Last week, various websites blocked off their content to protest the SOPA and PIPA bills - I’m sure you’ve all heard about it at this point. 

This video offers an alternative perspective on the matter. Will these bills encourage American creativity and innovation? Will increased intellectual property protection in the Internet, which has no formal governance, actually impact jobs in the United States, where most of the content is produced and hosted? 

Source: Subhash C. Jain. Problems in International Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, Joural of International Marketing 4(1), 1996, pp. 9-32. Discussed during lecture with Dr. James Agarwal, Haskayne School of Business, Calgary, AB, Fall 2011.

Increased IP protection leads to increased R&D relays because the information is protected. Doing so increases innovation within firms, and this trickles down for a better quality of life in industrialized countries. 

Weak IP protection leads to more information access, a lack of need for intensive R&D relays, more cost effective innovation, and which then leads to a closer gap between the industrialized and the developing countries. 

While I understand the Intellectual property needs to be protected and should be protected, the advent of the Internet changes things. It converges countries, minds, and capabilities to this community which drives innovation.

Take Wikipedia for example: it is a self-governed website that is a strict on copyright infringement. It’s turned to one of the best stepping stones to acquiring knowledge. (Yes, I don’t cite Wikipedia articles, but it sure is useful when you don’t know what something is! Like flamingoes. I didn’t know they were real until a few months ago!)

Yes, some content will be compromised and there will be lost profits. But until we find a better business model for the music industry (or any industry that could benefit from the internet for that matter), we can’t just censor everything - because hackers WILL find a way around it. They just will. So unless these hackers are also adequately rewarded for their efforts, this battle will keep happening. 

That’s just my thoughts on it. 

Sometimes, life doesn’t work out the way you want it to.

When you put aside comedic effects, mainstream movies don’t normally teach life lessons, but this one really resonated with me despite the fact that I wash my hair quite frequently. 

You can’t let life bring you down. Seize the day and stop feeling crummy about yourself, if you are - because there’s a whole world waiting out there for you. 

You just have to get out of your sweatpants and meet it.

jaymug:

WWF Print Ad - Forest

Abstract message: health is symbolized by the image of the lungs - and its deteriorating state induced by logging.

Very cool.

jaymug:

Silberman’s Fitness Center Billboard

Sleek, simple, clear. Message comes across easily.

Use of contrast is evident, also the humour appeal is going to entice potential consumers.

Swell.

P.

stutts:

Mini Cooper Car Halloween Costume

Copy reads “even your car is dressing up as something hot this halloween” Learn more here

Cool use of customization - yes?

Also, I guess that’s a show of brand loyalty… :D

emergentfutures:

World’s first pee-controlled video game opens in London bar

Developed by UK-based Captive Media, the high-tech urinals come with 12-inch LCD screens fitted just above them. Ads play on the screens until a punter approaches the urinal. Detecting that the punter is in position and ready to pee, the system then switches into gaming mode.

Full Story: Digital Trends

That stands for Pam’s Public Service Announcement. I know, it’s not the greatest title, but I have to tag these things.

I recently set up Disqus on here and I would absolutely love it if after reading/checking out a post, you’d leave a comment so that I don’t feel like an absolute tool updating this blog as if I was screaming into a void. Please?

Is it creepy that I know that there were 6 new people who looked at my page last week? Of course not! I’m a marketer, and Google Analytics is my best friend. Shh.

Now that’s out of the way - finals.

Where 6 weeks (sometimes 13 weeks) of material is crammed into two hours of your life and your future hangs in the balance. This is the time when excessive caffeine usage and overconsumption of junk food is perfectly acceptable.

I know I’m not the only one that going to be burning midnight oil, chugging energy drinks while trying to cram every little bit of information in our brains so we don’t get that dreaded mark that keeps us up at night, whatever it might be. I guess Uncertainty Avoidance is pretty high right now between post-secondary students. I mean, we’re spending so much on our education - and we can’t really afford to make it go to waste.. right? We want to live the rest of our lives, and this is a stepping stone. We can do this. We will do this. Like we do every freakin’ semester.

So to all students writing their finals - I wish you luck, and see you on the other side.

I discussed the O.B. marketing campaign last post: (here) and thought it was a genius Marketing tactic.

Alas, I stand corrected. 

One of the requirements for my Buyer Behaviour class entails a report and 20 minute presentation on a rising marketing phenomenon, including a definition, discussion from a marketer’s as well as the consumer’s viewpoint, and ethical considerations. One of the topics discussed was Viral Marketing. 

I mean, we all know what viral videos are. But just in case - here’s a Google screencap.

Anyway. 

The O.B. tampon ad fit the viral video standard as defined above. I mean, I found it on my Facebook News Feed and put it on three social media websites. If that’s not a bait for viral marketing, I don’t know what is. 

However, my classmates pointed out consumer engagement through the use of Youtube. O.B.’s video is hosted through their website and does not enable embedding into websites such as Facebook, Tumblr, etc. I asked the group presenting if privately hosting the video provides an advantage or disadvantage for the companies. Turns out, privately hosting the video might be a way of mitigating comments, it also limits consumer engagement and investment on the brand. 

Which leads me to pose this question: 

Would you rather have control over the conversation on your product, or would you rather have intense consumer engagement —

I’m trying to set up a Disqus account at the time of writing, so if that’s available - comment away. If not, my ask box should be up and running - thoughts are so welcome. 

P.

Awesome Out of Home media :)

breadpao: