Branding Blog

Welcome to my (art) world

I woke up this morning with the realization that my horizons are about to get a little wider.

Last week Roy gave us a heads up on Eric Rhoads' new magazine, PleinAir. I had no idea what Plein Air was about until he explained that it's an artistic technique involving grabbing your supplies, heading outdoors and just painting a picture. In the aging boomer generation it's taking the place of golf. (if that's possible)

Also, last week at our partner meeting, Sonja Howle gave a fascinating history of the art of the Santa Fe railroad. It's the subject of her book and one of the directions she's taking her partnership in our organization. She'll be taking over Wizard Academy's Art Marketing Curriculum and helping corporations establish a vision for themselves using art as a means of evoking their core values.

Now, I find out that my friend Janel (a fellow Magical World's graduate) wants me to travel to New Mexico with her to visit some old art friends.

She's a self-described art bricoleur. Basically, someone who makes art out of whatever's at hand.

So, how does this help my advertising clients? It's about doing "what you can, with what you have, where you're at."

A better understanding of the artistic techniques will help me to help my clients take advantage of their existing assets.

I love it when the universe conspires to help me succeed.

Call me a bricoleur.

A Question about Diamonds?

When a woman sees a spectacular diamond on the hand of another woman, is she envious of the diamond, or does she desire a man who would give her such a diamond?

Oh Canada!

To my good friends in Canada,

Are you irritated by the headlines today regarding the out-sourcing of those little flag pins handed out by your MP's and senators? It seems to have caused quite an uproar.

I've got a great idea for you. We all know how politicians love getting their picture taken with babies. Just have your Public Works Minister buy "Born in Canada" hats for them to give away instead of Chinese-made flag pins.

I think MP Charlie Angus (pictured above) would look terrific holding a baby decorated in the red Maple Leaf. He'd get a lot more mileage from this than handing out lapel pins.

In fact, even if you can't get your government to buy all Canadian-born babies a new hat, you should buy something yourself for the next little citizen who shows up in your nearest maternity ward.

I am assured by Dean Barreca, one of my good Canadian friends and owner of Born In Canada, that these items are manufactured in Canada by and for Canadians. High quality, reasonable cost. (oh, and Dean may be Canadian, but he's an equal opportunity entrepreneur. You are also welcome to shop at his fledgling Born in USA site.)

Volvo Winter Test

More coverage of this event will be soon be seen on Vince Bodiford's The Weekend Drive, but I liked this photo, so here it is.

We participated in the Volvo Winter Test last week in Quebec City. Canadian Immigration let me in on the condition that I not write anything while in their country. What's with that? I really like nearly every Canadian that I've ever met. However, the immigration officers I've encountered there were another story. Cute girls, but with the interrogation skills you'd expect to find in a socialist country...oh wait.

Change of subject:  I liked Quebec City. I like the Volvo V50. Yes, that's a picture of me driving it on a frozen lake. I got to meet Anne Bélec, president-elect of Volvo of North America. She was out on the ice with us.

Also, Auberge St. Antoine. Wow.

Welcome Marketing 311!

I noticed a bit of traffic coming from an unusual source and after reading, thought I'd take a moment to welcome Mark Lacker's Guerrila Marketing students to the BrandingBlog.

I'll try to liven things up around here for you. I've been a bit dormant lately. I think it has to do with a long winter nap.

I'm honored to have you here and noticed that several of my Wizard of Ads Partner's blogs also made your reading list.

Hey There

Your Dominant Intelligence is Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

You are great at finding patterns and relationships between things. Always curious about how things work, you love to set up experiments. You need for the world to make sense - and are good at making sense of it. You have a head for numbers and math ... and you can solve almost any logic puzzle. You would make a great scientist, engineer, computer programmer, researcher, accountant, or mathematician.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

I noticed this over at David St. Lawrence's blog Ripples.  I've always liked taking tests.

BTW, I'm working on re-inventing the blog. Same blog name, same blog channel.

Stay tuned.