Art Heist

Believing that an "artful world is a better world," they've taken museum-quality canvas prints out of the museum and to the people. Distributed throughout five hidden Los Angeles locations, these twenty-six 40" x 60" canvases, are just asking to be taken home and proudly hung on your wall.

Guest Post: Chris Tuff

Guest Post: Chris Tuff // @christuff

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When Keith asked me to blog about what inspires me, I couldn't pinpoint just one thing. Then it hit me: my passion is people. Heading up social media at an agency built around advocacy means that people are the core ingredient in everything I do. I find myself walking down the hallways of 22squared constantly smiling, smacking high fives and genuinely connecting with all the bright, fun people who surround me every day. I talk to my coworkers about how their awkward dates went, the ridiculousness of being a new parent, killer advertising... and if you peel back these things, what truly fires me up to come to work are ideas worth sharing. This same concept is being played out in social media: a Like, a ReTweet, a comment, a +1, they all help individuals confirm core their desires to share with and receive affirmation from each other. And now, for the first time ever, brands can enter consumers' personal (social) spaces and evoke these same desires, thus creating a bond they've never before been able to achieve. I can go on and on about how this is going to be the key to all successful advertising in the future, but instead I'll just urge you to ask yourself one thing: "When I interact with people around me, what do they do that evokes my emotions? And how can I get a brand to evoke these same feelings?" I think you'll find the answer lies in the fact that brands need to act more like people.

Gotta go, there's an epic game of ping pong with Justin Oh calling my name in our playroom.

Chris Tuff is the Social Media Director at advertising agency 22squared.

 

Guest Post: Craig Elimeliah

Guest Post: Craig Elimeliah // @CraigElimeliah

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It is absolutely fascinating that the word inspiration is defined in the medical dictionary as “the drawing of air into the lungs”.

The fact that there is an actual physical definition for something that seems so abstract and differs for so many different people is amazing.

This physical definition very much embodies what actually happens when inspiration hits.

I am inspired by so many different things, my family inspires me, the world I live in inspires me and my job inspires me. I read books that inspire me and I watch movies that inspire me, I work with creative professionals that inspire me and I sometimes even inspire myself.

But if I have really focus on one thing that inspires me on a regular basis, one thing that I know I can count on time and time again, a source in which I can access and always find inspiration, it would have to be Twitter.

Don’t get me wrong, a beautiful landscape, a pretty face, a laughing child, a sunset and the like all inspire me immensely however those are all things that are not always easily accessible and take effort to gain exposure to.

Twitter is something that I feel has become part of my being, an ambient awareness similar to whale or bat sonar.

Twitter inspires me the way an ant farm inspires me. It is an actualized manifestation of the human collective consciousness.

Sure I get a kick out of a witty tweet or a wise crack, a deep link or an insight but what really gets my heart racing is the entire breadth of human input streaming like a vast river across the Twitter timeline.

I’ve always been amazed at the organizational skills of insects and animals. The way they just do things in synchronicity, so natural and so pure. They just flow. This is how I see Twitter. It herds our thoughts into a synchronized timeline and adds a whole new dimension to human awareness. Twitter is like a new human sense.

It fascinates me to peruse other timelines where I have no association what so ever and to see people just sharing tidbits of their personalities. This knowledge base we have all tapped into and contribute to, bits of data being poured into the system by the billions every day. The way it empowers anyone to add a point of view, the way it gives anyone the ability to expand a topic in ways it would have never been expanded before.

This absolutely inspires me, it gives me a sense of hope to hear the small voices of humanity that have been silenced since the beginning of time. The fact that so many people talk about so many things at once, carry on conversations that range from the world’s most pressing issues to absolute bull shit.

I haven’t yet grown tired nor do I think I ever will of this powerful source of inspiration. It is both digital and human at the same time. The character limit keeps it concise and the wealth of information keep my mind buzzing throughout the day.

Guest Post: Shane Mac

Guest Post: Shane Mac // @shanemac

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What inspires me is this. The fact that I can find you, interact with you and feel like I know who you are and what you believe in... yet we've never met.

The ability to find and communicate with anyone in the world is what inspires me. The world becomes one and in the end of it all I believe that this world, as torn as it may seem, is an amazing place with amazing people in it.

Forget all this talk about "technology" or whatever, it's the basic fact that we can understand and communicate with anyone, anywhere without language as a barrier that is truly incredible.

At the end of the day, I believe that most of the issues in this crazy world stem from that of miscommunication. The ability to understand each other on a different level could be the defining factor in the 21st century... At least I hope so.

Guest Post: Jordan A. SmithGuest Post: Jordan A. Smith

Guest Post: Jordan A. Smith

Guest Post: Jordan A. Smith // @jordieasmith

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I'll do anything for a t-shirt

Well, circumstances are a large variable in whether or not I'd do anything for a t-shirt. Have I just spilled something on the shirt I was already wearing right before a client meeting? Is it this in XS? Did I show up at party where someone undesirable was wearing the identical garment? Yeah, in these instances, I'd consider friending you for a t-shirt.

Would I purchase a product because they gave me a t-shirt? It's the eternal marketing question. The advertising snob inside me exclaims, NO! What a weak, tawdry tactic. Any respectable AOR would fire a creative for such dilatory ideation! But my good-natured Minnesotan upbringing and inherent Catholic guilt makes me feel otherwise. Oh ya know, Jooohr-dan, they did ya a fav-ooohr. The least ya can doooo is give them $8.99 to try their product owwww-t.

Maybe I should elaborate. On August 15th, Cheer laundry detergent launched a Facebook/YouTube campaign—Dig it. Get it.—not targeting busy mothers of  uninhibited children with quick access to grassy knolls and finger paints. Surprisingly, I am the target, a twenty-something, single, white female with an affinity for bike culture, skinny jeans and indie dance music. Draw your own conclusions, please, I'm not going to say it. So I played their game. It was simple, watch Australian band Strange Talk's new video, and when you see a colorful dancer with an annotation (err—a link box) and click, you are brought to Facebook to claim your bright clothing item. I played almost everyday of the 16 day campaign. In fact, here's a tragic photo of me wearing every item I won, minus a yellow tank top I have yet to receive:

I added my own hipster filter and wiener dogs.

The results were: I failed to grow to love the music of Strange Talk, but did start to tie the ends of my t-shirts like the dancers. The packaging was cool enough to save one of the boxes (see below). I tried the samples included and my clothing did not fade (after the one wash). The campaign's basic promise was initially upheld, but after the four bottles of laundry detergent next to my washing machine are used to their final drop, will I consider Cheer in the soap aisle? Honestly, before the campaign, I am doubtful I would have ever noticed their deep blue bottle on the fourth shelf. But now, I incessantly talk about them to any poor soul at my agency because I'm constantly wondering out-loud if they got me. Have they sold me with a t-shirt (and a scarf, tights, tube socks, messenger bag, tank top and a handful of $1 off coupons)?


I can't draw conclusions about Dig it. Get it.'s overall success. I have a feeling that the tech-savvy youth did manage to grab up all the American Apparel, but one did notice the plentiful sour comments from Cheer's usual consumer. They complained about their slow internet connection, a child's bedtime or their lack of understanding about YouTube annotations. An uncomfortable generation gap was being exposed. I'll be very interested in reading the case study to see if Cheer will reign victorious over the generation with a 140-character attention span while maintaining a less techy consumer (they announced in Mashable that 100% of their advertising budget has been pushed into digital).

If I am so conflicted about a t-shirt campaign, why did I choose this as my inspiration? This is the first time since 1995 I have gone to a brand's site (or Facebook page) for 16 consecutive days (and counting). It was an idea so simple and so innovative with social media platforms that I wish I made it (though, I have made something similar). As easy as it can be to begrudge the idea of people—real people—wanting to interact with grocery brands while untagging unflattering photos of themselves, this is a fantastic example of people doing just that.

 

Social Memories

Social Memories is a new Facebook app for those fans of personal infographics or just flat-out cool stuff.

The book is automatically generated from your Facebook data, and includes, next to the obvious photos and status updates, various infographic illustrations of the meaning, relations and priorities in your online social behavior.

The printed images are selected by unique data trends (e.g. most popular or biggest photo album, friends most tagged with your name, who you photographed the most, and so on). The graphs include a timeline of photo submissions, status versus response ratio, the star sign distribution of friends, most active friends, most popular tags, friend gender distribution, an activity distribution, the events you attended, weekly activity statistics, friend home towns, and so on.

Developed by the Deutsche Post DHL, the 28 pages of glorified narcissism costs 19 Euros.

 

Bouygues Telecom: Flashback Book Facebook App

 

Agency: DDB - Paris

Bouygues Télécom asked us at DDB Paris to come up with an idea to launch their facebook platform. They wanted us to create something that would go beyond using your profile picture in a funny way, or pranking your friends with a small joke. We decided to look at the way we use facebook and found that even though we use the social networking site everyday, we forget our favorite moments we share online. So we created an app that could change that, and keep your facebook, in a book. Facebook ads engaged people to participate in the creation of their books and receive a printed copy of their statuses and photos. You could chose up to 10 friends to add into your book, as well as the desired timeframe, whether it be your birthday, wedding, or from the very beginning of your profile. After only two days we received 15.000 fans and the limited edition of 1.000 books were gone in only an hour.

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RE: http://stopadvertisingfrompullingatrain.tumblr.com

This has been quite impressive. And when I thought about it, a lot more than just social media spreading was in play here. I tweeted about my disgust for hearing Train in two back-to-back ads, and a three tweet exchange started a blog, which was seeded to friends for a laugh as I knew they'd agree with the content. And then the social media match was lit.

 

Below is a recap (launched on Oct 5, 2010)

Googling "Train Hey Soul Sister" isn't the same anymore.

 

Jan 24, 2011 -- Radio Interview with Ralphie Aversa and "The Ralphie Radio Show" -- Here

we know our commercials are badwe know our commercials are bad

we know our commercials are bad

i engaged with coors light this morning via twitter. wondered how the same people who approve these often very humorous nfl coaches commercials could also not understand how poor their "silver bullet" commercials are. was surprised to see coors light agrees with me, and even better than that they acknowledged they are doing poor advertising. apparently on purpose.