Googopoly. The Future of Search and Social.

April 4th, 2012 • Intelligence, Knowledge, Media, Reports, Search, Strategy
Tags: Facebook, google, google plus, Insights, People, Prediction, Presentation, Report, Reports, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks, Study, trendstream, World

The problem with the artist formerly referred to as Social Media is – besides many other things – that it is in the agency business commonly understood as some crazy shit that you stage on Facebook to win a Cannes Lion in the end.

That of course is wrong. Specifically if you take a look at the rarely talked about opportunities of intertwining the worlds of search and social.

A while ago I had the pleasure to get to know Tom Smith, founder of Trendstream, the company behind the GlobalWebIndex and the great Wave studies conducted on behalf of McCann.

Tom’s following presentation, given at the International Search Summit in Munich, discusses the idea of what he describes as the ‘Googopoly’, where Google has risen to control most of what we see and do online.

Even though I doubt the relevance of google Plus I found Tom’s key takeaway extremely smart: It is not just about google+. It is about how google cements its position with a multitude of tools like Chrome, Android and many others in order to enforce search thinking into anything that’s social nowadays.

Great presentation. Thanks to We are Social for the link…

Read more »

Animated GIFs. The History of an Almost Art Form.

März 12th, 2012 • Experimental, Media
Tags: Cool, Creativity, Experimental, Funny, Gifs, hipsters, history, Meme, People, Tech, Tools, visual

Okay, let’s just get one thing straight: Animated Gifs are the best thing since sliced bread. And if you don’t agree you are worse than Kony which is pretty bad.

Some people actually consider animated GIFs as an art form (I prefer to use things like GifShop to create stupid loops like that). And the following 6 minute documentary takes us back to a time when GIFs’ were early crude incarnations (American flags, “under construction” signs, flames) before taking us through to the more sophisticated cinemagraphs around the web today. (via Co.Design).

There is one strangely annoying thing about this film…possibly about Animated Gifs in general. To quote a Youtube comment: if feels like ‘Look at this fucking hipster: the movie. But let’s not get distracted by that. AnimatedGifs are great. And I am not a hipster.

German Angst. Der Spiegel explains the Web.

Juli 3rd, 2011 • 24 comments Allgemein, Media
Tags: Der Spiegel, Germany, Politics, Print, Truth, visual, World

So if you want to get a sense of how media in Germany explains their readers the web go and check out tomorrow’s cover of ‘Der Spiegel’. This time it’s about the ‘Digital Underworld. The secret web of Internet Criminals.’

This is how ‘Der Spiegel’ explained Facebook a couple of months ago: ‘The insatiables’. Of course well promoted on Der Spiegel’s Facebook Page.

In 2009 Der Spiegel introduced its readers to the lawless failed state that the Internet actually is in ‘Web without Law’.

Read more »

Media Planning. A pretty good presentation on what it is…or what it wants to become.

Juni 8th, 2011 • Media, People
Tags: Future, Media, Presentation, presentations, Strategy, Trends

John V Willshire is Innovation Officer at PHD Media in London. And he seems to be a good media guy. He created this great presentation on ‘What is Media Planning’. I am usually not a big fan of media planning (see post below). But thanks. That’s interesting John (and to Griffin).

The Truth. This Time about Banner Advertising.

Juni 6th, 2011 • 1 comment Media
Tags: Agencies, banners, Funny, Media, Truth, World

Thanks to Anna Rosekerr for suming up this simple truth in a diagram. (via SellSell)

Intellectual Property. A Letter to Andy Harris.

Mai 25th, 2011 • Media, Social Business
Tags: Books, Business, Cool, freemium, Media, publishers, social business, Strategy

This is a letter of a fellow redditor to Andy Harris, author of the book “HTML, XHTML & CSS for Dummies“. I think the response came a bit unexpected.

Click the image to zoom in.

Back to the Future. The Apple Knowledge Navigator.

Mai 24th, 2011 • Experimental, Ideas, Media, Mobile, Tech, Tools
Tags: 1980s, Apple, Brands, Cool, Creativity, Experimental, Future, Ideas, iPad, iPhone, Mobile, products, Tech, Tools, Touch

The following video was filmed in 1987 and stages a conceptual Apple design called the ‘Knowledge Navigator’. It is a concept described by former Apple Computer CEO John Sculley in his 1987 book, Odyssey. It describes a device that can access a large networked database of hypertext information, and use software agents to assist searching for information. Gesture control is included as well.

Apple produced several concept videos showcasing the idea. All of them featured a tablet style computer with numerous advanced capabilities. And I guess it reminds you of something. If you watch closely you will realize this video plays in the year 2010 or 2011…

Good Morning. The Return of ‘The Media Award Tram Station’.

April 29th, 2011 • Media, Underway
Tags: Ads, Agencies, Amsterdam, Awards, Funny, Ideas, Media, Outdoor, Truth, Underway, visual, World, WTF

It’s not always easy to work in the center of Amsterdam. Well, most of the time it is. But then there are days when you step out of your tram at the central Leidseplein square and the first thing you think is WTF?

Quite often this has got something to do with my particular tram station which I call ‘The Media Award Tram Station’. Simply because it serves as award entry for pretty much any Media angency in the world. You know…when they spend EUR 1 million on media…and EUR 995,000 run just into this installation there to make the campaign look great in Cannes?

I have seen everything being built on top, attached to or dug underneath the tram station. But I haven’t seen what I have seen this morning. It looked a little something like this…

Rattenfänger. Germany and the Birth of Digital Populism.

März 5th, 2011 • 12 comments Allgemein, Media, People, Politics
Tags: bild, Germany, Guttenberg, Media, People, Politics, World

One thing in advance – this article has no reason whatsoever to fuel a stereotype towards Germans. But it aims to highlight a couple of recent developments that I find alarming in Germany and abroad (think Berlusconi). So to begin with I have to make a confession: I was always and I am still interested in Propaganda. I think there is no way to think about marketing in general and earned media in particular and to forget about basic principles of mass mobilisation. Sounds terrible but it is the truth.

Wikipedia agrees: ‘Propaganda is generally an appeal to emotion, not intellect. It shares techniques with advertising and public relations, each of can be thought of as propaganda that promotes a commercial product or shapes the perception of an organization, person, or brand.’ No doubt, as I am a left-liberal German and as I am more than aware of my country’s history this still is a problematic approach. Using the word Propaganda means to willfully manipulate people to follow you – something that was perfected by the lunatics around Josef Goebbels in the vicious and finally successful attempt to turn the German people into a nation of murderers. Being interested in the mechanisms behind it implies that you silently agree with the political implications of Mass Propaganda. Especially in Germany.

To pass this point quickly – no, I don’t. And I would also like to pass Godwin’s Law quickly which states that the probabilty of a comparison involving Hitler and Nazis is 1 the longer a political discussion takes place. No, I won’t compare anyone with Goebbels, with procedures of Nazi Propaganda, Stalin’s propaganda (with, in parts much more elaborated manipulation tactics) or the totalitarian mass communication in North Korea. Let’s just accept for a second that Propaganda is out there and as all of us are part of broader groups with a certain habit to elect leaders, buy products, or go to war…there will also always be mechanisms of mass manipulation involved.

The Herd
Being social is a key evolutionary strategy. We are, as Mark Earls called it, ‘the super social ape’. The normal Homo Sapiens is neither willing nor is he fit to act alone – we normally love to interact with others. A thesis that is supported by hundreds of sociological, political, psychological, biological, game theoretical and anthropological tests. But, as Mister Earls in his highly recommended book ‘Herd’ writes…

“We use other people’s brains to navigate the world: to acquire skills and practices, and to access knowledge systems of long-dead strangers. We call this ‘culture’.”

This is indeed interesting. The theory of a collaborative super social ape describes a very constructive being. A higher organism that wants to become better and improve. An ape that learns new techniques and maybe the use of tools to be fitter for a challenging environment. But what Mark Earls highlights is a very insecure organism. An organism that constantly looks left and right to act in accordance with the rules of his broader group.

Just check out the following video about how a Mexican Wave starts…

Yes, this is fun. But any mass group behaviour contains an element of peer pressure, of violence if you like. Be part of the Mexican Wave or be the outsider. In group or out group? There is no place for much individualism simply because nobody wants to be excluded from his peers. We perceive that as capital punishment.

Read more »

Helge Tennø. Brands in the digital media environment.

Oktober 22nd, 2010 • Brands, Media, People
Tags: Brands, Business, Cool, Display, Helge Tennø, Media, Prediction, Presentation, Strategy, Trends, Truth, visual

I am a fan of Helge Tennø‘s presentations. Helge is a very insightful planner at Scandinavian Design Group and he blogs on 180360720.  Nevertheless there is a massive flaw in his decks. They are definitely too well designed. The pure beauty of his decks sometimes covers their insights. Please Helge, do me favor and integrate more cliparts (wizards and stuff) to avoid distraction.

His latest deck is about the future of media brands in a digital age. Helge’s claim: Media companies need to understand the value of their direct relationship with the reader. And how they, by collaborating with commercial companies, can grow and extend this value and monetize it. Simply because display advertising is not relevant anymore and there is no way they can survive the traditional way.