New Media Again

I think MAGE left an interesting thought on my last post about new media – “now. As slow as media companies have been to use the new media, business have been slower to understand it,” – that got me thinking about media companies in general.

I agree that media companies are slow about using new media. We had Tata Sato of Mindshare visit our class this semester and the question of new media came up. And if I remember correctly, her response to it was that they don’t do anything that hasn’t been proven to work. One reason why media companies are making a killing is because they have the greatest handle on metrics and ROI – something clients love hearing about. I think the problem with new media is that there are no established case studies that the media company can use to make the suggestion to their clients.

Some of the shops that can get away with making new media recommendations are more creative or innovation types of companies. Or simply companies that create things, not messaging – Anomaly, Zeus Jones, Poke, etc. Those things that they create go on to become a media channel of sorts. And I say “media channels of sorts” because I know some agencies prefer to create tools or useful experiences where no content is being delivered.

Popular Opinion v. Expert Opinion

During a meeting, a friend and I stumbled upon the idea of popular opinion versus the expert opinion

Current thinking on this is that popular opinion is where it’s at with UGC, comments on Amazon and that creepy Beacon thing on Facebook. The opinion of the people is to be trusted more than whatever the authority figures try to dictate.

However, I do know that in the area of web search, Google is the conclusive authority on which websites are the most relevant.

But consider this.

I don’t think it is common knowledge that the way Google ranks websites is more social than we think it is. Its popularity, while based on a lot of things, is highly influenced by links, visits and content – things that are controlled by people. I remember an old co-worker telling me this story about an SEO contest and the winner being the person who just published their thoughts on the contest. So really, we decide what should come up first when you say Google “bowling balls”. But the process to make that happened has been branded under Google and its algorithm.

Similarly with Amazon, the recommendations that it makes is presented in such a way that it feels like the company is drawing the connections for you. However, a lot of that is based on what you’ve purchased before, what other people have purchased before and what you’ve browsed for. You made that recommendation to yourself.

These two are examples of companies that are very successful because of their ability to serve their customers. How do they know what their customers want? They’ve already told them! So as brands/companies/experts are sweating these details, there may be some sort of judo move that allows them to reclaim their stature.

How Was Your Fish Today?

Late last night I sat down in front of the TV with the intent of staying long enough to finish my soup before I went back to work. But I got caught with this film (How Was Your Fish Today?) about a writer who gets writer’s block and starts living the life of the character he created.

I started it maybe half way in and it was very surreal and strange at the same time as it was filmed documentary style. The plot took the writer (and his character) to Mohe, a desolate Chinese village near the Russian border known for the Northern Lights.

The reason why it’s so interesting is because the writer and his character had this idea of Mohe was like based on textbooks from grade school and word of mouth. The imagery of an artic village without electricity, untouched by civilization was used as a means of inspiration/curiosity and as a sanctuary for another. It ties in very closely with a project I’m doing for class where I have to market Canada as a tourism destination to the world.

Right now, we’re looking at imagery and myths. What kind of myth can we give to Canada and what tone should that myth be told? These images and myths about places don’t usually come from marketing. Instead it sort of exudes itself through culture. A lot of the American myth was constructed through bits and pieces of the culture we export. And a lot is also constructed through people’s experiences and how they retell those stories to their friends (In America, they have hamburgers the size of your head! No kidding!).

The reason why this film is still stuck in my mind is because it seemed very aware of what I just talked about. It had tourist friendly photography of the landscapes. It showed parts of Mohe that it look very relatable but also things that made it seem strange and exotic. And it even had a part where a guy was talking about turning his house into a hostel and getting a computer with internet connection so people can book rooms from abroad.

I’m just saying.

A Big Freaking Idea

Innovative non traditional viral out of home promotional communications that redefines the interstate as well as the automobile as a channel for non traditional peer to peer message placement.

Yes, I’m available for hire so throw money at me.

CLOT

While interviewing for internships a couple weeks ago, one question they always asked was some variation of “what brands do you admire?” I think I said Starbucks or something. But the reason why I don’t remember is that there aren’t any brands that I’m loyal to – strange for a person whose job is to create loyalty. However, just by chance I ran into an article about CLOT that I had seen about a year ago, and I think I can give a more honest answer to that question now.

From the founder’s (Edison Chen) own mouth, CLOT is:

CLOT is a lifestyle company that specializes in almost everything involved in youth culture. We do fashion, we do music, we do consulting, we do events. We design as well, by the way. CLOT means exactly whut it says. All these new ideas and trendsetters gather in one area and get clotted up, this so called area is named CLOT Inc. We gather the world’s talent from HF, to Stash, to Madsaki and we deliver them thru our platforms to bring our style and flavor to the world. Clot is China’s first ever dedicated STREET TEAM.

First of all, I think it’s cool that the company is centered around an idea, rather than a finished product. It gives them flexibility and allows them to make an argument for ownership over almost anything they want. Secondly, the company is very conscientious of the relationship between commerce, culture and creativity. They are using Chinese culture to inspire Chinese people. If you think about companies like Shanghai Tang, they use Chinese culture to inspire white people, they’re exploitive or selling out through the commercialization of the Chinese atheistic. What CLOT is doing is adding layers and contributing to the culture and taking part in how it is evolving.

In terms of products, they’ve created sneakers for Nike in conjunction with MC Yan:

and jeans for Levi’s:

And again, a message from the founder about the jeans:

The 501’s we did were ill because I did the whole project from top to bottom. I especially like the idea of the jeans we used for the UNION RAIL Chinese workers for the American Railroad. It was fun using a piece of my people’s history and putting it into awareness through a design.