socialstructing: statement of social currency
The above artifact, a "Reputation Statement of Account," was designed by Jason Tester, a researcher and a designer at Institute for the Future, as a part of the 2004 Ten Year Forecast.
the new wave is open collaboration
A recent article in MIT Sloan Review has posed the question whether one's firm should embrace it or not.
What, though, I admired most about the post was that the authors, Bougreau and Lakhani, addressed the topic of business models.
What's the Business Model?
Whether a company's product is a computer operating system, a social network, a motorcycle, a kitchen appliance or even a board game, the decision to open it to external innovation means that the product will be transformed into a platform. And to generate revenues from that platform, executives need to think about the nature of the accompanying business model.
I could not have said it any better. This is a question that is rarely neither confronted nor thought of by the recent Social Media scene.
I think we all do agree that there is no question that leading firms undoubtedly do adopt some form of open innovation, the article tackled however how to best position oneself in deciding which type of open innovation to select, whether it be " a collaborative community or a competitive market"
The answer however "... depends on three crucial issues," the article concluded.
Illustration: briantmurphy
Godin vs Gladwell on Anderson's Free
Although Chris Anderson may have 'mistakenly' referenced a few Wikipedia paragraphs without any citation, his argument of Free in his new book is still up for heavy debates and viraling across the web. My observation however has led me to a sort of a perplexed state in regard to Bruce Nussbaum of BW's coverage of the tiff between Godin and Gladwell's refute of Anderson's thesis.
Nussbaum says in agreement with Godin:
"I agree. That's always been at the core of capitalism-unique things or services we crave and pay for become over time commodities and cheap (almost free) and are replaced by new stuff, which we are willing to pay lots for."
His previous post however in regard to his anecdotal account of boomers loving their Kindle ended with an overly contrary support of Anderson's exact prediction and argument that "Tech is too cheap to meter..." What I do gather from Anderson's argument is that digital goods in essence will undoubtedly have a hard time at fetching a price.
Excuse me Gladwell, but a pill is not a digital good. It may be intellectual property, but its far from ones and zeros.
Illustration: Rodrigo Corral
stalk your clothes from seed to sold with Made-By track & trace
Photo credit: Made-By
A late-morning tweet by @ecofashionista reminded me that it's been three years since we last checked in on Made-By, an independent, Amsterdam-based consumer label that encourages sustainable and ethical practices in the fashion industry through production-chain transparency. Made-By hits the big leagues Since 2005, the number of brands associated with Made-By has mushroomed from four to almost 30, including bold-face name.
via TreeHugger on 5/25/09
brand centric CEO's will rule
On a wet and windy Manchester afternoon in 2001, Sir Roland Smith, chairman of Manchester United plc, welcomed analysts and journalists alike to Old Trafford.
He introduced chief executive Peter Kenyon and sat down. Kenyon surveyed the room. His presentation was short and consisted of a single slide that summarised the club's fortunes: turnover up, operating profit up, dividends up. Kenyon sat down and David Gill, his deputy, rose from his chair and began a more detailed, hour-long presentation of the figures.
It was a typical presentation of preliminary results, the kind delivered by every mid-sized company once a year. Except for what happened next. Kenyon returned to the podium with a slide entitled 'Liberating the brand'. He discussed brand extensions, co-branding, and creating brand affinity and brand loyalty. He talked with vision, ambition, and most surprising of all, he talked like someone who understood branding.
Reviewing his years as chief executive at the club it is hard not to be impressed. The foreign tours to support merchandising and the alliances forged with Nike and the New York Yankees are evidence of shrewd leadership.
But they are not the reasons that led Chelsea to make their decision to steal him from United with a £2m salary. Kenyon, unlike almost every other chief executive in the UK (and many CEO’s in the US), is brand-centric.
Most chief executives utter the usual buzzwords on cue when it comes to brands, but most do not know the first thing about them. How could they? The vast majority of British chief executives have either accounting or engineering backgrounds. Most have managed to avoid any exposure to marketing and most hope their brief tenure at the top will continue that trend. But the world of business has changed. Branding has become the central activity for every major organisation. Branding drives human resources, organisational structure, new markets, alliances, corporate strategy, and the bottom line.
Much was made of the recruitment of Kenyon in the media. Many journalists saw it as the first evidence of the emergence of Chelsea as a genuine contender for United's position in the Premiership.
But the significance of Kenyon's move went well beyond the relatively inconsequential world of football. A new generation of chief executives is about to emerge. Their knowledge of production and accounting systems will have been learned in a matter of weeks from a course in executive education. Their knowledge of branding will have been forged from several years of direc t responsibility for building, sustaining and protecting brand equity.
As the first truly brand-centric chief executive, Kenyon is very well placed. He has managed to build an amazing personal brand. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich should be pleased with his hiring, but he must exercise caution. Football clubs may grab the headlines, but in financial terms they are relative minnows. There will be a lot of big companies looking for brand-centric chief executives over the next few years and Kenyon's brand has yet to be fully stretched.
via Branding Strategy Insider by Mark Ritson on 6/15/09
will you pay $195 for an organic cotton tee?
Photo credit: Gucci Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Sergio Rossi, Bottega Veneta, and Yves Saint Laurent are going green, according to Vanity Fair—well, sorta. Call it a case of "brand synergy;" the Gucci Group fashion houses are presenting their high-end interpretations of sustainable style, if only to promote Yann Arthus-Betrand's epic cinematic outing about the state of the planet, which happens to be sponsored by the brands' parent company, PPR.
Home, which expands upon the aerial-photographer-turned-filmaker's groundbreaking "Earth from Above" photo project, will premier on World Environmental Day on June 5—in 14 languages and in over 87 countries—across every conceivable medium simultaneously: movie theaters, television, the Internet, and on DVD, as well as at several public-viewing forums in New York, Paris, London, and Boston, including Stella McCartney's store in West Hollywood.
To mark this ambitious event, the crown jewels of PPR's fashion pantheon will be releasing limited-edition, eco-friendly goods that will benefit GoodPlanet.org, an environmental charity that Arthus-Betrand founded four years ago.
Frida Giannini, Gucci's creative director, flexed his design muscle with a $195 organic cotton T-shirt, branded with both Gucci and Home's logos in front and listing the 54 countries covered by the film on the back. Alexander McQueen has unveiled a $285 organic cotton scarf featuring a dying earth morphed into a skull, while Sergio Rossi will be introducing a stiletto shoe dubbed the "Eco Pump," made from liquid wood and vegetable-tanned leather.
At Bottega Veneta, customers who spend more than $1,500 at the label's Paris, Milan, and New York stores will receive an exclusive tote, and Yves Saint Laurent devotees can expect to see co-branded T-shirts, tanks, and bags in organic cotton.
via TreeHugger on 5/26/09
event: Mark Jenkins - purple splendor
Mark Jenkins’ work is one of the best examples of art in the streets that goes beyond the flat surface of a wall, but his installations accomplish much more than that. What they are is truly a fine example of how art out there should make people react somehow to what they see and not just entertain a few colleagues in the internet or amuse another “street artists” or Street art fans.
Jenkins sees public space as a battleground on which advertisers and artists are all competing for visual space. His illegal street art installations, human casts made from packing tape placed in public spaces around Washington, are designed to awaken passers-by from the comfort of their daily activities.
Ve.Sch
Schikanedergasse 11/3 , 1040 Vienna, Austria
http://www.xmarkjenkinsx.com/
Download vCal
via Vienna - unlike on 5/20/09
More
gundam turns 30, celebrates with the most awesome statue ever
Statue of Liberty? Striking, but a bit demure. Trenchcoat-clad Stalin statue in Gori, Georgia?
Iconic, but disheartening. Giant RX-78-2 Gundam statue at Shiokaze Park in Tokyo, Japan? Unquestionably badass.
The massive biped is currently under construction, part of a celebration for the 30 year anniversary of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series. When completed it will be full-scale, standing 59-feet tall, weighing 35 tons, and even shooting "light or mist" from 50 different points along its structure. All systems should be fully operational by July 11 -- hopefully soon enough to stop the forthcoming Zeon armada.
[Via technabob]
Filed under: Robots
via Engadget by Tim Stevens on 5/22/09
billion dollar notes
Zimbabwean notes for sale: $100 billion, $50 billion, $25 billion.
via CARPE DIEM by Mark J. Perry on 5/14/09
