For those of you that don't know me, I'm not a fan of Facebook. I like to keep my personal information private and only share it with the people that are important to me. I don't want friends of friends knowing that I'm going out of town for a week, that i was born on some day of some month in 19xx, or that I have a child that goes to a certain school. Now, I'll admit that the concept of Facebook is great and the execution has been a huge success, but at the end of the day Facebook is a company looking for new ways to generate revenue, either by selling advertising space, or sharing private account information with third party companies.

Apparently I'm not the only one who feels this way. Upon browsing the vast waves of the internet, I stumbled upon a very ambitious project called Diaspora*. Their motto: "The privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all, open source social network."
For those wondering the meaning of diaspora: "diaspora ("a scattering or sowing of seeds") refers to any people or population who are forced or induced to leave their traditional homelands, the dispersal of such people, and the ensuing developments in their culture."

Not slated for release until September 2010, they've managed to acquire over $200,000 from over 6000 backers on kickstart and have been diligently working on the project all summer.

The initial release will include the following:

• Full-fledged communications between Seeds (Diaspora instances)
• End to end GPG
• External Service Scraping of most major services (reclaim your data)
• Version 1 of Diaspora’s API with documentation
• Public GitHub repository of all Diaspora code

It'll be decentralized, allow end to end encryption of data, pull all of your social media content back into one place, and allow members of the community to expand and build upon the core ideas of a private social network.

I'd recommend checking out their faq, blog, and media page if you're interested in learning more, and I'm hoping for a huge reception to the newest social media concept from those that are fed up with privacy issues.

Dave forwarded on this hilarious story regarding the bumbling Toronto Police Chief and his handling of the G20 security. In the article, it appears that a man was stopped by the police while riding the city's public transit and relieved of his "weapons", which included:

- Arrows with pool-noodle tips
- Foam shields & swords
- A chain mail vest

What horrible misdeed was this fiend planning? What filthy plan had he for destroying the peace and civility that Chief Blair and his men had so carefully maintained?

He was going LARPing, or as us non-nerds know it, Live Action Role Playing.

If you're not familiar with LARPing, good for you because it probably means you have a healthy social life and reasonably clear skin complexion. Essentially, it takes the notion of a role-playing game (like Dungeons and Dragons) and brings it into the real world, with participants acting out parts and battling each other with, you guessed it, foam implements of pretend war.

You'll find below a clip of LARPing in action, although I doubt seeing it in video will do much to remove the mystery as to why people actually do this.

I think after seeing the video you'll all agree that, despite Chief Blair's other obvious faults, he is owed a debt of gratitude; he may have embarrassed a city and country, but at least he saved a man from embarrassing himself.

Chandra, our marketing manager, decided that it would be a great idea to have a cooking competition with smoked oysters. We’ve started working with Ocean’s, so as part of our monthly “happy hour”, we decided a smoked oyster competition it is. The requirement for the contest was to use Ocean’s Smoked Chili Oysters in an appetizer. The winner of the contest will have a photo of their appetizer featured on the Ocean’s website. The Studiothink team judged the competition, and the judging was split into two categories: taste and presentation.

Here are the list of appetizers:
Rob – Deviled Egg Oyster Surprise
Caitlin – Spinach Oyster Dip
Dave – Smoked Bacon Oyster Bites
Mike – Oyster Chowder
Chandra – Jalapeno Oyster Poppers
Sherry – Bacon Double Oyster Pizza
Sarah – Smoked Oyster Spread

Drumroll..........and the winner is...

Dave’s (with help from wife Diane) Smoked Bacon Oyster Bites

Runner up was Chandra’s Jalapeno Oyster Poppers and Mike’s (actually made by Mike’s wife Susan) Oyster Chowder.

For the last month here in the office we have been eating non-stop junk food and candy. It all started when Rob won the decorating cubical contest. As you remember from last months blog post, Rob won the vote by buying $40 worth of candy to share around the office. Well we are finally out of Candy, but it doesn’t stop there. We recently did a Photoshoot for chocolate, and now have tons of chocolate to indulge in. Sherry & Mike brought donuts. But today, Mike’s wife Susan made us brownies, and Dave supplied the ice cream. I sure hope the next trip to the dentist, doesn’t mean cavities.

Stock photography has become a staple in the Marketing world, giving businesses an opportunity to use Professional photos in their branding at a more affordable price.
Now, many people are asking, what is stock photography? “Stock Photography is the supply of photographs licensed for specific uses. It is used to fulfill the needs of creative assignments instead of hiring a photographer” (Wikipedia).

Stock images are most commonly found online through websites such as www.istockphoto.com, or www.fotolia.com . The images can be purchased and downloaded to your computer. The great thing about stock photography is that they are Royalty-free, meaning you don’t need to pay each time you use the image. One downside in using stock photography, is that other businesses can use the same image.

Many of the stock photography websites, such as istockphoto.com, are available for the public, to upload photos and sell online. Although, photographers have strict guidelines for the photos they upload and receive approval on. This is important because image quality is very important in print work.

Your also not just limited to purchasing photography, as many of the stock photography companies also have vector illustrations, audio, flash, and video files.

You might not know the name Rube Goldberg, but you've definitely seen his machines at work. He was the inventor of the cartoon depiction a tremendously complicated device that completed a relatively simple task (an authentic Goldberg cartoon is above).

We love these things, and decided to collect a few videos of them here for your enjoyment.

Mouse Trap
The famous children's game from 1963 is a great example of a Rube Goldberg device at work. I don't recall actually ever properly playing the game, we would just build and set off the trap, then re-pack everything. Check out this awesome 60's commercial promoting it.

Der Lauf der Dinge
One of the best-known examples caught on video is Der Lauf der Dinge by artists Fischli & Weiss. Translated from Swiss it means (spoiler alert!) The Way Things Go, and boy do they go. First revealed in 1987, the 15 minute performance inspired many of the clips further down this list.

The Cog
In 2003 Honda produced this 2 minute long epic commercial to promote their flagship Accord model. It cost 1 million pounds to produce, and involved over 600 takes to get right. In the end, the time, cost, and effort was worth it as it became one of the most famous ads of all time. And to think in North America we got stuck with the "opportunity knocks guy".

This Too Shall Pass
The latest video from OK Go, and the inspiration for this blog, is for their new single This Too Shall Pass. Not only is the sequence exquisitely complex, but it also operates in time to the music. Look carefully and you might spot a model Martian rover in the video - that's because some of the engineers in the video actually helped build the real Spirit Rover!

Remember when the 2010 Vancouver Olympic logo was first unveiled, and everyone complained about it? Everything seemed wrong, from the simplicity in the concept, right down to the cheesy smiley face. And, when the Olympic mascots were revealed, they were met with intense skepticism, I mean, how could we possibly face the world with giant, anime-style fuzzy creatures?

All of my branding reservations went out the door when I discovered that my 9-year old stepdaughter desperately wanted anything Quatchi or Miga. The 2010 Olympic branding has really grown on me, and I feel Vancouver has actually done a superb job with their graphics and pulling the brand all together. The end result has indeed been a success.

So, you can imagine my horror when I saw the unveiling of the 2012 London Summer Olympic logo. Now, I’m all for modern, I love a good colour palette, and I embrace change (or at least try), however, I have no idea how this brand is going to come together. It’s the first logo to use numerous colour variation, and not only that it’s...well...it’s UGLY. I do believe, if you squint really hard, you might even make out the fact that it’s supposed to be the numbers 2012. Yah, that’s right, look again.

I’ve heard some speculation that the logo is supposed to embrace London’s grunge scene. Not convinced on that one. I’ve also heard it wanted to encompass the internet generation, again, not convinced on that one either. I’ve also heard that this logo cost upwards of 400,000 pounds (roughly $650,000 Canadian) to create. That one I am convinced of.

Let’s all hope that the upcoming scheduled evolution of this logo will improve upon it, and that in 2012 my then 13-year old stepdaughter will still want a fuzzy Olympic mascot—although I’m not holding my breath on that one.

The original word “brand” came from burning a logomark on a barrel, and later cattle. It is one of the most misunderstood words in marketing. Not only can it be used in multiple ways, but the context of the word has evolved to encompass much more than just your logo.

Branding is integrated marketing that differentiates your product, service or corporation in an attractive, meaningful and compelling way.

Integrated marketing is the sum of all your corporate communication, and how your customers perceive you, whether through websites, logos, ad campaigns, company colours or even the target market you are going after. The sum of all of your marketing is your unique brand.

So, what am I trying to say? In a nutshell, your brand is everything you are doing (or not doing) to show customers who you are and get them to remember you.

So my question to you is, what does your brand say about your company?

Consider this an early Christmas present from your friends at Studiothink (and the Muppets):

What do kilts, haggis, and the caber toss have in common with marketing? Little known fact - the word slogan actually has a Scottish origin, when Highland warriors would chant sluaghghairm (war cries) before battle. I thought it might be fun to list my top three slogans of all time, and compare them to what you might think.

In no particular order:

Zoom Zoom - Mazda
Okay, so this one isn't so much the slogan itself, but the execution. Zoom zoom permeates through every piece of Mazda marketing, so that it has become an integral part of the message, in this case a message that tries to capture the spirit of racing and speed that Mazda wants to portray. In fact, I'll bet when you read the slogan you even whispered it to yourself - that's how well they've branded themselves. The value of a simple, repeated message can't be understated. Just try to remember any other car manufacturer's slogan and you'll see what I mean - I couldn't think of a single one.

(for the record,

Toyota - Make Things Better
Ford - Drive One
GM - re:invention
Honda - The Power of Dreams

I could probably fill a whole blog on the topic of "terrible automaker slogans")

Just Do It - Nike
Ah yes, we all knew a sports reference would be in my top 3. But, I argue that no slogan in the last 30 years has done such an excellent job simultaneously representing a corporate philosophy while also encouraging its core customer to purchase more products. 3M's slogan "invent" is a good description of their business, but I somehow doubt they're encouraging customers to conduct experiments in their garage. Just Do It captures the flavour of Nike's corporate culture, the persona of its sponsored athletes, and the rallying cry of its fans. Nearly perfect on all levels.

They're Grrrrreat! - Frosted Flakes
Since the 50's, Tony the Tiger has been extolling the health benefits of a complete breakfast, always signing off with the brand's iconic slogan. On the face of it, the slogan is actually pretty dumb - would you buy a product just because it said "They're Great"? Probably not. But throw in an anthropomorphic tiger and make him growl the line, and all of sudden it becomes distinct and memorable.

I sense a trend - simple, endlessly repeated, and evocative. Maybe that's a lesson everyone should take away (especially you, auto makers).

Anyone have any other favourite slogans? Feel free to post them in the comments section!

Congratulation to Mike and his wife Susan on the birth of their new baby boy! Jackson Francis Rink rushed into the world on Sunday, after only four hours of labour. Now Mike will be enjoying the next week off to bring home his new baby, take care of his wife, and change lots and lots of diapers. He'll be back to work next Monday, probably relieved that the only thing he has to change here is the occasional ink cartridge.

Rob is obviously a little frazzled and overworked, which is why he needs a good creative release. It comes in the form of drawings, which are scattered around the office for our amusement. I thought I'd share one of his famous sketches. It's a self portrait, with himself, Dave and Mike. Why Dave is in a clown outfit I'm not too sure. But I think he did a pretty good job of Mike. But why the ties? Is this how they go out at night? Hmm. They probably have one of me and Chandra that they hide in their drawer.

So, as I walked back to my desk after lunch I laughed as I passed by someone's desk. Look closely. What is that sitting on the desk? Is that red wine? At 2:30 in the afternoon? I guess now we know how those creative marketing ideas are born. As I snapped a quick photo she turned around to avoid being identified, however I will give you guys a hint.......her initials are CB. And she likes red wine. Hmmmmmmmm.

Thought I'd share one of Dave's latest exploits, creating Dachshund shirt designs, for the wiener dog lovers out there. And yes, I did have to look up how to spell Dachshund. You know you want one. http://www.dachshundshirts.com/