So, I just saw an advertisement the other day for an idea that has been around awhile, apparently. Regardless, Wal-Mart is breaking into a pretty exclusive target audience for clothing retail. I honestly never thought a child (newborn through seven-year-olds) could ever have an opinion or be persuaded to care what they're wearing or how they look (outside the direction of their parents). On the tail of the Abercrombies and Hollisters of the world starting to drill into the middle school age kids minds that what they wear says who they are, which seemed destructive enough in the easily persuadable mind of such adolescents, I thought that would definitely be the line in the sand never to be crossed. However, without breaking stride, another retailer (Wal-Mart) has proven me wrong. I (re-)introduce, Garanimals, the mix-n-match clothing line for children that let's them choose what they wear, mixing and matching tops and bottoms. Yeah, sure, the video on the homepage is definitely cute and boy is it a great idea to let these kids be independent and choose what they wear. Or is it? I'm not so sure. Maybe I'm just taking this too far, but if this doesn't scream to me, "Get 'em interested in shopping and styles while their young so we'll have 'em hooked on caring and needing the newest clothes the rest of their lives," then I don't know what it says. Sure those mentalities can be imbedded through way of their parents, which is a different story, but is it really necessary to directly and explicitly put this mindset on such a young brain? I'm not saying I'm in opposition of letting kids be kids (which was a pretty slick messaging strategy on their part, wouldn't you say?), but letting kids be kids to me doesn't include letting them make sure they have an 'ideal' clothing line in their closets. Just as the middle school-aged crowd was dealing with image and self-esteem issues, the next generation of image and style conscious individuals has taken on a whole new look, and they stand about two feet tall.

(click the image to start the presentation. Quicktime is required. You can download Quicktime here) The attached presentation was given to Miami Ad School on February 25, 2008 and to the Campaigns classes at the University of Minnesota on February 26, 2008. It was a great opportunity for us to talk with the future of the Advertising industry and enjoyed the passionate conversations with the students. Thank you to those students and Eva for hosting us. Also, thank you to Professor Pounds and the students at the University of Minnesota for their hospitality. It was outstanding to see and hear such a wide array of interests, aspirations, backgrounds and talents. If we were unable to answer any questions due to time please drop us a note. Best, Chris & Joe

(click the image to start the presentation. Quicktime is required. You can download Quicktime here) This presentation was given to the Human Factors class at the University of Minnesota on February 18, 2008. We would like to thank the students and Professor Huff for having us in the class. If there were any other questions or comments regarding the presentation we encourage you to communicate with our team through this blog. Regards, Lisa, Chris & Joe

I've been talking to lots of advertising and marketing students lately about the future of advertising. I am probably the worst person to be talking to these kids about this. I don't like advertising and never have. I don't care about it and don't find most of it entertaining or engaging in any way. If I want to be entertained, I will go to a movie, thank you. I don't think most people are all that engaged with advertising. Oh, I think they will talk about the super bowl spots, because that is one of the main points about watching that game. Or they might mention a favorite ad to a friend because it makes them laugh. But I don't think most look forward to their morning commute just because they will get to read the billboards on the way to work. I have to admit in my younger days (when I had more free time) even being a little vindictive with people trying to market to me. I've been known to fill direct marketers pre-paid envelopes with other direct marketers junk mail just to prove a point. I stole this idea from a good friend of mine. Don't bother me with that stuff. Thus my issue with talking about advertising … I don't think there is a future for it…though I have colleagues who will disagree with me and that's why I work with them. There is very little advertising in my present, let alone my future, because I use technology to avoid it. Since I don't have the advertising vernacular in my vocabulary, I've developed my own over the years as it applies to online media. And I've come to discover how close it is to the world of product development. When it comes down to it, we develop online products. These products communicate. They save time and they save money. They help people do business in new ways. We develop these products for people; people who want to save time, make their lives easier and find new information or ideas. We want to do more than help people pass a minute or 30 seconds of their time. We want to improve their lives, even if it is in a very small way. Think about things like finding out what salaries for your industry tailored to your location www.careeronestop.com or things like being able to get wine recommendations based on your taste and style www.artisanvineyards.com. I don't think I am alone out there. Advertising has to shift its focus. In fact, the whole notion of advertising has to go away (okay, change) for marketers or business managers for that matter use the medium in a way that can affect their businesses the most. Here is some inspiration from one of the gods of advertising planning……Russell Davies to get you moving in the right direction!

I found these earbuds when I realized that my ears would never accommodate the regular Apple iPod ear buds without serious pain or plastic surgery! They're pretty awesome and have different sized rubbery things so they snug right inside your ear. Plus they block outside noise so you don't have to crank the volume high when you're in a noisy situation. Drawback: You can't hear things around you, so unsafe for outdoor use. They're on sale right now too!

(click the image to start the presentation. Quicktime is required. You can download Quicktime here) The following Quicktime was the PowerPoint presentation given to the Interactive Advertising class at the University of Minnesota on February 14th. If any students from the class had any questions for us that we were unable to get to because of time, we encourage you to ask them here and we'd be more than happy to engage in a dialogue regarding your question. Thank you Professor Huh and the students for having us in your class, we enjoyed it very much. Regards, Chris and Joe

Alright, I admit I haven't written down many cohesive thoughts in the last 10 years since giving birth to two wildly fantastic children with, of course, the exception of their entertaining phraseologies and countless grocer lists organized categorically; fruit at the top and freezer items nearing the end of the list. By arranging the fruits and vegetables @ the top of the list leaves little room in the cart as we reach the ever popular frozen foods isle where a barrage of textural, sinfully tantalizing frozen delights ablaze in the full color spectrum scream out, "Pick me, pick me!" I think the other day one package actually winked at me. How could I turn down this advance? When you are wading knee deep in your fourth decade on earth, any form of flirtation is flattering; even if it's imaginary! So here I find myself in a new job with a blog entry deadline to express some observations, a self-examination if you will. My co-workers here have been kind enough to offer up guidance and encouragement; launch me down the Yellow Brick Road to Oz. "Write about anything", they say. "Write about the banana sitting on your desk." This banana, by the way, was not the item that winked at me but I will graciously consume it anyway for its naturally fortified potassium and pleasing texture reminiscent of childhood. This blog entry may have no beginning or end but I think I have managed to fill up the middle with enough jibberish to qualify an entry on the wild world web (as my 8 year old would say).

The marketplace is swarming with new technologies and products that promise to make our frantic lives easier and more efficient so we can get more done in less time with less effort. Work less and get more. Talk less and say more. You get the picture. We've always got too much to do and too little time. So it's only natural that we're drawn to technology that makes our to-do list a little less daunting and life a bit more enjoyable. And let me just say, thank goodness for these products. I mean, let's be honest, few of us could survive without our cell phone or voice-command GPS or self-cleaning razor or remote control blinds or robotic vacuum, etc., etc., etc. These modern conveniences have made our lives more efficient to the point where we can hardly remember how we survived without them. For better or worse, they have completely revolutionized the way we live. But they might not always work out as planned. I wanted a PDA for so long. I thought it would be such a great gadget to keep my life calendar in order. I expected that by syncing up all my information I would be able to keep track of my commitments with less time and clutter. Surprisingly, it didn't quite work out that way. It turns out writing things down on a paper calendar with a regular pen works way better for me. And my fancy PDA with all its features sits, unused, on a shelf in my closet. With a constant stream of new ideas and technologies being shoved down our throats, how can we judge what is the best solution for us before we make an investment that may turn out to be nothing but a closet accessory? In this information overload, technology-driven era, how can we separate the revolutionary from the useless? One would think that we, working in a digital company, would be the ones preaching new solutions and always pushing the latest, greatest technology. The truth is that is not how we work. It wouldn't be smart. Don't get me wrong, we love innovation and new technologies and ideas, and in some cases that might be exactly what a client needs. But we make sure to ask for our clients, as we do for ourselves: what do you really need, and is the benefit worth the cost? Will it help reach your company's goals? What hardware or software or hosting package or content management solution will make your jobs easier and the company better? In this ever-changing landscape, it is imperative that we sit down side by side with our clients and ask questions and more questions until we come to a mutual understanding of the issues to address and the goals moving forward. Until we've done this, we could never help our clients sift through the mess, confusion, and promises of the available software, platforms, services, and mash-ups available out there to find the right fit for their goals. For example, you can now buy golf binoculars that tell you the exact distance of a golf course hole, but if you can't swing a club, it's a wasted investment - just like our client could license a very robust, and very expensive, content management system with all the bells and whistles. But when it comes down to it, if the site only needs basic content changes, it's probably a wasted investment. Why buy a $100 electric martini shaker when five flicks of the wrist does the same thing? The client may not really need all the fancy features, but does need the site to work for their specific needs and for their target audience. The options are endless, but pockets aren't bottomless, so we create strategies that ensure we're building products that will revolutionize the way our clients' work. We work to squeeze value out of our clients' budgets by providing the right solution. We will help make their jobs (and lives) less frantic and more effective as well as help to increase visibility or generate leads or establish a brand presence or provide an internal content approval process or whatever their objectives may be. With all the questions and options and objectives and necessities aside, what it really comes down to is the fact that we want to make sure our clients' investments don't end up on the shelf next my PDA.

Is MSNBC running Apache? While browsing the popular news site for more tidbits on the big game today, I came across this screenshot (at about 2:45PM CST on 2/3). Of course, it could've been faked, but I assure you it wasn't. A quick test on Netcraft revealed the site had been running IIS 6.0 as of October 2007. A hoax? Or maybe they're ramping up capacity in preparation for the Super Bowl. Then again, maybe this is old news…