This video has been floating around my office and the twitter and blogosphere now for a few weeks. It's one of the most beautifully done/packaged research bits I've seen. Informative and easy to watch.
Here are the points I found most interesting and why:
1. Gen X was the boss of their bedroom. This wasn't a huge point in the video and you could have missed it easily. But just this past weekend as I was visiting my parents for Turkey Day, I read an article in my hometown newspaper, The Richmond Times Dispatch from The Wall Street Journal titled, "Who's the Boss? Sorry, Kids. It Isn't You." by Jeff D. Opdyke. It was about the power today's tweens have.... more and more they are empowered key decision makers among their family. Perhaps then, if Gen X was the boss of their own bedroom, Gen Y is now the boss of the entire house. An interesting shift. This car commercial for the 2011 Highlander really gets at the driving the new TWEEN decision making paradigm. "Just because you're a parent, doesn't mean you have to be lame."
2. Gen Y is more hyperbolic. It's never been easier to fit in but it's certainly never been harder to stand out. It's an interesting balance that continues to be difficult for teens/tweens to deal with. But is this true? Or is it that there have always been hyperbolic tweens/teens and now, more than ever, they are getting our attention through various forms of media... Is it a certain type of kid that seeks out the attention of media and thus has that innate capacity for hyperbole and "acting."
3. Gen X was more competitive. The web has arguably taught us the importance of and power in collaboration. I think the West Coast Jerkin' movement proved that Gen Y really understands the concept of collaboration.
4. Being normal has become boring. I guess they will all become advertisers huh? Kiiidddding. I'm not exactly sure what normal ever really meant but I guess in many ways it meant being conventional (however that was prescribed by your geographic region or high school cliques). It is interesting and fascinating that Gen Y is exposed to more ideas, more people, more concepts, more cultures, etc. etc. And as a result, as the video said, their identities transcend where they are from and it's now cool to know and be various things at the same time. That isn't just Gen Y though. Technically I am Gen Y and that certainly wasn't the case when I was in high school. Also, this concept makes me wonder what does that mean for tribes. While out of vogue, are they dead forevermore? They say things are cyclical. Is this another instance of that? Or do they still exist in certain capacities? Still thinking through this one through...
5. Gen Y is uniting work and pleasure. This is so true. We did a Brooklyn field trip at work and people are seriously making things. With platforms like etsy and the web at large, it's never been easier to combine work and pleasure. Levi's and Jeep got it right in their recent campaigns (we are all workers and the things we make, make us). PBS has a special I accidentally watched one night called Roadtrip Nation that calls itself a movement designed to inspire teens/tweens to "define your own road in life." Here is a video about it but the point is, you see this spirit everywhere right now. I think Gen Y grew up being told they could do anything and be anything if they worked hard and put their mind to it. Only seems natural that they would want and seek to blur the line between pleasure and play.
People have opinions and they aren't afraid to share them. This Lebron Nike spot and consumer generated response is the perfect example of the power of social media... Note the consumer generated piece has garnered about as many impressions as the original spot. I think this is a good thing for Nike and Lebron. They've started a dialogue, which can be hard to do although the situation makes it a modern day drama and let's be honest - people love and are attracted to drama (it's why reality shows do so well of course). In this case, Nike has instigated a conversation and now I'm wondering how Lebron/Nike will keep the conversation rolling... or if they even will. Can't wait to see what comes next. Better than a soap opera I say.
Americans are currently engaged in a Food Revolution. We think about the sourcing, the ingredients, the environmental impact, the health impact. We are curious. We are tired of our frozen dinner, lunches and on the go everything. We want to learn about foods and food systems, we want to oogle at beautiful food displays and preparations and we want to be the artists of our plates at home. Chefs are the new celebrities. Urban farmers are the new trend masters.
It's fun to see it happening all at once. I think we're at the tipping point. Sierra Mist is even changing it's formula to be more, natural, more real, more like food.
Barney's is in on the trend too. It's such a diversion for high fashion to talk about food. Their holiday campaign is called, "Have a Foodies Holiday." YUM! This NYTimes article explains it all but I love this explanation of the concept by Barney's Creative Director:
“I’m interested in the dissonance between fashion and food. Whenever we do an event, the fashion people say, ‘No food please. Let’s just serve vodka.’ But our customers are much more interested in Bobby Flay and Keith McNally than in Lindsay Lohan or the Kardashians. Chefs are definitely the new celebrities.”
There's a new mini-documentary that's been released online called Influencers. It's all about trend setters. People who express themselves in ways that others want to listen to, react to and engage in. As one of the interviewees put it influencers emerge from places where people assemble based on passion.
Here's trend that takes the Pioneers concept that Levi's is touting to the extreme: RE-WILDING.
Here's a write up about it (more can be found at Green Anarchy)
Rewilding and reconnecting with the earth is a life project. It is not limited to intellectual comprehension or the practice of primitive skills, but instead, it is a deep understanding of the pervasive ways in which we are domesticated, fractured, and dislocated from our selves, each other, and the world, and the enormous and daily undertaking to be whole again. ... Rewilding is the process of becoming uncivilized.
Supposedly Re-Wilding communities are popping up all over like this one called Wildroots in NC.
The photographs are bye Lucas Foglia and I found them through the blog Animal.
I think it's an interesting concept that reflects the desire that we all sometimes feel to get away from the hub bub and hectic lifestyle. To unplug from it all and escape. A pro-active choice to live a simple kind of life. Perhaps not too far from the urban gardening trend. These groups just took that desire and multiplied it by 1000.
What I find amusing is that they use the Internet and other modern technology to promote themselves. Ohhhh the irony.
Fascinating non-the-less. And even more importantly, a very raw glimpse at an innate human need, a very real, even if suppressed desire to get back to nature to rediscover simplicity. Something that society at large is aching for, even if only now and again, in our ever advanced, complex world today.
I think it's silly that planning is broken into so many specialities. Connections planning. Channel planning. Account planning. Media planning. Brand planning. Strategic planning. Cultural planning. Digital planning. And the newest kid on the block - Propagation planning.
What is with the titles? Can't planning just be... planning?
Call me crazy but last time I checked our job was to find the right problems to solve and then solve them. Any and all of them. We should be ideas people. Smart on consumers - their behavior and their opinions. We should be students of what they want - able and eager to decipher what they say they want and what they really want.
I don't want to be a dinosaur (although I do want to be an ideasaur). I don't want to think only about the relevant TV and print message. I want to study people and the way they think and behave in their entirety. And then I want to help come up with ideas to help clients sell stuff to them. Help ideas spread to them. Help them spread ideas. Help messages reach them. Help better their lives. Help them impress their friends. In short help cool ideas make it to as many people as possible while still affecting the bottom line be it a corporate entity or a non-profit. I want to be about ideas. And I don't want my ideas and my contribution to be limited by my title. The end. Is that so much to ask for?
I think we need to stop segmenting planning, stop focusing on titles and stop trying to come up with the latest and greatest discipline within our discipline. Instead, we should use all that brain power to come up with the simple things that we should ALL, as whatever planner, be good at anyways, regardless of what media is involved... and that is, finding the right problems to solve and then helping figure out how to solve them.
Sorry to any digital, connections, engagement, etc. planner if I've offended you in any way.
I think technology is to blame for all of this. It's undeniable importance is what keeps spawning all of these new, emerging types of planning. The secret is, the digital world is SO integrated into consumers lives. We should all be digital planners if we are planners at all. We should know how our consumers behave in this space and be comfortable with what's going on. As the sweet spot of marketing grows older, our main consumers will soon be digital natives anyways. We should all be ready.
The info-graphic to your right is what lit a fire in my belly to finally write this post I've been contemplating for some time...
I was walking around Union Square the other day. As I skipped by the Puma store (jk, grown women don't skip... or do they?), I saw the window ad version of this: This is what went through my mind: "Humans against hibernation? How do they know I hibernate in the winter? How do they know me? Did someone from ad land hear me talking on the train last winter about hibernating? There are more like me out there in the world? Are they talking to me? Do their coats generate thermal heat? Is it a new technology? O M G!"
What a great insight to leverage. I hate how lethargic I feel in the winter. I hate that I don't want to leave the house and 85% of the conversations I have are about a) how cold I am at that moment, b) how cold it will be in the next few days, or c) how much I can't wait for it to not be cold again (re: when will spring get here already? is it summer yet?)... The only thing is, for those of us from the South who are phobic of the cold, Puma taps into a very real (and emotional) insight and gets our attention but leaves us wondering... do their products deliver a function of superior protection from the innate and compelling desire to hibernate?
Setting aside the answer for now, I love that they use the word hibernate. It's the fun, actual, real way people acknowledge their laziness and hate of cold weather.
It's super smart... but along with trying to sell me winter jackets, I wish they would extend their offer to include trips to the Caribbean! People who seek a warm, resort get-away is a definitely a human against hibernation!
It's not that I'm late on this, it's just that I think I just realized its significance...
I was on the train last night and I heard two fashion students talking about THE meat dress worn by Gaga. I remember the flurry of headlines when it first happened and these students were talking about some assignment that revolved around the concept and the meaning of the meat dress.
The one guy kept saying, "This assignment is so stupid." But the girl he was with exclaimed in frustration, "DON'T YOU GET IT, THIS IS HISTORY! H-I-S-T-O-R-Y!"
I thought back to the Met exhibit, "American Women: Fashioning A National Identity" and realized that 10 years from now, the meat dress might just make its way into the exhibit.
It was such an outrageously shocking outfit that made headlines for being SO controversial (PETA protests), making such a statement, and having many supposed meanings ("red dress" on the red carpet, gay rights military political statement, prime rib of America = equality, etc.).
For so long celebrities have worn t-shirts to make statements. This took it to a whole new level. I wonder if the message she was advertising with the meat dress made the impact it was intended to...
I love taking bubble baths. They are relaxing, they help me fall asleep, they allow me time to think, gather my thoughts and just unwiiiiinnnnndddd.
I just moved into a place with a "soaking" tub (re: ginormous tub). For the first time since moving to NYC I went to purchase bubble bath. Not just any bubble bath. Organic, natural bubble bath.
But there is no such thing for adults. Organic, natural bubble bath lives in kiddy-land.
It's hard to believe and I know you might think I'm exaggerating. I'm not. I consider myself a master at "the Google." But I've Googled the hell out of organic, natural bubble bath and my final purchase was for 100% pure Strawberry Ice Cream Bubble Bath.
I see a hole in the market that I want to fill. Get ready for my Organic, all natural bath product line. It's already in the making. Ingredients have been ordered. Brand names have been considered!
Recently I've been thinking a lot about the advertising that really works for me... and not advertising that I like b/c it is creative, but advertising that drives me to actually look something up on the Internet or purchase one product over another. Here are a couple of examples from when I "caught" myself:
1. Standing in the tea aisle, trying to purchase my 16th box of tea (that I probably won't remember to make b/c I will inevitably put it on the high shelf in my kitchen). I couldn't figure out which pack of tea to purchase. That pack looks pretty, that pack says all natural... what to buy, what to buy... and on and on. I ended up going with the one that was pretty in packaging (obviously) but also said "CERTIFIED ORGANIC" (even though it wasn't my usual brand). I realized that those little labels really work. They act as a standard of quality and help consumers wade through the millions of choices staring back at us on the shelves. It makes the exasperatingly long (and frustrating) selection process a wee bit easier. 2. I was walking down 10th Ave and passed a bus stop with an ad for Piperlime. I am a frequent visitor of online shops like ShopBop, GiltGroupe, ShopStyle and etc. The ad copy read something like this, "We can do better than T-shirts." And immediately, I was like, "YES! we can"... I thought to myself, "I want to do better than t-shirts but it's more expensive, do you have a solution for me?!" I ended up looking up the ad campaign online and realized that it has had polarizing reactions. Ad Age wrote an article on the campaign and it looks like there's some other fun (or just poking fun) copy in the other ads that I haven't had the pleasure of seeing just yet. One reads, "Say no to sweatpants," and another, "If the frienemy sees you out in public in your TV-watching clothes, the frienemy wins." (note: I also learned it was done by Butler Shine. Kudos. I love it.). It got my attention, my consideration and drove me to the website.
The first as is - a billboard for Heineken that read: Sometimes Saturday is better on a Tuesday. It does a great job of selling the category. Not sure why it is unique to Heineken specifically but at least it says something and gave the brand personality. It made me chuckle. It speaks to a laid back, care free person and helped me say, "I know the kind of person who believes that. I believe that. Heineken believes that. I identify."
The second is a Chrysler ad. It was found in a magazine. The copy is beautiful but it's long for a print ad and it's hard to read. I think you could literally cut out the copy, make it a viral video and use one single line for the print ads: "Let's make cars people want to make out in again." Love it. It's big, it's lofty, it's nostalgic, it's happy, it's a romantic, emotional notion and nod to the past.
I am going to try to take pictures of and scan in these ads to share with you. Enjoy!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
"Great stories agree with our worldview. The best stories don't teach people anything new. Instead, the best stories agree with what the audience already believes and makes the members of the audience feel smart and secure when reminded how right they were in the first place."
Most people say the why. Ask why, dig deeper into the why. But what about the how? The how is important. The why makes us better thinkers. Deeper, more insightful thinkers. But the how is action oriented. It says, "Maybe there aren't many new ideas. But there are new things you can do with old ideas." Planning should be as much about the how as it is about the why.
I've been thinking a lot about the Super Bowl. Yay for the Saints. Everyone knows though that the commercials have their own bowl during this time too.
I just read an article in the New York Times about NOSTALGIA being the common thread in the ads (In Super Bowl Commercials, the Nostalgia Bowl) and while I think that's true, did anyone notice the kind of humor just about every single ad played too? IRREVERENCE.
While some of it was funny, I felt like I was being hit over the head with a bat of bad humor. Maybe because I'm not the typical male consumer but there were plenty of groups of women where I was at with no men taking down pitchers of beer and eating wings.
So there were lots of babies, lots of people without clothing, lots of nostalgia and lots of irreverence. I enjoyed a good laugh or two courtesy of snickers and the T. Pain voice changer Bud Light spot.
I thought there were two ads that really cut through the nostalgia and irreverence clutter and while they didn't make me laugh, they left me thinking of them still now days later. Google's ad that was a love story (my friend Tristan Smith from grad school wrote) actually received applause from all the ladies at the bowling ally where we were watching (bowling for the Super Bowl... get it? cute). And the NFL lift off commercial stopped everyone speechless. Kudos to them both.
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