This town in Paraguay has built an entire orchestra out of trash & recycled items ( upcycling ). The program has helped keep kids out of alcohol and drugs, but also has taught the community about citizenship, community, and arts education.
It’s inspiring to see art flourish from those that have nothing. Passion and Resourcefulness in a connected age can connect the story of one to many.
Pharell William’s music video took a creative spin on social media syndication, extended cuts, and a campaign by establishing 24hoursofhappy.com. The initial short video is complimented by a interactive microsite that has 24 hours of the music video with multiple actors, moments, and events. A guest cameo by the minions of despicable me are also a nice touch.
What I like about this campaign is that it takes the extended cut idea a bit further. 24 hours of content is probably standard for a music video shoot, but putting it into a day of “happy” seems to fit here. The idea of a clock, and interactive experience makes being happy anytime, or the vicarious exploration of other peoples happy a valid secondary source of entertainment.
The most innovative part from my perspective though, is that ability to share moments of the footage. Few artists or companies have successfully managed to get users to share or comment on temporal pieces of art. Not only will these social moments help drive traffic to the website, thus possibly increase sales, but also allows people to become part of the campaign – the music video becomes active rather then a passive experience.
I could insert a few happy puns in here. Overall, I think this was a great multi- tierred campaign with some fantastic interactive components. I think more brands should think about multiple touch points in advertising and marketing to hit this level of engagement.
Acknowledging the Gaps in How We Use Time in The Planning Process
Musicians are trained to consider the use of time in creating work. Many in the video production/ art field as well, but for many of us we have been trained to think transactionally for six sigma results and maximum efficiency.
A financial planner recently asked me to think in decades instead of years.
It really made me stop and think about how I look at time in terms of my work. I find that we are asked to think “fast” and “slow” at times depending on the campaign or project. Most of us will gladly embrace years of historical data to come up with valid insights. However, the trend we are often seeing is about “real time marketing” and daily feedback loops. In PR we talk about “extending the news cycle” to compensate for people’s ( or institutions ) short attention spans. Changing time or the perception of time can create some amazing emotional experiences for a user or consumer or planner.
My thought to end on for the night is…
Think big and small at the same time. Think in weeks, and quarters. Hourly, and daily. But try and think in both states.
Having a plan means you can always change it, but being able to set your milestones and think bigger about the entire project may yield new innovative ideas. It may need real time support or help along the way ( guest blogs, media training interviews, pitching, omni channel outreach ), but the milestones will be in place.
There will always be enough moments to cherish the real time and the journey, but we need to think bigger, and time is a great place to start in thinking big. hashtag 4 dimensional thought.
If time is our biggest asset, why do we rarely use it.
-pd
ps. Aside : http://www.10000yearclock.net/learnmore.html
I struggle using Siri to call a restaurant or fedex. I spend 2 entire minutes while driving finding the right location, and often it registers my “yes” as a “yet” and I have to start over. The process is tolerable at best.
The outstanding question I have asked for the last 2 years is why is the car integration so bad? Apple knows I am sync’d via bluetooth, so why is the font so small, why is the UI not responsive, why can I not utilize something that minimizes the total number of touches?
It looks like finally that apple has started to form the strategic partnerships in auto interiors. The race to the TV entertainment center has been amended to also include auto integration. And why not. We have become partial cyborgs in terms of mapping, directions, and search, and cars seem like one of the most underutilized places for tech and multitasking. Not that multitasking is safe, but I am just saying the technology and displays in car has been lagging compared to the rest of our entertainment universe.
According to PSFK, the following auto makers will sign on: Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo initially. BMW Group, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor Company, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota Motor Corp
I am excited to see how mobile continues to integrate into our daily commute.
Music became the most viral medium due to free access ( airwaves ) and ease of syndication. Music is circulated via radio, itunes, performances, and even stolen ( circa 1990’s & beyond). Music videos are one of the most streamed content types on youtube.
However, Art really has never reached this same virality. Maybe this is because most famous art resides in a museum or is fairly non pop culture. Except for one man.
Banksy has turned this on its head. His recent tour ( residency ) in New York has been syndicated arguably more then any existing exhibit to date. The mixture of pop resonance, internet fan base, thrilling content, and social media has allowed art to be broadcasted in a new way. A new paradigm is formed.
Its pretty amazing when art takes advantage of social syndication to extend a massive reach and influence people.
What does it mean that major albums are co launched by a mobile company for an artist? Jay Z teased the release of his Magna Carta album today signifying a milestone in artist marketing. The video above showcases tracks, producers, and story, but its presented by Samsung Galaxy. More and more we are seeing corporate endorsements of the changemakers and creatives of our times, and I personally am intrigued on how this awareness and shift in paid media dollars will effect content creation. What does it mean when a new album from the heart is cosponsored by a secondary brand ? This is commonplace in sports, and social entrepreneurship, but music has usually only maintained this relationship after the fact. Ex. Tailor Swift and Pepsi. However, to co associate your personal brand with a tech brand seems like a new frontier in a pre launch environment. Do you think any other artists will follow this trend? Or for a brand like Samsung, maybe this is the best time in the “hype cycle” to endorse a product / person to get the maximum brand transference to impact their bottom line. What do you think?
-Patrick
ps. The other interesting note is that he teased the announcement using imagery via social media. More and more, Artists and personal programming channels are being used to interact with fans wtih RTM ( real time marketing ) rather then relying on older PR channels and wire services.
Many reality TV shows utilize people’s “social capital” ( shares, likes, tweets ) to raise its own level of influence and boast higher levels of engagement and earned media levels. However “the voice” has take this to a new level. If you have wanted to vote on these shows in the past you could pay for a text (sms) if you were on a specific carrier, or sometimes vote through on online portal. However, this year ( Maybe last year) they added a new element where part of the voting is dependent on how many people download (pay for ) the contestants songs on itunes. Now this changes the cost per vote from a few cents, to dollars. This is several orders to magnitudes greater, and is a really smart profitable decision. And I am not sure how I feel about it.
One one side I feel that they are double dipping on getting paid. Once with traditional ad based models on tv, and a second time with itunes. However, I actually wonder if this creates a more authentic version of how these shows should work. I like that the artists probably get a small cut per each song sole. And I also like that the people voting in this sense, are more likely endorsing their song versus someone they think is cute or a good showman – 90 more cents is a larger barrier to entry compared to a nickel.
There is one thing I still dont understand. I wish the voice was a bit more like the Jersey Shore. In the sense that everyone wins. This is still reality TV. However, with new publishing models around, there is NO reason except for entertainment value that there should be a winner. I feel like at the end of the show, everyone should publish an album. Obviously those who were on the show longer have a higher chance of getting more screen time and thus free advertising – but this show still runs on a hunger games type of model. There does not have to be only one winner. As far as I see it, they all have incredible talent, and I hope they all go one to use this show as a springboard. The models they have introduced to TV really blur the lines between what is owned media, how does real time marketing change programming, and how do influencers ( hosts / cohosts ) act as curators of the crowd, and ultimately . . . who can win ?
Good vs Better 