Breathing Earth – Click and Watch

If you have not witnessed this spectacular website, please click on it and watch in amazement. This is a very cool site and great representation of the power of simple storytelling with great design.

Breathing Earth

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Everything’s a Marketplace (Juno Edition)

I was thinking about the movie Juno recently while driving down the highway. I was trying to understand why, despite the fact that it looks like a great movie, with a good cast, good soundtrack and is getting recognized for all sorts of awards, I still had no interest in rushing out and seeing it. Suddenly it occurred to me. It was because the movie feels a bit forced in it’s independence.

Obviously, this is no revelation for those who follow the movie industry as pitch meetings generally use successful historical references to sell a new movie (It’s Die Hard meets Spaceballs!) but for me, personally, there was something a bit off about this “wes anderson meets garden state” movie. Everything from the manicured approach, to the hyper-realistic dialogue to the perfect coiffed indie approved soundtrack seemed a bit forced. I may completely be in the minority, but there you are.

Suddenly it occurred to me what I was really bemoaning. It wasn’t this particular movie, I’m sure it’s actually great. It was the fact that what once seemed genuine, now felt a bit forced. That the realistic indie movie with a great soundtrack had now become a formula, a a marketplace unto itself with rules and guidelines and success metrics.

Bringing this back to the concept of spatial shifting, for companies who develop products in this day and age, it seems even more difficult to be second to market because of a perceived stigma associated with being a follower. Just take a look at the brands around you right now. Apple iPod? While not first to market it certainly revolutionized the game. Digg? One of the first of its ilk to gain mass appeal.

Not every product is unique, many new products are simply improvements based upon existing designs. The trick is in how you communicate that to the end user in a way that shifts their existing perception of the product category. There’s innovations – better gas milage, low fat variations on existing options – and then there are revolutionary improvements to existing product categories that change the game forever – iPhone.

Everything has become a marketplace, a unique ecosystem in the mind and wallet of the consumer, even if they don’t realize it on a conscious level. The developer challenge is how to message those developments and innovations to the target audience without simply entering the echo chamber and dissapearing forever.

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A Macro View, Going Micro

As I mentioned in my original post, I was really impacted by my trip to Laos and Cambodia in November. That trip continues to shape my thinking, like a deep seed that wants to sprout into something. How can I help to create this experience into a spatial shift of some kind?

When I flash back to mid-2006, I had been reading about microlending and microfinancing as part of a research effort for a company I wanted to create based on Sustainability. I became fascinated with the work of Chittagong University professor Muhammad Yunus and his efforts leading to the development of microfinance. He ultimately won the Noble Peace Prize for his work and it has since inspired many people to act. I also remembered back to my 1.0 start up experience with Alladvantage.com in 2000. We had tried to create a global payment solution for our members across the world. Paypal was just getting off the ground at that time and global ACH wiring did not exist. I distinctly remember meeting a group from South Africa that ran foreign casino money through a secured wire service as the only solution at that time. It was Isle of Man or rethink the whole concept. The meltdown of April 2000 solved that dilemma for us.

Zoom forward to December 2007 and I found kiva.org. A lot has been written about Kiva to date. A great read in Stanford Magazine as well as several blog posts by Guy Kawaski and Read/Write Web tell the story well. So, I decided to give it a try. I asked my twin daughters to help me figure out who we should invest in and we chose two families trying to make a go of it. We funded one family from Cambodia (tried to find more, but had limited options on that day) who is trying to raise money to improve their farm. The second funding is going to a group of women who are building a general store in Peru. (We chose Peru, because we have Machu Pichu on our 1,000 places to visit before we die list and wanted to add yet another reason to go see that part of the world).

Today, I received my emails telling me we had funded the families and that I would get my journal updates from the people we lent the money to. I shared this with my girls and we all had a big smile. To think that I can do something like this with my daughters is a very powerful education on many levels. I get to teach them about giving. About how financing works. About how global this world really is. About the impact the internet is having on many fronts, not just as a Facebook entry, an addictive game or a chat with their friends.

I believe Spatial Shift will take on many different forms and meanings and the kind that Kiva.org is enabling goes beyond the email or letter to a pen pal. It literally has the power to transform the have not’s into somebody(s) while allowing the givers – in this case my daughters and I to share a special act between us as we get to watch our efforts blossom into something meaningful.

From this point on, we have decided to save our change in a jar and when it gets to $25 we are going to fund another hopeful candidate on Kiva. That alone, in a household of teenage girls is a spatial shift!

Internet Trends for 08

Catching up on RSS feeds, I noticed this post from Guy Kawasaki regarding Merrill Lynch’s new Internet trends report for 2008. Apart from the good news regarding the bump in Internet ad spending and the obvious push towards mobile initiatives, the most important news for many players in this market are the improvements in display advertising targeting techniques and how they will affect spend in the new year. This is especially evident with the major portal players as the shift from portal visitation to social networks and other niche content sites becomes larger in the coming year. Focusing on spatial shifts, it’s more important than ever for the major portals to be smart in their build/buy decisions, and speed to market is paramount as competition increases. Niche sites continue to gain relevance, steal share and personnel from the portals. Will it be death by 1,000 cuts or will the market balance to accommodate all players? It will be interesting to see what happens. Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments.

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Data Amplification

As Matt McAlister’s recent post clearly illustrates, it isn’t data ownership but rather data amplification that makes a company successful in this age of spatial shifting. Data owners (which is anyone and everyone) don’t always put their data to use, and even those that do, may not be interpreting the data in the most appropriate way. On a personal level, you see line after line in your bank statement (or online bank account) each month detailing your spending, but how often are you putting that data to better use in order to identify and change your spending habits? The ultimate goal is to “bring the data to 11″ and then see what sticks. You’d be amazed at what you learn. Smart companies, like Google, are doing this for themselves and their clients, and you’re beginning to see the effects in consumer sites like Mint.com

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A Great Visual from Oglivy PR

While cruising through my normal course of RSS reads today, I was led to the landing page of Oglivy PR and the idea of 360 degree digital influence. The thing that caught my eye was the use of a visual to showcase how a 360 degree influence works. A nice spatial way to illustrate the significance of a shifting landscape to a more complex ecosystem.

The solar planetary illustrations serve to tell the story of how the world has become more complex and that a linear approach to doing business is no longer valid, nor impactful.

PREVIOUS VIEW OF DIGITAL WORLD

NEW VIEW OF A MORE COMPLEX DIGITAL WORLD

In a world that is becoming more spatial everyday, this kind of thinking is forcing marketers to have to a more robust plan for keeping the dialogue flowing. The overarching challenge becomes the ability to build and maintain a many:many conversation among the plethora of communication sources used by individuals. I like the ability to map solutions against a lay out like this. Building out a solution that speaks to this spatial world in a manner that can also be measured and linked together to better understand the inter-connectedness of each piece becomes the next challenge.

Hello 2008 – From Serendipity to Spatial Shift

Welcome to Spatial Shift. This is my first blog. My first public commitment to creating a conversation that will hopefully find some resonance with those who come in touch with my voice.

After 24 years in the advertising/media/internet business, I have developed a view that we live in a world that is filled with serendipity and is more spatial in nature.  I have been a right brain individual in a left brain resume.  I enjoy being a right brain, but need to be better at listening to that voice.

From a business point of view, I see the world evolving through the following recipe:

•  Storytelling

•  Conversation

•  Analytics

•  Design

•  Enabled by Technology

Each an ingredient onto itself, but when combined – a powerful new force that is changing how we live, communicate and grow as a global community.  I will explore all of these ingredients and their impact going forward.

From a personal point of view, I see the world shifting from materialism towards a more experential and emotional way of living.  A quest for meaning and harmony in a world fraught with conflict and change.

I was fortunate enough to travel to Southeast Asia during my break to witness a completely different perspective on life.   We visited Hong Kong, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand over the course of 21 days.  A true trip of a lifetime.  A learned experience that only travel can provide.  While on the trip, I was blown away by how “global village” the world truly is.  On one hand, extreme poverty.  On the other, high speed internet access everywhere.

The observation of “transparency” and education or lack there of had a profound impact on me and my family.  The people of Cambodia and Laos were gracious and friendly.  And without prompting, asked that the United States not forget them and help them to realize a better future.  I read headlines now that would never have caught my attention prior.

So, today, January 1, 2008.  I begin on my personal journey to add value to the world.  One blog post at a time.  I made a commitment after that trip that I was going to organize myself,  digitize myself and create serendipity through action, innovation and experimentation.   It is time to create a Spatial Shift.

I welcome your help, feedback, support and reality checks as this conversation progresses.

Tobin