The Stackpile

Well, the holidays are upon us, but it’s not too late to do some last minute online shopping! So, to aid you in your efforts, here is the Non-Official, First Annual (As Far As I Know) Stackpole Gift Guide.

First up on the list, a gift with a truly excellent name: MomSpit. What is MomSpit, you ask? Apparently some kind of skin-cleaning product—but other than that I have no idea. I mainly just liked the name. In the spirit of diligent journalism, however, I went to the website looking for answers, but came back instead with one of the most mystifying product descriptions I’ve ever read: “It contains no alcohol, mousses brilliantly, moisturizes gently, absorbs quickly and feels great. It’s not gel. It’s not sanitizer. It’s MomSpit.” Huh. MomSpit. Yeah, I get it!

Next up, for the child in your life with an appreciation for austere Scandinavian furniture, check out the new Svan Scooter—a child’s scooter designed with Gropius-like minimalism. This “toy” consists of three black wheels and a single curving length of plywood. According to the product description on Amazon, “Parents will love the sleek lines and style; kids will love the fun!” Indeed. Just wait till your child exclaims on Christmas morning, “Thank you, mother- and father-unit. I will enjoy this quietly in my room now, remaining mindful of the bamboo flooring.”

But what to do about that Significant Other who has everything? You may be interested to know that the Dalai Lama’s 1966 Land Rover was recently auctioned on eBay for a mere $82 thousand. This is not a joke—you can’t make this stuff up. I know this doesn’t make for a very good gift recommendation, since the Rover has already been sold (after 11 bids, to someone named “vodder”). But I think it’s still worth checking out the eBay page, which includes a video of Sharon Stone doing her best impression of a car salesman, as well as various fun facts about the Rover itself (e.g. “the vehicle is registered in California and has personalized plates that say ‘HHDL XIV’ with the Yosemite mountains in the background.”). And who knows—maybe you’ll get lucky and come across a used Pope-mobile on deep discount!

By the way, HHDL XIV stands for “His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.” But you knew that, didn’t you?

Posted by Simon on December 12th, 2007
Filed under Design, Fun, Miscellaneous | No Comments »

I attended the Harvard Business School marketing conference on Dec. 2, 2007, at which I met with and listened to people from all different product companies that make decisions on marketing and advertising avenues and strategies for their business. There was nothing new that I really learned, however listening to the perspectives and being on the agency side, was interesting. Speakers included the president of Unilever Americas, vice president of global brand marketing for Yahoo!, Inc., and the general manager for Hasbro. In addition to the speakers, there are panels surrounding revitalizing brands, globalizing brands, and alternative marketing which included people from some of these same companies, but also from companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Dunkin Brands, Proctor & Gamble, and Nike.

The main point of interest to me that was touched upon was this idea of reinventing the brand and gaining a new target audience. Dove is a great example of this since they provoke discussion with their advertising. As a brand, they are really trying to get to their audience through another avenue. They are targeting “normal” people by using “normal” people instead of models/actors. Unilever has done a great job in evolving the brand and using different media outlets to get their message out there. Their ads and spots are so controversial that they get to the next level of marketing by causing controversy, which were discussed on “Good Morning America”, “The Today Show” and “The View”. If you want to spark interest to reinvent the brand, look to Dove.

In case you haven’t seen these provoking ads (to my surprise most of the HBS students had not):
Evolution

Onslaught

This second commercial was only aired some 4 times because of how graphic it was. Go figure that America can’t deal with the realities of natural beauty…

Posted by Nirali on December 11th, 2007
Filed under Advertising, Marketing | No Comments »

www.banksy.com

According to Wikipedia:

Banksy is a well-known pseudo-anonymous English graffiti artist. He is believed to be a native of Yate (near Bristol) and born in 1974, but there is substantial public uncertainty about his identity and personal and biographical details. According to Tristan Manco, Banksy “was born in 1974 and raised in Bristol, England. The son of a photocopier engineer, he trained as a butcher but became involved in graffiti during the great Bristol aerosol boom of the late 1980s.” His artworks are often-satirical pieces of art that encompass topics such as politics, culture, and ethics. His street art, which combines graffiti with a distinctive stencilling technique, has appeared in London and in cities around the world.

Stencils are traditionally hand drawn or printed onto sheets of acetate or card, before being cut out by hand. Because of the secretive nature of Banksy’s work and identity, it is uncertain what techniques he uses to generate the images in his stencils, though it is assumed he uses computers due to the photorealistic nature of much of his work.

Asked about his technique, Banksy said “I use whatever it takes. Sometimes that just means drawing a moustache on a girl’s face on some billboard, sometimes that means sweating for days over an intricate drawing. Efficiency is the key.”

Posted by Marissa on December 4th, 2007
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Colour Lovers™ is an index of color trends as they are happening. Find out what’s hot and what’s not. Colors are tracked, observed and inspiration can be found through the plethora of color trends shared by users of color worldwide.

Colour Lovers™ is an invaluable online resource —monitoring and influencing— color trends. A database of color through which one can search, sort and filter through with keywords. Find a palette or create and share your own.

It also provides a community for designers and artists a place to check out a world of color. Compare color palettes, submit news and comments, and read color related articles and interviews.

The site is frequently updated with information, color combinations and palettes from real-world applications. It also contains an excellent consortium of news articles on color trends and interviews with top creative professionals.

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Check it out!

www.colourlovers.com

Posted by Marissa on December 4th, 2007
Filed under Design, Fun | No Comments »