Archive for December 2008
Davis Thinking
Resolution Week: Make Smarter Decisions
Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert shares Dutch-Swiss mathematician Daniel Bernoulli’s secret to making the best decision possible every time, and explains why we rarely do so.
Resolution Week: Live Morally
For one year, journalist A.J. Jacobs strictly followed the 700+ rules he mined from the Bible. He tossed his polycotton, kepy holy the Sabbath and even stoned a 70-year-old adulterer. His greatest insight: changing behavior changes thinking, not vice versa.
Resolution Week: Eat Better
New York Times food writer Mark Bittman gives a brief history of eating in America, and how too much meat, too few plants, too much fast food, and too little home cooking started killing us.
A Very Hall & Oates Christmas
UE’s holiday spirit continues with the dancing and prancing duo, Hall & Oates. Commence the jingle hop!
Happy Holidays from UE
Remember: No man is a failure who has friends. We wish you and yours the very best.
Christmas Remix
Holiday parties always bring diverse people together. Your sister's boyfriend Mitch, fresh out of prison. Your cousin Mary who wants to tell everyone all about the multi-level marketing opportunity she just discovered. That strange boy in the corner eating nothing but black olives. GAP's new campaign celebrates the joy of holiday mixing by giving web visitors the tools to create their own odd couplings from the likes of the Dixie Chicks, Rainn Wilson, Janelle Monae, Sandra Bernhard, Flo Rida, Trey Songz, Selma Blair and others. Don't forget the olives.
With Love, From Me To You
John Lewis takes a clever approach to advertising during a modest holiday season. Rather than emphasizing the must-have gadgets of the year, the UK retailer shifts the focus to the recipient. Finding the perfect gift, the spot suggests, requires really knowing someone. What a novel concept. Bonus points for the sweet Beatles cover.
Some Things Will Never Change
While the best-of-2008 lists float around the Internet, we try to learn from what has happened the last 12 months. This year we have seen many novel trends and innovative ways to communicate. Working with brands this means we constantly have to stay abreast of new developments. At the same time, however, we should not forget that our ultimate goal, to create value and build a lasting relationship with the customer, remains the same. This is something that I first learned as a teenager in the Netherlands.
Walmart's Small Heart Grew Three Sizes That Day
Something interesting is happening this holiday season at Walmart. First they partnered with Coca-Cola on Extended Family, a hip, young ditty light years ahead of the company’s recent cringe-inducing Rollbacks campaign. Discount messaging rides shotgun, while celebration drives the brand forward. In Christmas Morning, a 60-second highlight reel of kids joyfully scrambling for a first glimpse at their loot, discount messaging has been hogtied and thrown in the trunk.
The Grinch of Bentonville Carves the Roast Beast
Something interesting is happening this holiday season at Walmart. Where's that bouncing Smiley and lowest price messaging?
