Happy Friday. Don’t forget to breath.

If you’ve had a rough week, try to smile, breath deep and take the weekend off.
Enjoy! @:)

Hate something, change something

Drawing inspiration from hate. That’s what Honda UK and Weiden and Kennedy hoped to achieve with an ad campaign launched in late 2004.

The premise:
Rather than introduce yet another diesel engine, a Honda engineer was inspired to break the conventional belief that diesel engines had to be noisy, dirty and lacking in pep.

The campaign:
Bring to market a campaign based on a core theme of Hate Something, Change Something. They raised the engineer, Kenichi Nagahiro, on a pedestal as inspiration to the masses that anything is possible if you hate it enough.

The creative:
Folksy, catchy song aired on radio weeks prior to the campaign launch. People actually called up radio stations requesting it. The launch included broadcast, a Web site and offline promotional giveaways.

I think this campaign lives up to the aspirations of any great work:
- Wrap a brand around a core theme.
- Identify a theme that everyone can appreciate (Hate/Change).
- Inspire and empower everyone to do something about it.
- Be infectious — spirit/theme/music.
- Have fun. Get into it.

I actually find myself humming the song and rewatching the spot just to motivate me. Plus I show it to others to motivate them, too!

I encourage you to check it out and perhaps get inspired…

• The Hate Something, Change Something Web site:
  http://www.honda.co.uk/change/
• Download and watch the :90 sec TV spot:
  http://media.honda.co.uk/campaign/change/ad.zip
• Press Release:
  http://www.honda.co.uk/news/cars/20040924.html
• The Lyrics:
  http://paultan.org/archives/2005/05/22/honda-diesel-engine-advertisement/
• Weiden & Kennedy London — The making of…
  http://www.wklondon.com/asp/download.asp?path=pdf/Making%20of%20the%20Honda%20Diesel%20ad.pdf

Like it? Hate it? Let me know what you think… Please post a comment.
-Roland

Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at Chaos365.com and AdMadMan.com.

©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.

Be a partner, not a vendor

The worst kind of client-agency relationship I can imagine in this business is to be treated like a supplier. Just sitting around and waiting for instructions. Then beg to get thrown a bone.

Keep it.

Try to position yourself as a marketing partner, with a vested interest in the success of your client’s programs. Keep an eye out for what your client’s competition is doing. Look for opportunities to cross promote the brand. Try to bring news to the client before they learn about it elsewhere. Eventually you will be recognized as being a valuable contributor.

-Roland

Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at Chaos365.com and AdMadMan.com.

©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.

“Be extraordinary”

Over the past 3 months I’ve been searching out interesting podcasts to listen to during my long commute. I have to give credit to Peter Levitan, President & CEO of Ralston 360, an advertising agency based in Oregon. I find his 20-30 min podcasts to be focused, relavant, educational and inspirational. Sure, it’s self promoting — great way to share their thinking and philosophy. But I find myself listening to them over again.

In episode 9 he talks about how taking chances, thinking big and asking your self continually “Are we being extraordinary?”. He also quoted Mario Andretti: “If it seems like it’s under control, your not going fast enough.”

Personally I felt charged up after listening to that. It happens too often that our own apathy or client’s apathy sets us down the safe, conservative path. How rare it is to see a client take a risk. But they wont if we on the agency side don’t keep chipping away at them.

Checkout what he Mr. Levitan has to say. Search the iTunes Podcast directory for “360View” and let me know what you think.

-Roland

Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at Chaos365.com and AdMadMan.com.

©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.

How to: Select a new camcorder

My digital camcorder died on me recently. I’m rather disappointed that a well taken care of JVC digital died in less than two years, while the Sony analog I beat up for 11 years is still running strong. With kid birthdays fast approaching I had quite a bit of research to do to understand the latest feature sets and consider what I needed for the near future. Here’s what I came up with.

Keep in mind a few things when considering a new camcorder:

1. How much are you willing to invest?
That includes buying SD card, spare battery, smaller carry case or any accessories you don’t already have like a new tripod or case. If you set your max budget at $500, then you can get decent video quality for a $400 camera and spend another $100 on the accessories.

2. Who will use it?
In my household it is mainly me. But if you have to share with wife/kids, think about how the camera might get abused — which might be a legitimate reason to reduce your max budget.

3. Where will you use it?
Many consumer reviews complain that sub $500 camcorders typically don’t perform well in low light conditions. They are right. BUT if you are smart about where and when you use the camera, low light probably wont be an issue. Take advantage of natural light. Turn all the lights on in a room indoors, even during the daytime. Pick a well lit part of the room and try to steer your subjects there. Plus, some camcorders have a built in light or a shoe for an external accessory.

4. Do you want to digitize your old analog 8mm or VHS tapes?
If you have past experience recording to 8mm, VHS, VHSc, those old family memories are slowly deteriorating and Do-It-Yourself digitization has never been easier. Consider a camcorder with an A/V input to allow you to transfer from VCR or anaolog camcorder to MiniDV. Once on MiniDV, import into your Mac or Windows movie editing software will be easy. The Canon Elura 100 is one of the few sub $400 cameras I could find that had A/V input along with decent performance features.

5. Embrace widescreen and watch movies the way they were meant to be seen!
I’m a snob when it comes to DVDs. Every movie in my collection has to be widescreen. If my child receives a kid movie in full screen, I’ll sell it on Amazon and replace it with the widescreen version. Widescreen television adoption is increasing and becoming more common place. So, get a camcorder that records real widescreen, not the fake full screen with black bars inserted at top and bottom. And be sure it has widescreen display because oddly some do not.

6. Don’t try to kill two birds with one stone.
Many camcorders now boast a 1.3 megapixel still camera capability. Popular advice still tends to be that you should invest in a separate, good quality digital camera. The camcorder still camera feature wont provide as high a quality as you can get from a dedicated digital camera. I carry both when I’m out with the family.

7. Don’t burn directly to DVD.
Sure camcorders with a built in mini DVD seems like a great idea — burn directly to a media that I can play in my DVD player without hassle. But many users complain that the video quality suffers.

8. Built in Hard Drives are cool, but expensive.
These will eventually make life much easier, but at this time it’s an extremely expensive solution.

Set your budget and stick to it. There are a lot of nice cameras available, but be practical and keep focused on your definitive needs.

My current favorite is the Canon Elura 100 MiniDV Camcorder.

Hope this helps. Good luck and let me know if this was useful.
-Roland

How to: Protect your TV screen from rug rats

I am blessed with children. But I am overly paranoid about how they will wreck my stuff.

When I “finished” my unfinished basement, I purposely designed shelves high out of reach for my CDs, DVDs, A/V equipment. When they figured out how to get at that stuff, I built a shelf almost 8′ from the floor for all the non-kid DVDs. Hey, DVDs are expensive!

TVs were another challenge. They need to be at a reasonable height from the ground so we don’t all strain our necks. But the screens were constantly covered with grimy, filthy, finger prints, yogurt stains and worse.

I’ve done variations on the following 3 times now and it helps me keep my sanity.

Solution 1 (assumes your TV is in an armoire or cabinet and costs about $25-$30)
Step 1 — Go to your local home improvement store. Find where they hide the plexiglass and Lexan panes (usually in a far, dusty corner). Lexan is more expensive yet harder to break and cut. I recommend plexiglass.

Step 2 — Buy a sheet of plexiglass that is as wide as the width of the opening for your TV and taller than the actual TV. Don’t be cheap and think you can live with seeing the top edge of the plexiglass running horizontally across your TV. It will annoy you.

Step 3 — Go to the area where they sell those big 4′x8′ sheets of plastic lattice. You should be able to find plastic u-shaped tracks that come in 8′ lengths. Buy enough to run down the left side, across the bottom and up the right side of your TV opening. Available colors are typically white, cedar and gray.

Step 4 — Cut your tracks to fit the opening and secure to the cabinet (pre-drill holes for small screws).

Step 5 — Measure and mark out how much to cut away from the plexiglass. Leave the protective plastic on either side to keep your surface scratch free. Lay it flat on a clean work surface. Using a straight edge (such as a 4′ metal ruler or one of the plastic tracks) and a sharp utility knife, score the plexiglass over and over again. Don’t apply pressure to cut or saw. Just repeatedly score the same line along the straight edge. Get a helper and together, gently push until you snap the plexiglass back. Then repeat the process along the other edge. When done, you might need to shave down some rough spots. Dry fit the plexiglass into your tracks. Don’t be afraid to bend it gently. If all fits well, pull the protective plastic off both sides, sit back and enjoy.

Solution 2 (assumes your TV stands alone with no enclosure and costs about $20-$25)
Step 1 — Go to your local home improvement store. Find where they hide the plexiglass and Lexan panes (usually in a far, dusty corner). Lexan is more expensive yet harder to break and cut. I recommend plexiglass.

Step 2 — Buy a sheet of plexiglass that is as wide and as high as the screen. Don’t be cheap and think you can live with seeing the top edge of the plexiglass running horizontally across your TV. It will annoy you.

Step 3 — Buy clear, plastic velcro. The kind used to hang E-Z Pass from your windshield.

Step 4 — Measure and mark out how much to cut away from the plexiglass. Leave the protective plastic on either side to keep your surface scratch free. Lay it flat on a clean work surface. Using a straight edge (e.g. a 3′-4′ metal ruler) and a sharp utility knive, score the plexiglass over and over again. Don’t apply pressure like you are cutting or sawing. Just repeatedly score the same line along the straight edge. Get a helper and together, gently push until you snap the plexiglass back. Then repeat the process along the other edge. When done, you might need to shave down some rough spots.

Step 5 — Cut and apply the velcro at each corner. Start with just the 4 corners and decide if you think you need more. This stuff is pretty strong. If all fits well, pull the protective plastic off both sides, sit back and enjoy.

I hope these suggestions help you. You’ll be amazed how much damage the plexiglass will absorb while your not around. Feel free to add your horror stories below about how your little angels destroyed your stuff.

-Roland