Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Art Institute Features The Basement Design + Motion Show Reel

Recently we were approached by the Art Institute and asked if they could feature our current show reel in their online curriculum. We said yes! (of course)

“We’re thrilled to showcase the demo reel from basement design + motion in our Advanced Modeling & Animation Topics course in the Media Arts & Animation program. The reel is an excellent example of how to integrate interface design, motion graphics, and both 2D and 3D animation work into an entertaining presentation.”
-- Jeannie Novak
Online Program Director, Media Arts & Animation / Game Art & Design, Art Institute of Pittsburgh – Online Division;
Lead Author & Series Editor, Game Development Essentials, Cengage/Delmar Publishing

Many thanks to Jeannie Novak and the Art Institute.

The Basement Design + Motion New Demo Reel

Just finished...
The Basement New Reel

Friday, May 23, 2008

Louisville Friends

Special thanks to our friend Jason Falls, and the Social Media Club down in Louisville for hosting a great event this week. My fellow basement dwellers Kelli and Brian joined me down in Louisville to sit in on the club's monthly get together.

Very informative and you can learn about the club by going to their site now.

Monday, May 19, 2008

More Tribune Hype

The headline reads Tribune Is 'Actually Friggin' Doing It'
Doing what?? They hired a big wig from XM (a company who has to merge with its only one true competitor to stay alive) to become its vp of innovation. Well, I give them credit for hiring someone, paying him, I am sure, a king's ransom and sitting back and waiting for him to provide the silver bullet. I guess they are trying. I really do not think this is the answer.

Really when you think about it, the almighty Google was started by two no-name guys and now it is the company to beat. Amazon, same thing. MySpace, yep. Facebook - once again someone no one knew - created a monster success and an innovator.

These large newspaper companies, in my opinion, need to start going way unconventional to start moving in the right direction. It will be tough, but if they keep going to the same well, they should expect the same bogus results, resulting in more wasted millions. Go HERE and read the full piece. Based on what this article says it seems like so far Tribune is not "friggin doing it."

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Evidently I am not the Only One Who Thinks Evista Spot is Odd

Eli Lilly's Ladies' Drug Campaign: Kind of Strange TV Ad?
Posted By:Mike Huckman at CNBC.com

His critique is not as to-the-point as mine, however it is obvious by his writing that he was caught off guard by the strange spot. His term is strange - mine is creepy. For the record since this is a product for women, and not men, I am not in the target so maybe I am not supposed to get it - so for the record my wife was equally as disturbed by this freaky spot. She ran to the fridge and proceeded to drink tons of milk for fear that osteoporosis would sentence her to the towel only Stanley Kubrick-esque alien spa wear the women in this spot seemed to be hanging out.

Who is Selling to the C Suite???

Well we knew this was coming. The c-level execs were one of the first categories to adopt in home broadband connectivity in large numbers for their category, and now low and behold they are called out for being one of the groups growing their online media consumption. Let's just say this will only go up - as people from Gen X start infiltrating the C-Suite, as this article puts it, that media penetration rate will pop even more. Good news for those of us in the digital media creation business. Agencies of all sizes - take note - this a great clue as to how you can reach your target.

Check out the full piece HERE titled C Suite Favors E Media, Study Finds 'Business Elite' Embracing Online

Innovation from Collaboration

I ran across this little article today and found it to be pretty interesting. It is all about one of my favorite topics - Innovation. It talks about how innovation can come more fruitfully from collaboration with other market experts and communities of other innovative thinkers - as opposed to market research. Aside from the obvious group plug, the rest of the piece is pretty interesting. Remember what Peter Drucker said, and I will paraphrase, the two best ways to grow a business are marketing and innovation. I couldn't agree more.

Go HERE to read the full piece.

Quote of the Day

"We have no idea."-- Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment

Pulled from the article
Long-Awaited: Jimmy Fallon Takes 'Late Night' Reins

Monday, May 12, 2008

Lilly Evista TV Spot...Creepy

I took a few minutes and turned on the tube last night. I saw something that completely freaked me out. No, not the most recent installment of Saw. Has anyone else seen the new TV commercial for Eli Lilly's product Evista? I am no health care expert, especially as it relates to osteoporosis, or how this product treats that ailment, however I do know when I am creeped out by a TV spot. When I saw this spot I thought I was watching a Stanley Kubrick movie, not a commercial for a drug that may help you if you have osteoporosis.

The way they had these actors standing around in bath towels with blank creepy stares on their faces in some ultra sterile environment with a cold, clammy narrator made me want to throw my TV out in the backyard and spray it down with holy water. Make it stop. Yikes!!

Quote of the Day

"You guys think you are hot stuff...you and your computers."

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Gas Station Television

Unintended consequences. How many times is this a consideration? I just finished reading an article about televisions at gas stations, at the pumps. Check this out Gas Station Video Nets Expand, PumpTop TV Biggest

It occurred to me, just how many screens do we really need? Moreover, if I am pumping $4 a gallon gasoline that makes me pretty sour to the entire experience, including what is being shoved in my face as I pump it. So, I ask this question to you broadcasters and advertisers, do you really want your brands associated with that experience? That feeling of frustration that is discussed almost daily in our US culture at this moment in time? While a consumer is being bilked at the pump, and they know they are being bilked at the pump, they are uncertain, uncomfortable and flat out mad as hell about the price of fuel, do you want your message anywhere near that experience or those feelings?

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Growth in Agencies Coming from Digital Side

Revenue Grows 8.6%, Propelled by Digital

This article title popped up in AdAge this week. Some of the most eye raising points made in the piece include...
- "Revenue for U.S. agencies -- advertising, marketing services and media -- jumped 8.6% in 2007 despite a tepid ad market. And for that, you can thank digital."
- "Ad Age estimates that the Big 4 ad firms -- Omnicom Group, WPP Group, Interpublic Group of Cos. and Publicis Groupe -- last year generated 12.3% of worldwide revenue from digital services."
- "Goodby, Silverstein & Partners -- Ad Age's 2008 Agency of the Year -- said digital services last year generated 52% of its revenue."

Three cheers for digital. Obviously these guys are talking about some major agencies, but what about the mid-tier agencies or even smaller, more nimble agencies?? Are they taking advantage of this definitive trend? Are they following in the footsteps of their larger competitors?

I would argue that understanding and even surpassing these large agencies in digital capabilities is the primary way that smaller agencies can compete against the 800 pound gorilla agencies.
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