Brand Noise

Don't let Detroit be erased. Tell its stories.

On Tuesday, a film about the Milton Hershey School was screened at Tribeca Cinema. The director Cynthia Wade and the producing agency ArnoldNYC walked a fine line with their closed wall client to come up with a documentary that would be both compelling and serve the clients' needs. Together, they solved a big problem. They stretched a thin budget, recast client suggestions, and took cameras outside the school walls. Trust and vision let the film meet its mark. 

In Detroit, an even bigger problem needs to be solved: “America’s most struggling city needs to attract business and talent.” To help, Time Inc. invited agencies with Detroit offices to develop campaigns to encourage young and creative people to consider Detroit as a place to live and work. The result? Pretty conventional. Yet, no barriers were placed on the agencies. With skies wide open, why hold back? Has the nature of advertising in general become to create: oatmeal?

Think about it. The problem with Detroit is an American problem, not a regional one. We've been quick to let our cities sink into the sea once they're tarnished. What makes cities work is intensity. To revive their spirit means to conjure up that intensity. 

In Detroit, you have a city that once sold its soul to the auto companies. It couldn't hold onto many of its own. Consider Detroit's Class of 1984. scenarioDNA's own Tim Stock (a University of Detroit high school grad), Majesty Crush's Odell Nails (now a lawyer and with Mahogany in NYC), Philly artist Michael Frechette, NY film maker John Walter who cut his teeth in Detroit on Evil Dead II with Sam Raimi's Renaissance Pictures and Mark Crilley creator of Akiko who went around the world before choosing to settle in an outlying Michigan city, not Detroit. Has anyone ever thought to ask them why they left and how to strengthen bonds to bring them (or those like them) back?

Powerful stories exist within the city, as well as among all the ex-pat Detroiters, who never dress the city down while the rest of us sweep where we come from under the rug. Now that's compelling. There is a dialog to leverage from those ex-pats to those living and breathing within the city limits.

Detroit is a narrative that extends beyond the city and its suburbs. It lives in New York. It lives in Arizona. It lives in LA. It lives in Philly.

Sadly, unimaginative thinking among those charged with pushing the message of Detroit will further erase the troubled city from the states if we don't all pull together. To bring the city back to its glory, all the narrative threads need to be identified, organized and brought together. We can't get bogged down by politeness and mired in consensus. Don't erase Detroit. Tweet your Detroit stories with the hashtag #erasedetroit. (Photo: Abandoned house by smooveb)

You Can't JUST Listen: Give Ogilvy a Break

I've got a question. Why are all of us enlightened social media/Web 2.0 gurus picking on David Ogilvy lately? More than once during yesterday's  Business Development Institute conference on The Social Consumer, David's name was brought up in "then vs. now" scenarios. Yet, in 1962, Time called him "the most sought-after wizard in today's advertising industry." (Maybe David Ogilvy did preach to a gullible public, but at least it was interesting and compelling.)

For sure, now we need to connect; we need to listen; we need to -- ENGAGE (there's that word again). But we also need: the wizards, the curators, the maverick renegades to lead the way. Inspiration never comes by consensus.

Perhaps, Ogilvy's now seemingly heavy-handed method worked then because he knew how to hear without the spiffy tools we have helping us today. I think we're losing sight of the dynamic combination necessary which is ever-more critical now that the gullible war-trodden consumer is gone.

Years ago, I worked for a brilliant editor by the name of Phyllis Sweed (although I don't think at the time I appreciated exactly how brilliant she was). When Ms. Sweed was asked by our publisher to survey our readers to ask what they wanted. Her response was "They don't know what they want." And, as publishers do, he persisted and money was spent to discover that the readers didn't really know what they wanted. In fact, it was more powerful that Ms. Sweed and her crew had developed long-standing relationships meeting and hearing their readers. And always posing the question "What if we did this?" That's what gets a b2b print publication closer to its 100th year.

So let's promise each other that there's always something more inspiring, more provocative to be accepted if it just gets pushed a bit. And stop using David Ogilvy as a scape goat. The man worked for the British Intelligence Service for heaven sake's. I'd assume he knew how to listen first before he slammed it home.

The Psychology of Space (Lecture)

The Psychology of Space (Design Research Methods)

View more documents from scenarioDNA.

The Psychology of Objects (Lecture)

The Psychology of Objects (Design Research Methods)

View more documents from Tim Stock.

Research /Reboot 1.0

Research /Reboot

View more documents from Tim Stock.

Transformer Generation: Cultural Context Required

The Transformer Generation from scenarioDNA on Vimeo.

We're launching our position statement on the Transformer Generation. The gist is this:

 

For the kids who played with Transformers twenty-odd years ago, the story has fluidly evolved into a tale of open-source collaboration, new globalism, a currency of culture, eBay economics and mash-up. In this new narrative, the impact of technology blurs the lines from urban/suburban and east/west making cultural context more critical now than ever before. The Transformer Generation is a game changer. They won’t become us. They’ll change us.

 

Go to the site.

http://www.transformergeneration.com

 

Download the press release.

http://tinyurl.com/n3srk7

 

What GTA Can Teach Us About Connecting With Consumers

A preview of an upcoming presentation at Forward '09: Brandologie conference in Portland, Oregon on June 3rd. 

View more Microsoft Word documents from Tim Stock.

Grin Reapers

Marie Tupot Of scenarioDNA is featured in an article in this weekend's San Diego Union-Tribune:

Poking fun at recession fears — getting laid off, watching the 401(k) slide into the abyss — can sometimes make the unthinkable, at least for a time, bearable, some marketing experts said.

Laughter is communal and brings people together, so humor can be marketing gold for a company when it is done right. But it can also backfire if it crosses the line. With black humor, that line can be razor-thin, experts agree.

“There are times black humor works, but it has to be done well,” said Marie Lena Tupot, co-founder of scenarioDNA, a New York consumer behavior research firm that helps companies build their brands. “In these volatile times, when people are being laid off without notice, an advertisement or gimmick that plays on the recession can turn negative and be in poor taste.”  Read more

Green 2009: A Cry for Real Things with Real Impact

Green 2009: A Cry for Real Things with Real Impact

View more presentations from Tim Stock.

Luxury 2009, showing a vulnerable side.

Luxury 2009, showing a vulnerable side

View more presentations from Tim Stock.

Recession Washing

 

How cool is this? Tom Fishburne lampooned our Recession Washing piece! It's not everyday someone gets inspired enough by a slide presentation to cartoon it. My head is like "this big" right now...Cheers, Tom!

Boomer Code & Post WW2 Narrative (Lecture)

Decoding Boomers & Post WW2 Narrative

View more presentations from Tim Stock.

Recession Washing 2009

View more presentations from Tim Stock.

Culture Networks

Culture Networks (Lecture)

View more presentations from Tim Stock. (tags: semiotics branding)

The Structure of Trends (Lecture)

The Structure of Trends (Lecture)

View more presentations from Tim Stock. (tags: design semiotics)

Gen X Sensibility Has Arrived

Hmmm…evidence of Gen X satirical sensibility moving into the White House?

• The new presidential toy that takes the US by storm is Sasha’s Ugly Doll.
• The white gown Michelle wore for the Inaugural evening was designed by Jason Wu, known for his edgy fashion dolls.

Tell me, what girl who was raised in the ‘70s didn’t wish she could wear her Barbie’s outfits. There was a particular metallic blue maxi coat with blue maribou trimmed cuffs that I recall hoping for. American Girl just doesn’t hit that chord. (Maybe if Marc Jacobs got involved? Maybe if Marc Jacobs brought Stephen Sprouse to American Girl? And so I digress…)

(Photo: For sale on Etsy, Danner's Place.)

Innovation Must Go All the Way

Wiggle room is closing in tighter when it comes to innovation. Used to be we could throw concepts out there for consumers to idle with. Not so much anymore. If innovation is not flexible and intuitive enough, great ideas will fall flat as the country continues to tread water. Take Kraft’s 99 cent iFood app for the iPhone. One reviewer online lamented that the shopping lists weren't comprehensive enough. If a brand is going to take on an app in which the consumer scenario compels the consumer to involve brands other than the intended, that brand better be comfortable getting snuggly with the competition. Food shopping is the original consumer mix-and-match scenario. What ends up in the fridge is really a mess of identities. It's the app itself then that becomes synonomous with the brand. It takes a strong confident brand to open itself up.

(Photo by Lost Star.)

A Public Invitation to Label

Scores of gorgeous historic photos--from shots of early 20th century baseball players to 1940s-era images of horse-drawn carts and factory workers--showed up on Flickr this week, and the public is busy tagging them in an effort to bring new context to the collection.

The labeling is part of a pilot project by the U.S. Library of Congress, which is making 3,115 of its archival photos available for public tagging in an attempt to bring a sort of "wisdom of the crowds" intelligence to the photos' metadata.

Read more.

Parents say "Hold the Presents"

For all those marketing to kids and parents, this group email sent out to about two or three dozen parents of first graders puts it best: 

"I hope everyone noticed that we would really appreciate it if you would give to [name removed]'s charities of choice in lieu of presents. With such a large party, we would be grateful NOT to have so much stuff in our home, and would feel gratified knowing the money spent is going somewhere useful."

Interesting when you think about what drives marketing for charities too. It's not simple benevolence. It's the desperate desire for an uncluttered home.

Word from Dubai: Bling Abayas

QUICK, fetch me my abaya!” is a call that reverberates around many a Gulf household on the arrival of an unexpected male guest, as women scramble for the formless black gown that confers instant anonymity.

But the plain robe intended to shield the female form from prying eyes and comply with Islam’s requirement that women dress modestly, has become a fashion statement, with some bejeweled, gold-embroidered new designs out-blinging the flashiest rappers.

Read the whole article.

(Photo: Shopping!)