Tuesday, February 24, 2009

New... Labfiles - free downloadable online magazine




With these Labfiles, I wanted to honour the creative talent of some of your fellow human beings.
People who create thought-provoking and inspiring art work. No matter what creative field, no matter what origin, no matter what culture.
With these Labfiles, I also wanted to explain more about the Addictlab concept: about discovering that talent, and accelerating it.
Yet it’s also about getting to know you, so that we can bring you together in dedicated research programs to come up with innovative and sustainable ideas. When a third party or client is involved, like our ‘broom lab’ or ‘chocolate lab’ activities, those sessions are remunerated.
Of course, we can not print as much books and magazines as I would like, like our normal Ad!dict books. But I do believe in the power of leaving traces, hence this magazine concept.
Free downloadable, free to dispatch, free to share.
What to do to be in the next edition?
Join addictlab, register and upload new work on your labfiles regularly.



More? www.labfiles.org

Find the three differences.

The press release
With a new purpose and values setting a fresh direction, Kraft Foods also gave its corporate logo a facelift to more clearly deliver "delicious." Starting today, people around the world will begin to see the new identity that deliciously features a smile, the natural reaction to delicious foods and experiences, and a colorful flavor burst. It signals to employees, consumers and investors what the new Kraft Foods is all about.
— Press release

(O. The corporate kraft logo is the last one.)





Love this quote
"There really isn't anything good to say about this logo — if I had to dig really deep I would offer that the lowercase "k" is very pretty, but that's about it. This is such a wimpy logo for such a large corporation. The red "smile," the colorful burst, they are all hackneyed and friendly to a degree where they are just childish. And, ohmygod, is that Tekton in the tag line? I haven't seen that typeface used without sarcasm or irony in a long time."

Thursday, February 05, 2009

And how does your brand stink?

Dear brands world wide,

Imagine that I am blind. God forbid, in the event there would be one.
Then I can't see you. I can't see your brand. I can't see how you communicate about yourself. I can touch your products, if I know where they are. I can smell your aroma, or your odor, yet you need to explain to me that that smell is linked to your brand.
I can hear you shouting, and I can even hear you whispering, as long as I know how to distinguish your audiostream from all the other noise.


Of course we live in a visual community. But it can't harm to, once in a while, omit the obvious brand experiences, and enhance parts of your brand spectrum you might forget about.

Imagine all your consumers are blind. You will need to change the codes and references of your language. You will need to work on your overall brand experience, and not rely on the visual bombing you're used to. Let's face it, for us, being not blind, it's a war zone out there.
You will need to create products that have a USP, but also a USF (Unique Selling Feel), a USO (Unique Selling Odor), a USA (Unique Selling Audio), and a UST (Unique Selling Taste).

Tip to do with a friend.
Blindfold and take him or her to a branded spot. Like Ikea, Starbucks, you name it. How long before your friend will realise where he or she is?

Tip for brands:
Set up a team of blind consumers. Your eyes will open.

Jan@addictlab.com


Thanks Pedro Alegria, for inspiring me on this topic.

Sensorial Lisbon on addictlab.com
Imagine what might be like to rediscover blindfolded the borough of Alfama: the narrow streets, the smell of grilled sardines, the sound of a Fado that can be heard from afar and so many others sensorial adventures… Walks on foot in the Alfama Borough in which the participants have their eyes blindfolded and are guided by a blind guide from ACAPO (Association for the Visually Impaired) who shares his sensorial experiences. There are also a Lisbon Walker Guide who sets the historical contextualization of the route, and 4 other elements who help the participants. The Project has two main goals: - to provide a sensorial experience which aims to gather new knowledge of the surrounding space through the stimuli of the senses of smell, tact, taste and hearing and absense of vision. - to bring awareness to the universe of the visually impaired, not as a limitation but instead in a positive and stimulating note in which the blind himself invite us to step into his own world of codes and references.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

About a trip to Belgium and the food that goes with it.

So I did one of those trips again. As you may know, I live in South Africa. As you also may know, behind Addictlab is a Belgian company, with a Belgian office space. So from time to time, I need to fly in. The moments are selected based on emotion, ratio and above all... available budget.

Tuesday.
I arrived quite late, and my parents, sweet as they are, deliver a car to the airport, so that I can run around, drive on the wrong side of the road and get ticket fines. My parents can start a car pooling-bed & breakfast-restaurant kind of company, based only on my short visits.

I had decided to have an informal lunch with Imke and Jo from Imec: brought them some Amarula to thank them for the past years collaboration. We also discussed future projects.
# food: chinese duck, really good.

Rush to the Addictlab office, to prepare my two presentations for Wednesday. I end the day with a pretty nice diner at the Belga Queen in good company, discussing about addictlab activities, strategy, fashion and more.

Wednesday.
New business meeting in the Netherlands, near Eindhoven. And what a beautiful trip it is: all is white, and the orange sun comes up when I cross the border. This Dutch company produces African tissues for the West African market. They do have a shop in South Africa (at the Maponya mall), but their core business is in Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal etc.
Will this be a new client? Who knows. I presented all the projects and contacts I made in the SA fashion scene, but of course, I realise West Africa is different. I sincerely hope they see a lot in a collaboration, what would allow us to open up Addictlab activities and discover new talent in Western Africa aswell.

In the afternoon, I needed to be on the other side of Belgium, to deliver the project & concepts of our broomlab. A nervous trip through Belgium, with a healthy diet. (At least the water in the car is. The whole pack of Chocolate Mellow Cakes I swallowed in the process, is, well, ... proteines.)
How I enjoyed this meeting. The board of the company seemed pretty happy with all the ideas presented, and the fact that 3 concepts already will be tested to a consumer test audience next week shows we did have some possible winners. For some concepts, we will need some years of nano technology research.

Wednesday night, it's my fathers birthday, and we decide for a spontaneous diner in a restaurant in the neighbourhood. When living in Belgium, in 's Gravenwezel, you MUST try this. They call themselves a brasserie, what must be the most underrated underestimated statement of the century. How else can you describe a restaurant that brings a dish of 'Lotte' (fish) with parmesan crumble and spinach ice cream... The name of the restaurant escapes me, but contact me if interested.

Thursday.
You have those crazy days. My day starts at 9 in the Pain Quotidien in Brussels, discussing about Addictlab & TV formats. Then I rush to the Carestel in Ternat to talk about our plans for the upcoming Womenslab. (Launch of www.womenslab.org on March 8th, International Womens Day)
A quick lunch in Mechelen at the Nick Brasserie (scampi dish, very nice, to be honest, and the South African wine is very good) with possible future partners, then meeting with a publishing house. Need some thoughts on the concept of me writing a book.
Short trip to the Addictlab space, to prepare my lecture and then off to Vilvoorde,for my lecture on branding, innovation for an audience of Mars Alumni.
Looking at the comments I got, it seemed the audience appreciated my presentation and the addictlab way of thinking. Will the big player from Germany really fire his agency and tap into Addictlab?
# food: walking diner.


Friday.
A trip to Cologne, to check upon the construction and final delivery of the booth concept we generated for a chocolate client at the ISM fair. I kind of like these construction days: most of the thinking is done, it's now all about execution and following a strict plan to deliver the right thing on the right moment. Pretty hands-on.
# food: I ordered sandwiches and a pasta for our team in my best German. What actually is a pretty risky thing to do, looking at my German and the Pakistan takeaway's responses, but it turned out to be alright. Well, we can discuss about my pasta carbonara, though.
I leave back from Germany to Brussels, back to the office quite late, to do some paperwork.

Saturday.
Family time. Before the birthday brunch at my parents house, I defeat the prejudices and go shopping at the Wijnegem Shopping Center. (I do have a rich hands-on shopping mall experience here in South Africa..) Brunch with family is exactly how brunch with family must be: warm and enjoyable.
Before going to the airport to dash off to Zurich , I deposit a signed commercial agreement in a companies postbox. It nearly made me miss my flight, yet I really wonder if the agreement will allow Addictlab to start flying high. Later more on that.
When I finally sit in the plane to Joburg, I fall asleep before I finish my inboard movie. Happens to me all the time. I wonder why.