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It’s been a few years since I first saw the incredible web video for Girl Effect. Talk about a message that sticks.

The creative team hit a perfect orchestration of text, animation and music. Each medium fills in for the deficiencies of others, delivering the audience a tightly scripted, meaning-packed message that inspires and elevates.

Why don’t we see more of these balanced tactics in public awareness campaigns and brand building? Are managers cutting the concepting stage too short? Or have writers, animators and web developers retreated into respective silos where they no longer see the potential for cross-discipline synergies?

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A few days ago, I stopped by a comic shop for the first time in 15 years. It’s not that I purposefully avoid these temples of fantasy. I”m just more likely to be found in a “real” bookstore. You know, the kind of place that might sell sanitized anthologies of comics-turned-movies.

Having forgotten just how wide and varied the comic genre has grown, I was immediately overwhelmed by the sweep of titles surrounding me. I asked my friend which comic series he would read if he”d been out of the game for 15 years. He suggested, and I bought, “The Unwritten”.

Immersive Impressions

From the turn of the first page, the graphic design of the story sucked me right in. You can forget quote bubbles and linearity. The deliberate framing of pages and faces speaks to some part of the brain missed by other forms of print, and even video. Yes, even IMAX pales in comparison to the screen your subconscious can build when it”s given the right cues.

Oliver Sacks: What hallucination reveals about our minds

A TED Talk with Oliver Sacks explores the source of (sane) hallucinations. Hallucination is actually a common phenomena with older people, especially those with diminished visual or hearing powers. So what does this have to do with comics and graphic novels?

Some of the most common hallucinations people describe are cartoons. Now, it’s relatively easy to grasp the evolutionary reasons behind hallucinating normal, day-to-day experiences. Like dreams, hallucinations might be a rehearsal mechanism that plays out different possible scenarios. But why would cartoon characters play such a prominent role in hallucinations?

I’m definitely not the person to answer that question. However, with its combination of relatable humans in a cartoon environment, this particular comic book played right into the underfed part of my brain devoted to caricature. I wonder what Oliver Sacks would ask Walt Disney about that.

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Be yourself. That’s essentially what the authors of Cluetrain Manifesto have been telling companies for ten years. Which begs the corporate question, “Who are we anyway?”

In its 95 theses and commentary, the manifesto never answers that question. In fact, it raises many more questions than it answers. But isn’t that the point? Writing in the late 1990s, its authors wanted to shake corporate America straight. Questions offer the most effective artillery for such a task.

A Brave New Market

The manifesto asserts that the dehumanizing Taylorism of the industrial era has not only outlasted its welcome, but has overextended itself:

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, business so dominates all other aspects of our existence that it”s hard to imagine it was ever otherwise. But it was. Imagine it.

Personal, authentic, human conversation formed the basis of business transactions for millennia. The marketplace of yore may have been messy, but at least it was real. Today’s companies issue press releases and style guides to reduce error and embarrassment. But what if these moves actually cost sales? Viewing unstandardized experiences as a liability is a recent, and perhaps fleeting, anomaly:

Most corporations … only know how to talk in soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal …

Is the company so jealous of its “image” that it has surgically implanted a lawyer where its sense of humor used to be?

Conversation and voice play a central role in the manifesto’s argument. After generations of censorship, the Internet is allowing human voices to crack through the corporate firewall. Jokes, sarcasm and just plain authenticity are sprouting up in the most unlikely of places. The long-term consequences of such a shift are probably lost on many. You can’t help but admire the authors who hammered ideas like this years before Web 2.0, social media and a fully flattened world:

The future business of businesses that have a future will be about subtle differences, not wholesale conformity; about diversity, not homogeneity; about breaking rules, not enforcing them; about pushing the envelope, not punching the clock; about invitation, not protection; about doing it first, not doing it “right”; about making it better, not making it perfect; about telling the truth, not spinning bigger lies; about turning people on, not “packaging” them; and perhaps above all, about building convivial communities and knowledge ecologies, not leveraging demographic sectors.

The Bottom Line

Judging by the pangs of regret I felt for not knowing about this book earlier, I recommend it to anyone blessed with a modicum of foresight and long-term vision. The complete contents are available here. Copy and paste it into a Kindle or iPad and you’ve got a better read than the authors could have imagined a decade ago.

While all of the ideas in the book are essential, I can’t help but feel that some pages were less essential than others. You can get 90 percent of the message in the first third of the book. If it’s just not sinking in, there’s plenty of reiteration and fun commentary in the following two thirds.

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Can you remember the last time you witnessed an innovation and knew, without a doubt, that the world would never be the same? The Berlin Wall fell before I knew why it was different from any other wall. And the first time I used the Internet, I never thought much past the kids I was chatting with at a neighboring school.

Most of us fail to see beyond the immediate potential and problems of any given innovation. From IBM executives dismissing demand for personal computers to predictions of Mars colonization and vitamin pill diets – we”re better at bad predictions than we like to admit.

This Changes Everything

Most TED videos inspire on one level or another. However, the two videos below leave me grasping for words. Combining computer webcams with marker caps, MIT student, Pranav Mistry, created a new communication device that defies the imagination of the most daring Star Trek writer.

A “wearable gestural interface”, SixthSense marries the tactile and digital in a seamless and powerful union. As incredible as this early prototype is, just think about the communication potential once Mr. Mistry releases the code to the Open Source community. It”s “Hello world” all over again.

SixthSense Update – November 2009

SixthSense Debut – February 2009

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People offer a host of reasons for doubting climate change, sustainability and pretty much anything with a “Green” label. However, if you dig deeper, you”ll probably find that this resistance is rooted as much in emotion as fact.

Environmentalists, and socially conscious citizens at large, often come off as condescending: “A spotted owl dies every time you fill up your gas tank, you know?” Okay, the conversations don’t usually take this extreme turn. But I’ve seen both sides of this condescension and the barriers it raises to change.

The Story of Stuff

The video, Story of Stuff, takes a different approach. The folks at Free Range Studios knew they”d win more converts with an inviting tone and tenor than the doom and gloom tack that most videos take.

But, what do I know? Check out the video and decide for yourself.

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Having moved to Austin from Boston, I’ve spent quite a bit of time exploring the coffee shops around town. Compared to the Dunkin’ Donuts – Starbucks – Dunkin’ Donuts backdrop of Boston, there’s a lot to see.

After enjoying an iced coffee on the back patio of The Garden District, I took a quick peek at the adjacent nursery. I was blown away by the plants and the live oak canopy above. Even more incredible, though, was this multi-storied wind chime:

YouTube’s audio doesn”t do justice to the experience of accidentally wandering into this chime’s sound zone. The deep, soothing, full body resonance could turn Gilbert Gaudfroy mute.

When companies design your services or products, most of their attention is focused on visual aesthetics and practicality. If they do think about sound, it’s usually in an effort to reduce it or make it louder.

Companies need to think outside the ubiquitous Muzak box and craft memorable, soul-penetrating sounds like this chime.

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Just how individualistic and independent are we? Far less than we think according to neuroscientist, Jonah Lehrer.

In an article in Wired, Jonah uses sharp graphics to paint before and after snapshots of social networks. Each diagram sheds light on the profound influence people have on the happiness, obesity and smoking habits of friends and relations. We extol the virtue of personal responsibility, but peer pressure is a far stronger force:

Subcultures and Self-Segregation

Walk into any coffee shop, bar or church and you’ll find self-segregation. Like-minded people hang out together. No surprise there. What is surprising, however, is the subconscious influence that arises, and keeps arising, after your single, conscious decision to join. You don’t realize, let alone question, the extra calories, cigarettes, depression or happiness that originates from ongoing exposure to any particular social network.

Free Will Lost?

Free will is a philosophical can of worms that I’ll save for another entry, or treatise. Putting the question of free will into more immediate focus, what do these findings mean for commercial communication?

Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point examines the role that people play as nodes in a social network. But there’s a big difference between deciding to see a movie or buy sneakers because of a friend”s influence and changing the course of your life, health and happiness without even knowing that you’ve made a decision. I have a feeling that this research is just the tip of the tipping point.

Tipping Point examines the role that people play as nodes in a social network. But there’s a big difference between deciding to see a movie or buy sneakers because of a friend”s influence and changing the course of your life, health and happiness without even knowing that you’ve made a decision. I have a feeling that this research is just the tip of the tipping point.

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Does anyone really know what social media strategy is? After countless books, blogs, tweets and actual human interactions, my opinion is that no one really knows where this is all going.

Sure, there are plenty of people retweeting articles about the Top 10 tools, strategies, or mistakes companies make in the social world. But the truth is always more complex. There isn’t a single right way to do anything. What works for Zappos today won’t work for your coffee shop, dry cleaners or non-profit tomorrow.

An article by Pat Law, How to Tell if Your Agency is Bullshitting You About Social Media, had some nice, though not revolutionary, ideas. For example, if your agency/consultant lays out a panoply of social media tools without first breaking down your particular needs, you’ll likely waste time, money and the potential for authentic engagement with your clients. That’s as true for social media as any other business-level strategy.

Nick Tang had the best comment to the article:

And the best way to get great content is to take a long view approach to building your social media brand. It may not be as simple or as instantly gratifying as getting 10,000 followers in two days. However, the results of fewer but stronger relationships will pay dividends down the road.

The tools for monitoring, targeting and creating social messages will continue to shift under our feet. And if you’re a gadget guy like me, it’s all too easy to fall in love with the latest, greatest gizmo. But keep your eye on what it takes to win the long-term prize: Consistent, engaging content that customers care about.

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As far as toys go, Legos played THE definitive role in my childhood. Countless hours were spent rummaging through a Rubbermaid bin of bricks inherited from my elder cousins. My little brother and I built, destroyed and rebuilt entire towns from nothing but the random parts we plucked from this bin and previously demolished projects.

So it’s with a tinge of skepticism that I’ve watched Lego grow more and more specialized. With more set-specific pieces coming out each year, I never thought much about Lego”s business strategy. As a budding builder, I felt these specialized pieces restricted their utility. I needed more 2×3 blue bricks, not preformed components

The New York Times had a thoughtful article on the business side of Lego. For example, when you license products to Indiana Jones and Star Wars, are you limiting the child’s imagination?

To some extent, I”m guessing many kids wouldn’t have even considered Legos in the first place. They’re probably action figure enthusiasts at heart. The true Lego fanatics are probably still as excited at the possibilities of a new trash truck opens up to their town than a bunch of weird looking bricks from some 1980s film franchise.

More than anything, I was shocked to hear what Lego sounds like. “Back in my day”, I made the bricks sound like whatever I wanted. It only made sense that the company culture would be equally flexible.

The ”heartlessness” of Lego shouldn”t come as a total surprise. A few weeks ago, they nixed the inclusion of a YouTube “We Are Spinal Tap” video in a commemorative DVD because it didn’t fit their image.

I don’t know about you, but my Legos would have preferred mock rock over a George Lucas marketing machine any day.

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Last year, I had the good fortune to attend Quantum Digital”s “Marketing Innovation & Discovery Summit” as both marketer and photographer. Topics ranged from the swarm behavior of modern consumers to the latest in companion, social media and mobile marketing. E-marketing may grab all the headlines, but the sophistication of direct mail is no less remarkable.

Gutenberg Goes Digital

For centuries, the fixed costs of creating and installing unique plates for a job accounted for the bulk of printing expenses. To get the most bang for their marketing buck, companies printed mass messages in large volumes. That was then.

Today, technological advances have revolutionized the cost structure and capabilities of the printing press. Not only can digital presses print more vividly than off-set, they also print more flexibly. Trading rigid plates for a wire frame PDF, the digital press can add or modify content modules in real-time to achieves a level of personalization typically seen only on a website.

Speed is the New “Big”

So where do direct mail and e-marketing intersect? “Speed is the new ”big”” was a common refrain among speakers. Companies, big and small, compete on the basis of their adaptability, personalization and speed to market. With new tools, like digital presses, the only thing separating the small from the large is the strength of their strategy and the speed of their execution.

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