continuing on the RFID tip…Epic Mix from Vail Resorts.  Set to roll out at Beaver Creek in November, the new platform will roll out to Vail, Breck, Keystone & Heavenly through 2012.

part Nike+, part FourSquare, this custom interface developed by (who else) Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Odin Technologies is 100% skier/rider friendly.  In digitizing the mountain, they’ve removed the need for pulling out mobile phones and hand-helds in exchange for the one thing everyone has on them:  their already RFID-enabled lift ticket.

a perfect blend of customized tech trends (pins vs badges), social media interface (seamlessly works w twitter & the book of face) and branded utility (track your vertical feet, find friends on the hill)…all smashed into something you’re buying already.

vid from Contagious

you don’t always expect the big mega-brands to be ahead of the curve.  experience tells me many take a wait-and-see approach…only to throw money at something in an effort to catch up.

not the folks in Atlanta…or at least their co-workers oversees.  an amazing example of digital loving experiential…and vice versa…here from Coke.

Coke certainly is “it”.

via Contagious

high design & concept lab IDEO has launched an new “open platform” called OpenIDEO that encourages people to come together in an effort to solve big social problems.  in exchange for their words, videos and creative thinking, group members receive a “design quotient”…or DQ…something IDEO hopes becomes social currency in the smarty pants world.

which got me thinking:  how long before consumers aren’t happy to just be a part of something and demand compensation beyond the warm and fuzzies?

crowd-sourcing is no longer novel…nor is the idea of “listening” to your consumers.  from Doritos crashing the Super Bowl to Pepsi Co launching Dewmocracy, any brand worth a lick is trying to get their fans involved.

but up to now, the chance to be part of the game was reward enough.  submit your creative and it could be on the Super Bowl?  name our new flavor and you can tell your friends you named our new flavor?  design our logo and we’ll throw you some DQ points and you can brag that you have some…DQ points.

when will consumers realize this multi-million dollar companies are, for lack of a better term, using them for free work?  researchers will tell you that consumers want this responsibility…that as passionate brand advocates, they’re looking to be an influential part of a larger “brand community.” which is great…until you have to pay rent.

questioning this isn’t about work being taken out of the hands of professionals (designers, writers, agency types)…it’s more about empowering the people.  people who are adding value to the brand…people who are making other people money.

i’m fully aware that it’s not all about the benjamins all the time, and yes, IDEO is an outstanding company with an amazing track record of delivering breakthrough thinking.  but being loosely tied to said agency via some digital brain dump ain’t cutting it…and until those DQ points can buy me a pint across the street, i’ll pass.

we presented an idea to a client last week to give a film maker creative freedom to create a series of shorts that captured the essence of the brand…without really showing the brand.

the sans-brand film has been around for awhile…but picked up some major steam when Spike Jonze teamed up with Absolut to create a Sundance-worthy short…that really had nothing to do with vodka.

today i was digging back through some old emails and found this link for a super-duper film series outta Europe.  Coke energy drink-brand Burn teamed up with Publicis Mojo, Rumpus Room, Exit Films and Steve Bara for a series of killer vids.

Per the article from Contagious, Coke nor the shops involved are talking much…but there’s more to see on YouTube.

Obviously, the under-branded branded content is hot right now.  I just saw a great preso on Slideshare from the head planner dood at GS+P on how you should be looking to create good media vs. finding good media.  But in the end…while I certainly think Burn is forward thinking…I’m no more included to drink it than before.  And isn’t that the goal?  To convert to purchase? (pls suspend reality and pretend i’m living in Europe)

thoughts?

This week’s Rad is extremely serious.

Texas Instruments wanted to remind parents of the 80s that a child’s mind is not a f@&%ing joke.   They get the message across with an image of a kid who’s clearly got it going on in the brain department. So innocent, so inspired. Uuh, hell yes he can spell AND do math. With tools like Spelling B, Mr. Challenger and Math Marvel hovering above his head, he can pretty much plan on being a presenter at the upcoming TED conference.

The headline says it all… Literally, there are no other words on the page. And why should there be? Texas Instruments does the right thing by not junking it up with, I don’t know, their logo or anything. This is as much a PSA as it is an ad for a calculator company that would go on to make millions with their TI-83 graphing calculators.  You know, the ones used by 8th graders everywhere to play the shit out of games like Tetris and Block Dude.

So while your kid is almost certainly using TI products to play games in Pre-Algebra class, you can be sure that Texas Instruments is not playing games with their mind.

By Mary Ellen Unnerstall, Account Supervisor

While I worked at a car dealership when I was 16 years old (yup, it’s as gross as you think it is), I certainly never imagined myself selling cars for a living. OK, so I don’t really sell cars, but some days as an account manager feel a little bit that way.

Making sure that a client loves an idea as much as you do is no easy task. What you really want them to do is jump up from the chair, look up to the heavens and scream, “oh joy, oh joy, we have found it at last!” What they will more likely do is nod slightly and say, “we’ll look it over and get back to you.”

There’s no questioning the power of a great idea. But how you present that idea can be as important as the idea itself. Is it all about the test drive for your client? Or maybe a thorough explanation of the safety features?  And undercoating… can’t forget about that undercoating.

Knowing your client and knowing how they are hardwired will help form how the idea should be presented. It’s an important part of the process that should not be overlooked. Too often we slip into presentation modes that are easy and comfortable (yes PowerPoint, I am talking to you and I think we might need to see less of each other). But it’s also easy to want to present in a way that resonates with you personally, rather than with your audience.

Just by looking at yourself and your friends or coworkers, you can see how people take in information and ideas in different ways. There are various scientific acronyms for these learning styles, such as VARK (Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing and Kinesthetic). I liked this description as well:

1.    Innovative Learners (approximately 35% of people) want to know why they should learn something, and how it will benefit them. This is the “what’s in it for them” factor.
2.    Analytic Learners (approximately 22% of people) want “just the facts,” and will be keen to see what the features or supporting data looks like once the benefits have been communicated.
3.    Common Sense Learners (approximately 18% of people) are interested in how things work, and are best served by concrete, experiential learning activities.
4.    Dynamic Learners (approximately 25% of people) are enthralled with the possibilities offered by the information, rely heavily on their own intuition, and seek to teach both themselves and others.
How well you know your client will lead you to the right way to present your work. And when you hit that sweet spot with a client, the results are pretty cool. Maybe they still don’t cry to the heavens, but your clients will respond in more passionate and engaged ways. And that’s the kind of impression you want to make.

I’ve been part of a team that has won business based more on how the creative was presented than the creative look itself. I’ve used theatrics (once involving props like oven mitts – don’t ask), music, funny images, dramatic images, long narrations, short quips… Don’t be afraid to try something. And if it feels like a risk, then it’s probably worth taking. As long as it’s in line with your client’s style, go for it.

So what’s it going to take to get your client into this idea today?

For the past 3 years, John, Mike, and Kevin have very graciously been supporting Cub Scouts Pack 314 of Webster Groves by giving us access to the space at Manchester for various uses. We have had the boys come into the shop in the evenings to do things such as learning how to safely use hand tools, set up and prep our Pinewood Derby Track, and, most importantly, build our float for the Webster Groves Community Days parade that takes place every July 4th. Because of their generosity, our Cub Scouts have won an award of some sort for Children’s Entry the last two years.

This year was even more special; Cub Scouts Pack 314 won the award for Outstanding Theme in this year’s parade! The boys and their parents spent 3 sessions in the shop cutting out, painting, and assembling our entry. Switch also helped by printing the banners for the float, and letting us use Switch bags to hand out candy. (When the bags were empty, the Switch bags became giveaways; very popular with the parade watchers.) Maybe it was the effort our Scouts put into our float, but perhaps they were helped by the fact the Switch logo and website was displayed on our vehicle.
Thanks again, Switch!

a quick collection of coolness and commentary that have been sitting on the backburner over the last week:

quick look at a great interactive use of digital out of home in Times Square from the folks at Forever 21.

as you may have noticed, we love bikes over here in Liberation Land.  we also love smart ideas and great design.  so you can imagine our thrill at this wonderful little contraption from Hyuk-Jae Chang, who recently took home honors at the 2010 Idea Design Awards.

A very interesting read from those in the retail trade in the NY Mag on mega hot brand Uniqlo, and how they use a simple formula to ensure quality control.

Also, a great new site that facilitates bringing retailers, brands and landlords together for pop-up shops.  Free registration at www.OpenPop-UpShops.com.

In other news, Alex Bogusky has left the building.  In a parting shot, he lobbied for a new type of prize in Cannes…a prize for brands that are open, honest, and decide not to advertise at all.  Citing CP+Bs refusal to work on BKs kids business, he rides his high horse into the sun set and away from the industry.  A sunset made much brighter from the millions of Whoppers his peeps peddled to the world.  I’m not sayn’…i’m just sayn’.

Moving on…really has nothing to do with marketing, but saw images from the Marina Bay Sands infinity pool and it totally freaked me out.

If you’re a music lover, you’re familiar with Glastonbury…a massive gathering in jolly ole’ England for a few days of rawkn’ debauchery.

And if you’re a marketer, you know mobile carrier Orange has regularly used it as a platform for awesomeness.  This year was no different where they attempted to create the world’s “most tagged” image…a fantastic, 1.3 giga pix image of over 70,000 people.  Check it out on here, on Facebook or at Contagious.

Finally, I found this article in Contagious Magazine very interesting.  The idea is simple…create ideas with holes in them, where consumers can insert themselves.  This swiss cheese thinking comes from John Treacy, Creative Director at Elvis.

Recently the Switch iCar team participated in Coolfire Media’s Third Annual Pinewood Derby.  Driving the iCar theme home, Switch showed up dressed as Apple Geniuses with the new iCar 5.0.  The beer was flowing, the ad types were mingling all while Webelo Joe, the event MC, humiliated racers and fans alike with his never-ending supply of witty quips.

It turns out the blazing 5G speed of the iCar wasn’t fast enough to topple Group 360’s duo of black and white whips (they must be on Sprint… those early adopters).  Perhaps we could have faired better if the Mac Messiah, Steve Jobs, had graced our presence. Unfortunately, he, well in our case, she, couldn’t make it.  But for everyone’s enjoyment, we were able to snap a picture of him pre-race.

Switch will be back next year, and you better believe we’ll be bringing the heat.

Click here to see the iCar in Action

the world cup is into the the round of eight and while we’re sad the Yanks decided defense was not needed vs. Ghana, we’re still pumped about the great marketing that’s going on around the world’s game.

which brings me to this post.  i was catching up on Max Lenderman’s blog and saw his post on Pepsi’s grassroots pledge in Argentina.

if you’re not up to speed, eccentric gaffer and Hand of God scorer Diego Maradona has pledged to run naked through the obelisco in Buenos Aires should Messi and the Argentinians win the Cup.

not to be out done, Pepsi agreed to do the same.  if the boys in blue n white bring home the hardware, Pepsi will remove their logos from their packaging for two weeks!

as Max notes, without coughing up the millions of their rivals, Pepsi has now potentially woven their brand into the fabric of this would-be epic moment for an entire country.

Max calls it “earned media”…i call it good shizz.