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1. an oceanographer
2. a chemist
3. a marine engineer
4. and at least one expert on the problem

(yeah, might need at least one of each of these…)

but a group of Dutch architects and engineers has started up a research project to explore the idea of creating a sustainable island nation out of the trash floating in the Pacific.  The project has been heralded “Recycled Island,” and the goal is a livable and scalable habitation the size of Hawaii’s big island.

The early mock-ups bring Venice,  Dubai,  and science fiction to mind, but the project is still very much in the early R&D stages and far from a reality.  People love Dutch design for architecture and urban planning, not to mention their credibility in environmental solutions, so despite the distance from the potential island, this idea has sparked in the Netherlands.  And why not beckon the world’s greatest minds through online publishing and networking? The project has been spreading across magazine websites,  blogs, and press releases this week (I saw it here), and the group networks through Facebook to various other sustainable design groups.

Some virtual ships, machines, and robots and things building Recycled Island in Waterworld, er, the Pacific

Click through and around to assess your home’s energy usage:

Sports Illustrated and Wired also proposed e-magazine concepts recently, but the BERG/Bonnier concept seems to take a best of both worlds approach and suggests ways in which this approach can be easily adopted. The interactive control features and the modern take on presentation of content really add to the reader’s experience – hinting at engagement beyond mere push-button page flipping, pdf scrolling, zooming, and flash animation.

Related links:

BERG article
Bonnier’s MAG+ Blog Post

When we write market research screeners, to ensure research respondents or participants are qualified for our studies, we sometimes craft questions that include misleading “red herring” answer options. The idea is to include some answer options in the set that do not relate to the research topic. We then randomize the presentation of the answer options for each respondent so that it is harder to pick an answer just to continue on towards a participation incentive. This obscures the topic of the research, helping to ensure respondents/participants are truly qualified.

For example, we may pose a question similar to the following for a textile category survey:

For which of the following purchases are you the primary or secondary decision maker in your household? Please select all that apply.

• Clothing (continue)
• Automobiles (red herring)
• Groceries (red herring)
• Toilet tissue (red herring)
• Fast food (red herring)
• Laundry supplies (red herring)
• Over-the-counter medicines (red herring)
• Home textiles (continue)

But where does this expression come from?

For a long time, it was thought that the metaphor had something to do with either fox hunting tradition, food preservation on overseas trips, horse training, and/or prison breakouts.  In 2008, the Oxford English Dictionary clarified the etymology of this expression, as explained in this totally mental article in World Wide Words by Michael Quinion.  I recommend clicking through and reading the full article when you have a few minutes and need a weird break in your day, but here’s an excerpt (and a quick answer):

“OED now trace the figurative sense to the radical journalist William Cobbett, whose Weekly Political Register thundered in the years 1803-35 against the English political system he denigrated as the Old Corruption.

He wrote a story, presumably fictional, in the issue of 14 February 1807 about how as a boy he had used a red herring as a decoy to deflect hounds chasing after a hare. He used the story as a metaphor to decry the press, which had allowed itself to be misled by false information about a supposed defeat of Napoleon; this caused them to take their attention off important domestic matters: “It was a mere transitory effect of the political red-herring; for, on the Saturday, the scent became as cold as a stone.”

This story…was enough to get the figurative sense of red herring into the minds of his readers, unfortunately also with the false idea that it came from some real practice of huntsmen.”

Okay, now you know!

A few summer films expected to be hits were panned by early audiences leading to consumers shunning the films later that weekend. It appears that Bruno suffered from a rather acute form negative word of mouth catching fire. This past weekend, however, a success story was in the works as Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds actually picked up steam from Twitter, despite mixed initial reviews from traditional news sources and critics.

I know I’ve said this before, but it’s another great example of the conversation taking place independent of traditional media or the intent of marketing managers. Consumers are discussing everything from products to brands to customer service. Knowing what they’re saying is becoming increasingly important to keeping them satisfied.

As was seen in the wake of Michael Jackson’s death, Twitter has become the new go-to place for news. It was one of the first to report Jackson’s death, it was correct, and it was significantly faster than most of the main news sources. So what’s the problem with this? Well according to Twitter, Rick Astley, Britney Spears, Natalie Portman, and Jeff Goldblum are all dead.  Clearly, this is not true.

It seems that people are more concerned with obtaining information quickly than worrying about the validity of the content. What people are forgetting is that, despite delivering compelling hearsay, Twitter is not a legitimate news source.

Perhaps Twitter’s only positive affect on the news industry has been restoring faith in fact-based news reporting of the New York Times, CNN and Fox News. Still, it is a shame that it’s now the job of reputable news sources to clean up Twitter’s mess.

Faulkner in the sunshine- working hard or hardly working?

Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen an increase in marketing research work focused on constituencies in the south. This work has not just focused in the area in which we’re based (the Research Triangle of North Carolina – Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) or in Atlanta, but all over the south.  Some have been targeted to populations of certain southern states; some target hand-picked Southern DMAs; and some studies have focused on select counties or parishes in certain southern states. And this work is not just coming from clients who are based in the South.

I don’t think it’s a sign of major economic or social turnaround for the region, but it is interesting to see populations within the south considered as representative on a national scale. Marketers are not just looking to middle America for feedback before moving forward with strategic initiatives – there is an increased regional focus. There is also increased focus on the Northwest and the Southwest as regions, and we’re working there too. But the exploration of Southern lifestyles and opinions sparks a particular interest for me.

I’m familiar with the concept of the “New South,” but I’m not sure I completely buy it.  I do like some books, blogs, and other media sources that have considered this perspective among their approaches to thinking about modern southern culture. Ideas around southern intellectualism and economic rebirth have been evolving (if slowly) for years, but my attention was drawn by peers who found a sort of self-image support in Richard Florida’s inclusion of southern cities in his writings on the “Creative Class.” I have a mixed opinions on Florida’s work, and I think the concepts he framed in an urban development context have mostly been misapplied to other contexts as they spread virally, but that’s another post – maybe for a rainy day.

For now, and for the past year or two, I’ve been generally seeking new and engaging sources of information and learning about modern southern life.  Here are a couple of resources that I’ve found that regularly contribute to these topics:

Oxford American -  Southern-focused writing, commentary, and culture. The only magazine I can read front to back. Even some of the ads interest me.

Facing South -  A political, economic, and social blog run by the Institute for Southern Studies. Sometimes gets me down, but sometimes gets me motivated.  They’re doing a great job of presenting diverse subjects and perspectives.

Southern Spaces -  “An interdisciplinary journal about the regions, places, and cultures of the American South” – but not totally dense and academic

Endangered Durham -  A blog on urban re-development – despite the local focus, these issues prevail in many southern cities

The Independent Weekly (local) and Creative Loafing (Atlanta and elsewhere) for occasional, usually lighter content on these topics

I’m still looking for a good, sharp, regularly updated blog or publication on southern business. I haven’t been happy with what I’ve seen so far – any suggestions?

I’ve also always been frustrated with the web presence of organizations focused on or based in New Orleans. For anything really, but especially for exploration of culture, social issues, opportunities to volunteer or get involved, etc. There seem to be lots of little sites that aren’t quite on their toes, and sites that are way outdated, but if anyone has any suggestions, please send them along.

This is essentially all of the advertising that has been done for the Snuggie, and I think it is fair to say that it is pretty terrible copy. Or is it? The last I heard, the Snuggie had over $60 million in sales. If my calculations are correct, that is approximately six million Snuggies ($20 for two essentially). The Snuggie has surpassed being merely a product, and has become a cultural sensation – it may be the most popular “As Seen On TV” product since the Flowbee.

While I think marketing research is extremely valuable for most companies, products, and services, I’m not sure the Snuggie would have made it had any amount of research been done. My initial reaction was stupid ad, stupid product, and I think market research would have found the same reaction from respondents. However, I repeat, I’ve become obsessed. I’m looking for Snuggie pub crawls, and have yet to buy one. My understanding is Bed, Bath, and Beyond is now carrying them, but only in Duke Blue, and I’m just not willing to take that route, especially with the NCAA Tournament starting tomorrow.

What’s fueled this obsession? The first is likely the viral element of advertising. It exceeds bad, so people continued to pass it forward, and many decided to purchase it as a novelty item. Second, people might actually find some of its attributes to be functional. Third, maybe there is a desire to purchase products that are comforting in economic downturns. Or maybe it’s just to participate in a Snuggie pub crawl.

So now, it’s being used for everything from telling everyone about your experiences in the here and now, to letting people know there is new stuff out there (we’re even doing it with our blog @W5Insight.  It’s also been used in recent months to express group outrage with a viral advertising campaign.

While some of the biggest signs that the conversation is becoming more nuanced include the recent explosion of Twitter applications from seeing what others tweeting via the Twitter Grader and Twitturly to expanded content sharing through websites such as Twitpic, and the fact that everyone from CNN Anchors like @Rich Sanchez to mainstream corporations like @SouthwestAir are using it; the biggest sign of Twitter’s acceptance might be found in it’s recent Phishing incidents.   Also interesting is how breaking news has a way of hitting Twitter minutes before it ever hits mainstream news feeds or even live television

While using Twitter might not make you more profitable if you’re a company or change your life as an individual, it’s become a conversation the rest of the group is having.   On the day of the inauguration, follow some of the live updates for a prime example of the undercurrent.