Methodical Madness

How to become a famous blogger

 

We didn’t do the illustrations. It was a guy called Dave Walker who speaks of himself in the royal ‘we’. Dave does cartoons and uploads them to his website. If you’re a cheapskate, that’s good news for you. Because if you have a website or a blog where you want to feature his cartoons, you can do so without forking out a dime. If you’re going to republish them anywhere else though, you’ve got to pony up. Some of his work is ideal for presentations, pitches etc., and we’re won’t charge you a finders’ fee for recommending it either.

Asif Ansari is partner and creative director at The Duffy Agency. He loves writing, technology and beer.

How to make money with 'How To' videos

Twenty-five years after Jane Fonda put out her exercise videos, the Internet is abuzz with videos that are raking in more than just fame for their producers. They’re bringing in the bucks. Kip Kedersha is one such producer who’s laughing all the way to his online bank account. Kim’s pulled in USD 102,000 from his 93 videos he’s uploaded on Metacafe. In line with the long tail theory, everything’s selling – from how to chill a coke in 2 minutes to how to fake a gunshot wound. And in most cases, the cash register’s been ringing as a fringe benefit. Because almost all these guys have put up the videos for fun. Sites like ExpertVillage, Howcast and Metacafe are cashing in on this craze for edutainment. So is this the start of a new trend? Good question. Meanwhile, if you have a video camera, basic acting skills and a few clever ideas, you could be the next Kipkay. As for our fav video, it’s got to be How To Fake Being Sober. Enjoy.

Asif Ansari is partner and creative director at The Duffy Agency. He loves writing, technology and beer.

These shoes are hard to fill

Imagine a pair of sneakers that would be at home in the Jolly Green Giant’s shoerack. Now imagine them embellished with all sorts of adornments including glitter and paint. Still can’t get the picture? Then take a look at the Left Right Project. A part of Adidas’ Originals campaign, this one’s really supersized. The giant sneaker pair were separated at birth – with one each being adopted by a team of East Coast and West Coast urban artists. After the two teams had their way with each sneaker, the pair was reunited on Venice Beach, LA amidst a gaggle of skateboarders, slam-dunking basketballers and exercise nuts. As a coast-to-coast engagement initiative with art at its heart, this one kicks butt with Size 376 sneakers.

Asif Ansari is partner and creative director at The Duffy Agency. He loves writing, technology and beer.

Caution: Heavy traffic ahead, extreme delays predicted

Be afraid, be very afraid. The end of the Internet as we know it, is imminent. According to Nemertes Research, the Internet's current capacity won't be enough for user demand by 2010. In 2 years, users may encounter frequent interruptions and a sluggish Internet. The culprits have been identified as video and multiplayer gaming. Of course, if you have about 140 billion USD in spare change, you can fix all of that. About time we started preparing for 'No YouTube Day' a la Earth Hour.

Asif Ansari is partner and creative director at The Duffy Agency. He loves writing, technology and beer.

D&AD still disappoints

Twenty-four hours later the D&AD shortlist can be accessed. Congratulations to everyone who got in the book, thumping pats on the back to everyone who’s got nominated. There are 10 in the book from India. Japan has 10 in the book and 6 nominations, with just one entry each for packaging and book design – the rest expectedly for digital. There are 23 very proud creative teams in Singapore with entries in the book and 3 ecstatic ones are in the running for pencils. Not unsurprisingly, all entries save one are in print. Australia has 17 in the book and 3 nominations. But get this. Their Titanium-winning, award-show dominating Earth Hour didn’t even make it to the book. And get this again. The UK has 58 nominations and 295 in the book. Yep, that’s no misprint…58 nominations, 295 in the book. We’re opening a branch office there next year.

Asif Ansari is partner and creative director at The Duffy Agency. He loves writing, technology and beer.

D&AD disappoints

It’s the Holy Grail for advertising agencies, its black and yellow pencils are lusted after by many, it’s criticized for being a ‘local’ show and it’s 2008 nomination and ‘in book’ list is out. Except, when you hit their website to see who’s made it and who hasn’t, all you get is this.

Which is quite a shame, especially when you consider they’ve got a ‘Digital and Wireless’ category to honor websites, viral, gaming and online advertising. Hmm.

Everyone's atwitter

Obama has more than 24,000 followers. Hillary has just a little over 3000. And from this side of the pond we have the British jumping on to the microblogging bandwagon. The Guardian reports that Gordon Brown has just got himself a Twitter account. It does take a bit of imagination though, to picture somebody like him punching away furiously at his cellphone keying in his latest tweet. He looks like the sort of bloke who couldn’t operate a brolly without the benefit of an instruction manual. What one’s really looking forward to now is Her Majesty following suit with soul-baring posts like “dying for a pizza”, "felt like biffing Cowface Camilla between the eyes…again” and “by George, the new Radiohead CD really rocks”.

The death of print?

Amazon’s e-book reader Kindle (developed in Cupertino) is completely sold out and there’s a longish list of buyers waiting to get their hands on it. Not too far away in San Jose, California, IBM has broken fresh ground with storage technology that will enable hand-held devices like mobile phones and MP3 players (and e-book readers like Kindle) to store hundreds of times more information than is currently possible today, and function for weeks on end on a single battery charge.

While the initial spike in sales for Kindle may indicate there are thousands of people with a gadget-fetish and USD 399 to spare, it remains to be seen how it will fare in the months to come. One thing’s for sure though. Kindle will offer innovative opportunities for brands to advertise (watch our 30 second commercial and for the next ten minutes you can read today’s edition of the New York Times for free). And racetrack memory will lead to the development of applications that don’t even exist today. Applications that will help us deliver richer interactive content on the go. Applications perhaps, that may prove to be the final proverbial nail in the coffin for print.

It couldn’t have been a more fitting time to kick off this blog to signal that we’ve ‘officially’ broadened our digital offering to include web presence optimization, buzz marketing and social media marketing. Watch this space for more.