Email Subscribers Take Note

When Google disposed of their RSS Reader, it was not because of cost. It's because Google are evil as GOG and didn't want those of us who were learning at the speed of light to use their platform to do it.

It staggers me that the flaccid marketing communications crowd, populated by some very astute brain power, haven't commented once that the censorship on Google has turned a world class search engine into a clown-tool, suitable for the most bland information approved by big tech, big-pharma and small noodle or very large porn.

I would hate to be in a big media job as the world learns they've injected themselves with toxic, DNA chemicals.

Money can't buy you trust.

Those days are over and you burned yours while someone fiddled.

Book mark me.

Bella Thorne & Disney

Former Disney star Bella Thorne: "Getting molested from [the age of] 6-14... being abuse all the time...I was being molested....people have no idea the type mistreatment I was dealing with [while a Disney star] that everyone around me saw and did nothing."

Yes, Pedowood is real. pic.twitter.com/cOcMVtWHLG

— Tiffany FitzHenry (@Tiff_FitzHenry) June 29, 2019

Capturing your imagination.

All Over The World

Ocean Village, Southampton

Southampton, Yachts

ELO

Anti Advertising Ad - Rebtel - Speak Freely

Unsung Hero - Sadvertising Feels Less Fake

Instead of being hammered with advertising that sells materialism, ego driven lifestyles and a disregard for the planet and humanity this commercial takes a different route.

I just wonder if there's a way for brands that have sincerity to stand out and stand up for values that don't trash the planet or ignore some of the most important issues that we face as a species?

There's more examples on Sadvertising and Thai commercials over here.

Giving Is The Best Communication - ทรูมูฟ เอช " การให้ คือการสื่อสารที่ดีที่สุด " | TrueMoveH

This Thai commercial was published on 9/11 only a week ago and already has eight and a half million views on Youtube. It's so good I'm going out to buy a USB Internet connection from True irrespective of whether it is a better deal or not than its competitive mobile and internet data carriers.

From time to time, Thai advertising is easily the best in the world.

I can tell you from experience that it's less about strategy than having something important to say. I've talked about this in the past.

APG Awards

The Account Planning Group Awards are strategic efficacy awards for advertising, held every year in London. I was last there in 2007 and just found this in my drafts folder.

 I'm quite sure I'm even more curious than you what's on the video. I can only find out if I post it.

Consumerism Has Nothing Left To Say - So Its Talking About Itself

I've always liked this postmodern form of advertising (Like Cadbury's Gorilla) because it's clever, self referential and witty. However I realise it's not about building value and is all about a quick profit (unless there's a long term commitment to  content strategy). It wont last and you can read an intelligent post on the topic over at Eaon's

I'd Wear A Diaper For Samsung

I once interviewed with Samsung's in house ad agency for a position and it was a depressing experience. A bit like joining Lintas under the Lowe Banner.

Coffee Jerks In Advertising

Some of the men are borderline psychotic. Probably a generation of aggressive husbands felt  commercial messages like this endorsed violence in marriages. More disturbing than amusing.

Is advertising dying?

 ithementalist 

I could quite easily both create or miss a million pound plus spent on advertising but stuff like this gets me thinking about how powerful a good idea using public space and then channeled into social media and shared with the right people can turn into something which frankly doesn't even needed to actually exist except as an idea.

It could be turned into a global media idea by a 14 year old student on a laptop, as George Parker highlights in Bob Garfield's Adage piece . You should read it because the parting shot is why we are "exquisitely, irretrievably fucked"

There is no commandment that thou shalt monetize media space. 

Although monetizing delivery is much much easier if we try and keep the mobile phone a pull not push media space. Keep an eye out for more of the above work going up on Flickr 

The future is looking awesome the sooner we let go of the past.

Prove It

The best marketing clients in the world are those who are prepared to be brave. They balance their experience of what works historically against their judgment or instinct for what might work. In my experience they are highly demanding but are also the most rewarding to have.

I think we're living in quite profound times and not only for marketing communications, if anybody corners me privately on the implications and similarities of ubiquitous connections and say telepathy/extra sensory perception.

I don't believe the revolution will be twittered. I think it is being twittered and it's still early days yet. That doesn't mean the current slew of marketing automatons should rush to be prematurely involved and start interrupting peoples fun - That's not fast strategy that's dumb strategy, and a waste of carbon footprint between servers. It's a good idea to hang out with folk before you try and make money from them.

Why not try thinking of it differently? As Rob Alexander (I think) of JWT in London says 'We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in, and start being interesting'.

It's worth considering as Clay Shirky puts it: "Here comes everybody"

Then Charlie Leadbeater says: "In the past you were what you owned, Now you are what you share"

Let me paraphrase that "We are what we share"

I'm no longer surprised how excruciatingly dull marketing people can be. They used to hire their agencies to be interesting for them, but since they squeezed that equation to the lowest common denominator, it is now difficult to distinguish between the marketing department and their agencies. They're now frequently both dull and in all too many circumstances regrettably loathe each other. It's rare, particularly in Asia to hear 'I've got a brilliant client' from senior ad folk. Tell me if you believe I'm exaggerating or plain wrong, that's what the comments are for. If not, doesn't this suggest that it's time to change?

Interrupting content is the 20th century model for marketing communications and it still works to the extent that many people put their cognitive surplus into 'vegging-out' in front of the telly - Maybe they are the ones who work so hard executing, that they then have too little time exploring the internet to grasp what's going on. If I'm being charitable some of the most time pressured clients are too busy dealing with today to think about a very different tomorrow.

Do remember though that Hip Hop didn't start with the Record Labels. It started in the projects of New York and was home made. Its now the dominant music form globally. Because that number, who are chilling (or slumped) in front of the telly (and constantly ask me incredulously 'where do you get the time to blog?') are diminishing noticeably as the internet becomes more interesting. It's the clients who are smart and courageous enough to take a bet on the quantitatively unprovable yet instinctively worthwhile that are likely to be the new stars of tomorrow.

Here's 30 seconds of interesting content. I filmed it, edited it, added music and uploaded it all from my Nokia N95, as I was exploring my phone features. All the marketing folk have got to think about is how to facilitate that process or be part of the digital-content-topography for enjoying it without interrupting it, delaying it or annoying the much more demanding 21st century participant.

Disclaimer: I didn't take the dancers back to drink Cristal and dance around chrome poles like the air hostesses in Iron Man's corporate jet after.

I'm quite interesting enough thank you.

Untitled from Charles Frith on Vimeo.

And here's some proper content from TED if you're still paying attention.

Daily Stats

Depressing really, my own colleagues don't find me Interesting at all! Or maybe it's because Blogspot has only recently been allowed in China! Seriously though the unsung secret of Blogging is Google Analytics. It's the only quantitative evidence I am hopelessly addicted to. It'sa deep diving internet analytical tool that has taught me a lot about how to think through e-commerce, click through and bounce rates, search engine optimization and all the other features and benefits that will appeal to even the most creative planners amongst us. The numbers above don't reflect the RSS subscribers I have, although I intend do a post about Feedburner (and/or Feedsky for China) soon because its interesting and also the political implications of RSS readers and subscribers are quite considerable in places like China where pluralism of opinion is often anathema.

Marketing Mediocrity

It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks, but really I wouldn't have it any other way. There's always one bad apple right to deal with right? ;)