The Nike Foundation have set up an initiative to raise funds for women in developing countries called ‘The Girl Effect’.

“The Girl Effect, n.

The powerful social and economic change brought about when girls have the opportunity to participate in their society.

What you are about to do is nothing short of revolutionary.

There are 600 million adolescent girls living in poverty in the developing world. By giving one of these girls a chance, you start the girl effect. When girls have safe places to meet, education, legal protection, health care, and access to training and job skills, they can thrive. And if they thrive, everyone around them thrives, too.”

The site gives information about the initiative and the plight of girls in many developing nations, some ways of “sharing” the content and message enabling people to seed it around the web, and some interviews with girls in the developing world - girls that this initiative is helping, and a link through to a Global Giving charity page where you can DO SOMETHING by donating to various different charity initiatives like supporting educational facilities, and legal funds for women etc.

(NB their  viral mechanisms in the “share” section are thorough)

They have put a nice little site up at http://www.girleffect.org/ which includes a video piece and some neat little viral mechanisms to help people seed information and links about this initiative throughout the web.

They have set up a YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/girleffect showing a video (below) which outlines what the “Girl Effect” is all about:

Go on! Help the women of tomorrow help themselves!

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Brazilian street artist brothers ‘Os Gomeos’ from San Poala currently have an exhibition on in NYC.

CHECK THE VIDEO HERE!!

Inspired by their dreams (often having the same dreams) these brothers have created some amazing pieces, including murals, 3D sculptures, street art, paintings, and interactive spaces.

Check out this interview with them and see their beautiful, beautiful work here.

They’ve definatelty taken their art much farther than the street.

If you happen to be in NYC - go check the exhibition out.

Too Far Too Close
@ Deitch Projects
from June 28 to August 09, 2008
18 Wooster Street, New York
Open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 12PM to 6PM

( Via Wooster Collective )

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I have been away from home for a while and my connection to the internet has been limited so I have been trying to catch up on some off-line reading. In between novels, I have managed to sneak in a few work related titles. One I just finished is called “Made to Stick – Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck” by Chip and Dan Heath.

It’s worth a read.

These criteria are represented by “SUCCES” i.e. that a communications piece is
S = simple
U = unexpected
C=concrete
C=credible
E=emotional
S=stories

I won’t go into detail about all of these principles (go buy the book) but will cover a few things I took from it.

Firstly, some ideas on SIMPLICITY.
The “Curse of Knowledge” is discussed.
You tap your favourite tune with your fingers, you can hear the tune succinctly. Ask your friend next to you what you are tapping and as obvious as it seems to you, they will have absolutely no idea what tune you are tapping! Try it.

Simplicity is key! Don’t let jargon or your own knowledge and experiences abstract your message. A good idea should be both simple and also appropriate for every level of familiarity.

Spell out the benefits of the benefits.
People don’t want to buy drill bits that create big holes in the wall, but they will buy drill bits that create big holes from which they can hang their kids pictures from!
Features need to be obviously linked to benefits.

(WIIFY = What’s in it for you!) – Appeal to self-interest
Ie Don’t say “People will enjoy more security when driving wth Brand X Tyres”, but “YOU will enjoy more security when you …..”

Don’t bury your message in unrelated details! Find the lead of the idea and don’t let it get lost it in the detail. You don’t need to share all your information, only as much detail as is needed to support your single/main idea.

Some further ideas on an idea being EMOTIONAL.
“How can we make people care about our ideas? We get them to take of their Analytical Hats. We create empathy for specific individuals. We show how our ideas are associated with things that people already care about. We appeal to their self-interest, but we also appeal to their identities – not only to the people they are right now but also to the people they would like to be” (From pg 203)

I think there is huge opportunity in this for brands. Aligning with a contemporary social or economic cause can do wonders for you brand - appealing to people identities and how they want to be seen or associated with.

Stories inspire and simulate, they are concrete and emotional, and usually have unexpected elements.

OK enough said…it’s a light read with some interesting case studies and exercises which may give you some insight on your communications and making your ideas stick!

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Here’s another video by Common Craft “in plain english” on Linked In

Well I have finally had a chance to start getting re-anquainted with my Google Reader and found this great post on the Digital Design Blog by Avenue A Razorfish, showing their Top 12 Digital Design Posts of 2008, So Far…

There are some good resources here.

Happy Reading….

I recently spent some time in Egypt and visited many ancient temples and sites. Many of these sites had internal walls covered in brightly painted ancient hieroglyphs. These hieroglyphs constitute one of the worlds first alphabets. They have enabled archaeologists to  understand many of these ancient sites, and  the ancient Egyptian history and culture.

Ancient Egyptian writing uses more than 2,000 hieroglyphic characters. Each hieroglyph represents a common object in ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphs could represent the sound of the object or they could represent an idea associated with the object.

Seeing these inscriptions got me thinking about the power of symbols and the power of story and mythology. Creation mythologies and stories are instrumental to so many cultures and histories. Whole civilizations activities and culture have been legitimized by their respective mythologies.

Within this context and reflection on symbols I realized just how deep seated my awareness of branding symbols or logos were. How are these modern symbols? Do global brands have their own creation myths or brand essence which transcend both geographical distance and culture associated with these symbols?

One thing for me is clear, that many global brands have their signatures or logos so inscribed in my own consciousness, that I was suprsied just how many brands I still recognizable even when the text was written in a foreign script…..

It just got me thinking…..

“Johnny Lee demos his amazing Wii Remote hacks, which transform the $40 game piece into a digital whiteboard, a touchscreen and a head-mounted 3-D viewer. A multi-ovation demo from TED2008.”

OK So I know I am holidays and not supposed to be on the computer but I couldn’t resist catching up on some blog reading using the free wi-fi at the airport! (I am on my way to Cairo today)

I spotted this cool video on Nicola Davies blog and thought it merited a quick post!

(The geek in me wishes I could do this kind of stuff!)

I am traveling in the middle east at the moment getting amongst the “real world” of camels, deserts, ancient ruins, geographical  wonders…and meeting some new friends!

In case you were wondering….

I will be back with some more marketing speak in a while.

There was a cool post on WSJ.com titled “Citizen journalism, Live from Disney World“.

It discussed Twisney, a cool little site that utilises Fickr and the Twitter API to enable people to post micro-blogs (tweets) and images from Disney World theme parks in Japan and the US.

“Twisney- Broadcasting photos and live updates sent from guests and cast members inside the Disney Parks.”

Twisney overlays the tweets on a map of the park, and utilising Flickr displays photos taken at the park from mobile devices, which can be searched via tag and date.

How cool is it that we as digital marketers can leverage existing technology via open API’s to engage in conversation and co-creation with consumers. I mean developing this type of thing from scratch would be no mean feat, and it’s great that the geeks are openly sharing.

So, yes perhaps it’s the early adopters using this stuff now…but give it time (not much of it!) and take note!

Two thoughts:

1. Micro-blogging (twitter) as a mobile activity could have some cool and interesting marketing applications.

2. Utilising open API’s and existing platforms (eg using Flickr, Twitter etc.) are very cost effective tools for creating engagement, conversation, and co-creation with your brand advocates

And a third…

This would be cool at festivals too…fans, bands, promoters all tweeting….

(Also a good link to a list of apps using the Twitter API)

The company who brought consumers the peoples car have launched a cross platform marketing initiative called “What the People Want”

The consumer INSIGHT:

” As we deal with the new generation of consumers — Gen X and Gen Y and even younger boomers — we’re in the era of ‘It’s all about me and my opinion. I want to be involved in the brands I buy and engage them as they engage me. I want them to listen to what I have to say.’”

SRC AdWeek : Volkswagen’s Public Polling Pays Off (http://tinyurl.com/3l478d)

The microsite http://vw.com/whatthepeoplewant enables people to suggest new poll questions and vote on existing polls. The UG content is published to banner ads across the web, which are placed on semantically relevant web pages. There is also a list on Pandora where people can vote on music for the 2 the “What the People Want” Pandora stations.

“The banners use an advanced form of keyword targeting to determine what statement displays on what page, making them one of the first ever user-generated banner campaigns that is served contextually. This is all done real-time, using an application created specifically for the campaign. Volkswagen is also the first brand to utilize the ABC SuperSign’s “live interactivity” technology in Times Square. The technology allows two-way dialogue with passersby via SMS, allowing users to vote on polls from the central site database in real time with their mobile devices.”

SRC: http://tinyurl.com/3uurp5

Love the digital bill-board concept, integrating web, mobile and outdoor with consumer generate content!