So, for all our Twitter followers, this is slightly older news by a week or so, but we wanted to share it on the blog as well.
The ‘Create Your Own Environment’ poster that we posted about a number of months back has been traveling around the world lately as we wanted to share it with as many people, blogs, organizations, etc., that we value and respect, as possible.
Some of the people we’ve sent it to have loved it so much that we’ve gotten some shout outs about it online in a few places. To say we were pretty ecstatic about that and the fact that so many people like the piece, would be an understatement.
Not only do we want to say thanks to all the blogs who talked about the print (again, Thanks Everybody!), we want to encourage everyone that reads our blog to make sure they go check out these sites.
We know you’ll find something inspiring and something that you like about each of them. So don’t wait any longer, go see what they had to say about our poster and posterquake.com and stick around for a bit to check a few of their sites out. Tell them the crew over at HQ says hey.
So, you may remember a few weeks back when we posted about a fictitious story that caught my eye on The Onion. In said story, a man supposedly proclaimed his ‘devotion and love’ for the Pepsi brand during ceremony at a convenience store where he was surrounded by a small group of friends and employees.
In all seriousness, consumers are proclaiming their love for brands more and more these days and in very unique ways. From tattoos, to ‘Liking’ a brand on Facebook, brands mean more to consumers today than ever before.
All that said, I’m not so sure that The Onion story was all that far-fetched because late last week I stumbled upon an article on USAToday.com about retail wedding trends…
So, it appears that more and more, people are pledging their “I do’s” to their significant others, while in a retail establishment. You won’t believe this, but this includes having weddings at places like T.J. Maxx and Taco Bell. That’s not all though…. Include Home Depot and Cold Stone Creamery on that list too! It’s pretty unbelievable to me, but hey, I only got married at The Cincinnati Nature Center’s Krippendorf Lodge (which I highly recommend by the way!).
Be it brand loyalty, saving money, or the desire to be a little different, people are actually going through with this, so there’s not telling what’s next. Is it good for the brand? I can’t see how it could possibly hurt. Is it good for the bride or groom? Well, if you are “self proclaimed Maxxinista” (make sure you read the USA Today story relative to this comment) or a Chalupa fanatic, perhaps you can shop or get your Mexican food fix on before/after the ceremony. If you bring a whole wedding party, they can join in on the fun too. I’m sure these brands won’t complain about anyone spending a little money before or afterward the ceremony, so I’d say it’s a win-win.
The site features an original design that leverages the dark undertones and religious/spiritual rites objects from the film itself to help create a perfect canvas to promote the film project. HQ created a system of photography, illustration and animation to round out the unique aesthetic of the site. Based on a graphic novel concept, this film short was created by director James Moran of Trumac Films to generate interest and support for the broader story and sequel opportunities around the main character, Deacon James (Johnathan Schaech).
An excerpt from the Lost Rites graphic novel showing Deacon James fighting it out with deity Ageria
Additional methods of connecting with fans and supporters include a custom-designed blog and a Twitter account that will help keep tabs on the post production, and screenings of the full film short at Film Festivals and COMICON in the future. Be sure to have a look at the teaser trailer posted on the site along with some of the behind the scenes photos. The film may be short, but it leverages all that Hollywood can offer including some great talent, advanced CGI and audio engineering.
Behind the scenes with James Moran (Director) and Johnathan Schaech (Deacon James)
We are proud to add this to our history of over 20+ film sites. Best of luck to Lost Rites, Trumac Films and Deacon James’ future as an on-screen character!
I’m just going to go on record and say that I don’t understand Sketcher’s Shape-Ups. Apparently, nor does anyone else because according to a story on USAToday.com disputes about whether they work or not, are safe or not, are cool looking or not, etc., have yielded no definitive answers either way.
It doesn’t matter where I side on this really because I don’t know enough about these to make an accurate assessment, but I will say that Joe Montana is part of their marketing and Joe knows sneakers.
Even the smallest of brands need to pay close attention to what’s going on with their brand in the market place.
Case in point, Johnny Cupcakes out of Boston, the t-shirt company that you’ve seen me write about on the blog way to many times. Though J.C. is not a huge mega-brand by any means, that doesn’t keep him immune from people trying to hijack his brand, do what they want with it and make money off of it.
Sure, we’ve all seen bootleg Oakley sunglasses before among other things, there was a time in the 90′s when I lived in NYC that you couldn’t walk down the street without seeing knock offs being peddled everywhere. But that was Oakley, an expense, well known and well respected global brand. As in demand as they were at the time and as expense as their product was, it was almost kind of expected that someone would make fakes to sell.
Now, I wouldn’t have expected to have seen what was posted on Twitter and on the J.C. blog the other day about a Bangkok, Thailand based store being raided and the owner arrested for selling huge amounts of fake Johnny Cupcakes goods. From the looks of the photos, we are talking HUGE amounts of fake shirts.
As you can see from the photo below that was also posted on the Johnny Cupcakes blog, apparently there have been quite a few people trying to infringe upon the brand.
Its certainly interesting to me to see such a small brand having this happen to them, but it’s also a reminder of the importance of having a pulse on what others are up to with your brand.
You know, the type of ads that literally scream at you to look at them, confuse you, blare sounds from areas unknown (which then let your coworkers know you aren’t working), etc.
The ads will integrate HD video content and aim to continue to provide viewers advertising content, now with integrated editorial content. I’m all for innovating the simple and old-school banner ad a bit, but making ads bigger, more intrusive and more disruptive isn’t the answer from my perspective.
As the story points out briefly, internet users don’t respond well to these types of ads, so I’m not sure making the ads bigger and more disruptive is the answer. The word after all is disruptive (root word; disrupt) and thanks to dictionary.com, I can say with certainty that associating an ad with any of these feelings might not leave the viewer feeling to good:
1. to cause disorder or turmoil in
2. to destroy, usually temporarily, the normal continuance or unity of; interrupt
3. to break apart: to disrupt a connection
Apparently 60 pianos were scattered all around New York City from 6/21/10 – 7/5/10 as part of a unique art installation brought to the city by the organization Sing for Hope. The installation was a joint venture with a British artist, Luke Jerram, and was named “Play Me, I’m Yours”.
All types of art installations are popping up around cities across the world of late it seems, but to me this one seemed genuine and inspiring. In a sea of cars, trains and hectic, frantic people rushing everywhere, 60 pianos were able to dot the landscape and connect with people in the city in a new/unique way. Whether you sat down to play it, or whether you just saw it and wondered why it was there, there was still some level of connection made. Pretty cool if you ask me.
I like cars. Always have, always will. Planes on the other hand, not really the same love affair there, but put a plane and a car combined, that actually performs both roles flawlessly, that’s a different story.
That’s why I am geeking out over the Terrafugia Transition. It is exactly that: a plane and a car all in one.
A plane that can fly 460 miles at 115mph?
A car that has foldable wings and still gets 30mpg?
Plane. Car. Whatever. It doesn’t matter because it rules and I want one.
The best part about it is that under ‘Safety Features’ it reads: “Drive in case of inclement weather.” Given the way some people drive on the road around Cincinnati in the rain, I’d actually consider going from plane to car less of a safety feature, but that’s just me.
I need to find $195,000 to get one of these, so feel free to email me if you have any ideas or want to do a time-share.
It’s been a little while since they did anything to the packaging, so I personally do think it was due. The logo has been minorly tweaked, but the packaging on the cases is where you’ll really notice things. Even if you’re not very familiar with the brand, you’ll notice things right away. The ‘Girl in the Moon’ logo adorns the sides of the packaging now and the front/back is much simpler and fitting for the brand. It doesn’t feel like the box is shouting at you, it feels more polished. Other minor tweaks to logo sizing for example are there, but that’s about it.
In terms of how I view the brand, everything about the changes seem fitting to me. For a brand that also has apparently been seeing growth in recent years with consumers changing their beer choices with the economic rollercoaster, I think the update was well deserved and hope that it does well.
The fine folks over at Netdiver recently gave us a shout out on their blog (thanks guys!) after taking note of some of the recently refreshed elements on HyperQuake.com.
