LaughlinOutLoud

Chat Roulette is another one of those things that I (a) can’t believe exist (b) can’t figure out the appeal of and (c) can’t seem to turn away from.

chat roulette from Casey Neistat on Vimeo.

The video provides a great summary of the newly-minted phenomena. For those who are new to the concept, it couldn’t be simpler. The website randomly connects you to a video chat partner. You chat until one of you moves on. (This act is called “nexting” and, at first, it’s hard not to take personally.)  You are then randomly connected with someone else.

The concept fascinates me. It’s the internet – anonymity + social networking + user-generated content + addictive behavior + sense of discovery – in a nutshell. More than that, it’s a real window into the global village. Real people. Real lives. Real grown men dressed in catsuits.

And, to me, it’s a great reminder. That people are not rational. They are not expected. And they are not stock images. Whether or not I’m ever able to carry on a real, live video chat with a randomly selected stranger (let’s just say I get “nexted” – a lot), it’s good to be reminded that they’re out there. And even when they have nothing better to do, most people have very little patience or attention for what you have to say.

Daryl Morey is the General Manager of the Houston Rockets. But his impact on the game of basketball is greater than that. Back in 2004, he initiated one of the first MBA programs with a sports analytics business class at MIT Sloan. It’s a blossoming field.

So how does a GM whose career is based on numbers sum up statistical analysis? I heard a podcast interview with him this morning where he was talking about really wonky basketball statistics. But in the chaos of his analytics, he shared a nugget of clarity. And I believe his perspective to be invaluable. His take? “There are issues with every analysis. The best thing (good) analysis does is raise the right questions.”

Well said.

Data does not equal knowledge. And knowledge does not equal results. There is a lot of rigorous work involved. Getting good data allows you ask the right questions. Executing on the right insight lays the foundation for good results.

That’s why a Google Analytics dashboard is just the first step. Our ability to capture data is phenomenal. We just need to make sure our analytic capabilities are functioning at that same level.

I recently had a conversation with a Creative Director who suggested that all creative briefs should be Tweetable. Forget the one page, give me 140 characters. The core of the core (of the core) of the idea. The concept scared me so much, I must have liked it.

I was reminded of this when I rediscovered on a collection of six-word memoirs. The most recent is called It All Changed In An Instant. The premise: authors boiling their lives down to six words. The practice is based on Hemingway. And the results are fantastic. (ex: “Father: ‘Anything but journalism.’ I rebelled.” – Malcolm Gladwell)

Forget the one thing. Shorten the elevator speech. Can you write a six-word memoir for your brand? Six words to tell the whole story?

Six words boil it down to the core. And, when well crafted, leave the room necessary for innovation and imagination. And whether or not you end up with the perfect six words, the exercise will help get rid of all the fluff.

So get editing. Build briefer briefs.

My favorite ad from last week’s #BrandBowl came from Google. Yes, Google. Whose CEO reportedly described the Super Bowl as “the last bastion of unaccountable spending in corporate America.” Let’s set irony aside for a moment. (Especially because Google’s ultimate objectives for the spot are up for debate.) Instead, I think the most newsworthy piece of this story for marketers is the fact that the Google Super Bowl ad wasn’t even a Super Bowl ad. It was a YouTube video.

And that’s important. The days of a job simply being closed are coming to an end. Assets are rarely used once. In this new age of continuous engagement, content is king and opportunities are everywhere.

A good marketing eye can identify a new opportunity for existing assets. In the case of the Google Super Bowl ad, “Parisian Love” had been on YouTube for three months when they decided they “wanted to share it with a wider audience.” Mission accomplished. It’s been watched more than 2 million times – just on the official Google channel – since Monday morning. I’m among those who checked in and, while I was there, I watched the others. The video featuring The National was also stellar.

The ability to identify opportunities has always been valuable. But with opportunities growing exponentially, content readily available and accessible technology becoming the given, the ability to identify opportunities in real time (and then activate the ideas) is a more important skill set to have than ever before.

In a way, the introduction of Apple’s iPad was a ringing endorsement of our business model.  We owe Steve Jobs a debt of thanks for being so optimistic about our future.  Full Circle branding now has a convergence device on which to display all our skills.  Especially advertising.

Pretty soon it’s going to be hard to decide what to use an iPad for, not so much because of its limitations, which seems to be the nit-picky focus of the technorati, but for what it’s possibilities are.  Magazines will no longer be static, but rich interactive environments.  The advertising possibilities will give us an opportunity to stream video, show photography, demonstrate products and provide links to client websites.  Video and music content will offer a target rich environment for sponsorships.  Even the most traditional form of communication, the book, will be open to advertising in ways never before possible.  A win-win when handled with some subtlety and style.

As inspiring as it is to consider the close-in possibilities, the next wave is even more of a ride. The iPad application base and technical foundation should rapidly evolve into large touch screen surfaces where we’ll be making presentations that make today’s Keynotes and Powerpoints look like cave drawings.

For an advertising person with an idea, this just could be the ultimate weapon.  We’ll now go to battle for our brands feeling like Ceasar.  iSaw. iPad. iConquered.

Last Saturday, Dave Hanneken and I had the opportunity to visit the Diane On Business radio program to talk Super Bowl ads. It was my first time on the radio and I had way more fun than I care to admit. You can check out the end result, in the form of a podcast, at the bottom of this post.

Hear The Podcast

Precious Medals

We’re proud to announce that Laughlin Constable recently won four Gold Awards in the International Graphis Awards for advertising. Regarded by many in the industry as one of the most prestigious competitions, LC bested many shops from all over the world to be featured in this gorgeous hard-cover book. Our best showing to date was three golds last year, which we surpassed this year, winning four golds.

The winning work was produced for: Kimberly-Clark (Cottonelle), St. Paul’s Fish Market, The Hank Aaron Trail and the Eisner American Museum of Advertising & Design.

Big credit goes out to Chad Nauta, Kirk Ruhnke, David Hanneken and Gina Ferise.

Our very own Dan LaVigne is also featured in the book for a campaign he did last year while working at Freight Train.  Great work, Dan!

Check out the winners:

[I must admit, I had to rewrite this piece. I had it mostly written prior to the unveiling of the iPad, when we were all waiting breathlessly. The point was going to be that you had to earn people’s trust before they would believe in your vision. Turns out, that doesn’t necessarily work either. Instead, my observation may be even simpler...]

It’s hard to see the future. Doing so – with any degree of accuracy – is a gift. I was reminded of this simple fact this past week (in a tweet from @jasonoke).

On Wednesday, Steve Jobs took the stage to unveil the iPad. To say it was met with disappointment would be a bit of an understatement. Wait, keep reading. This is not really a post about the iPad. This is a post about the iPod. Back in October of 2001, initial reaction was – and people forget this – disappointment.

But Apple had a vision. And it followed through. Despite the inability of the masses to appreciate the possibilities. (One of my favorite comments from the initial iPod reaction and, remember, this is from someone on a Mac enthusiast discussion board: “I’d call it Cube 2.0 as it won’t sell, and be killed off in a short time and it’s not really functional.” That’s not exactly the headline I would use to describe the iPod today.)

It’s this kind of vision that we (as marketing strategists, creative folk, idea people, etc.) are asked to develop and follow every day. And new ideas (good and bad) are often met with that same level of skepticism, cynicism and disappointment.

What was the ROI of the iPod going to be? In 2001, it would have been hard to predict that the iPod would give birth to the iPhone which, in turn, would provide the basis of Apple’s strongest quarter ever in the worst economy since the Great Depression. But it did.

“Can’t” and “won’t” are too easy to say. There are far too many “no’s.” It’s early, but I’m still betting on the iPad. It only takes one person with 20/20 vision to change things.

Forbes just listed the marketing world’s 10 most trusted celebrities.

The fact that Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) led the list over the guy who drove Miss Daisy (Morgan Freeman) should make the validity of this ranking a little suspect.  Maybe the value of celebrities in general is a little suspect, too.

As of this posting, the Forbes website has this list archived above the top ten retirement havens.  Marketers who bank on celebrities might want to keep that second list handy.  Celebrities are a little too much like politicians who are a little too much like all the rest of us.  Prone to bad behavior.

In spite of all the risks, there have been some spectacular endorsements. Michael Jordan and Nike leap to mind.  But it’s rare to be that right.

Michael Jordan is also the spokesperson for Hanes along with Charlie Sheen, a serial bad-boy.  He replaces Cuba Gooding Jr. in a continuing story line as the B-list celebrity who wants part of Michael’s A-list aura.  Michael comes across as unapproachable.  Mere stars aren’t even good enough for this guy.  Trouble is, you can’t replace an idea with a celebrity as so many spots try to do.  It’s either the celebrity getting in the way of the product, or vice versa.  My guess is celebrities don’t fit Hanes they way they used to.

A great old maxim went, if you don’t have anything important to say, get someone important to say it.  Today, brands just can’t afford to say nothing.  Mere awareness just won’t cut it anymore.

The great brands, like Kraft, Proctor & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Johnson Wax, McDonald’s, Coke, Google, IBM, and Apple rarely use celebrities.  They focus on always having something new to talk about.  Sure there are plenty of exceptions, but in way too many cases, celebrities just aren’t good enough for a brand.

Merriam-Webster defines value as relative worth. My definition of value is “What you get” divided by “What you give.”

Simple enough, right?

But value is often – incorrectly – considered a four-letter word. There have been too many marketing textbooks that for too long have defined a value brand as, basically, low-cost. That’s only half the equation.

The idea of paying more to get a better value is not heretical. Unless you are in a meeting discussing marketing. Do we really have that low a perception of what the product is?

I would like to make 2010 the year of killing words that no longer make sense to use. And I’ll begin with “value” in the pejorative sense. (“New” media, you’re next.) We need to understand what people value, not just what people will pay.

And to brands, understanding that has value.