Two web sites that get it

I love the natural engagement these two sites support and promote:
Sub-Zero Wine
Nudie Jeans

Bombs, divorce ads, music recs and why I need to go to Japan

1) Bombs. I was headed to the bank to deposit a check tonight and I quickly realized an entire 8-block area had been roped off surrounding my bank. Granted, this was in Midtown KCMO and these things happen. But I was ticked and inconvenienced and mad as heck when I pulled up alongside a motorcycle cop and asked how I could get to US Bank. He said "unless you're the bomb squad you shouldn't go near US Bank." And then told me there was a bomb being dismantled. Hence the tape and police and cleared radius. Interestingly enough, this was not enough to gain real interest. The Kansas City Star has a piece though. I expected more after the shut-down killed rush hour traffic and, well, involved a possible bomb. I'm just saying....
2) Ford is being bold in a stupid way. I'd like to refer to their "Bold Moves" campaign as "How we court bankruptcy." The most controversial (and poorly executed) spot features a poor sap of a divorced dad who is allowed a weekend with his ex and kids (watch this spot on the Slate site). Then is dropped off with his duffel at his bachelor tri-plex while the mom and kiddos drive off in their Ford. Congratulations, Ford, for taking an important societal issue and completely dorking it in advertising. This is horrendous and only bold in its ignorance. One more reason I hope you fail as a brand.
3) On to a better subject: Music. Josh Ritter now has his "Girl in War" EP on iTunes. Go buy it. Or at least buy the songs "Harbortown" and the Modest Mouse cover "Blame it on the Tetons." Incredible. Speaking of Modest Mouse, check out Wolf Parade. I've also been listening to a lot of Athlete lately. Check 'em out.
4) My parents went back to Japan this summer and in turn provided a restock of my favorite Japanese snacks, beverages and expensive sake. The supply is running low though. I need a reason to return. Ideas are welcome, as are legitimate excuses for a work visa.

Listening to - Kate Earl, Fate is the Hunter. This is a great late-night disc to spin. Need a little more umph than Norah Jones? Spin Kate Earl. She's the love child of Bjork and Diana Krall.

Stop and smell the advertising

Not much time to post, but something worth noting caught my attention in this weekend's Kansas City Star. McDonald's hit a home run yesterday with its scratch-and-sniff newspaper insert promoting its new "premium roast" coffee. The fast food giant has advertised, promoted and talked its new coffee to death lately. I see little coupons everywhere. The ad promoted "free Mondays" in the KC area. However, all the advertising in the world - up to Sunday's - didn't help McDonald's communicate the most important thing:
The premium roast actually IS better than the swill they used to pour (we've all had it...hungover or in dire need of a cross-country perk).

Plus, they had to do this without relying on people coming in to physically try the coffee. Enter scratch and sniff coffee ad. It smells pretty good. And I'm a coffee snob. Scratch and sniff is nothing new, and often is used frivolously (think goatee'd creative shouting "we'll make it smellable!"). But this was the perfect execution for McDonald's needs. The Sunday morning paper insert was a spot-on vehicle to get into the target's world at the right time.

I'm sure there's crow in my teeth for saying this, but, nice work McD's.

Listening to - Guster, Keep it Together.

Total eclipse of the blog

I haven't blogged in a long, long time. I've been swamped lately with new biz and client projects. It's a good problem to have. However, I've neglected to blog on what has been an incredibly inspirational week.

Here is a smattering of things I've enjoyed since last posting:

MacKenzie Thorpe - attended the reception welcoming the artist to the Kansas City area. Thorpe will display huge sculptures in Mill Creek Park this fall. I was especially impressed with his range in media - from life-sized public art sculptures to pastel work (he uses his own pigments), Thorpe captures raw human emotion in each piece. I am looking forward to the installation of his sculptures.

Schuyler Fisk - dang, this girl can sing. And write. First discovered Schuyler through her beautiful song, Paperweight, on the Last Kiss soundtrack. Schuyler wrote Paperweight, which is performed on the soundtrack with Joshua Radin.

Little Miss Sunshine - saw this on Friday and laughed my way through the entire film. Go see this wonderfully-written movie - even if you're just going to see Steve Carell prove his acting worth a hundred times over.

Hotel Lights - I've bounced between Hotel Lights and Last Kiss for a week now. Love it.

Barclay Martin - I've seen the Kansas City native a number of times in as many types of venues, but hearing him play this week at the very happening JP's Wine Bar was amazing. Martin had his ensemble (filled with talent) with him to support his jazz/folk/pop tunes. He even rocked out on some salsa that incited equally-talented dancers to endorse the sound. If you're able to see Barclay play - whether solo or supported by his ensemble - you won't be disappointed.

John Fogerty and Willie Nelson's Long Road Home Tour - I received a couple free tickets a few hours before last night's concert. I couldn't have felt more lucky. Seeing Nelson live is a lesson in the old-timey love for the art of performing. Fogerty delivered an energetic set filled with Creedence favorites.

Whew - I think that's about all I have.

Listening to - Magnet, The Tourniquet.

A novel game of tag

I was tagged by Joel Mathis, of Cup O' Joel. I'm honored, Joel. Sometimes blogger-to-blogger tags can be sort of lame, but I dug this one. All about books. The tag game works like this: blogger tags five people to respond to a series of questions, new blogger tags five more, etc. I enjoy seeing the different sides of bloggers I read through topics on which they might not normally post. So here goes.

1. One book that changed your life.

American Dreams: Lost and Found, Studs Terkel. I read this during my senior year of college and it helped me bridge the gap between journalism and the writer I was hoping to become, while opening my eyes to the real world I was about to enter. This book is filled with hope, guts, trials and shows the true hearts of Americans who are chasing their own dreams.

2. One book you have read more than once.

Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor. Keillor was the reason I started focusing on fiction writing in college. I wanted to be just like him: radio show, novels, columns, red socks. I still have a framed picture of the two of us on my desk at home for inspiration.

3. One book you would want on a desert island

The Bible. It may sound cliche, but seriously, I've always wanted to read this from cover to cover and truly digest the contents. Also, when I'm found by a fishing boat, and a news story breaks the wires, I'd rather be known as the bearded survivor who relied on spear fishing and the Gospels than the bearded guy with an airport-purchased Grisham novel in his hand.

4. One book that made you laugh.

Naked by David Sedaris. Closely followed by Me Talk Pretty One Day. Line-by-line laughs. Sedaris is an amazing storyteller and comic wonder.

5. One book that made you cry.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I'm not sure I actually shed a tear, but it was the most heartwarming, heart-tugging book I've read in a long while.

6. One book you wish you had written.

Independence Day by Richard Ford. This is an amazing book - won the Pen Faulkner and Pulitzer in the same year. The first book ever to do that. To truly invest in the characters and storyline, read The Sportswriter first. I had the privelege of meeting Ford at a writing conference and hearing him read a few short stories - also wonderful reads.

7. One book you are currently reading.

Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman, by Yvon Chouinard. Yvon is the founder of Patagonia. I'm in awe of his business sense, however "reluctant" he claims to be...he was successful by doing the right thing. Plain and simple. It's a great blueprint for any company and all managers.

8. One book you have been meaning to read.

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. If I had a doller for every person who has recommended this book, I'd have at least five bucks. I just need to buy it. And read it.

Five bloggers I'm tagging.

Mason
Risley
Caroline
Jenne
Sara

Listening to - Cat Power, The Greatest.

Sandi Thom: the social-media-savvy songstress

Ever heard of sing-songwriter Sandi Thom? I hadn't until one of my clients gave me an article he'd torn from Toronto's Globe and Mail on her incredible rise from unknown artist to U.K. chart topper. How'd she do it? In part by streaming video of "gigs" she taped in her basement to Myspace.com. Yeah, she gets it.

By using her talent, a webcam and the Internet, she increased her audience by thousands and in turn generated quite a bit of buzz, which launched her into the forefront of some very important minds. She's signed with RCA records, is playing sold-out shows in the U.S. and as I said, enjoyed the high life atop the U.K.'s singles chart.

Her story is remarkable to me for this reason: she found a new way to raise awareness. Myspace is still the hotbed for discovering new bands. It's an accelerator for artists to network, be heard and connect with potential listeners. Myspace has successfully enhanced many bands' careers in a short time. Sandi was able to see that hotbed and add another layer to it - simple, fun performances uploaded to grab attention and showcase her music.

The Globe and Mail touches on the controversy surrounding these efforts, in short, whether she's legitimately talented or the buzz alone elevated her to recognition. I don't believe that's the true discussion we should have about Sandi Thom. It's her utilization of social media and awareness of how to attract attention that is most important. And yes, being able to back up a marketing-savvy idea with the talent she does posses is even better.

A first-hand account of the Heathrow mess

My buddy Tango posts on his experience flying back from the UK during the terror debacle. I have my political views. I have my social mores. But reading stories like this and watching news unfold of the foiled terror plot and such U.S. debacles as the Hurricane Katrina response, I'm truly scared that the people who should have plans, resources and the talent for dealing with crises simply do not. Reading Tango's post is like a horror novel for anyone in PR. What if Virgin Atlantic was your client? Heathrow? The big brands sold to passengers who had to dump them in trash bags along security checkpoints?

Much of the responsibility of being a public relations counselor is providing foresight for clients. Proactive strategy. It pains me to think that some of the most sensitive, human and dangerous environments in our world can be completely disabled due to events (hurricanes, terror plots) that could have been better prepared for ahead of time.

Tango dealt with his situation better than I would have, surely. I can only imagine what my blog post would have included after dealing with what he did.
Listening to - Aimee Mann, The Forgotten Arm.

Benefits of blog-savvy PR

Josh Hallett posts on Nikon's PR team's smart eyes and quick reaction to his previous post on their products. There's a lot of Nikon love in this one influential post, sure, but it was earned by a brand that monitored the conversation and engaged an influential. Kudos.

Listening to - Modest Mouse, The Lonesome Crowded West.

Holy crap, I wrote you love notes in 3rd grade!

It's Friday, I'm going to deviate from the normal Woolard Speak topics. Stay with me here. I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Cup O' Joel this morning and was intrigued by the discussion that followed on journalistic ethics in regard to a L.A. Times story on Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis (no, I'm not giving you a hot link to the GGW site - Woolard Speak has its standards). Anyway. I read the L.A. Times story then hit the accompanying photo gallery to get a visual of this man, who I consider a complete slimebag on a range of levels. It's Friday, I'm drinkin' coffee, I'm scanning photos of a party I'd never be invited to. And then I see a picture of a very familiar girl with Francis (slide 10, blonde on the left side) and realize, "That's Paige Peterson! We had a thing in elementary school!"

To clarify our relationship, we were in child theater productions together. Took community theatre acting classes, etc. This was also known as my "Blackmail Period" out of which many videos were produced showcasing my talents in singing Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" and performing as various toys in Christmas pageants. I had a mondo crush on Paige. We had a thing that might have involved holding hands or possibly drawing a heart on a piece of notebook paper. We were basically soulmates (I surely hope my sarcasm is being picked up here).

Anywho...I ran into Paige a couple times later in life: at a movie theatre, in my place of college employment (Eddie Bauer) in Lincoln, NE where we both moved as freshmen. And I learned she was trying to make it big in Hollywood as an actress/model. She's obviously not ugly and from what I remember from "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," one heck of an actress. And when I saw her on Scrubs, I knew she was actually "making it" in the biz.

So, when I saw her in the article's photo album, I did a quick Google search of Paige Peterson and was surprised by the extent of her fame. From Scrubs to Sisqo music videos! I can end my week knowing that at least one of us aspiring community theatre actors rose from the stage of Liberty Hall to the set of Hot Chicks. Pretty cool stuff. While Paige may have an entire IMDB page devoted to her success, my parents have a VHS tape of me repeating "If you wanna make the world a better place/take a look at yourself/and make a change!"

E-mail content blogging disclaimer

John Moore's post on the topic of e-mail signatures including blog posting disclaimers interested me. I'm posting on it in the hope of spreadking the discussion, as it definitely relates to my industry and my interest in social media. Wonder if this will become a normal part of organizations' disclaimers/e-mail sigs in the future...if blogs and social media vehicles truly become the power we're seeing them seek, it's not an abstract idea.

John's post:

I’m receiving more and more emails with auto-signatures from people (mainly media folk) that tell me if the email thread is bloggable or not. These auto-signatures look like this:

this email is: [ ] bloggable [ ] ask first [X] private

Anyone else seeing a surge in such auto-signatures?

Listening to - Madeleine Peyroux, Careless Love

Divining inspiration

I'm always humbled by exactly when inspiration arrives and from where it comes. I've been working pretty hard on my music lately - writing, rewriting, messing with the amateur recording program my Mac provides. I took a disc of about six songs to my cousin's a couple weeks ago (he's an amazing drummer and has built a recording studio/practice space in his home) and got much-needed direction. I'm headed to Lawrence Sunday to actually lay some notes down with him, a process I'm a little freaked out by.

I finished writing a new song last week and have since tried unsuccessfully to pair it with an appropriate guitar part. Last night was especially frustrating, as I got absolutely nowhere chord wise with lyrics I really love. It wasn't until this morning, during my regular group run, that I got a tune stuck in my head. I hummed it all the way home, grabbed my guitar and landed on just the right chords. I played the song over and over again to make sure it was somewhere near cohesive. I can't get home soon enough today, to continue working.

I write this because I'm sitting at my desk trying to put together some talking points for a client and have a serious case of writer's block. I hate when this happens. But I believe writer's block - or any creative sandbag for that matter - is just the brain's way of telling us to stand up, do something different, engage your eyes in a new way. Unpinch the nerves and let some new ideas flow. Blogging helps. So does juggling. And my wind-up sushi toys might do the trick....

Listening to - Rogue Wave, Descended Like Vultures.

Praise for the Moleskine notebook

I've carried Moleskine notebooks in my pockets, backpacks, bags, glove compartment, etc. since college. I discovered them at a little store in Lawrence, KS and have since filled numerous styles and sizes with random thoughts, song lyrics, sketches, parts of ideas and phone numbers (so much classier than plugging a number into your cell phone).

One of my favorite blogs, Church of the Customer, has a great post on the beloved Moleskine and how it rose from the dead to become one of the most loyalty-commanding brands in the creative world. Sit in an ad agency brainstorm and you're sure to see a couple (more than likely different styles even) on the table. Fresh off an acquisition, I hope Moleskine will choose to stay the course and continue inspiring its artistic evangelists (and listening to their conversations).

Go get yourself a Moleskine. Keep it close to the flesh and fill it with whatever your brain commands. For inspiration, see this awesome Flickr community, devoted to the notebook and check out this blog, Moleskinerie.

Listening to - Chromeo, She's In Control. They played a funk-tastic set at Bleeding Kansas.

Safety Happens, and I applaud

I've been on a bit of a kick over the past year as I disagreed with some of the campaigns Crispin Porter came up with for my beloved VW brand. But I've gotta say, things are looking up. I'm happily past the days of "Fast" and the "German Rap" ads and have been wowed by the Gypsy Cab Project and CPB's "Safe Happens" campaign. Another spot here. And check out the Web component here.

Brilliant. The TV, paired with the Web execution is a ballsy look at a top-of-mind reality of driving, but an answer to a core need car buyers bring to the lot. Kudos to VW for having the guts to take on safety front and center. And CPB found a way to showcase the Jetta's style/demographic/cool factor all while driving (no pun intended) home an important message. Yeah, even hip Gen Y-ers want side impact performance. My favorite part of the spots? The last line in both is "Holy sh..." which trails off and is replaced by a picture of the busted Jetta.

I doubt many other automakers would dare focus end-of-spot attention on a rotating wrecked auto, but at the end of the day, we're always wondering..."Am I safe?" Right after we wonder, "How good do I look in this car!?" VW addressed both.

Safety Happens, and I applaud

I've been on a bit of a kick over the past year as I disagreed with some of the campaigns Crispin Porter came up with for my beloved VW brand. But I've gotta say, things are looking up. I'm happily past the days of "Fast" and the "German Rap" ads and have been wowed by the Gypsy Cab Project and CPB's "Safe Happens" campaign. Another spot here. And check out the Web component here.

Brilliant. The TV, paired with the Web execution is a ballsy look at a top-of-mind reality of driving, but an answer to a core need car buyers bring to the lot. Kudos to VW for having the guts to take on safety front and center. And CPB found a way to showcase the Jetta's style/demographic/cool factor all while driving (no pun intended) home an important message. Yeah, even hip Gen Y-ers want side impact performance. My favorite part of the spots? The last line in both is "Holy sh..." which trails off and is replaced by a picture of the busted Jetta.

I doubt many other automakers would dare focus end-of-spot attention on a rotating wrecked auto, but at the end of the day, we're always wondering..."Am I safe?" Right after we wonder, "How good do I look in this car!?" VW addressed both.

Listening to: Jonathon Bentley, Estuary