randamu with ah-kam

The world has lost a genius

                                                                                                                                            Image source: Apple home page

The first image that struck me this morning as I turned on my browser.

Through this man and his vision came products that revolutionalized industries and changed the world. Through this man and his vision inspired many including me to challenge the conventions and think different.  The world has indeed lost a genius.

I truly hope Apple will continue to challenge our imagination and wow us the way Steve had in his short but amazingly legendary life.

When the store came to the people...

Tesco Home Plus made right use of digital technology (QR code) creating a seamless online-offline customer journey for its busy Korean customers. A great brand initiative that not only creates buzz for Home Plus but also offers customers a real life solution, and best of all, generates real business. A well-deserved Media Grand Prix Cannes Lions!

Will digital technology displace advertising? Malcolm Gladwell said it's nonsense!

Go to 2:30.  "What prevented people from making great stuff was not the logistical difficulty in production...it's the scarcity of imagination." That's why I always think kids and toddlers are VERY creative.

Low cost creativity -- the combination doesn't feel right

Creativity and low cost. The 2 words put together -- that doesn't feel right. Not that I'm suggesting that we should ignore achieving cost efficiency for client, but using 'low cost' as a selling point for creative services, where are we leading the industry into?

Has Hermes done it right?

To appeal to a younger audience, Hermes did a cool fingerboard skate viral. It's visually intriguing -- such an interesting way to showcase its products. But while this viral is all cool for YouTube audiences, I can't help to wonder where the appeal is for Hermes young affluent target. So yes, Hermes may have attracted attention from a younger crowd of audiences, but has the brand hit its bull's eye target? What do you think?

A myth beyond advertising

Those who are old enough to start watching TV in the 90s would probably have seen some, if not all, of the classic Coca-Cola commercials featuring one of its most popular advertising symbols, the animated polar bear.  (Here is one of them  -- the first of the lot aired in 1993.)

 

Besides the creation of all these classic commercials, what's more interesting to me is the depth that Coke has added to the story, beyond entertaining commercials, with its CSR collaboration with WWF -- asking consumers to extend support to protect polar bears and their habitat.

 

Polar Bear Support Fund website

Starbucks - reframing instant coffee??

Instant coffee...those who claim they are coffee lovers usually frown over this term.  Instant by its name means quick fix, and it implies poor quality for the desperate and tasteless.

Earlier this year, Starbucks launched its instant coffee variant - VIA [TM].  What claimed to be "the brand" that redefines instant coffee, launched a new ad campaign, 4-15sec spots during SNL, a couple of nights ago, challenging people if they can taste the difference between Starbucks VIA [TM] and the conventional instant coffee.  

Check out one of the ads (from Ad Age):

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1370868150/bctid42091344001For me, how it tastes is yet to tell.  But like the brand's first attempt to redefine the category by naming itself VIA [TM] Ready Brew instead of instant coffee.  Sounds more sophisticated to me (sorry for being literal and superficial).  I just wish the brand would have been more consistent in reinforcing this new term in its other communication. 

The Evian babies - miss them~

Living young with Evian.  Babies + CG moves have been the brand's formula since 1998.  Here come the babies once again on roller skates.

(video: adland)

But think that can't beat the 1998 version: Babies in water.

The babies are cute in both commercials.  Although we know babies can't do synchronized swimming, it still looks a bit more real than babies spinning on their skates.  Besides, very literally, I can link babies in water more naturally with the product.

Nike: NBA 2009 Finals - a powerful all-round effort

Hero glorification vs. "It takes 5" attitude.  A face-off between Nike and adidas (NBA endorser).

Nike reigned at the 2009 NBA season with a compelling effort around the Finals: MVPuppets Campaign. Since the Michael Jordan era, Nike amazes me with their endorser's strategy. Despite the fact that $ is a major factor, but it's how the brand has always picked the brightest star players in the league and how it has exploited their endorsement that amazed me:

Great entertainment for the audience: From the first "Puppet Chalk" to "Lebron for 2010", Nike engaged its audience throughout the Finals with one after one clever commercials.    

Great follow through with "Exclamation mark" product - and bringing that out at the perfect moment with the right setting.

Seeing Kobe wearing this "4 Rings" T-shirt at the Championship Rally is all it takes to make this the sought-after item of LA/Kobe's fans.  

 (photo: LA Times)

A powerful all-round branding & marketing effort shadowed adidas as the "silent" endorser of this year's game.

adidas - when will you catch up?

The Mac Tribe vs. Laptop Hunters

In Mac vs. PC Battle, Microsoft Winning in Value Perception

View Has Shifted Dramatically Among Young Demo Since 'Laptop Hunters' Campaign

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Apple may have some of the most interesting online ads we've seen in a while, but Microsoft's recent push to paint the competitor as pricey is starting to work, according to data from BrandIndex.

This is part of an article from Ad Age this week.  

A couple of days ago, I saw a speech by Seth Godin on tribes.  Besides being a charismatic speaker, Godin mentioned something that's particularly inspiring.  It's not money or factories that will change the world, but tribes.  "Find something worth changing, and then assemble tribes that assemble tribes that spread the ideas and it becomes something far bigger until it becomes a movement."  

The fact that a tribe is not aiming at everyone but those who care and want to be connected.  The tribe of Mac consists of people who think presentations are made much "sexier" with keynote than powerpoint; and those who think they can do more fun stuffs with a Mac than with a PC; and those who simply think a Mac looks much cooler.  They are people who believe you can switch from a PC to a Mac, but there's no turning back. 

Of course, PCs still capture the majority of computer users, or even starts to capture younger ones portrayed in the "laptop hunters" campaign.  But again, a tribe is not for everyone.  (And yes, I'm part of that tribe.)

BTW, the Seth Godin's speech is really an inspiring one.  Highly recommend it, check it out at ted.com.