This campaign for Tippex from The Jupiter Drawing Room poses the question “What if Tippex could work for every mistake we made?”
Surprise. Delight. Entertain.
The web delivers what ad land seems to have forgotten writes Mandy de Waal. Thanks to Rouvanne van den Berg for the heads up on Muti which led me to an awesome international online store. As I clicked through to Hema, the Dutch online store I was surprised. Amazed! Then entertained. It made me start to laugh. It made me feel: “Damn. I want to shop at that shop!” Not because the products are awesome or in anyway more special than products you could find online locally, it’s just that they clearly get how to connect in a way that is unique, distinctive and memorable.
The experience made me realize what I’ve always loved about advertising. How so much of traditional advertising locally seems to have forgotten that alongside informing, advertising needs to enthrall, captivate, amuse or perform some or other function of entertainment. In a bear market commercialism strides more strongly into the creative domain, and often creativity and connection is surrendered to the hard sell.
When last where you surprised. Delighted! Amazed. Entertained by an advert? How long has it been? Where did it happen? Chances are it happened online. As traditional media becomes more fraught by advertising inflation and brands demand more ROI for their spend chances a lot of the best work will move online because the medium is more democratic, responsive and lends itself more readily to creative engagement. And as it does, there’s a lot that it can teach traditional advertising.
Posted on Marklives.com by Mandy de Waal. Mandy de Waal is a former broadcast journalist who now writes for a broad range of local media. A columnist for MarkLives, de Waal microblogs at Twitter, vlogs at Zoopy and authors her own blog, Artificial Intelligence.
SA politics rebranded?
While the financial world faces what has been described as earthquake promising to re-align world markets a political earth-quake is shaking up South African politics since the Natal High Court ruling slamming President Mbeki for interfering with the prosecution of his rival Jacob Zuma. With rumours increasing that President Mbeki is about to be forced out of the presidency here is what South African media are reporting:
New party for Mbeki?
Rumours of a new break-away party for Mbeki supporters surface. Research shows an election today would a hung parliament if it broke from the ANC.
Business Day
President Mbete
Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete might become interim president if Mbeki refuses to resign.
Die Burger
NPA decision angers Zuma allies
The decision by the NPA to recharge Zuma caused Zuma allies to speed up moves to oust Mbeki.
The Times
Updates on Twitter as news reports come in.
Berners-Lee argues for humanity connected by technology
Berners-Lee argues for humanity connected by technology
Give the web back to the people. This is the essence of what Tim Berners-Lee, considered one of the fathers of the modern World Wide Web, said at the September 14 launch of the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C for short.
“When you think about how the Web is today and dream about how it might be, you must, as always, consider both technology and people,” said Berners-Lee. “Future technology should be smarter and more powerful, of course. But you cannot ethically turn your attention to developing it without also listening to those people who don’t use the Web at all, or who could use it if only it were different in some way.”
Noting that 80% of the world do not have access to the Web, Berners-Lee concluded that the web has been largely designed by the developed world for the developed world but that it must be much more inclusive. “Ultimately the Web should serve humanity,” he said.
To further this goal the W3C will focus especially on two key areas namely eGovernment services and the role of mobile technology in developing economies. But it is mobile technology that Berners-Lee sees real potential for change (see our story The end of the Digital Divide). Calling for world-wide collaboration, Berners-Lee again highlighted his original vision of the Web: humanity connected by technology.
You can track the Foundation’s progress on www.webfoundation.org.
Not quite Dunhill
Netnames and Envisonal are showing off fake brands spotted in China during this past Olympics. Check out Miokel (Mickey) Mouse, AEIPPIE (Apple) and the (oddly appropriate?) Pearlboy (Playboy).
Front pages from some Sunday newspapers
The Sunday papers suggest Mbeki is history.
The end of the digital devide
Definitions first. According to Wikipedia: “The term digital divide refers to the gap between those people with effective access to digital and information technology and those without.” This definition has its heart in the right place, problem is, this is an antiquated concept because, by and large, the digital divide is no more.
The digital divide is anchored in historical facts, through the last decade of the previous century and the first years of this one, digital existence was based almost inclusively on computers, PCs, laptops and similar devices. The first barrier was the actual technology behind the devices – processing speed, memory size, graphic capabilities, storage space etc. Then, crucially, the divide arose from the devices’ ability to connect to the Internet via an ISP. The third divide related to available bandwidth. There is no doubt that one could easily demarcate the divide between haves and have-nots.
Enters the cellphone.
The United Nations’ Population Division, which is part of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, estimates that by 2010 the total world population will reach 6.9 billion and by 2015 it will hit 7.3 billion. According to the Portio Research Mobile Factbook 2008, the current number of worldwide mobile subscribers is estimated around 3.5 billion. That number is set to reach 4.5 billion subscribers by 2011. Portio’s latest report estimates further that the number of worldwide mobile subscribers will reach 5.5 billion by the end of 2013 – this means that around the year 2013, 77.46% of the world’s population, will be mobile phone subscribers.
Let’s revisit our list of barriers to digital entry. 5.5 billion mobile phone subscribers will have no problem with processing speed, memory size, graphic capabilities and storage space, all of which are available on even the most humble handsets. Accessibility and bandwidth will be provided by the networks – allowing minimal access to internet resources. The combination of satellite technologies, international submarine communications cables and local capabilities should be able to guarantee at least entry level connectivity to most of the world’s cellphone subscribers.
With 74% of the world’s population using cellphones there can be no digital divide.
We need to address a potential challenges to my statement: Maybe the digital divide will simply realign itself along the fault lines between cellphones and the old Desktop / laptop guard, dividing the world between mobile have not’s vs. desktop / laptop have’s? The answer to this is obvious when looking at the massive realignment in the industry to realise that the move to mobile-universe is a no-brainer. Consider, for example, Nokia’s acquisition and subsequent release as open source of Symbian, Apple iPhone, Google Android and Google Chrome, the various Linux flavoured mobile OS’s and, of course, Microsoft Mobile Windows. There is no doubt that there is life after PC/Laptop.
If three-quarters of people on earth will have a cellphone, you can bet that they will be surrounded with ISPs, keen to provide access, handset sellers with a string of upgrades and networks with subsidies package deals and – most auspicious – content providers offering an endless stream of goodies – from text to social SMS to audio, to podcasts, to video, to the full Monty.
Those who keep banding that almost-dead horse of digital divide should web-Google “mobile web usage” and do a quick scan of the first 5 or 6 result headers –
1. Dan’s Blog (2.0) » iPhone Spurs Mobile Web Usage
2. Opera: Mobile web usage continues to rise worldwide
3. Mobile web usage grows nearly 30% in Q2
4. Mobile Web Usage Up 29 Percent; Carrier-Driven Traffic Continues…
5. Mobile Web Use Growing Faster than Ever
If this will not convince some of the digital divide diehards then, to quote old Queen Marie “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche!”
Rudy-Nadler Nir has been passionately immersed in all things digital for almost 20 years. Rudy has a Master’s degree in adult education and is currently researching digital communities for his PhD, with special emphasis on the way young adults use cellphones to create and sustain social networks. He blogs at ToingToing!
But has Zapiro gone far enough?
I read a very interesting story on Thought Leader saying Zapiro went too far with a cartoon in the Sunday Times showing Zuma supporters holding down a woman symbolising the justice system and Zuma unbuttoning his pants while being told to “go for it.”
“While Zapiro is entitled to use the metaphor of rape to highlight local misgivings concerning the attack on the criminal justice system, it is in light of JZ’s acquittal for rape tantamount to a rejection of the findings of a judge operating within the system he seeks to protect,” writes blogger Mike Trapido.
It gave me pause for thought, but only for a second, because the metaphor used here does not suggest Zuma being guilty of raping an individual, but rather suggests his allies are guilty of raping our legal system through the systematic attempted manipulation and intimidation of our courts. Zuma, through inaction, gives his blessing.
Zapiro asks how far will Zuma and his allies go in undermining our legal system for self gain and then suggests the answer. It is a legitimate if shocking comment on the current state of power politics in the country.
The question I find myself asking is has he gone far enough to shocking South Africa out of its comfortable complacency?
The Sunday Times smack down
The Sunday Times smack down has begun with all and sundry having something to say after the paper retracted its front page story on Transnet supposedly selling most off Table Bay to “foreigners” (‘Transnet sold our sea to foreigners‘- August 24, 2008).
Several quotes to sum up the general mood;
“The paper under Makhanya has lost its credibility, and it is time that readers become activists against gutter journalism and be vociferous in their disgust at the Sunday Times.” – Sentletse Diakanyo
“Never before, in its proud 102-year history, has the integrity of the Sunday Times been under so great a threat. Once again, it has had to retract a sensational front page lead story – this time about Transnet “selling out our sea to foreigners” that appeared last week, ironically on the same day the paper had to print an apology on a story it ran on the Land Bank.” – Chris Moerdyk
It seems that The Sunday Times has messed up big time. This is not as uncommon as you might think. Newspapers as diverse as The New York Times and The Guardian have had to retract major stories in the past. Cost-cutting in newsrooms and plain old fashioned human error are some of the factors that cause fact checking procedures to lapse. Yet these newspapers remain, and more than that, remain authoritative.
I found the Sunday Times headline in question distasteful given the recent xenophobic riots and as a result did not pick up a copy of that paper the week this story broke. Transnets reputation was tarnished (one would think Metro does a good enough job of that) by the story but their speedy response and engagement with the media prevented worse damage.
Getting it wrong is a risk in journalism but one that should be measured against the role a free media plays in the democratic process. The fact that the paper have stepped up and admitted wrong-doing is a positive step towards protecting its reputation. The Sunday Times will be more careful with its fact checking on major stories going forward but must remain a powerful voice against corruption and business and political excess in our country.
The multi-channel book of the future (today)
Lauren Beukes is a much admired journalist who has just released her futuristic debut novel, Moxyland, that plays out in Cape Town and is in her own words a hi-tech fable of the day that “corporate apartheid separates the haves from the have-nots.”
But the really interesting aspect of this publishing venture is the multi-channel approach Beukes took in marketing the book. Apart from the printed title and an album, she also produced an e-book, filled with hyperlinks, electronic bookmarks and even the soundtrack compiled in close collaboration with African Dope to suit the dark and gritty mood of the novel. The compilation, available in music stores and from online e-tailers features the likes of The Tone Deaf Junkies, Taxi Violence, The Real Estate Agents, Mix n Blend, Dank, Mr Gelatine and Jacob Israel.
Beukes even set up a women’s empowerment group in the Klein Karoo to create the cuddly toy that features on the book cover, and which is hand-sewn by the women the project employs.
“Writers have to think about multimedia, about finding ways of elaborating on their story,” says Beukes. “The world we live in isn’t limited to one format. It’s not about flashy gimmicks, but playing with possibilities. I’ve been incredibly lucky to find brilliant and innovative creative partners who were willing to run with a crazy concept.”
Beukes seem to have taken all the lessons from the Internet publishing and applied them to a very traditionally minded industry. The fact that a South African author have stepped so far beyond the expected is exiting for the local publishing industry and an indication of the resourcefulness of a writer well familiar with the opportunities available to somebody who won’t be bound by the status quo.