 |
Pomplamoose + Mashable = awesome
 |
| pomplamoose (Photo credit: reidspice) |
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
More Pomplamoose Magic
Back in November (yeah 2013, that seems so long ago doesn't it?) I wrote about Pomplamoose's latest music video so imagine my surprise when hi-tech guru site Mashable blogged about Pomplamoose's next video which I hadn't even seen yet!
Pomplamoose + Mashable = awesome
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Pomplamoose + Mashable = awesome
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Monday, September 23, 2013
One Excellent Ad
Some products are really hard to sell and need some serious innovation to get the branding and messaging across, such as gas, fabric conditioner and tissues.
Similar to the amazing Dollar Shave ad that I spoke about here, there is a new twist on tampons.
Enjoy!! (no seriously, it is enjoyable).
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Similar to the amazing Dollar Shave ad that I spoke about here, there is a new twist on tampons.
Enjoy!! (no seriously, it is enjoyable).
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Monday, September 9, 2013
A Peak Behind the Photographic Curtain
How do they do it? Its just a photo after all. It can't take them too long can it? Well, apparently, yes it can.
Yosef Adest is an up and coming photographer and cinematographer - I'd go so far as to call him a very talented, high level 'visualist', but then again, that's just me.
Here is one of the most gripping and entertaining photos I have seen in a long time. And below it is the background of how he made the shot, in a 5 minute time lapse.
How I created this anti-gravity shot in a 5 min timelapse. from Yosef Adest on Vimeo.
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Yosef Adest is an up and coming photographer and cinematographer - I'd go so far as to call him a very talented, high level 'visualist', but then again, that's just me.
Here is one of the most gripping and entertaining photos I have seen in a long time. And below it is the background of how he made the shot, in a 5 minute time lapse.
 |
| Yosef Adest |
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Five Steps to Vanquish Any Problem
I'm not a deep and meaningful kind of guy. No, honest, I know I have this blog and that I live on Facebook and Twitter, but even so, I don't consider myself a 'sharer'. But here's the rub, I found an article that gives such resonating advice about stopping thinking like a victim, and to react and act like a hero, that I am going to share it with you here, in it's entirety:
If you don´t see yourself as part of the problem, you cannot be part of the solution.Every culture teaches this through a similar story. Joseph Campbell, anthropologist and advisor for Star Wars, called it “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” The hero starts his journey feeling at the mercy of external circumstances. By the end, he realizes he is in control of his destiny. He knows that he can choose how to behave, learn and grow.Teaching accounting at MIT, I saw how numbers shape perceptions.
Coaching leaders all over the world, I learned how stories shape lives. Good stories inspire you; bad stories disempower you. The worst stories are the ones that have you as a victim.Heroes are not just mythical characters. They are examples of you at your best. Here are five suggestions to always remember who you are.1. No problem -- Take the challengeThere is no such thing as a problem. What you call "a problem" is not a thing independent of you, but a situation you don´t like. It is “a problem for you.” To deal with it more effectively, put yourself in the picture. Think of it as your challenge. Take the difficulty as an opportunity to show your true colors.I often catch myself saying, “the real problem is…” followed by the thought, “…that you don´t agree with me!” Equally often, my counterpart argues that “the real problem is…” that I don´t agree with him. Unless we recognize and give up these bad stories, we will each push hard to overcome the other. Push versus push equals stuck: a very expensive stalemate where we both spend tremendous energy for no result.2. Drop “Who's responsible?” – Be response-ableYou didn't do it. So what? You are suffering from it. People and things are out of control. It is tempting to blame them and play the part of the innocent victim. Don't.The price of innocence is impotence. That which you blame you empower. Become the hero of the story; focus on what you can do to respond to your challenge.The inspiring question is not, “why is this happening to me!” but “what is the best I can do when this happens?”I once coached a financial services executive who would always blame external factors: regulation, competition, the economy, his employees, his boss, his peers. All these forces did impinge on his goals. It was the truth, but not the whole truth. The truth that he refused to accept, the one that blocked his growth, was that he was able to respond to these forces. (See the coaching questions I use, here.)3. Forget what you don´t want – Focus on what you want.Consider an issue that troubles you. What would you like to have happen? I ask this every time I coach. Infallibly, I learn what my client would like to not have happen anymore. This is a bad end for a hero´s journey. Avoiding what you don´t want will take your energy away from achieving what you do want.Your brain doesn't compute “no”. What you try to avoid you unconsciously create. If you don´t believe this, try to not think of a white bear right now and notice where your mind goes. Define a positive outcome precisely. Ask yourself, "What do I really want?" and visualize it in as much detail as you can. This will force you to put some flesh on the conceptual bones. Furthermore, ask yourself, “How would I know that I got what I wanted? What would I see? What would I feel?” In this way you will be sure that your vision has observable standards by which to measure success.4. Take one eye off the ball – Go for the gold.It’s not about hitting the ball; it’s about winning the game. Set your mind on what you are ultimately trying to achieve. Build a chain from means to ends, taking you from getting the job, to advancing your career, to feeling professionally fulfilled, to being happy. The ultimate goal and measure of success is happiness.“What would you get, if you achieved X, which is even more important to you than X?” Ask yourself this question and discover that you never ask for what you really want—and neither does anybody else. We all ask for what we think is going to give us what we really want. Have you ever bought set of golf clubs hoping they would make you play better? And what would you get, if you played better, which is even more important to you than playing better?5. Failure is not an option – Succeed beyond success.Commit fully to achieve what you really want. Know that you deserve it and give it your best. This will make you more likely to get it. Success, however, is not the most important thing. To be a hero, pursue your goal ethically, as an expression of your highest values. Success may give you pleasure, but integrity leads to happiness.Don't aim at success--the more you aim at it and make it (your final) target, the more you are going to miss it. For true success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself. Listen to what your conscience commands you to do and carry it out to the best of your knowledge." -- Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning.
kthanxbai!
http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Weird and Wonderful
 |
| Image from 1904 Dictionary of Technology showing an 1880 bicycle on the left and an 1886 rover on the right. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
They are the principal means of transportation in many regions. They also provide a popular form of recreation, and have been adapted for such uses as children's toys, adult fitness, military and police applications, courier services and bicycle racing.
The basic shape and configuration of a typical upright bicycle has changed little since the first chain-driven model was developed around 1885. However, many details have been improved, especially since the advent of modern materials and computer-aided design. These have allowed for a proliferation of specialized designs for diverse types of cycling.
And then this chap came along and had the gall to change it all! This Bicymple is a surprisingly interesting little thing and I wonder what applications can be found for it:
kthanxbai!
http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
Friday, August 31, 2012
Bathroom To Bedroom?
An intrepid architect in London has decided to transform a disused public convenience into a residence, The Telegraph reports;
Clark first spotted the loos – with their chained gates and boarded-up stairwells – in 2005, when she moved to London, having completed her degree at the Glasgow School of Art. It was exactly the sort of challenge that the young architect was looking for. ‘I’ve always loved the idea of micro-regeneration,’ she explains.
‘For me that’s about saving sites with an interesting history, but which have been abandoned and forgotten.’ Her initial plan was to transform the two adjacent ex-lavatories (men’s and women’s) into a bar or tiny cinema. ‘I pictured it as something quirky and fun that would breathe life back into a neglected part of the local landscape,’ she says.
In the middle of 2011 Clark found herself the proud owner of the underground public conveniences, built in 1929, last used some time in the 1980s and now filled thigh-high with rubbish. She lost no time in getting stuck in, working alongside builders and labourers in order to transform the dank and frankly creepy space into a bright and airy home. ‘I ended up doing a lot of the labouring work myself, because it was such horrid, hard work that I struggled to keep people on the job,’ she says. ‘And filling skips is character-building.’
Remarkably, the entire project cost only £65,000. ‘But in fairness, I did have many years to work it all out,’ she says.
Enormous hat tip to Peter
Today it is hard to imagine that the light-filled one-bedroom flat, with its streamlined shelves, glamorous gold-leaf bathroom and subterranean garden, was once a derelict public convenience. There are clues though. The tiles that form the splashback in the kitchen were reclaimed from the site’s original use, as was a mirror in the living-room. And propped on a kitchen shelf is a small public health poster warning of the perils of VD. But still, for Clark, this is home.
kthanxbai!
http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
Monday, June 18, 2012
Perturbed by Coca Cola Advertising
The first thing I noticed about this video was that Coca Cola weren't calling it an 'advert' or a 'social media' whatever, but were calling it a video. Interesting change of approach.
And then i saw the video and felt surprisingly emotional about it:
Which I guess is today's version of the classic Coca Cola videos, just without the 'buy a coke now' music playing in the background.
Which in turn is not that far off this 2010 advert, which must have cost a pretty penny!
I'm perturbed.
kthanxbai!
http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
And then i saw the video and felt surprisingly emotional about it:
Which in turn is not that far off this 2010 advert, which must have cost a pretty penny!
I'm perturbed.
kthanxbai!
http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Old Spicy Man
My dad used Old Spice, you know in that ceramic dispenser that would never break, or let you know how much product was left in it!
So that was nice. And then I guess he got a deal on some Tabac, so he moved to that.
All well and good. And then Old Spice decided that they actually wanted to make money, and so they started advertising all over the place. IndyCar, posters, banner ads and then they revolutionised TV advertising by created some amazing ads. And some not so amazing ones.
kthanxbai! http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
 |
| Image via Wikipedia |
All well and good. And then Old Spice decided that they actually wanted to make money, and so they started advertising all over the place. IndyCar, posters, banner ads and then they revolutionised TV advertising by created some amazing ads. And some not so amazing ones.
And behind the scenes -
And Grover had me laughing out loud!
Which ads do you like?
kthanxbai! http://jumblerant.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Internetz stuff
Some links from blogs I truly admire, for June 1st 2010
Bostonmaggie shows us How to Honor Lt. John Finn, MoH (below)
Flyguy tells us about his experiences with 'unique' pilots in his life of being a commercial airline pilot in 'Captain Utah' (I particularly like the story about the bananas)
The Armorer over at Aaargh! The Home of Two of Jonah's Military Guys explains to us all Why Parents Drink.
kthanxbai!
Bostonmaggie shows us How to Honor Lt. John Finn, MoH (below)
Flyguy tells us about his experiences with 'unique' pilots in his life of being a commercial airline pilot in 'Captain Utah' (I particularly like the story about the bananas)
The Armorer over at Aaargh! The Home of Two of Jonah's Military Guys explains to us all Why Parents Drink.
kthanxbai!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Parking Frius
The truth of the matter is that I don't like Priuses - or is it Priuii? Either way I they rile me up.
I don't know if its their arrogant design or their drivers' smarmy look when they are overtaken, I just don't know.
I'm fine with Honda's Civic half battery and half petrol engine car. I'm even looking forward to owning a battery powered Land Rover Discovery one time in the (very, very) distant future. Looking at the Prius just makes me clench my fist in preparation for smashing someone in the nose
Unlike some bloggers I know, I do, however, frown on peeing on the door handles of ANY vehicle!
My wife doesn't like me to swear, especially when I'm driving, so I try not to. But those Priuses do test me.
So I came up with an idea.
Very simple.
I'll convince the wife that my swearing is actually something else, so here goes;
So now, whenever I pass a Prius, I say in an amicable, cheery voice, "look there's a farking Prius'.
And everyone smiles.
kthanxbai!
I don't know if its their arrogant design or their drivers' smarmy look when they are overtaken, I just don't know.
I'm fine with Honda's Civic half battery and half petrol engine car. I'm even looking forward to owning a battery powered Land Rover Discovery one time in the (very, very) distant future. Looking at the Prius just makes me clench my fist in preparation for smashing someone in the nose
Unlike some bloggers I know, I do, however, frown on peeing on the door handles of ANY vehicle!
My wife doesn't like me to swear, especially when I'm driving, so I try not to. But those Priuses do test me.
So I came up with an idea.
Very simple.
I'll convince the wife that my swearing is actually something else, so here goes;
The process that Priuses / Prii use to turn their movement into battery power and then back into
car movement? Well it was named after Proffessor Fark of Hinkyflinky, Sweden. The process that is named after him is called farking.
So now, whenever I pass a Prius, I say in an amicable, cheery voice, "look there's a farking Prius'.
And everyone smiles.
kthanxbai!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Thar be pirates - oooh aar
I have an MP3 player, I have an iTouch, my wife has an MP3 player and we were seriously considering getting one for our 13 month old baby.
The truth of the matter is that I have not actually bought a CD or music online for years. Maybe 5 years. All of the music I have on either of my digital music players is from discs I bought in the beginning of the century or stuff I downloaded of the interweb in the last year or two.
Have I caused the downfall of the music industry? Probably..... not. Have you and i together created a huge vacuum where their bank balances used to be? Highly unlikely.
What is the real effect of piracy on the music industry, a world wide business of over $60 BILLION a year??
Oddee has the answer - go there, or here, or here, to find out the who's, whats, whys and wherefore of piracy's effect on the music industry.
kthanxbai!
The truth of the matter is that I have not actually bought a CD or music online for years. Maybe 5 years. All of the music I have on either of my digital music players is from discs I bought in the beginning of the century or stuff I downloaded of the interweb in the last year or two.
Have I caused the downfall of the music industry? Probably..... not. Have you and i together created a huge vacuum where their bank balances used to be? Highly unlikely.What is the real effect of piracy on the music industry, a world wide business of over $60 BILLION a year??
Oddee has the answer - go there, or here, or here, to find out the who's, whats, whys and wherefore of piracy's effect on the music industry.
kthanxbai!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Supermarket shooting itself in the foot
The other day we received a series of coupons from our local supermarket. It had over 75% off brand names items that we use regularly:
Coffee aka warm caffeine with milk
Coca cola aka cold caffeine with sugar
Diapers - very useful with Baby J in the house
Mrs J, Baby J and I turned up to the supermarket in question this morning with our freshly folded and cleanly cut coupons as well as our regular shopping list.
Thursday is a busy shopping day in these parts. The weekend starts early so Thursday morning is the 2nd busiest day at the shops. Friday is THE busiest day - so crazy in fact that I have not been shopping on a Friday in 6 years.
The staff were interested in the coupons as they had heard they were being sent out, but hadn't seen them yet. I had to explain to one of them what the coupons were about - the top row for October and November, the bottom row for December.
There was even a picture of the Store Manager on the coupon letter and I saw him walking around the store, pleased as punch.
After an hour, 3,000 or so paces, and an interesting 'discussion' with Her Indoors, we arrive at the check out.
The female clerk (is that what they're called in these PC days?) was very friendly, chatted with Her Indoors and played with Baby J. She explained that she was not local but had been drafted in to deal with the influx of expected customers due to the coupons.
We had bought 1 of each thing on the coupon list and started to pass the items through. I handed the clerk the coupons and she said that she had to speak to her direct supervisor.
Fine. We had nowhere to rush to and there was no-one waiting behind us so we waited.
The supervisor arrived and explained that we had to show the coupons first as their system couldn't take the coupons after the item had been passed through the 'thing that goes "beep"'. Nice to see that they were ready for their big advertising splurge.
Great. She flashed her card through the system and we start packing the shopping.
But wait. if you have bothered to read this far its because you know there is a twist in the tale! The young couple in the checkout next to ours is having a bit of a combined meltdown. They've also got their coupons but are unhappy.
Mrs J and I listen in.
It appears that you can only use one coupon per purchase, each purchase a minimum of $25.
The Manager ambles over. 'Of course its only one coupon per purchase. It's written on the bottom line'.
I decide to confront the inept chap. 'Sir, I read the front of your coupon. It says the item and the price. I came here to buy them and now you're going to stop me from doing so? Are you sure?'
He slipped away without answering.
By now we had an audience watching us as it appears that most customers in the supermarket had coupons too!!
In typical 'thinking out of the box' fashion we come up with our answer.
Every $25 I the clerk and ask for the bill, and then pay. We have now made our purchase minimum of $25 and can now use one coupon!! We do this 3 times, laughing with the clerk at the attitude of the jobsworth* manager.
Tomorrow is Friday and both Mrs J and the sales clerk are very happy that they will be nowhere near that particular supermarket. It'll be interesting to say the least.
kthanxbai!
* jobsworth - from the phrase 'I can't do that, it's more than my job's worth' generally connected with not being able to get things done because of the rules. Jobsworth in wikipedia
Coffee aka warm caffeine with milk
Coca cola aka cold caffeine with sugar
Diapers - very useful with Baby J in the house
Mrs J, Baby J and I turned up to the supermarket in question this morning with our freshly folded and cleanly cut coupons as well as our regular shopping list.
Thursday is a busy shopping day in these parts. The weekend starts early so Thursday morning is the 2nd busiest day at the shops. Friday is THE busiest day - so crazy in fact that I have not been shopping on a Friday in 6 years.
The staff were interested in the coupons as they had heard they were being sent out, but hadn't seen them yet. I had to explain to one of them what the coupons were about - the top row for October and November, the bottom row for December.
There was even a picture of the Store Manager on the coupon letter and I saw him walking around the store, pleased as punch.
After an hour, 3,000 or so paces, and an interesting 'discussion' with Her Indoors, we arrive at the check out.
The female clerk (is that what they're called in these PC days?) was very friendly, chatted with Her Indoors and played with Baby J. She explained that she was not local but had been drafted in to deal with the influx of expected customers due to the coupons.
We had bought 1 of each thing on the coupon list and started to pass the items through. I handed the clerk the coupons and she said that she had to speak to her direct supervisor.
Fine. We had nowhere to rush to and there was no-one waiting behind us so we waited.
The supervisor arrived and explained that we had to show the coupons first as their system couldn't take the coupons after the item had been passed through the 'thing that goes "beep"'. Nice to see that they were ready for their big advertising splurge.
Great. She flashed her card through the system and we start packing the shopping.
But wait. if you have bothered to read this far its because you know there is a twist in the tale! The young couple in the checkout next to ours is having a bit of a combined meltdown. They've also got their coupons but are unhappy.
Mrs J and I listen in.
It appears that you can only use one coupon per purchase, each purchase a minimum of $25.
The Manager ambles over. 'Of course its only one coupon per purchase. It's written on the bottom line'.
I decide to confront the inept chap. 'Sir, I read the front of your coupon. It says the item and the price. I came here to buy them and now you're going to stop me from doing so? Are you sure?'
He slipped away without answering.
By now we had an audience watching us as it appears that most customers in the supermarket had coupons too!!
In typical 'thinking out of the box' fashion we come up with our answer.
Every $25 I the clerk and ask for the bill, and then pay. We have now made our purchase minimum of $25 and can now use one coupon!! We do this 3 times, laughing with the clerk at the attitude of the jobsworth* manager.
Tomorrow is Friday and both Mrs J and the sales clerk are very happy that they will be nowhere near that particular supermarket. It'll be interesting to say the least.
kthanxbai!
* jobsworth - from the phrase 'I can't do that, it's more than my job's worth' generally connected with not being able to get things done because of the rules. Jobsworth in wikipedia
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)