How Pharrell made the music video social

 

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.

 

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What happened to Global Warming ?

Its easy for large nations to push global warming aside.  But when a few inches can determine your existence it becomes something more real.  I am specifically talking about the island nations of the world.

This was an eye opener.  Global warming is only one part of this discussion.

It made me remember the TED talk of William McDunough, for creating a better tomorrow through considering product cycles and “crade to crade” production.

Our Society will have many large problems to start to tackle in the next few decades. Follow and believe in the people who are trying to solve them.

 

 

Which mobile company will win the auto market ?

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.

 

Diminishing Return of Sci Fi Movies – Why we are no Longer Impressed by Robots

In 1987, Robocop was futuristic.  The new remake is a few degrees away from Asimo  or the bionic exoskeletons that have been showcased by the military/ research groups.  We now have robots for cleaning the floor, and Segways, and drones are almost an every day word on the news.

The problem here is that the gap between what we have previously imagined and are seeing prototypes of are very low. If Darpa wanted to make a Robocop, im sure they could in a few months ( or they have already !!?? ).  When I was growing up, their was some mystique about the future and tech.  Now with Moore’s law, the advances in technology are more about integrations and software, rather then hardware.  Thats why Apple’s updates have become less impressive each year. Still amazing, but no longer capture some physical design driven emotional appeal.

The same has happened with movies.  Sci Fi is increasingly becoming hyper fantasy, or closer to the drama genre. One is too close to real life, and the other is a bit too far fetched.  I love a good movie, as much as the next guy, but I wonder how the genre will have to shift to keep audiences engaged? Maybe we will have to move from technology and aliens being the focus, and go back to good old fashioned story-telling.  The gimmick cannot be a gimmick if its really just a commodity.

Here is the question I will leave you with – Now that technology has become accessible and open, what are the next great advances that we can be inspired by ( media wise ) ?

-Pd, 15 minutes.

Banksy: When Art Becomes More Viral Than Music

 

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.  

 

Analog Digital – Social wants to be Physical

 

This new Facebook Like counter from http://www.smiirl.com  , has long been in the making. Several DIY versions of this have surfaced, and we even proposed a version of this while I was working at R/GA.

As technology moves things into the digital realm, there is a natural counter culture that wants to express these digital forces as physical analog experiences.  What other instances can you think of where experiences born in digital become novel by moving to analog?

-pd