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http://www.writetheend.ca/

In the future, advertising might know what people want before even they do. Advertisements will scan passers-by and based on a store of data will be able to modulate themselves to target individuals. As the sharing of personal information spreads, the focus of advertising is becoming much more precise and intrusive. Advertisers are acquiring much of what is shared on the web in many ways, and often times through transactions where services are exchanged for the disclosure of personal information. Information becomes currency in the digital era.

A report by the Center For Future Studies imagines that this transformation in advertising is not too far off. In fact, a Japanese based company, NEC has already created age- and gender-guessing advertisements that are tailored to that data. This type of advertising is already being called a “Gladvert” and it is characterized by a technology that will be able to read a person’s emotions.

With such a wealth of personal data available so easily, it’s difficult to imagine that it wouldn’t be utilized by advertisers. Social media in many cases is practically defined by users’ indifference to sharing as much about themselves as possible. However, such pervasive advertising could reveal the drawbacks of revealing so much in the future. While detractors see the technology as endangering privacy, supports see it as providing a more interactive experience.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with Perry (@perrynow) at Dare and this video gives you a taster for the kinda crazed genius he is and the work he does. Actually having a magician on stage in the video was an excellent touch.

Perry and I worked together on Remote Palette, with the accompanying video, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pMS5IMOxCA) an excellent bit of additional supporting content being a parody of Andy Warhol eating a hamburger, the brainchild of ECD Flo Heiss (@floheiss). A great, small and nimble team. It turned out to be a roaring success after we got the likes of Wired, Gizmodo, Creative-Review, Contagious and many more all on board. They all understood the vision and absolutely loved it.

AdAge over in the US listed it in their ‘Campaigns Creativity Loved’ (http://j.mp/gQHJyf) nestled firmly between Mitsubishi and Nike ‘Write The Future’. It has since been nominated for Webby and One Show Interactive awards. Nice.

Having the freedom to work on projects that aren’t for clients is an incredible privilege to have and to just get it out there as soon as it was ready was pretty liberating.

The video is longer than your average 2 minute video on YouTube but i’d highly recommend sitting down (or standing if you so wish) and watching it when you get the chance.

Regarding product launches:

We are completely in the dark until they do a keynote speech. We have no idea what is coming and are not allowed to openly speculate. You can get into serious trouble if you speculate—especially to a customer. I am asked five times per day about the next iPad or iPhone, and I quite simply don’t know. But I would be in huge trouble if I said something like “The next iPad is going to have a camera.

They also really emphasize how important it is for us to stay hydrated, and we can get big bonuses if we work really long hours on a launch day.

Being part of a cult? Sure.

Sometimes the company can feel like a cult. Like, they give us all this little paper pamphlet, and it says things like—and I’m paraphrasing here—”Apple is our soul, our people are our soul.” Or “We aim to provide technological greatness.” And there was this one training session in which they started telling us how to work on our personality, and separating people into those with an external focus and an internal focus. It was just weird.

Getting fired? Easy:

They have a really lenient attendance policy. You have to be late like 15 times before they’ll fire you. But if you talk to the press or speculate to a customer about the next iPad? That’s the end of you.

Dealing with unlocked phones:

We get tons of people asking us for unlocked iPhones, which, of course, we don’t sell. We usually have to tell them that if they unlock their iPhone, it won’t work. That it’s going to be like a $700 paperweight, and that the antenna will fry itself on T-Mobile. Of course, that’s not true, but that’s what we tell them. And if they have an unlocked iPhone, we won’t touch it at the Genius Bar.

Genius Bar or quits:

When I’m there, I get sucked into the competitive culture. Normally I’m pretty low-key, but when I’m at the store, it’s all sell, sell, sell! I wanna work my way up, get promoted and eventually get to the Genius Bar—which is where you want to be. Who doesn’t want to be a genius?

Featuring:

Top 10 countries
Top 10 brands
Top 10 public figures
Age distribution

The Mesh : Why the Future of Business Is Sharing

Strong: Lisa Gansky
Book Site: The Mesh (Our book review of The Mesh)

Traditional businesses follow a simple formula: create a product or service, sell it, collect money. Mesh companies use social media, wireless networks, and data crunched from every available source to provide people with goods and services at the exact moment they need them, without the burden and expense of owning them outright.

Why We Love it: The movement for ecologcal living has openned up a series of services and products. The Mesh will show you how to build trusted brands and value through leveraging shared resources.

Just bought this one from the list but check out the via link for the rest of them.

We put indented plates on bus stop, mall, and park benches, so that when people sat down, the message was imprinted on their thighs. This meant that as well as having branded seats, a veritable army of free media was created, with thousands of imprints being created and lasting up to an hour.