Yesterday Virgin Atlantic announced it's Fear of Flying course, that supposedly has a 98% success rate, and unveiled the accompanying iPhone app intended to coach passengers through their attacks of fear while on board.  Included in the app are facts about flying, a Q&A section, and breathing techniques for fear emergencies while in the air. 

Talk about marketing as service!  Given that 1 in 3 adults are scared of flying, I'd say they are hitting a wide market with this one, and, in addition, are helping individuals make big strides in their personal lives.  This is the same thingPorter Gale, VP of Marketing at VA, discussed in her presentation last week at the 140 Characters Conference in LA, when she said Virgin Atlantic is striving through tech and social media to help their customers on a more personal level.  I'd say they are doing a darn good job at it.  What's next?

Today is Blog Action Day, and the topic this year is Climate Change.  Renegade has been working to improve our relationship with the environment for over two years now, and I believe we've accomplished a great deal. 

Here's a quick summary of the things we've done in the past 2 years:

• Cut our copy paper usage 44% per person by printing double-sided
• Decreased our energy usage 75% by using more fans and windows and less AC, using laptops instead of desktops, and shutting down our computers every night
• Banned paper coffee cups and plastic mugs and replaced them with glass (a move that paid for itself in terms of footprint size and fiscal cost in less than a month)
• Stopped ordering cardboard boxes and began reusing the packing materials we receive in the mail
• Began recycling!
• Supplied tire pressure gauges to every Renegade with a car to promote fuel economy
• Switched to a hybrid car service
• Made the switch to eco-friendly cleaning supplies

There's still so much more work to be done to lessen Renegade's impact on the environment (not to mention the rest of of the ad industry).  By taking the initiative to improve our impact as a company, we've impressed upon many who have worked with us in the past 2 years the importance of making eco-changes in their own lives – an accomplishment in and of itself.  I believe it is the responsibility of companies like Renegade to show their workers and as many other people as they can how to protect the environment, rather than harm it.

Back in 2007 we created a screen saver that gives tips for being green and allows users to contribute. It's called the Greensaver. Download it now!

Volkswagen is, as usual, doing things differently and getting some some positive attention for it. 

This morning a composer friend of mine posted a video on Facebook of "piano key" stairs.  His post had nothing to do with VW advertising and less to do with marketing in general.  He just found the video interesting because of his relationship with music (I'm sure of this because he posted the Swedish version of the video and he definitely doens't speak their language).  After finishing watching the video, I clicked on the link, expecting to be directed to some sort of music school related experiment site, and was (momentarily) suprised to be directed to a lightly branded VW website proclaiming (once I ticked the UK flag for English):

"This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun
is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it
for yourself, for the environment, or something entirely different, the
only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better."

This mini guerrilla campaign/behavioral experiment is doing exactly that:

The piano installation was created to encourage people to make the healthier choice to take the stairs instead of using an escalator.  The before and after shots of the staircase vs. the escalator prove the trick works.

The next video depicting "The World's Deepest [Trash] Bin," an outdoor public garbage can that makes a cartoonish sound of something falling very very far, had the effect of getting park-goers to not only throw away their own trash, but also to clean up the rest of the park just to hear the falling sound again. 

Next, they promise to come up with a fun way to recycle. 

I say, GO TEAM VOLKSWAGEN (BDB Stockholm)!  This bare bones project of theirs sure is a great example of a lot of good things advertising: marketing as service, combining online and offline, and making a good idea viral by keeping it open-ended and by not shoving a ton of branding down the throats of those who couldn't care less about cars (i.e. my buddy the composer).

Twitter began making daily headlines this year as Oprah joined on in April and Ashton Kutcher became the first user to score one million followers.  Celebrity participation on Twitter put this social media venture on the map for many who weren't already in the know, and it has definitely helped to stimulate Twitter's 73% growth since January.

In the past two and a half weeks, popular discourse about Twitter has changed drastically. No longer are people discussing Twitter as an opt-in celebrity gossip magazine. The talk has changed to Twitter as a global news source, an aspect of Twitter that has been discussed by new media enthusiasts and journalists for a while (see recap of @media140). 

Following the widely disputed re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on June 12th, the start of massive rallies in many Iranian cities, and Iran's subsequent clamp-down on foreign journalism, protesting Iranians turned to Twitter to report their situation.  The tweets from Iran (along with many Iranian blogs) then became a primary, although unverifiable and a bit skewed, source to the foreign press for information about the developing unrest.  Not only was Twitter being used by Iranian demonstrators to spread news, photos and videos of the unfolding events to each other, newsrooms around the world began publishing the tweets from Iran to keep readers abreast of the developments.

That weekend, a tidal wave of frightening information and links to terrifying photos and videos was flooding in from Iran via Twitter. Quickly the hashtag* #IranElection became the number one trending topic. People around the world began to rally in support of the Iranian dissidents and twitterers from everywhere colored their avatars green in support of the protesters and their “Sea of Green.”

Due in part to the attention the uprising was receiving, but mainly due to Twitter’s obvious function as sole communication tool for protesters coming under attack, The US State Department contacted Twitter headquarters the weekend following the election, and asked them to delay their scheduled site maintenance on June 15th to aid the communication of Iranians on the street.  This action by the State Department was an unprecedented event for new media, and it’s a prime example of Twitter’s impact on global awareness.   

Since June 12th, #IranElection has left the trending topics only briefly before Twitterers have united to raise its popularity by “tweeting it up,” and the online sea of green continues in solidarity with those wearing green half a world away.

Twitter has become a vital part of media, not just social or new media, but as an important news source and avenue for communicating events as they happen. It has raised global awareness of many important issues (not just in Iran), and generated support and activism in the global community.

The distress of the Iranian people is heavy on my mind, as I’ve followed these events closely and watched history being made in real time. It’s been difficult for me to speak objectively on this subject, but as it is making communication history NOW, I’m happy to discuss it here.  Following #IranElection has been an exciting, sobering, downright scary, yet valuable experience for me.

*If you haven’t heard the term hashtag before, that’s because it’s a term used only in reference to Twitter.  Hashtags are topical phrases proceeded by a # without spaces that twitterers use to participate in public discussion. 

Just ran across this adorable short film about an inter-office love story developed through Post-It notes.  I don’t know if it’s a viral video or an independent short film, but either way, it is a great ad for Post-It. Enjoy!

What I consider socially acceptable is often not in line with the views
of others.  Here are three examples of the inappropriate (I call them
joyful) acts I commit on a weekly, if not daily, basis: dancing to my
iPod in public, calling my superiors "Dude," and playing with other
people's children (being a stranger).

While other art students from my old school in Boston would quietly
sneak touches of artworks by artists they adored (if you're shocked,
get over it – artists frequently touch each others pieces), I would get
hyper and jump and shout when a piece really knocked me out.  I have
received the nastiest "Your-behavior-is-SO-inappropriate!" glares in
the gallery setting.   

Today, I found a sister in art reaction, Allison Reimus, a MFA student
at American Univeristy in Washington DC.  Her blog, a compilation of
user-submitted photos gathered since 2007, is titled Jumping in Art Museums.  I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have.

Over the weekend I picked up a postcard at a pizza place for the Tux with Chucks Prom, hosted by Urban Outfitters, Mischieve Hornitos, PBR, death + taxes magazine, and, of course, Converse. 

The promo copy states, “Buy a pair Chucks at Urban Outfitters and get two tickets to the Tux With Chucks Prom, an opportunity to relive the most awkwardly awesome night of your life.”
(Please note that I am quoting the flyer exactly as it's written, and I don’t think anyone proofread it.)

Two things about this postcard/promotion immediately struck me as odd:

1. The couple in the “awkward prom picture” looks kind of cool. If I had gone to my prom, I totally would have worn that dress.
2. They didn't list a url!  WTF?

The event is happening on Friday night at Studio B in Brooklyn – not too far from my regular hangout.  I was planning to spy on it and try to gauge the effectiveness of the entirely offline promotion, and that would still be true if I hadn’t just received an email about it from myopenbar.com, guaranteeing free entry and free Hornitos Tequila and PBR from 8 PM on.  Yup, you don’t actually have to buy Chucks from Urban to get in – just RSVP. 

It gets weirder.

The post on myopenbar.com does not mention Urban Outfitters’ or Converse’s sponsorship of the event and instead says it’s presented by Death + Taxes Magazine.  Marketing FAIL much?  What will be the reaction of the schmuck who picked up this postcard, bought Cons at UO, and, after feeling ever-so-slightly exclusive about this party, realizes he could have just RSVPed to some magazine he’d never heard of for access?  Probably not one of brand loyalty – for Converse or for Urban Outfitters.

It's a shame that big brands Converse and UO couldn't do a better job to leverage themselves with such a simple promotion.  They could have done some amazing webwork to engage their audience with easy-to-do UGC: submit your terrible prom story, upload your crappy prom photo, make a request and dedication to be played at the party – SOMETHING!

Oh well.

One more diss and I'm done.

 The copy from myopenbar.com is much more interesting than the copy from Urban Outfitters:

Two nights ago I attended SonarSound NY, a presentation given by Barcelona’s Festival of
Advanced Music in cooperation with the Institut Ramon Llull, a Catalan
cultural organization.  If you follow me on Twitter, chances are you read my verging-on-hysterical tweets about seeing (and playing!) a ReacTable for the first time.

Though seeing the ReacTable was the sole purpose of my
voyage into the Barishnikov Arts Center, it wasn't the only thrill of
the evening.

Next door to the ReacTable demo, a wild interactive art piece was presented by Marcel·lí Antúnez Roca.  Roca's Metamembrana is composed of four multi-layered projections and a few interactive elements: four patterned rugs intended to be trodded upon, and a bird house set on a low podium, into which the viewer is asked to scream.  By stepping on the rugs and screaming into the birdhouse, the viewers trigger a video collage of flamenco-inspired performances depicting stories of love, war and death.

The goal of Metamembrana (I'm paraphrasing a google translation of the artist's own words here) is to  engage the viewer in its own production by using their faces (captured from inside the birdhouse), by adding entities and elements gathered from each place it visits, and by creating a unique experience at each show, based on the participation of the viewers. 

The other notable performances were from Prefuse 73, a three-person DJ set of densely layered sound, distortion and hip-hop beats, DJ/Rupture, whose music mashup magic inspired a surge of dancing, and a live minimal soundtrack to "Goodbye Dragon Inn" by Fibla and Arbol.

This event was complete success: positive, energizing, and mind-exploding.  It had to go on this blog.

Late last Friday, I caught an article link to springwise about Adidas' new iPhone app, Adidas Urban Art Guide to Berlin.  This was right after I read a good little post on The Customer Collective about being a great salesman by providing value for your customers, while acknowledging the sale as only the byproduct of the business to consumer relationship.

Needless to say, Adidas recognizes its reputation as an urban brand, and by engaging its customers through their interests, increases its street cred.  This is obviously a situation in which taking an indirect route to a sale will benefit a brand and further its influence in the culture within which it is already associated, thereby if not attracting more loyal customers, retaining the ones it already has.  Thanks for the great example, Adidas!   

Dear T-Mobile,

Thank you for creating these cool happenings in London.  They are such great fun to watch on YouTube.  Please do this in NYC.  I want to participate. 

I want to sing a different song, though.  Perhaps, “This Land Is Your Land?”  Or “I Feel Good?”

Love,
Kirsten G.

P.S. I already gave you my number.