The Curator's News Feed: April 6, 2012
From blue trees to maple syrup to James Bond, the Curator team had a jam-packed reading list this week. Read on to find out a humorous take on Pinterest and what just might be your new favorite photo app. Happy weekend.
The Dirty Little Secret of Overnight Successes, Fast Company. I always love hearing about these "overnight successes" and what it truly takes to build something that consumers ultimately love and build community around. So often brands want a campaign to catch fire the day it's released, metrics are set for day one, week one, etc. I recently saw a post where someone said, "If you can't measure it, it never happened." I disagree. Metrics are wildly important and we're constantly striving to accurately measure effectiveness. But think of the things you're most passionately attached to – whether it is a relationship or a brand. In most cases, it didn't happen overnight. That's what we strive for here – to build those types of relationships for our clients. What if Pinterest gave up after 12 months—the article quotes the founder saying their numbers were woefully low the first year—based on their metrics? They knew they had something real. Today, it's an "overnight success." Sometimes campaigns take time to build – the challenge and discipline comes in letting it happen. - Scott
Here’s What Kentucky’s Championship Celebration Sounded Like Over The Lexington Police Scanner, Deadspin. Even before Kentucky won the NCAA men’s hoops championship this week, I started to see jokes being cracked about the inevitable riots – whether in celebration or rage – that were sure to take place in Lexington, home of the university. Sure enough, as soon as the final seconds ticked down in the game tweets began pouring in about couches on fire and half-naked students stumbling about the streets. But they weren’t just sporadic observations from onlookers – they were from people around the world listening to an online feed of the Lexington police scanner and tweeting updates and commentary with the #LexingtonPoliceScanner Twitter hashtag. Okay, so maybe it’s a little insensitive to be mocking the scene from afar while officers of the law were desperately trying to keep order. But it’s also pretty cool how the combination of a police scanner and a Twitter hashtag created a completely new communal online entertainment experience. - Lisa
Vermont Maple Syrup Festival: April 27 to 29, The Daily Meal. Vermont Maple Syrup Festival. Amazing and delicious. - Julia
Artist colors trees blue to draw attention to deforestation problem, The Seattle Times. This is a great piece about an art installation called The Blue Trees that has just made its way to Seattle. Curator is a sponsor of the installation and is proud to be a part of the PR and social media effort to get the word out about the project, which helps bring awareness to the global problem of deforestation. - Dan
Pinterest, Explained by Someone Who Doesn’t Get It, Rocket Shoes. I know, I know – you are all probably sick of hearing about Pinterest, but this blog post was just too good to pass up. Drew Hoolhorst, the writer behind the very funny blog, Rocket Shoes, explains Pinterest in the most basic of terms. While he (self-admittedly) ‘sucks at pinning’, he has quite the way of explaining to others how it’s done. My favorite quote from his eloquent breakdown of the Pinterest phenomenon: “Pinterest is really simple: It’s a digital pinboard that you post pretty pictures on. Do you like that outfit that one chick wore to that thing? BOOM. Pin it. Do you like that picture of food? BOOM. Pin it. Do you like that “anything that can be photographed”? BOOM. Pin that shit. Honestly: it’s a really simple way to tell people what you like, and I get that.” - Megan
For Your Ads Only: 50 Years of James Bond Product Placement, BusinessWeek. This week’s announcement of Heineken’s ad buy in the next James Bond film put an end to the infamous martini drink, stirred, not shaken. The death of Bond’s iconic scene has some fans feeling as though it’s a true end of an era. Many have been up in arms all week saying it was a weak sell out. But, with the same token, the amount of press coverage it has received is remarkable. So, was it in fact a smart business move to mix up a martini for a Heineken? Most diehard fans would still probably answer ‘no’. But, it does warrant a closer look at the famous martini that turned into a cultural phenomenon that has lasted for half of a century. Genius marketing. - Annie
Capturing a moment (with movement), Mashable. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that Flixel is going to be huge. The new app lets you merge Instagram-style photography with movement, adding another dimension to the image that you have to see to really appreciate. – Matthew
Legoland Places Miniature Billboards Made of Legos Around London, Adweek. With two young, LEGO-obsessed sons, I constantly have bricks on the brain (or under foot). So it’s no wonder that this campaign for LEGOLAND in the UK caught my eye. I love its playful nature and how it sparks engagement with consumers. The campaign features 12” billboards installed throughout London touting the benefits of a LEGOLAND vacation. Ad agency DK Lowe shared locations for all of the billboards on Google Maps, and invited folks who found the billboards to tweet #legolandminibreaks with a photo. – Ann Marie