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).

Just saw this cool video on gaming blog offworld.com of a graffitti game for Wii:

WiiSpray Teaser from Martin Lihs on Vimeo.

Designer Martin Lihs developed this open-ended game, in partnership with Montana Paint, in an effort to “give graffiti a new virtual level surpassing tactile boundaries of the tangible world.”  I think the guerrilla aspect of graffitti is lost in this concept, but nevertheless, I dig it for two reasons:

1) Its simplicity.  No instructions are needed to interpret the console, so users are free to explore the possibilities on their own — ie. get creative faster.  The simplicity of the program is what gives it fluidity, makes it easy to get from concept to creation.

2) Its cleanliness.  One can tag up their wall until there’s no tomorrow without inhaling any xylene fumes or covering themselves in toxic paint.   This is more of a plus for someone who is an actual graffitti artist because they can practice and plan their pieces without mucking up so many walls and brain cells.  In that light, I guess it’s a plus for moms as well.

Enough has been written about Twitter in the past month for me to avoid explaining the phenomenom.  A great guide for marketers getting started on Twitter, written by Drew Neisser, is here.  I'm going to jump into the conversation with a bit on one Twitter app, and then quickly digress into one of my [brilliant] rants…

I heard on the radio this morning that plants can now Twit.  For $99, plant lovers can get their plants to talk back to them via Twitter.  Botanicalls is the name of the device that will tweet your plant's water needs to you (and said plant's followers), so you don't forget to take care of it.  It turns your plant into a living Tamagotchi! HOW COOL!

This made me think what if…  What if I/we/somebody created a climate change awareness campaign using Twitter to publicize the decay of our planet?!  I know scientists are using sensors to track climate change, so let's make the sensors tweet updates in layman's terms, buy up some digital and outdoor ad space (ad space that targets world leaders, influencers, and big business execs — that is, those with the power to fund and enforce change), and go live! 

P.S. I tweet, and I'm easy to find.  Let's follow each other!

Lion Brand Yarn has a great method for keeping their customers engaged: free pattern sharing. 

The Lion Brand website has over 2,000 free knitting, crocheting, and yarn craft patterns.  They also offer videocasts of how tos, a wealth of free information for anyone who knits, crochets, or wants to learn how. 

This is a great resource worth sharing!

I’ve never been lured by a woman-only group before, but, since my friend (and former Renegade) Sonali Sridhar was speaking about her work as an Interactive Architect at an open source software company, I was happily reeled in to a new experience: an event hosted by SheSays, a group that "was founded in March 2007 in the UK with the aim to help women
further their careers in digital advertising through informative
debates and a bespoke mentoring scheme."   

Briefly on the subject of interacting with only women involved in the Ad/Interactive/Marketing Biz: WOW!  I loved every minute of it.  I felt fully embraced by this group of intelligent, driven, and opinionated ideaters.  The experience was liberating and confidence-boosting.  Sorry boys, but the girls rock at talking  ideas – which brings me to the subject of open source.

For those who are unfamiliar with the term "open source," it refers to anything collaborative and open to those who wish to attribute and contribute.  In addition to Sonali’s presentation about the history of and current trends in open source software, which introduced the groundwork and methodology for open source culture, we had two other presentations from two brilliant companies founded on this philosophy.

The first was from the founders of BurdaSyle, an open source sewing site where members create and share copyright-free sewing patterns, advise each other on sewing techiniques, develop project ideas, and show off their creations.  In the same spirit of wikipedia, Burdastyle’s philosophy is the antithesis of  the fashion industry’s elitism.  It is an open forum for social design.

The second presentation was about Design 21: Social Design Network, a company created in partnership with Fellissimo (a global design and merchandise company) and UNESCO, which seeks to unite designers in a globally-influential and collaborative way to positively impact the world. 

They state their mission much more clearly on their site, so I’ll let them speak for themselves. 

All in all it was an inspiring evening that was well-peppered with discussion and debate.  There was one really great question brought up in our discussion last night that I want to ask before I sign off. 

How can competitive design be considered social design?

This question was raised because Design 21 encourages participation by hosting regular design competitions to solve global problems.  The disconnect between competition and social improvement is something to consider.  I want to know what you think.