Call for entries

Working with our new client DC Shoes, Inc. we are running an art competition in conjunction with their new DC x Royalefam collection. Click on the image for more details of how you can enter.

Cover Boy (clutching at straws)

Over the years we've had the opportunity to get a lot of clients high profile media coverage, including a swathe of magazine covers, however there's not a lot that is more satisfying than getting on there yourself. Thanks to Idealog I've finally done it!

I am clutching at straws here, but with the naked eye I am able to be recognised, so I'm claiming it. That's me above the big yellow "E" in 'TH"E" CONVERSATION" ... and yes that is an ostrich behind me.

art as an expression of a culture

Albinoriotman says Twitter your brand!

We recently had the pleasure of catching up with a mate of ours from the UK via Memphis, TN - the award winning copywriter and professional Tweeter - Jon Burkhart aka Albinoriotman . While in NZ we had an incredibly stimulating get together with the guys at iJump which resulted in this interview. Jon discusses Twitters ability to add depth to brands, create connection with consumers and entertain in the process.

Somebody please invent the thingee that blocks cellphones in public places please

Auckland Tweet-Up

For those who missed out, we have a great time at our first Auckland Tweet-up for social media practitioners last night. We had a great turn out with about 20-30 people turning out for an informal drink and chat. It was awesome to meet so many people doing all sorts of wonderful work in the social media space. Special thanks to Simon, Marie and Lewis from iJump

The Conversation Economy - James Hurman

Colenso Planning Director James Hurman's take on the Conversation Economy is well worth a read and should be compulsory reading for anyone new to social media.

Auckland Tweet-Up

The Whisper Shop and our friends at iJump have taken it upon ourselves to organise a bit of a get together for businesses and people who engage in social networking as a business tool. There are so many of us out there muddling through this new world, while still doing all sorts of interesting things. By getting together we can explore what each other are doing and look for opportunities to learn more and ways we could possibly work in together.

The night's going to be pretty casual, there's no speakers or presentations, you get to buy your own drinks, you won't get sold to and you won't get a goodie bag. However you might meet lots of interesting people and you might get to swap some business cards.

Drop me an email or tweet if you intend to come or have any questions. We'll be down the back of the bar somewhere ...

For details click the image below to enlarge.

Kia Ora TiVo

Mike Carney from the Media Council writes about the launch of TiVo in New Zealand.

Although TiVo won’t start operating in New Zealand until Christmas this year (actual launch date not yet specified, but we’re picking early November to tap into the pre-Christmas gift-buying season), the company and its one-third shareholder TVNZ are keen to drum up support for the TiVo from the advertising industry. That might seem a forlorn hope, given that TiVo and its ilk are viewed in some sectors of advertising as industry-destroyers and home-wreckers — but clearly TVNZ et al. don’t have the same point of view. read more

Most interesting, but not surprisingly, he observes that understanding your audience is still the most vital component of effective advertising.

In a live study of 55 US national ads, TiVo and Innerscope found that TV viewers are 25 percent more likely to fast-forward through ads with low emotional engagement than those with high emotional engagement. The data clearly suggest that ads that are more emotionally engaging are more likely to be viewed in their entirety even in a time-shifted environment. The findings, presented in March at the Advertising Research Foundation’s Annual Conference, show that sustaining viewers requires an understanding of their emotional engagement with an ad.

Vanity Googling

In response to this post from Slate I thought I'd Google myself this morning. The majority of results were unsurprisingly related to my own unintentional career personal brand development. However mixed in to that were results from my personal friends' Facebook pages.

As we interact online, we tend to develop persona's to match the media. On Facebook I will talk about my friends, family and display pictures of my home. I have a few blogs that I use to discuss other personal and social interest topics. On Twitter I try to keep content more work-orientated, discussing advertising, social networking and the like. However this morning I used it to talk hip-hop and basketball - my private interests blurring with my professional.

As we move our lives increasingly on-line, how will this effect our personal brands? Will our private lives go on show to our clients?

I'm debating becoming an online schizophrenic and creating a nom de plume to conduct business under.

10a things I think I think about Twitter

I've been on twitter for quite some time now, but until recently my usage was fairly sporadic or client focused. In recent weeks I dived back in. Without doubt there will be more Twitter posts in coming weeks, but I thought I'd share a few thoughts I think that I think (in no particular order).

1. As I begin to type this I am tracking a live discussion at @designchat . What an incredible use for Twitter. It's amazing to see how people use the media to develop advanced uses, I think many more applications such as this will emerge.

1a. I think chats will be an annoyance for my followers who aren't part of the conversation.

2. I think that Twitter will bring out my latent voyeuristic side. I love basketball, so I've started following a bunch of NBA players. Last night Shaquille O'Neal told us what he had for dinner. I feel like a stalker.

2a. I think Twitter is going to change the way I watch basketball. Players I thought I liked (Rashard McCants) seem to be idiots, while players I thought would be idiots (Charlie Villenueva) seem to be intelligent, considered, good guys. Reassuringly, I still think Steve Nash is smart.

3. I think Twitter is great for people with short attention spans.

3a. I think digesting the amount of information provided via Twitter is not for people with short attention spans.

4. I think I just like to follow people because they are informative or entertaining.

4a. I think I should be more informative and entertaining when I Tweet.

5. I think I love it that when a bunch of us were complaining about the new NZ Ford campaign, the global head of Social Media for Ford chimed into the discussion.

5a. I think that it would have been good if the NZ head of social media had chimed in, or anyone from Ford in NZ at all. I think they didn't even know the conversation was taking place.

6. I think Twitter can build your brand in amazing ways.

6a. I also think the Dominos debacle shows it can destroy it.

7. I think Twitter is becoming mainstream

7a. I know that most people I know don't understand it or use it.

8. I think many famous people use Twitter to make them more famous, and I think that unless they use it correctly it'll backfire on them.

8a. I think a lot of people that use Twitter properly will become famous.

9. I think Twitter is about honesty.

9a. I think if you are obviously not being honest, it's ok to pretend (Shout out to @albinoriotman)

10. I think everything I've written here has some merit.

10a. I think I'm going to re-read this in 6 months and realise I had no idea what Twitter will become.

Myspace v Facebook

We haven't even begun to understand the internet

If you don't mind listening to a little American sports-talk then have a listen to an interesting interview with John A. Walsh, one of the senior executives of ESPN. An old-school newspaper man John points out that the internet is really only 13 years old and therefore still in its infancy. We need to stop thinking about the web in the context of offline media. We're still trying to impress newspaper, TV and radio conventions onto a wholly unique medium.

Without mediation, we are nothing

I want to bring to your attention an amazing post from the talent imitates, genius steals blog. The writer reflects on the increasing role of the internet providing mediation in our lives. Our desire to post updates to our friends via twitter and facebook, and our continual archiving of events, memories and experiences is changing the way we perceive reality.

"Virginia Woolf once said nothing is real until it is recorded. It seems like the rest of the world has caught up with her thought. We endlessly refract ourselves, mediate our lives, to reach out and connect and then, begin to construct ourselves, in response to what seems to drive attention our way.

As people we have always thought socially - seeing ourselves through the eyes of others. Increasingly it seems that without mediation, nothing seems real.

Next time you are at a concert - look at all the people capturing the moment, to mediate and broadcast it, to remember it and share it, to continue create themselves with it - even firsthand experiences require mediation."

Read the whole post

$1,000,000,000,000

Have you ever wondered what $1 trillion looks like?

Google x Dr Seuss

Just a wonderful piece of typography from Google to celebrate Dr Seuss's birthday.

The secret to happiness is ... low expectations

The Paradox of Choice was one of the greatest books I've read in the last few years. Barry Schwartz summerises his central premise in this video.

Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce

Since both Directros of The Whisper Shop are of Italian descent, we thought this was a very appropriate way to belatedly start the new year.