Honorary Masked Crusader: Benjamin Franklin • 8/365 •

Masked crusaders have existed throughout time, championing their causes and changing the world. I like to remember and pay tribute to my heroes, whom I wish I lived amongst today. They inspire me from their resting places.

For example, we can learn a lot about Benjamin Franklin and how relevant he still is today from some of his quotations:

"Would you persuade, speak of interest, not of reason."

He was in advertising.

"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man."

He was an optimist.

"All wars are follies, very expensive and very mischievous ones."

He was an activist for peace.

"Games lubricate the body and the mind."

He was a gamer.

"All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move."

He was an observant mover and shaker.

"Honesty is the best policy." 

He was in social media.

Social [Media] Statement Haiku • 6/365 •

Last night Blogspot broke.

Helplessly I realized,

Google made me mute.

Brilliant Undiscovered Idea (in no particular order) #2 • 5/365 •

Necessity is the mother of invention. So am I. I'm always coming up with brilliant ideas. Trouble is, however valuable a brilliant idea is, the real gold lies in the execution. And let's face it, I don't really want to do every thing I think of. So I'm sharing some of these ideas so that you can take them and get rich!  In no order of importance or best-ness, here is number 2 (you can read #1, It's Nacho Restaurant, here).

"The Chinese Delivery Hub"

Calling for Chinese delivery scares me. Not in a horror-film way, but I'm always insecure about my order. It never really seems as if we understand each other, the Chinese person on the other end of the line and I. I don't mean understand each other intimately, like who we are as people, I just mean what my order is, how much it will cost me, and whether it will be delivered to my house. Funny as the conversations can be, I'd rather know that I'm getting what I want. 

Actually, I'm highly impressed that they generally do get things right. Whichever the restaurant in where ever the town, they pretty much always charge my card the right amount and come to the right address with the right order, plus some bonus crab rangoon. 

Still, it's scary.

The solution: Open a "Chinese Delivery Hub." I don't know if it's you who's going to do it, but it needs doing. Get clear-speaking people to answer a phone line and take down customer's orders, charge customer's credit/debit cards, and pass the order straight through to the Chinese restaurant of the customer's choosing (or closest to them). The Chinese restaurant then has an order in writing, clear (maybe even translated if necessary).  They might not ever even open up a merchant account to accept cards! The Delivery Hub will handle that... and customers will be worry-free. 

Let me know if you do it, I'd love to do your branding! 

Nostalgia at the speed of technology • 1/365 •

Star date: January first, two thousand and eleven. I begin my 365 days of blogging today. New Year's Day is a good day to gain perspective through reflective and resolute vision, to re-evaluate and adjust course towards goals and dreams. I have a process for this that I try to do every January. Today, though, it seems glaringly obvious to me that it needs to happen more often than yearly. As Bob Dylan says: 

"If your time to you is worth savin'

Then you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin'."

• ch-ch-ch-ch-changes • 

In 1982 "Tron" broke special-effects and conceptual ground. Twenty-eight years later in the sequel, "Tron: Legacy," an aged Alan tells Flynn's son Sam that he has received a page from a number at Flynn's old arcade. Sam's response is, "You still carry a pager?"

My 10-year old son turned to me and asked, "Mommy, what's a pager?"

"It's this thing we had back in the 80's - like a phone that you couldn't call from. You would call it and put a number in. Then the person who gets it finds a pay phone, puts a quarter in and calls you back. It's like one-way texting without the text. Just numbers. It was really handy!"

Looking back, my technological and cultural renaissance started with MTV. I can't imagine what I would have thought back then if someone would have told me about today's smartphones. I could only relate it to something on Star Trek. We didn't have the internet yet, and mobile phones were only in wealthy people's cars. Videos were on tape, photos were on film, music was in the store, research was done in the library and I used to call a radio station when I couldn't think of who sang a song.

Back then, the year 2000 sounded futuristic, as if we would all be 100 years old, wearing enormous shoulder pads and piloting our cars through space. I thought it would never arrive. Conversely, I knew things like virtual reality holographic video were coming, but I never dreamed it would be so fast! 

We're gaining momentum so quickly it makes my head spin. Anatomically modern-appearing humans originated about 200,000 years ago. The wheel and agriculture came 10,000 years ago. Written history, 6,000 years ago. Transportation via chariot, 4,000 years ago. Automobiles, 240 years ago. Airplanes, 120 years ago. Radio, television, computers, remote controls, internet, gps, iPads and so on, all in the past 100 years.  

My MTV was followed by an Atari home video game system in 1982, a Tandy keyboard that used BASIC language in 1984, a pager in the early 1990's, the internet, a cell phone, a laptop, then a short lull before the social media flurry hit civilization as we knew it.  

• a golden age • 

There was a period of time after the social media flurry hit and before Facebook at MySpace for dinner, which was kind of a golden age. Maybe it was the eye of the storm as it passed over us. I look back on that time like "the good old days" of social media expressionism. Blogs were fresh and most anyone who had one was actually a thinker, an artist, a journalist, had something to say. MySpace was cool and expressive, people were uploading art, music, poetry, writing and deep thoughts. It was a supportive community of like-minded strangers and friends. If you blogged on MySpace during its golden age, people not only read it, they commented. Thoughtfully. Sometimes the string of comments was more interesting than the blog itself. You were only allowed 12 photographs, but It was a philosopher's paradise.

The internet was relatively uncluttered. Your creative, charitable or political message stood some chance of being seen at random. Twitter started up and had few enough members that it showed you a visual of your connections in a giant, interactive grid-like map. Your tweets were not lost in a stream of voices. 

It's all a blur now. How long ago was it? It was something like 2004 - 2007, give or take a year. I look back on it with nostalgia, knowing we will never get it back. I love Facebook and the fact that I can find just about anyone on it, but along with everyone's old friends from high school there are parents, bosses, clients, exes and children. Facebook hasn't just broken down the walls between us by linking us together, it has also built walls up around creative, free-spirited expression. I love having my wall written on, though, so please do so!

• chasing that high • 

We might never have that golden age back, but my bet is that there will be other ages with even greater potential for creative expression and change. I'm always looking for the next wave because I don't like something as much once everyone likes it. It ruins the spirit of that thing somehow. I look around every corner for new technology and trends that give that feeling of having climbed to another level and arriving at the edge of a cliff. A cliff where paradoxically, if you step off you don't fall down, rather you find yourself on another higher level where the world is just a little bit different and new things are possible. Magic. Like a video game. It's an addiction.

Dusting-off notes: part 1

In a never-ending education process, I attend a lot of conferences and programs. I listen to a lot of speakers and watch a lot of presentations. I watch movies and videos (and commercials!). I play games, I participate outside of my circle. I read books, articles, blogs, tweets and white papers. There is a constant stream of information that I tap into on a regular basis because stagnation is death. 

I also take a lot of notes, which it seems I never go back to look at or do anything with. There is a wealth of pearls of wisdom and bursts of inspiration between the pages of closed notebooks and event booklets, lying in bags, shoved into piles, boxed or shelved. 

I thought I would go through some of those treasures and share them. Some of these are my own epiphanies, but most are quotes. I think they're still gems despite being out of context. Enjoy ...

The term "teenager" was coined in 1941 and wasn't used until the late 50's and early 60's.

The average first-time grandparent now is 46 years old. One third of the U.S. is invested in grandparenting.

"Social Media" and "Mobile" is so 5 years ago.

The year 2025 is always under construction.

Become collaborators in the creative process with your consumers.

Stop thinking about technology getting smaller and smaller, start thinking bigger. Think: where is the computing power going? Into tablets and televisions and cars.

Technology is heading into the background. You're just going to know it's going to heighten your experience.

So, there's a computer in your pocket. ~Mike Steib, Google

Start to think of the web as a thing that overlays your experiences in the regular world.

Social media is a place the consumer is looking for information they believe to be PURE. ~Neil Miller, Draft FCB

The truth of the matter is the customer is in control. ~Mike Boylson, JC Penney

There is a 17% drop in testosterone levels in men over the past 20 years.

Get more out there faster. It's a speed game. 

There are no bad creatives, only bad environments.

Will they want to see it again, play with it, share it?

Can we bring national quality advertising to any size market?

Creativity can solve anything.

70% rule = never go into the client and say it's 100% done.

Take chances or you're not even in the game! ~Ari Merkin, CPB

WTFacebook Ads [part 2 of the continuing saga]

Okay, it's not really a saga, but it is an advertising travesty.

In [part 1: This blog could lower your interest], I broached this topic and thought in my idealistic way that the random, meaningless, attention-getting gimmicks would phase out in favor of clear and relevant content. I was wrong (big surprise!).

They're not getting much better, in fact they might be getting worse? Not sure if they can. Here are more from my growing collection of Facebook ads that either make no sense, are stealing from a celebrity, or are misleading along the lines of snake oil salespeople of old and modern day tabloids.

Yeah, I repeated the "Scholarships For Moms" because that guy is so NOT A MOM! Does anyone know what all this means? What does it say about society? What does it say about carrot feathers?

('’)

Peek-a-boo critiques: 5-seconds can speak volumes

Hi! Tell me about yourself, about your company, what you're all about, what you do and why I should give you my time and money. Just give me a quick impression so I have an idea. You've got 5 seconds. 

Sound unreasonable? Humans now have a 7-second attention span before they lose interest if they aren't engaged. I think that's being generous. I don't give some things a glance if I'm not interested in a blink.

I play peek-a-boo with my monitor. I've been doing it for years because it's difficult to get a fresh perspective. I sit  in front of my design and cover my eyes with my hands, then I open my hands quickly and repeat as many times as needed. 

I went onto fivesecondtest last night – a website for web design feedback. You've got 5 seconds to view the art before giving your brief report. I started doing the memory-based and click-based tests and began to get a peek-a-boo fresh perspective on web design and first reactions. So I submitted the little black mask home page design as it appears here:

Feedback started within minutes, which is great because I like instant gratification. You know, short attention span and all. This morning my feedback page was full. 

The good news: I am pleased to report that the little black mask name and logo were immediately memorable, the comic-book theme is well-conveyed, my saving-the-world philosophy comes across and the design seems to be liked. 

The neutral news: my face really stands out and looks beautiful. This is flattering and does have some recognition, but doesn't sell me unless you know who I am. 

The bad news: The word "home" stands out - and that's just navigational even though decorative. Also, "mona lisa," "faces," and "b&w photos" came up a lot - which again are decorative and have an underlying meaning but on first impression don't help the brand.

The truth is, if someone goes to my site they probably do so for a reason that will keep them for more than 5 seconds, but it doesn't mean they'll ponder the meaning of it all and go in to read every page before calling me and offering me loads of money. Peek-a-boo impressions count. A change is in order.

Immediately, I changed the word "Home" to "Branding." Since that word stands out so much and it's right under "little black mask marketing" then I've fixed that association. A website "massage" has been on my to-do list anyway, so I'm going to submit it to other feedback sites for more information first instead of just plowing forward on my own. Research is good.

Check out Mashable's 10 Tools for Getting Website Feedback

I'd love to hear what kind of feedback you get, share on the little black mask Facebook page.

('’)

Photoshop then and now: what would Rip Van Winkle think?

20 years ago, when Apple's Macintosh and the Windows OS were just gaining prevalence in the workplace, when the internet was still in diapers, when retouchers wielded real airbrushes and cell phones were as big as bricks, a shiny new program called Photoshop hit the market. Let’s also say that Rip Van Winkle dozed off in 1990.

A year later, I enrolled at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale to get my degree in Advertising Design. There were a couple of computer courses which might have included a little Photoshop, but I only remember learning Corel Draw and Aldus Pagemaker. My studies were comprised of topics like "mechanicals" (I'm not even going to explain what a mechanical is, you either already know or it will never matter to you), life drawing, anatomy, typesetting formulas, psychology, perspective, art history, advertising theory, color theory, photography, marker comps, and so on, giving us the skills necessary to go out into the 1990's world and earn a living in the field of advertising. At that time, an Associates Degree was worth much more than the paper it was printed on.

I set off with a portfolio, a serving of talent, a degree and some advice. “Don’t set your type on a computer, the kerning is never right,” one of my instructors had told me. He was already behind the times. “Press type” (rub-off letters) and hand-lettering were fine for school pieces, but the digital revolution had begun. 

I started my career in the days of film, color keys and match prints. Very expensive to fix mistakes. Photography was still shot with film and transparencies, imaging was done by pricey drum scans and “sytech machines.” Even though the “computer workstation” had become the official seat for a designer, it would be years before everything we output was digital. 

Photoshop quickly infiltrated the creative workplace, I can’t remember working a day without it. It was super cool but you only had ONE undo and no layers, so you had to work very carefully and save lots of versions. Oh, and was it ever a memory hog! It used up all of your available RAM (as much as 4 megabytes!) and would crash your Mac (as indicated by a bomb on your screen) unless you had allocated the right amount of memory each program could use. Sound complicated? It was. It wasn’t enough to have talent, a good designer needed to be a little bit techie, too.

The details are fun to hash over, like an old man who had to walk up-hill both ways in the snow to get to the electronics shop to buy a pack of syquest cartridges. Life has changed dramatically since then. If Rip Van Winkle woke up today, he might be surprised that he wouldn’t have to explain to anyone what a “graphic designer” does and he might marvel at the number of designers out there who have an education centered purely around the software on a computer. I think old Rip would feel like a magician at the least, maybe even Godlike, if he sat down at the computer and fired up Photoshop today. 

Thank you, Photoshop, for being an indispensable assistant during the past 20 years. I can only imagine what’s in store for the next 20.

('’)

Brainwashing 101: Graphic Design, or Logo Parody Fun!

Graphic design shapes the world so much more than most people realize. Think visual communication. Think propaganda. Think of symbols and the archetypal images and meaning we attach to them. We're being brainwashed constantly.

When BP unveiled their new logo in 2000, I was impressed and dumbfounded. I was impressed because they used such powerfully clear imagery to evoke an image of "Green."  I was dumbfounded because the image was almost the opposite of what the company actually is. 

Graphic designers are powerful commentators, too. The current oil spill nightmare in the Gulf inspired an AdFed-mate of mine, Joe Vinson, to create this logo parody:

Here are some other logo parodies lurking around the net. Poignant , humorous, whatever emotion the designer is after, isn't it amazing what one single image can do?

('’)

Blog as I say, not as I do.

It's easy to to teach, preach, explain and blog about best practices. But just like the cobbler whose children have no shoes, often the blogger and social marketer isn't being very consistent with their own content. 

I've been busy, busy enough that somehow blogging has gone undone for ... omg! Seven weeks? Can it be? How embarrassing. Good people, do not do try this at home. Do not wait seven weeks to pick up a barely-weekly blog again. It's just not done. You'll lose readers' interest, they expect consistency. Keep their trust, blog onward, blog faithfully.

I know this very well, yet I slipped. I have failed to do as I say. Getting back on track, I will employ a method that I preach. For consistent blogging, rain or shine, one word: stockpile. Constantly make notes and compile topics. When you think of something new to blog about, write down as much of it as possible as soon as you get a chance. Where ever you are, send yourself a note on your phone, or keep a notebook within reach at all times.

On those weeks when you're short on time or when current news is not worth commenting on, draw from your arsenal. Have blogs ready to post within minutes. Review and update to make sure they are current, and post. Clickitty-split.

Blog to you next week, over and out!

('’)

Buzz on Google Buzz Getz Big Buzzer

If you had a cruise ship with no passengers, it wouldn't matter how decked out with luxurious and useful amenities, fantastic movies, art and music it was, or if it had a great cruise director to organize the guests and activities. With social media, just like with like parties, having the ship all to yourself is not a good thing. 

For two days now the buzzers have been buzzing about Google Buzz. The Google gaggle clammered, "Google's got a Facebook. It's Google's new Twitter. It's got update streams, comments and media sharing, right in your email!" My first reaction was, "Oh, like Yahoo?" 

Note the "buzz up" button at the bottom of this blog. It's not for Google Buzz, it's for Y! buzz. That's Yahoo. Yahoo has had it's own social network for years now, since Facebook was an infant. The Yahoo 360 Beta, which was great like MySpace in the beginning, finally closed in 2009 because not enough people were on it. Yahoo integrated much of the 360 info right into their regular profiles. I can blog, update, comment, connect to other people, media sites, apps, get feeds and news, and so on right from my Yahoo email or home page.

Here's a look at my barely populated Yahoo stuff...

... and here's a look at my barely populated Google Buzz stuff:

Underwhelming.

I know Google is big, I know they're everywhere, they even ran my favorite Super Bowl commercial. But sober up techies, another social network is just another social network, no matter who owns it and this is sort of a knock off of Yahoo anyway. So it's not benefits we're comparing, it's location. Where do you spend your time? Do you feel like relocating everyone you know and all of your information? If you already use gmail as your hub, it will be great for you. If not, it's just another added feature that lives there. I don't see all the bees buzzing away from Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter or whatever hive they've already built, I see it as simply a benefit to gmail users.

PS: click the "buzz up" & Digg buttons, please and thank you!

('’)

This blog could lower your interest! It's almost guaranteed!

Advertising is a really big word, and it keeps growing all the time. It contains mediums, philosophies and specialties that are expanding and changing at a mind-numbing speed.

What method or tactic you take depends on the medium, market, budget and brand. The message shouldn't be the same across the board. Direct mail, for example, needs to get the recipient's attention, interest and trust immediately in order for them to open, read, then act on it. A billboard needs gain the driver's attention and be memorable enough for them to act on it later, but it has only a few seconds, a visual and seven words or less to accomplish this with. An ad in a coupon section of the newspaper needs to visually "pop" out of all that noise as well as contain a perceived savings enough to get the reader to act on it. The list goes on, and while the strategies vary for the different forms of advertising, they all need to be honest.

Truth in advertising might sound like an oxymoron, but for the most part, it's the law. Did you notice that I said "perceived savings" about the ad in the coupon section? Just because something is true doesn't mean it's not slanted in its view. Different people have different points of view, different ideas of value. With behavioral marketing exploding the way it is, different people are actually seeing different ads when they go to the same places – ads with their needs and interests in mind. I'm a big fan of it, from both the perspective of the consumer and the advertiser. What I don't get is what's going on with some of the Facebook ads.

Can someone please explain the strategy to me that prompted this photograph to be in this ad?

Does a hippie-type guy speak to moms? Random. I see tons of things that make me tilt my head and wonder, "WTH??" Like this one with Oprah:

What does she have to do with this coffee? Is she endorsing it? My bet is no. Who's going to call the ad police about that one? I just pass it by with the rest, thinking that the internet really still is the wild, wild west. Still a lot of law and order to come, which will probably both help and restrict us. In the meantime, each to their own ethics, and the prospecting opportunity is spectacular.