sparking curious mind

A tribute to his 100th Birthday, as seen on Adweek

Ogilvy & Mather New York and Joshua Liner Gallery unveil a series of commissioned murals by celebrated artist Stephen Powers that reinterpret the words and quotes of agency founder David Ogilvy.

Power’s bold graphic style, reminiscent of vintage advertising illustrations puts a unique emphasis on famous Ogilvy sayings and transforms them into actionable words designed to inspire the viewer. Painted in bright colors on the North stairwell of the agency’s headquarters office, the murals run from the first to the 11th floor of the office building.

The murals are being unveiled to coincide with the 100th birthday of David Ogilvy, one of the most influential and important figures in modern advertising. Awesome!

Ieri la Blog Olympics am invatat/predat o lectie de naming foarte utila!
Cum spune vorba latina "Nomen est omen", adica numele este un semn prevestitor, a castigat echipa cu numele "Echipa Castigatoare", a carui mandru membru am fost :)
Echipa de pe ultimul loc a purtat numele predestinat "Echipa fara nume". Bine, toata lumea a castigat cate ceva, dar ramane lectia.
Aveti grija, in general, cum va alegeti numele! Conteaza!

Multumesc Alex pentru ca m-a selectionat in echipa a carui capitan a fost. Multumesc colegilor din echipa: Ducu, Remus, Gabi, Manu (golgeterul turneului), Cezar, Crina, Ioana D si Ioana.
Ne-am distrat in ciuda atmosferei fierbinti provocate de un soare dogoritor. La gratarul de dupa, aratam toti ca niste tractoristi veniti de la arat :))

Felicitari organizatorilor: inoras.ro, Dechatlon. Great job, Mono and the rest of the bunch!
Asteptam si editiile din celalte orase pentru a castiga finala nationala :)

Particip la Blog Olympics! In "Echipa Castigatoare" a lui Alex. Nu puteam fi decat intr-o echipa castigatoare.
Ramane sa o mai demonstram si in teren.

Blog Olympics – Eveniment sportiv adresat comunităţii bloggerilor ieşeni – 10 iulie 2011 – organizat de InOras.ro & Decathlon Iasi.


Adica Duminica 10 iulie facem sport: fotbal si baschet. Evenimentul e adresa bloggerilor in special, dar nu numai. Blog Opympics promoveaza ideea de a face sport dar si de distractie in aer liber in acelasi timp. Se doreste ca acest eveniment sa aiba loc in mod periodic, in diverse combinatii de sporturi si jocuri distractive.


Info:
- Inscrierile se fac pana pe 7 iulie, pe blogurile capinatilor de echipa Negru, Cipoc, Somnulescu si Stefan.
- Locatia desfasurarii evenimentului: Era Shopping Park in incinta bazei sportive a Decathlon Iasi.
- Data: evenimentului Blog Olympics va fi in data de 10 iulie 2011
- Mai multe pe pagina de Facebook a evenimentului

Hai la joaca!

via Stan

Do you have that in mind when you plan your communication?

- Marketers place high value on social media: A significant 90% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business.

- Measurement and integration are top areas marketers want to master: Onethird of all social media marketers want to know how to monitor and measure the return on investment (ROI) of social media and integrate their social media activities.

- Social media marketing takes a lot of time: The majority of marketers (58%) are using social media for 6 hours or more each week, and more than a third (34%) invest 11 or more hours weekly.

- Video marketing on the rise: A significant 77% of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube and video marketing, making it the top area marketers will invest in for 2011.

- Marketers seek to learn more about Facebook and blogging: 70% of marketers want to learn more about Facebook and 69% want to learn more about blogging.

- The top benefits of social media marketing: The number-one advantage of social media marketing (by a long shot) is generating more business exposure, as indicated by 88% of marketers. Increased traffic (72%) and improved search rankings (62%) were also major advantages.

- The top social media tools: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs were the top four social media tools used by marketers, in that order. Facebook has eclipsed Twitter to take the top spot since our 2010 study.
- Social media outsourcing underutilized: Only 28% of businesses are outsourcing some portion of their social media marketing.

You can find more interesting findings on the report the can be downloaded from here

What do you think of the infographic? Any platforms or tools you don’t see on here that you would include?

A WORD ON STATISTICS

by Wislawa Szymborska
(translated from the Polish by Joanna Trzeciak)

Out of every hundred people,
those who always know better:
fifty-two.

Unsure of every step:
almost all the rest.

Ready to help,
if it doesn't take long:
forty-nine.

Always good,
because they cannot be otherwise:
four -- well, maybe five.

Able to admire without envy:
eighteen.

Led to error
by youth (which passes):
sixty, plus or minus.

Those not to be messed with:
four-and-forty.

Living in constant fear
of someone or something:
seventy-seven.

Capable of happiness:
twenty-some-odd at most.

Harmless alone,
turning savage in crowds:
more than half, for sure.

Cruel
when forced by circumstances:
it's better not to know,
not even approximately.

Wise in hindsight:
not many more
than wise in foresight.

Getting nothing out of life except things:
thirty
(though I would like to be wrong).

Balled up in pain
and without a flashlight in the dark:
eighty-three, sooner or later.

Those who are just:
quite a few, thirty-five.

But if it takes effort to understand:
three.

Worthy of empathy:
ninety-nine.

Mortal:
one hundred out of one hundred --
a figure that has never varied yet.


Wislawa Szymborska won the 1996 Nobel Prize for literature. Her most recent book in English is View With a Grain of Sand (1995). She lives in Krakow, Poland.

Prietenul Dragos mi-a adus in atentie posibilitatea de a pune umarul la imbunatatirea impactului pe care il are implicarea companiilor din Romania in domeniul social.
Asa ca voi raspunde chestionarului de pe Responsabilitate Sociala.

1. Care sunt primele 3 companii pe care le apreciezi cel mai mult pentru cum s-au implicat in societate in 2010 si de ce?
Cum de curand sunt preocupat de dezvoltarea comunitatilor, prin implicarea mea in fondarea Fundatiei Comunitare Iasi, apreciez foarte mult acest gen de abordari.
Imi vine in minte BRD, prin sustinerea proiectului YouthBank. Programul YouthBank incurajeaza responsabilizarea tinerilor, initiativa civica si contribuie la dezvoltarea comportamentului filantropic al acestora. Un poiect minunat, implementat de ARC si de fundatiile comunitare acolo unde ele exista, cu un impact exceptional!

O alta companie pe care o apreciez pentru felul in care se implica in comunitate este Provident. Ei au finantat si au implemantat, alaturi de parteneri locali, proiectul "Fiecare parc are povestea lui", unde au amenajat un parc sau un loc de joaca, la propunerea comunitatii locale.

Un alt treilea exemplu drag mie este Vodafone, alaturi de Habitat for Humanity, care a construit locuinte protejate pentru tinerii cu dizabilitai. Fundatia Vodafone susţinut integral proiectul, atât financiar, cît şi cu echipe de voluntari care au lucrat pe şantier timp de 2 săptămâni. E important de menţionaz că fundaţia Vodafone alocă fiecărui angajat 2 zile de voluntariat (plătite), pe care acesta le poate folosi în beneficiul comunităţii în care trăieşte.

2. In ce masura marile companii au raspuns in 2010 asteptarilor tale in privinta implicarii in societate?
In mare masura sunt multumit de implicare companiilor in societate, desi este loc de mai mult. Mult mai mult! Mi-as dori o mai mare implicare la nivel local, in dezvoltarea comunitatilor, in promovarea spiritului filantropic in mediul corporatist. De asemenea, companiile locale pot face mult mai mult, mai ales ca ele sunt mai aproape de problemele comunitatii.

3. Ce asteptari ai de la companii in privinta responsabilitatii sociale pentru 2011?
Cum spuneam si mai sus, mi-as dori o mai mare atentie catre dezvoltarea comunitatii. Odata cu dezvoltarea fundatiilor comunitare la nivel national (sunt deja 5 si se vor mai infiinta in scurt timp altele 3), companiile pot sa-si creeze cu ajutorul fundatiilor comunitare, fonduri numite, care sa poarte numele companiei, cu ajutorul carora pot finanta proiecte venite din comunitate sau pot desemna ele ariile de interventie, cu conditia sa aiba relevanta comunitara.

4.Ce esti dispus sa faci pentru a le stimula pe companii sa fie mai responsabile in 2011?
Deja o fac, prin implicare mea in miscare de dezvoltare a fundatiilor comunitare din Romania si prin implicarea directa in infiintarea celei din Iasi. Pot pune la dispozitie expertiza dobanditata in furnizarea de servicii profesioniste in filantropie, astfel incat impactul contributiei companiilor sa fie transparent si relevant.
Voi sustine orice implicare in dezvoltare comunitara, prin aducerea la cunostinta publicului larg proiectele finantate de companii. In plus, pun la dispozitie timp si resurse pentru ca finantarile sa aiba efectul scontat atat pentru beneficiari cat si pentru donatori.

Voi ce parerea aveti? Credeti ca mediul de afaceri se implica de ajuns in societate? Ce cauze ar trebui sa sustina?

Care sunt ingredientele unui eveniment de succes?
Eu zic ca dincolo de calitatea speakerilor, tre' sa fie si un public interesat, care sa puna intrebari, mai ales incomode, sa starneasca conversatia.
Smsiasi a avut toate astea! A fost cel mai bun eveniment de social media/business organizat in Iasi in ultimii 5 ani.
Prezenta masiva formata din bloggeri, oamenii de business, specialisti in social media, antreprenori a facut ca Iasul sa fie, vineri 4 martie, in centrul atentiei in .ro.
Ma bucur ca am avut ocazia sa particip, atat in calitate de speaker cat si sa-i urmaresc pe ceilalti colegi invitati. Am reintalnit oameni dragi pe care nu-i mai vazusem de la inceputurile blogosferei romanesti, am cunoscut altii noi. De la toti am invatat cate ceva si le sunt recunoscator ca si-au facut timp sa ne impartasesca din expierenta lor.

Sunt convins ca smsiasi va fi punctul de referinta pentru o coagulare a social media locale, astfel incat sa reusim sa crestem businessul in zona asta.
Multumesc Biz ca ati venit la Iasi. Va mai asteptam!

Gasiti fotografii la Bogdan Todireanu, la Marius Sescu, la Piticu si pe la altii participanti la eveniment.
De asemenea, puteti citi cum a fost aici, aici, aici, aici, aici si aici. Si in alte multe locuri.

WE, AT DIESEL, HAVE A STUPID DREAM.
What would it be like to start a nation from scratch?
To take what is great from the countries we know and ditch what is bad.
To re-write the laws.
To right social wrongs.
A country for only the brave.

Check out this set from the "Stupid" campaign. Nice development of the initial idea.

O stiu din experienta. O limba straina o inveti cel mai bine la ea acasa. Reclamele astea se bazeaza pe acest insight.

For everyone to understand what is brand strategy watch and learn.

Observ din ce in ce mai multa aplecare spre antreprenoriat, fie din partea guvernului, fie initiative private finantate din fonduri europene.
O asemenea oportunitate este "ANTREPRENORIADA - training pentru lansare şi dezvoltare în afaceri”, un proiect finantat din fonduri UE care se adreseaza persoanelor care doresc să porneasca o afacere si întreprinzătorilor actuali, dornici de a-şi dezvolta competenţele necesare creşterii eficienţei organizaţionale.

Proiectul este implementat de Edurom, în vederea generării de noi afaceri şi creştere a celor existente.

Pe parcursul celor 28 de luni vor avea loc în oraşele Iaşi, Bucureşti, Piatra Neamţ, Galaţi, Braşov, Ploieşti, Constanţa, Suceava şi Bacău conferinţe de informare în vederea încurajării antreprenoriatului precum şi două programe de formare şi dezvoltare în antreprenoriat.
Inscrierile la aceste conferinţe şi programe de formare se vor realiza prin intermediul unui portal dedicat, www.antreprenoriada.ro

Scopul final al proiectului este ca 135 de persoane să îşi definească în scris un plan de afaceri pe care să îl implementeze ulterior în piaţa din România. Planurile de afaceri vor fi jurizate iar cele mai viabile idei vor fi susţinute financiar în etapele iniţiale.

Ai idei de afaceri, vrei sa-ti schimbi viata si sa fii propriul stapan?
Inscrie-te acum!

The 9.7-inch tablet is due to be released this summer, coming loaded with a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, on-board gyroscope, accelerometer, compass and either 16GB or 32GB of on board storage. You get a front-facing camera, too. The first version will be Wi-Fi only, but look for both 3G and 4G models to come rolling out before too long.

Din 600 de milioane de conturi Facebook, 250 de milioane au fost create in 2010.

Above is a video put together by the son of a motorcycle owner. It is the greatest brand-building commercial of all time and BMW should buy rights to it immediately and show it all over the world forever.

The story behind the video is bellow.

This is a photo story of my father's 1958 BMW R50:
Boy meets girl, gets married, buys motorcycle. Rides it for 60,000 miles and has accident when wife is pregnant with 3rd child. (me) Wife orders motorcycle to be taken off road until all her children are grown and on their own. One day when bike is moved to a different storage location, son sits on bike and dreams of being a Jedi Master like his father. Couple grows old together and bike is not ridden for 40 years. Husband is now a grandfather of 7 and married for 50 years, when he dies of a stroke at age 71.
Son looks over the old rotting machine and finds note attached to it from his father to him. Son decides to restore the old 1958 BMW R-50 as a tribute to his father. With the help of many friends, especially Peter Nettesheim, world renowned BMW collector, bike is restored to look even better than it did when it was built in Germany.

I don't believe one can find something similarly moving about a brand.

Ma alatur si eu initiativei lui Mircea care a initiat un premiu al bloggerilor din Romania. Mai exact, bloggerii isi vor putea masina favorita dupa doua criterii, desing si raport calitate/pret. La fiecare categorie poti nominaliza 3 masini.

Si acum optiunile mele:

Design:
1.BMW seria 5
2. Audi A7
3. Mini Countryman

Calitate/Pret:
1.Volksvagen Passat
2. BMW seria 5
3. Mini Countryman

Chiar daca nu sunteti bloggeri puteti alege masina anului in Autovot 2011. Intrati pe Facebook, in pagina aplicatiei, unde va puteti exprima voturile in ce priveste masina anului.

Veste buna pentru cei impatimiti de shopping la preturi corecte!

Weekendul acesta, pe 22 si 23 ianuarie, Gala Reducerilor online miniPRIX trece prin judetele Iasi, Prahova si Bacau. Toti cumparatorii din aceste judete vor plati cu 30% mai putin pentru orice comanda facuta in aceasta perioada din magazinul online www.miniprix.ro.

Oferta este asadar valabila pentru toate comenzile online plasate in magazinul online miniPRIX in zilele 22-23 ianuarie 2010, pentru adrese de livrare din judetetele Iasi, Prahova si Bacau.

Nu rata!

Tocmai ce am fost invitat sa particip ca speaker la BIZ Social Media Summit, editia a III a, care va avea loc la Iasi pe 4 martie, la Hotel Unirea.
Este cel mai mare eveniment regional despre influenta online, networking si strategii de marketing prin social media. Social Media Summit este cel de-al treilea dintr-o serie de evenimente organizata de revista Biz care duce influenceri de top si specialisti in social media la nivel local, intr-o intalnire directa cu comunitatile regionale online si de business.
Participa o multime de speakeri interesani care nu trebuiesc ratati. Va recomand cu caldura sa participati pentru a afla cum putei folosi media sociale pentru a comunica eficient.

Revin cu tema despre care voi povesti acolo.

to turn fear into excitement
to turn worry into wonder
to turn expectation into anticipation
to turn disappointment into detachment
to turn enragement into engagement
to turn judgment into observation


Happy New Year!

Dan Pink examinează enigma motivării, pornind de la un fapt cunoscut de specialiştii în ştiinţe sociale, dar necunoscut de majoritatea managerilor: recompensele tradiţionale nu sunt întotdeauna aşa de eficiente cum credem. Ascultaţi poveşti edificatoare -- şi poate, o cale de urmat.

The soon to be published book by Wayne Visser, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business, argues that CSR, as a business, governance and ethics system, has failed. This assumes that success or failure is measured in terms of the net impact (positive or negative) of business on society and the environment. 


The reason CSR 1.0 has failed is not through lack of good intent, nor even through lack of effort. The old CSR has failed because our global economic system is based on a fundamentally flawed design. For all the miraculous energy unleashed by Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ of the free market, our modern capitalist system is faulty at its very core. 
Simply put, it is conceived as an abstract system without limits. 


What is now needed is a new form of CSR - which the book dubs CSR 2.0. 
This combines five elements:
1) Creativity - Directing business creativity to solving the world's social and environmental problems
2) Scalability - A 'shining pilot project' is pointless if it can't be scaled for mass use
3) Responsiveness - greater transparency, through reporting mechanisms and through sharing intellectual resources (eg/technology patents)
4) Glocality - Understanding local contexts and applying local solutions without forsaking global principles
5) Circularity - Closed loop production - such as factories that produce drinking water as waste or materials that can feed into industry as high quality raw materials for new products


The end result is a new meaning for CSR - Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility. 


When all is said and done, CSR 2.0 comes down to one thing: clarification and reorientation of the purpose of business. It is a complete misnomer to believe that the purpose of business is to be profitable, or to serve shareholders. These are simply means to an end. Ultimately, the purpose of business is to serve society, through the provision of safe, high quality products and services that enhance our well being, without eroding our ecological and community life-support systems.


CSR is dead! Long live CSR!

Combine Sir Ken Robinson with nice drawing infographics about a fascinating subject like education reform and you have a captivating video you won't be able to stop watching... or thinking about it.

Speaking at Making Digital Work in NYC, Faris Yakob, Chief Innovation Officer for MDC Partners inspires us all with thoughts on how strategy has to evolve if it’s to inform work that’s interactive, shareable, and participatory.
Check it out! Time well spent.



Watch live video from bdw_live on Justin.tv



Watch live video from bdw_live on Justin.tv

To understand why people make things, you have to make things. Go play and do stuff.

via Brandpilgrim

A survey commissioned by Yahoo and Starcom Mediavest Group (PDF) found that  96 percent of women say that they frequently feel positive emotions while online. If your marketing doesn’t elicit a positive emotional reaction, then you’re missing an opportunity.

1. Digital Cowgirl – the internet pioneer

• 51 percent of women say they love finding new and exciting websites on the internet
• 42 percent say they will go online even if they are not looking for anything in particular
• Where to find her: games websites

1. Digital Cassandra – the influential predictor of “what’s next”

• 43 percent of women say they tell all their friends about websites they like
• 22 percent claim they are usually the first of their friends to discover an interesting website
• Where to find her: news, finance, home & family and food & entertainment websites

1. Digital Diva – uses the “smartest” sites

• 16 percent of women say they use the Internet to buy luxury items.
• Where to find her: shopping, travel, health & beauty, entertainment & gossip and finance websites

1. Digital Debutante – new to the internet, but not a novice

• 20 percent of women state that although they are relatively new to the internet, they are constantly learning about new applications and websites.

1. Digital Detective – internet researcher

• 82 percent of women say the Internet is the first place they go if they need to conduct research
• 58 percent can spend hours on the Internet researching every aspect of an issue that they are interested in.
• Where to find her: news, weather, finance, home & family and food & entertaining websites

1. Digital Voyeur – uses the internet to anonymously observe

• More than 20 percent of respondents use the internet to look up old friends or boyfriends
• Where to find her: news, finance, games, home & family, food & entertainment and astrology websites

1. Digital Socialite

• 12 percent of women agree with the statement: “I use the Internet to help me plan my social life”
• 15 percent say they have used the Internet to meet new people
• Where to find her: travel, entertainment and gossip websites

1. Digital Shopkeeper

• Just over 10 percent of women say they have started an online business or have used the internet to generate income.
• Where to find her: news websites

What Ad Planner 1000 says about our habits online? Here is a a list of the top 1,000 global sites on the web by unique users as measured by DoubleClick Ad Planner. The sites on this list reflect 3 seasonal trends:


              - Users are playing, not watching sports - Fifa.com, NBA.com and ESPN.com all saw declines as regular visitors turned off their computers and headed outside to play.
              - Users are, however, watching blockbusters - Fandango.com, moviefone.com, rottentomatoes.com and netflix.com all saw traffic increases.
              - Users are being social - Cooking sites like allrecipes.com and cooks.com saw increases, as did dating sites zoosk.com and match.com, while twitter.com and hi5.com saw declines.


I guess we are increasingly start to play out, after having meals at home. Or something like that.

Cititi scrisoarea de mai sus. Este in engleza. Nadajduiesc ca cititorii acestui blog stapanesc limba.
Este o scrisoare despre crowdsourcing si co-creatie de la un tip care nu vrea sa participe. Imi place adevarul laconic din scrisoare.
Si chiar daca inca nu am reusit sa-l identific pe Brian, cuvintele lui pline de intelepciune, nu vor fi uitate curand - "Vreau sa mananc carnati gustosi, nu sa incarc videoclipuri". 


De luat aminte.

Bloody Nora! Great find! The periodic Table of Swearing courtesy of Modern Toss. Available in print.

What's yours?

Infographic by PPC Blog

The pace of change in social media is fast! Extremely fast! Check out the following videos, made bySocialnomis. There is a 9 month gap between the moment they were made.

The first video


The second one (9 months later)

The Type Directors Club has asked a few designers to find a classified/personal newspaper ad from their local community to “hijack” typographically. When redesigned, the once banal and disposable classified ads will be reinterpreted by the designer into a one-of-a-kind collectible poster. Each poster will be auctioned, with proceeds to benefit the TDC Scholarship Fund

Hilarious example of how to create buzz and word of mouth for your brand. Diesel created this hard selling performance, in Piazza Della Scala, Milano, as part of the new "Sex Sells"campaign.

"It has never been more important for companies to turn their brand into a service. Jaded, time-poor, pragmatic consumers yearn for service and care, while the mobile online revolution makes it possible to offer über-relevant services to consumers anywhere, anytime. Basically, if you're going to embrace one big consumer trend this year, please let it be 'brand butlers'."

As mighty ninja, Faris put it, spreadable media is a more accurate term. If it doesn't spread, it's dead. Spreadability as a concept describes how the properties of the media environment, texts, audiences, and business models work together to enable easy and widespread circulation of mutually meaningful content within a networked culture.

De cum am vazut noua reclama Timisoreana - Ceasul, mi s-a parut familiara. De parca am mai vazut-o. Nuo mai vazusem, dar o idee similara (identica) mai vazusem intr-o reclama pentru SPDR State Street Global Advisors cu acelasi nume, Clock Tower, facuta de The Gate Worldwide in 2009.

SPDR



Timisoreana

This is, by far, one of the best examples of successful brand activation I've seen!

The video is a bit long, but worth watching.




>DIV

Spectacular car chases, an intense hostage crisis, wild animals rampaging through the city... and even more in LOGORAMA !

The short was created by directors within H5, a French graphic studio renowned for its CD front covers (Superdiscount, Air, Demon...) and artistic direction (Dior, Cartier, YSL...). Members François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain directed many music videos (Alex Gopher, Massive Attack, Goldfrapp, Röyksopp...), and are regularly invited to exhibitions for their artistic talents (2007 Nuit Blanche, Beaubourg, MoMA).