Brand Noise

Retooling Virtual War to Help Heal

(from the New Yorker) Currently, the Department of Defense is testing Virtual Iraq—one of three virtual-reality programs it has funded for P.T.S.D. treatment, and the only one aimed at “ground pounders” in six locations, including the Naval Medical Center San Diego, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, D.C., and Weill Cornell Medical College, in New York. According to a recent study by the RAND Corporation, nearly twenty per cent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are suffering from P.T.S.D. or major depression. Almost half won’t seek treatment. If virtual-reality exposure therapy proves to be clinically validated—only preliminary results are available so far—it may be more than another tool in the therapists’ kit; it may encourage those in need to seek help.  Video  Read full article

GTA Marmite Modding

According to Stuff.co.nz a New Zealand kid, Stacy O'Callaghan is in some trouble for adapting Grand Theft Auto to suit his domestic conditions - complete with detailed images of modern New Zealand police cars and uniforms.  The police are not amused and are threatening legal action. Police national headquarters spokesman Jon Neilson said its legal team was investigating whether the modified version - which lets armed vehicle thieves bash and kill police officers - breached regulations concerning the use of police insignia.

Ethiopian Coffee Campaigns for Recognition

Ethiopia has launched a campaign to brand and market its coffee after ending a long trademark dispute with US coffee giant Starbucks. Ethiopia, Africa's largest coffee producer, will trademark its most famous coffee names -- Sidamo, Harar and Yigacheffe. "Licensees are required to feature Ethiopia's new brand identity in their marketing as part of their licensee agreements," the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office states.

The Machine Is Us

We've come a long way from HAL, the machine in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey that rebels at the plan to disconnect him.  The fear of machines in these films is rooted in the fear of them as a separated and uncontrollable force. They are not us.  But now it seems that we are clearly transitioning into a new period in which machine and human mesh.  The machine is us now.  We mod and mash-up the real and the virtual.  The challenge going forward is to balance the relationship.  To understand and negotiate the layers of real and hyperreal. This is the new narrative that defines us.

An article in Time Magazine this week discusses this fusing of man and machine as  seen in new releases like Iron Man and Speed Racer.  "We live in an age of sophisticated machines. They do much of our work for us; we spend most of our playtime with them. So let's recognize our symbiosis with machines--and celebrate our mastery of them--in movies that couldn't be made without them."  Read more

Building Brands as Character Actors

I am constantly integrating a cinema perspective to the way I plan brands.  In speaking on the topic of brand placement and integration in consumer experience, I described the process of managing these new strategies as similar in how one manages the career/brand of a good character actor.  The example I have used in the past was Christian Bale, but an interview with Alec Baldwin on 60 minutes this Sunday made the connection for me again.  It was something he said.  Good character acting is.. "learning to listen to the other actors".  I think this says a lot.  How often do brands imagine themselves as the leading man - only to realize that this position leaves them looking like a hollow talking head and disconnected from the scenes they wish to live in.  Brands need to channel the authenticity that comes from listening - the art of character acting - and cultivate a meaningful position in the mise-en-scene.  That is the formula for better experiences.

The Chaste Vampire Generation

Time Magazine this week looks into  fiction phenom, Stephenie Meyer. Meyer, 34, is a huge success at selling books, but she's becoming something more. People dress up like her characters. They write their own stories about them and post their tales on the Internet. When she appears at a bookstore, 3,000 people go to meet her. There are Twilight-themed rock bands.

But it is the rare vampire novel that isn't about sex on some level, and the Twilight books are no exception. What makes Meyer's books so distinctive is that they're about the erotics of abstinence. Their tension comes from prolonged, superhuman acts of self-restraint. There's a scene midway through Twilight in which, for the first time, Edward leans in close and sniffs the aroma of Bella's exposed neck. "Just because I'm resisting the wine doesn't mean I can't appreciate the bouquet," he says. "You have a very floral smell, like lavender ... or freesia." He barely touches her, but there's more sex in that one paragraph than in all the snogging in Harry Potter. Read more

Miuccia Prada and the Marriage of Art and Fashion

(from Financial Times) Miuccia Prada symbolises perfectly the merging of these two multimillion-pound industries. Not only are her collections feted for the kind of conceptual audacity that would shame many a so-called artist but she has also acted as a generous patron for all things cutting edge.

Miuccia Prada has already shown that fashion – quick-moving, dynamic, ferociously embracing globalisation – can outsmart more ponderous forms of expression. But the problem, which she recognises as surely as anyone, is this: as art learns those lessons and becomes more approachable and, arguably, more facile, will it lose its sense of gravitas?

Last week the 58-year-old designer announced plans for a new headquarters for her 15-year-old Prada Foundation, in a former spirits distillery in Milan. The €25m project, masterminded by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, will restore most of the distillery’s original buildings as well as providing three new structures.  Read more (FT.com)

Profile of a Music Pirate

It makes for some interesting dinner conversation when when one of your friends is an intellectual property lawyer (he used to represent Apple Records while going through the DJ Dangermouse fiasco).  The topic certainly gets people's blood going.  It represents the shift into a whole new way in which companies and consumers relate to the value of goods and services.  And like other industries before them like cars and tobacco, reveals an attempt to dictate control over how the market functions. We must go through them.  The consumer sees things differently. The struggle to change gets ugly - and often results in singling out folks for litigation. In this week's BusinessWeek an article focuses on a 45-year-old single mother who, after being sued by the record industry, is now taking the record industry to court. Tanya Andersen is going after the recording industry under conspiracy laws. She argues the Recording Industry Association of America, the industry's trade group, and its affiliates worked together on a broad campaign to intimidate people into making financial payoffs.  Read more

All Over the World, Teens Crave Empowerment

Last season, Frontline/World ran a story from the Middle East that introduced viewers to the fastest selling comic book in the Arab world, The 99. The comic features characters with super powers based on the concept of Allah's 99 attributes, including wisdom and generosity, as taught in the Koran. Its creator, Naif al-Mutawa, is a 36-year-old from Kuwait who was educated in the United States and who, as a boy, devoured Marvel comics and the Hardy Boys mysteries.

Reporter Isaac Solotaroff followed al-Mutawa as he marketed his comics throughout the Middle East, hoping to spread a moderate, modern image of Islam to the world. In this update, Solotaroff catches up with al-Mutawa in Jakarta, Indonesia, where the comic creator is trying to sell his work to the largest Islamic country in the world, a country that accounts for one in six of all Muslims worldwide. An ensuing documentary, Wham! Bam! Islam!, is in the works. Go, Isaac!

Even more compelling will be to see how the Islamic comic fans evolve. Will the cosplayers take it to the next level? Spirituality already underlies many a Manga. And, apparently, you can even see lotsa hijabi girls in Malaysia attending cosplay events. Could cosplay become the common ground the world needs? Can kids who think change the world? In our own research we've found the cosplay kids to be some of the most open-minded serious global thinkers. It belies the initial impression often viewed simply as kids in costume. These are not the Star Trekkies of past generations.   

Joy Division Zune

Cool Gen X news.....Microsoft is readying a Joy Division edition of its Zune MP3 player to coincide with the June 10 release of an eponymous DVD about the band.

Apple..Stop acting like a stalking ex-girlfriend

Just when I get through writing nice things about you Apple, you go ahead and remind me of your lingering flaw.  Stop fooling yourself that I am going to start using and upgrading Safari on my computer.  The laptop you sold me is already overloaded with every graphics, video and sound editing tool known to man.  I don't have room for your weird little browser - I moved on... to Firefox - she understands me better for that kind of stuff.  sometimes you have to reach down deep and let go if you want to stay friends.  Let it go Apple - I'm not buying into Safari - stop having it show up on my Software Updater every 2 weeks.  The stalking is really weirding me out and eroding our relationship.  Can't we get past this?

Embracing Eating Alone

The TV dinner has evolved - well at least in attitude.  I was kind of surprised to see the positioning on the latest launch by DiGiorno, "DiGiorno for One".  Microwave cooking has taken some time to get in touch with the lonely reality behind it.  Embracing it seems like a smart strategy.  Implied sharing is built into so much of other heat and eat food messaging.  How long has advertising lied to us pushing those frozen foods as still connected to some ideal picture of home.  Is this really what works?  Are people who eat alone expecting some reminder of a more social eating experience? 

Being Young in China

Young & Restless in China tracks the lives of nine Chinese Gen X'ers over four years as they scramble to keep pace with a society changing faster than any in history. Raised under communism they are now making their way in China's blazing capitalist economy. Their stories of ambition, exuberance, crime and corruption are interwoven with moments of love, heartbreak and passion. Together they capture the changing values, hopes and dreams of a pivotal generation.

Good Technology Makes Good Pictures, Not Smiles

Why is a smile synonymous with a good picture? Sony has been banking on the connection with its new Cyber-Shot camera with its Smile Shutter technology. Yet reviews are less than favorable: “Smile shutter sounds appealing in theory…But it strikes me as a work in progress.”

My own favorite photos of my six-year-old daughter are when she’s at her most contemplative. Maybe they can fine-tune a camera for me with a Brood Button? This is a case of where technology is not keeping up. The smile thing as good photography is something that lives in the realm of boomers and silents.

Not such a provocative concept considering that the first successful picture was produced in June/July 1827 by Niépce required an exposure of eight hours. Who could have possibly smiled that long?  Things didn't get snappy until about a century later.

(photo: Sabine demonstrates that pain makes a great picture.)

A Moment of Zen (Imogen Heap)

Thinking about open source and making process transparent to consumers seems to be part of almost every recommendation we make as planners today. I like to see how that unbundling and transparency feels emotionally. This clip of Imogen Heap sums up the joy and passion for me. Enjoy.

Haagen-Dazs Promotes HoneyBee Buzz

Haagen-Dazs demonstrates some interesting and relevant green marketing with with their "Help the Honeybees" campaign.  Haagen-Dazs uses the campaign to warn that decline of the honeybee could become a big problem for the premium ice cream maker's business. According to Haagen-Dazs, one-third of the U.S. food supply - including a variety of fruits, vegetables and even nuts - depends on pollination from bees.

The campaign works well in promoting a real environmental cause, while also emphasizing the premium and natural positioning of the brand.  It is tied well to the value of the brand and plugs the consumer into what goes into quality ice cream.  Pretty basic.  Real flavors need real fruits - and that needs honeybees.  The campaign includes a new flavor launch called "Vanilla Honeybee" to further promote the cause.

Parent/Kid Sharing is About Fun

Check out this bit of kid/parental sharing. Can someone give me one compelling reason to act like an adult? The idea of play doesn’t stop when a Gen Xer or Yer becomes an adult, let alone a parent. Now it's about seeing the fun side of all things. Even when your house is being overrun by Littlest Pet Shop, as demonstrated by director Rebecca and her dad, the cameraman.

Growing Pains: As Networks Intensify, Roles Evolve

We here at scenarioDNA love the roller derby. It’s an amazing source of girl power. Not just in the sport itself but in its underpinnings. It takes extraordinary team effort to sustain the operation. That said, there’s been some chatter of late talking about junior league roller derby. The first brat league was formed in Tucson by a group of kids who had been following the Tucson Roller Derby adult league. The girls are from 10 to 18 and they play by modified rules.

What’s interesting is that the girls enjoy the same solidarity as their elder counterparts. Yet, one thing has come up for discussion during our own visits with New York’s Gotham Girls: the emotional impact of injuries.

It’s fabulous to see young girls enjoy the solidarity and empowerment that the older girls find in roller derby. They’re practicing at least twice a week, playing once and socializing in-between. They live and breathe the sport. Even at work or school, they txt and IM their derby friends.

The network is pretty intense, which is something hard to find today. But because of that intensity, the impact of an injury hits very hard. Suddenly, a girl is jolted out of her element. That in itself is difficult for women of age, and further complicated for girls in their teens and pre-teens who are in the formative stages of their identity. It singly steps the issue up for the big sisters who now play yet another role.

The trick is how to maintain the authenticity of the younger set without losing the essence. (Image: Arnicare waiting for derby girls at practice.)

Verizon Wireless - Things that make you go UGH!

More reasons to see big Telecoms as evil and out of touch....Verizon has started adding text message advertising to all photos uploaded from Verizon cellphone cameras to services like Flickr.  What does this prove?  Except how out of touch they are as a mobile carrier. Shouldn't mobile be leaders in mobile best practices?  What do they expect to gain from this advertising.  Is someone looking through my photos on Flickr supposed to read this badly written text and go - "hey maybe I should get a Verizon Phone?"  This one gets the "Out of Touch" award" for the day.  I wish Apple could be my mobile carrier.  That says a lot - and I know that I am not alone in this.  Mobile needs to understand that it is selling experiences - not phone plans - if you mess up the vibe of those experiences you can never expect people to jump on to new services.

Redefining Luxury: From Excess to Stealth

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