I’ve been lucky enough to have a minute to breathe and let my creative juices be inspired yet again. Thank goodness for this handy dandy thing we call twitter. There’s loads of places to be inspired (real world and otherwise), but the one-stop shop for hearing disparate, interesting voices twitter is still incredibly useful.

If you’re not a “twittter person” there’s something called Follow Friday where you tell your followers to follow others (putting that down in words now seems trite and silly). This is inspired by a post by ed boches on his blog that helped illuminate the “why we follow” which gets a little lost in the 140 characters. What they have in common is a fascination with the world, an ability to think in ways that boggle my mind and truly cool peeps that you’d totally want to have a pint with.

So happy Friday and a genuine “thank-you” to all of you (reading and the “FF”s)

#FF

@bbhlabs: tremendously insightful, they are simply the forefront of progressive strategic thought. Something to aspire to be-their great contributors (@malbonnington and @melex are awesome) make all of us think harder. http://bbh-labs.com/

@edwardboches: while he is the master of all things social creativity/communications/the changing advertising world–there are a lot of awesome posts that reflect his broader curiosity of the world and culture. And he is an awesome conversationalist–what a blog *really* should be about. http://edwardboches.com/

@budcaddell: wonderfully cerebral, one of the strongest strategic thought leaders we have. His blog inspires awesome conversations around topics that all of us strategy folk wrestle with. http://whatconsumesme.com/

@brainpicker: freshest, creative inspired tidbits. Amazing finds and thoughtful commentary. If you don’t read her blog, you’re missing something wonderful. http://www.brainpickings.org/

@uberblond: a truly delightful creative strategist. she’s got some amazing projects on the go that are really inspiring creativity: from the wilhelmine project http://thewilhelmineproject.com/ to her new project six items or less (I’m not brave enough to partake in that one…but it fascinates me!) http://sixitemsorless.wordpress.com/

@cshirky: he doesn’t tweet often, but when he does I listen. And his book is out of this world.

@schwartzie14 adverts breaking? He’s got ‘em all on his blog metal potential. Bookmark and see what’s golden (or titanium colored) at Cannes. Reminds me that this is business can still be about being an art form… http://metalpotential.posterous.com/

@stellawongo the the first to break awesomely fresh, creatively driven tech goodies. She’s wickedly smart and finds some awesome things from around the world. Plus she likes baked goods almost as much as I do, which is a total bonus.

@malbonster he’s incredibly wise in the world of strategy/ emerging tech/social communications and creativity. And he’s freaking hilarious.

@tim_leake always has fun stuff, a positive attitude and a great sense of humor. And yesterday I discovered the toothpick sculpture of SF through him. If that isn’t enough reason, I don’t know what is.

@garethk a true strategy rockstar. If you work in advertising and you haven’t seen his presentation from BDW on the evolving brief, take the time to watch it. It will help bring you into the new world and shape your thinking.

(Image via: Polyvore Tumblr)

Thankfully I believe we’ve finally gotten to a place where we’ve accepted digital social behaviours as far more than just a passing “trend” and in fact very pervasive communication tool (I’m virtually patting all on the back who are here with us).  The numbers are staggering and every day a new statistic is unveiled that validates what many of us believe so deeply. But there are still those naysayers who believe that social media is somehow tied to people being glued to their computers day in, day out, the fact that Foursquare grew by 100,000 users in 12 days points at the potential that social has extends WELL beyond the confines of the “computer” (why does that feel weird to even say? possibly because my laptop is attached to me at least 16 hours a day…). Enter mobile.

Now this is not earth shattering news. It has probably been the “year of mobile” for what, the past 5 years? This year however things are truly starting to flip. Mind whirling statistics like the one in this infographic from Digital Buzz Blog on mobile social use should knock your socks right off.

Now that you’re barefoot and fancy free, let’s talk about what this means to the creative industry. Since social behaviours are increasingly manifesting in mobile it means that now we are able to get that one little step closer to the PEOPLE we are trying to reach. Physicality of the mobile device itself is fascinating. Our relationships with our tools–like phones or jackhammers–is what drives many of our behaviours. If we are able to truly harness the power of connection to our devices, the potential for communications and in essence, meaningful art, is tremendous.

Warby who?

Warby Parker people. And for all of us who relish in our four-eyed status (it’s the ONLY way for this gal!), but hate paying over $500 for a pair of new specks, these guys are a dream come true. Funky, vintage-inspired glasses for under $100. That in and of it self should be pure awesomeness, but hold on there’s more. Great value and good design? Check.

For every pair they sell they give one to a person in need (AKA the TOM’s model). Fantastic. Social goodness baked in? Check.

Now for their model. Completely web-based-tricky for something that relies so heavily on how it looks on your face. Their solution? Make it easy. You can try a pair on virtually-upload picture and see how the glasses look. Not perfect, so they also give you the option of having the ship up to 5 frames to you and trying them on. Completely free.

And if you need more awesomeness/”modern brand” talk. Just take a gander at their naming inspiration:

“We’ve always been inspired by the master wordsmith and pop culture icon, Mr. Jack Kerouac. Two of his earliest characters, recently uncovered in his personal journals, bore the names Zagg Parker and Warby Pepper. We took the best from each and made it our name.

Kerouac inspired a generation to take a road less traveled and to see the world through a different lens”

Enough said.

http://www.warbyparker.com

It has been years of “being the year of mobile”, but finally 2010 seems to be shaping up to be THE year it lives up to the hype. As all the stars begin to align-devices and carriers as well as the exponential growth of mobile web browsing-more nifty applications are popping up that are changing the retail landscape.

It is so much more than mobile coupons or SMS campaigns (they are definitely a part of it, but not the end all) it’s about utility. From finding the store you’re looking for using an app like Fastmall which will speed you around your mall experience (thank god, because I can never find a directory when I need it) or utilizing technology as Norma Kamali is, where you can read tags on their displays that tell you all the details of the piece that you’re interested in. And you needn’t ask a fussy sales person or worry about not making it into the store on time.

Another part of the shopping puzzle is the social element of it all. We’ve talked about social shopping before on the blog, but none have really taken off the way that something like foursquare has. However, integrating location based technologies/gaming (like foursquare) with the sharing element of a facebook and great things could happen. Shopping to many is a innately social activity (OK, ladies, you’re with me here), and many of us find ourselves texting friends at sales, sending pictures from a store of a pair of shoes you’re just not sure of yet and need that second opinion…brands just need to find the right way into the story.

Another prediction: Concierge type services will proliferate, and shopping will be made even more dummy proof. We won’t know what it was like to be without (mark…my…words…) Will we buy more as a result? Retailers certainly hope so, but moreover the bar will be raised for consumer satisfaction. And oh it will be glorious.

Image via NY Times

There are naysayers who believe that losing that elitist cache of the ever sacred “brand” will take away its inherent value. A luxury brand has no place being social.  I would argue the opposite. Like it or not, being social will increasingly become the marker of the value of your brand. It’s not about throwing up a twitter or facebook page, but finding that special social idea, like Art of the Trench, that will make your brand come to life for those who love it. Or look at Hermes (yes, you heard me right Hermes), who has started to dip their toe in the digital world, with quite a lovely site, which gives you the opportunity to design your own Kelly bag and interact in a quaint “Hermes world”. http://www.hermes.com/

It’s about people taking ownership in something, feeling as though they belong to this world of fashion-the new world is about inclusion, not exclusion. Approachability is not a dirty word anymore. Speak to people as people. Respect their intelligence.

Many wise people have written about the changing face of authority or influence in the communication model. The “death of the influencer” may be at times a bit overstated, yet there is a lot of truth to what the OLD notion of “authority” is. Today’s consumer doesn’t want a stogy fashion editor to tell her what she should be wearing. She wants to learn from her peer group-whether it be a “real life” peer group, or those she admires on Polyvore.  He will trust his peer group over all else (far above advertising per-say), and a close second, complete strangers she entrusts in the digital world. Companies like ModCloth are leading the way for fashion (“Be the Buyer”, constant social games/communication) and will continue to grow in relevancy as they mature. Will luxury fashion brands be able to answer the call? Innovate or die.

Up for it?