Does my RSS look big in this?

What's Next In Marketing & Advertising from Paul Isakson

Beijing Art

I recieved an invite from Joy Island to see her band play at a Shopping Mall (coincidentally called Joy Shopping Mall) on Saturday and I went along to check out her band Two Oranges' music. I discovered that it was also an art and environment combo (is that the original word for mashup?) sponsored by Arrtco who seem quite clued up.

I wanted to share some snaps of the art for the time being because it was rather good and seemingly transcended the language barrier. I particularly like the feces theme on the video installation below. I think we'd all be a bit more careful about our electricity use if our notebooks or TV's took an occasional crap. Anyway here ya go it was on sale for 1200 Euros in case you are curious of the prices.

I quite like that pick up your phone and get your money ready line. QVC couldn't have put it any better could they?

The bike below looked like the frame had grown out of the trees or vice versa.

The print poster below was called something like 'Bath together, Save water'. Which reminded me of an old campaign I think from when the UK suffered a very memorable drought in 1976. Beijing is almost rain free and needs to pump its water in from further and further afield each year as its next to a desert. I can't help thinking about Frank Herbert's SF book Dune that I was into as a lad and where water is so scarce on the desert planet Arrakis that it is considered an honour to be spat upon.

Lastly I really like this piece which with a bit of typography help and a couple of word tweaks would have got a full 10 out of 10 for its 25 mini frames. Each contained a line that built up a narrative of human development from nature to robot and one particularly poignant frame on the bottom left with a jet plane and the planet earth, and the line; "They began to see the world as a plaything" which is kind of true when I think about say the time I took a plane to the airport and jumped on the next random flight out - I ended up in Phnom Penh. Imagine when most people in China can afford to do that. I'm guessing it's not too far off.

Update: Today's China Daily reports today that 97 airports are to open in China within 12 years. Naturally this is seen as only a good thing because the West taught China that the only benchmark worth knowing is the economic growth that we are all seemingly choking on.

Beijing Yoof

Beijing is much more restrained than Shanghai when it comes to self expression but there are pockets of the cool kids, particularly in the Xidan area which I've taken to exploring to see if there's anything interesting.

I guess that Harajuku thing is beginning to emerge more confidently here and it makes a welcome break from the monotony of monotone or overkill on the colour red. I really like these folk because they have that spark of life which frankly takes a bit of courage. Some people like to invoke the 'nail that sticks out, gets hammered in' rule of thumb for Asia but I say bollocks to that. The nail that sticks out gets noticed.

....unlike most ego driven marketing communications that sadly pass for 'creative'. Few people are willing to champion these folk and yet they are just as valid a part of modern China as the migrant workers who build the endlessly emerging skyline. I also find them refreshingly modest and unchippy.

This is BRILLIANT

With thanks from Gustavo who is shaping up as a very hip and talented creative planner. (Picture taken last night at LAN club where the Ministry of Sound were playing)

DARPA

From DARPA - The people from the U.S. defense research agency that invented the internet way back in 1969 Via Dygicynic

Magnetic Strip

Richard has posted this excellent piece of work coming out of the Saatchi & Saatchi stable where he works in London. The music is impeccable.

Money From The Environment

Some of us have talked a fair bit in the past on the environment blogs including John Grant's Greenormal that going green is actually a massive business waiting to go ballistic. I guess I should have remembered this while meeting a twenty something in a Beijing bar who repeated three times that she was making amazing money from 'wind energy' farms in China... I thought it was a bit crass at the time but with the U.S. economy tanking on debt that only the consumer society could have created, it's probably good timing given that the banks are now being propped up by the Fed with our money).

Anyway, Amy from Terrarossa asked me to see what you think of this clip. I'd be grateful if you could let her know your reactions to any of it in the comments below. I've already given my feedback.

某些领导

身体越来越胖心胸越来越窄，
头衔越来越多学问越来越浅，
讲话越来越长真话越来越少，
权力越来越大威信越来越低，
年纪越来越老情人越来越小。

This is the only poem I've got into since I've been in China. On reading it for the first time I put down my mobile and stared out the taxi for a while. I think its more about power than a specific country or its officials, but what do I know?.... It was written in Chinese and perhaps the translation may have skipped some nuance? Or even a localised version of iambic pentameter. Either way I'm planet before country when it comes to nationalism. It's a logic thing really; entirely selfish I guess.

Here's the translation

Sketch of Officials

The body grows fat and fatter, the heart narrower and narrower
The titles accumulate more and more, the knowledge shallower and shallower,
The speeches longer and longer, the truths fewer and fewer,
The power greater and greater, the authority lower and lower,
The age older and older, the mistresses younger and younger.

China's Backbone

Here in China there's a large group of people that are only recently becoming recognised and represented in The People's Congress. They are the migrant worker population.

Sure there are lots more Herds as top thinker Mark Earls correctly espouses, but I think these people are the unsung heroes of China. I have wanted to take photographs of them since last year but felt that my presence would be intrusive and unwelcome. Just another white boy indulging his pampered ass in pseudo blue collar sympathies but tonight I took the plunge and asked if I could take a picture. A few got up straight away and ran out of range but the rest were happy enough and now I'm inspired to go further afield and get stuck into the rural areas and rust belts of China to learn more. Here are the pictures and they are a scene that is typical across all major cities late into the night across China. Nervous to get a shot as quick as possible I failed to do the settings on the camera correctly and so they are not good. But I wont make that mistake again. Expect more of this stuff.

As I type this I can hear a circular saw buzzing away at 8.15 PM on a Saturday night while the Neo Georgian building opposite my window emerges piece by piece each and every unrelenting day.

Twitter Explained with Schweppervescence

I was in some old fashioned groups last week for Beijing University students and I learnt some pretty neat stuff. Best of all, again was really how nice the folk in Beijing are in general - innocent almost, if that doesn't sound patronizing (that excludes advertising folk and clients btw). I was describing this to a colleague and concluded that it's not the worst place in the world for the balance of power to shift from D.C. to Beijing.

As I believe it already has from a global psychological power-perspective.

Even more so in a few months when more people will be looking at China than at any time in the entire history of the country. But more practically I can share how most of the youngish respondents were pretty conversant with Lost, 24, Desperate housewives and Heroes through P2P file sharing.

I thought it was a brave and edgy way for the curious and young to find out a little more about the frankly amazing media culture of the U.S. but after a little bit of probing it seems that in China, content like this is seen as being from the outside world more so than the U.S. specifically. Which raises an interesting view that I haven't really thought of since I first learned German in the early 90's and discovered that foreigners are called 'Auslander'.

Anyway, completely unrelated to any of this is the Twitter explained video which is useful for those still scratching their heads over the whole thing. Unfortunately it doesn't even come close to explaining the Twitter Karate that Sam and I invented over the weekend (with a little subsequent Twitter Wrestling from Angus

Lastly I want to post about this Schweppes ad which is easily the best thing since Gorrilla although I'm loving Singing Dog and Moonwalking Gorrilla. It highlights what for me is a growing problem and one that can only deteriorate as clever brands move closer to achieving feelings and move further away from 20th century messaging model, which has it's place, but more in an Adsense/Google way than the last-years-of-TV as we know it should.

Incidentally I think this could be a Golden age for advertising because the clever brands will mark out territory for feelings while the clock ticks for interrupted attention media. It's just a matter of time. The difference between describing an ad using storyboards (or even using them in research) to seeing the final piece is too wide for me because it doesn't come anywhere near close to conveying the emotion that I feel when I see a fantastic piece of work like this. I did read about some of this brand talked about over at Rob's but I had no idea if the Cynic gang were involved with this piece while writing this post. Either way it stands for itself. Bravo!

Escape

The Kaiser has started causing trouble again and kicked off with a drinks contest. Now I remember the meat contest when it was a very close thing with Russell's bacon and Marcus' Sausage, and truthfully I should confess that I played really dirty on Russell's blog in the comments section pretending that I used to work in a sausage factory and that I sneezed into the meat vat so I guess the Karma is heading my way. Anyway I was originally selected for Red Bull but as we won that business in a pitch over Christmas I didn't want to leave a taste in the mouth of blue collar folk that use it to keep awake rather than passionate. So I opted for a Cocktail that personified the simplicity and naivety of the 70's with a tropical coconut flavour. That and because the lyrics to Rupert Holmes' 'Escape' makes a reference to this cheeky refreshment.

There's no way on earth I'm going to sell this drink to you folks because you its just tasty and retro hip. I like a Gin & Tonic too which is what I'm up against so sorry about the plurality of it all.

Anyway you gotta go and vote so nip over here and join in, if you are up for it. I'm hoping that my brother R gets his partner to vote because it was Pam's inspiration that got me all excited about this very cheeky and underrated snifter. Give that lady a drink ;)

We Live In Financial Times

I absolutely love this print and poster advertising. When I first saw a version of it near Liverpool Street Station on the way to a meeting at Poke and a later interview at Mother I stopped in my tracks and had a mind rush about the 30 different things that made me think that if the F.T. have the class to hire an agency involved with the intelligence to come up with a line that defines widely held third millennium principle values and then articulate it with some beautiful artwork, then it's a publication I'd reassess.

But I have one devious question for the advertising aficionados out there who think they know their stuff.

How are the two executions different and why?

Year of the Rat

melfeasance

Way back last year I met a really nice guy at the Breakfast Club for a Likemind event/Russell's coffee morning crossover who listened while I waffled on about how the internet gave us an opportunity for the planet to voice its opinion and instead of smiling as most people do when I blather on about this subject he fully agreed. Well he emailed me this morning about a project for the world to participate in the forthcoming U.S. elections and break down each countries votes for issues like say Iraq.

Rob has very kindly posted about it over here. I hope we all get a chance to say more about things like this in the future. If you know a way that you can contribute or spread the word that would be great because there is going to come a time shortly when it will be difficult to ignore people's opinions on the internet. Its happening already and I hope the developer of 10 questions gets this off the ground. Your support in publicizing it would be terrific.

Spring is in the air

I managed to slip out of the office yesterday for a very quick lunch and on the way I finally got to walk past the recently opened Beijing Opera House or officially titled National Centre for Performing Arts. It's surrounded by a moat like affair, giving the arts a sense of protection for which Beijing's reputation kicks Shanghai's dollar loving ass over. So forgive me if I slip a couple of pics from the Nokia N95 in because I've dropped this baby a couple of times now and it's miraculously past the flying battery and spinning battery-cover test which is always received with gratitude when it survives that particular tumble, and is indeed the first quality about Nokia that really turned me on to the brand. That and the banana shaped ones that we first got at HHCL which were iconic and still are in a retro way. But really, Its not meant to survive this kind of abuse so its like a second life for me which is worth a few hundred euros in reality.


But what I wanted to say is that even though I cannot bear the cold, I moved to Beijing knowing that I need to sacrifice some things to achieve others. However, even though there will be cold days ahead, spring has definitely sprung and there is a whiff of fast paced tarting up going on in Beijing in the last days before the entire planet thinks more about China than it has ever done in the history of this incredible country destined for a legacy that is even larger than its geographical size or population, because that is exactly how the numbers game works. Here are the flowers being planted in time for the arrival of the sun.

And many of the boulevards are going through intense tree planting each morning with entire sections of previously tundra like frozen mud now being dug up and prepped for beauty. China knows how to throw a few hundred thousand workers at a project. Like no other.


This is no time to go into the whole construction boom thing versus planning a city for 2050 but I will do at some point. There's something interesting going on here and I haven't quite found the words to embrace all of it.

The Office (Party)

Well you live and learn. I've always had a problem with planned entertainment. Spontaneity makes me happy and when I was informed that we were having our office party some weeks in advance and that a 'committee' was being formed to organise entertainment skits for different account teams I thought it was going to be more of that teeth pulling obligatory presence that I put up with a couple of months ago at the 4A's advertising awards in December.

I filmed that particular fanfare they put us through for each award, including say best banner ad in B2B public infrastructure project tenders - you get my drift. Here it is because you can't make this stuff up when it comes to the levels of delusion in the advertising business.

So that's my view on organised fun. However our annual party morphed into everything I could have wished for. We headed for the great wall of China via coach and stayed in some architecturally really interesting lodgings called the Kempinski Commune. The proceedings began after a meal that was perfectly balanced and proportioned for an event of this nature (I loath wasted food at events) and then the skits began. As a rule we Brits have to get lathered up on the juice to have a good time but in general the Beijingers know how to have really good fun with just a glass or two to help things along, and this they did promptly with all their entertaining.

I expected amateurish good humoured attempts to entertain but what I saw was a transformational effect both by and of the people who I work with on a daily basis. It was pure planning porn and that included the film parody of the Hong Kong star who kept pictures of naked starlet conquests that were subsequently discovered by those guys who fix broken notebooks. So I learnt lots and had heaps of fun too. There was some senior management dough giving ritual thing that I didn't fully understand but that too turned into a kind of competitive egalitarianism and I was close to giving it all away right there and then, because I loved my colleagues so much in that moment being an emotional sort. You can't buy that kind of passion even if you neck a Red Bull or Three.

So at the end of it all my colleagues started to sing this song and I don't know why but it was sung with the sort of pride that is not about solipsistic nationalism but about a collective and mutual respect for each other and an optimism for the future. Well that was the feeling of it for me and I'm sure there is more but it just felt good and I got it on Qik so here it is if you don't mind me giving you a quick slice of Beijing life which has so much more substance than Shanghai in many ways.

Sorry about the sound quality but that is live to the net streaming so it's still being improved. I've got lots of footage of the entertainment skits but I'd like to leave you with what really is the moment that sinks in deeper than any other so far which is The Great Wall of China. The folks after the descent told me that you aren't a man until you've visited it, but I was unaware of that when I arose early to climb a section of it where it's evident that despite stiff competition from Bagan in Burma, Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Borobodur in Indonesia is easily the most lasting and physical testament to what a people can achieve with brute force, vision and resources that put the goal way ahead of the cost of its execution. I look forward to the day when we collectively apply that determination to reducing consumption, applauding frugality and worshiping that which we are blessed with for an infinitely short time in the big scheme of things. The chance to live a life on this speck of a seemingly lonely planet. So here is the Great Wall and Great it really is.

He shoots. He scores.

Just before I got shipped outta London to Beijing I met up with some great guys from TBWA/RAAD who were talking about some very attractive Middle East planning action that would have meant a gold plated Royce, a Vertu mobile and a dental plan to force people at 100 paces to wear secret-service dark shades to protect their iris from my egregiously shiny white teeth. Sadly I couldn't take them up on their exploratory offer because of my commitment to move to China, but they did ask if I knew anyone I could recommend.

Which got me thinking!

It had to be someone who was into digital and I also thought international which isn't for everyone so it was a toughie. But one of my thoughts was Sam Ismail. I suggested it might be worth hooking them up. They asked me why I wasn't charging a fee for this but then disintermediation, reputation management and network nurture aren't easy ingredients to whisk-up into a sound bite on the spot so I just told them I'm nice because I needed the love right then. Anyway, as was the case with Famous Rob who landed a number oop North from an introduction I talked about back here I'm pleased to say that Sam is going to be a big planning Kahuna in one of the most dynamic and culturally rich places on the planet too. Fresh out of a psychology degree and straight into the world of marketing communications. It's an experience that will make him grow and I'm looking forward to the Middle East cracking out some innovative numbers because Sam is most definitely capable of delivering welcome surprises. All he's gotta do for this gig is kick back a little and let people get to know his heart of gold first and give them time to dig his burning intelligence second. He says the job thing is a lot down to me but like I told Famous Rob they should thank themselves (and their parent's genes).

That and the guy who started off the whole planning blogging gig in the first place because there was a generosity of spirit which not so long back was rare to find in the previously often pious world of planning. One that is increasingly now benevolent and collaborative. Vive L'internet folks. I feel we're just scratching at the surface of its potential and it's not about the electronics. It's about the potential of the human spirit, which for whatever reason needs nurturing and given every chance. Everyone needs an ounce of luck in this world and if you do get some, try to find a way to pass it on because karma is, in its own way, an investment in our collective future. As long we expect nothing from it. Another philosophical paradox folks but well done again Sam. I'm very proud of you and here's a dirty mug shot before the gay crew-cut look you've recently adopted to let you know I got it all on file ;)

Nonsense London

I wrote back here that the cost of buying cheap goods is way too high for those people who work hard, are paid inadequately and struggle day in and day out, so we can collectively brag about how cheap T Shirts are made. I've a post about that some day because vintage T Shirts interest me a lot after a spell living on Melrose and snapping up the coolest cheese on the planet. I digress. Rob Mosely who is a bit talented like has client with similar values and has created a sticky viral thing that is a great example of how to make communications slip in neatly with social media. So here is my attempt which was a doddle and fun as well, all done with charming cheekiness I would expect from those chaps at Nonsense London. Who also have a blog now I hear.

Destination or Journey?

More N95 edited on the fly in-phone


As for the camera I can't push it where I want to. I think Sony or Samsung might be tipping the scales for response, manipulation, speed and resolution in this respect.


Interesting and nice guy. Jewelery and clothes used to mask the scars incurred in Iraq I believe.


I don't feel it's fair to belittle a chap who manages to hobble his way to a Go Go bar on crutches. That takes a fair amount of commitment.


Not sure where to start with this character who sits on Silom, but think about the guy on Oxford Street some years back who warned us all against the perils of protein consumption and its inevitable conclusion of sexual congress.


Anyone for a Cashew?


I always advocate working girls engaging in a bit of Vonnegut before making the rounds. Breakfast of Champions in this instance.


Its all bit William Gibson dystopian on occasions is the city of angels at night. Paradoxically the Skytrain pictured below is a model of harmonious public transport infrastructure during the day. Looks can be deceiving.

I'm convinced Mary Shelley was inspired for her best novel from seeing something akin to this lady who without wishing to be brutal had an aura that the exorcist would have tip-toed around.

Goldfish

So we had this Goldfish in our tank with a propensity for swimming upside down. Now I know that's usually a sign for impending demise but in this instance my colleagues assured me that this was our fish's preferred method for over a year now. Personally I think he liked to show-off but then why not? A Goldfish's life isn't all that remarkable after all. Sadly he got stuck in the water filter later on the day of filming and is now floating in a different celestial current.

Then there was spice

Spice is one of those places where although they play nosebleed Euro Techno that hasn't progressed any further than a Josh Wink 'raised hands' volume platform circa 1995, the DJ's do take pride in their innocent enjoyment of a long dead genre of music and tweak a bit with care. I can't bear it really unless I've sunk a few B52's but I had a funny argument with my partner for the evening debating the merits of Lo-So versus Hi-So and in fairness she won. But only because I waited for the hot pop chicks to do their dance routine and subsequently slowed it down on the N95 while adding something more musically tasteful. Spice can be found in the basement of the Rembrandt Hotel on Soi 11, Sukhumvit and is not to be confused with Spicy in Ruang Muang, Soi 1 which is altogether a much more freakish affair.