one part truth, two parts mixer

Think geek

It's quite sad, but I genuinely enjoy reading call log reports from call centres. In fact, I love reading any customer feedback/complaints about my clients. It struck me today that there's so much information that you just don't ask for from your clients, but is really helpful to have. That is one of my new planning resolutions, to ask for these things so I can know as much as I can.

TOV

That used to stand for Trouble on Vinyl until I got a job in marketing. Now I hear it and I think 'tone of voice' - how things change.

So, there's a tone of voice, championed by brands such as Innocent - you know, the quirky, colloquial, affable, lovable and eminently human tone of voice that set brands like Innocent or Ben & Jerry's apart from the corporate norm of the time. I've noticed that over time it has become the de rigeur way of talking for brands. Even the banks are at it:

 

At what point do we become totally cynical about this type of language? At what point does it become ineffective because we just read it as marketing speak? Does this ever happen?  

Oi Sainsbury's, NO!

Pain au chocolat for petit pains? Chinese-style pork (sounds disgusting) for lamb cutlets? These are two of the replacements made by Sainsbury's in my online shop today. Non-sensical, annoying. Can I please have a button on the online shop that says 'if you don't have what I want, then don't bother' or some sort of option to suggest a replacement myself?

Predicting the future

Surely we should just be reading science-fiction? I was thinking about how so much of classic science fiction has now become reality, and was wondering if a lot of things that scientists try to make are influenced by things that creative minds (painters, authors, thinkers, etc) come up with.

One thing that comes out of Ken Robinson's brilliant talks about education is how we as a society do not place enough merit on creativity - it always takes second place to traditionally respected subjects. Robinson talks really eloquently about changing definitions about what creativity encompasses so I won't waffle on here, but thinking about how imagination shapes what is possible seems pretty relevant. I'm not saying all possibilities come from creative minds - the best scientists think creatively - but the collective imagination, a creative pursuit, is what drives innovation.

Actually, I'm not sure exactly what I'm trying to say, apart from the fact that creativity is key to innovation. If we don't push our imaginations to the limit then we can't push our achievements. So we should definitely nurture and respect it more.

Conceptual consumption

Ah, the hangover from working in trends - I can't help but love a good buzzword. Came across 'conceptual consumption' in this paper by Dan Ariely and Michael I. Norton. It's short and worth a read, but most of the content has been written about elsewhere.

One thing that really interested me was an idea about how memories influence our consumption; they cite the phenomenon 'whereby people who have truly enjoyed an experience, such as special evening out, sometimes prefer not to repeat it'. On the surface it seems counter-intuitive to how we consume experiences, but Ariely and Norton go on to explain that 'by forgoing repeat visits, they are preserving their ability to consume the pure memory - the concept - of that evening forever, without the risk of polluting it with a less-special evening'. Actually, when you put it like that, we've all been there. Coupled with the amount of repeat visits that haven't lived up to the first that we experience as consumers, it poses quite an interesting question for the entertainment and hospitality sectors in particular. Is this an argument for consistency? It's widely held that the restaurants in the Caprice Holdings stable don't stay on top of the popularity charts for their amazing food, but rather the consistency of quality and service ensures a good time every time.

Blessed are the children of the hip hoppers

And other vinyl afficionados. I was thinking the other day about which items of my wardrobe would be valuable to future generations and which items would be laughed out of the 2040s. That is the nice thing about clothes: their physical nature allows them to have a shared history through generations, like most other physical things that have cultural significance (everything?).

But in 2040, or even in 2020, discovering your parents music collection is going to be scrolling through a list of digital files. I just wonder how that tilts the act of discovery and it's meaning. Whole generations won't have a physical, tangible discovery of things like music. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, just interested in how it's different. Especially because clothes and furniture and the like will still hold that mystique.

I'm a bear too

I don't know why, but receiving this made me really happy. Best email comms ever.

Actually, as I'm doing my inbox roundup, I also saw this which I thought was very cute:

Vouchers and hiding

Was at the Future Foundation's Changing Lives conference last week. A couple of things struck me as particularly interesting, so I thought I'd share.

Firstly, the idea that for brands that have been discounting heavily in these dark times (just wanted to say that) consumers will continue to expect these discounts once the recession is over. How do Pizza Express et al justify a premium post-recession? Will they have to be voucher restaurants forever?

Secondly, Nik Shah said something about one of the possible outcomes from widespread take up of GPS enabled phones: retailers cluster their stores together so that people know where to go. If your phone can tell you all the businesses in the local area (with ratings, vouchers, images of stock), then does it remove the disadvantage of being on a winding backstreet? Been thinking about this sort of stuff a lot recently.

Quality

Nothing like sticking it to your rivals with a cheeky bit of outdoor. Shame they probably still won't make Europe.

via The Telegraph via pitschslap

Straw poll

What would be worse: losing all your material possessions or losing all your digital possessions?

I dreamed that the internet died and I couldn't access Flickr. It was a horrible dream. I think I'd miss my digital possessions more. Not so much the del.icio.us links, but the emails and photos. But then I've worked so hard to build up my library and wardrobe. Maybe tomorrow I'll start cataloguing everything I own in fear of fire. At least then it will live online forever... unless the internet dies!

Can you tell that I'm a very, very anxious person?