Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

While Shakespeare said that 'there is no rehearsal in life', I would argue that every task, experience, and encounter in life is an audition."
— Choleena DiTullio

My new favourite song

"Hey, Soul Sister" by Train. What a superb, lively, life-affirming ditty. Train deserves to toot their own horn. All aboard!? I think you will be. And, who doesn't like a ukelele?!



The video looks so simple but it's deceiving. Camera angles, text/writing added post-production, etc., all make it quite complicated. They pulled it off beautifully.

46: revised answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything

To celebrate their jubilee anniversary, the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Jerusalem is displaying Albert Einstein's 46-page notebook on his theory of relativity which explains everything from black holes to the origin of the universe. Never before have all 46 pages been on display together.

• Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Jerusalem
• Albert Einstein on Wikipedia.org
• Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Just for fun:
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe

Marketing Monday

ROM is the Bomb
I've always been in love with the Royal Ontario Museum, their identity included. Today's column covers their exciting logo which incorporates an icon (the visual or graphic component) and a wordmark (the text or company name component).

• the ROM acronym is in solid, authoritative letter shapes but with a very slight serif to indicate refinement
• they've used full-intensity blue, gold and red; indicative of a regal colour palette
• funky shapes jut out from behind the letters to mimic the building's exciting architecture and comment on its modernity
• and it uses a wordmark component to spell out their full name so there's no mistaking what and who they are


So simple. So good.


Marketing Monday is a column devoted to innovation in the world of commerce. It celebrates companies, products, packaging and campaigns that swim against the current or find creative ways to stand out. Got a suggestion for the column? Send me a comment.

Ottawa-Brampton VIA Toronto

VIA Rail has come a long way since I've been riding the rails back in the early '90s. My university days had me travelling from Brockville, Ontario to Sackville, New Brunswick several times a year. Usually I'd ride coach for 22 hours. VIA could have made a killing if they sold Advil and a neck massage as an add-on. You've all tried to sleep in a chair so you know what I'm talking about!

Now in 2010, the seats are much more comfortable, the leg room is downright spacious and the jigglyness/noise is significantly reduced. As faint as it is from inside the train, that whistle still brings me back to days gone by.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

There is no rehearsal in life."
— William Shakespeare

Marketing Monday

Volkswagen's TheFunTheory.com
An initiative of Volkswagen, TheFunTheory.com is dedicated to the idea that making a task fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. For example, if you want to encourage people to walk more by taking the stairs instead of an escalator, turn the staircase into an operational piano keyboard. When you walk on the steps, you make your own tune! By making the task fun to do, people will change their behaviour and choose the healthier mode of transportation.

Submissions like that have been sent in from all over the world. They published over 700 ideas a few months ago and they've whittled it down to 11 finalists. Go vote! The winners will be announced on March 29, 2010. They will each receive 2500 Euros in prize money as well as have their idea produced by Volkswagen. Cleverly, the VW logo will appear on all of them!



Marketing Monday is a column devoted to innovation in the world of commerce. It celebrates companies, products, packaging and campaigns that swim against the current or find creative ways to stand out. Got a suggestion for the column? Send me a comment.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."
— Anatole France

Marketing Monday

Small Shop, Big Idea
Originally posted on January 26th as "Give-aways that I will never qualify for...", Pretty Pots Flowers & Gifts' advertisement deserves to be in this column. Read the sign below.

Honestly, in a small town, who doesn't know a Carol or a Cindy? This ad makes the complete town its audience. How many ads can you say you've seen that have found a way to address all age groups and all audiences in an entire town?

Plus, it was done at no real cost! They're using their already-installed marquee sign (clearly visible on Main Street) so the only investment is the cost of the roses. This is significantly cheaper than a media buy.

Small-town thinking made this a brilliant advertisement that, in my humble opinion, a big-city ad agency could not have come up with. Kudos, Pretty Pots Flowers & Gifts!

Marketing Monday is a column devoted to innovation in the world of commerce. It celebrates companies, products, packaging and campaigns that swim against the current or find creative ways to stand out. Got a suggestion for the column? Send me a comment.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things."
— Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer

Poisoned Milk -- don't you just feel like this some days?

If you like automata, you'll love this little critter from the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre.

Have a great day!

Marketing Monday

Keeping Printed News Current

“Mobilize This Digest”, by Financial Post’s paper edition, allows you to receive up-to-date information on an article on your smartphone.

If a paper-edition article includes a barcode, photograph it with your smartphone and immediately be taken to an expanded or interactive (a music video for an article on a musician, for example) article online.

Instructions on how to do it at Nationalpost.com/scanlife



Marketing Monday is a column devoted to innovation in the world of commerce. It celebrates companies, products, packaging and campaigns that swim against the current or find creative ways to stand out. Got a suggestion for the column? Send me a comment.

Marketing Monday

Staff, managers drive retailer green policies
And why not? There’s one Environmentalist in every bunch who is willing to champion the cause. That means that owners don’t have to have the know-how or interest but can gain green policies through staff. Not to mention that recycling/reducing often results in a cost savings. And, marketed effectively, the bottom-line stands to gain. Consumers that find a store with environmental practices that complement their own are going to become devoted shoppers of that store.

It’s win-win all around.

I believe it should be taken one step further. Staff and managers are front-line and are exposed to consumers’ requests — information that an Owner can’t get from their sales spreadsheet. Staff and managers should have a say in green products sold, too.

Reuters via National Post

Marketing Monday is a column devoted to innovation in the world of commerce. It celebrates companies, products, packaging and campaigns that swim against the current or find creative ways to stand out. Got a suggestion for the column? Send me a comment.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint."
— Edward Hopper

The Sweetest Little Thing — Worthy Fundraiser

Support galleries and artists at The Sweetest Little Thing (SLT) Art Auction. Come on, it's fun!

• The Sweetest Little Thing
• Art Auction, Cakewalk, Dance
• February 14th
• 7 PM
• Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, NB
• See the artwork and bid online at www.SweetestLittleThing.ca
• Official web site of the Struts Artist-Run Gallery
• Official web site of the Owens Art Gallery

To do my part, I created the 2010 stamp for their ongoing Rubber Stamp Project. This stamp was used on the envelope to call for SLT submissions and related promotions.

The rubber stamp:


Here's what it looks like when it goes through the stamping process:


Creative Rationale for the Stamp
Each year, a member of Struts is asked to create a new stamp. The resulting graphic is a reflection of the Artist's approach to art as well as their response to the theme Sweetest Little Thing.

Personally, I'm a bit of a science fiction movie junkie (thus the 2010 movie reference), I'm a Graphic Designer (thus the adaptation of the movie's poster) and I love a play on words (thus the planet's crescent turns into a croissant, which is the French word for crescent). I think this stamp wraps me up well.

In terms of relating the image to the theme: babies are sweet little things; croissants are sweet little things; the event itself focuses on dessert-type foods; and, the auction takes place on Valentine's Day -- it doesn't get more romantic than French language and food.

Here I've re-used the stamp for the SLT poster:


Creative Rationale for the Poster
As the stamp graphic was meant to be seen only after it had gone through the process of being stamped, people would see a "grunge" version of that graphic. I decided to take the poster in the same direction. All the elements of the poster look like they've been stamped onto it. Some are rough-edged, some are misaligned — all properties of a hand-made stamp project. Adding a red background recalls Valentine's Day.

Animated .gif
Here, I've adapted it to an animated .gif for promotional use on other web sites:




Background on The Sweetest Little Thing
The Sweetest Little Thing is the most important annual fundraising event for The Owens Art Gallery and Struts Gallery & Faucet Media Arts Centre. Presented in partnership on Valentine’s Day, the Sweetest Little Thing combines a contemporary art auction with a cake walk and dance. The event has become a seasonal highlight for the community, featuring artists, friends and supporters from across the country and beyond. The funds raised go directly to the ongoing programming of the galleries.

Background on The Rubber Stamp Project
The goal - to stamp all outgoing mailings with an artistic image that will intrigue postal workers. The image must fit on a standard #10 envelope and must lend itself well to the mechanics of the stamping process. The image is often related to Valentine's Day since the stamp is launched annually on the mailout containing the call for submissions to The Sweetest Little Thing — a yearly art auction held on February 14th.

Marketing Monday

Practice online investing with pretend money
RBC Direct Investing has created a practice area on their site where all your trading is pretend. That's a very smart way to get people started. Zero risk. Zero worry. 100% clever!

www.Rbcinvesting.com/practice

Marketing Monday is a column devoted to innovation in the world of commerce. It celebrates companies, products, packaging and campaigns that swim against the current or find creative ways to stand out. Got a suggestion for the column? Send me a comment.

Give-aways that I will never qualify for...

Still, brilliant marketing on their part. Kudos.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future."
— Niels Bohr, Danish atomic scientist

EMC picks up my Volkswagen Story

EMC Stittsville/Richmond reports on Lucky Dog Poop Bin idea chosen by Volkswagen.

Holding position #7 out of 700!

OMG! My idea is currently holding position #7 (out of 700) in the online voting!!!

http://www.thefuntheory.com/2009/12/15/lucky-dog-poop-bin