hyperempowered

HEMA: Breaking Through The Clutter of Online Retail

How do you stand out in the cluttered world of online retail? 

You turn the whole experience on it's head.

And that's exactly what the Dutch retailer HEMA did.

To see one of the most creative retail websites on the web, click here.

Still Just A Concept: The iPhone Game Controller

Mock-up by Daniel MacDonald

"Lettering Grows in Brooklyn" from AIGA

If you love type and design, then this article - Lettering Grows in Brooklyn - from the AIGA blog, is for you.

Innovative Film Marketing 101: The Water Horse

Be sure to check out the video above as it's by far the coolest (and most innovative) movie stunts I've seen in years.

To promote the upcoming Japanese Loch Ness monster film, The Water Horse, marketers in Tokyo created a massive 3-D hologram of "Nessie" using water and lights.

Absolutely brilliant.

Another great post today from Bob Lefsetz...

"The Music Industry Power Top Ten"

My favorite part of Bob's post is not the top ten itself, but his explanation of who's not on the list.

One To Bookmark

... WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell is blogging from Davos.

Recreating D-Day On A Shoestring

"Bloody Omaha" shows how three graphic designers amazingly re-created the D-Day invasion on a shoe string budget.  The results are something you would see in a $100 million blockbuster.

Best Marketing Campaign In Years: Cloverfield

So just how good was the buzz marketing campaign for "Cloverfield"?

The low-budget monster film, with no known actors and a first time director, debuted this weekend not only at #1 in the box office (grossing $41 million) but it also set the record for the best opening weekend in January, surpassing the $35.9 million premiere weekend of the "Star Wars" special edition in 1997. 

Click here for a full overview (from Movie Marketing Madness) of how the film was marketed.

"Ambient Intimacy" - An Explanation

Back in March of last year, blogger Leisa Reichel coined the phrase "ambient intimacy"  to describe the  experience  (and power) of such tools as Twitter, Flickr, and others.  I like the phrase, and her explanation, a lot.

Leisa writes:

"Ambient intimacy is about being able to keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn’t usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible. Flickr lets me see what friends are eating for lunch, how they’ve redecorated their bedroom, their latest haircut. Twitter tells me when they’re hungry, what technology is currently frustrating them, who they’re having drinks with tonight.

Who cares? Who wants this level of detail? Isn’t this all just annoying noise? There are certainly many people who think this, but they tend to be not so noisy themselves. It seems to me that there are lots of people for who being social is very much a ‘real life’ activity and technology is about getting stuff done.

There are a lot of us, though, who find great value in this ongoing noise. It helps us get to know people who would otherwise be just acquaintances. It makes us feel closer to people we care for but in whose lives we’re not able to participate as closely as we’d like.

Knowing these details creates intimacy. (It also saves a lot of time when you finally do get to catchup with these people in real life!) It’s not so much about meaning, it’s just about being in touch.

If you've yet to fully understand why these technologies have become so popular, read the full post (and comments) here.

 

Read more >>  Options >> 

Simon and Burns' "Generation Kill" Coming To HBO

As a huge fan of "The Wire" I'm eagerly anticipating "Generation Kill", an upcoming miniseries about the Iraq war written and executive produced by David Simon and Ed Burns, the same team behind "The Corner" and "The Wire".  Click here to learn more.