June 2013

Have a beautiful summer weekend… 13 species of Thecla (genus) butterflies from Insecta, part of the newly digitized epidoptera-Rhopalocera of Biologia Centrali-Americana, an encyclopedia of natural history of Central America (smithsonianlibraries). tgif…

Site SPOTTED. Brilliant Britain. Site launched by luxury brand Mulberry to celebrate all things British. Inspired by the British Government’s GREAT campaign, the goal is reader involvement with site visitors nominating their favorite places, local producers, eateries and people, all in an effort to promote British pride. The impressive content-packed site details everything from practical places to visit to quirky British trivia. The guide is also available in booklet forms in Mulberry stores. Encouraging patriotism while promoting your brand? Sounds pretty brill to us…

video SPOTTED. Chiffonade. One of the branded videos in the series Mario Batali Presents “How-to-Tuesdays”. If you like cooking or fooling around in the kitchen, this is one small trick you need in your repertoire. Think heirloom tomato salad with that fragrant basil or the special kale salad that everyone will go crazy over. Roll it like a cigar, then thinly slice (watch those fingers!)…

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

video SPOTTED. Mario Batali Presents How-to-Tuesdays. Mario Batali shows his marketing prowess again with a branded video series “how-to-tuesdays”. The series features chefs from the celebrated Batali/Bastianich empire tackling an impressive range of culinary tasks. Graphics are minimal but generally well designed and useful. Upfront look is casual and accessible (perfect for the home cook). Overall, very effective use of short, snappy how-to video which we all know is both all the rage and very sharable. Sharpen your knives…

One of our (very) longtime favs… Helvetica Neue (75 Bold gif by mrgif). Now the official new font of Apple.

Inspiration… SPOTTED Johnny + June, 1994. Inspiring artists and partners in life…

Think bright & sunny… thierrycariou: Fromentine Vendée France

Customer-centric or invasive… Popular Nat Geo Brain Games host, Justin Silva discusses why targeted marketing may not be such a scary thing after all. He argues that we can easily become desensitized to the millions of different ads coming at us from all sources of media; with customer-centric marketing, ads are more appealing because they are tailored to individuals interests. The fact that companies use our likes, tweets, check-ins is just one part of the equation (they do somehow have to make money besides providing big expansive platforms for everyone’s use and amusement). Silva contends that it is a time of the empowered consumer vs. just a question of increasing invasion of privacy. Does come down to tradeoffs like anything else. But, we do agree that with the use of something at no cost, expect something in terms of participation (i.e. data mining/ad or marketing targeting, etc.). The arguement can be made that the customer is still, for the most part, calling the shots. Participate or not. Purchase or not. Watch or shut it off. Activate privacy controls or let her roll. Feel the power…

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

5 Ways to Use Pinterest for Content Marketing. Good take on how businesses can use Pinterest to their advantage. Happy pinning…

Let the world wait… Beyond the original promotional calendar of beer coasters, the Corona Let the World Wait campaign also is to be shared via social media. Here, a short, scrappy video brings the campaign to socially inclined. Later applications include posters and POP displays for distribution in the the brand’s 14 Asian markets. Smart, cost-conscious with a lot of personality. Cheers…

(Source: https://player.vimeo.com/)