brandflakesforbreakfast

the scariest amusement park

2010-03-19T08:07:00.000-04:00

You probably remember the news helicopter shots of a flooded Six Flags amusement park in New Orleans, after hurricane Katrina. The WebUrbanist has assembled a spooky collection of more recent shots of the park that show its decay and life of abandonment. Sad and spooky, yet inspiring to urban explorers.

From @dabitch. Image from Brynne Photography.

because any reason is a good reason for a drink

2010-03-19T07:48:00.001-04:00

This new series of ads for Carlton Draught show us that even your Weenis might suggest a drink. Just as creepy as it is funny. Let's drink.

facebook founder: i need more.

2010-03-19T07:42:00.000-04:00

Because we all know that being co-founder of Facebook isn't enough, Chris Hughes has launched another fantabulous company. Jumo.com looks to help people help the world.

Users get matched to causes and organizations based on their skillsets and resources. The tool helps discover people with resources and then match them with the cause that makes the most sense. It sounds like Linked In meets Facebook meets a dream come true for the non-profits and people in need across the globe.

The site doesn't officially launch until this Fall, but in the meantime you can sign up and let Jumo know a little about you. Learn more in the FastCompany profile on Chris.

miss...your bag is on fire.

2010-03-19T07:38:00.000-04:00

To promote their new exhibit about Pompeii, the National Museum in New Zealand went to where tourists are. Collecting their bags.

Then they covered them in hot, flowing lava. Just like tourists like it. Nice.

branded entertainment: has its time come?

2010-03-19T07:16:00.000-04:00

File this under "B2B doesn't stand for Boring2Boring." Hyatt just cut a sweet deal with Funny or Die to produce a series of pieces that promote the hotel chain's meeting planning and hosting services. Yes, that's a B2B ploy in a consumer world.

Hyatt realizes that business people are humans, and watch real media. Have you ever met someone who said "I'm sorry, I can't watch that video. I'm a business person, not a consumer." Yet brands with B2B messages continue to believe that B2B only belongs on a B2B channel (that's channel 456 on most cable systems.)

Even better, Hyatt's spending about $300K on the deal - likely a fraction of their competitor's spend on traditional media buys.

The other important aspect of this deal is that Funny or Die is producing the content. Not the agency, not a commercial director. There have been countless branded content ploys over the last few years, but it appears that we're finally in a place and time where the audience is there, the content is good, and the brands are willing to spend. Woohoo. Keep it coming.

i know your face

2010-03-18T07:46:00.001-04:00

Just as I'm posting about the end of business cards, @paulmcenany tweets about Recognizr, a new mobile app that uses facial recognition and augmented reality to connect the people that you meet with the social networks that you use.

Right now, the user has to opt in before they'll be recognized, but surely sometime in the future, we'll give up all privacy and go all in. And I'll snap a photo of you from across the street and immediately become your friend. Or you'll just wear a mask, and avoid contact, because you're anti-social like that.

youtube makes overlay ads easy

2010-03-18T07:41:00.001-04:00

Until now, you might have needed an agency or someone with some production expertise to create an overlay ad for your YouTube video. Until now.

Just like Google has made adwords a breeze, YouTube announces their ad overlay making kit.

Fire your agency, and get on with it. Or - call your agency, increase their budget and let them do this for you. You're busy. You have real work to do.

business cards...really?

2010-03-18T07:36:00.001-04:00

The other day we rush printed new business cards for some of us heading to SXSW. (Check out my new title!)

You can't go to a major conference like SXSW without cards, right? Wrong. I handed out about four cards. Maybe five, if you include the card that was required to get a free t-shirt at the Veer booth.

And for me, SXSW was all about meeting people. I met hundreds of new people. Some amazing people. Some really smart people. The thing is, they don't need my card. And I don't need theirs. If we made a mark on each other, we know how to find each other - and we've probably already connected on Twitter.

People like Steve Rubel are really proud of the fact that their Twitter ID is now on their card. (We've been doing this for years.) I ask: do we really need cards at all?

We are in desperate need for a universal contact exchange (that people are willing to adopt) that does not involve paper. Plenty of companies have invented this, but no one has created a product that's hit the hot button. Yet. This has to come soon. Maybe Google, Facebook or Twitter will make it happen. Or maybe we'll just keep printing rectangular squares with website addresses on them.

How many pieces of paper have you left behind, recently?

everything is not what you think

2010-03-18T07:33:00.003-04:00

You've seen this jaw-dropping idea produced a few years ago.

Publishers Dorling Kindersley Books were so impressed that they produced their own version, for an international sales meeting at their firm. While it would have been cooler if they acknowledged the original, this is still a fantastic piece with some great copywriting. Thanks, Derek!

maybe you've seen this.

2010-03-17T08:02:00.003-04:00

This is probably old to you, but I've been stuck in a cocoon of social media geeks in Austin, Texas for the last few days, so I've got some catching up to do.

If you haven't seen this, then here's an excellent answer to the question of "I don't get ChatRoulette." Or "How is ChatRoulette entertaining?"

If you have already seen this, and you're saying instead "dude, i expect only the freshest internet meat when I visit BFFB", not to worry. We've been a little crazy, busy, drunk, and blogging all about SXSW.

More fresh meat tomorrow.

death wants to play catch with your pets

2010-03-17T07:44:00.004-04:00

Here's an ad for Italy's National Animal Protection Institute that illustrates how pets in the pound have a sad, sad, deadline.

Super depressing yet slightly humorous in a death-walking-around-with-a-Frisbee kind of way.

what could bacon do for you?

2010-03-16T07:05:00.000-04:00

Bacon. The magical, mystical food that no human can resist. FreshBooks put bacon to work on the streets of Austin, TX at SXSW. To promote their online invoicing product, they got right to the point: Freshbooks can make you bacon.

Forget social media. Or search. Bacon is the new, must-have marketing tool that can sell your product to anyone with a tummy. Yummy. This, and more SXSW fun on the official Brand Flakes for Breakfast SXSW Edition.

search that listens to you

2010-03-16T06:44:00.001-04:00

Siri is a new search and "getting things done" tool for your magical iPhone. Whatever you need, just say it outloud, and Siri gets you on your way.

Like a personal assistant in your pocket. Not sure if "fill out my expense reports" will work, but if it involves search, Siri is there for you. From @mtlb & @thebeancast

posting in lite mode

2010-03-15T08:57:00.003-04:00

The world-class Brand Flakes for Breakfast blogging crew is at the SXSW interactive festival, so BrandFlakes will be in BloggingLite mode today and tomorrow.

Keep up with the details on the Brand Flakes SXSW Edition, and find all of the cool Humongo people to follow in this post. We've also been interviewing interesting marketing geeks, and have some awesome videos to share later in the week.

In the meantime, enjoy this 8 bit map of Austin, TX. Just because you needed it, and 8 bit is all the rage.

not going to austin? fake it.

2010-03-12T06:33:00.001-05:00

Plenty of interactive geeks from across the land are on their way to Austin, Texas to partake in the SXSWinteractive conference. (We're covering our adventures, in a SXSW edition of BFFB.)

Maybe your boss wouldn't approve the budget. Or you're afraid of Texas. Or you have work to do.

If that's the case, SwissMiss has started a #VirtuallyAttendingSXSW hashtag, and will be tweeting away. And there's plenty of other people who have joined in on the fun.

If you're more of a lurker, and less of a tweeter, we suggest that you keep an eye on @tsand's Twitter stream. He's been known to create his own ImagicationSXSW, that's pretty much guaranteed to have you spitting coffee into your keyboard.

Going to Austin? Give any of the Humongo crew a shout. We want to drink Texas beer with you. Details and links here.

We're heading to SXSW!

2010-03-11T11:13:00.000-05:00

The Humongo crew is headed to Austin, TX for SXSW, the annual music, film and interactive super festival. We'll be attending the geekiest portion of the conference - SXSWinteractive.

Stuck at home? Not to worry. We'll be doing our best to share our experience. And we're also producing a series of videos interviewing interesting people that we believe you might be inspired by.

Check the Brand Flakes for Breakfast SXSW Edition for the latest from all of the Humongo superstars (and friends):

Darryl Ohrt: That's me, the official Prime Minister of Awesome at the world's greatest agency.

Chris Spada: Designer, creator, and now blogger at Humongo. He'll be hitting Austin for the first time. Chris will also be covering the conference at CT's creative powerhouse ConnCreatives.

Kristien Del Ferraro: From our new awesomely cool parent company Source Marketing, Kristien will be sharing her internet genius, and also hitting the geek festival as a first timer.

Ben Kunz: Thought leader, Business Week writer, blogger for Thought Gadgets, and man of brilliance from media buying and strategy firm MediAssociates will be interviewing the internet's brightest people on BrandFlakes video.

Renato Ghio: (Yes, that's a wig.) The master with a HD camera and editing suite in his backpack, he's the man responsible for all of the world-famous PlaidNation tour videos. He'll be producing the best interviews of the smartest people.

So make room for a little bit of Texas!

a list of 50 really creative people

2010-03-11T07:50:00.000-05:00

Creativity Magazine just named their 50 people and companies who they believe have made the biggest impact across creative culture.

While they completely missed out on Humongo and Brand Flakes for Breakfast, we like that they included Lady Gaga, our friends at Ford Motors, our new best brother Alex Bogusky, and a bunch of other agencies that are bigger than us.

You can always Photoshop yourself into the list, and give it to your mom for the fridge.

in the old days, there was geocities

2010-03-11T07:43:00.001-05:00

You probably like reading Wired because it keeps you up on the latest in everything interactive, technology, design and stuff that we generally like to call "yummy."

It's also fun to look back a few years at the stuff our industry pimped, promoted and then threw away. That's the premise of Wired Reread, a blog devoted to scanning old issues of Wired to show dead, funny, or the overall ridiculousness of our industry. Like an ad for Geocities, above. Geocities. Hehe.

this is a really big poker game

2010-03-11T07:34:00.000-05:00

I don't know why, but over-sized props thrown into real life always looks interesting.

So when PokerStars.com needed to get the word out about their super large hub of everything poker, they pulled together really large English rugby players, and some extra large cards. Cute. In a rugby player playing poker kind of way.

i don't need your card

2010-03-11T07:28:00.000-05:00

I've been saying this forever, but Chris Brogan just perfectly summarized what should be the new business card etiquette, everywhere:

Unless you want to do business with me, don’t give me a business card. We both know how to reach each other, so unless one of us asks for one, let’s not hand them out. We tend to give out business cards because we’ve been taught this is what to do. It’s not. It’s the old way. In the old way, we just blast people with messages whenever WE need something. In the new way, you and I should only exchange cards if we’re looking to do future business. Otherwise? We roughly know how to reach each other, don’t we?

Save a card. Save the planet. Rewire the way humans do business.

Seems like common sense, right? Yet how many meetings did you sit through in the last week, where everyone in the meeting did the card exchange? Even though everyone in the meeting is already on the same email thread.

Business cards: only when you absolutely need them. (Pictured above: the single best business card, ever.)

rally the cause changes the world

2010-03-10T07:50:00.001-05:00

Our friend @scottyhendo and his friends are up to some awesome goodness.

Their company Cause Shift is producing remarkable, innovating thinking for non-profits. They just launched a new campaign We Can End This, a nationwide campaign to end hunger.

They'll also be facilitating a "Cause Lab", to be kicked off at SXSW in a few days, that will pull together some of the industry's brightest people for brainstorming, strategic thinking and conceptualization on how to best make this happen market by market across the country.

Think you can't make a difference? Here's proof that a handful of people can pull together some of the biggest brands and thinkers in the business to make magic happen.

(Oh - and if you're going to SXSW, bring a can of food with you. Or participate in the Cause Lab, and help make change happen.)

Disclosure: We friended Scott on the PlaidNation tour, he's since become a client, but that doesn't change our opinion that this is revolutionary breakthrough work.

widgets done well

2010-03-10T07:38:00.001-05:00

We've all heard the buzz about widgets, but the truth is, not many brands have done this well. Worklight is looking to change that.

Check out the widget they produced for Best Western. Guests can get rates, check availability and make reservations without ever leaving Facebook, the blogs or the sites that they're on.

With the Worklight platform, brands can build widgets once (or have their agencies build them :), and Worklight syndicates it out to multiple platforms. Securely. Sounds like a deal. Let's go.

social media can sell burgers

2010-03-10T07:14:00.002-05:00

Here's a super awesome case study on how a local burger joint in Milwaukee used Four Square to pack his restaurant with patrons, more than doubling his typical Sunday sales.

That's a 110% increase in business without an agency, without advertising, without super bad tv spots. It's a good day for burgers and fries. From @DJLitten

meet humongo.

2010-03-09T13:41:00.000-05:00

We have some gigantically exciting news to share. The agency formerly known as Plaid has been acquired by Source Marketing (an MDC Partners company) and will now become Humongo.

Humongo?
We feel that this new partnership deserves more than a press release. It's a huge move. A massive combination of creative super power. If awesome were a size XL, it would be Humongo. So as of today, that's the name of the greatest agency in all of the land.

Humongo. Say it out loud, with your arms in the air. Isn't it fun?

We're pretty stoked. We'll now have the resources to grow like never before. We'll have access to affiliate agencies that provide our clients what we can't. Imagine a small digital creative agency with the keys to the big guys. That's Humongo.

Our new parent company Source Marketing brings massive marketing prowess to the table that can only be described as ginormous. Sales funnels? Retail activation? ROI? Want your marketing campaign to pay for itself super fast? They've been doing all of that and more for companies like Bic, Philips, Reckitt Benckiser, Panasonic, Hunter Douglas, HSBC, Intel, Time Warner Cable and others.

We're also a part of the MDC Partners network. That gives Humongo some ginormous company. Agencies like Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal and Partners, Veritas Communications, Vitro Robertson, Mono, Red Scout...and did we mention Crispin, Porter & Bogusky??

There's plenty more on deck to be announced in the coming months. In the meantime, we'll be making our clients huge, building creative campaigns that rock the nation, and generally planning world domination.

Get in on the Humongo action.
Follow us on Twitter. Become our fan on Facebook. Check out the Humongo website. More importantly, take a look at your brand and ask yourself "could I use a little Humongo?"

We're here, ready to make something huge for you.

what do people need most, to buy your product?

2010-03-09T08:01:00.001-05:00

Money. How many times have you been out with friends, and you just need some more cash to pick up the next round? And the bar has an ATM, but there's a $7 service fee.

Not to worry. Absolut has you covered, with a branded cash machine that doles out the dough without any service fee. Think people will buy Absolut on the next round?

(More importantly, do all of the girls in Europe wear ginormous belts??)