa Claus might not be real. So you can imagine my dismay at the Twitter and Facebook furor over The Dark Knight Rises’ new trailer, featuring Batman’s most intense nemesis of all time – Bane – played by one of the most intense actors around today, Tom Hardy. You see, Bane wears a mask over his face. And Hardy has a super-thick British accent. Together, you can’t understand a word he says in the 6-minute spot, which won’t be acceptable over what I’m hoping will be the best, if not the most entertaining film of 2012.

Christopher Nolan, the movie’s director, is already shunning the criticism, saying he doesn’t want to dumb things down for his audience, which has me locked in an argument with myself. The critics are right – You definitely can’t hear a thing the villain says in the trailer. But does that really matter when the artist behind it all, with such a stellar track record, feels so confident in the underlying vision?

Content + Price = Kindle > iPad

Nick Woods

While it’s going to be a while before we can declare a new ‘winning’ side in the U.S. Tablet Wars, BestBuy turned heads yesterday when it reported that the Kindle Fire is flying off its shelves faster than the iPad. This, despite early reviews that called the Fire buggy, uncool, and slow. Why are we seeing a possible shift?

The most obvious catalyst is the price – The Fire  is much cheaper than a 16gb iPad 2. But perhaps more importantly, Kindle has put content over style and speed, and users are responding. Many say its easier to download songs, stream video, and read comics, books and magazines on the new tablet. And even iPad users would agree: Without cool stuff to pull up, what good is prestige, processing power, screen resolution, and a 3G connection? Remember – Dogs love meat.

Arrested Development x Netflix

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

Few TV and movie fans doubt that streaming content sites like Hulu, Prescreen, and others represent the future of television. It’s an opinion Fox and Imagine seem to share – The studios have licensed a brand new season of the critically acclaimed, ratings-challenged show Arrested Development to air exclusively on Netflix in 2013. More and more it seems the only key ingredient keeping audiences hooked to cable and satellite is the availability of live events, which admittedly makes ditching those services a tough pill to swallow. $17 a month for a virtually unlimited variety of content on-demand? Or $200 a month for the same content plus live TV? Moves like this make the switch more attractive every day.

Prescreen

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

Movie tickets and paid television seem to get more expensive every year. So kudos to Prescreen, a new Web site that streams 60-day “prescreeners” to users at prices as low as $4 a movie. Not every film available on Prescreen is destined to end up in theaters, but for directors and crew, the service’s incentives – like offering loyalty points to the first 5 percent of customers watching each movie – helps put more eyes on their work. The service’s business model has been toyed with by cable and satellite providers in the past, but it’s exciting to think about the possibilities sites in the same arena might offer to filmmakers and movies fans alike in the future. Try it out for yourself HERE.

Remakes of Remakes

Nick Woods

Simon Reynolds argues over 500 pages in a book published earlier this year that pop music in the new millenium relies too much on samples, “influences,” and content curation instead of original thought to create “new” sounds. It’s an argument that’s easy to apply beyond music. Take, for example, the multiple Snow White films that will be released next year – We’ve seen two trailers released already in the past two weeks that promote essentially the same story we’ve heard for decades. And there’s at least one outlet predicting the redundancy will have a negative impression on how both films are perceived by the public. Has pop culture really reached a point where we want remakes of remakes before the first remake is even finished? The thought alone makes the brain cramp.

The Jacket As An Icon

Nick Woods

Checking out at the grocery store became infinitely more tolerable when the world began stocking tabloids next to the register – Those 15 minutes in line are far less irritating when one can laugh at the poor fashion choices of the rich and famous. But it’s funny how the tables can turn when the right piece is paired with the right person at the right time. Take Michael Jackson’s red jacket worn in the music video for “Thriller,” now on sale for a cool $2,350 on Amazon. Or the cheap Korean souvenir Ryan Gosling wore in this summer’s Drive. Worn at different times, in different media, clothing that’s now almost as famous as the stars that wear it might have been branded fashion “don’ts” instead of “musts.” As timeless as we like our pop culture to be, it always seems the best stuff comes down to context.

The New Breed of TV

Nick Woods

Sony threw its hat in the ring over the weekend to join a crowd that gets bigger every day – Brands attempting to breed a smarter screen, one that will organize, access, and broadcast every channel we surf. That’s a tougher task than it seems… Watching TV isn’t just a cable-or-antennae option anymore. Next to the hundreds of channels our digital cable providers toss our way, streaming video services send us our favorite movies and shows over the net. Our DVD collections grow every day. Collecting content seems to be the new pastime, and the biggest challenge isn’t finding it anymore – It’s digesting it. Seems like life just won’t let up on the world’s couch potatoes. READ MORE

Trip To Paradise

Jon Grider

Radio Paradise is a real trip, with no loss of frequent flyer miles (or brain cells). It’s a streaming internet radio station, with the best eclectic mix I’ve heard from one source. Mostly tasty, interesting rock, but all genres are represented. Everything is DJ mixed, so there is a logic and flow – unlike random computer mixes. And it’s totally commercial-free. Not that I don’t fancy a good radio spot, but I’d rather wait for the Mercury Awards reel. Radio Paradise is financially supported through donations on their site – hopefully for many moons and tunes to come. A husband/wife team out of Paradise, California runs the station, which has been around for about a decade. Their site has playlist details and the ability for interactivity – through welcomed comments, forums, journals and contests. Welcome to paradise.

Take Two For Netflix?

BJ Bueno

“There is a difference between moving too quickly—which Netflix has done very well for years—and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case.” With those words, Netflix has backed away from its controversial plan to split the company into two parts. The DVD rental-by-mail business, which was going to be called Qwikster, will remain part of the Netflix business. It’s a reversal that makes sense. READ MORE 

Historic Letters

Jon Grider

I recently walked back in design-time at The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum in Two Rivers, WI. Founded in 1880, Hamilton was the largest wood type producer in the country, when just about everything was letterpress printed. They now showcase their 1.5 million pieces of hand-carved, finely polished maple wood type at the museum, along with displays and working presses from back in the day. They also have hands-on workshops, so students and artists can use their collection. Three presses were lathered in ink the day I was there, one being rolled by a student from England. Historically hip again, Hamilton was just commissioned by Fossil watches to build a wall of type for them, and Target recently had a fashion shoot at the museum. The other premier working letterpress studio/museum that practices preservation through production is Hatch Show Print in Nashville. Famous for their country music posters, Hatch continues to create old-school, organic poster art that still strikes a chord today.

Does Netflix Know What It Is Doing?

BJ Bueno

At first, we thought it was a joke—and not a particularly funny one at that.  Surely Netflix, one of the most successful and dominant brands in the world, wouldn’t make a bunch of boneheaded moves seemingly tailor made to alienate their customers. Not Netflix. We’re talking about the company that broke Blockbuster, the savvy, smart, forward looking firm that changed the way we consume media. READ MORE

Friday Brain Teaser

Billy Cannestra

Using the letter grid to the left, how many words can you find? Each word must contain the central R and no letter can be used twice; however, the letters do not have to be connected. Proper nouns are not allowed, but plurals are. There is at least one nine letter word. Excellent: 32 words. Good: 28 words. Average: 20 words. Contact me if you want the answers. Have Fun…

Friday Brain Teaser

Billy Cannestra

This was my son’s first math assignment for the year. The object is to connect A to A with a line, B to B with a line and C to C with a line. Keep in mind lines can’t cross and no going outside the frame or crossing into any of the letter boxes. I finally got it at 1:30 AM. Have Fun….

It’s OK To Come Out of the Basement

Jon Grider

Ping-pong popularity is on the rise. Thanks to hip clubs like Spin (Milwaukee, New York, St. Pete and Toronto), all levels of table tennis players are coming out of the woodwork (most likely musty, knotty pine woodwork) – me included. Competitive exercise, rewarded with a well-crafted brew in a state-of-the-art space with good tunes and good people is a good thing. The US is still no match for China (or Germany, or Japan, or India, or Korea, etc.) when it comes to ping-pong proficiency and popularity. In fact, we pretty much bring up the rear in the world table tennis standings. But when you consider our ability to have fun, the US kicks @#%! Get your pong on, people!

The Evolution Of The Music Industry

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

While visiting the Fast Company website I stumbled upon an animated pie chart that, let them tell it, “illustrates the music industry’s death.” While I don’t believe it illustrates that as much as it does it’s evolution, I do feel it illustrates the death of “big record label thinking.” It’s time for artists and musicians to get creative with promoting, marketing, distributing and selling their music. With the advent of sites like Bandcamp and Soundcloud it’s easier than ever. I can’t wait to see how big labels adapt to the constantly changing landscape. These are exciting times.

Watch The Throne

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

Listening to and reading all of the critique of the new Jay-Z & Kanye West album Watch The Throne has been very interesting and exciting. To me, any great body of work sparks passionate and sometimes heated debate. It also begs for a side to be selected, rarely do you experience gray area. People either fall in love or detest. Questlove, of the Legendary Roots Crew, wrote an “Official Unofficial Review” which is the best piece of commentary I’ve read on the album so far.

Jay-Z Interview: Gwyneth Paltrow

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

Short, sweet, and to the point is how I would describe the interview Jay-Z conducted with Gwyneth Paltrow as well as the one Gwyneth conducted with Jay. You can view both here and here.

5 Ways To Boost Marketing

Mark Evertz

Quick social marketing junkies, switch on your iPads, bust out your styli and jot down the name of  the next great marketing panacea. For lack of a better term, we call it – Bro-cial Media. But you can call it whatever you want when you present it as your own in your next big client presentation. READ MORE

Gaga As Role Model?

BJ Bueno

Do business leaders have a lesson to learn from Lady Gaga? At first glance, it might not appear so, but that’s until you learn that the 25 year old singer is well on her way to earning over $100 million in 2011. Forbes Magazine recently ran a piece detailing Gaga’s multiple revenue streams. Praised for being as shrewd and decisive as she is fashion-forward and creative, Lady Gaga has done some things exceptionally well. There’s wisdom in her approach that can be emulated by business leaders across the board. Besides, she’s a snappy dresser. READ MORE