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+quick response codes

Here is an interesting by the International Herald Tribune on Quick Response (QR) codes. They are everywhere in Japan, from posters on the subway to packaging in the supermarket. These codes allow consumers to link directly to a web site, saving the user the need to type an address on the tiny keypad of a mobile phone. While imitators are popping up in Europe and the United States, phone carriers will need to work together and use the same technology for this to take off.

"The power of QR is that it is easy to use and potentially turns anything into a direct connection between advertiser and client..."

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+hyphy

Here is an interesting article on a new dance, "The Hyphy Movement" that is consuming teens in the Bay Area. They are dancing like they’re having a seizure, which is refereed to as “go dumb” or “shake them dreads".

So what exactly is this head-popping, knee-knocking, arm-flailing dance inspired by urban hip-hop beats of the Bay Area? It’s hyphy, originating from the word “hyperactive,” a dance, a style, an emotion and a way of life for some.

It’s hard to tell how long the hyphy hype will last, but many people believe that it’s just a fad that eventually will be replaced by another culture phenomenon. For now, however, the movement is at its peak, causing teens to go stupid, go dumb and get hyphy all around the Bay Area.

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+new photographers - 2007

Here is gettyimages list of new photographers they believe will change advertising imagery in 2007. This list has been gatehred by a curatorial team of creatives from around the world. "Put simply, it's a look at what's next. Now."

Check it out.
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+target boutique

Here is Target's latest Go International collection via a Pop Up Boutique on the corner of Melrose Place and La Cienega in LA. Every month, they will feature a new famous designer collections for Target prices. This collection (the third) is by Parisian Paul+Joe's Sophie Albou.

via NOTCOT

+gen y tech adoption

According to Forrester's latest annual technology-adoption study (which surveyed 66,707 households in the United States and Canada), Generation Y young adults (18-26) are plugging into technology at a faster rate than any other generation.

It found that young adults spend 12.2 hours online, 28% longer than Generation X’s 27- to 40-year-olds and twice as long as baby boomers aged 51-61.

"All generations adopt devices and Internet technologies, but younger consumers are Net natives who spend more time online than watching television," said Forrester vice president and co-author of the report Ted Schadler. "Younger generations live online, reading blogs, downloading podcasts, checking prices before buying and trading recommendations."

The study also found that 41% of all North American households are linked to a broadband Internet connection, and of the 75% of all households that have mobile phones, almost one-half use them to make most of their long-distance calls.

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+it's not easy being green

Now that it's all about the environment, organic food or 'good-for-you' living, marketers are having a hard time breaking through the clutter. With everyone jumping on the bandwagon and saying their green, consumer are becoming very skeptical and don't really know who is green. Not only that, according to a new study by branding firm Landor Associates,  fifty-eight percent of the general population surveyed considers itself "Not Green Interested."

The study found that 64% of those who responded couldn't name a "green" brand; even 51% of those who considered themselves to be environmentally conscious were unable to name one. "As much as the term has been tossed around, many people . . . are unclear as to what it means," the study reported. "Eco-friendly, fuel efficient, biodegradable, natural and organic are used in different categories to emphasize green, but can confuse and cloud the mind of consumers."

The noise in the green marketing space has grown louder in recent months. Dow Chemical's "Human Element" campaign, via FCB, Chicago, addresses environmental concerns in the "global community." Shell Oil launched a $30 million marketing campaign in June, via JWT, Houston, that trumpets its higher quality fuel, which emits less pollution. General Electric continues to build on its "Ecomagination" effort, which it launched in 2005 with work done by BBDO, New York, "to address challenges such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, reduced emissions and abundant sources of clean water.

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+branding underground

Although this is not an entirely new idea, it is a new spin. Several marketers in the UK are holding small, intimate events in London's hip neighborhoods. Marketers such as T-Mobile and Tiger Beer are holding "Street Gigs" throughout the city. These gigs typically have 50 to 500 people attending while the marketer provides the entertainment (band or boxing match), drinks and food.

T-Mobile
"We're trying to put bands you wouldn't expect in really surprising venues," says Karen Harrison, brand and communication manager at the firm's UK arm, which has opted for low-key, intimate shows.

"Music has become a little bit too corporate," says Ms Harrison. "It's not about us ramming T-Mobile down people's throats because there's no need.

Tiger Beer
"Our branding at the events is very subtle. That you have to look for it means you have a better recall of the brand and makes it more effective."

But Tiger Beer is less of a niche drink than it used to be, which poses a quandary for the brewer.

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+grups: part ii

It appears New York Magazine's term "grups" has crossed the pond. Here is a recent article in the International Herald Tribune highlighting this movement in London.

"The crucial difference these days is that the older generation aren't consuming to appear younger, they just aren't growing old like their parents," said Dylan Jones, editor of British GQ magazine. "We are already seeing 60- something men who buy the same clothes, listen to same records, see the same films and browse the Web in exactly the same way as 20-somethings."

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+domain name trends

With almost 47 million domain names ending with .com, it was just a matter of time before someone analyzed it. Dennis Forbes turned a hobby into becoming the world's most pre-eminent "domainologist". By day, he is an analyst at Vastardis Capital Services, a New York mutual-fund service company. But, in his spare time he analyzes the see of domain names.

Most people trying to do business online will tell you that the good domain names are already taken. Mr. Forbes's research proves them out. For example, for every possible two-character and three-character combination -- including both letters and numbers -- all possible domains are taken. Virtually all English words with four letters are claimed; those that aren't are usually contractions, and Web rules don't allow apostrophes.

All of the 1,000 most common English words have been snatched up. The word "a" appears more than any other, though most of the time, of course, it's just a letter in a longer word. The least-used common word is "consonant," Mr. Forbes says, which is in just 42 domains, including "consonantpain.com," which isn't a misspelling but a word game.

Mr. Forbes checked the U.S. Census Bureau's 1,219 most-common male names, the 2,841 most-common female names and the 10,000 most-common surnames; all were booked. Not only that, but when you link the top 300 first names with the top 300 last names, 89% of the resulting combinations are taken for male names and 84% for female ones.

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+genius: a look at the creative mind

Here is a very interesting article about how David Galenson has reverse engineered ingenuity to reveal the source code of the creative mind.

What he has found is that genius – whether in art or architecture or even business – is not the sole province of 17-year-old Picassos and 22-year-old Andreessens. Instead, it comes in two very different forms, embodied by two very different types of people. “Conceptual innovators,” as Galenson calls them, make bold, dramatic leaps in their disciplines. They do their breakthrough work when they are young. Think Edvard Munch, Herman Melville, and Orson Welles. They make the rest of us feel like also-rans. Then there’s a second character type, someone who’s just as significant but trudging by comparison. Galenson calls this group “experimental innovators.” Geniuses like Auguste Rodin, Mark Twain, and Alfred Hitchcock proceed by a lifetime of trial and error and thus do their important work much later in their careers. Galenson maintains that this duality – conceptualists are from Mars, experimentalists are from Venus – is the core of the creative process. And it applies to virtually every field of intellectual endeavor, from painters and poets to economists.

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