sparking curious mind

Reyka Vodka is an Icelandic brand. The word reyka derives from the ancient Icelandinc word for steam. Watch and enjoy these cute, hilarious commercials. So simple and touchy. Gorgeous!

Check out their website. Cool graphics










via notcot

I love no 7: Notice patterns, Make connections

from here

John G won the debate against John L. Blogging isn't killing planning!

No: 56%
Yes: 27%
Don't Know: 17%

Read the notes from the debate here

One year ago I've starting this blog not knowing where it will take or if I will last for so long. So far, it was a very enriching experience. Although, at some point I lost half my posts, thanks to the encouragement of my friends, I've managed to find the energy to keep blogging.

Along the way I've met wonderful people, both online and off line. They inspired me, I've learned valuable things and shared great ideas. One of the things that is very important to blogging is content. Content is a record. What differentiates content from other forms of information is that it is formal and recorded. It isn't a conversation in a café. It isn't a chat at a bar. Blogging may well be conversational but a key difference is that it leaves a record that others can peruse.
I'm humbled to know that there are people out there interested in what I write. That rises the bar for me to write about interesting things.

Blogging is a long-term investment of time, energy and creativity. A wonderful form of communication, that's why I thank you all reading and participating. Whomever you are.
So let's keep the conversation going :)

Agrimold din Vaslui imbuteliaza si produce apa minerala carbogazoasa de izvor, sucuri si ulei pentru gatit. Ceea ce mi-a starnit interesul sunt numele sub care compania comercializeza aceste produse. De mare inspiratie!

Dupa cum vedeti din fotografie apa minerala, "Izvorul Moldovencei" se numeste "Adio Sete". La fel si sucurile. Uleiul poarta numele de "Pofta Buna".
Trageti voi concluziile ca pe mine m-a pufnit rasul si nu ma mai pot concentra :D

Din categoria: Creativitate fara limite

I've just discovered two great sites dealing with green living.

The Alternative Consumer it's about eco lifestyle. They "present cutting-edge design, progressive initiatives and wise alternatives that stimulate a positive impact on the environment - one purchase at a time - alternativeconsumer.com is essential reading for busy folks looking to cultivate a greener lifestyle."
It's an excellent place where you can find cool things that help on preserving our world.

Greenthinkers is a web site that was created as a place to discuss and present ideas on how to live a more green life. They throw some green ideas out there in hopes of getting ourselves and others to make lifestyle changes that benefit the environment, or at least don't harm it as much.

Go check them out! I'm sure that there's something you can do to help saving the Earth!

Branding was on everyone's lips in the first day at Mad Days (ro). Marius surprised me with a creative presentation. He made a t-shirt with the title of each slide, wear 'em and as the presentation went along he took one t-shirt off to unveil the next slide. Brilliant!

The audience was participating, asking questions, challenging Marius. Great atmosphere! Surprisingly, there were lots of people in the audience. Somehow I knew that here in Iasi the interest for branding was high, but I didn't imagine that the turn out would be so great.

Later on, there was the opening of a very interesting photography exhibition. The author, Otilia Andrei, showcased photos of Asian "street talk". Photos taken on the streets of some Asian cities, illustrating commercial signage. Very refreshing.

Congrats to the organizers! Advero and Twin Arts. Good start, looking forward to the next workshops.

Good ideas can be drowned out by a flood of bad ones, says Laurent Florès. His New York-based company, called crmmetrix, developed a worthy new solution called Delphi. The Delphi system combines customer creativity with marketing department knowledge, and tests both with instant feedback from the Internet.

The system uses an Internet-based panel of consumers, provided by the client or crmmetrix, of whom the first 100 are asked for their best idea for a slogan to sell a particular product. Those consumer ideas are mixed in with the marketing department ideas and put to a vote by the next level of panelists.

"The beauty of this system is that consumers both generate ideas and sort through them," says Olivier Toubia, assistant professor of marketing at Columbia Business School in New York, who is co-authoring an article with Florès on the methodology of the Delphi system for the peer-reviewed Marketing Science magazine.

The clients range from consumer products companies like P&G, Unilever to Accor Hotels and the tire company Michelin. No doubt something is worth it about this method giving the names of the companies which use the system.

via stefan via IHT

This advert for Volkswagen was withdrawn from broadcast by the car maker following complaints from a number of mental health charities, including the Suicide Prevention Action Network, the American Psychiatric Association and Mental Health America. According to the complaints, the advert was guilty of mocking and exploiting the serious subject of suicide.

Title:"Jumper"
Brand: Volkswagen
Agebcy:Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, Miami

I like the "I'm feeling lucky" button ;)
Of course, this is just a joke :)

Dear planners, the 3rd annual planner survey is online. Heather LeFevre conducts an informal survey that is designed to let us all see what planners at different agencies think about their jobs, understand what drives salaries, and hopefully learn more about how our discipline is changing.

The survey is designed for planners only, from agency or freelance. Those outside US are welcome to participate. The answers will be anonymous and this link will capture your email if you want to receive the results.

Spread the word!

found at fallon

Alin created a love letter to Renault 12, Romanians' favorite car. The book is a "a compendium of architectures, designs, fashions and lifestyles."
You can download it here

To start of your week, here are some really sexy prints for Lavazza Coffee. From now one my morning coffee will be a much more intense experience :)





The photograph is Eryk Fitkau, an Australian who thinks that ""A photograph does not speak, it does not smell, it makes no sound, it does not move, it is just a two dimensional piece of paper, but a good photograph can do at least one if not all of the above!" At the end of the day that is exactly what Eryk's images are all about.

via cup of java

This is a great tools! Free online file conversion. Just the kind of thing lots of us was looking for. Zamzar supports conversion between a wide variety of different file formats: text, image, music, video. You can even convert YouTube videos. This is the epitome of web 2.0.

Some friends of mine put together a interesting event. Mad Days is a mix of advertising, music and film. It will take place in Iasi between 22 and 24 March.
I look forward to the workshops held by Marius (on branding) Costin and Elena (planning) and the guys from Violet. Also there will be a fine selection of Romanian short movies and a concert with Al Jawala, a German band with an eclectic sound, mixing Balkan rhythms, drum'n'bass, jazz and funk.

Looks like fun. Come join the fun!

via iasi nights (ro)

I love this visual. It reminds me on the times I learned to ride a bicycle and the liberating sensation of my first meters on two wheels.

In an Adage interview, Bob Iger, CEO, Walt Disney Co. commented:

According to Mr. Kent Oldham, associate director and GBS consumer view solutions manager at P&G, “now more than ever, consumers are owning our brands, and we not only have to understand that they are owning our brands. But we also have to embrace that idea and understand the implications of it.”

Finally P&G admits it. The change in consumer's attitudes towards brands is irreversible. Consumers have the need to be in control, people are becoming more self-expressive on a scale not possible before -- with family, friends and even strangers on the Internet, thanks to new technology. “They have ways of networking with each other that they have never been able to before,” Mr. Oldham said.

Marketers don’t control all touch points, and those touch points, as a result, have a great impact on the way consumers view brands. The implication of not learning from every touch point a consumer has with your company or product or service can be costly. “No matter how much great brand-building work you do, and how much equity your brands have, all it takes is one negative consumer experience to destroy all of it."

After a long wait, I've got my blog back. Unfortunately, everything posted on the new blogger platform is lost :(
Now, I don't know what to do. Should I try to rebuild the blog as it was, or should I continue posting from here on? What do you think? Any suggestions?