Sometimes it actually happens. You have down time at work – I know it’s a crazy concept. So what do you do? You sit and relax for a bit. But then you get fidgety. You feel guilty for not being productive. So you start creating meaningless tasks to fill your day. It keeps you occupied. It makes you look busy to anyone watching. Don’t do that.
Don’t fill your day with boring repetitive tasks. Instead, get inspired. Recharge.
1. Write a blog post.
2. Draw something.
3. Design a t-shirt.
4. Write a short story.
5. Learn how to say “hello” in 10 languages.
6. Invest the time to turn a coworker into a friend.
7. Create a cube grenade.
But do something interesting with your time. Don’t waste it looking busy. Create.
After a month long hiatus, Idea Drunk is back and open for business. First off, I would like to apologize to you. Our back end servers got hacked and it took some time to figure out what was going wrong and how to fix it. Because, let’s be honest, I’m not a programmer. I write. I come up with ideas. I rant. I don’t always know how things work under the hood.
A big thank you to Freeman, who got everything working again. If any of you live in Ottawa and you like this site, I implore you to buy him a beer on my behalf.
I know that a fair number of people read this site on a regular basis and I appreciate it. Thank you for reading. Thank you for being patient. I have about a month’s worth of content stored up in my brain, my notebooks and on my computer. Enjoy!
The amazing thing isn’t so much the sponsorships trailing Tiger–whatever happens, you can bet those will take a bit longer to bounce back–but rather the effect he has on everything around him. Single-handedly, he’s probably responsible for 11% of the PGA Tour’s overall ratings–which means billions and billions of dollars.
What do you do when 20 million people are watching? What do you say? Because that’s how many people are expected to tune into the coverage of the Masters.
I don’t normally self-promote, but this is cool. We made a video. It’s for Old Style Pilsner – a gnarly beer from Western Canada. They’re having a Bush Bash and wanted us to make a quick video to explain it. It’s random. It’s weird. Enjoy ….
So the general idea is based on the fact that people love Old Style Pilsner because of it’s crazy label. (See below.)
It’s got some crazy shit on it. Bunnies. Planes. Teepees. Monks drinking beer. A sweet Pilsner flag. Basically, all of the random crap that’s in a crazy artist’s brain in 1926 when he’s a had a few too many Pilly’s and decides to design the label. So, we decided to make a video that existed in a 3D model of that label.
How We Did It
1. We made a huge 6′x6′ model of the beer label (aka “Pil Country”) in some guy’s garage. It took a lot of time and effort. Lots of looking at the label. Looking at a huge piece of blank plywood. Looking at the label. Trying not to drink the beer. Putting a tree somewhere. Etc.
For the “Making Of” gallery on Flickr, click here.
2. We got some light, a camera and started shooting. Eight people piled into this guy’s garage. It got sweaty. It got personal. I got to play with bunnies, sparklers and miniature 24′s of beer. Best day of my life.
3. Some editing and stuff. Then … ta-da! A video.
So if you’re lucky enough to live out in Western Canada, I highly recommend going out and picking up a case of Pil. We don’t get it out here and I had to wrangle some people to try and ship me some. It’s a wicked beer with a wicked label. And maybe you’ll win some tickets to a crazy Pilsner Bush Bash. After all … that’s why we made the video.
“Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.”
I’m not sure this is true. In fact, I’m pretty sure that if you watch the dollars, you don’t have to worry so much about pennies.
Big brands don’t sweat the small expenses. They don’t hassle about a return, or a little coupon fraud or the last penny per square foot on the rent in a prime location. In fact, they understand that there’s a powerful honest signal sent when you don’t worry about the tiny expenses. It shows confidence.
So many small businesspeople are crippled by their relationship with money. The thing is, if you run out of money you lose the game. That’s a given. But what’s the best strategy for not running out of money?
I don’t think the answer is to worry insanely about little expenses (saving $20 on your blogging expenses in exchange for distracting ads, for example.)
The thing to do is invest in scary innovations, large leaps, significant savings. Instead of renting a skimpy booth at the big trade show and scrimping on all the extras, why not rent a limo and drive the key buyers around town, or sponsor the awards luncheon? When you skimp all the time, you signal that you’re struggling.
A lot of what sells in business and in brands is the perception of confidence. You are trying to get people to trust you. And people tend to trust the brave and successful instead of the fearful and frugal.
On a side note, I’ve found the best meetings always have food. Snacks make people happy. And happy people buy ideas.
It’s crazy how in the same category, Coke can get it so right and Pepsi got it so wrong (Pepsi). Coke’s strategy is rooted in an insight and an idea – Canadians are living to see their teams win gold in Olympic hockey. Pepsi got swept up in the craze of “consumer generated content” and executing around an idea that attempted to get people involved with their brand. They held a contest to try and come up with a new cheer for Team Canada hockey.
There were two problems with this strategy. The first is that we didn’t need a new cheer. Especially one sponsored by a brand. The second is that the cheer sucked. “Eh, Oh Canada Go”.
Pepsi spent too much time on trying to execute a campaign with lots of consumer involvement. But they forgot a key component … does it make sense? I’m sure there was at least one meeting when someone was thinking “This is a stupid idea. Do we really need a new cheer? Why would they choose our cheer over the one that already exists?”
Coke kept it simple. Put something on TV that inspires people and get your brand associated with that feeling.
Sometimes we get so excited about executing the latest marketing trends that we forget to ask if we have a good idea. Sometimes it’s okay to do what’s been done before. Just do it well.
But enough ranting. I’m going to watch the Coke ad again and dream of gold.
It’s the holidays and we all have that “creative” person on our list. We can be a little bit harder to buy for because we’re particular. But sometimes we’re easier to buy for because we think the most random shit is cool.
Anyways, if you’re stuck on what to get someone (creative or not), here are some ideas:
1. A Best Made Axe. I’ve talked about these before. They’re awesome. The look sweet. Plus, who wouldn’t want an axe? Nothing says “don’t fuck with my ideas” better than brainstorming with an axe in hand.
2. A Long Board. It’s not all “extreme” like those X-Games skateboards. People don’t expect you to do tricks on them. It’s mellow. It’s bringing skateboarding back to its roots – surfing on pavement. Need more convincing? Check out this video.
3. Storymatic. Any writer knows the horrors of writer’s block. Now The Storymatic ($30) is here to help. By following two simple laws a main character that changes during the story and doesn’t die along the way the 500 cards, separated by color into gold cards offering a character trait or occupation and white cards that contain a situation or object, help you build a compelling story by simply following along.
4. A Blank Moleskin. These are the notebooks that Hemingway used. Creative greats all over the world love the classic touch and feel of a Moleskin. And the blank pages scream for you to fill them with scribbles, doodles, notes and ideas.
5. A Box Of Crayons. They bring you back to your childhood when all you had to worry about was the fact that you used up the black crayon, so you sub in navy blue instead. They’re colourful. And they let you create.
6. A White Shirt. Every person could use a crisp white shirt. They go with everything. This one is even designed for someone who bikes to work, but still wants to look good when they get there.
7. A bow tie. Or a skinny tie. Either way, bring back the nostalgic charms of the Mad Men era into the modern workplace. Ties used to say suit. Now they say cool.
8. A Screen Printing Kit. That way they can make their own ironic t-shirts. Or vintage t-shirts. Or witty t-shirts. Whatever. Check out this one from Urban Outfitters.
9. A Polaroid Camera. Or a newfangled Fujifilm imitation. Every since Polaroid stopped making film, there’s been some nostalgia around these. There’s something about having to wait to see it. Having it be permanent. It forces you to make every shot special.
10. Booze. The old standby. Everyone likes it. Just buy a cool looking bottle, like this R1 Whiskey from the makers of Jim Beam.
Bonus Gift:
A Fake Mustache. Who doesn’t want one of these? Great for costume parties, instant disguises or simply to wear while ironing your shirts on a Sunday.
