John Winsor

Google and Madison Ave.

As someone who has spent his life in the media business, most of the time selling magazine advertising, I found this article in the NY Times about Google an eye opener.

Co-Creation in Media

If you want to see the future of television, being fueled by co-creation, check out Al Gore's new project, Current Media. It's cool!

Renault in the Virtual World

Being a fan of Gran Tourismo, it was cool to see Renault’s new online game Clio Xtrem Racer: Race to resurrection, developed by Publicis Net France. In the game, you can get behind the wheel of a “ghost” car and race against time for reincarnation into a new Renault Clio. It’s a nice example of using virtuality to create a buzz for your brand.

Apple and Lugz

 

The marketing world has been all a buzz with the apparent similarities between the latest Apple ad featuring Eminem (on the left) created by TBWA/Chiat/Day and a Lugz ad (on the right) created by Avrett Free. While they are upset publicly, I'm sure the Lugz team is secretly elated with all of this extra press. One brand's faux pas can make another brand's year.

Filmloop

As a person who is always struggling to find a better way to share my digital images, I was stoked when Guy Kawasaki showed me one of his new projects, FilmLoop. If you're into photography, it's worth a look.

Customer Empowerment

I just came across CustomerEmpowerment.com. Paul and Martin, keep up the good work!

Myopia

Recently I got a speeding ticket on my weekly trip to the Denver International Airport. In court, I agreed to reduce my points by going to defensive driving school all day, one recent Saturday.

When I entered the class it was apparent very quickly that I suffer from a serious case of Myopia, living and working in Boulder, writing books and blogging. People in the class had some pretty rugged stories about how they got there.

It was a good reminder that instead of going around the world to learn something new I can learn a lot by changing the context of my every day existence. In turn, gaining different experiences that can help me do my work in a richer way.

Do you have Myopia, as well?

The Future of Printing

I just came across an innovative new service from Cloth out of the UK. The service, based on cutting edge printing technologies allows any photograph, image, or design to be added to a wide range of furiniture.

Cloth says the system has almost no limitations, so that any image can be printed onto any surface, giving you the ability to create your own, custom furniture.

Expect to see this technology in the fashion world.

You, Called the Brand

We’ve heard so much over the last few years about developing your own personal brand, yet so many people are unaware of how their day-to-day actions effect the brands they work for.

A recent experience only highlighted the issue. I was flying to Los Angeles last week, sitting in an isle seat. As the door was closing, a woman got on the plane with three carry-ons, her lunch from McDonalds and magazines under her arm all the while talking loudly on her cell phone.

Instead of hanging up the phone and taking her seat, she tried to throw the magazines and McDonalds’ bag onto her seat while yelling at her assistant on the phone. Not surprisingly, the magazines and the Big Mac ended up on my lap! And, she wasn’t even aware of anything that was happening because she was so focused on her call.

While the woman took her seat, the stewardess had to remind her twice to turn off her phone.

Just when I thought things would mellow out, she turned to me and launched into a diatribe about how she was overworked and talking negatively about her company, while eating her Big Mac and flipping through her magazines. 

The only thing I could think about was my loss of respect for the Fortune 500 Company she worked for. The company had just lost a potential customer because of one executive’s unrelated actions.

Whether we like it or not, everything we do reflects on the companies we work for and either attracts repels customers.

Not to my surprise, as the plane landed, my neighbor once again was on the phone yelling at her assistant!

Another Nice Review!

Thanks to the folks at CEO Refresher for a nice review of Spark. Here's what they have to say: "This is a most mindful work and one of the best of the year!"