Meme Huffer

The Simpsons + Star Wars = geek nirvana (Friday ffffound)

One for the crate-diggers

Meme Huffer loves Erykah Badu.

I'm with Shepard Fairey

Well, I would be if I could vote in the US.

image from Obey

Update: and I'm not alone

Chewie meets Marilyn (Friday fffound)

For Jonesy.

(found at ffffound)

Great Quotes for Planners #46 -on originality

"Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats." -Howard Aiken

Monday music

We're huge Nick Cave fans here at Meme Huffer, so are massively excited by the fact that there is a new album on the way. To add some biblical boogie to the start of your working week, here's the video for the title track "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!":

And you can view the seance-busting teaser films here, here, here, here and here

"I am your father" (Friday ffffound)

Dug up at the continuously wonderful ffffound.com

Great Quotes for Planners #45 -be a rebel

"When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion." -C.P. Snow

For "crimes", insert the word "advertising".

Don't follow the herd -just because every mobile phone brand uses alt-folk, doesn't mean you should.

BTW, there's a great piece in today's Campaign (sorry, it doesn't seem to be online yet) on the spate of pseudo Cogs & Balls spots... which is kinda like all those "alternative", "non-conformist" kids who all dress in exactly the same way (& working in Camden, I see them everyday).

Break category conventions -as BBH puts it, when the world zigs, zag.

Advertising from a bygone age

Ah, for the days when you could use domestic violence to sell grocery products!

Join the army, travel to exciting distant lands, meet exotic interesting people, and kill them.

A lovely bit of aikido-move billboard-jamming, found over at ffffound

Great Quotes for Planners #44 -feel the pain

"The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking." -John Kenneth Galbraith

Planners need to cultivate a certain intellectual masochism, a desire to keep searching and to always question the obvious answer. If we let ourselves be wrapped up in the intellectual cotton-wool of tried and tested theories, status-quo reflecting research reports and so-called conventional wisdom, we'll end up pushing undifferentiated ideas and advertising which sticks neatly to the category cues. Yawn.

So suck it up.

Friday ffffound

Ah, truth in advertising!

Have a great Friday.

"Don't talk to me, I'm working on some communications"

I was talking a planner friend the other day, and he was worrying about everyone wearing headphones as they sit in their collaboration-fostering & creatively-designed open plan environment. Even creative teams are sitting there, wired to their individual iTunes playlists, occasionally taking their earbuds out to run a line past the other.

An agency should be all about people bouncing ideas around, right? Getting the right people together to solve problems?

OK, we all need a distraction-blocker, but do we really want an agency full of solipsists?

Also, Lee makes a couple of good points on a similar subject (including a great NY Times article on the need for "white space".)

Great Quotes for Planners #43 -Go out on more limbs

"Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is" -Will Rogers

A good one for helping sell your clients on a riskier/fresher/more differentiating approach (see also here, here, here, here, and here).

Thinking linking

Katy Kitschbitch has kindly tagged me as a "thinking blogger" (thanks Katy!) as part of an ongoing meme.

The rules of participation are straightforward:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog)

So, (drum roll please) without any further ado, here are five blogs that tickle Meme Huffer's frontal lobes on a regular basis:

1. I really have to start with the Bhagwan of Blogging, Mr Russell Davies. Always fresh, always insightful, and a top bloke.
2. At number two, we have the self-confessed "Russell Davies lite", Richard Huntington over at Adliterate. Provocative yet well-reasoned posts, and often home to fantastic debates in the comment sections.
3. For his deeply cynical yet all-too-often deadly accurate take on the state of the ad industry, give it up for George Parker's AdScam.
4. Can't go past HolyCow for the odd "eureka moment"
5. Last, by by no means least, it's Beeker with a wonderful mix of culture, design and overall niceness. (It's her fault that I'm blogging, you know).

There are a few more that I'd love to mention, but the rules say just five, so...

Anway, there's more than enough there to keep you busy.

photo credit: Bob.Fornal

Great Quotes for Planners #42 -don't do crap work!

"As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it" -Dick Cavett

Just because the research validates it and the client is willing to buy it, it doesn't mean that we should be prepared to sell it them.

The power of stories

We've been having much discussion around the office about the use of storytelling as a method for building brand relationships. Stories can give consumers an insight into what makes a brand tick, what it believes in and who the people are behind it -all of these things are increasingly crucial for brands which seek to build a sense of emotional intimacy with the customers.

I found a great example of this recently -a small store call Topo Ranch on Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice, LA. Topo Ranch sell their own range of t-shirts, khakis, flannel shirts -good, basic American clothing, well constructed and with a witty and distinctive approach to graphics. So far, so dime-a-dozen, right?

But what really make this brand come to life is the backstory:

In the beginning, it was the dream of Alex’s great, great grandfather, Edward Breen. He survived the Donner Party and founded the original Topo Ranch.

Located between Monterey and San Benito counties, those 20,000 acres were part of the Mexican San Lorenzo lant grant. Throughout the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the spread was a cattle ranch, fig tree farm, supplier of wool to the U.S. Cavalry, and even used for Western films by the likes of Gary Cooper. Eventually, the bank foreclosed on it, like so many casualties of the Great Depression.

The “Topo” for which the ranch was named is Spanish slang for that stretch of land’s most populous inhabitants. We gave him wings to symbolize the rise of Topo Ranch once again, and to give flight to our dream of buying back the ranch.

We can both look back on five generations of California dreamers, but it was Edward Breen’s pioneering spirit that inspired us to follow our dreams. We hope our quality dry goods inspire you to follow yours.

This deeply authentic sense of history and pioneering spirit permeates the whole brand, from the t-shirt graphics to the store itself... you immediately feel like you know this brand, that you have a relationship with it, and you want them to succeed.

"But that's how we've always done it"

I came across this article on George Parker's wonderfully acerbic and cynical blog the other day -it will make huge sense to anyone who spends their days kicking against the pricks.

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result -- all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth.
Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been done around here.
And that, my friends, is how company policy begins.

Friday ffffound (on a Saturday)

I love this film.

Another week, another absence of posts (and a one-day lag on my recently instituted 'Friday ffffound')... blame the pre-Xmas rush... catch-ups, parties and a desperate attempt to download all of the work stuff that is in my head before I head off for four-weeks well earned rest on Wednesday. A few days in San Francisco (any SF readers with tips, please drop me a line) then back to Aotearoa for family/friends/sun/beach/lake/wedding.

Bliss.

Friday ffffound

Thought we'd launch a new weekly post -my ffffound.com image of the week. No reasons, no contexts, just something interesting for your Friday...