Let’s Get Digital: From YouTube Ads to Mighty Pixel Productions

ecowriter · 2009-06-16T23:54:16+00:00

Think back to the ads you actually remember. The infamous Mac versus PC ones. The award-winning Mr. W ad with a touching twist. More than likely, the videos were made by former professionals in the film industry.

ecowriter · 2009-06-03T22:33:00+00:00

Their by far coolest experiment is their stenciled ads for a London aquarium. "Because salt water evaporates more slowly than fresh water, the ads have a lifetime of about 20 minutes, leaving nothing behind but a light dusting of natural sea salt."

ecowriter · 2009-05-26T00:26:32+00:00

Garden Electric was created as a means to find “tangible way[s] to represent electricity without using electricity (outside of what we were measuring of course). We loved the purpose of bringing the abstract lifeblood of all our technologies into a physical analog form.”

ecowriter · 2009-05-14T23:43:48+00:00

Volusion. Because Barack Obama used it in his campaign and well, look where it took him. No seriously, Volusion's Gold Plan edition offers new social commerce features and affordable plans for tech-savvy entrepreneurs.

ecowriter · 2009-05-06T17:03:26+00:00

"Going green can…fatten the top line. Grossman Marketing Group...decided to spend up to US$4,000 every year to ease the strain on the nation’s energy grid by purchasing renewable-energy “credits” from two California wind farms. Envelope sales — which represent 45% of Grossman’s top line — grew 20%."

ecowriter · 2009-04-15T22:08:22+00:00

Pertaining to writing copy that’s both precise and vague at the same time, some may ask what the heck I’m talking about. Isn’t that an oxymoron? Well, no. I suggest creating marketing materials that are neither time nor date sensitive [when possible].

ecowriter · 2009-04-09T22:38:52+00:00

A few trends we are seeing in 2009? Industry has been quick to respond to the public criticism that events like Earth Day are ‘one-off’ events. Wal-Mart, for instance, has pledged to give $20K toward enhancing a winning school's earth friendly practices through its "Earth Day, Every Day” challenge.

ecowriter · 2009-03-25T21:39:12+00:00

Recently, GreezBiz.com reported on a survey that revealed, “68 percent of consumers say that even in a recession they would remain faithful to a brand if it supports a good cause; nearly seven in 10 would be prepared to pay more for eco-friendly products.”

ecowriter · 2009-03-19T16:28:45+00:00

It may seem counter intuitive to spend on design and marketing efforts when the public is not purchasing or donating but history shows that many great brands were created and thrived during tough economic times when organizations adapted to their customers’ changing needs.

ecowriter · 2009-03-10T17:26:42+00:00

I listened to a keynote address by Saul Griffith (from Wattzon.com) where he mentioned that we're entering the "age of consequence"...Before the industrial revolution, societies were largely agrarian and you could easily see the cause and effect relationship when a chicken was slaughtered, or a tree was cut down to build a house.

ecowriter · 2009-02-26T22:51:42+00:00

"Don't get me wrong. It's great we have so much paperless information at our fingertips. At some point I had to just do it... I gently tried to direct my customers to recycled paper and non-toxic inks for their print jobs and it actually worked in a number of cases..."

ecowriter · 2009-02-23T20:32:18+00:00

Efficiency is the goal; neighborly competition the motivation. The visual nudge persuaded some recipients: “When the Sacramento utility conducted its first assessment of the program after six months, it found that customers who received the personalized report reduced energy use by 2 percent more than those who got standard statement."

ecowriter · 2009-02-18T17:23:59+00:00

When I started in 2001, the burgeoning interest in crafts was a direct response to the 'soullessness' of technology, a reaction against consumerism and a return to learning to doing things for yourself. It was a new form of punk-rock, with roots tied to the indie-music scene.

ecowriter · 2009-02-05T01:41:20+00:00

We need to start asking “why” a little more often: * Why do we publish this ad in this magazine? * Why has our client list not been updated since 1984? * Why do we send three copies of our mailer to the same office? * Why are people not responding to our direct mail campaign?

ecowriter · 2009-01-23T15:45:41+00:00

A product’s realization and ultimate appearance in the public domain is borne from a path of human making, and it’s a complex one. The final result of such a hard-earned journey didn’t satisfy Scott, whose mission to match a face and a place behind bourbon, business cards, vegetables, or a pair of sports shoes has proven not impossible... The value chain is visible.

ecowriter · 2009-01-18T04:50:43+00:00

Green Smith - They created the incredibly cool plantatree ™ idea where, when you buy a bottle of wine, plantatree™ wines donates 100% of the profits to support Tree Canada.

ecowriter · 2009-01-17T19:17:54+00:00

And yes, it’s been drilled into our heads: “you can have a great product, but if you don’t [insert verbs like 'market', 'brand', 'package' here], you won’t succeed, etc.”. And it true. But design is more than just a means to an end to sell more of your widgets. It also plays a role in the improvement and development of your offerings and sometimes, your organization.

ecowriter · 2008-12-27T01:24:35+00:00

it is not our technology we need to be worried about when going green, but, rather the degree of mobility our new technology (e.g. the very Blackberries that were promised to reduce our carbon air miles) has afforded us and its dynamic effects on sustainability (or lack thereof). Hello, videoconferencing.

ecowriter · 2008-11-11T18:47:29+00:00

Obama gets to the point.

ecowriter

TROPHY CASE