Coincidence?

Blagojevich gets boot; hair gets book deal

OK, so that's only half-true...so far. Just thought it interesting as this soap opera comes to a close that the former governor's parting shot was if he had been allowed to bring in character witnesses, it would have been shown that he "did things that were mostly right." He's such a bad politician he can't even lie correctly.

The one good thing about how long it took to get here was we all at least had the time to learn how to correctly pronounce "blagojevich."

The pressure to be interesting

Publishing posts on a regular basis can be nerve-racking. One dynamite thought can send a horde of humanity flocking to the site. Conversely, a boring one can turn readers off for eternity. Neverminding the hyperbole, there is a pretty good lesson here for brand champions to not just be relevant but also to be worth remembering.

Boring = bad. Plain and simple. So as you plan for '09 and beyond, find ways to capitalize on your brand's personality. Take it to the nth degree in your emails and your couponing, your broadcast and your web site. Do something new this year, too. Go mobile. Go grassroots. Just don't go bland. Stand out even if that means sticking out like a sore thumb.

As long as you stay true to your brand and are bold with letting people see and interact with the personality of it, people will talk about you, share you and hear what else you have to say.

Origin of the Owl

Whenever we meet with a new client, the same question always seems to come up: What's with the owl? So here is the history of the inspiration for our curious logo.

When the three partners started looking for a space for the agency, they looked all around from corporate skyscrapers to houses in trendy neighborhoods. When they walked into 921 E. 66th Street, they fell in love with it immediately for its potential. As the landlord showed them around to the upstairs, an owl flew down the staircase, nearly knocking Nancy off her feet. The combination of the owl and Nancy Wise's last name gave Duane a flux-capacitor-type epiphany and the mystifying HRW logo was born.

Still not convinced? Draw your own conclusion and send it to us. We might just start using it when the next client asks.

My name is URL

It seems whenever we get a naming project or are asked to create a new web presence for a client, one of the most maddening part of the process is securing a unique and memorable URL. Finding a solid '.com' address is becoming evermore elusive. And do you dare go the .net or .tv route? Or sexier yet: .us or .it? To some clients it doesn't matter. To others, it's dot-com or the superhighway.

Now, creative URLs are nothing new using country codes (like .us or .it). And .tv actually is for the country Tuvalu, not television. But a new opportunity to create virtually any domain name you want is virtually upon us. In what's being heralded as a "massive increase in the real estate of the internet," ICANN - the governing body of URL names - has all but given the green light to broadening the list of acceptable URL suffixes to include pretty much any word or non-word you can think of. It's sort of like resetting the domain-name playing field, except you know now what you wish you had known then.

Of course, no one is sounding the death knell for the tried-and-true '.com'; far from it. But it certainly expands the creative possibilities. The new ICANN regulations (deregulations?) will even accept the recognition of Chinese and Arabic characters for the first time. more >>>

The discussion is still going on (it was actually extended a week until December 15th, but they've yet to officially close it), but by their own forecasts, the wider format will go live sometime in Q3 of 2009.

Will some cybersquatter strike it rich by registering cocacola.soda (cocacola.pop for the other half of the population), nike.shoes or corona.calm?












Will local hospitals and banks work themselves into a frenzy buying things like bestindiana.hospital, wearenewyorks.bank or yourmoneyissafe.here? All we know is that the web is about to get a little more tangled.

web articles

Word to the Wise: Connect

Don't let your site be a dead-end.

Include links whenever possible, and you'll prove to be a resource to customers and create fans of your brand in ways you have never considered. (Don't be afraid to surprise them.) By existing as a learning aid rather than a lecturer, you'll give people a reason to come back beyond the transaction.

Of course, it is probably a good idea to take a quick course in Weblinking 101. Especially you bigger players out there.

World Wide Web lives up to its name

We've gotten a lot of comments on our downloadable desktop wallpaper over the years, but this kind of caught us off guard. It appears we have a new friend in New Delhi. Thanks for the love, Malvika.

I guess the moral is: Thaw out the hard sell. In this 2.0 world, have fun with your brand and people will find it, tag it and share it. The wallpaper is currently available for free at hrwideas.com.

Read any good bookmarks lately?

With the increasingly rapid exchange of information, the revealing question of "What books are on your nightstand?" should be more aptly replaced by "What bookmarks are on your computer?" So let us start the sharing with a few of our faves. Feel free to add yours. more

Maybe this will all culminate in a Battle of the Bookmarks for the drunken masses to decide. (Editor's note: We did cheat one, but it was too cool to forego. If you figure it out, we'll send you a free Owl Power coaster. While supplies last.)

allaboutbranding.com
blogpulse.com
consumerist.com
dontclick.it
ecotonoha.com
ffiles.com
google.com/trends
hersey.com
imdb.com
justjared.com
kstreetcafe.com
linkedin.com (FWA group)
motionographer.com
notcot.org
oodle.com/bandtracker
pewinternet.org
qthemusic.com
remodelista.com
sharpened.net
thesuperest.com
underconsideration.com
visualdictionary.net
wittycomics.com
xnografics.com
youworkforthem.com
zilton.be

Have you met 500 people?

Should the Hadron Collider have been built? Are you looking forward to the advance in technology in the coming years? Do you think Leon Panetta is a wise choice for Director of the CIA? Are you worried about what your kids will see on the internet (namely this blog)?

These are the questions that are posed and pondered on ask500people.com - the site that allows the world to chime in on whatever is on people's minds. more

Now we wouldn't qualify this as a divining rod for the answer to your brand's or product's questions, but it is fascinating to see what people have to say, if they feel compelled to comment and from what part of the world they hail.

Here's one where a medical imaging company decided to put their new tagline to the test.

Let's look at the clear favorite: Accurate answers. Fast.

Simple. Generic.

In a distant second, we have: Flat-out precise.
It's confident, a little unusual in its phrasing, and in the medical profession, it seems that precision is much more valuable than accuracy.

That's the trick with focus groups of any kind - loose or formal. People generally gravitate towards what they already know in these types of settings, but when it comes to piquing their interest in the hustle and bustle of the outside world, you need to be shiny, new and unlike anything they've seen before to be perceived as better than what they already have.

Of course, the questions and multiple choice answers are often much more captivating than the responses because they provide more of a window into what answers people are searching for than a list of the top Google searches would show you. Let's take this one.

'Where should the Obamas get their dog?'


We've heard how it's got to be from the pound. No ifs, ands or buts. Especially since Obama's VP Joe Biden got his German Shepherd from a breeder. But seriously, where are you supposed to get one of the smartest and sought-after dogs around?

It opened our owl eyes to see one of the multiple choice answers was to get the dog through the classifieds. Brilliant suggestion! Pounds are overcrowded and underfunded. Wouldn't it be better to encourage trying to find good homes for pets via craigslist or the want ads versus dumping the dog at the pound?

Usually when people insist there's only one right answer, they haven't thought the whole thing through.

Anyway, just a fun place to experiment or play wallflower and see what's on people's minds.

How'd they do it?

 more >>>

Sometimes there's just not budget to cast and wardrobe 12 actors, rent out a beach, and shoot on location in California. But, despite working with only pre-existing photos, we pulled it off - thanks to a lot of improvisation, computer trickery and SPF 50. Not to mention some quick thinking at the 11th hour to flip the standard shot of the air conditioning unit upside-down to make the angle work. Click below to see how it happened. We even turned it into an online game.

Generation Why

There are the Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and the Millenials. But what about the recession generation? Don't they deserve their own distinction? After all, they're the ones who will have to clean up this mess. A few humble suggestions:

The Busters
A respectful nod to their grandparents - the Boomers. ["...the circle of life..."]

Billion Dollar Babies
We're investing in your future. And sending you the bill.

The Misers
Like the Depression-era generation before them, these kids are going to learn to reuse paper towels and coffee grounds like never before.

Generation Why / Generation Whine
Rather than doing something about it, they'll probably blame the generations before them and pass the buck to the generations to come. It's worked before.

The Crunched
Even street cred is hard to come by these days.

HRW develops Indy Tire mascot

Done in the throwback style of the 60's and 70's, the classic pop-culture icon gives the brand a friendly face.