Outside.in widget

I often tell clients that the two most exciting areas for innovation, across industries, are extreme local and global interconnectedness.

I've been working on an extreme local digital media report for awhile now, covering the latest platforms for networking and community building, only to discover repeatedly that Outside.in is already investing in many of the principles and features I've been looking for.

And this morning, thanks to my neighbor Sexy Widget, I see that Outside.in is opening up its site, with a widget that displays and accepts local news tied to the user's zip code:

"This widget has important implications for Outside.in for a number of reasons. On the distribution side, by freeing up its content so that it can show up anywhere, Outside.in has just sweetened the pot for local content publishers in terms of potential distribution reach. This is a big deal, as unlike Google News, Outside.in is not a crawler driven business. It relies on content that is manually and explicitly submitted via its site, and only after a registration.

There are also benefits on the marketing side. While the widget serves as a distribution platform for Outside.in content, it also serves as a marketing tool to attract more consumers and producers of local content." (Sexy Widget)

I'll be installing the widget myself and giving it a whirl later this week. I'll let you know what I think.

Marketing vs. advertising vs. branding

Funny and accurate. (As seen on kottke.org.)

San Paolo kicks out billboards

An inspiring, if temporary, step forward for more human urban environments, as reported in BoingBoing and elsewhere.

This news item reminds me of the scene in Before Sunset where Julie Delpy talks about visiting Warsaw as a teenager:

"After a couple of weeks, something changed in me. The city was quite gloomy and gray... but, after a while, my brain seemed clearer... It took me a while to figure out why... My brain felt like it was at rest, free from the consuming frenzy. And I have to say, it was almost like a natural high. I felt so peaceful inside, no... strange urge to be somewhere else, to shop... Maybe it could have seemed like boredom at first, but it quickly became very, very soulful."

The Eye of the Beholder

Nina Simon at Museum 2.0 continues to serve up great insights about art, business, commerce, and marketing. This week, she asks: "What kinds of environments support focus, appreciation, and epiphany?"

Millenials and viral marketing

Check out AdAge for this review of a UK teen road safety campaign that gets the message, the medium and the distribution all exactly right.

Design is the new advertising

From Marc Gobé, author of the forthcoming "Brandjam":

"Design is the new advertising...The only advertising that works is about product that you’re drawn to anyway." (as blogged in Design Observer)

Something old, something borrowed

Axe is one of my favorite examples of a product whose primary differentiation is its message. Love it or hate it, Axe's "guys, wear this, you'll get lucky" marketing approach has created new growth in what was once considered a commodity category. Unilever is now laughing all the way to the bank.

It appears from this NYT article (as blogged in Good Experience) that Old Spice is about to jump on the same sex-not-efficacy bandwagon.

May the best deodorant win.

Some big marketing ideas

From the Ad Age IDEA conference last week in NYC. I was hoping to go to this but ended up staying put in SF. Thankfully Andrew Hamp took good notes.

Coke Zero

More proof that Al Ries was right, and that brand extensions often just steal customers from the parent brand (from 5 Blogs Before Lunch).

Not here, but now

A gripping bus shelter campaign from Amnesty International.