Posts Tagged ‘Lifestyle’

Ray Ban’s Bright Light. For Once a Branded App That Makes Sense.

Oooooh brands and mobile apps. Yes, all of them want ‘something mobile’. No, just few of them should actually develop an app. The formula is simple: Nobody is interested in commercials and even fewer people are interested in branded apps. Except if they have a purpose.

Bright Light by Ray Ban may be such a rare case of a purposeful mobile application that even has a brand value. Check out the video below and tell me what you think. By the way: Ray Ban is my brand of the day anyway because of this fantastic print ad.

Insights. TNS Launches Largest Global Study on Digital Behaviour.

Research company TNS has launched its 2011 version of TNS Digital Life. Based on conversations with over 72,000 people in 60 countries this is the world’s largest global study into people’s attitudes and behaviours online.

I particularly like how they underline the necessity to think (before yelling Facebook or iPad or Flashmob):

‘Digital waste’ pollutes the online world as brands fail to listen to what people want.

It [the study] found that 57 per cent of people*** in developed markets* do not want to engage with brands via
social media – rising to 60 per cent in the US and 61 per cent in the UK. Instead, misguided digital
strategies are generating mountains of digital waste, from friendless Facebook accounts to blogs no
one reads. This is being combined with ever-increasing content produced by consumers – the study
shows 47 per cent of digital consumers now comment about brands online.

The result is huge volumes of noise, which is polluting the digital world and making it harder for
brands to be heard.’

Of course: This study does not at all say brands shouldn’t be digital. The opposite is true. But it repeats the one thing that I never get tired of to repeat: People are not interested in a brand’s content. And they are not interested in brand experiences. They are interested in stuff that is relevant for them – and sometimes this is a brand.

Check out TNS Digital Life here .

Thanks to Rubbish Corp for the link.

The Good Life. Or: Why I should have become Lifestyle Blogger.

It is actually a strange thing: while we all watch mainstream communication become democratic we can also witness new types of very marketing-focused relationships as they form. Especially at the intersection of mainstream lifestyle brands and the so-called multipliers: meet the lifestyle bloggers.

No major brand can nowadays live without an elaborated digital PR strategy. The path to successful blogger outreach is not simple. Today’s lifestyle bloggers do not just react on one of your emails. You really have to ask for their participation and offer them something really nice. Something they really, really want to blog about. Otherwise it wouldn’t be earned media, right?

Whudat.de for example is one of my favorite lifestyle blogs in Germany. I like MC Winkel‘s blend of music, art, web finds…and product recommendations. But I also know that lifestyle blogging has become a very convenient method to enjoy a bit more industry attention than Average Joe. Below MC Winkel’s post about his (apparently) great days at the Santorini Grace Hotel we can find a statement: ‘If you also want to get featured in one of Germany’s leading lifestyle blogs feel free to contact me…’

No disrespect. This is just how it works. MC Winkel enjoys Mercedes test-drives in Teneriffa, trips to Australia (sponsored by South Australia’s Tourism Board and Quantas) and does not get tired to comment that

  • he is absolutely convinced of this product/car/hotel
  • and if you also have a fantastic product/car/hotel you would like to get featured, contact him
Am I jealous? No doubt, I am. Am I surprised or is it new? No, it isn’t. It is just a global trend in which the mutually beneficial relationship between lifestyle bloggers and the industry becomes more than evident. Of course: The Josh Spears’, the Cool Hunters and many many others are way beyond being just independent grassroot journalists. We are in fact talking about (not so niche) media outlets that may not (yet) belong to Rupert Murdoch. But that is only the case because a successful lifestyle blogger nowadays has a more than pleasant life – pampered and petted by the world’s most enjoyable brands, products and their PR agencies.

I don’t think any successful blogger nowadays is bribable. But why should you be bribable if the deal is so obvious? The more successful lifestyle bloggers have so nice experiences and products to chose from – they wouldn’t even think about logging in to their CMS for something just average.  And we all know Mercedes wouldn’t offer key lifestyle bloggers an average car. Right?

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Anrealage. An 8-Bit Showroom in Tokyo.

8-Bit? Yawn. We have seen pretty much everything in 8 Bit already. Except a store concept. Experimental Japanese designer Kunihiko Morinaga has built this showroom for the F/W collection of his label Anrealage in Tokyo. I think 8-bit is pretty close to getting buried very soon – but I think Mr Morinaga’s showroom is a fantastic final scream.

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Great Ads. Sony PS3, Long Live Play.

Some campaigns are different. Sony’s “Long Live Play” PS3 Campaign may be one of them. Playstation brand’s ad agency Deutsch Inc. really did a great job. But just check it out…

Adbusting. More Skateparks for Denmark.

I have to admit since Denmark found it necessary to re-initiate border controls because of some right-wingers there is something dislikable about Danish politics. Anyway Ali’s Skate Gear, a Skate shop in Copenhagen, just showed that this is not true at all. Check out their nice adbusting idea for more Skate Parks.

Well…to be honest – I think it was an award project idea by DDB Denmark. But anyway.

via whudat

Genius. Diesel launches Excelbook.

I just stumbled upon this wonderful concept gem: the Diesel Excelbook. Even though its branding value as an application is close to zero it is just one more amendment to the great platform that Diesel created with its Be Stupid philosophy. Simple, fun, stupid…well done Diesel. Check out the video…it is pretty selfexplanatory.

via Digial Buzz Blog

Cognitive Cities. Now they go local.

Three months ago my friends from Third Wave and Your Neighbours in Berlin staged CoCities – a conference focused on the future of the city and how technology can transform the way people interact. I actually bought a ticket but eventually did not make it (don’t ask why). I know the guys were extremely nervous about the outcome of this experiment. Putting urban planners, designers, technology geeks, environmental experts, public officials, and others into one room in quite a new conference format isn’t exactly what you do every day. And I know the guys did not just want to stage just another conference.

Great that the conference was considered as very enlightening novely particularly in Germany. And even better – CoCities goes local and might soon be in a city near you. The so-called Cognitive Cities Salon comes to Amsterdam on June 30 to De Verdieping (Wibautstraat 127, Amsterdam).

The general idea behind the salons is simple: create an local event, from locals, for locals – curated by CoCities. Those will be small events, not larger than 100 people. A major part of those events is to find the appropriate partners. Luckily, in Amsterdam we are very well served.

With VURB, Visible Cities and Volume Magazine, we have a great lineup of partners to create an exciting event for Amsterdam. There will be an entry fee, but we will try to keep that as low as possible.

So. I am definitely going to join this time (it’s in my hometown so I cannot mix up the flights). And if you happen to be in Amsterdam, join in.

Do also check out the conference recap…

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I love it. Russia’s History told by the worker of a Tetris Factory.

I guess the following film tells one of the smartest stories in a music videos that I have seen so far. It was created by the ‘world’s best neo-post-post-music hall anti-folk band’ Pig with the Face of a Boy and it stages the story of Russia from the perspective of a worker…well…who is responsible to spin the Tetris blocks that fall down from the sky. A great metaphor to describe life in Russia since the 1870s and a very nice, clever song. Well done guys. I hope you become really, really successful. Check out the band here

A new Hotspot. Amsterdam wants to become Appsterdam.

“If you want to make movies, go to Hollywood. If you want to make musicals, go to Broadway. If you want to make apps, go to Appsterdam.” – Mike Lee, mur.mu.rs

About a month ago I praised the qualities of Amsterdam in an article I wrote for the German ad magazine Page. One thing that struck me in this city is the level of innovation here as well as the city’s clear objective to support new industries and get them to Amsterdam. I have never met anyone from Amsterdam’s city council but in contradiction to many other cities there seems to be a clear vision here on how to shape Holland’s capitol from both, a cultural AND economical perspective. That’s why Amsterdam is also hometown to some of the most creative agencies in the world – the city father simply subsidize taxation here to relocate the right blend of industries on the rivers of the Amstel.

I wasn’t really suprised when I read Mike Lee’s open letter on mur.mu.rs. It’s a call for conquest. And appeal for app developers to settle over to Amsterdam and to rebrand it as Appsterdam. Funny to read because it really reads like a letter from the colonies but at the same time strong and intelligent.

I have traveled the world looking for the most livable city on earth, a place with the ideal balance of quality and price, history and vibrance, culture and innovation. That place is Amsterdam. (…)

The success of Apple’s platforms has been in no small part due to its unique developer community. Our community is unique not just in technology, but in business. (…) We cooperate, because we are friends. If one of us does something to piss the other off, we don’t call out the lawyers, we call up our friend, and talk it over like people. We don’t just attend conferences, we get together at conferences, go out together, and have a good enough time together to generate blackmail material sufficient to nip litigation in the bud.

Mike’s point – a new industry needs a friendly hospitable place that invites them to work together and to exchange ideas. And his call to app developers all over the world to relocate to Amsterdam isn’t just an abstract one…

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Davaidavai? What’s that?

Hi, I am Gerald Hensel and I am your host tonight.

Davaidavai is a blog about the stuff which drives my professional life. Digital ideas, social media, advertising in and beyond the 1s and 0s that seem to have taken control of pretty much everything… I work as Strategy Consultant for Blast Radius, Amsterdam. To check out what I do beyond davaidavai, simply follow this link. And don't forget to send me a message in case there is anything left to say.

The thoughts and opinions on this aite are my own, and not that of my employer.

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