Meme Huffer

J.G. Ballard RIP

Regular readers will know that we have a fondness for Ballard up here in Huffer Towers, and we mourn his passing over this past weekend. The world has lost one of its true visionaries, a man who was unafraid to examine that which scuttles back into the darkness when the rocks of our civilisation (or should that be "civilisation"?) are overturned.

We'll leave you with a selection of thoughts and quotes from the man himelf:

“Twenty years ago no one could have imagined the effects the Internet would have: entire relationships flourish, friendships prosper…there’s a vast new intimacy and accidental poetry, not to mention the weirdest porn.”

"Electronic aids, particularly domestic computers, will help the inner migration, the opting out of reality. Reality is no longer going to be the stuff out there, but the stuff inside your head. It's going to be commercial and nasty at the same time."

"I would sum up my fear about the future in one word: boring. And that's my one fear: that everything has happened; nothing exciting or new or interesting is ever going to happen again... the future is just going to be a vast, conforming suburb of the soul."

"Consumerism is the greatest device anyone has invented for controlling people... For some particular reason, they call it shopping. But it's really the purest form of politics."

In The Loop

We are huge fans of "The Thick of It" up here at Huffer Towers, and now we're delighted to see that Armando Ianucci has directed a feature film in which the ever-scabrous Malcolm Tucker heads to Washington to lock horns with US military brass, ably played by Tony Soprano James Gandolfini.

Also worth taking a gander at Tucker's Twitter feed. And of course we're loving the Obama-esque posters (another favourite meme round these parts).

Words matter

A lot has been written about "Brand Obama" lately, about the importance of taking a cohesive values-based position vs the Clinton-esque (well, Mark Penn-esque) micro-targetted, focus-grouped scattergun approach. About the importance of the Obama campaign's seamless embrace of all things digital. About his use of iconic brand images.

I was putting together a presentation for a client last week, where we had to impress the importance of a new brand positioning on the wider organisation, and this bite from Obama's speech in Wisconsin from February last year really crystallized it for me.

As planners, creatives and marketers, we spend an awful lot of time creating brand models, discussing brand attributes ('are we "authentic" or "natural"') crafting propositions and honing endlines. Yes, we have moodboards and steal-o-matics, but the most powerful tool that we have is words.

But for these words to work, they have to have real power. They have to be true to the brand, not mere puffery. They have to resonate, both with the consumer and with all other stakeholders. So we need to choose these words carefully.

Because words matter.

The President of the United

cartoon by Bob Gorrell via Slate

Thank f*ck for that

  

Stayed up, slept a little, cried a little... (somehow I doubt I'm going to get anywhere near as emotionally involved about the next general election here in the UK)

And how cool was CNN's 'Magic Wall'?

image via Kottke 

Two weeks to go

 

Batmobama & Robiden print available to buy at Etsy

But we're mavericks, gosh darn it!

 

from Daily Kos

40 days to go (Friday ffffound)

  

I know the global stakes are higher and all, but I find myself (a Kiwi living in London) far more interested in the US election than the politics of either my native or adopted county.

(images found at ffffound)

"Help me, Obama, you're my only hope"

 

From Ironic Sans

But where's the Biden-Palin ticket?

found at ffffound