The Curator’s News Feed: November 9, 2012
This week the Curator team was reading on everything from ‘Top Chef Seattle’ and tear evoking holiday ads to election statistics as fast food and inspiring travel photography. Take a look at all of our favorite finds this week:
Twitter Kills the Fail Whale, One Tweet at a Time, New York Times Bits Blog. Four years ago, Twitter was really just beginning to emerge on our radar during the 2008 election. It was truly the first political campaign that leveraged the social media tool in such a profound way. Many may even argue that it was this event that catapulted Twitter into the popularity it holds today. Fast forward to this week’s most recent presidential election and the records have been broken once again, with Twitter processing an average of 9,965 tweets per second! This article by Nick Bilton not only points out the fact that Twitter was actually able to handle this mass amount of activity, but also notes a very crucial shift – Only just a couple years ago, Twitter was used to reference the activity that was being broadcast on television. Today, this process has flipped as newscasters now reference conversations on Twitter. Interesting to see this social media platform become such a credible news source. – Annie
Slow Counting Washington, Seattle Times. The long awaited Election Day is finally over, yet Washingtonians are still anticipating results. Washington has been named the “slowest vote-counting state” in America. So, what’s all the delay about? – Johanna
Photo Gallery: US Election Statistics as Fast Food, Spiegel. Political stats that look good enough to eat, Der Spiegel. It's always illuminating to view American politics through the eyes of our European friends - particularly Germany, which has a rather mature view of political contention - and it's especially helpful when the facts and figures are broken down into "bite-sized" pieces. Americanized, if you will. Despite the title, this series of photos provides a non-partisan overview of the race for president. – Matthew
Padma Lakshmi speaks out on 'Top Chef Seattle', Seattle Times. Top Chef is a popular TV show here in the office, and this is a special season since it was filmed right here in our awesome city! And how nice to hear such great words from Padma herself about Seattle, “probably her favorite location in the nine seasons she's been with the show.” Check out what else she has to say about her on-air personality, her daughter and her charity work. – Julia
Amazon Buys New York Fashion Studio, Vogue. Seattle-based Amazon made a huge fashion statement this week when it announced the purchase of a 40,000-square foot photography studio in Brooklyn's trendy Williamsburg neighborhood. Fashionistas found it odd when earlier this year the online retail giant sponsored the Met Ball (Costume Institute Gala), but now it seems as though this was all part of Jeff Bezos' master plan. In addition to convincing customers that it's a legit site for purchasing the latest trends, Amazon also hopes to create a number of jobs for the Big Apple's models, stylists, make-up artists and photographers. – Jennifer
How Budweiser Ditched The Clydesdales And Made An Ad No One Ever Forgot, Fast Company. Even though I have a total soft spot for the Budweiser Clydesdales, I do remember this toad-ally awesome ad and I’m sure you do too. After reading about how this ad came to be, from conception to its Superbowl debut in 1995, I have that much more admiration for the bold idea. I think this is a great story and goes to show that sometimes it’s those simple creative ideas that are more than enough to take a big stake of the advertising landscape. – Chelsey
AFAR Phew! What a week. Lot's of 2013 planning and brainstorming for clients. And I found myself peeking in on this site often this week, sometimes if only for the pictures . I like the look and feel, tone and voice. Inspiration source for me this week. – Scott
Twitter to Add Photo Filters to Compete with Instagram, Bits. In case you were worried you didn't have enough photo-filter apps on your phone, you'll soon have one more. Sources inside Twitter told The New York Times last week the company is working to add Instagram-like photo filters to its list of features. This makes a bit of sense, since, as you may remember, Facebook bought Instagram earlier this year. Whether this puts a dent in Instagram, though, or becomes just another Twitter feature remains to be seen. – Paul
How John Lewis Kicks Christmas Ass with Heart-Tugging Holiday Ads, Fast Company. We’re fortunate to work with some amazing retail brands – West Elm, Macy’s, the malls of Simon Property Group. These days, Curator is up to our collective necks in good cheer as we prepare for Black Friday and the December gift-giving season. If you’re one of those folks who likes to wait until after your turkey dinner to get in the holiday spirit, tuck this gem away for later. But if you’re like us and like to sneak a peek at your presents early, then check out this holiday TV spot from U.K. retailer, John Lewis. Enjoy. – Ann Marie
App Rewards Users With Money For Scanning QR Codes, PSFK. We all know that QR Codes have a very low adoption rate, no matter how hard brands try to convince the public to use them. Having said that, the new start-up Qriket aims to change consumer’s reluctance by offering a cash incentive for every time they scan a QR code. The cash is provided by the companies who can pay as little as $1, or as much as $50 to help boost their digital campaign. In the year that this app has been around they have paid out more than half a million dollars to users. It will be interesting to see if this new method continues to gain momentum and can actually resuscitate the oft-addled QR code. – Megan