Business Quests in the Information Age

What makes a commercial powerful and lasting?

Since I am in Canada these days and since I am most interested in the momentous changes that have been going on in the field of marketing for the past couple of years, I 'd like to comment a beautiful advertising campaign. It's the Molson campaign that was released many years ago and which plays very well on the existence of stereotypes commonly held by Americans about (did I say a-boot?) Canadians. Quite clearly this is an ad that captures human attention mainly because it's fun and light. See for yourself:

But there are other aspects to it that are interesting amongst which is the fact that it lends itself to sequels and to further exploitation of the dominants stereotypes. Here's a second film that illustrates this:

On the same theme, a couple of friends told me about (a-boot?) somebody who produced a derivative version of the Molson ad that makes huge fun of the cultural divide between French speaking and English speaking Canadians.

Perhaps a good way to bring sterile debates to a fairer proportion than politicians would like to and perhaps a good inspiration for somebody to do something analogous in Belgium because the people of that country deserve a much better political leadership IMHO.

So, what makes a commercial powerful (i.e. capable of seizing human attention in a world of content overload)? What makes it last and get a second life in a radically transformed media environment? I wonder whether there are other ads from past years that could be exploited by modern day communication agencies in the interactive space as shaped by the Internet to deliver high impact campaigns...

The Paradox of Choice

Perhaps an interesting perspective to consider in the way we run business and countries.

How good are we at pursuing happiness?

A fascinating presentation at TED Talks about our ability to "synthesize" happiness. Of course, as is often the case with results from scientific research, this can be seen in a positive light (that we can synthesize happiness better than we can pursue it) or in a way that would essentially anihilate the drive for progress (why pursue happiness if it can be synthesized?).

Participate!

A couple of months ago I discovered Participate. Their slogan is "FIlms have the power to inspire. You have the power to act. Participate!" and I think it is a cool idea. These guys are producing movies with a message, movies that support a cause. Yet they are a business that operates for profit. This is another interesting combination of activism and business something some people call "social capitalism". Let me tell you about their latest campaign.

Participate just sent me an email about a movie they are about to release, which deals with climate change and makes the case for each one of us to do something at their own individual scale to help avert a disaster.  The movie is called "An inconvenient truth" and here is a link to its website. The deeplink to the page calling us to action is here. Please visit.

To me what Participate does is a creative way to invite citizens to action, while at the same time making required profits to remain in business. They contributed to movies like "Good night and good luck", which was a good reminder of history and a proper analogy to political practice of our times in many countries. In my opinion, the content of the movies produced by Participate is also excellent food for thought for business leaders and perhaps a more effective way to invite us all to take the path of more ethical and responsible acton in everyday life.

Good night and good luck

I went to see "Good night and good luck" today. Great picture, with a lot of insights for those of us who do not accept the idea that dissent means disloyalty, nor that there are only two ways of being for a citizen of the world's first defender of freedom and democracy ("either you are with us or against us" as the current President has said repeatedly). The movie is an inspiration for citizens who believe that active participation and respectful disagreement are part of a democratic process. It is also a call for us to make a proactive choice in the channels of information that we are using to stay in touch with what is going on in the world. So, no fellow human beings who also happen to be US citizens, you do not have to watch Fox News, but you may feel free to choose something else. Definitely go to see "Good night and good luck"; at the very least it is a good reminder of history. Because as US philosopher George Santayana said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"...