Ponderlust

[laisaak2-blog]

My cultural month

No, this isn’t turning into what Seth Godin terms a ‘cat blog’. 

Music | Black Magic by Little Mix

Change Your Life, the band’s previous effort, was irritating in itself for the never-ending vocal embellishment, and by its association with House Rules, one of the many dime-a-dozen grating ‘Aussie Battler’ reality TV shows. Black Magic is much catchier.

While unrequited love as a theme is always going to be relevant, Black Magic’s supernatural subject matter feels a bit late ‘90s. Apparently The Craft is getting a remake, so I’m wondering if female teenage witchcraft is going to have a moment again. Imagine this: Rookie Mag’s brand of teenage girl adoration drives the trend, The Craft inspires a nod to goth fashion and girls are walking around in groups chanting “lick the star”...

TV | Black Mirror

Sad to say it but I binge-watched the last few episodes of Black Mirror, Jon Hamm Christmas special included, and now it’s all gone. I’m not easily hooked by TV, but I really did like Black Mirror - both in concept and execution. So what struck a nerve?

Ever-smarter technology is such a hot topic right now, at least from where I’m standing with one foot in adland. We’re all abuzz bringing virtual reality to the masses and speculating about how the Internet of Things will change the rules of play. We’re even getting in on the act and inventing stuff ourselves, like M&C Saatchi’s Tricky Jigsaw lab, responsible for Clever Buoy (Optus) and The Heartbeat Car (Lexus).

At the same time, it seems to be dawning on us that smart phones, with social media and internet at our fingertips 24/7 may not be such a fantastic thing...I’ve read at least three articles this past week (count ‘em: 1 (Sunday Mail - U on Sunday), 2 (Spectator), 3 (Guardian) advocating for self-imposed technology limits for sanity’s sake.

It’s this “codependent and contradictory relationship” with technology on which Black Mirror fixates. Dystopia’s always been a money-spinner for Hollywood, but this British effort (by Zeppotron) has a stronger impact, I feel, because the realities of its episodes feel like plausible futures from where we’re currently sitting. As this great review from the New York Times puts it, “It looks like a future we might actually inhabit, making the show a lot more effective as a critique of the tech industry’s trajectory.”

Film | Goodbye Lenin!

I also enjoyed myself immensely watching Goodbye Lenin! In German and starring Daniel Brühl, it’s the tale of a guy who creates an elaborate ruse to maintain the illusion that nothing’s changed in the German Democratic Republic for the sake of his ardently communist mother who fell into a coma and missed the fall of the Berlin Wall, and for whom the shock of seemingly overnight capitalism in East Berlin would surely bring on another heart attack. In a nutshell.

The entertainment value here is in the creative lengths to which Daniel Brühl goes to sustain the deception - they’re interesting and realistic; the little details you might not have thought of until in the situation yourself, God forbid. Moving too, are the story and performances, but I suspect a large wodge of our interest revolves around the peek we get into this no-longer existing place: East Germany. It’s a world I could only envisage blurrily, from a visit to Berlin’s DDR Museum and an amusing ‘Trabi safari’ some years ago. 

I guess it’s akin to the fascination we still hold for North Korea and the photos of daily life there that are circulated from time to time. We’re captivated by the idea of a place untouched by time and outside influences, no? Oppressive reality aside, it’s mysterious and quaint - from a cultural point of view. Goodbye Lenin! is a similar time capsule, but one we can open with the benefit of hindsight and sense of relief that we’re past that.

[laisaak2-blog]

What’s up with the judges on The Voice?

I sense something different about The Voice this year, and it’s not just Jessie J. 

I’m talking about all these unscripted moments in the first few episodes of the Blind Auditions! Like multiple judges leaping onstage to comfort an overwhelmed contestant, and Ricky inviting a ‘non-turner’ to pop backstage on his tour for the learning experience. Like the guitar player who was given precious additional screentime and asked to sing a second song - one of his own at that - while Delta ran into the audience to find his girlfriend. And let’s not forget Jessie J’s duet/impromptu lesson with a contestant on Beyoncé’s Work It Out. 

Judges be pitching hard for them contestants.

For celebrity judges on talent quest shows, it’s always been about reigniting their own careers by increasing their visibility and using the show as a vehicle for promoting long time coming new music. Hasn’t it? This offers an obvious but partial explanation for the amped-up pitching we’re seeing: the bigger the ‘big gestures’ they make, the more memorable they’ll be post-show. But contestants perform and judges opine, and the format of these shows has remained as such until now. It begs the question: why is the ‘us and them’ barrier repeatedly being crossed this year on The Voice?

Sure, this more relaxed, more improvised and big-hearted approach makes sense given the judges’ additional roles as coaches who will go on to form closer, ongoing relationships with the contestants. But I think the ‘big gesture in the public forum’ serves a different purpose. I think we’re just looking at an extension of the trend of accessible celebrities. You know, like how they are now able to talk directly to the masses through Twitter and Instagram and invite us to bake biscuits and play with cats together?

So okay, it might be a highly calculated strategy, but it does make for unexpected and sometimes deliciously awkward TV. And it should appeal to an audience of egalitarian Aussies who like their people true blue and down-to-earth. I think it’s a kind of genius. 

[laisaak2-blog]

Technology and Advertising and my two cents

Researching and writing for What Next each week at BCM, I’m continually on the lookout for technological innovation used to great effect in advertising. Surveying the landscape, I’ve begun to compile a list of the new technologies we’re increasingly seeing brands use to create distinctive experiences for people. 

Facial recognition technology, used to target a selected demographic (e.g. Astra Beer) or create an opportunity for audience involvement (e.g. Women’s Aid).

Augmented reality, used to provide a more immersive experience (e.g. Queensland University of Technology, National Geographic and others). 

Virtual reality, used to provide an intensely immersive experience (e.g. Patrón, Samsung, Dior).  

Drone technology, used for entertainment value (e.g. Pepsi, Cirque du Soleil) or to facilitate ad creation beyond normal limits (e.g. Patrón).

Finding this unfolding future of marketing fascinating, I recently started watching Black Mirror - a satirical series about the unanticipated consequences of new technologies and our “codependent and contradictory relationship” with technology and the media. Prima facie, Black Mirror may present a dystopia we hardly connect with reality; in truth, considering our current technology consumption and the rate of digitalisation, by process of extrapolation it’s not a stretch to see that world as the future we’re headed for. 

Sometimes my thoughts turn to ‘kids these days’ - those of Generation Z growing up during these fast-paced, technology innovation times, reliant on and familiar with a multitude of devices. Simply through repeated exposure and immersion, they’re learning technology by osmosis. Like absorbing a foreign language in your younger years, it comes naturally. These digital natives are fluent in technology, and sometimes it intimidates me! Me, who in my mid-twenties hasn’t had a smartphone or tablet for the entirety of my adulthood, let alone my formative years. When new ‘stuff’ comes out, I need to make the effort to pursue it and learn about it. 

In 1952, John Steinbeck wrote East of Eden and warned that the trouble with mass production was that “the mass method is bound to get into our thinking and eliminate all other thinking.” He advocated for the “free, roving mind” which he feared was being blunted and drugged. And he said this:

“Our species is the only creative species, and it has only one creative instrument, the individual mind and spirit of a man. And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world.”

It occurs to me that although I may not be learning in the same, instinctive way these kids are, one advantage I do have is critical thinking, that tool of adulthood; honed at university, maintained by curiosity and the deliberate choice to detach from 24/7 connectivity. And I realise this: beyond knowing the technology, continuously thinking in order to understand its effect on people and the significance of this - is something that can also be appreciated. 

[laisaak2-blog]

Did this Volkswagen ad lose the plot?

This week on What Next? (see below) I wrote about Volkswagen’s new commercial, exceptional chiefly because of its customisable length, a creative concept meant to reinforce the made-to-measure nature of Volkswagen’s trucks. I wanted to touch on a few more points about the ad here.

*

As I’ve said, creating a customisable ad like this is a discreet nod to the widely acknowledged fact that we live in the age of shorter attention spans. “A whole article? Can’t you give it to me in a list? Or better still, a video? Wait, I have to sit through an ad before that video? Skip dat shiz!” This isn’t the first time someone’s acknowledged that they know you’ll be itching to exit the ad before due course. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals got an ad last year using dark humour to encourage you to “keep watching or the puppy gets it!” (well, more or less). In both the VW and ASPCA ads, this acknowledgement of the viewer’s choice to stop or keep watching resonates with the advertised product and reinforces the key message. VW sells custom-made trucks. ASPCA wants you to give animals proper attention.

GEICO (an American auto insurance company) tried a different tack. Their ad crams the key product benefit into the non-skippable first five seconds just in case, then uses humour to entice the viewer to stick around for the rest. The end result is a memorable ad and by extension (hopefully), a memorable product.

Having discovered VW’s ad via PSFK, I knew what to expect prior to watching it. I would argue that experiencing this ad without a similar lead-up might not be as effective an exercise in persuasion, say you were the target audience or an acquaintance thereof - and that’s probably why the video comes with the following introduction:

The new Volkswagen Trucks film is custom-made for the story that you want to see. No matter how much time you have to watch it.

Until you get to the punch line (VW Trucks. Custom-made, just like this story. Also written, btw.) you’re watching a story about a pair of ex-lovers meeting up for the day - with nary a reference to trucks or any other vehicle in significant sight or sound. It’s interesting enough, although the protagonist’s unconventional (yep, that’s a euphemism) looks and stilted monologue may grate on you.

I think the “cascading script” could have been reworked into a less random story, and that VW could have conveyed a few more product benefits (subtly, of course!) than they have without diluting the point they’ve obviously wanted to make the most. Tell a story, for example, from the perspective of the truck’s driver, about the feel of the open road and the weird and wonderful things encountered while on it. ‘A Day On The Road’ could have easily worked as well as (and maybe even better than) ‘The Day I Ran Into My Ex’.

[laisaak2-blog]

From What Next? Issue 259 

[laisaak2-blog]

I’m Lauren, but known as La to some

Born in Australia and raised here too, as well as in Brunei. As an adult I’ve spent a year in Japan, a year in London and a year in Edinburgh.

Originally, I studied International Business, Japanese and French.

As regards work - well, there’s been the Japanese love hotels, the communal table of Le Pain Quotidien, academia, selling cashmere and fur to Russians and Chinese, the Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research, Legacy and a few others... It’s been a fascinating exposure to a variety of brands and cultural contexts. 

To switch off I swim laps, practise my bachata step for Zumba, read and accumulate trivial facts about the Soviet Union. Of course I like travel - the last place I visited was Hawai’i, and the next place I’d like to go is the U.S. mainland. 

I’ve earned my Honours in Marketing, and after a couple of false starts, have finally landed a strategic planning internship with a great advertising agency. (more)

[laisaak2-blog]

Meditations

On Thursday I caught one of the final performances of Cirque du Soleil’s Totem show in Brisbane. It was the first ‘Cirque’ I’ve seen, and I was suitably awestruck. Writing this post has been as much about trying to capture my impressions of the show as about squeezing every last drop out of that magical night. 

*

As my Planner brain took in Totem, I couldn’t help but speculate where the appeal lies. I was able to break it down somewhat. First and foremost, I reckoned the show appeals to our desire to exert mastery (from an archetype perspective). We observe the performers - the human body lithe, chiseled and at its peak strength and ability - and revel in a vicarious sense of risk-taking and accomplishment. Encountering the strange characters with their curious dress and mannerisms awakens our sense of awe; it’s like travelling and discovering fascinating new cultures. Humorous interludes between main acts provide entertainment value, while acts depicting love stories warm our insides and make us feel good about ourselves. The overarching theme of Totem, as the name suggests, is the “evolution of mankind”. Of course, it was meant to feel primal - and this prompted us to revert to a more instinctual mindset, facilitating our enjoyment of the movements and music.

Personally, my thoughts on the show relate to how it mesmerised me. There were the four unicyclists juggling silver bowls in perfect synchronicity, the twin Crystal Ladies spinning squares of glittering material at high speed on the tips of their toes, the intricate dance of the Amerindian and his hoops and the glittering figure of the Crystal Man who descended from the heavens, through the darkness, to proclaim the show open. From this first moment, the pounding music and hypnotic movements transfixed and suspended me in a state of wonder.

Being mesmerised is a form of escapism for the twenty-first century. It allows us to escape our lives, escape other peoples’ lives (that we’re now inescapably privy to), and escape the apparent physical limits of our world. There are, of course, other ways. You can book a retreat-style holiday, or abscond from normal routine and play hooky, for a start. Both methods have their merits. But to be mesmerised - in a darkened movie theatre, in front of a bonfire with the flames dancing close before your eyes, or under the Grand Chapiteau - is to be bewitched by rhythmic distraction, and it’s to clear your mind.