The places to go to feel some POWER

For me, there's nothing like starting off your week by opening an email and experiencing off the charts creativity. I'll take that anytime, anyplace. . .

This past Monday morning I received my daily email from Creativity Magazine. When I opened it up I saw a brief write up and an embedded video for Kanye West's latest assault on the video world. When I saw it I was like...whoaa...a-m-a-z-i-n-g.  

Now I'm not a huge fan of Kanye's music per se (and I neither praise nor vilify his antics) but what I deeply appreciate is the unique sensibility he brings to his craft that makes him a very distinct artist, as he pushes the boundaries of hip hop culture. I really liked this particular piece of work because it is at the intersection (something we are huge fans of here at Cnvrgnc): hip hop meets art meets mythology.

The next day I'm reading a blog post by Seth Godin entitled "The places you go", which got to the core of why I really liked Kanye's 'video' (he actually says "it's not a video...it's a painting"). Seth says this:

Over the weekend I visited one of my favorite places...The second I walked in, heard the noise, saw the walls... even the way it smelled... I was transported.

It’s incredible to think about--a room could magically change the way I felt. A physical room with the right memories can do this in just a heartbeat. So can a metaphorical one, even a brand...

Great brands figure out how to supply a ‘room’ to anyone who chooses to visit....The Apple store is carefully calibrated as an architectural and retail room that will change how you feel when you enter it. Chiat Day built offices in New York and LA that triggered huge waves of creativity...

Is your brand providing the right room to the right people at the right time? Most products, most services--they provide a thing, a list of features, but not a room for my emotions.

As soon as I saw Kanye's video I was transported to a room. A place where my emotions were engaged. I felt curiosity, awe, and helplessness (how do you react/respond to something you don't normally see?)

I see you Kanye...I see you...

Additionally you really get a feel for the the energy and center of gravity of the work when you see the 'making' of it in the video below. 

Early in the video Marco Brambilla says "my work deals with the seduction and the alienation of technology in contemporary culture" and later sums up his entire goal by saying "I wanted the audience to engage with the music on a more visceral level and react unexpectedly emotionally."

Papa's got a brand new 'brand'

In 1985 one of the coolest movies I had ever seen (up to that point anyways) was Back to the Future, featuring Michael J. Fox. One of the reasons I liked it so much was simply because of its title (how on earth do you go back to the future?!?!). I'm a huuuuge fan of oxymorons. For as long as I can remember I've always seemed to love ideas that seemingly don't go together...

Well the movie, in short, is about how Marty McFly, (Michale J. Fox) a typical mid 80's teen, gets sent accidentally back to 1955 in a DeLorean time machine, built by Doc Emmett (played by Christopher Lloyd). While there, Marty unintentionally interrupts his parents first meeting together. He then runs into the 1955 Doc and they together try to figure out how to get Marty's parents-to-be back together, so he can return to the future.

So now I'm going to take a trip back in time, about ten years, so we can then travel to the future... (and journey into an emerging realm for brands).

In 2001 (pre Facebook, Youtube, or Blackberrys) BMW launched the film series, The Hire, which was 8 short films produced for the internet. The plots of each of the films differ, but one constant remains: Clive Owen plays "The Driver", a man who goes from place to place (in BMW automobiles), getting hired by various people to be a sort of transport for their vital needs. 

BMW pretty much premiered this type of marketing technique (branded content) which converges advertising and entertainment, and in the process blurring the conventional distinctions between the two. 

A little less than a decade later, with digital [video] being the blood, lymph and lingua franca of contemporary culture, advertainment is allowing brands to become brand new, by allowing customers to see them in a new light and be engaged in a different way.

Enjoy as Clive helps the Godfather of Soul broker a little deal for his soul...

 Two other shorts from the series that rock - Hostage and Ticker

An afternoon exploration of. . .

This past Thursday I had the opportunity, along with a small community of lynchpins, to have a very intimate, engaging and thoughtful day of conversation with Seth Godin here in DC.

It was his second leg of his Fight The Lizard Road Trip, which he'll be taking to select cities across the U.S.

What I loved about the day was that right off the bat Seth came on stage and said "ladies and gentlemen, we're in the midst of a revolution..." After that I knew it was on.

In no way, form of fashion will the sentences of this entry be able to truly translate the power in the ideas, the opinions or the arguments Seth made that day, but I would be remiss if I didn't try to put to words what I came away with. . . 

As I see it, there is rebellion and there is revolution. Rebellion is the release of pent up frustration feeding the visceral responses to unequal and unfair conditions. Revolution is a fundamental change in a system brought on by those believing in the possibility of a better way.   

Today, right now, we are in the midst of a revolution. It's real, not imagined. Just look around. The world is shifting. Yesterday's rules are changing into something we cannot yet see. New social network platforms, digital media, sustainable technology, and the networked economy are ubiquitous and demand that we rethink how we engage the world.  

Seth's talk (loosely based on his new book Lynchpin) engaged us about the "death of the factory" and how all the rules that governed that reality are now upside down. He went on to say that at this moment in time, a chance is being presented to significantly change our life for the better.  Not by doing something that's easy, or that we've been trained to do, but by understanding how the rules-of-the-game have fundamentally changed and by taking advantage of this moment to become someone the world believes is indispensable. 

There's two ways to understand this; to look at this emerging reality as a field of new opportunity or as a wave of imminent threat. Your ability to thrive depends on how, deep down inside, you truly perceive the two.

In life there are always choices and those choices will determine how our lives are lead. So when decisions are put before us, it may behoove us to choose wisely.

As Seth's time came to an end he wrapped up his discussion asking a straight forward question.

"As I leave you all today I ask only one question. The revolution is here. Are you in or are you out?"

Ladies and gentlemen the choice is yours.

RUN that Beat back

It's not often that footwear has the opportunity to re-invent itself as a hip hop instrument, but leave it to a couple of ridiculously talented Japanese DJ's to take the Nike Free Run+ running shoe to the next level.

Japanese breakbeat duo HIFANA held a private concert this past April with these multi-purpose kicks taking center stage. The event, sponsored by Nike and advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo, was created with the help of a number of software and sound engineers. By altering the shoes to support a nearby amp, the group swapped out their mixers for their new creation. 

With each twist and turn, the three sensors on the bottom of the sneakers picked up the serial codes and converted it to music. The end result was...yet another sweet trip to the intersection.

Check out their unusual (but very cool) performance.

The Human Element

A few months ago a good friend of ours, Mike Bonifer (CEO of Gamechangers), whose work revolves around the idea of the improvised brand narrative, shared with us in an email, an idea I found pretty powerful.  We were discussing ideas overlapping the work both of our companies are engaged in: sustainability strategies for brands in the networked world.

Mike said that in today's networked world, narrative is the ultimate organizing principle.  It is the thread that  contextualizes, organizes and makes sense of ideas and concepts. The narrative then has the oppportunity to birth potent stories that can bring it to life. These stories provide depth, power, and meaning.

So with Cnvrgnc and Gamechangers, our mutual interests are at the intersection of brand strategy, narrative and stories.

What was interesting for me was that as I was reading through this email, it brought to mind the work of another colleague of mine, Michael Margolis. His company, Get Storied, focuses on Brand Storytelling and in a workshop of his, that I attended late last year, a comment he said came to mind, which made everything come full circle. In the workshop he said that "companies build a loyal following when their customers see themselves in their brand's narrative." For me at that moment lightbulbs were going off in my head left and right.

Putting together our philosophy at Cnvrgnc alongside Mike's and Mr. Margolis', these ideas become pretty compelling. It's the understanding that it's not crafty slogans, 3.9% down promises, or super cool features that get you loyalty, but an understanding that the brand, in some way or fashion has to be able to relate directly to it's customers (allowing their audience to see themselves in the narrative). This is the key to recognizing the potency of the human element and beginning to see how brands can become of immense value to their customers. 

Now most companies simply do not understand this. And if they do they are doing a C- job of executing on it. If you sat down with a handful of your friends, and asked what brands/companies would they rave about, and honestly say they truly value, how many would be named?

Now it may get tiresome to some about how folks continuously rave about Apple, it's a simple fact, though, that they get it and understand narrative (hmmm, no wonder they're growth has been astounding in the last few years) . They have mastered the human element...while others still flounder.

Case in point:

Apple (commercial for their new Iphone 4.)

Narrative: Connection with loved ones

Stories: 1. A Couple and their baby. 2. A graduate and her family. 3. Expecting parents. 4. A deaf couple sharing a moment.

Verizon (commercial for their Droid Incredible)

Narrative: Technology??

Stories: none

Sprint (commercial for the new Evo). I remember when the Instinct was suppose to be so hot. . .

Narrative: Evolution

Stories: none

In the industrial age economy, consumer = commodity. In the networked world, the market leaders will be those who provide remarkable services by delving into the the dynamics of the human condition and creating on the human scale.