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

Cultivating the Network--Wherever Required

We talk so often about social networks and, instantly, we assume we are talking about being online. Let's not forget that real social networks are about people, and their connections need to be cultivated wherever they live.

Holbæk is a city in Denmark's Sjælland region, sitting on the banks of a fjord. Not surprisingly, the city has an active seaport with a harbor for a ferry crossing to Norway, among other uses. When the Danish Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) was confronted with a project on this waterfront they asked, "how do you combine the harbor areas on the big scale with intimacy and sensory experiences on the human scale?"

BIG started with a generic grid of equal-sized plots of consistent height, "a dense and low kasbah of dwellings that have been twisted and turned thus creating a labyrinth of small open spaces and hiding places for life, play and socializing between the houses."

Read more.

David's Got a New Job

Here in a perfect case of cross-discipline learning, life imitates art:

For statues, stress injuries come from standing in place for hundreds of years. Using a novel technique, researchers have now developed a way to predict such fracturing, applying the procedure to Michelangelo's David in an analysis that proved simpler, faster and more accurate than previous methods.

In applying the technique to other objects -- including human bones -- the researchers are also gaining new perspective on how these structures are likely to fail.

Read more.

New Study Says Boys Do Desire Real Relationships

“Let’s give boys more credit,'’ said study author Andrew Smiler, an assistant professor of psychology at the university. “Although some of them are just looking for sex, most boys are looking for a relationship. The kids we know mostly aren’t like this horrible stereotype. They are generally interested in dating and getting to know their partners.'’

The data also suggest that teenage boys will be receptive to parental messages about the importance of getting to know a girl and respect within relationships, even if they act otherwise. “Very few parents really talk to their sons about relationships,'’ Dr. Smiler said. “We know that many parents do have these kinds of conversations with girls.'’

The report, published in this month’s Journal of Adolescence, paints a far different picture of teen boys than the stereotype of testosterone-fueled youth. Psychology researchers from the State University of New York at Oswego surveyed 105 10th-grade boys whose average age was about 16.

Read the whole story.

Boomers, Misunderstood

They comprise nearly 24% of the population, have a buying power of $3 trillion, and include many of the country's current business and political leaders. But marketers misunderstand -- and inefficiently target -- this country's 78 million baby boomers.

According to a new 22-page survey of 1,320 baby boomers from Edelman found that marketers overgeneralize, misrepresent and sometimes ignore the generation, lumping them together and, in the process, alienating them. "We really set out to blow up some myths," said Jody Quinn, exec VP-general manager of Edelman's Boomer Insights Generation Group. "The longer that marketers keep treating [boomers] as a huge mass as opposed to individuals, the longer it's going to take them to enter the market."

"This is a generation -- because of the sheer size of their demographic -- for which the world has always changed to meet their needs," said Laurence Evans, president of StrategyOne. "Now [boomers] are finding that they're feeling a little left out by political campaigns, media and TV that are focused on younger groups."

At scenarioDNA, we've been watching the schism from Baby Boom to Gen Y for some time now. It's time to move beyond age and look at more unifying factors, like passions and how that drives behavior. There are lots of synergies that ally Boomers with Gen Y. The groups are as closely aligned to each other as X'ers are aligned with the GI Generation.

Read our Generation Synergy Report.

Kiwee Reaches One Million Members

Just wanted to share something that we were part of:

In just six months, social expression site Kiwee has reached one million members; delivering 500 million IM graphics downloads.

The content is all free and includes postCards, graphics, emoticons, winks, display pictures, widgets and backgrounds for all major online communications platforms including Facebook, MySpace, Piczo, Multiply, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and AOL Instant Messenger.

"The teen and twenty-something demographic communicates with friends and family immediately on whatever platform reaches them fastest, and we provide expressive content that isn't available anywhere else on the Internet today," said Rajiv Jain, SVP and General Manager, Kiwee. "We know how people connect with one another based on our 101-year American Greetings heritage and our deep psychographic knowledge of this market, and these exciting growth numbers illustrate how our content resonates with young people all over the world."

Congrats!

Read the release.

Worldwide Ad Spending Outpacing US

According to a new study from GroupM, advertising spending in US measured media is expected to increase almost 4% in 2008 compared with 2007, when spending was up about 3%. Worldwide spending is expected to go up 7% in 2008, after an anticipated 6% increase in 2007.

Television and the internet are the primary engines of global ad growth, with 50% and 30%, respectively, of additional new investment in 2008. Meanwhile, spending on marketing services, such as sponsorships and public relations, is growing at a faster rate than for traditional advertising.

The study also reports 5% of global ad investment is expected to shift from developed to emerging economies in 2008, the largest such shift ever recorded:

• The main geographic contributors to growth next year are predicted to be    China, with 21% of all new money.
• Russia     and Brazil will each contribute 6%.
• India    will account for 3%.
• The US remains the second-highest contributor at 20% of all new money.

The 2008 spending expectations largely reflect the Olympics and the US election, says the report.

Lap Dancers "in Heat" Earn Higher Tips

To see whether estrus (heat cycle) was really “lost” during human evolution (as researchers often claim), researchers in the Department of Psychology at the University of New Mexico examined ovulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by professional lap dancers working in gentlemen's clubs.

The researchers used ads and flyers to sign up 18 lap dancers from local clubs. Each woman was asked to log on to a Web site and report her work hours, tips, and when she was menstruating. Lap dancers generally work 5-hour shifts with 18 or so 3-minute performances per shift. They average about $14 per "dance"--all of which is called a "tip" because it is illegal to pay for sex in New Mexico.

Normally cycling participants earned about US$335 per 5-h shift during estrus, US$260 per shift during the luteal phase, and US$185 per shift during menstruation. By contrast, participants using contraceptive pills showed no estrous earnings peak.

Read more. Read the abstract. (Image: Hiro's Lapdance.)

Fashion Bullying Moves to Middle School

Dorothy Espelage, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,  says she has seen an increase in "bullying related to clothes." Having access to designer clothing affords some kids "the opportunity to become popular -- and that protects you and gives you social power and leverage over others," she says.

Over the past three years, numerous designers have targeted the lucrative children's and teens' markets. Little Marc, the kids' clothing label by New York designer Marc Jacobs, expanded its line this winter and dropped its price, making it more accessible to a greater number of shoppers...

What's curious here is that middle school kids are at a crossroad, moving beyond the parental threshold. Yet they still are looking back for parental approval. Branding at this age shoots right back at the parents. How kids are perceived at this stage and how they receive that perception shapes their future brand directions. WIll they become Abercrombie kids and constantly seek what's "in" or will they break out of the mold?

Read the whole story.

(Photo: Vintage tintype of a pre-teen.)

Generational Gap in Coffee Consumption

The biggest makers of grocery-store coffee. Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods are facing sluggish sales for their hallmark Folgers and Maxwell House brews—and the demographics are moving against them. Youngsters drink far less coffee than their baby boomer parents, and, when they do, it's more likely to be on the go. Only 37% of young adults between 18 to 24 drink coffee, compared with 60% for those between 40 and 59 and 74% for Americans over 60, according to National Coffee Association data.  Read more (BusinessWeek)