Category:Advertising

NYTimes: On Release Date, Crucial Nokia Phone Is Hard to Buy in New York

AT&T said last month that when Nokia's new Lumia 900 phone went on sale April 8, it would benefit from the company's biggest product introduction ever, exceeding even the iPhone's.

The big day is here. But nearly all 39 AT&T stores within proximity of Times Square in Manhattan were either closed for Easter Sunday or did not answer phone calls. The few that were open did not have the handset in stock.

This is probably the last chance Microsoft has to prove itself relevant in mobile space as the traditional desktop PC is pulled from it's position as the computer for everyday use.

So what do they do? (I say *they* because former Microsoft executive Stephen Elop is running Nokia and made the decision to move all their smartphones to Windows Phone)

They launch their flagship phone on Easter Sunday. When everything is closed.

So smart.

When I see Microsoft/Nokia continue to make fumbles like this I wonder if it's something deeper than the fact Microsoft was run by an engineer who doesn't understand user experience and design until it was run by a man who knows neither engineers and developers nor design and user experience.

People half-jokingly have said Bill Gates has Asperger's Syndrome due to his social deficiencies. He understands how computers and software work inside and out, but it's the people who use his software he never seems to have a clue about.

So my theory is when Bill Gates stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in 2000 he transferred his inabilities to communicate with and make software for humans to the rest of the company --via some hybrid human/computer virus -- and subsequently, Stephen Elop and Nokia.

What else could explain such a fucked up product launch?

Actually, it could also be the people at Microsoft and Nokia aren't humans at all. Remember how the alien at the beginning of Men In Black wore the skin of that farmer to disguise himself?

Yeah, something like that could be happening too.

via The Daily Beast

Such bullshit. I never react like that.

via DesignTAXI

My mother recently sent me a link to TJS Labs Gallery of Graphic Design. It is a treasure trove of vintage ads from the 30's through to the 60's. Thanks mom!

Originally posted November 28, 2009 on Analogue

There is more to this than meets to eye. The design of Chanel N°5 is stunning and the delivery of the film is flawless. But there is more to it. As many people have probably noticed, Audrey Tautou is playing a very integral role in the campaigns for Chanel lately. She is the perfect choice to grace the pages of Vogue and help in promoting the most recognizable fragrance in the world. Her image exudes grace, class, and beauty.

Audrey also plays a very important role in the recently released film titled Coco Before Chanel. She plays the role of Coco Chanel herself and she does not disappoint. She seems naturally suited to the role of Coco and one only needs to look at early photos of Coco to see that the resemblance is uncanny.

The fact that she has been cast as Coco in a feature film, while at the same time being the image of the fragrance is sheer brilliance. It is an intelligent approach to something that could have been much less effective. Chanel could have easily decided to cast her in ads and a film that just mirrored the feature film that she is starring in—but they did not. Instead they showcased her in a completely different light and created an entirely different story around the fragrance.

It is in my opinion that the American-style approach to this would have been to tie the movie into the marketing of the fragrance in a much more obvious manner. Instead, the approach that was taken is much more intelligent, subtle, and thoughtful.

So what am I getting at here? I am trying to demonstrate that although there are many examples of great website designs that are visually and aesthetically stunning—it seems that the ideas and thought process behind them get left behind. This could have been an obvious cross-promotion campaign just like the countless others we all encounter, instead it tells another story. It demonstrates the undercurrents that are behind the success of many online experiences.

The iPad has nothing on this:

This is great. I follow a site called Modern Mechanix, which features old advertisements and articles in the fields of engineering, technology and science. Some of them go way back to the late 1800's and early 1900's.

My father started his career off in the 60's at Bell Telephone so I decided to send him the link to a recent post on Modern Mechanix which featured an ad for Bell.

I asked him if he remembered the ad. Here was his reply:

Yikes, not only do I remember it, in 1965 I was one of the few AT&T "data" technicians who worked on diagnosing and resolving problems on the "Dataphone" pictured in the Ad. Actually, it was a real fun job (to me anyway). These phones operated at 2400 bps (bits per second). Among other things, you usually had to "condition" the copper wires in order to pass error free data. This involved inserting customized equalizers in the signal path to compensate for the specific frequency attenuation characteristics of the assigned copper line. Soon after I advanced to supporting high speed/wideband data customers which introduced the then incredible transmission rate of 50kbps (50,000 bits per second). No one could imagine how there could possibly be a need or use for any higher data rates.

I think I understood a sentence in there somewhere.