Skip to content
brendan mitchell
  •  Home
  •  Blog
  • Linkedin
  •  About

Hello I’m a Mac & I’m a PC 1996!

Apple’s “Hello I’m a Mac & I’m a PC” isn’t as original as you might think. Here’s a jpeg a friend sent me a while back from a 1996 Mac Addict magazine, he sent it to me with the message “isn’t this how you used to look in 1996?” and regrettably I had to say “yes”… although all that has changed since then, is that my hair is greyer & I’ve swapped the demin shirt for a pull over, (well I’m feeling the cold in my old age!!??!).

What’s amusing is the text “The casual Seinfeld cut is in, as Jerry would never us a PC”, well Mac Addict you got most of it right, but you forgot that every man has his price… even Jerry!

Steve Jobs would be spinning in his grave… oops there goes another rumour!?!

click the image to view full size

hello-im-a-mac-1996

Uh-oh – I made a stinky!

Indulge your fecal fantasies with a doll that craps!

The opening paragraph of the post on The Register says it all

“Technology has brought many transcendent benefits to our culture, but possibly none have been as consummate in its exquisite magnificence as this holiday season’s nonpareil of elegance, Baby Alive Learns to Potty, a child’s doll that craps.”

Follow this link for more

This is How We Roll in India

I saw this clip the other day on Top Gear, if you’ve not seen it, then get ready to be impressed! impressed by shear stupidity!!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klteYv1Uv9A]

Merry Xmas

I was wondering how best to say merry xmas to you all, then I saw this on Phil’s Unionversity blog and realised it was perfect, words cannot do it justice, enjoy : )

Unsocial Networks: Or why Facebook has got it wrong…

It’s 5am and the dawn chorus has started in my back garden, but I don’t mind, as it got me thinking (which is sometimes a bad thing), so I’m wide awake now!

The future for social networks is portability, I want the same freedoms online that I have in the real world, I want to be able to meet my friends where I want, I want to keep in touch with them how I choose, If we decide to meet somewhere else for a change there’s no limitations… but what’s all this to do with the dawn chorus?

Think how most social networks operate, locking in users to a closed network is the wrong approach, it’s akin to locking a bird in a cage, you let the bird out of the cage from time to time to meet other birds, but you only let them fly around within your aviary, the birds can’t get away. So the only way you can keep your birds alive & happy is to keep feeding them, making sure they have a nice place to live, and keeping those doors firmly locked! How do you pay for the up keep on the aviary? well you obviously can’t charge the birds, so you charge people to see the birds, you have sponsors that supply seed, you watch how the birds interact with one another and then profit from your research.

Let’s now think of it in a far more open way… if you put seed on a bird table in your back garden birds will come. After a while you attract more & more, they’re wild birds, they can fly away moment, yet they keep coming back. You don’t need a cage to keep them, as they’ll keep coming back as long as you respect & treat them well and give them what they want.

How do I pay for the seed or make money? the same way as before. With this analogy you could charge people to view your flock of birds, sell photos you’ve taken, you could charge users to feed the birds themselves, you could be sponsored & have grain supplied by a third party, thus promoting their product to your paying visitors, you could give presentations & talks or publish books about your experiences of running the bird sanctuaries, the list goes on.

Now imagine your neighbour does the same, he puts out a bird table, covers it with seed and attracts more birds, of course some of your birds will fly over to his table, but then some of his birds will fly over to yours, there’s no barriers, the birds can do what they want, they can fly back & forth. Then another neighbour does the same and attracts even more birds… until eventually everyone on your street has bird tables that are attracting birds from far & wide to your neighbourhood.

With this model the birds obviously benefit the most (which is great & exactly as it should be, because online, you’re the bird), the neighbourhood benefits as they get to see and study all the birds, not just the ones locked up in their cages. The sponsors benefit as they get to see which of their types of seeds are preferred & consumed the most. I could go on, but I think you’re getting the point.

If the only way you can pay for the upkeep of your caged birds & aviary is through visitors & sponsors donating seed, what happens when the sponsor stops supplying you, because they’ve chosen to supply your neighbours instead, because they have a lot more birds than you. Simple, if you can’t feed your birds, they die in their cages, unless you open the doors and let them out, they may have survived, but you’ve still lost.

You don’t want caged birds, so get rid of the cages, you want wild birds that are free to come & go as they please, if you give them what they want they’re come, and you’ll end up with a far greater result.

As with all businesses, be generous with you offerings & services, be customer focused, treat your customers with respect, give them what they want, because like a free bird they can fly off anytime they want and you’ll probably never see them again.

Lightbulbs & Lasers

bing! the lightbulb illuminates when you have your idea, it’s a killer idea, it’s going to change everything, it’s really cool, you almost can’t believe that no one has ever thought of this before, so sit there & bask in it’s warm glow for a while and let others join you to share in this experience, or…

Stop basking & wasting your energy by shining in all directions, focus it all into a single direction, be a laser, they’re bright, they can cut through things, they make things happen and they’re far more impressive than a lightbulb!

Give Credit Where It’s Due

In an interview discussing the Hollywood fixation with the Prius, on a recent episode of Top Gear,  Jay Leno (with his tongue firming pressed against his cheek), said  “In America, we like everyone to know, about all the good work we’re doing anonymously!?”

OK he was joking, but actually he wasn’t that far off the truth and he knew it. To be fair, this certainly isn’t only an American trait, in general I’ve found American’s & America to be very generous in many ways.

While there’s nothing wrong with giving credit were credit’s due, making it a pre-requisite of the generosity on hand makes you wonder just how genuine the good intentions are. I took part in a recent online discussion when the ugly subject of “What’s in it for me” was raised, and was delighted that the majority of respondents shared my views.

So if someone has generously donated their time & effort, then it’s only fair that you give them some recognition, and it’s even more rewarding when they’re not expecting it.

On a slightly different theme, in an earlier post I highlighted, Bernd CoCreatr (AKA Purple Pointr), whom devised a wonderful way of giving thanks for inspiration, check out the link if you haven’t read it.

Nobody Reads My Blog

nobody-reads-my-blogI think my staff are trying to tell me something with my Secret Santa present this year!? So I thought I’d share this photo between the two or us!

Of course if they were really trying to help, they could of added my URL underneath.

Be Effective

As a classic INTJ through and through I hate ineffeciency, it’s a pet hate and I strive to remove it from many aspects of my business, but I’ve just spent a couple of very informative days brain storming & discussing future strategies for the Cordovan Group with the board members along with Prof David Drennan. David said something that really made me stop and think about a few things (To be fair, David said plenty of insightful stuff, but I’m only going to highlight one of them).

To be efficient is “to do things right”
To be effective is “to do the right things”

So while being efficient is all very well, being effective is far more important!

Stephen Fry on Twitter

stephen-fry-twitterI happened to drop by Stephen Fry’s Twitter stream last night and it really made me chuckle, I could just imagine him sitting there cursing the damned Sony Vaio in front of him. I understand his contempt for the thing, I keep well away from the things (I’ve probably only racked up around 10hrs of my life trying to use Windows and on each occasion I’ve been pulling my hair out or cursing through gritted teeth!)

Anyway, I captured the screen so you can see what I’m on about (click it to view larger)
Do we expect Sony Vaio sales to now drop?

Fakebook: Koobface Virus

If you use Facebook, then you should read this article from the BBC about the Koobface virus that has been playing havoc on Facebook. Below is a snippet of the article, but follow the link to read it all on the BBC site.

‘Koobface’ spreads by sending a message to people’s inboxes, pretending to be from a Facebook friend.

It says “you look funny in this new video” or “you look just awesome in this new video”.

By clicking on the link provided they’re then asked to watch a “secret video by Tom”.

When users try and play the video they’re asked to download the latest version of Adobe Flash Player.

If they do, that’s when the virus takes hold and attacks the computer.

Interestingly this dovetails nicely with a post I made called “You don’t know Jack” back in August

Heads You Win, Tails I Lose

“Those who don’t keep their stuff in order, are lazy… while those who do, are too lazy to look for their stuff”
Brendan Mitchell

To reach 180 million people…

Radio took 40yrs
TV took 14yrs
Internet took 4yrs

Facebook 4yrs (140million so far)

(I wonder how long it will take me to get 180million people following me on twitter!?!)

here’s some other useful figures I’ve found

Seth Godin Podcast

I had the good fortune to arrange a live webcast with Seth Godin, to discuss his latest book. The original idea was by Elizabeth Cook, but as I’ve been doing webcasts since 1999, I said I’d be happy to help out. This was actually recorded on the 12th September, before his book was released, so I’ve been keeping it under wraps (it was only available to triiibes.com members), but as it’s already appeared on the open web, I thought I’d put a link to it and remove the passwords.

Podcast Link

Drip It

dripit-box-iaday-150

Something bugging you?
Have something to say?
Want to make a difference?

Then get over to dripit.org

The concept is simple… There’s three ways you can affect change.

Drip: Small incremental changes, or personal adjustments
Trickle: Larger changes that influence change and spread the word
Flood: Put on your wellies and wade on in there, to cause widespread uptake of your concept

So pick a subject you feel passionate about and post it on Dripit. Suggest how your readers can drip, trickle, flood your idea until the flood becomes unstoppable and you’ve created a movement!

Shift Happens, Are You Ready?

I recently found my notes from a presentation I gave 13 years ago, unfortunately I no longer have the presentation (not that I would have software that could open it now even if I could find it). You need to remember that at the time a 56k modem was considered warpdrive access to that little known thingy-me-jig called the internet. Upon seeing the presentation, everyone I knew thought I was nuts, as the basis of the presentation was simple “All music will be available online.” Now that was bad enough, but I also went on to say, “it will be free, or so cheap that it might as well be” as the distributors and artist will make their money in other ways, concerts, t-shirts sales, merchandise etc (ie giving the audience what they want… mmmmmm sounds like tribe building to me, but that’s another discussion!)

OK, look at the music industry in the past 10 years then think about what I said back then, just how crazy was I? although I did say All music not just some of it (that’s still to come, and it will), but prices are hitting rock bottom, the labels tried DRM, it didn’t work (DRM free did), they tried to keep prices high, that didn’t work either, they were too slow to move with the tide. You only have to look at the likes of Jamendo to see my 13 year old predictions coming to fruition, entirely free, good quality, legal music downloads, if you like the music enough you can pay money directly to the artist through the site, but it’s your choice entirely.

The movie industry is doing the same, they think they’re safe due to movie file sizes, but they’re not, data speeds are going up, compression improving, portable players increasing… DVD’s have a 2-3 year life expectancy, HD-DVD & Blu-Ray was undoubtedly the last physical format war, everything will be online & instantly available very very soon!

As they say, “Shift Happens”, at the turn of the century the petroleum motor car replaced the standard mode of transport at the time, the horse & cart, did this end with the demise of the horse, far from it, it gave rise to horses having an improved quality of life, being used for sport & leisure activities only, rather than be flogged everyday to pull a cart. In fact the motor car gave everyone a better quality of life, if the motor car hadn’t been introduced to London it would have ground to a halt, as it was knee deep in horse manure and the stench unbearable. Now it’s the turn of the petrol based motor car, to be replaced by electric or more likely hydrogen based cars completely within the next decade, will this be the demise of the petrol car, not entirely, as enthusiasts will be able to use their treasured “classic” petrol based cars purely for leisure guilt free, in the knowledge that they’ll be using their hydrogen based car for the weekly commute to work.

The newspaper & journal industry is on it’s last legs, they appear to have forgotten what they’re really about, which is delivering “News” not paper, paper is merely the delivery mechanism, but it’s days are numbered, newspapers & books are a dying breed, being referred to as the “souvenir dead tree format”, there will be those that cling on to the printed page, just like those that still listen to vinyl (but they’re a tiny number, even iTunes alone, downloads more songs now than CD sales worldwide!). I know people argue that they like the tactile feel of real books & have a bond with them that they could never have with an electronic version, and I have to agree with them to a degree, but you have to face up to the tide of change. Plus this is only true when it comes to story books or novels, when it comes to manuals, reference books, cooks books, self help etc who has this same bond? Let’s face it, no one… are you really telling me you’re going to get attached to “Dreamweaver For Dummies”, no you’re not, plus you’d probably prefer an electronic version anyway, one that you can bookmark & search through instantly, plus contains electronic versions of code & examples.

So there’s a mindset shift that needs to happen with those that like to read paper now, but the next generation won’t have the same limitations, they’ll simply want whatever is most convenient and most up to date, no paper is the future. Another limiting factor currently is the hardware, reading on a computer screen or an iPhone isn’t great, eReaders that use e-Ink like the Kindle are so like reading paper, you hardly notice you’re not, plus they have numerous advantages. Some argue that because paper books are real tangible objects, they’re more permanent than their electronic counterparts, but actually the reverse is true, paper rots, it gets dirty, you can tear it etc. Corrupt an electronic file? simply re-load a new file and it’s as good as new, in fact it’s probably been updated with new content. I’m not dead set against paper, it has it’s place, but it’s time for the publishing houses worldwide to wake up, accept the sea of change, and prepare for it, otherwise they better be ready to move over when the flood happens & the new ePublishing houses appear on the scene giving the audience what they want (now where have I heard that before?)

So will eBooks, replace paper books? absolutely… but at the end of the day, does it really matter which prevails, as long as more people are reading & writing, who cares how it’s delivered, we’ll all be winners!

Got Something to Say?

I got your press release, 
I wouldn’t change a single word… 
and that single word is on page 5!

Ouch! but in today’s fast paced attention grabbing media frenzy, you really have to get to the point in seconds or your reader is gone, there’s too many choices, yet too little time. Sticking your press release on your website hoping your audience will drop by & pick it up, is a waste of your time, as they won’t be dropping by, they’ll be reading what someone else has sent them directly. Plus writing a book every time is wasting their time, if they actually bother to read it that is!

Brevity is the way ahead, if the gist of your release doesn’t fit within the header of an RSS feed, you’ll get skipped over. Twitter limits you to 140 characters, but if that’s where your audience is then that’s what they want. The mobile platform is happening right now, if you’re not on it, you’re not being read.

So sending out press releases the old way isn’t cutting it anymore, you have to be pro-active to survive, you need to be opening up dialogue, and when someone does contact you, you need to respond to them directly.  You need to focus on producing something they’ll want to discuss with others, and build a platform so they can!

Just Give Me The Darn Thing!

If you’ve got something worthwhile of my time then let me read it, but don’t make me jumps through hoops to get it. Why do I have to register with your site first to get it?

ask yourself the following:

If I don’t register with you…
I’ll never know how great what you’ve written is, you had your chance but you lost it, I won’t be back.

If I register with you…
but it’s not up to scratch, sending me emails isn’t going to make any difference, your emails are just annoying me and have been relegated to my spam folder, I won’t be back.

If it’s just sitting there in the open and if it’s good!
I’ll pass it on to others and recommend they do the same, so in turn spreading the word about you.

If it’s good & I’m interested…
you don’t have to email me to remind me, I’ll be back anyway, as I want to hear more, plus I’ll probably want you to have my contact details.

So, say something worthwhile & I’ll make the decision to listen & contact you, not you.

Try Again

While I was visiting my Aunt in Ireland a couple of years ago I was admiring a small delicate red leaf plant she had in her kitchen (I’m not much of a plant person, this was very out of character for me), she said she had loads of the stuff all over her garden, I looked out the window and sure enough it was dotted around in little red clumps here and there. So she gave me the small flower pot I had been admiring.

A few days later I wrapped it up in newspaper and placed it in my luggage ready for the flight home. Upon my return I put it on the windowsill in my own kitchen and there sat for the next 6 months, doing what plants do best, sending out new shoots as older ones withered and died back. This continued until the rate of new shoots started to drop, the withering was out pacing the new and the plant started to look very sorry for itself. Eventually there was just a single shoot which didn’t last more than a week until it too withered and died.

I put this down to my lack of plant skills, I had fed & watered the plant, but I had no idea if I was doing this too much or too little. I tipped the soil from the pot at the bottom of my garden and put the flower pot in the shed and forgot all about it. That was last November, winter came, the ground froze, it snowed etc. Then in the spring my wife said there was a small red plant growing at the bottom of the garden!?

Yep, sure enough, there it was, sprouting out of a crack on my garden path. I was amazed that it had come back, how it had survived I’ll never know. So my wife replanted it (she’s the one with the green fingers) and put it back in our kitchen, where it’s thrived, so much so, that we’ve had to split it I now have a pot in my living room.

What I have learned from this little plant, is that no matter how small or insignificant you are, or how hostile the environment, if you stick to what you do best, you will survive & maybe even thrive. Whenever I’m doing something that everyone else is telling me is a waste of time or that there’s too big an obstacle to overcome I look at that little red plant and I know that if I’m passionate and dedicated enough about it, I’ll thrive.

red-shamrockI still have no idea what type of plant it is, my Aunt named it “Red Shamrock”, but it’s certainly a different beast to normal Shamrock. If you know what it is let me know.

Startup Tips for the Early, Early Days

I couldn’t agree more with this… I stumbled across it while looking at Noah Everett’s blog, he’s the founder of Nusoni… (they developed TwitPic)

Tribes Q&A

Here’s another free eBook created by the guys in Triiibes
unlike the case studies ebook, this time, this one has been laid out properly (by Paul “Bolofeesh” Durban) and has been edited to make it a better read. Paul’s even created a Kinetic Typography style video to entice you (there’s obviously a lot more to Paul than just feesh!?)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_sy6rBl7Pk]

How’s My Driveling?

Blogs are great, everyone should have one, certainly every company, but most of all they hsould be using it… but blogs have a serious drawback, they’re reactive, not proactive, your user has to come to you for updates. Which unless you have something worthwhile reading, they won’t bother doing. But just in case you do say something worth listening to from time to time, they link to you via RSS, just in case. And that my friends is the really important part to make note of. Blogs in general are too wordy, internet users are scanners, they don’t have time to read all the blogs out there, let alone read your long winded blog, so many choices, so little time, there’s a lot of noise to sift through.

So in steps twitter, messages that are only 140 characters in length total. May seem pointless at first, but think about what I’ve just outlined above, the messages are short, to the point and it’s proactive, your visitors link to you, they receive every tweet you send out. If all you’re doing is saying, “making my self a nice cup of coffee” or “off to the gym to pump those weights” then people will eventually stop following you around, you’re just adding to the noise & they already have a lot of that in their busy lives. Say something worth listening to and they’re continue to follow, keep it short and they’re actually read it!

Naked Inspiration!

idea-shower-orig
Why does inspiration come when you least expect it,
or at the most awkward of times? While in the shower, driving to the office, in bed just when you’re comfortable and drifting off… I’m sure many of us have kept (or keep) a notebook or something beside the bed to scribble on when inspiration suddenly strikes in the middle of the night, usually to the annoyance of whomever happens to be laying beside you at the time.

so why is this? is a left brain right brain battle for control? I think it could very well be.

At my office we perform various psychoanalytic tests, usually for a bit of fun, although, insightful personality traits & communication issues are highlighted at times. Anyway I know through years of performing these tests I’m split almost 50/50 (averaging 48% left, 52% right), which may explain a lot about how my mind works (although it’s been said by some that I’m 10% left & 10% right!?)

Of course, I’m a typical guy, I can’t find the butter in the fridge & make toast at the same time, I don’t multi-task, it’s one thing at a time for me, if I’m in the middle of writing a proposal and the phone rings or somebody says something, or distracts me ever so slightly, I’ve lost my train of thought & I grind to halt. I know this about myself, so have adapted to it, when I’ve got something I really need to think about, I lock myself awa stick my iPod on and cut myself off from the world… although this works, it has the disadvantage of cutting me off from other forms of inspiration, which can come in all sorts of wonderful and weird ways. The smallest of things can trigger an avalanche of ideas and brain activity that I have a hard job keeping up & writing it down.

Coming back from a client meeting a couple of weeks ago, I not only defined their Mission Statement & core values & thus their Brand, but I’d also worked out the entire identity, without a single pen or scrap of paper, all in 30 mins, while driving my car!!! Now, if only I could tap into that on a regular basis, I could free up so much time, it normally takes me days of brainstorming & piles of paper to do what I achieved in only 30mins.

So I’m guessing that once the left side of the brain is getting on with the mundane process of driving the car, it lets my right brain get on with what it’s good at, without interruption! or am I completely wrong, does inspiration happen anytime, and it’s only when it’s at an awkward moment that you remember it’s interruption so vividly?

So when are you most creative, or inspired by brilliant thoughts and how do you deal with it… and how do you encourage Ms Inspiration to come round & chill with you on your iPod?

Guiness World Record for most T-Shirts worn at one…

Pointless I admit, but it made me smile

[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=r6tlw-oPDBM&feature=related]

And the Beat Goes On with Beatcast TV

A good friend of mine, Matt Francis, was discussing an idea he had to create an online independent music channel, but was looking for an easy way to create a forum platform. I suggested he use ning. Within a couple of days, Matt had jumped head first into ning and has created an amazing music website. To see what I mean check out www.beatcast.tv

I only have two words for you…

click this!

Help Feed The Bolofeesh!

Paul Durban has created a cartoon strip named Bolofeesh. It’s a very original concept, the life & times of two Bolofeesh, it’s very entertaining, so go have a look for yourself.

bolofeesh

An (i)nspired Idea

In my very first blog entry I asked the question where do you get your inspiration?, then a similar question in Naked Inspiration, but now there’s an inspired idea, that gives an easy way for you to show your thought processes and give thanks to those that have inspired you along the way.

When writing a blog you can easily add a hyper link to your post, but how about a simple way to differentiate between a “forward” link to more info or further reading etc and a “backward” link to those that inspired your post.

Well now you can, devised by Bernd CoCreatr (AKA Purple Pointr), the concept is simple (as are most great ideas), to add a backward inspiration link you add an (i)
(c) = copyright, (cc) = creative commons, (i) = inspired by

For more info in Bernd’s own words click the (i)

As an example:
This blog post inspired (i) by Bernd Cocreatr

Plus there is a graphic that can be used instead of the (i)

i-inspired-drip

How to be a Leader

Make your passion your goal & be committed to it
Be true to your ideology
Wear your values on your sleeve
Listen with an open mind
Speak from the heart
Be honest, most of all to yourself
Give respect where it’s due
Know when you’re right
Admit when you’re wrong
Give your audience what they want & be generous
and most of all
Be an inspiration & make a difference
Your tribe will gather, and when they do
Empower them to do the same

To read more of the same you can get a free eBook full of case studies the guys on Triiibes contributed.

I can’t get no…

Go on admit it, you know you jutted your lips out just then and said “mmm, mmm, mmm satis-fact-shun”

Well maybe you can now… if you have a niggle about something, or want to ask the guys that actually make the products you’re using, check out Get Satisfaction

What better way is there for a company to improve it’s products or services or head off disasters before they happen, than to take part in open discussions directly with their client base. Years ago you’d have paid a research company £,000’s to poll your customers, now you can do it online for pennies! Putting your dirty laundary on display by being transparent & open is the only way to ensure your customer loyalty and build their trust. But you have to become engaged, fobbing them off with pre-written FAQ’s won’t do it, invest your time to engage with them directly, as you’ll earn their respect & gain a follower for life in the process.

badge_logo_small

Making Elephants Jump

I just thought this was beautifully animated
[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TK27aknWVI4]

Are You Ready to Lead?

the-guru

In the morning the disciple would awake before dawn
He would draw water from the well & carry it up the hill
He would clean & sweep the temple
He would pick fresh mangoes, wash, slice & prepare them
He would grind coffee by hand
He would boil the water
He would awake the guru at sun rise
He would wash him
He would dress him
He would prepare the Guru’s seat
He would sit quietly, while the Guru ate
He would clear everything away
He would then sit in silence, listening to the Guru’s words of wisdom

He did this every morning for years, until one day…
He awoke
He collected the water
He picked the fruit
He prepared it
He ground the coffee
He boiled the water
He sat on the veranda and consumed the lot, as he watched the sun come up
He had a pang of guilt for what he had just done
How will the Guru react?
He turned, only to find the Guru standing quietly behind him, smiling from ear to ear
He said to the disciple “so now you’re a Guru”

Only you, can decide when it’s time & when you’re ready to lead

To read more of the same you can get a free eBook full of case studies the guys on Triiibes contributed.

Story of my life!

“Her lips said no, 
but her eyes said read my lips”
unknown

You realise you’re not as original as you thought…

bumper-sticker

OK them’s a fighting talk… well not exactly, provocative yes, but that little collection of words intrigued you & made you want to find out more, so I guess they worked, and if I can encourage (oh, let’s face it provoke) you to leave a comment, then even better.

As this is my first blog entry I thought how apt to include the bumper sticker I dreamt up a few months ago… so how is my drivelling so far? it’s OK you can tell me later.

the reason, well let me explain…

I’ve always thought of myself as being “creative”, it’s in the blood so to speak, plus it’s the first half of my job title for the past 15 years, so I have something to live up too I guess!! but I’m constantly looking around & learning from what’s been done before, both the good and the bad. As I say “Creativity is a great thing, but plagiarism is much quicker!” Don’t get me wrong, simply copying someone is breaking the rules & should be avoided, no matter how good the idea is. Thinking out of the box should be encouraged as much as possible, but sometimes you need to turn around, so you can gauge just how far away you are from the box, not so you can jump back into it when you need to, but so you can see how far you’ve come… oh, and to make sure no-one pushes you back into it!

Without getting too philosophical, aren’t we just an amalgamation of everything we’ve ever seen, smelt, tasted, heard, touched or the people we’ve met, so can we ever really be completely original? Aren’t we just regurgitating everything around us into something we can stake a claim to and call our own? A much bigger debate in its own right and not one I think I have the brain capacity to argue : )

OK, back to the drivelling bumper sticker – this time I had a completely original idea, right? I thought of it while stuck behind a truck driving into work, but alas it may have been original, but it wasn’t unique (as one of my colleagues pointed out to me a few days ago when he found on the web that someone else had also come up with the same idea).

OK, so you may be original, but probably not unique! (and surely being unique should be the ultimate goal for any Brand?)

So here’s the question, just how original have your best ideas been (if they’re unique, good for you!), or do you want to come clean and let us in on your original muse or inspiration?

So who’s going to step up first?
Don’t worry, you won’t be alone, who knows it may even be cathartic!

Posts navigation

1 2 3 4

  • Brand Building 23
  • Brands & Marketing 103
  • Drivel 184
  • Fun 89
  • Future 22
  • no paper 24
  • Not What You Think 39
  • Tech Stuff 95
  • Visualisation & Infographics 35
  • Wize Wordz 51

engage | communicate | stimulate

website
Brendan Mitchell
visit my website or visit my blog
  • Home
  • linkedin
  • instagram
  • Facebook
  • Vimeo
  • Twitter