Two Toys: Trading Up vs. Trending Up

Two equally-addictive toys I’m playing with this week:
1. The Brand Asset Valuator: Some of you will be familiar with this particular gadget from Y&R (or at least from John Gerzema of Y&R). The Flex application allows you to compare the momentum of up to three brands simultaneously along four distinct criteria:

Energized Differentiation – the measure [...]

Standard Gauge and Cupcakes

1,435mm is a decidedly significant, if seemingly arbitrary figure.
As it happens, it the precise amount of space between train track rails dictated by Standard Gauge (occasionally referred to as Stephenson Gauge), and the specification used on some 60% of the world’s railway mileage.
Four feet, eight and one-half inches – a standard that allows trains to [...]

Seven Inches of Hard Experience

Henry Owings, publisher of the seminal zine Chunklet, posted recently on an endeavor by Soundscreen Design to publish a collection of the best 7″ record sleeve artwork of the last 2o or so years.
As a fan of Henry’s (the photo above demonstrating proof of my friendship via my Chunklet Neighborhoodie was taken at the 2008 [...]

Transparency Paper One: The Executional Advantage of Celebrity Cookbooks

With transparency on the mind of so many – Andy Beal (transparency and Steve Jobs), B.L. Ochman (price transparency), Ben McConnell (bailout transparency), Paul Soldera (corporate transparency), Joseph Mann (transparency transparency), Mitch Joel (digital transparency) and Chris Anderson (personal transparency) – as well as frequently on my own mind, I thought that I might begin [...]