power to the people

It still amazes how the source of power has radically shifted from corporations to consumers. More and more companies are becoming increasingly consumer centric. Again this does not seem to have been possible without the Internet. Starbucks recently launched the microsite"My Starbucks Idea", where people submit their ideas for the chain and vote for other people's ideas. Some of the most interesting ones include:

1. Free Coffee on your Birthday
2. Free Wireless Internet
3. Bite size pastries
4. Coffee ice cubes
5. Shelves in the restrooms
etc. etc. etc.

Starbucks is sure to meet customer satisfaction, product development and PR efforts (along with the adoption of the new-old logo to improve their image) in a terribly simple way.

This comes to show that Advertising must embrace this consumer oriented tendency, just as corporations have done, moving past a "push strategy" to a "pull strategy", sparking people's interest, and only then offering enterntainment and information for those who are truly interested.

back to roots

The more I thought about it the less sense it made that we use toxic and harmful chemicals to "clean" our homes. These cleaning products are toxic enough for us to use rubber gloves and avoid contact. However we are unconsciously "rubbing" it everywhere in our house.

The "green" trend is catching on hard and now that Clorox has joined, it seems to be here to stay. Greenworks is a line of cleaning products made with natural (biodegradable, non-harmful, not tested on animals) ingredients... finally! The people has spoken and Clorox has listened.

new days

It seems like such a long time ago that I was reading Oliviero Toscani's book, that it feels almost surreal to be nominated by the Academy for a scholarship at Fabrica (the Benetton research center on communication). Today, after a crazy weekend racing to put together a portfolio, I have officially submitted my application to their recruiters from Italy.

Fabrica (Factory) is a space where people from around the globe come together to collaborate on different projects (design, photography, writing, to film, music etc.) Although it can not be strictly categorized as an Art school there is no doubt of the creative instruction that I would get. Their most famous output is COLORS magazine. Every issue of the magazine focuses on one theme that is covered Internationally, from a "multi-colored" perspective. In this sense I feel like I could contribute, given my background, and I could really develop research and analytical, as well as art direction-design, skills.






Now, it's time to wait. Their screening process is tough, and I won't keep my hopes up. I am just happy that someone thought of me for this exciting opportunity... Did I mention that is fully paid? In Italy?...