Using digital for the big idea

Ever since Millward Brown started publishing effectiveness data about using digital for branding in the mid 90's, I've been sold on the idea.

Richard Huntington has written a nice short piece on the subject that is worth a read.

Maybe it's time to free advertising from the need to represent the entirety of the brand idea and recognise that other disciplines are capable of doing this in a richer and more rewarding way. In particular, for many brands it's their online experience that should be delivering the big brand idea in all its technicolour glory. Advertising, whether offline or digital, is always sharper when it has latched onto a specific business problem rather than wafting around conjuring up beautiful brand worlds.

The bad news for ad agencies would be the decline of the set-piece brand ad as the discipline got back to the job of selling. Seeing advertising recast as the new below-the-line discipline is unlikely to be popular in Soho.

On the other hand, the good news for ad agencies is that few of the brand's other business partners can frame the big idea in the first place. And this remains the most serious challenge for standalone digital agencies in the era of the big brand idea.

Digital may be one of the very few marketing disciplines that can cope with the enormous bandwidth of today's ideas, but unless those agencies have the intellectual and creative firepower to conceive of the idea, they'll struggle to usurp the traditional ad agency as the primary brand partner.

Amen to that.


Technorati Tags: advertising, strategy, branding, blogosphere

Bella Italia, part due

Katja took some fab pics in Italy. I managed to snap a few, too. Here's a set of the digi-photos. Stay tuned for a new gallery on crossprocess.com ...

Rome was fun, and the Vatican was incredible.



In Ravello, you'll find an incredible view of the Amalfi coast and some of the best organic tomato and mozzrella you'll ever eat. The thought alone is making me hungry.



Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Theresa is in Santa Maria della Vittoria, where you'll also find this lovely figure.



The set from the trip is on Flickr.

Technorati Tags: personal, photography, travel, italy

Bob Dylan sent me a message

I think this is very smart. Nice spot Zeyd.




Technorati Tags: viral

Americans giving up friends, sex for Web life

I’m pretty sure Belinda Goldsmith (Reuters) meant to say the yanks living in the USA, not the ones living abroad. At least I hope so.

Surfing the net has become an obsession for many Americans with the majority of U.S. adults feeling they cannot go for a week without going online and one in three giving up friends and sex for the Web.

A survey asked 1,011 American adults how long they would feel OK without going on the Web, to which 15 percent said a just a day or less, 21 percent said a couple of days and another 19 percent said a few days.

Only a fifth of those who took part in an online survey conducted by advertising agency JWT between Sept 7 and 11 said they could go for a week.

"People told us how anxious, isolated and bored they felt when they are forced off line," said Ann Mack, director of trend spotting at JWT, which conducted the survey to see how technology was changing people's behavior.

"They felt disconnected from the world, from their friends and family," she told Reuters.

The poll, released on Wednesday, found the use of cell phones and the Internet were becoming more and more an essential part of life with 48 percent of respondents agreeing they felt something important was missing without Internet access.

More than a quarter of respondents -- or 28 percent -- admitted spending less time socializing face-to-face with peers because of the amount of time they spend online.

It also found that 20 percent said they spend less time having sex because they are online.

Cell phones won out over television in a question asking which device people couldn't go without but the Internet trumped all, regarded as the most necessary.

"It is taking away from offline activities, among them having sex, socializing face-to-face, watching TV and reading newspapers and magazines. It cuts into that share," said Mack.

"I don't suppose their partners are too pleased about it.

"Mack said a clear trend to emerge from the survey was the increasing need for mobility with people no longer satisfied with just broadband access from home and wanting hand-held devices like iPhones and BlackBerrys.

JWT, whose parent company is WPP, has come up with a new advertising category for people whose lives are so tied up with new technology.

"We are calling them 'digitivity denizens,' those who see their cell phones as an extension of themselves, whose online and offline lives are co-mingled and who would chose a Wi-Fi connection over TV any day," said Mack.

"This is how they communicate, entertain and live."

Technorati Tags: research, stats, usa, yanks, blogosphere

Cois Fharraige



I was in County Clare, Ireland this weekend at the innagural Cois Fharraige Surf and Music Festival with Sony Ericsson. It was fantastic. We stayed at Doonbeg which highly recommend. The hotel is lovely and Greg Norman's golf course is a masterpiece.

Some photos are here.


Technorati Tags: travel, sony.ericsson, doonbeg, cois.fharraige, golf, iris

Addio Luciano

Today, the world lost a maestro. Luciano Pavarotti died today at his home in Modena. He was 71.

When K and I lived in NYC, we saw him perform several times at the Met. He is the most incredible, passionate and gifted singer I have ever heard. There is nothing like his voice. He filled the concert hall like no other. It resonated. It went through me. It moved me to tears. I will miss him.

The NYTimes has a nice article about his life. This is a link to his official site. Wikipedia has a nice page, too.

Vesti La Giubba (Pagliacci)

Miss Sarajevo (with U2):

Recondita Armonia (Tosca)

It's a Man's World (with James Brown):

Nessun Dorma (Turandot):


Vanish, o night!
Set, stars!
Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win!
I will win!
I will win!


Technorati Tags: music, personal

Facebook Opens Up To Public Search

Must admit, I have very mixed emotions about this.

As Om writes, "We are slowly leaving digital litter all over the web, and some day it is going to cause problems."

That said, we all make choices, and one of the big choices we've made over the past 10 years is to not pay for stuff online. But we all pay, one way or another. Increasingly, we pay with information and data instead of cash. You want Facebook? Don't want to pay $9.99/month to get it? Well, ask yourself this: How do you expect Facebook to stay in business? Makes the idea of data gathering and the use of personal information a bit easier to understand, doesn't it?

Here's Scott Karp's take on it. Much more discussion here.

Technorati Tags: social.networks, facebook, privacy

Went to Italy and discovered Beirut


One of the many pleasant surprises during our trip to Italy was discovering Beirut.

Sounds funny, right?

Wondering around behind the Piazza Navona, Katja and I went into a shop where they were playing Beruit. I didn't know them, but I liked the track they were playing. Turns out it was called "Postcards from Italy" ... Go figure.

Long story short, they're playing the Roundhouse in London on 11 November. I just bought a pair of tickets. Maybe you want to as well.

Beirut were one of the largest surprise hits of 2006 receiving widespread acclaim for its innovative combination of Balkan and pop melodies. Even more surprising was that it was the work of one 19-year-old kid, Zach Condon, and done almost completely in his bedroom with Pro Tools. This autumn Beirut return to the Roundhouse following the release of their new album The Flying Club Cup- a notable shift in sound from Gulag. Their live set is a glorious sweep of music, striking in its emotional content and stunning in its scope.

They're a bit strange. "Gulag Orkestar" is a gypsy-esque pop extravaganza. You can listen to them on their official site or on MySpace. You've been warned. :-)

http://www.beirutband.com/

Technorati Tags: music