So I kind of fell off the veggies only diet. But I have two very good reasons, thanks to FX Cusine. The first was Ragu Bolognese, the traditional dish that spag bol is based upon. It took over four hours to cook on Saturday, but was worth every minute. The second was the Lasagne you can then make with the ragu.
I just discovered FX Cusine, and I love it. It's clearly the blog of someone who loves eating. That he takes such lovely photos of the process makes it very easy to understand the dishes.
Inspired, I took my own photos, which pale in comparison.
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
60 years of Chinese Communism
If the Olympic opening ceremonies weren't enough to convince you that China had arrived (again) on the world stage, 'ave a look at these fantastic pictures from boston.com. Who, by the way, do lovely photojournalism online in their Big Picture section.
Proof that one thing you get from communism that you don't get in a democracy is unbelievable levels of synchronisation, the 60th anniversary of communist rule celebrations were sort of like the opening ceremonies, but with guns. Which is all the proof you need that they would kick anybody's ass in a war.
Proof that one thing you get from communism that you don't get in a democracy is unbelievable levels of synchronisation, the 60th anniversary of communist rule celebrations were sort of like the opening ceremonies, but with guns. Which is all the proof you need that they would kick anybody's ass in a war.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Fisherman Little Tale
One of the guys who works here, Lucas, is probably one of the most creative people I've ever worked with, mostly because he never stops doing creative things. Like making a simple little video about a story he told in one of our Creative Department meetings. Simple as it should be.
fisherman little tale from Lucas Levitan on Vimeo.
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Re: The consumer is STILL not a moron
Mr. Hunt over at I Noticed This and I regularly have conversations about the upheaval currently happening in marketing. They're fun, and a great way for us to share what each of us has recently learned. WOM. Hmmm. Sounds familiar for some reason.
Inspired by a presentation I shared (see previous post), he has weighed into the debate with a post The consumer is STILL not a moron in the way he normally reserves for our conversations. Boo hoo.
He curiously drew a connection between a Guinness ad from the 60's and how he feels about that pour of Irish pride. Basically, do intelligent advertising, and people will think you have an intelligent brand. I know; he made me realise it's so blindly obvious that it's mystifying why there aren't far more ads like it.
But that led him to touch on something that is really important to understand. That brands need to be useful. And that on the internet, that should be easier than it was pre-internet.
But once brands do something useful, it ceases to be advertising. Doing something useful is a service. To be sure, most often that service is entertainment, but the are many examples of brands at least trying to do this.
I recently saw a presentation about a brand who, in their research, realised that very few of the blogs about their area of expertise were actually connected to each other. And rather than attempt being the expert source, they're developing a hub to which all the other blogs, theirs included, will connect to. They're not forcing people to only listen to them; they're actually helping people find the information they want, at other sources.
And this is the reason I love working in digital so much. Much of what we can do, in theory, at least, is not really marketing. It's not particularly creative, but we have the opportunity to use digital tools to actually help people.
Sadly, most clients still don't understand this about digital. They're still using the old ways of doing things (talking at people), and using them on this 'new' medium (which really isn't a medium). But people on the internet aren't paying attention to them. The old ways don't work. And I'm not just talking about finding new ways to advertise. I'm talking about completely re-thinking (on the internet), what it means to advertise.
On the TV, which is a passive medium, ads tell people things (though sometimes they can entertain), in DM, you can have a one-on-one conversation, though those seem to be disappearing, with people. In digital, you can, but really shouldn't, shout at people, you can have one-on-one conversations, but you can also do something else that earns you kudos from your customers. You can help them have a conversation, not with you, but with someone else. And that's where brands should be.
In a lot of ways, the internet isn't a channel, or a medium (it's LOADS of them in itself). It can't really be defined in any of our advertising-friendly ways, as David Cushman points out for one simple reason:
The internet doesn't do anything new. It's still about human interaction. The internet just makes that cheaper and easier.
Like Word of Mouth.
Inspired by a presentation I shared (see previous post), he has weighed into the debate with a post The consumer is STILL not a moron in the way he normally reserves for our conversations. Boo hoo.
He curiously drew a connection between a Guinness ad from the 60's and how he feels about that pour of Irish pride. Basically, do intelligent advertising, and people will think you have an intelligent brand. I know; he made me realise it's so blindly obvious that it's mystifying why there aren't far more ads like it.
But that led him to touch on something that is really important to understand. That brands need to be useful. And that on the internet, that should be easier than it was pre-internet.
But once brands do something useful, it ceases to be advertising. Doing something useful is a service. To be sure, most often that service is entertainment, but the are many examples of brands at least trying to do this.
I recently saw a presentation about a brand who, in their research, realised that very few of the blogs about their area of expertise were actually connected to each other. And rather than attempt being the expert source, they're developing a hub to which all the other blogs, theirs included, will connect to. They're not forcing people to only listen to them; they're actually helping people find the information they want, at other sources.
And this is the reason I love working in digital so much. Much of what we can do, in theory, at least, is not really marketing. It's not particularly creative, but we have the opportunity to use digital tools to actually help people.
Sadly, most clients still don't understand this about digital. They're still using the old ways of doing things (talking at people), and using them on this 'new' medium (which really isn't a medium). But people on the internet aren't paying attention to them. The old ways don't work. And I'm not just talking about finding new ways to advertise. I'm talking about completely re-thinking (on the internet), what it means to advertise.
On the TV, which is a passive medium, ads tell people things (though sometimes they can entertain), in DM, you can have a one-on-one conversation, though those seem to be disappearing, with people. In digital, you can, but really shouldn't, shout at people, you can have one-on-one conversations, but you can also do something else that earns you kudos from your customers. You can help them have a conversation, not with you, but with someone else. And that's where brands should be.
In a lot of ways, the internet isn't a channel, or a medium (it's LOADS of them in itself). It can't really be defined in any of our advertising-friendly ways, as David Cushman points out for one simple reason:
The internet doesn't do anything new. It's still about human interaction. The internet just makes that cheaper and easier.
Like Word of Mouth.
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Post digital marketing
Is apparently very long. Stumbled across this presentation at crackunit. It is everything you ever wanted to know about digital marketing. Or at least where it is now. Rather overwhelming, but worth the investment. Especially if you are one of my clients. Or my mum trying to figure out what I do for a living.
Post Digital Marketing 2009
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About Me
- Craig O'Brien
- I'm an American living in London, and am regularly bemused by many of the things I see. I'm also a tree-hugging Liberal. And a foodie. And a music junkie. And a traveller. Think that about covers it. Oh, wait, and a reader of everything.
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