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  • Letting go

    Posted on December 29th, 2006 by Spike and currently 3 commenting.

    Sometimes the hardest advice to take is the advice that you are used to giving out to others. We preach to our clients how they need to relinquish control of their messaging, since it’s not really up to them anyway. But when it comes time for us as marketers to do the same thing, it’s sometimes hard medicine to swallow. We work so hard and delve so deep into different cultures to create this community or identity, sometimes literally rolling up our sleeves and riding on delivery trucks, or spending the weekend at a retreat in the mountains with teenagers, or trying to crawl inside the head of engineers. And then, when our job is finished and it’s time to let go, we don’t want to. We created this thing ” this organic lifeform ” and we don’t want anyone else to harm it or taint it or change it. But, the truth is, it really wasn’t ours to begin with.

    And we need to remember that.

    When funding gets pulled or it’s time to turn the identity back over to the internal marketing department, we can put everything in place, create guidelines, etc. - but if we have truly done our jobs, then it will survive on its own. I guess it’s all about sustainability. It’s a vital part of any solid identity or word of mouth movement. You can buzz and hype all you want, but when the money is gone and the buzzers have moved on to something else, what will keep on keepin’ on? It’s the difference between a flash in the pan and an evergreen.

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  • The New RoboChristmas Frontier

    Posted on December 28th, 2006 by Virginia and currently 3 commenting.

    robosapien_01.jpg Lots of parents have a great stories about staying up late in the night to assemble bicycles, trains sets, and all manner of other toys. Now, that’s just the half of it. Not only are toys getting more complicated, the amount of information surrounding them is exploding exponentially.

    This year, my husband received RoboSapien V2 (Sharper Image Signature Series) from me Santa. Dubbed “a fusion of technology and personality”, the 2 foot tall robot can, upon remote controlled command, dance, pick up objects, carry a beer, say a slew of catch phrases, throw a ball, and recognize and track colors with his Robovision. Most importantly, he can perform the critical function for which he was purchased - keeping our 100 lb lab on his toes.

    The robot comes assembled, so other than remembering to buy batteries, I thought I was home free! Then again, I’m childless and naive. It took more than 1 hour just to get the robot out of his plastic coccoon and insert his 6 D and 7 AAA batteries. Next came the daunting instruction manual - roughly the length of the one for my car. In the old world, that would be it. You’d be done and ready to play. For this toy, the real education about the capabilities comes not in the booklet but online, where WowWee, makers of the RoboSapien and RoboReptile toys, supports the RoboCommuninty to bring robot lovers together. In addition to professionally answered FAQs, this official site links to non-sanctioned sites where enthusiasts have created hacks as sophisticated as teaching the robot to respond to vocal commands and how to play soccer against each other. Another additional piece of enjoyment is viewing the videos that other owners have made with RoboSapien & his 100 or so catchphrases. One of my favorites videos shows R2D2 going head to head with RoboSapien and getting reprogrammed by the older, wiser bot. Other YouTube Robo-entries range from silly to positively filthy.
    These days a toy is no longer just a toy, but a gateway to a community and a sticky experience. Make sure you’re thoughtful in selecting the right ones for your husband kids.

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  • Taking Stock

    Posted on December 28th, 2006 by Jennifer and currently 2 commenting.

    Now that I’ve completed my whirlwind Christmas trip home… it’s time for New Year’s… but my favorite part of New Year’s is the end of the current year.  Why?  Because EVERYONE releases top ten lists and years in review and superlatives (Borat in Time Magazine’s top ten?  For real?).  It’s great fun to look back at everything that happened - most of which I already forgot - and reflect on how ridiculous it all is. Of course it’s always interesting from a cultural anthropology standpoint to see what people and organizations latch onto as the most influential, memorable, interesting or (sometimes) distasteful items of the year. So here are some lists off the top of my head.  Feel free to submit your own!

    Happy New Year!

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  • School of Rock WOM

    Posted on December 27th, 2006 by Geno and currently 4 commenting.

    fall out boy
    “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” is the first single from Fall Out Boy’s upcoming album, Infinity on High. When I first heard the song on Sirius Alt Nation about 3 weeks ago I called my daughter and let her listen in on her cell. My twelve year old daughter knew about the song because it had been lurking on the internet since its debut on Q101 in Chicago on November 16. Do you think old guard bands like Metallica, would drive down to their hometown radio station and just hand over a music file off their upcoming album? Chicago is the home to a plethora of softcore, alternative, punk, post-hardcore bands like Fall Out Boy, Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, and Plain White T’s so it made perfect sense to me that FOB opted to premiere their new tune via their hometown radio station, instead of during their live performance on the American Music Awards. I also have to give high kudos to bassist Pete Wentz for giving it up to become hi-jacked. The song started rolling through the internet, made it’s debut on Sirius Alt Nation at number 4, and is the current number one song. And guess what, you can’t download it on itunes until February 6, 2007. So what does a dad do for his rockstar wannabe daughter? I get my tail down to Target when the doors open on a late November Sunday morning and purchase Guitar #313 signed by Joe Trohman of Fall Out Boy.

    Love’em or hate’em do yourself a favor, check out the video. It’s a mashed up history of Fall Out Boy video characters mixed with a tongue-in-cheek look at emo rock, the arts and don’t take it so seriously attitude.

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  • Peace on Earth (and all that mushy stuff)

    Posted on December 22nd, 2006 by Robbin and currently 3 commenting.

    Okay, everyone who knows me knows I am quite sentimental at Christmas. And this one is no exception. I am about to take some time off for the holiday, so as I walked into work early this morning, I was filled with this overwhelming gratitude for the people who choose to call Brains on Fire home.

    So I told Steve (always the first one in) how glad I was we had found him this year and he said, ‘Thanks, it’s a calling really.’

    Then he sent this email:

    “Well…here’s the deal.  Mike left his keys in Rene’s glove compartment. Yeah…I know…not the smartest…but he does have long hair, so what did you expect.

    Anyway, since Rene gets up at 3AM every day, and Mike is a long-haired slacker, Rene was already here when Mike realized he had no keys (or, apparently, a pair of scissors for that hair).

    Long story short, she’ll be back by about 9:15ish.

    Steve Schultz
    Guest Services / First Impression”

    Everyone here is amazing. Everyone.

    Have the best Holiday EVER!

    Love,
    Robbin

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