Entertainment

We’ve made a decision to stop publishing on Marktd. Despite making changes to focus on the creative/marketing ideas sister site of PSFK.com, we are still unhappy with the quantity and quality of the site.

Marktd started life as a subscription site called IF! which offered ideas to marketers about how to promote their products in a fresh, modern way. It was fairly successful and we got a good number of people pay the $25 subscription - but we felt that the subscription stopped it being read by a large group of people. A few months back we decided to stop the subscription and relaunch the site as Marktd. Since then interest in the site hasn’t really picked up. I would suggest that this is because of a number of reasons:

* We just aren’t that interesting in marketing and advertising. Personally it’s been 7 years since I had a full time job in advertising and the longer time goes on, the less interest I have in the field. Combine that apathy with the fact that only one or two of the regular writing team have ever worked in advertising.

* Many of our readers who work in marketing and advertising don’t seem to be that interested in only reading about marketing and advertising.

* When we do find exceptional marketing ideas that we are interested in, they tend to end up on PSFK.com anyway.

* We launched Marktd because IF! just wasn’t good enough. We’re closing Marktd because the site just didn’t meet our standards.

Maybe one day we’ll think about relaunching it - maybe with a sponsoring partner. From today, the Marktd email newsletter and RSS will change to PSFK content. We’re hoping that the existing Marktd readers will get even better creative ideas content as a result.

Thanks,

PF

We’ve heard a lot of brands wishing to ‘own’ music recently, and we always get a bit, well, annoyed about it, because music belongs to people and persons, not brands. And the only thing brands should be trying to do in terms of music are those bandied-brand words, ‘facilitating’ and ‘enabling’. Ruby Pseudo’s team in the UK did a focus group recently where - in six minutes - the kids named 44 brands they saw as being part of the whole music “thing”, either in a good or an appropriate way.

Our results? The same brands kept coming up. As an overview:

• Network brand 02 was mentioned by over 65% of the respondents. That’ll probably go up too since they’ve brought all the Carling venues (isn’t it a bit like when Reebok brought Thierry Henry and everyone was like, um, he’s a Nike guy?)
• Virgin also occupied front of mind, and was cited by over 45% of the kids.
• Carling (for the time being) took bronze with 35% of respondents calling it out as being appropriately involved with music (Reading Festival and the like)… Diesel was also a runner-up with 25% calling out the denim brand as having a finger in the fat music pie (Diesel New Music Awards).

Overall, the notable brands mentioned in their respective categories:

• Broadcasters: C4, BBC, M&V
• Food & Drinks: Carling, Innocent, Coca Cola, Becks, Red Bull
• Fashion: Nike, Oxfam, Diesel, Adidas
• Network Providers: 02, Virgin, Orange, T Mobile
• Mobile Phone Brands: Sony (25%), Nokia (10%) Samsung (5%)

Some useful quotes from respondents:

‘They had a guitar hero tent at Reading, I thought it was amazing, the best thing they could’ve done. There were like loads of geeks playing and really getting into it and they were giving away free t-shirts and there were competitions.” Libby, 16

“They had a Duracell tent at Reading as well, something about lasting longer, some music tent, can’t really remember.” Jamie, 21

“They made a digital map at Glastonbury so you could navigate around and find the best places to get drunk and listen to music!” Tarik, 18

“As for Orange RockCorps- absolutely love that idea - it has the level of exclusivity that will interest and provoke youth into volunteering- genius.” Leonie, 21

‘Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel…’

“I did the orange RockCorps thing the other day which is so good for people our age who might not be able to afford tickets for gigs or they might be sold out by the time we get the money together. So many people turned up to the community service I went to that they didn’t have enough tools for us!” Jay-Ann, 17

[article originally appearing on Ruby Pseudo Wants a Word]

On last night’s episode of The Simpsons, Springfield was graced with the appearance of a fake Apple store, known as Mapple.  The iconic cube store appeared in cartoon form complete with MyPods, MyPhones, MyCubes and an appearance by Steve Mobs reminiscent of the 1984 commercial.  Should Apple take offense or is satire is the sincerest form of flattery?

[via Laughing Squid]

Team PSFK are pleased to announce our second book! At this time of year we’re supposed to produce a trends report for 2009. When we all sat down and chatted about it, we thought such a report would be so gloomy and rather depressing. We didn’t want to write about things like ‘trading down’ or ‘discreet consumption’! We wanted to talk about all the inspirational ideas we read and write about every day, we wanted to spread the positivity, we wanted to encourage you to re-ignite the world. Honestly.

So we created Good Ideas In 2009. The 80 page click-to-print book features nine Good Ideas and manifestations of them. We write about design, mobile, collaboration, digital, social media, the long term and much more. Click through to the Blurb site and you can get a sneak peek.

The books are $50 for the softback and $60 for the beautiful hardback. If you’re considering buying reports for your company or just books for your coffee table, we ask you to consider Good Ideas In 2009. We’re rather proud of it. We hope it inspires you yo make things better.

Good Ideas In 2009

This is the latest work by Robert Burden, an artist most known for his beautiful (and huge) paintings of toys. Previous themes include Mattel’s BattleCat and a Foot Soldier from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This particular work is called “Defensor Mundi” (Defender of the Earth in Latin) and depicts a triumphant Voltron, standing 11 by 7 feet tall. Burden spent a year working on it and we’re truly impressive to see an artist that can pursue a vision with such dedication. The entire process of this oil-on-canvas piece was captured with this time lapse video:

[via Make]

Dido is back with her latest album, and this time she’s decided to make it, resounding with the title of the album (’Safe Trip Home’), a true journey for her fans. Over the last month, Londoners might have noticed a number of cryptic posters around tube stations. The posters end by asking the viewer to google terms like ‘Lady Landfill’ or ‘Mother lay-by’ - essentially a range of words linked to the songs on ‘Safe Trip Home’, the album. Visiting the website for the album takes you to a number of videos based on cities around the world - Rio, Mumbai, and London for starters. The videos are short films, each set to a different song from the album, made by film directors that Dido contacted. When you view a film and share your thoughts on it, it creates a mood palette that will influence the mood pools around each film on the globe at the center of the site’s menu. There is also a Facebook group for the album. 

It is interesting to see how more musicians, like brands, are embracing social media to market their work. Careful and innovative execution is key, and this one certainly has been executed in keeping with those guidelines. 

Nothing ruins an outdoor concert or film screening quite like sitting on the grass for hours, hunched over like a barely opened mollusk shell.  But with the GreenSeat, sore backs are now a thing of the past.  Made from corrugated cardboard, the chair is a cheap, recyclable way to alleviate long episodes of sitting.  At this point, it’s been pitched primarily to eco-friendly audiences, but considering that the chair’s construction offers great potential for advertising placement, we can only hope it will be popping up in venues worldwide.  The simple all-in-one design incorporates a seat cover and handle and when not in use, lies completely flat.  It’s one of those ideas that are so innovative it begs the question, why didn’t we think of that?

[via TrendOriginal]

Coming off of our post about the most creative business cards, we now present a collection of the most eye catching movie posters of all time.  Smashing Magazine provides us with their selection of 50 Beautiful Movie Posters.  The list includes some obviously iconic posters like Star Wars or Forrest Gump, but it also recognizes modern classics like The Dark Knight and Grindhouse.  Many recent movies pay homage to the classic simplistic styles, but it is clear that artistic form can mark distinction in a sometimes overcrowded and forgettable market. It’s nice to know that innovative graphic designers will always have a place in the movie industry.

[via ISO50]

As technology like TiVo or internet streaming enables individuals to avoid advertising, the industry has sought ways to sneak into the shows themselves.  The moral dilemma of corporate control was often dodged during the age of record viewers, but as television budgets tighten and viewers seek alternatives to the tube, network execs push product integration into the plots themselves.  While this long hated practice is often fought by the writers and actors, it is arguably an inevitable development in our favorite characters’ lives.  Tina Fey mocked product placement on 30 Rock, but it was in response to actually needing the advertising money for production.  NY Magazine writes about the complexity of the issue and the surprising twists behind the scenes to successfully integrate products into plots:

It is indeed possible to create subversive comedy that also sells Yarises. On most TV series, brands are woven indiscernibly into each plot twist—while on others they are referenced openly, with tremendous finesse, because there’s no longer any distinction between what’s funny and what moves the needle. Characters are designed as shills or consumers from day one. Shows themselves are brands, actors are brands, and so are songs and sodas, and these entities link and detach with the elegance of acrobats. No one will see a distinction between a scriptwriter and a copywriter—least of all an audience member—because that frog has boiled beyond recognition.

[via New York Magazine]