Change is good regardless of the pain

Being a West Ham fan I find this quite upsetting - followed the Hammers all my life and my first game if I recall was against QPR in Sept'77 my dad took me and we drew 2-2. I can still remember Stan Bowles, a great player for QPR even as a kid I could see he was good. But time changes and as a West Ham fan and creative so must I, no matter how painful that change is at the beginning, it needs to happen, the best ideas are the ones that haven't been done before, the unknown is scary and even if you fail at first you stick with it, (If that wasn't the case West Ham United would still be call Thames Ironworks and I would be still just writing 60 second TV spots, so change we must. Yes we have all the crap going on at the moment with seating arrangements with old school mixing with the new school. (I like to call them the 'Popcorn crew') Peanuts and darts been thrown was never the way forward, onwards and upwards. COYI

There's More Pop -Ups In-store From Amazon

The march continues in owning the shopping experience from Amazon, according to Business Insider, the tech giant has a master plan to open even more pop-up stores in the coming year, they are keen in particularly to showcase its Echo speakers and other devices and hardware like; Kindles and Fire TV. You could be looking at over 100 pop-up stores in the coming months, as the e-retailer is reportedly putting up one almost every week across the US. They are keen to stress though just because Amazon is expanding its physical presence it doesn't mean it's focusing more on bricks-and-mortar shops. Having said that, apparently, these pop-ups are there to give potential customers a chance to play and interact with the products to then drive up their sales online, so surely the increase will continue. We all know this is the best retail strategy for any brand worth their salt that they have a fully integrated experience. Let's see how this shakes up and maybe what partnerships could evolve for big brands on the high street.

Let's face it girls can't compete

This morning I was watching breakfast TV where I fleetly overheard the young lady announce that UK girls are one of most unhappiness in Europe, this announcement obviously drew my attention as you see I have 3 girls of my own. Under the screams each morning on who's got the hair straighter to the regular early morning door slams. (Fair play to the person who hung my doors as they are still on there hinges) Anyway I though this was all normal but the announcement from the presenter did get me thinking; are my girls happy? And if not why not? We went through it, you know growing up and all the pressure that came with it, but it’s now moved into a much more microscopic environment, thanks to social media platforms especially Instagram and Snapchat, the pressure to always'look pretty' or 'on flick' as my eldest says is never ending. But it doesn’t stop there, at school, there's pressure to be 'sporty'(As you see the boy's like this and if the boy's like you then the rest of the girls like you too) Mustn't have'puppy fat' but 'thigh gaps' are all collective acceptable. If the boy's don’t like you, then the girls take more selfies trying to gain more 'likes' and ‘heart-shapes’ while snapping away they're chasing that dream for perfection and acceptance. As a parent the whole thing gives me the shits and so says someone who works in the business! So you can see how I felt when this appeared later on that day:

This picture was created by cosmetic surgeon Dr De Silva which combines the nine most requested features in one 'perfect face, that appeared in today's (31st Aug 2016) Daily Mail I just shook my head and was raging (My daughter wanted to Snapchat me as she never seen my face so red) but god almighty what hope is there when this type of stuff is appearing? It's constant. So can I make one request to all media types please please stop publishing this tripe otherwise what hope have they got? I try to do my best as a dad and someone who works in the industry I avoid producing stuff like this. As we all know to try to be 'perfect' and chasing that continued dream, ends in unhappiness. It becomes a nightmare you only have to look at the rise in eating disorders and self-harming in the UK to see the damage we are creating. Let's start by helping our kids to face up to things in a more positive light, let's not compare but let's celebrate our kids being themselves. PLEASE.

Reinventing the wheel, literally

Here is a wonderful piece of engineering and what can I say, this has literally reinvented the wheel, well how we harness it anyway, massive backing from Kickstarter and a reasonable RRP, a real wheel of fortune for the maker me thinks.

Tetris bookcase

I love ideas that: Combine offline with online. Are visually appealing and functional. Are playful hacks made by super smart geeks. Thank you Oyvind Berntsen who added LED's to his bookcase and made them programmable. Genius.

Too Cool

Literally the coolest book ever. Breezing through the pages of this handy flip book offers the illusion of standing in front of a refreshing fan as it cycles back and forth. The idea is the first published book from a company called 72 and Sunny from their CD. (I'm guessing he or she is an art director?)As the writer would have dismissed in an instant as it's not available as an eBook. For me playful but practical. In my book always a good sign of an idea.Have a great weekend.

Very Krafty

Towards the end of last year, Kraft decided to renove all articial flavours, perservatives and dyes from its popular Macaroni and Cheese product. But when Kraft informed its customers of the imminent change, it was met with strong resistance. Social media lit up with moans and complaints from fans saying they will stop eating the product if they change. Now for the Krafty bit; with advice from their agency CP&B - their response? Don't tell them!! So what did they do? So for 3 months around the end of 2015, Kraft quietly started selling the new product in the old packaging, and the changes was only announced in very small type on the packs. Kraft sold 50 million boxes, which is standard in 3 months, so no complaints, they then launched the campaign' We'd invite you to try it, but you already have' - the whole idea was don't advertise (How ironic coming from an ad agency) That’s what you call real problem solving in marketing - not trying to over analysis, or use tech for tech sake, or do a big old production number – it just comes down to one thing; smart thinking.

Sign of true problem solving

I came across this on Twitter and wanted to share this invention for two important reasons, the first is; it's a brilliant idea. (Yes it's still in development and needs certain things to be ironed out but it's still a great idea especially an idea that has come from students so young. Both Thomas Pryor and Navid Azodi are undergraduate students at the University of Washington (UW) studying Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering and Business Administration, (Bet that looks good on your CV :) The two met in their freshman year and connected over a shared interest in invention and problem solving. The invention idea came from a personal experience of Navid's. During the first seven years of his life, he used non-verbal communication. Notice their interest in 'invention and problem solving' this gets onto my next important point; how can we in our multi-million pound industry of ‘digital transformation’ or ‘digital marketing’ or ‘engaging content’ whatever we decide to call it, try to replicate that sediment when in reality the work that is been produced is such pointless, worthless crap?

Rob Campbell a spanner for anyone outside the East End it's Cockney slang for Planner. Anyway Rob at W&K wrote a brilliant blog piece last week canning the industry for producing dumb ideas such gems as the ‘smart peg’ worth a read for me this was bang on. And the reason why? The big problem with our industry is we aren’t problem solvers anymore we are just confused. (The industry is changing at such a rapid rate we are desperate to find a meaning on what we and our brands are about). There was a small few but now we have heaps of people who think they are really solving problems, they think they are super clever but in reality they are so wrapped up in their little bubble, they are blinded to the fact they are producing utter bollocks. It’s not and repeat not ‘digital transforming’ (By the way there’s another phrase that has surfaced that’s adding to the bullshit) I do honestly believe it hurts our business and screws a brand and a company’s reputation as most people in the real world just think; WTF. A casing point last week I read that some company ‘invented’ an umbrella that tells you when it is about to rain. Please just stop and just fuck right off. Really? I read it thinking it was a joke but sadly it wasn’t. Now just push the creative pause button. Let’s stop what we are doing and look at ideas like SignCloud and celebrate that people are out there really trying to change and transform people’s lives, we as an industry have so many smart people it’s time for us to channel it and produce work on a par with SignCloud – the bar has been risen, and for many in our industry they won’t be able to compete and keep pace in innovative thinking. The others can so make a difference and seek them out and create brilliant ideas.

The future of shopping is now

Facebook Likey

Some developments from Facebook conference pow wow here's some top line updates great news for marketeers. Live API: Facebook Live has been incredibly successful, and now we’re opening up our API so developers can design even more ways for people and publishers to interact and share in real time on Facebook. Bots for Messenger: As part of the new Messenger Platform, bots can provide anything from automated subscription content like weather and traffic updates, to customized communications like receipts, shipping notifications, and live automated messages — all by interacting directly with the people who want to get them. The Messenger Send / Receive API will support not only sending and receiving text, but also images and interactive rich bubbles containing multiple calls-to-action. Facebook Surround 360: We’ve designed and built a 3D-360 camera system called Facebook 360 that produces sharp, truly spherical footage in 3D. The system includes stitching technology that seamlessly marries the video from 17 cameras, vastly reducing post-production effort and time. We’ll be making the design specs and stitching code available on GitHub this summer. Profile Expression Kit: People can now use third-party apps to create fun and personality-infused profile videos with just a few taps. The closed beta kicks off today with support for six apps: Boomerang by Instagram, Lollicam, BeautyPlus, Cinemagraph Pro by Flixel, Lollicam, MSQRD, and Vine. Free Basics Simulator & Demographic Insights: It’s now easier for developers to build for Free Basics with the Free Basics Simulator, which lets them see how their service will appear in the product, and Demographic Insights, which helps them better understand the types of people using their services. Account Kit: Account Kit gives people the choice to log into new apps with just their phone number or email address, helping developers grow their apps to new audiences. Facebook Analytics for Apps updates: More than 450,000 unique apps already use this product to understand, reach, and expand their audiences, and we’re now introducing more features to help developers and marketers grow their businesses with deeper audience insights, and push and in-app notifications (beta). Quote Sharing: Quote Sharing is new way for people to easily share quotes they find around the web or in apps with their Facebook friends. Save Button: The Save Button lets people save interesting articles, products, videos, and more from around the web into their Saved folder on Facebook, where they can easily access it later from any device. I very much likey

Innovation and creativity all under one house

Lovely piece here from HAKUHODO Kettle Tokyo, in the fact they took a simple obvious idea for moving house and did something completely left-field - a very sweet and powerful eco-social experiment. Tapping into something that people care about and turned it on its head. With the behind the scene builds which puts it all into context this makes for a very watchable piece of content, that's so good on all fronts. Hat tip. I wish I done.

Clever Interaction in one easy swipe

Good morning beautiful people, Don't worry about the rain - people either run from getting wet or there's people who feel the rain - anyway this was very interesting; interesting in that yet again online meets offline - neat simple idea - that harnessing something that is as old as Keith Richards - the pin badge - what is also interesting my 16 yr old daughter sent me the link from Kickstarter - times are changing - this generation will be the next marketing directors, CEO's CCO etc. They don't see digital and an offline experience - they just see an experience - enjoy your day and think positive creative thoughts https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pinscollective/pins-collective

Young Upstarts

Power of Instagram

This made me laugh - thanks Kevin Morris for sharing, amazing in that we all get it, and it goes to show the power of social media and our addiction to our mobile phones - sharing experiences through the lens of your phone.

Breakfast hacks for the kids

Here's a cute little social content idea - We asked ourselves; 'Are our Tip & Sip bowls the ultimate breakfast invention?' We asked Dominic Wilcox a wacky inventor to put it to the test and asked him to create even more fun ways to get the kids to eat their breakfast #BreakfastHacks - with my little troop going back to school today - I reckon the cranehead is the one in my household.

Bank through Twitter

Tweet tweet look at this little birdie how Twitter is been used in India. The ICICI Bank is enabling smartphone users to make money transfers, top up phone credit and monitor their balance all via Twitter. Customers do not have to bank with ICICI, they simply need to follow the bank’s Twitter handle

@icicibank. To make a payment through the service — called icicibankpay — senders create a voucher by sending ICICI bank a direct message containing the recipient’s account name and the amount they wish to transfer. This will create a four digit passcode which the sender then shares with the receiver. The receiver can then use this code to authenticate the payment and receive their funds.

Data Visualization Porn

D3.js is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. D3 helps you bring data to life using HTML, SVG, and CSS. Found this while surfing the net on a Sunday rainy day, for all the geek heads and designers this is a great library of great content code. Enjoy.

Google Mobile in parts

Still beta phase but here is what Google have been up to regarding developing what they call Project Ara, custom build almost like a lego kit the mobile you want

Cat Memes

Just brilliant- what more can I say

Sounds A Great Idea

As a lover of old school Soul and with my love of vinyl and tech, by the way my record boxes and old school stack system is still out in display in my living room. (My kids still aren't quite sure what it is).So when I came across this idea, I must admit I did break into a bit of a two step across my living room floor. By harnessing conductive printed onto the vinyl cover, when tapped you can play a percussion sound. The ink responds to touch, interrupting a circuit that connects to a sound system. Sounds a great idea.