Radio Formatted By You

If the radio gods where to design a station based on you and your musical tastes, what would it sound like? Well, if you haven't heard of Pandora.com, I suggest you go there and find out. Pandora, an online radio station, enables you to build a station based on artists and songs you love.




It's simple to use, but the technology and methodology behind it is anything but. Pandora believes that everyone has a unique relationship with music. Thus, they created a Music Genome Project which over 8 years has analyzed the makeup of songs and artists. Using this musical DNA (up to 400 characteristics), they are able to match up your designated preferences with others you likely should enjoy.

For example, I created a Keb Mo station. When I hit play, Pandora kicked things off with one of his songs followed by Taj Mahal and then some old school Eric Clapton. Pretty soon I was in blues heaven. You can skip songs. You can give them a big thumbs up or a giant thumbs down. And you can add endless artists mixing them up as your mood dictates. It's customized but not limited. Chances are you will discover a new song or artist that you absolutely love. Very cool.

With today's FM stations falling into a only handful of categories along with the fact that they play their tunes on the same tired loop, Pandora is truly a breath of fresh air.

It's call letters should be WYOU.

A Rollerblade Comeback?

Ah, remember the days when jogging paths were filled with elbow-and-knee-padded amateurs weaving on wheels their way to tighter buns? Yes, the rollerblading fad flew by about as fast as a 300 lb. guy descending down Lombard Street with questionable brakes.

So what happened?

Was it the token ER visits that accompanied learning this new sport? Perhaps, it was the backlash of bikers and runners? Or was it simply a victim of going out of style? My guess is that it was probably a combination of all. The rollerblading image became less of an extreme or hockey-related activity and more of a "Let's put on our bright spandex and blade over to that smoothie place for a Lo-Carb Tropical Mango Breeze" kind of thing.

Anyhow, I recently read about how in Paris, urban rollerblading is making an underground uprising. And of course, all you have to do is go on YouTube to discover exactly what's happening. One video below is absolutely insane, as severe injury or death appears to be one hidden pothole or stale croissant away. Another shows how rollerblading can be an activity for the masses. It certainly repositions some of my thinking on the sport. The daredevils performing are not en route to Starbucks for a mocha latte. This is hardcore. So will rollerblading make a revival? Will American skateboarders like our fashion designers follow this Parisian trend? Will average joes then pull out their dusty, buried-in-the-basement blades and go for a glide? Oui or Non?

Dutch Fun

Hema, a Dutch department store, brings us some fun domino-like interplay amongst a range of its store items. This webpage takes a second to begin, but once it gets going it's really quite funny. Although, I can't see any real purpose, other than entertaining its shoppers, this technique could potentially be a cool way to showcase a new product or help someone find a gift. Either way, it's a hoot.



Check it out here, http://producten.hema.nl/

Creating Together Apart

User-generated content has long been a big buzz word for marketers and the online world. Well, Tongal.com has put a new spin on this concept. Tongal enables people to create connected, yet separate aspects of user-generated content all for the common goal of winning some cash. Confused? Here's a video detailing exactly how Tongal works.



This is a great way for people of varying skill sets and passions to create something together. It's also a very interesting look at how people execute differently the same idea. And of course, the winning money part is where the incentive to participate comes in. Very cool. I look forward to seeing where this goes.

Music videos are not dead yet

Yes, Music Videos may no longer be all the rage. You don't hear people around the water cooler gabbing, "Hey, have you seen Lady Gaga's awesome new video." And MTV and VH1 frankly run more celebrity and reality footage than music. However, this does not mean that terrific videos are not being produced. Here are 3 that really push creativity levels and stand out.

1. Coldplay's Strawberry Swing. Talk about ambitious. The animation on this is all-chalk drawings. Created by a collaborative artist group, known as Shynola, Strawberry Swing makes an okay song something very memorable.



2. Here's another animated video from another big name. U2's I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight is directed by David O'Reilly and designed by Jon Klassen. This video tells the story of multiple people going a little crazy and making changes in their lives.

U2 - I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight from David OReilly on Vimeo.

3. The Killers' Dustland Faireytale takes a different approach than the others. This video actually uses people. It tells a story of regret. Watching it, you understand this old man's life completely through visual flash backs. The editing is great. The story unfolds perfectly in time with the music. This is not just some song without meaning and the video helps everyone see that. It really bring the lyrics to life. Nice. This was directed by Anthony Mandler.

Unfortunately, the embedding was disabled, so here's the link to youtube: KillersVideo

5 Oh So Damn Clever Ads

I love clever uses of media. So here are 5 recent ones that hit that mark.



I actually saw this image at a bus stop, only it read "Bus Stop for Humans Only. Report any Non-humans." It definitely got my attention. I even went to D-9.com to find out what this non-human stuff was all about. It's a movie called District 9 of the SciFi genre directed by Peter Jackson. The trailer's pretty sweet, so I've included that, too. Great teaser.





We've all experienced a navigational system gaffe. You know where the lovely voice politely instructs us to cross a lake or turn left into a house, right? Well, LandRover introduces the first navigation system, via an iphone app, that does this on purpose. The reason is obvious. If you have a LandRover, who needs a road? It's an App that makes a brand statement.



Now here's an advertising device I've never seen before. It's the high-rise window cleaning medium. Very cool. This would be even more hilarious and effective going up the side of an office building. Imagine a bunch of cubicle dwellers slugging out their daily reports and beholding this lovely destinations. Or even a simple message from Budweiser at 4:30pm about having a Happy Hour tonight would be perfect.



Who said the paper towel business can't be fun? Bounty owns the big spill with this guerrilla approach.



A bus billboard that changes pictures when you look at it? How very Minority Report... and innovative. Not only is this great eye-tracking technology at work, but it's a smart use of smart technology. The ad's purpose is get people to think twice about looking the other way when it comes to domestic abuse. Thus, the ad literally mimics the message. When no eyes are directed toward the billboard, the man strikes the woman.

A Hole New Take On Breakfast Treats

Okay, a biscuit hole from Hardees does not sound like anything I would ever want to eat. However, that aside, I found these videos highlighting the name and the shape of this morning breakfast treat, quite hilarious.

Hardees, unlike many food establishments, refreshingly does not take their product too seriously. In fact, they go out of their way to make fun of it. They've created a website entitled nameourholes.com. And as you'll see in the videos below, they welcome your not-so-tasteful discussion of their biscuit holes. Although crass, I like how Hardees gets people thinking about and engaged with their new product. In fact, I'm trying to come up with a clever name for them right now.