the wayfarer

An Elaborate Con

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:13:00 +0000

I bought a copy of Frankie last week. Strolling to the office, an annoying and small piece of advertising fell to the ground from inside the magazine's pages. Upon opening I see Hunter S. Thompson, Karen O and Sid Vicious, amongst others, staring back at me with that type of attitude always used to sell something. "Pfft!" I say with fervent annoyance. "I cannot be sold!" But the closer I got to work, the more I began to fool even myself.

I have read Fear & Loathing, I felt uniquely hip when I first listened to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I even spent a whole night watching YouTube videos about John Lydon and Sid Vicious to feel closer to that now ancient scene. I have also had a pair of Converse shoes - something each chosen 'star' seems to be wearing, and the brand that I soon realise is trying to influence the burning hole in my pocket. The part about the shoes is not why I feel connected to these people, but is surely a connection Converse is trying to cultivate.

To be completely honest, I don't really care what Converse want to say to sell their shoes. I feel as if the shoes have enough of an identity in their own right without the corporate side feeling the need to be involved. If the shoes were to speak, I'm sure their disconnected sole would flap, "We're not related!" As far as brands go, it is one of those rare icons loved so much that it becomes practically owned by its consumers, rather than the corporates swimming in the cash it shovels them.

What I am interested in however, is the agency that brought this campaign to life. And I have since found it truly is a campaign, not just a crappy, flappy, piece of rubbish magazine insert.

This is where I introduce the agency responsible, Anomaly. And yes, they are one of those agencies. In the vein of KesselsKramer, Mother, Taxi, Fallon, Strawberry Frog, etc; Anomaly are one of the many new model agencies making a name for themselves.

I should really start at the beginning. A few months back, I saw a billboard at South Yarra station for The Converse Century using the connected converse stars imagery you see at the top of this post. To be honest, I thought it was a complete wank. Associating the Converse brand with 'cool' people was to me not too dissimilar from putting Ray Ban Wayfarers on a kid and calling them cool. It was easy, it was a cheap idea (not in the monetary sense of course) and it presumed the cool kids would associate with cool people on face value alone. No wonder I had such pre-conceived ideas of the campaign when I opened Frankie months later.

A few weeks ago, I was flipping through Creativity Magazine and stumbled upon an article heralding the acquisition of Urban Outfitters (America's General Pants) Creative Director Kevin Lyons by Anomaly. I presume around the same time as this happened, Anomaly landed the Converse account. Before Urban Outfitters, Kevin had worked as Art Director for Tokion Magazine, AD for Girl Skateboards (Spike Jonze's company), Design Director for Stussy and Senior Designer for Nike. A pretty tight heritage if you ask me. From that point on, Anomaly had no excuse not to make some genuinely interesting cultural work.

I've mentioned the billboard and magazine insert already, but what else have they done to get inside the minds of hip kids globally? I thought you'd never ask...

The campaign website, ThisIsTheIndexPage, is a genuinely original and well thought out idea. Basically, Anomaly bought a whole lot of domain names and made them all unique, simple and enjoyable for impatient Gen Y'ers like me. But what is even better, is that in this post-Web 2.0 climate, they have made an entirely bloggable range of sites that can be debated and discussed in the many forums created by the Web 2.0 phenomena. I've heard it called Web 3.0 before, but that's a debate for an entirely different post. Bottom line is: simple idea, clean execution, made specifically for the medium and completely digestible for the target market. Personally I believe it spells the end of the 'viral video' era, and heralds the official beginning of the 'ideas that go viral' era. I suggest visiting the Converse Spelling Bee page to see the best example of this.

But the fun doesn't stop there.

They made a song. But not just any song mind you. A pretty good pop song. Which is the most you could hope for when making art to sell a shoe I'd say. Just like choosing the right photographer to shoot your precious print ad, choosing the right producer to make the perfect pop-tune is an important choice. Anomaly's choice? Pharrell Williams. Who is in my mind the most successful pop producer of the last decade. Along with his successful 'band' N.E.R.D, Pharrell has written or and/or produced some of this century's most successful and half-decent pop tracks including Kelis' Milkshake and Justin Timberlake's Justifed album. And yes, I know. The answer is 'yes they are' and 'no I don't'. But never underestimate the sound of amazing production and progressive music-making. Big tick for choice of producer. Oh and he performs in the song too.

Add Julian Casablancas from The Strokes and international hipster-on-the-rise Santogold to the mix, and you have a potent combination of the right amount of cool and the exact amount of risk-free money making brands can only dream of.

Before I go further, watch and listen below.

Finally, the choice of Psyop as the directors for the video is as inspired as it is perfect. Psyop have for many years been innovators in the motion design scene, paving the way for the likes of Qube Construct here in Melbourne. It's all money, and no one other than a brand owned by Nike could afford to do it. But they did. And they did it well.

Surely Anomaly own some rights to the song too. Which is free to download from the Converse website and is getting a bazillion plays on many mainstream and online radio stations alike. If they don't, then I'll be surprised.

Quite seriously, I don't think Anomaly could have done any better with what they had to work with. Billboards and magazine inserts are inherently consumerist mediums that when used say nothing but 'buy my product' at the end of the day. But building new and different websites, writing songs and throwing parties are the perfect balance to all that above-the-line claptrap that they no doubt had to do, for whatever reason.

Having said all of this, I have no idea how well the campaign has tracked. I also know there are far more components to the campaign that I haven't gone into, some of which include parties and art exhibitions. But what I can say, from a completely personal view regarding the mix of strategy and creative, is that this sort of work really excites me about the future of advertising. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's all a load of money-making wank (which is important in retaining my reputation as a self-respecting hipster, apparently) but it's clever wank, well targeted wank, and the best use of the resources Anomaly had wank that will sell the most amount of shoes possible. Which is, after all, why we do what we do.

The end of the beginning

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 09:43:00 +0000

Hello all. Recent events have shown a renewed interest in The Wayfarer. I haven't updated in over a year, yet the entries posted here seem to have lived on within the 1011's of Google's servers with stoic resilience. With this in mind, I have decided to re-think and re-invigorate The Wayfarer. Stay tuned, possibly subscribe to the feed, and wait to see what The Wayfarer has planned next.

To see what I'm up to, go here.

The Science of Art & TV

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Tue, 22 May 2007 11:10:00 +0000

Sometimes you see an ad on TV and think to yourself, "It's almost too good to be an ad." Take away the cheesy tagline, product shot and logo; soon enough you've got a work of art. It doesn't happen often, especially as a lot of ads are only good because they're funny. Not that I've got anything against funny ads (The Big Ad, VB Boony, etc), but too often do advertisers play the comedy card when they want to give their ad cut-through.

Advertising is a creative industry, but wouldn't you say it's at the bottom of the pile when compared to other creative industries? Time to sack the Art Director/Copywriter team, and bring in the artist.

Take a look at this brilliant ad for HP as an example. The creative team have come to Michel Gondry (Human Nature, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Science of Sleep) with a skeleton of an idea. Surely they would have said, "Salut Michel! Make us some of that 'dream' stuff you do!" This is what he came back with:

It does beg the question: Is Michel Gondry well known enough to speak to HP's market? There are millions of people who have never even seen his movies, let alone heard his name. But then again, he is a mainstream-cult figure with a legion of fans all over the world. This leads to one conclusion... HP is looking to speak to an audience that connects with Michel. Who are these people you ask? You guessed it, Mac people.

HP's new machines are interestingly slick. An obvious response to the success of Mac's consistent product design across all its hardware. I'll be very interested to see what the response is. Are we Mac users buying into the Mac brand merely because the machines look great on our desks? Probably. This may be the first test for Mac in a while. And as soon as Google releases an operating system that sinks Windows forever, the competition may get stiffer.

Before you scream nerd, let's get back to art. Another great director (and friend of Gondry) making quality ads is Spike Jonze. Everyone loved the Ikea lamp ad he did. Even more enjoyed the Adidas TVC he made to a soundtrack by Karen O. But my personal favourite was this ad for The Gap. I would have loved to be in the client meeting when the idea miraculously made it through.

I managed to see Spike speak at Cinema Nova on Lygon Street when he was in the country filming Where the Wild Things Are. Asked what happens when approached by agencies, he said (and I paraphrase): "When an agency brings me an idea, I usually tell them it's shit. I say, if you want me to film this ad, let me write it. So they do and this is what they get."

Apparently some turn him down. Their loss I guess.

If anything, the Gondry ad for HP is a step forward. Will they be able to catch up on lost ground against Mac? Only time will tell. But I'm pretty sure Michel would have taken his hefty payment from HP and bought some new Macs.

The art of job hunting

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 07:31:00 +0000

Getting a job in the advertising industry is about as difficult as drawing a straight line while on public transport. It's a constant struggle that leads to many false starts. Even when you do make it, the ride has been almost enough to put you off forever. This coming from someone who hasn't been through the process, but plans to in the future.

There is however, reason for my pessimism. Out of every graduating year at RMIT's creative advertising course, only 10% land jobs in the industry. One such lucky team is Trent Hendrick and Celeste Millot, who just scored a dream first job at Cummins & Partners in Brisbane. This was only achieved after being knocked back by an assortment of hardened agencies in and around Melbourne. Would their arduous journey have benefited from the new book released by Sydney adman Justin Lane? The creative group head at M&C Saatchi has compiled a collection of tips into an affordable bundle called 69 Ways To Get A Job In Advertising. We're yet to know if it's a worthwhile read, but at $15 it's only slightly more expensive than an issue of Campaign Brief.

I recently stumbled upon an interview with one of the fathers of modern advertising, George Lois. If you're a bit hazy on who the hell he is, all you need to know is that Bill Bernbach was his mentor, he created the "I want MTV" campaign that changed a generation, and art directed a host of unforgettable covers for Esquire Magazine. It was conducted in 2003 by New York magazine.

Here's his story on how he made it into the agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) and made a lasting impression...

"My first ad there—my very first day—was for a CBS show about how food gets delivered to New York. So I called a photographer and told him to get a fish—I wanted to have the fish saying, “How do I get to New York?” That first day, there was a memo from the business guy to all the art directors, saying, “You got to return props. I know you guys are keeping the props. I don’t care what the props are, I want them delivered to my office.” So after the shoot, I get the photographer to give me the fish. Then at ten o’clock at night, I leave the fish in the guy’s office with a note that says “As requested” and sign my name: George Lois."

In the few places I have stumbled across successful creative people, I find they all have one thing in common. That one thing being an undeniable vision. They know what they want and how to get it. Creativity has always been a subjective business, but it shouldn't be left up to everyone's interpretation. Someone has to captain the ship. With this in mind, George Lois was the Blackbeard of Madison Avenue. This is one quote which sums him up in a uniquely articulate manner: "I know what the fuck I know, and you know what the hell you know, and I’ll tell you what I think, and you tell me to fuck off." It's about not wasting your time or the time of others. It's a clear vision to communicate in the best way possible to the right people.

Another good example of his heralded insight and opinion is in this biting comment on the 1984 Apple Superbowl TVC: "And that great Apple commercial, which was horseshit, but it was Citizen Kane horseshit. It was the kind of thing that knocked you on your ass."

George Lois is a huge inspiration to me. And I'm finding it increasingly helpful to build a database of inspirational personalities to look up to before embarking on the ad job journey. Because most of the time, it's not what you know, or even who you know, but how you can make big things happen for influential people. Like a good friend and writer told me, it's all about the tone, and these people can be the signpost to making who you are the perfect fit for a lucky agency somewhere in the world.

Beyond the page

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 09:23:00 +0000

The State Library in Melbourne is getting better and better with age. Tomorrow (Thursday), the famous institution will be presenting a free forum discussing artists' zines and the spoken word.

The event will feature Steve Grimwade & Lisa Greenaway from Going Down Swinging, Jessica Tuckerman from City Library Street Press and Luke Sinclair from the catacomb zine palace that is Sticky.

But aside from these great talents, I am very interested to see the spoken-word performance by Sean Whelan. This poet turned an old copy of Dubliners, James Joyce's classic novel, into a modern salute called Melbourners. I hear the poetry is even better than the concept.

(I wish these people had links but it's hard to find much about them online. All the more reason to come along and see what they're really about.)

You're useless

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:32:00 +0000

Useless products have plagued birthdays and the family Christmas for many years. Who hasn't at some stage bought their dad an exploding golf ball, their uncle a novelty mug or their unsuspecting mum an apron with tits on it? They seem like a good idea at the time, but realistically you may as well have stuck $20 in a bottle and thrown it from the top of a very high bridge.

No surprise Granny May's went under a few years ago. I'm surprised What's New is still in business. But unlike Australia, in the neon world of Japan useless products are a big deal. Most people by now have heard of chindogu. Coined by the Japanese inventor and author Kenji Kawakami, chindogu are useless inventions that on the surface appear ingenious but turn out to be humourously useless.

The French lads at ATYPYK have taken the idea a step further. (Thanks to Chris at NowNow for the link.) With products like a sponge microphone for singing in the shower, a sketchbook made from tablecloth for writing ideas and a piggy bank in the shape of a clock for saving time & money; Christmas will never be the same again. My personal favourite is the Revenge CD. The pack contains a set of earplugs and a cd with 20 ear piercing tracks to play loud next time your neighbours are having an early morning soiree at your sleep deprived expense. Tracks include the sounds of a drill, domestic squabble, practicing scales (violin), pigeons and an orgasm (outstanding).

I love these ideas. The only problem I have is that they're still useless. Who wants to pay money for a product that will solve problems that didn't need to be solved at all? They would however work wonderfully as added value for existing brands. The sponge microphone for Playstation's Singstar is an example. It may mean the idea has 'sold out', but it gives the products a little more relevance and ultimately more usefulness.

A pair of such people dreaming up beautiful ideas and matching them to brands are David & Phoebe. Although their inventions have not lived beyond the humble notepad, the ideas are solid gold.

Appropriate appropriation

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 13:07:00 +0000

The varied talents of mankind never cease to amaze me. You thought the Xtreme Games were cool when you were 13, now they're just another yawnfest and a not so cleverly disguised money making scheme to be wary of. The word on the street is that Parkour is the new cool. What Industrie Magazine (Issue Two) described as 'the bastard child of martial arts, gymnastics, yoga and capoeira', Parkour is finally making an entrance into mainstream culture.

How so you ask? McDonalds, through advertising agency TribalDDB Sydney, have just unleashed a new TVC onto our television screens. It uses Parkour to sell Bacon & Egg McMuffins. If you fail to see the connection then I'm with you. But I could be wrong. Parkour is the new cool after all, so maybe it will rub off on the ultra cool gen-y target market McDonalds is desperately trying to win back. The following video is the making of, and features the ad in its entirety at the end.

I'm not too keen on grabbing a fad or fashion and attaching it to an ad. It's not an idea. It's like putting a random celebrity in front of a camera and hoping young impressionable youths will listen because they identify with the personality. It definitely doesn't make your brand or product cool. (I'm looking at you Thorpie and your fully sick cereal.)

Having said this, if there is a solid idea, adding a fad or said celebrity to your ad can enhance it's effect. A good example is the use of Ron Moss for Australian Fresh Orange Juice. The story is funny on it's own. The success of the concept doesn't rely solely on the credibility of Mr. Moss.

Another good example is the Honda Cog TVC. It was originally an idea by Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss created in 1987. The concept was updated and enhanced by the idea, without the two being mutually exclusive.

But to get back to the phenomena of Parkour, highly respected ad agency Wieden + Kennedy were on that bandwagon long, long ago. Back in 2002, they mixed the breathtaking images of Parkour with a hilarious idea to great effect for Nike.

Good try TribalDDB, but somehow I don't think the target will do anything but jump off the couch and into the kitchen for a distracting bowl of vegetables.

Taking Pryd in saving energy

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 03:05:00 +0000

I have never been a fan of Eric Prydz. His cheesy chart topping hit Call On Me was a large part of the mainstream house phenomonon that inspired millions of jocks worldwide to embrace tight jeans and bright coloured t-shirts. Rumour has it the provocative video made the notoriously randy British Prime Minister Tony Blair quip, "I nearly fell off my rowing machine".

That was 2004. Last December, Eric Prydz released his new single sampling Pink Floyds Another Brick in the Wall, aptly named Proper Education. Why do I care? I was enjoying some catharsis in watching Saturday morning television when the music video for Proper Education came on. It starts off like any strange black & white British commission flat film clip (trust me, there are quite a few), but came into it's own when the 'troubled youths' started to do some strange things...

If you're like me and not so keen on the tune, turn down the volume and turn up your own music.

What I love most about this clip is how it is subtly making the mission to save energy 'cool'. It's almost a little bit bizarre to see these kids doing something good in a dodgy way. I'm definitely not one to endorse shock tactics when it comes to environment-anarchy, but switching peoples light bulbs without them knowing seems harmless enough.

The video was directed by Marcus Adams, who has made a couple of feature films. Adams and Prydz collaborated with Global Cool to decide what the kids would do. Global Cool is a British initiative run with generation y set firmly in their targets. Not only did they help with content for the video, they helped make the release of Proper Education carbon neutral.

At the end of the video when the troubled youths triumph by spelling "SWITCH OFF" on the side of a building, the powerful tagline appears: "You don't need an education to save the planet". What a great line. It is a huge pity though, that Channel Ten decided to cut it out of their programming.

Remix the RMX

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:10:00 +0000

When I was fifteen, I walked into Greville Street Bookstore for the first time. They had a wall dedicated to design books and another to glossy magazines I had never dreamt existed. Being the young lad I once was, I couldn't afford much. But I had to buy something.

The celebrity hotshop of the time Rinzen, had created a book called RMX. I loved the idea, featuring 96 remixes of artists work. Sadly, it came in way over my budget. But to my surprise Rinzen had released a condensed poster version with a similar concept and a considerably cheaper price tag. It compiled works remixed by designers where, 'the first participant produces a piece, with only the final edge being passed onto the next player. They must then continue the image, taking off from where it began.'

Taking pride of place across two walls in my room, I stared at it for many hours. It was a stunning 3.6 metre design masterpiece. Not only did it look good, it marked the start of a booming marketable design trend, the collaboration project.

Everywhere I look they seem to appear in a range of forms. In 2005, the then RMIT student Martin Hungerford won the Saxton Scholars competition with the design-for-charity project Umbrella Street Art. It showcased the talents of twenty national and international designers and artists, each customising a white umbrella that ultimately hung from the atrium ceiling inside Federation Square.

This month the creator of Speakerdog (Ben O'Brien) decided to get 14 different designers to decorate their own versions of his wacky creation. Visit the website and download a pdf template if you want to make your own. I opted for the brain eating zombie dog, designed by Sjor Strimbach. The outcome of my cut & paste session sits at the top of this entry. It really is a nice idea and a bit of harmless fun. But it got me thinking, how far can these collaboration projects go before they become another victim of consumer culture?

Nike have been doing it for years with sneakers, yet telecommunications giant Samsung are the most recent global heavyweight to jump onboard. Unveiled during Melbourne Fashion Week, the Samsung Developing Designer Program hit town with a wave of media frenzy and B-grade celebrity overload. (Matt Welsh thinks the designs are 'totally cool'.) Although it may have been over-hyped, it did feature some quality fashion talent with the likes of Gorman, Alpha60 and the ever strange Richard Nylon taking part. My verdict on the outcome is that it lacked all the qualities needed for an underground gen-y success.

Mass-consumer catastrophes aside, I am glad to report Rinzen have finally released the long awaited next instalment in the RMX series, Neighbourhood. A small hand-made doll was sent around the world to several designers who re-worked it's previous incarnation. The book is beautiful, it has a felt cover.

Collaboration projects will always have their place in marketable design culture, but only when they're done well. Otherwise they run the risk of becoming another passing fad we're all too keen to wave goodbye.

J'adore le magasin

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:57:00 +0000

I have christened 2007 the year of the Magazine. With at least three subscriptions to my name, not to mention the unofficial 'subscriptions' from the footpaths of Melbourne city, it is my mission to indulge in all things high gloss & high art. Speaking of footpaths, there are hidden gems to be found on the stoops of stores throughout the CBD, most of which are edited and designed by the collaborators of Australia's best newsstand publications. (And they're all free.) An example of which is the inspired Nerds Gone Wild, which happens to be the brainchild of one of the country's greatest editorial talents, Mia Timpano. If you haven't heard of her before, she mixes articulate thought with sheer innovative wit in many articles written for Frankie.

Yet when the laser ink starts to rub on your hands from the array of street publications on offer, who can say they don't prefer the smell of fresh gloss stock in the morning? If you subscribe to this belief, then you cannot possibly live without visiting Mag.nificent. Regularly updated it provides true insight into the magical world of magazine culture. While making my daily visit, I found the fresh & French culture offering, Clark. Art directed (in the true sense of the word) by Parra, it's seriously worth looking at purely for it's use of colour and editorial design. But sadly that's all you're going to get out of it, unless you speak French.

I found this video on their myspace page. I think it sums up their successfully new wave thinking.

I've had four French lessons so far this semester. If I ever hope to subscribe, I'm going to have to work a hell of a lot harder.

I'm going to hunt me some cool

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 08:50:00 +0000

The advertising industry is in a constant Sisyphean battle over the word cool. Phrases like 'fully sick' (thanks thorpie) and 'totally dope' have somehow been deciphered as 'cool' and used to sell a range of products from cereal to computer games. Many large agencies and marketing companies have employed cool hunters to do their dirty work. These cool hunters find out what 'today's youth' deem cool and sell it back to the agency at a premium. Websites like Cool Hunting and The Cool Hunter are slowly bringing this phenomenon into an era where it may be a palatable resource. Locally run NOWNOW is a similar initiative run by some Melbourne boys & girls with a penchant for sweet and mysterious parties and events. Yet the epitome of cool hunting has to be the ever-enigmatic Li Edelkoort of Trend Union. She claims to be 'the world's foremost trend predictor', working for clients such as Apple, L'Oreal, Siemens and Braun. Twice a year she and her trend spotting team release a 'trend book'. Highly sort after and respected, the latest issue tackles the possibilities of an 'emerging grey palette'.

In the capital of cool New York, Nylon Magazine have just released a book called The Nylon Book of Global Style profiling subterranean fashion from the streets of NY, Berlin, London, Paris, Tokyo, Copenhagen and our own Melbourne. In a similar vain, the uber-crude Vice Magazine did a recent yet brief run down of street fashions in the same cities. It seems everyone wants a piece of the cool cake, but is it even worth pursuing?

Journalist and cultural critic Mel Campbell is someone trying to find out. She wrote an opinion article for the Sydney Morning Herald on how cool and street are the marketing buzzwords of the moment, but may not be the Midas touch tentative clients think they are. She keeps a regular blog on the subject at Footpath Zeitgeist.

The now common way of tackling the cool debate is to snap at your fat CD, 'if you say it's cool, it's not'. But the irony is that cool hunters are constantly preaching what is and what is not cool. If a client wants their (insert boring product here) to become cool in the eyes of teenagers, I feel the future in consumer culture will be just as boring. At least the people who just want to be part of a dense and exciting society will continue to create so everyone can point and scream 'cool!'

Jump aboard the Groove Armada

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 13:31:00 +0000

Everybody has a favourite band, artist, act or album. They're the cds you've scratched until they can't play without jumping in the middle of your favourite bit. But I have to say, there are favourite bands and there are bands that change your life. Groove Armada is that band. Every album they've made has romanticised some part of my life. So you can imagine my aching anticipation for the release of their yet to be named new album. You can hear some of their tracks which 'may or may not end up on the album' at their website.

Yet if Groove Armada don't particularly tickle your musical nerve, it is at least worth checking out the video for the newly released single, Get Down. It's RABID!

Dirty Moleskine

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 08:43:00 +0000

Lots of people at uni carry a Moleskine. Be it a diary, sketchbook or notepad they are truly ubiquitous. Hell, even I have one... Make that four. But what makes them so desirable?

Maria Sebregondi is the brand equity and communication person over at Moleskine headquarters. She says it has something to do with the fact that "Moleskines [are] also a ‘book yet to be written’ and the notebook’s owner is the person writing it."

She says a lot more about the little black books in an interview with the Lovemarks website. She has a few interesting insights but nothing you wouldn't expect the brand equity manager to reel out after a long day in the office.

That's where blogging makes it's entrance. Moleskinerie is a blog run up until recently by a guy by the name of Armand B. Frasco. It's full of insights into the brand from a totally grassroots level. Effectively generating a constant stream of product research and testing, without Moleskine having to do anything. Well I think they grasped this fact last December when the owners of Moleskine, Kikkerland, decided to buy Moleskinerie from Armand Frasco. Let this be a motivation to all the bloggers reading this, you can make money from blogging!

To get back to the point, I found an interesting link on Moleskinerie to a Queenslander's blog who had some interesting and humorous insights to share about Moleskines and writing in general. He makes the candid point that, "do you really think Van Gogh, a dude who had to scum money off his brother so he could afford to eat, would fork out the equivelant of $32 for a notebook? Of course he wouldn't!"

And here I was reading Hemingway with the sounds of Coltrane in the background, staring at my Moleskine on the bench and thinking the damn breakthrough novel would write itself. Pshhh! I know where I'm going for inspiration now. And it's not within the pages of a Moleskine.

A guide to Owning Your C

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 01:50:00 +0000

This is the future of online advertising.

Denver agencies Cactus and AgencyNet (Not to be confused with 'CORNER OFFICE NOW!' - Agency.com), have created a visually stunning, bang on strategy online campaign for the state of Colorado in the US. It has just taken out the prestigious Gold Award at SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas. For those of you who are out of the loop, SXSW is the premiere awards and conference shindig for interactive agencies worldwide.

The website is called OwnYourC. Don't make a quick click and look job of it. Be sure to spend at least ten minutes exploring the mesmerising landscape that is C-Ville.

The message is all about making the right choices in life. You can customise the weather and the mood automatically changing what's on screen and the sounds you hear. But marketing the value of choices is a strange thing I hear you say? Well, it's a not so thinly guised push at educating teens about the health effects of tobacco. Its completely non-preachy form of communication is refreshing and the perfect tone for speaking to teens.

Along with the website there is a forum, viral ads, downloads and an 'OwnYourC' ice-cream truck that visits schools in the area. The comprehensive cross-platform strategy works it's butt off and succeeds. Unfortunately I couldn't find any post-campaign statistics to back it up, I have no doubt it became a major success.

Even if it didn't, it has paved the way for a flourishingly creative online industry in the future.

A case of The Narrows

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 06:10:00 +0000

The other day fellow friends and myself did a small gallery crawl around the CBD. The Narrows was one such gallery I harboured deep personal feelings for. Once you've braved the steps and the 'have I come to the right place' curse, the name makes sense in a completely literal way. The space is mini. But aren't all good things these days?

The current exhibition is almost over. (Tomorrow actually) But if you're in the flinders lane area you'd be a fool to not to go along. The walls are systematically covered with 1950's record sleeves designed by Ronald Clyne. He is a true master of form meeting function through the use of grids and geometric shapes.

The next exhibition looks just as intriguing. Beginning on the 23rd of March, the design works of Masato Takasaka will be on display. I'll be going. Will you?

Postcards are usually so terrible

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 04:05:00 +0000

What product do you think this is advertising?

(Read the comment to find out)

Chasing the kings of viral

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 09:16:00 +0000

Every so often a group of creative wonderchildren emerge from the woodwork and blow everyone away. My current non-advertising creative heroes are the wildly irreverent boys from The Chaser. There is a promo for the new series of their show doing the rounds on the ABC lately. It is beautiful. Here it is.

Yet this is not the reason for my chaser fuelled mirth. Along with this promo, the lads have run an outdoor campaign worldwide. The twist being their billboards are located in the most remote media locations they could find. If you happen to be strolling the streets of Baghdad, Iraq; Reykjavik, Iceland; Majistral Shopping Centre, Estonia; or Gujarat in India, you'll see their ads and the tumbleweeds rolling by.

The genius being their use of the web. Being masters of viral, they knew people would talk. And send.

I'd like to see these guys do a talk and focus group with the advertising industry. They are true pioneers and leaders.

Read more about it here

1

t@taitischia.com (Tait Ischia) — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 07:51:00 +0000

Dear Blogosphere,

You may remember me from recent frequent visiting. Now it is time to quit being an onlooker, and start being a participator. If you're reading this post at the top of the blog, come back soon. If you've decided to skip back to my very first post to see what it said, stop procrastinating and get back to work. First posts are never cool and they never will be. Just like clapping at the end of a movie. Who does that?

Yours faithfully,

Tait Ischia.

(Blog virgin)