Category Archives: Sociocultural Trends

Want to build some brand street cred? Just start a record label.

Brands dabbling in the music publishing arena is nothing new. Starbucks has been playing in the space for over a decade with their Hear Music label, and countless brand promotions have backed artists, tours, and exclusive releases. Where back in … Continue reading

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Google+

“This is it?” I couldn’t help but feel a bit underwhelmed with the all-but-blank screen that greeted me upon my long-awaited first look at Google+. I really wanted to love it, but there was very little to react to at … Continue reading

Someone at K-Swiss Has ENORMOUS Cahones

When evaluating a potential spokesperson, marketers generally ensure that the candidate embodies the values of the brand and isn’t associated with anything scandalous. Unless you’re K-Swiss, apparently. The brand is taking a “different” approach, opting instead for a foul-mouthed, egotistical, … Continue reading

Upshot Smartshot #7: Twitterphobics Anonymous

Have no fear, help is here! No longer shall there be marketers who fear Twitter! The video above is the latest installment in our Upshot Smartshot webinar series, and complements our recent Potty Posting that introduced the concept of marketers … Continue reading

Progressions in Projections

Oy, rough morning here in Chicago. Thankfully, there are always awesome projection mapping executions to keep us distracted! And while we’ve seen our fair share of projections ’round these parts, we can convincingly say that we’ve never seen one with … Continue reading

Finding Opportunities in the Hidden Costs

It’s a good thing that our industry puts such a premium on creativity, since marketers are facing a pretty hefty creative challenge at the moment: how do we accommodate and acknowledge consumers’ Future Fear without succumbing to cynicism, hopelessness, anger, … Continue reading

Thees Mispelings Ar Fore Chairity

When we introduced the concept of Cause with Effect, we predicted that many smart marketers would focus their cause marketing efforts on educational problems. Admittedly, some of these solutions require some pretty complicated thinking, but there’s always room in this … Continue reading

POTTY POSTING – Twitterphobics Anonymous

[Be sure to check out our accompanying 15-minute Smartshot video! It's live at j.mp/twitterphobics!] Twitterphobia affects over 83.72% of marketers* in the US every year. We’ve seen the devastation it causes. We’ve heard your cries for a cure. And, we’ve … Continue reading

Online Make Out Sessions – Too Connected.

Today’s post comes from Paul Marran, Interactive Strategy Director at Upshot. Talk about your online offline convergence. In a July 20th, 2010 post, Upshot’s very talented Brian Asner wrote about Immersive Sensory Experiences. At the time he had ‘hoped’ they wouldn’t … Continue reading

New High Score: Brushing Your Teeth

Today’s post comes from Adam Stipanuk, Interactive Strategy Director at Upshot. The nightly tooth brushing ritual with my two year old daughter goes something like this: we ask our child to say “Arrrr” like a pirate to allow us access … Continue reading