My seven year old googles and doesn't have a land line

Last week there was a fantastic article about nostalgia in marketing. However, it was about recreating nostalgia. Which has a market, but for how long? My daughter is growing up in a completely different time. She understands and knows how to use google. She's never had a land line phone. She doesn't know what a fax machine is, let alone a beeper. It makes me wonder what will be considered nostalgic when she's my age? What will going back to her roots mean? (a 2012 ipad?)

As someone who loves antiques, I see the value of something older. Worn. With a history and a story. Maybe that's why we live in a brick bungalow. And I love to garden. Because I want her to have something real and lasting. Not made to look real.

New ways to reinforce your brand

I've noticed a trend that companies are use some less than traditional ways to market. Using humor, personality, and a sense of community, traditional print and now even traditional online marketing are not the only options. And while my own personal design philosophy is not the in your face style of guerilla marketing (check out some amazing ideas), I love an opportunity to reinforce a company's presence in ways that really reflect the business and people who work with them.

Take for example these laptop skins, recently designed for SWC Technology Partners. Instead of just plastering a logo and web address, which so many companies do, they wanted to focus on the individual who uses them. We came up with a list of some fun questions that each employee would answer, as well as supplying three photos. We converted the pictures to black and white, for a more uniform look, knowing that the quality and style of images would vary from person to person. We also played with the tagline, adding people to the front. Putting people before business, technology, success says a lot about the company. And they company they keep.

Spiegel, I thought you were smarter than that

Despite the fact that I've only purchased one item from this retail giant and get daily emails on sales despite a number of attempts to be removed from their spam, I found today's ad especially annoying. Because I am convinced that despite focus groups and knowing their consumer, they decided that to  feature selling plus size clothing they should put a tiny size zero in their ad. And while the model looks stunning in her cashmere tunic, the real connection to marketing is lost. A connection to the audience. Because my guess is that woman who lounge around in cashmere are smart consumers. Smart enough to know that there is no way in hell they would like that if they bought these sweaters.

iphone and design apps

I did it and bought an iphone. Never mind the fact that AT & T has terrible service. Which it does. And while I'm not in love with it like some of my other associates are, (I prefer the keyboard on the Blackberry) I do appreciate the interface design. Beyond that, the apps icons that are created. The simplicity and restrictions of the phone itself call for a more streamlined design. With only a tiny square, designers need to communicate what their application offers. Years ago, I had a boss who always said, "Will it fit on a pencil?" It was his litmus test for marketing. Today, while no longer my boss, I can hear him in my head saying "How will this look on the iphone?" Scott Mitchell, over ten years later, and I'm still learning from you. Now that's a great boss.