Nature and Biomimicry in 7 Points – Janine Benyus

June 12, 2011

Renowned scientist and the author of Biomimicry, Janine Benyus speaks about the topic in 7 key ideas along with questions like, “How does a peacock feather inform new display screens? How do we use mother nature’s polymer architecture to think about new materials?” [Video Link for Email/Other Subscribers - 3min]

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PUMA’s Clever Little Bag

June 11, 2011

I like the design. Here’s quick draw summary from the press release. The video below says it better though “The introduction of PUMA’s innovative packaging and distribution system will reduce the paper used for shoeboxes by 65% and carbon emissions by 10,000 tons per year — the remaining packaging materials used will be fully sustainable [...]

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The Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture – Race to Nowhere

June 10, 2011

Race to Nowhere is one documentary I recently referenced in a blog post on distribution and influencing change. While the topic isn’t marketing nor innovation oriented, it is an interesting one indeed. Makes me wonder about the Chinese or Japanese cultures too though, since they’ve traditionally been stereotyped as placing a high value on education. [...]

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Ken Dumps Barbie Over Rainforest Destruction

June 9, 2011

Funny new Greenpeace campaign against Mattel for using Asia Pulp & Paper as a 2nd/3rd tier supplier for its Barbie packaging. Combining the video shown below along with the URL http://greenpeace.org/ken which links to a special Facebook page app, the campaign is pretty neat for its humor (video viewership at 120,000 after 4 days online) [...]

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Communicating Brand Pride and Craftsmanship – New Balance

June 8, 2011

Another great brand communications video here, this time from New Balance running shoes. Here they’re talking about the customization options for their US574 shoe along with tidbits about their operations and history in the Northeast U.S. I like combining brand identity along with product marketing. It gives the message a bit of depth for those [...]

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Brand Storytelling from Naked Pizza’s Jeff Leach

June 7, 2011

Apart from a great business model with a healthy product offering, I really dig Naked Pizza’s extensive use of video for brand communications that combines journalism, storytelling, and inside views to their operations. Founder Jeff Leach writes on their LivNaked blog and in these two video clips, tells us why their dough balls are special, [...]

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Returning the Beach Trash – Surfrider Foundation Brazil

June 6, 2011

Neat cause marketing video for the Surfrider Foundation in Brazil, by an agency called Script. Here’s the official description: Script has created an action for Surfrider Foundation Brasil, called “Return”. The action has as purpose to raise awareness and alert people about the consequences of the garbage left on Rio’s beaches. From a mailing list [...]

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Documentary Films: Expanding Distribution and Influencing Change

June 5, 2011

A couple months ago, I attended a neat panel discussion on how documentary films could reach larger audiences and hopefully have a positive impact or influence, based on the filmmaker’s intent. Here’s the official description: “Documentary films unveil important truths, challenge assumptions, and often compel audiences to take action. Many of today’s filmmakers are faced [...]

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Affordable, Quality Eyewear to Buy and Give – Neil Blumenthal, Warby Parker

June 4, 2011

I like the “Buy One, Give One” business model embodied by Tom’s Shoes. It’s very intuitive, and not some limited promotion like some cause marketing programs. So long as the price and value are aligned, it’s all good. Here’s another interview I liked from BBMG, this time with a local NYC company I find fascinating. [...]

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Big Question: Feast or Famine?

June 3, 2011

I say “Feast”, but with a wide variety of options in small serving sizes. After all, food is so much tastier in smaller bites and when it’s layered in such a way to maximize flavor. Oh yeah, the video below is another neat animated presentation I found. This time on agriculture and the future from [...]

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A Strange World of Social Sharing and Networking, by Devin Friedman

June 2, 2011

Sometimes I want to physically shake people and ask them to wake up to reality. Not often, but for the sake of humanity and opportunity cost of energy spent. Last month, I read a great investigative journalism piece on the absurdity that some folks will go to with sharing status updates and social networks. Not [...]

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Online Organizing and CRM – Charles Lenchner

June 1, 2011

A couple months ago, I attended a short class on advocacy marketing and community management, led by Charles Lenchner of Organizing 2.0. One of his points was that there was no such thing as “online organizing“. Similar to what Justin Isaf had said in an interview on communities, one can only communicate with and guide [...]

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The Access Economy of Renting and Borrowing – Ron J. Williams, SnapGoods

May 31, 2011

Platforms that easily connect people around sharing low-utilized assets are one important aspect of Collaborative Consumption and the Mesh’s access economy. “Mitch Baranowski chats with SnapGoods co-founder and CEO Ron J. Williams, who discusses the company’s contribution to the growing ‘access economy,’ in which consumers participate in both the supply and demand sides of commerce.” [Video [...]

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Crowdsource and Win the Challenge – Riley Crane

May 30, 2011

Another cool video I found… “Riley Crane, a postdoctoral fellow at the MIT Media Lab, found out about the DARPA Red Balloon Challenge four days before it started (find ten balloons placed in ten different locations around the country). Four days, eight hours, and 52 minutes later his team had won the competition. Watch him [...]

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Meetup.com Brand Employee Qualities

May 28, 2011

Recently, I attended an event at Meetup.com headquarters in Manhattan. They have a separate office just to host small groups that they support, including beer and soda While there, I noticed a sheet outlining the qualities of a potential team member or manager. This type of cultural info is often interesting to see, and thought [...]

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