ideas + updates + distractions

ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT PUBLIC BRAND MELTDOWNS

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:37:51 -0700

Don’t let your business become the next Amy’s Baking Company. We here at the Engine have been watching the events of this last week, so many cringe worthy moments, and feel it’s our duty to remind you that there are options out there. Most agencies, ours included, offer social media management services, just saying.

Sometimes it’s just not worth the risk of having a staff run Facebook page, all it takes is one misworded post and the Internet can turn on you in an instant. While we think there was a little something extra going on over at Amy’s, it’s still a good reminder of how quickly the power of public speaking can bring your company down.

So, keep your fits, panic attacks, and vent sessions to yourself and let the social media experts take care of your online presence. Give us a call today… unless you’re a company that is run by people who post IN ALL CAPS!!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/this-is-the-most-epic-brand-meltdown-on-facebook-ever

A THING OF BEAUTY. I love hand-made things. Things created with...

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:54:08 -0700

A THING OF BEAUTY.

I love hand-made things. Things created with care, patience, and skills developed over hundreds, even thousands, of hours of repetition. Things created with passion, and love of the craft. Things created to last.

Check out this short film that shows the process of a John Neeman Chisel being hand crafted. The Video is beautifully done, and the process it shows is an art-form in itself.

“It is a tragedy of the first magnitude that millions of people have ceased to use their hands as hands. Nature has bestowed upon us this great gift which is our hands. If the craze for machinery methods continues, it is highly likely that a time will come when we shall be so incapacitated and weak that we shall begin to curse ourselves for having forgotten the use of the living machines given to us by God.”
Mahathma Ghandi

Cheers,

-Tony V

THOUGHTS FROM STANFORD AND BECOMING ASSHOLE-LESS

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:22:00 -0700

It’s a poorly kept secret that I am complete geek and spend entirely too much time consuming content. From blogs, the news, books, Reddit, and RSS feeds, I probably consume upwards of 50 pages a day. I enjoy everything from crude frat-boy humor to political satire, and everything in-between, but tend to gravitate to learning about all things start-up, business, and leadership. So in that vein here are my two most recent favorites:

The No Asshole Rule
Robert I. Sutton, PhD

Sutton digs into personal experience, decades of statistics and research, and the stories of others to uncover the real cost of working with jerks. I, for one, was surprised, but at the same time related to many of the stories. Plus, the facts don’t lie. Putting up with a bully can not only ruin your day, but also damage your team, and severely limit your company’s productivity.

While the message is great, the writing itself was a little slow/wordy for me. All in all, I’d recommend it to anyone building a team, or anyone who may be stuck working with an asshole already.

Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar
Stanford University MS&E 472

While not a book, but rather a series of lectures, the Thought Leaders Series out of Stanford’s Management Science and Engineering program is by far my latest addiction. For the past eight years or so, they have been bringing in some of the best minds from the technology, venture capital, and start-up worlds to tell their story. Whether you are a founder or not, their insights, experiences, and lessons are both educational and inspiring.

So next time you have a long drive or go for a run, I highly recommend you fill up your phone with their podcasts.

-chris

SHORT STORY BY MITCH KELLY

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:54:00 -0700

Aldan was a lonely man. He lived a simple life; making simple choices with simple consequences. Aldan very rarely expressed any sort of exuberance. He kept a monotonous diet of eggs and toast, sans butter – as well as the occasional hamburger from the local diner. His apartment décor consisted of a framed photo of his late mother, Anna. Every day, for up to 28 minutes, the sun would illuminate the photo perfectly. It was these 28 minutes of each day that Aldan looked forward to the most. To sustain the cost of eggs and bread, Aldan worked at a hardware store just a block from his apartment. Any trial or tribulation the world could present was addressed almost immediately, as Aldan gave the world little opportunity to do so.

Then, one Summer day, Aldan took the bus to the city and bought a TV and an Xbox.

BICYCLE CULTURE

Wed, 01 May 2013 08:08:26 -0700

Let’s get real: I want to bike to work, but I’m not sure if I’m tough - or coordinated - enough to pull it off. Last weekend I saddled up and got myself a funky-sweet bike from Bicycle Czar. It’s an awesome ride, but I’m still terrified of distracted drivers, making left turns, and helmet hair.

While doing some research, I came across this article from Wired about the bicycle culture at Google. The on-site showers and bike repair service are pretty cool, but what really got me thinking is the awesome ConferenceBike. Think I can get the rest of the Engine crew onboard?

MUSIC DISCOVERY SERVICES

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:55:00 -0700

One of the reasons I never listen to the radio is that I can’t listen to the same song every day and enjoy it. Plus, the radio never plays music that I want to hear. Pandora is the wunderkind of internet radio, or music streaming services, as I like to call it, but I find that Pandora falls short.

Pandora will play the same top 40 songs, multiple times per day, if you don’t actively tell it not to. Lots of people may tell me that I should be interacting with Pandora more, but I think maybe Pandora was just designed for a different audience.

My response has been to seek other music streaming services, and here’s a list of the most useful. A bonus: not one of these alternatives has audio ads like Pandora does.

A personal favorite is Hype Machine. I’m not a fan of being required to log in, and you will be required to login or register after listening to a few songs, but Hype Machine makes it worthwhile by keeping the songs you love in a special playlist that you can listen to at will. Who doesn’t love listening to a playlist of favorite songs?

Hype Machine works by aggregating the output of over 800 blogs, which means new music is always on the homepage. I feel like I’m on the cutting edge of music when I listen here. You can also go back in time and see the most popular songs each week from 2007 on. Hype Machine has a party music tone to it, but you can pick particular genres to customize your listening experience.

Before I continue, I should mention that whenever I want to listen to a song right now, I generally go to youtube. There are a few channels that upload rare tracks, and it can be a good way to replay that jam you’ve been hooked on, over and over again. But youtube requires a lot of effort to keep the music playing. Creating playlists isn’t very easy.

My second favorite service is Grooveshark. It is extremely useful for when you want to listen to a particular song, or an entire album, or even go through an entire discography. Creating your own playlist on Grooveshark is a breeze and is the basis of how you interact with the site.

Grooveshark is a ‘music locker,’ meaning that people upload and tag the songs that you then search for and listen to. There are 15 million songs in the Grooveshark catalog, meaning you’ll be able to find almost everything you can think of.

Some featured bands make it to the homepage and artists are displayed on your listening history, but you won’t make many discoveries here.

An awesome place to listen to highlights from artists you’ve discovered is Soundcloud, which is sort of like youtube for music. Songs that haven’t been released yet, unique mashups and remixes make their way onto soundcloud, and sometimes nowhere else. It’s simple to listen to an artist playlist here, so Soundcloud is an essential part of the streaming toolbox, but, again, you won’t make many discoveries here.

The most unusual service in this list is Stereomood. You’re along for the ride after you choose the mood you want to listen to, from options like reading or spring cleaning. The playlists don’t change very often, but a new group is highlighted every week or so. It’s so easy to just kick back and let stereomood keep your dinner party or weekend afternoon moving smoothly. I have found a gem or two through these playlists.

Last but certainly not least is turntable.fm. It’s like a distributed DJ service. The site is organized into rooms, and in each room up to five DJs take turns spinning for you. Any user can be a DJ by adding songs others play into their queue, or uploading their own songs. Rooms tend to stay on a certain genre, but this site tends to gravitate towards dubby or ambient-chill. Turntable also is unusual because it uses a visual metaphor for a room, and you can see the avatars of the other listeners. It can be cool to see 200 heads bopping to an awesome track. The other great thing about this site is that they host live events where DJs and artists take over the decks and spin their inspirations or their latest cuts.

Good luck finding some sweet tracks.

HALEY FESS

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:42:07 -0700

Last in the latest round of new faces is Haley. This incredibly talented lady joins our account team, bringing with her a passion for phenomenal creative, love of people, and less than perfect balance.

Childhood Career Aspiration: Anything with a brief case. Sadly, this has yet to happen. Although, she just got a pretty sweet padfolio, and is well on her way to a full blown brief case.

Most Stereotypical Experience while at UC Berkeley: Going undercover for a thesis on pirate radio, posing as an aspiring show host, in the back of an atheist bookstore. Unconfirmed reports on the presence of patchouli and Vagina Monologue posters at said bookstore.

Secret Skill: Thriftstoring + Craigslisting. Once got a $2,000 couch for $100, and has never been kidnapped.

Favorite Post-work Stress Reliever: Jamming out to Cat Stevens on an electric piano, no joke.

Fantasy Dinner Date: Rod Stewart

Favorite Rod Stewart Song: Maggie May

-chris

MITCH KELLY

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:28:00 -0700

Next in our line-up of new faces is Mitch Kelly, who joined the Engine shortly after Tony. Like Tony, Mitch is also a senior designer that hails from Minneapolis [insert obligatory Minnesota Twins reference here].

Most Outrageous Hobby: Ghosthunting. What exactly does ghosthunting entail, you ask? Well, it involves long nights at haunted hotels with EVPs (electronic voice phenomena), electromagnetic field detectors, and infrared cameras, for starters. And that’s all the detail I could muster before my courage failed me. Moving right along to something a little more warm and fuzzy…

Least Outrageous Hobby: Movies! Mitch’s tried-and-true favorites include The Talented Mr. Ripley, I ♥ Huckabees, The House of Yes, Death Becomes Her, and Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice).

Fantasy Dinner Date: Tim Burton.

Favorite Tim Burton Movie: Batman Returns.

- Haley

TONY VITALI

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:16:00 -0700

If you haven’t heard, we have some new faces at the Engine! Unfortunately, we’re terrible at introductions – so our definition of “new” is a little lax. First off is Tony Vitali, who joined the Engine as a senior designer in November. A Minnesota native, Tony ditched the snowy winters for a more forgiving climate where he can explore the great outdoors year-round.

Favorite Hobby: Playing outside! Mountain biking, hiking, snowboarding, the list goes on. Also, Tony loves all things creative: drawing, painting, photography, and graphic design (how convenient!). In fact, Tony even self-published a book of photography – and took the photo featured in this blog post, of course.

Best Sandwich of All Time: The “Big Bird” from Rudi’s Pizza and Subs in Hibbing, MN. (The secret sauce was absolutely worth the 90-minute drive when he was in college.)

Fantasy Dinner Date: John Lennon.

Favorite Beatles Song: Come Together.

- Haley

WE LOVE DAYGLO Ever wonder where some of your favorite hues and...

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 08:31:47 -0800

WE LOVE DAYGLO

Ever wonder where some of your favorite hues and vibrant colors come from? Check out how the chemists and artists at DayGlo in Cleveland run the world’s most colorful factory.

-chris

PICTURES WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS AND A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES.

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 16:57:07 -0700

Yesterday I stumbled upon this beautiful collection of moments in history captured on film. From the joyous to the heartbreaking these photos do a great job of conveying the story of each moment it depicts, as well as preserving our history for generations to come. A few really stuck out to me, but being from the bay area I especially enjoyed the shot of San Francisco in the 50’s, what are your favorites?

Happy Friday!

drea

MOTOR TREND'S UNOFFICIAL AWARD

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 17:01:00 -0700

I’ve always heard various car dealerships use Motor Trend awards as a token of price in their commercials, and been curious just how does Motor Trend decide these awards? Well, I checked it out and I have to say it seams legit to me.

Check out this awesome video of Motor Trend’s ‘World’s Greatest Drag Race 2’, and keep an eye out for the next round of Motor Trend award focused commercials which are sure to be just around the corner.

Drea

VIDEOS THAT GO VIRAL

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:31:00 -0700

Steve Kardynal is an Internet video genius. A simple search for Steve on video will bring up more then half a dozen videos some with as many as 27 million views.

I was recently forwarded Steve’s Chatroulette version of Carly Rae Jepsen’s embarrassingly catchy pop song, Call Me Maybe. But the greatest thing about the video is that I can’t stop laughing or watching the video.

Between Steve’s ridiculous crossing dressing outfits, the reactions of the other Chatroulette participants, and the ridiculous pop lyrics of Carly Rae Jepsen this could be one of the best viral videos I have ever seen.

It is a very humorous and creative video that utilizes the notoriously creepy Chatroulette to capture some candid moments of people enjoying a good laugh (and some crazy facial expression).

I have a strong feeling some company will copy the concept for a commercial or campaign stunt in the near future. If they are smart they should just hire Steve, he appears to have a secret recipe for viral videos.

Enjoy the video here.

- Spencer

THE FINE LINE OF HAPPY EMPLOYEES

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 10:19:00 -0700

More and more these days people are talking about their work space, sharing pictures of it, comparing it to others, dreaming for how they would decorate if they could, asking for more privacy, mocking cubicles, striving to make it more creative or less disruptive (depending on the day), but does any of this make coming to work any less… well, work?

Recently Fast Company posted an article describing the new office space for VF Company (which houses a multitude of brands such as Wrangler, The North Face, and 7 for all mankind) that is currently in development in the bay area. It includes a fresh vegetable garden, gym, outdoor patio, bike shop, and employees are hoping to gain kayak access to the bay just outside the office walls. In my opinion though, the most interesting feature is that it is designed ‘Inside-out’ meaning the executive’s offices are in the middle with other employees getting work space by the windows, opening windows at that.

For me this article begs the question, do you really need to love where you work if you love what you do? Is the end goal to make work feel as comfortable as home, does that really ensure productivity? Now don’t get me wrong, I love our office and I love perks. I love the location, the brick walls, large windows, and beer in the fridge but none of that can make a bad day better. It is still work. Loving my industry that is what makes a bad day better, that is what makes the line between work and play just a little bit blurry.

I say find a job where you’d show up every day in a dirty alley you love it so much, and then kick enough ass to help the company build their first on site yoga studio. Life is too long to not love what you do.

-drea

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS, VIDEO GAMES + NIKE...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 14:17:00 -0700

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS,
VIDEO GAMES + NIKE COMMERCIALS

Nike touches the heart strings of gamers everywhere by bringing back some old school Nintendo references with some modern day sports antics. Cheers to Nike for practically making a teaser trailer for how we all wish we could live our lives. Nothing like sizing up our day-to-day interactions with an achievement based point system. I don’t know about you, but it gets me motivated (even if it is just to go home and play some video games). Enjoy.

-walker

LORING SMART ROASTER Hats off to the Loring Smart Roaster team...

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:03:00 -0700

LORING SMART ROASTER

Hats off to the Loring Smart Roaster team on their new global print campaign that recently launched across several notable trade magazines and publications world wide. Working together, we were able to develop a dynamic campaign from media buying to bold creative that haven’t gone unnoticed.

Once again, we have been fortunate to help establish the Loring brand and look forward to being a part of their continued growth.

-New Guy Paul

FRIEDMAN'S HOME IMPROVEMENT

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 14:45:00 -0700

The Engine recently teamed up with Friedman’s Home Improvement to help develop a new TV campaign.

Is your backyard as relaxing as a day spa or as majestic as a redwood forest? We developed a series of spots that show people that their ideal getaway doesn’t have to be far away.

Tune into Bay Area Comcast channels or the next Giant’s game to catch the spots live.

-chris

Friedman’s Home Improvement - Camping TV Spot from The Engine is Red on Vimeo.

Special thanks to production partner Comcast Spotlight.

GORDON GEKKO WAS RIGHT

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 13:55:09 -0700

I’ve always been fascinated by human nature, especially how we as species and culture are a heaping pile of hypocritical paradoxes. In many if not most cases, human nature is predictable and self seeking. From the behavior of realtors in Freakanomics to the politics of the fast lane on the 101, it’s clear we are all guilty of serving numero uno from time to time. At the same time a vast majority of people strive for, attain, and are attracted to virtue and valor. We honor the martyr, even heroize those with discipline and sacrifice, or so it would seem.

Mark De Rond dives into the unexpected, if not powerful, social truths that drive our work environments in his new book, There is an I in Team. The book goes on to share the results of a social experiment where teammates could play a game that allowed for both individual and communal rewards. Within the game, players were able to choose which players they wanted to vote off the island each round. With little surprise simulated “selfish” teammates who pulled from the community for their own gain, and contributed little or nothing were quickly voted off. More intriguing, the simulated “selfless” players were nearly equally unpopular. Despite common perception, teams do not prefer to work with the over giving or selfless teammate.

De Rond goes on to explore other hypocritical truths within each of us. One in particular struck me as a creative leader. He goes on to note that within a creative work environment a certain threshold of trust is requisite in order to allow all teammates to openly share ideas and feel confident enough to take risks and push boundaries. Score, we do that here, good job Engine.

He goes on to contend that too much trust and familiarity can come back to bite you. Shit, do we have too much of a good thing? Noting a recent experiment of MBA students where in the beginning a baseline trust level opened up communication and facilitated success. But as the trust and community continued to grow, the students began to value the community too much. They began to hold back or edit opinions, ideas, and thoughts for the sake of everyone getting along. They sacrificed their best work for the sake of harmony.

In the end De Rond suggests that it is actually the tension between these seemingly flawed schools of thought that keeps teams sharp, motivated, and ultimately happy.

I have to confess that I struggle with this tension and balance. Too many times I fall to the martyr, kumbaya, “can’t we all just get along,” culture. If I stop to really check myself, I wonder if my leanings are as altruistic as I would like them to be, or do I really avoid the healthy tension just because it’s the easy way out.

The truth is, none of us got into advertising to hold hands. We did it to create powerful ideas, to change the way things are done, to forge new ground, to rethink the way the world works. At the end of a long week it’s the joy of producing our best work that keeps us going.

That said, I love our team and our culture. We have the luck of working with a fun, caring, talented group of creatives. It is that balance, that tension to have the freedom and trust to go out on the limb and be vulnerable with your ideas along side the refining fire of collaboration and critique that allow us to produce our very best.

We may owe it to ourselves to be willing to live in that tension, to build a strong foundation of trust, but never hesitate to speak up and not hold back.

What do you think?

chris

Everyone and their mother will be blogging, tweeting, and...

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:14:00 -0700

Everyone and their mother will be blogging, tweeting, and Facebooking about Ken Block’s new Gymkhana 5 video, which marks another huge step forward for the new realm of branded content as an advertising medium worth assessing for your next campaign.

When I viewed the video this morning the YouTube view counter was stuck at 305 (a sure sign it was racking views left and right), Ken Block’s second video in the gymkhana series currently has over 44 million views and the other three videos of the series have view counts upward of 30 million.

With the exponential rise of internet videos on platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo, brands are no longer limited to traditional, and often expensive, TV ad spots that run for 30 or 60 seconds when seeking huge impression numbers.

Released from time and length limits or expensive distribution, brands can create relevant content that illustrates their history, promotes a new launch, previews a new product, or refines the perception of the company. As with any new medium, reactive consumer behavior is still a factor that has yet to be fully evaluated, but trends are starting to form and the power of video to communicate with audiences is increasing. According to comScore, in March of 2012 over 83 percent of internet users in the United States viewed at least one video, which calculates to 151.1 million active viewers over a one month period.

Even the Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity premiered a new category this year to recognize the best branded content. I was amped they panel awarded K-Swiss’s MFCEO branded content piece the inaugural Golden Lion in the category, in my mind the campaign has given the shoe manufacture a second life.

However, with any new advertising medium or marketing strategy it is not a blanket solution for every brand, but DC and Ken Block have proven the expansive power of branded content as an advertising medium.

Spencer

Here are a few of my favorites…

Capture the Company History
Vans - Since 66

Brand Launch
Dollar Shave Club - Our Blades are F***ing Great

Product Launch
Renault - Alpine A110-50

Refine Brand Perception
Chipotle - Back to Start

It is hard to think of a childhood without Hot Wheels iconic...

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 15:57:34 -0700

It is hard to think of a childhood without Hot Wheels iconic micro-sized cars and plastic tracks. Growing up in a two story house I was lucky enough to have a stair case that allowed me to harness physics and send some sweet rides tearing down (what seemed like a quarter mile as a kid) 20 feet of plastic track only to gain enough speed to conquer a full loop.

Well it seems the team over at Hot Wheels hasn’t lost any of their flair after setting up a life sized double loop for rally driver Tanner Foust and stuntman Greg Tracy to conquer. An amazing promotion for the Hot Wheels brand along with the X Games, it is not too often that a toy manufacture has the ability to bring their brand to life in such awe-inspiring fashion.

Branded content and events such as a 66 ft double loop car stunt may seem like a risky and expensive marketing maneuver (how could you measure the ROI on something like this) but for me it cements the love of a brand I grew up with and makes me feel like a kid again. So bravo!

Congratulations to the drivers, Hot Wheels, and everyone involved with the stunt.