bookbook™
IKEA, the Swedish furniture company, launched its latest catalog – aka “bookbook™” – with a video that highlights it’s technical aspects, such as thousands of home furnishing ideas pre-installed, eternal battery life and no-lag page loads, while taking an amusing stab at Apple’s product videos.
Check it out for yourself:
Not The Least Bit Grim
German artist Max Grimm’s work speaks through his great use of color and symbolism. On a recent trip I was able to spot his work in multiple locations.
This is one – applied to a school gymnasium. The vibrant use of color and interwoven imagery makes it uniquely his and most definitely the opposite of grim.
Jaws 5 or The Original Summer Blockbuster
Almost 40 years after Jaws made it’s terrifying debut, the movie is in theaters again. At least in the Cape Cod seaside town of Chatham. After an increase in shark sightings over the last years, initial fear was turned into an attraction and now all things shark are helping boost tourism.
In a New York Times interview Kevin McLain, executive director of the Chatham Orpheum Theater, where Jaws is playing twice a day throughout the summer said: “Attitudes have changed. There’s a line in the movie, that if you yell ‘Shark!’ on the Fourth of July, we’re going to have a panic on our hands. In Chatham now, you yell ‘Shark!’ in the middle of town, people come running to the beach, not away from it.”
Jaws is considered the original summer blockbuster – released during the summer months with heavy advertising support and in thousands of theaters at the same time. The movie, which was directed by Steven Spielberg and told the story of a great white shark terrorizing a small town, became the highest-grossing film in history at the time.
And just like the original movie tie-ins – shark related merchandise is selling big theses days.
Soccer Fever
The world has been enjoying a bout of soccer fever with the 20th FIFA World Cup taking place in Brazil. Germany and it’s many soccer fans are elated to have made it to the finals, where they German National Team will play against Argentina. My whole family has been glued to the TV and we will all be watching the final match together.
This video pretty much sums up how Germany feels about the outcome:
The Heat Is On – Go from Fizzle To Sizzle
Summertime might mean slow business, so stay motivated and start planning your next moves. Here are six tips to make future marketing efforts a success:
Reflection. Use your down time to take a look at what worked in the past and what didn’t.
Think Seasonal. Summer offers endless ways for fun approaches to seasonal marketing tie-ins.
Online Presence. Now is the time to devote some energy to create the content material for your newsletter or website you might have been putting off.
Connect. Chances are you are already spending time at barbecues, festivals and other gatherings. Make new connections – you never know where they might lead.
Reconnect. Reach out to existing customers to keep you in their thoughts.
Relax. The best ideas happen when you are not thinking about a task at hand. So take a step back, enjoy your summer and revitalize your mind. Your creative juices will be flowing in no time.
Food for Thought
Vanity Fair announce on Thursday that Chipotle’s bags and cups will be featuring original writings by Jonathan Safran Foer (who pitched the idea to Steve Ells, Chipotle’s founder and C.E.O. years ago), Malcolm Gladwell, Toni Morrison, George Saunders, and Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Lewis.
The burrito chain has branded the initiative “Cultivating Thought” and is comprised of a somewhat eclectic group of styles. According to Foer, he “wanted some that were essayistic, some fiction, some things that were funny, and somewhat thought provoking.”
“We live in a world in which there is shrinking space for literature and writing, and less time than ever for quiet reflection,” Foer said in a statement. “The idea of expanding the space and time, of creating a small pocket of thoughtfulness right in the middle of the busy day, was inspiring to me — particularly given the size and diversity of the audience, which is America itself.”
It’s not the first time Chipotle has used their packaging to tell stories, but usually it is to talk about things related to Chipotle – farmers or ingredients, for example. “These essays are unique in that they don’t have anything to do with us, and we gave the authors complete latitude to write about whatever they wanted to,” said communications director Chris Arnold.
Unfortunately our local store didn’t have the new bags or cups yet, so we will have to share an image from the internet and hope to read the stories in the near future.
Ironic
A video-poem about taking a break from social media and electronic devices has become a viral hit…