The Digital Perm

No shame......

With AMP in your hands.....

Wash me.....please.......

Ever wash a rental car?

No.......well me neither.  Why?  Or better yet why not?

Sounds stupid right, wash a rental car.  Who cares?  Not my car, right?  I got better things to do.  Not my job to do that.  Blah, blah, blah.....

Now I just makes me feel dirty.  Someone wash me.

Brilliant or idiotic......

Found this over at Brand Flakes for Breakfast and thought it was worth a share.

So my peeps and homies (I am Dutch for those who don't know me) at The Amsterdam Weekly have apparently put a call out to its readers to pitch in and buy the editorial space for the next three issues.  Looks like their investors have retired and cash has started to become a scarcity.

Right.......so how does this work?

Well, each page of the paper has been divided into 204 blocks each block costing €5.

They plan on only printing what has sold. So, if you pay for the cover, they will print the cover.  So on and so forth.

So what do you think?

If your paper, weekly or magazine was in trouble would you pitch in and make sure that it stayed afloat?  Would you really care?

Briliant or idiotic?  I gotta give em credit for throwing it out, but I tend to agree with the comments over at Brand Flakes.  I would be pissed if this was what made it to my door step.

Would love to hear what happens.  Good luck.

The perfect Friday cocktail

Adsense, NYTimes and Porn.......

Raising your online game

Let's take a second and get down to the truth....there is a lot of online advertising out there in the world that just is plain old boring and sucks.

Seriously banners, tiles, interstitials, pop-ups, text links, over the page ads, most of em just down right blow chunks.  They are neither engaging nor informative.

Some try to do too much.  Others take the less is more way to far and  you are simply baffled and left wanting more.

Online is a great medium folks, don't just phone it in.  And don't dial it up just to be up.

Apple is one of those companies that gets it and is raising the online bar.  Their online creatives match their brand.  They go with wild executions without comprising integrity.  Big fat kudos.  Keep it up.  Cannot wait to see what is next.

 

Pay attention!!!!!!!

To the details folks.

(photo courtesy of Tiger Droppings - OSU cheerleaders during BCS Title game loss)

Regardless of what you are doing - building a new product, launching a new brand, pushing out a new ad campaign, etc. - the details matter.

Some people say don't sweat the small stuff.  The small stuff does count. Plain and simple.

Just for fun

Found this yesterday and just though this was cool.  Grab it here.

 

Thanks Laughing Squid.

No means No

Gang breaking up is hard to do.  The emotions and all the baggage really make it an all out sucky experience. 

But what makes it worse is when the one you are trying to break up with just does not get it.  Seriously how hard is it to understand that no means no.

So, AOL, do me a favor, when I block one of your bots, take it off my buddy lists and reports it as SPAM, please take a hint.

Making your widget count

Here at WPNI, we have been experimenting and toying around with widgets for the past 12 months.  Just like every other publisher and brand on the block, we are constantly looking for new ways to attract new readers as well as serve our current customer base.  Widgets are the perfect vehicle to accomplish this goal.

Our biggest struggle with widgets (aside from monetization) is making sure the content that we widgetize is worthy.  Is what we are offering something you will want to grab and share with your friends.  We know you cannot force it - regardless of your wish viral is not viral unless it is worthy of being passed around. 

Well, today, I ran across a widget implementation that I feel is absolutely brilliant and I thought let's share it with the Perm readers.  Check it out below....

The widget is for a little known film called Cloverfield. Cloverfield is from the infamous JJ Abrams of Alias, Lost and Mission Impossible III fame.  Slowly but surely JJ and crew has released small tidbits and clips of the film.  Each time it is released you are a teased a bit more.

So putting the trailer or clip into the widget - sure that is a no brainer.  But what makes this different is the hook.....the person who grabs the widget, places it on their site and then it is subsequently grabbed from them the most wins the movie premier of Cloverfield in the their hometown. 

Simple, straightforward and effective.  Not only is the content good but you are offering something up to the user - a perfect execution.

Dream like an 8 year old

Can I be honest for one sec?  Sometimes I struggle to see the possibilities.  Sometimes I am quick to say no to things, when I should say "let's explore this".

That is why kids just rock.  Everything is possible.  Creativity is not an issue.  Do you need a flying car that will get you somewhere in 2 seconds, never fear a 5 year old will build it for you.

 

It is amazing how the older we get the more stubborn and less open we become.  No wonder some many brands just plain old suck.  No wonder so many products are not easy to use, intuitive or even exciting.

Perhaps the best solution is to turn your product over to a panel of 8 year olds.  You might actually be surprised at what you get and learn something in the process....