Brainchild

No-Brainer #15

erica — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 21:33:16 +0000

Bubbling Pitch. There are some advertising ideas—using the Tanning Mom to promote New Jersey’s cultural charms leaps to mind—that are simply not recommended. Other notions, however, are more on the bubble. Among them: the wisdom of allowing your agency to appear on AMC’s weekly advertising blood sport show, “The Pitch.” Okay, in fairness, you have to admit the producers can claim credit for very watchable TV. But between the constraints of 60 minutes of running time (minus time for, ahem, a very few commercials), and the mandate of reality programming to explore the attractive sight of leaking jugulars, it’s clear that the best you can expect is a vague reflection of reality. So why are ambitious people taking the risk? Beyond the obvious “get ink, any ink,” theory, we’d bet it’s something else – the confidence that it’s possible to game this system to come across like the brilliant team you think you are. Based on the product to date, we’d have to say good luck with that—this camera inevitably seems to gravitate to ego and arrogance, not intelligence and insight. And whether or not that ever adds up to the kind of fame that draws talent to a shop, or young people into the business, is entirely speculative. Which leads to the question: if The Pitch came bubbling up to your door – would you dive in?

No-Brainer #14

erica — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 02:49:38 +0000

The real F-bomb. While it might be true that you learn something new every day, it’s entirely uncertain that will lead to any leaps in the quality of life. By way of illustration, consider the consequences of finding out that the newly minted acronym “FOMA” stands for “Fear Of Missing Out.” This, we are told, is the reason people, regardless of technological predilections, feel so compelled to check various online whatnots multiple times per hour. As it happens, the phenomena is also a big part of mobility ascendant since, if Mohammed is too busy to get the scoop on his desktop, the scoop damned well better get to him. Or her. In any event, we happen to believe that FOMA is real, because – pardon us for a second while we check our email – we’re just as bad as everyone else. Even if we’re also mindful of the fine irony that comes when knowledge, instead of leading to power, inspires fear. Well, f-bomb that. Rather than surrender to FOMA we’re going to cut back. Like, checking our Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter accounts only 15 times an hour. Okay, make that 20 times tops. Don’t want to miss something important.

No-Brainer #13

erica — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:25:41 +0000

Two thin dimes. So, okay, the entire Facebook “pop” was two dimes and three even more dubious pennies. Not much for what had been overhyped as the “most hyped” stock offering in history. Particularly, when you consider that 56% of that amount winds up in the majority shareholder’s pocket—proving once again that Facebook is fine with sharing your information, but not much else. Still, we have to wonder if the market was on to something when it punctuated the event with a question mark instead of an exclamation. After all, the “I” in IPO stands for initial, not inevitable. And right now the web vs. mobile war over hearts, minds, and share of wallet is all fog and no clarity. In part, because we happen to think that the future is less about the where and when of platforms, and more about the what and why imperatives that command the battle for attention. Which is where Facebook, along with every other marketer on the planet—our humble selves included—will succeed or not.

No-Brainer #12

erica — Mon, 07 May 2012 08:03:31 +0000

Bodies in motion — The IPO is still a few days away, the corks have yet to bestow waiting bottles of Cristal with one last, lingering, French kiss, and already the naysayers—damn you, naysayers—assert that Facebook is a mere 5 years away from a face plant. The rap: companies born with web, not mobile, DNA, are genetically time stamped for replacement. While the thought might slow the post IPO champagne pour by a nanosecond or two, it does get us thinking about a world gone so mobile it can change 800 million minds just like that. The question: will spatially unlimited connectivity make it easier for brands to reach, intrigue, and entice consumers? Or will Newton’s point about moving bodies tending to stay that way mean nobody’s going to settle long enough to connect and communicate? We’ll talk more about that later. In the meantime, ahem, if you just happen to know someone whose generous spirit is matched by access to Facebook stock, do tell.

No-Brainer #11

erica — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:21:53 +0000

Over-herd — devotees of the 9-fold marketing path are, most likely, at least slightly familiar with Prof. Robert Cialdini and the “descriptive norms” theories of persuasion he pioneered. Inexcusably simplified: we humans are most likely to take an action if someone informs us that folks just like us, in similar circumstances, are acting in the same way. Example: 1,000 people just like you now reading an advertising microblog at a computer just like yours are now going to the bank, securing a $1,000 cashier’s check and mailing to the contact address on this website. See how well that worked? For more fun, and some seriously great insights, check out Cialdini’s company, Influence at Work.

No-Brainer #10

erica — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:00:55 +0000

May we have your attention? “Actually,” you reply, “you may not.” Especially now that you’ve read that study from someplace legit – we’d tell you where, but we weren’t quite paying attention – showing that younger consumers shift their focus from platform to platform about 27 times an hour (clocking in with 14 times in the same period, older folks seem to be a little less ADD). Okay – you knew all this. The point: if the only ad that’s effective is the one that grabs you by the eyeballs, maybe that loud noise you weren’t paying attention to was the sound of the creative bar going up.

No-Brainer #9

erica — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 06:00:46 +0000

Dot Déjà Vu? — Inspired, at least in part, by Facebook’s billion-buck Instagram love tap, it seems as though the “tech bubble means tech bust” drumbeats are booming just a little louder. Question: is it just us, or are we detecting a faint-but-eerie-tone of nostalgia in all the rumblings? If so, does that mean memory’s golden haze has mutated pre-March 2000 into “the good old days?” Or is it something more akin to “this time it could happen to me!” In any event, the consensus is that we’re good for a whole 5 years before irrationality translates into insolvency, which gives us all plenty of time to resuscitate favored dotcom-isms like “Internet insta-millionaire,” any use of the words, “New Economy,“ and, of course, “we may not be first mover, but we will be best in breed.”

No-Brainer #16

erica — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:42:07 +0000

Thanks a Megawatt (or two). The name of our mini-blog is “no-brainers,” but it should probably be renamed “no class” if we fail to follow Southern California Edison’s lead in thanking several million people for recently doing the right thing. The message the utility placed last week via a full page ad in the Los Angeles Times: during the summer Flex Alerts, Californians accepted the hardships necessary to save energy and keep the lights on – saving upwards of 3,000 Megawatts statewide and about 300 in LA alone (a Megawatt is enough electricity to serve 1 million homes). So, okay, maybe we pause to kvell for just a moment – Brainchild was tasked with producing and placing the ad campaign that helped get the Flex word out. And, with about 750,000 YouTube hits, it sure seems to have gone viral (you can find the creative on this site under “Work”). But here’s the thing: the good people at Edison demonstrated enormous grace in acknowledging the importance of collective consumer action in the face of potential crisis. And while it may be a bit belated, we think it’s only right to add some thanks of our own.

No-Brainer #8

erica — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 06:00:32 +0000

The $35 Apple/Microsoft/Dell/ You Name It Killer – Thanks to new good tech buddy Dave “Schmecky” Wolfe, we’ve now heard of the Raspberry Pi. Priced at $25 ($35 for Model B), this Linux-based honest-to-Turing computer is the real deal – if you don’t mind the fact that you have to unplug it to turn it off. Okay, not perfect yet. Still, a signal that in the pretty close future what you can do on the computer screen will be way, way, more important than the screen it’s on. Market leadership’s best hope: style will trump pocketbook in this category as it does in others we could name. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi

No-Brainer #7

erica — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 06:00:46 +0000

While we were Pinning – This week’s entry started out as a note on a facet of new social media options we’re calling the “So Busy Curating My Life On Line, I Don’t Have Time To Live” Syndrome. That is, until we were distracted by an online set of TV-watching facts claiming the average child spends 1500 TV-viewing hours a year versus 900 hours in school; that we start ‘em early with 70% of daycare centers using TV as part of the routine; and that kids spend about 99.08% more time with the tube weekly than they do talking with their folks about “meaningful” stuff. Do we know what any of this means for the next generation? Well, if you believe the list, there have been some 4,000 studies on the impact of television on children so—no brainer—of course not.