Ch..Ch..Ch...Changes | Now Find Me At LaurenProctor32.com/Thinking

"It's been a beautiful run but we're moving on up.  Please find my new blog at LaurenProctor32.com/Thinking."

 

How did we get so lucky and who could have ever guessed that this would be our future?  I've recently taken a bit of time to pause and reflect on my life and I'm filled with gratification.  This has been a great blog, but I finally figured it was time.  Time for my own website, time to move, and time to recap what's been going on over here.  Below you'll find a bulleted list of what's happening and what it means.

• Got a new website.  You can now find me at LaurenProctor32.com.  My blog is at LaurenProctor32.com/Thinking.  I've also started to take my personal Twitter account more seriously. You can find it at Twitter.com/LaurenProctor32.
  • What it means: I launched straight into helping everybody else with their new media marketing and branding strategy without looking at my personal brand for even a second.  Now we're taking that second, and I've decided to spend a small fraction of my time practicing what I preach on my personal brand. 

 

• Recently became a research fellow at The Hybrid Reality Institute, an intellectual organization that examines human technology co-evolution as it relates to society, business and politics.  
  • What it means: Worldwide brainstorming salons, idea incubation labs, blogging on Big Think and research projects on the ripple effects of innovation clusters.  This is pure love.  It looks like my first research project will be with The Blue (man group) School on the future of learning.

 

• Started working at Jen Bekman Projects, a SoHo, NY based gallery with art eCommerce site 20x200 and Hey Hot Shot!, an international photography competition.
  
  • What it means: Art,new media, one of Fast Company's most influential women in technology. I adore the team, the way they work, and the work they put out.   

 

• Became the Director of Social Media at persuasive communications firm LawPadilla.
  • What it means: Short and longterm consulting projects on brand strategy and new media marketing in a variety of industries.  Talk about doing what you love.

 

• Working on a rebranding project with PhiPower, an interactive research firm with multiple Fortune 100 Clients. 
  • What it means: I've fallen in love with the future of research and adore the process of nailing down the kind of verbiage that captures the financial world as much as it does major executives and big companies.  If you want to see fliers, booklets, and other marketing materials feel free to reach out.

 

• Still at L2 Think Tank.
  • What it means: L2 is love. We were recently called the TED for marketers and received a tweet from outer space.  We also expanded from "a think tank for prestige brands" to a "marketing innovation think tank."   

 

• Brewing with a startup.
  • What it means: There are still a lot of loose ends I need to tie up before it's announced, but I think you'll like it.  I sure do.

 

• Reading like a madman. And I'm kind of obsessed with podcasts.
  • Curiosity never dies. Some things never change.

 

Posted via email from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

A Quick Glance Backward

I was walking through the East Village the other day when a dark sticker triggered a strong memory in me.  Someone had decided to slap a One Eyed Doll sticker on a pipe jutting out of a building and the second I saw it I was transported to another place.

I'd written about One Eyed Doll back in 2007 when I was writing my way to some extra college cash with music reviews and feature stories.  I talked to Tyrese, interviewed Paramore before they were on anyone's radar, and rubbed elbows with rappers.  But there was nothing like the simple pleasure of receiving a CD in the mail.

One Eyed Doll was one of the artists that sent me a CD, and then when I wrote about her she followed up with a handwritten note thanking me along with a short stack of stickers.  The same sticker I saw pegged to the pipe just a couple days back.  

In honor of the romance of it all, I decided to do a quick search and dig up what I wrote about her three years ago...

 

"One-Eyed Doll is dirty, corrupt, and dangerously sweet. Her dark, humid rock tantalizes heavy metal fans and grants entrance to the mainstream with bustling popular harmonies. Adorned with humungous guitar riffs and Kimberly Freeman's sugared girlish voice, the debut album Hole will send you into a fit of pleasurable desolation.

One-Eyed Doll doesn't hesitate to reveal what's on her mind. Her candied voice praises suicide and Prozac, and sends and ode to needles in a mental hospital. To contrast the disturbed images of desperation, One-Eyed Doll also stands strong for what she believes.

She won't tolerate players, abuse, or hypocritical America. Freeman stands strong against an ex in "Scapegoat." The track is introduced with a plucking guitar progression before drums slide into the background as the track oscillates between slow composure and raging intolerance.

"And I'm not your scapegoat, / And I'm not your punching bag, / And I won't be sorry, / Cause I'm the best thing that you'll never have," Freeman fumes. "Scapegoat" has all the elements of the sweet and anti-authoritarian Avril Lavigne at her best. Only Kimberly Freeman takes on this role naturally, while it seems Avril has to strive to achieve the disaffected image.

The assailing side of One-Eyed Doll attacks listeners with "Suicide Serenade." We become acquainted to this track with the first four notes of the "Star Spangled Banner." Just as a singer might say "see," the guitars scream with fierce anger before coming to a close. Then a pop beat combines with Freeman's sweetest voice to bop a repetition of "Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy America!" The track quickly teeters back to harsh metal and descriptions of people falling to their graves.

"Master" broadcasts the artsy side of Kimberly Freeman's work. The subtle track holds an aura of slow paced surrealism. A sample of laughing and screaming kids quietly decorates the track as the simple track radiates with raw beauty. The quirky side of One-Eyed Monster reveals itself in "Hoochie Mama." Scott Sutton, who appears as a frequent guest throughout Hole, shines on the drums during this track. Sutton slams the percussion while changing tempo and rhythm. Freeman's intelligent and playful lyrics refuse to allow a seedy man to think he has a chance with her.

"You think it should be easy to get in my pants. Well it took me five minutes to put these things on, I can hardly breathe let alone be turned on," Freeman seethes. "And I don't want to hear your new death metal riff," she adds to drive home her disinterest. Disturbing yet wonderfully addictive, One-Eyed Doll proves that Kimberly Freeman is the foul, daring girl that every man wants but won't necessarily get.

The Austin-based artist won't let men control her, and she's certainly not taking anybody's foolishness. One-Eyed Doll would prefer control your emotions with her hook laden tracks, incredible voice, and diverse range."

Posted via email from LaurenProctor32's Posterous

Study Reveals Which Dance Moves Attract Women

And I thought I had it made in luxury, eCommerce, and online communities.  This study is a riot.  Apparently finding the male volunteers was the most difficult part of their research.

One of my favorite quotes from an accompanying article on the topic:

"Curiously, faster bending and twisting movements of the right knee also seemed to catch the eyes of women. As a potential explanation, the researchers noted that 80 percent of all people are right-footed, so most people "are putting their weight on their left leg and using that leg as an anchor while the right can do more fancy things," Neave suggested. "It is a bit of an odd finding, so we need more studies to see if this feature is replicated."'

The world really is a magical place.

 

Posted via email from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

Readings: Intelligent Apps, Quicksand, and Hotel Bathrooms

I've never been sure whether it was a good thing or not, but I've always read voraciously in some sort of fleeting effort to pack my mind with as much wonder and knowledge as possible.  As far back as I can remember it's been like some sort or race against the clock, and I want to maximize every moment.  

Until the internet came around reading was a mostly solitary activity, but the rise of link sharing has left me yearning to share a piece of nearly everything I find fascinating or well written.  And so in an effort to share (and actually blog more), I've decided to start a reading series.  

These posts will include the highlights, the life changers, and the reads that have meant the most to me as of late.  So welcome to the reading series and I hope you enjoy.

 

 

The image above is a picture of Bethlehem. I found it looking for a display ad and had to find a place to share it.

A Bird App That Adapts on the Fly This app integrates live information feeds so birdwatchers know what they're likely to see in their area at any given time.  These are the kinds of apps we will come to expect in the future, and the people who figure out how to retrieve influxes of data intelligently will win.

The Rise and Fall of Quicksand I thoroughly enjoyed this read on culture and quicksand and then (admittedly) watched the finale of True Blood.  When one of the characters was getting buried in cement I couldn't help but wonder, "Is this the quicksand of the industrialized world?"

Hotel Boss Taps China's Luxury Market A good read for anyone interested in the China luxury market, but what stuck with me most was the part where The Regent claims that their guests spend a majority of their time in the hotel room's bathroom.

 

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Zynga Infographic

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My Academic Faux Pas

So I've been carrying around this big envelope with an authoritative Commonwealth of Massachusetts design on it for a couple years now. I've moved it three times and left it unopened but on my desk with a select few other items in my organizer.  You know, the vertical leather desk organizer that houses only the very major things.  The first few magazines that gave you paid bylines, a card from Mom and Dad, and an old financial statement from right before you went paperless.  Because really, where else does one store their undergraduate diploma?

For whatever reason I glanced at my diploma envelope today and realized something quite shocking. The envelope I've been carrying around had a return address of "MIT."  I went to UMass.  

The sudden discrepancy was of momentous shock to me so I ripped it open only to find an invite waiting inside, worthless now that I've missed the sign up date by two years.  A piece of junk mail that I've moved three times and glanced at (emphasis on the glanced apparently) every now and then.  I'd say the MIT invite is almost sentimental if only for the solid laughter and the "You really graduated from college?" moment it delivered.

As for my actual diploma...I've never even seen the thing.

Posted via email from LaurenProctor32's Posterous

Korean Pizza Hut Commercial

via doobybrain.com

You've got to see this to believe it. As DoobyBrain said, "Apparently this is the only way to properly eat a pizza."

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Why MyTown Should Add Virtual To Their Product Check In Arsenal

Booyah's MyTown just started implementing product check ins to its 2.5 million user base, adding a bit of Foursquare-like functionality to their app.  Scanning item barcodes earn users points and the potential for real life perks, giving retailers the ability to track consumer patterns, geo-local info and more.

TheNextWeb praised the value of this kind of data, but said that MyTown will both suffer and reap the rewards of needing to stay tied to physical location.  As it stands, app owners need to actually scan the barcodes on the products they want to track, meaning they have to be standing in an actual store to check in. This plays into the geo-location trend well, but if I were MyTown I would be looking beyond the strings of physicality.

I will admit I have never played MyTown's Monopoly like game and so I don't know the gameplay implications of adding virtual checkins, but let's put gameplay aside for the sake of spelling out the huge e-commerce opportunity here:

Imagine if product check ins could also take place online.  Any participating retailer could add something like a QR code badge to their online product pages so that users could check in with online retailers as well as in physical stores.  Retailers could gather a more complete data set for where consumers are discovering and lusting after products and with every online partnership MyTown gains increased visibility.  

At first people would see the badge on product pages and wonder, possibly downloading the app and jumping on board.  Then, if the app delivers on its promises, people get hooked, more retailers join the bandwagon, and virtual MyTown badges become the e-commerce version of Facebook's Like buttons on the web.  Looks like MyTown could be poised to Run This Town Tonight.

 

 

Posted via email from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

L2 Digital IQ: China

We just released our China Report at L2 Think Tank and it is by far my favorite L2 report to date.  As the largest and most robust study of its kind, this research brings to light the importance of China as an emerging market.

Although much of the study is focused on ranking the digital competence of 100 prestige brands into five categories based on more than 100 quantitative and qualitative data points, there is also "The Ten Commandments of Commerce in China" from the Dean of George Washington's Business School and other crucial takeaways.  

Perhaps most important, the results speak to a much bigger story of international significance.

Below you will find some data points parsed from the study and particular reasons why establishing a digital presence in China is so important for brands of the future:

• China has 384 mm people on the internet, more than the US and Japan combined.  
  • In 3 years that number explodes to 840 mm, more than the US, Japan and Europe combined.  (Mature markets will only experience modest growth.)
• In China, 80% of luxury consumers are under the age of 40.
  • 30% are under age 40 in the US and Japan's market under 40 is 18%
• Similar to the path telephony took in India (skipping landline), commerce in luxury may skip traditional theater retail in tier one cities and meet consumers' appetites online.
• A growing market coupled with a more digitally native (i.e., younger) consumer translates to a revenue line whose growth will eclipse any other growth market for prestige.  In sum, online commerce in China represent the greatest opportunity in a generation for luxury brands.  However, many are missing the boat.  While 80% of brands surveyed offer a Chinese language site, only 10% are selling online.  We (L2) work w/some of these e-commerce enabled brands, and they are enjoying quadruple digit (yoy) revenue growth in China.  

Feel free to download the PDF directly from this link.  We at L2 would love to hear what you think.

 

Posted via web from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

Meeker: Latest Deck of Internet Trends/Data

via paul.kedrosky.com

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Magazines on the iPad: Please Consider Your Loyal Subscribers

Dear Time Inc, Hearst, Conde Nast, Here Media, Meredith, and all the rest of the magazine publishers moving to the iPad,

I get almost a dozen magazines delivered to my door and read almost every issue cover to cover, coveting old issues until I have time to go back to them.  Conde Nast, Time Inc, Here Media Inc, I am your ideal customer, your fanatic, and the person who said that no matter how thin the issues get and how much the media world suffered, I would always find a way to get my New York and New Yorker on Mondays, as well as another magazine almost every other day of the week.   I'm one of the magazine readers that boosts "the average time a person spends with a magazine is 45 minutes" statistic (as well as a bevy of other statistics).  I take all your surveys, I renew on time, I talk about your finest articles, and I feel cheated.

Time, Wired, and a few others who have moved to the iPad, you are leaving your subscribers out of your media revolution.  Wired Magazine's June issue has reached the iPad for $4.99 and after they had to go back to the drawing boards because of Flash incompatibility issues, I'm dying to know what it looks like.  Not only because I'm a Wired fanatic, but because I care about the future of publishing and want to know what at least a part of the future is becoming.  

I do not though, believe that I should have to subscribe to the print version of the magazine and then buy every issue from the app store at newsstand prices.  I understand that the app needs to make money and we're trying to teach people that good journalism is not free.  These are important points, but did you completely forget your loyal subscribers when you moved to the iPad?  What happened to acknowledging and rewarding the customer who has paid to be a part of your brand for years?

Maybe I'm out of line.  Maybe I should have to pay full price for every version of the magazine that I read but I won't.  In my ideal world, when I got my iPad I imagined having the flexibility of a tangible magazine first thing in the morning and last at night, with the portability of access to the same words on my iPad on the go.  I imagined that I would be able to enjoy your media property as a full brand experience that just gets better as technology advances.

But now I must choose.  

Instead of having me on both sides, reading the magazine like I have for years and then showing off the crisp reading experience of Wired on the iPad to everyone I ever see, I'm frustrated.  I'm your loyal fan, your influencer, the customer who will spread word of mouth recommendations to people who trust me, and you just lost me a little bit.  

There's still a chance to change.  Email your subscribers a promo code for a certain number of free issues on the iPad, give us a loyal customer benefit for digital/iPad access the magazines we happily pay for in print.  Use us to bolster your app download numbers, let us spread your enthusiasm and help you through this tough time.  Give us that 360 degree brand experience and value us the way it felt like you did for years.  I'm telling you, you'll keep us forever.  

Choose to ignore us though, and you'll force us to choose.  And if it gets to that point we'll both be losing something important.

Signing off with a hopeful Always,

Lauren Proctor

 

 

 

Posted via web from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

Faux Ghostbusters Invade the New York Public Library

via mashable.com

NYPL contacted Improv Everywhere to draw attention to their budget cut plight so the troop recreated the intro to Ghostbusters in the Rose Main Reading Room. Tourists were more taken by the scene than locals (big surprise), but what's most amazing to me is the fact that an old world standby like the vanguard library system would experiment with the newest of the new in marketing messaging strategy...viral video.

Posted via web from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

The Next Digital Experience

via fora.tv

A great video on the future of online and mobile culture along with five year forecasts for YouTube and Facebook. This hour long video may take an hour to watch, but it's well worth the time as it hits on everything from Flash to privacy.

Posted via web from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

Putting the Fun in Functional: Applying Game Mechanics to Functional Software

via youtube.com

Amy Jo Kim reviews the psychology and system thinking behind game design.

Imagine a world where we applied these principles to our real lives in ways that allow us to thrive in everyday workplace activities.

Posted via web from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

Gen Y Brand Affinity

See the full gallery on posterous

Gen Y spending is poised to eclipse that of Boomers by 2017 and this generation is about to move into its prime spending years.  L2 saw this and decided to delve further.  The result is our Gen Y Prestige Brand Ranking, a survey of 450 Gen Y high-earners from 45 countries (83 percent are expected to make more than $100k+/year in the short term).  As the most robust study of its kind, this ranking reveals what L2 founder Scott Galloway calls the the closest thing to a crystal ball in measuring the future success of luxury brands.  It's also a grander statement on

In addition to the above photo gallery with my favorite charts from the study, you may also enjoy a few of these statistics about Gen Y.

• 65% of females and 61% of males consider themselves "brand conscious."  Only 1% of females and 3% of males do not consider themselves brand conscious.
• Print is not dead. Print continues to be a primary source for information on prestige brands. It is the #1 source for women and #2 for men.  Recommendations from family and friends via word of mouth are also crucial, ranking #1 for men and #2 for women.
• One in five Gen Y respondents like a prestige brand on Facebook and one in ten follow a prestige brand on Twitter.  Almost half have signed up to receive email from a prestige brand and alomst one in five Gen Y's consider blogs to be one of their top three sources for information on prestige brands.

Click here to download the report in full.

 

Posted via web from LaurenProctor32's Posterous

Top 10 Luxury Brands’ Sites Fail To Work On iPad - PSFK

via psfk.com

Brilliant ideas for moving the world forward with creative technologies. This is technology bringing people together.

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Love the Whole World

via paul.kedrosky.com

This is brilliant. And totally and completely my theme song for life.

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Cindy Gallop at Home in New York City

via theselby.com

Scribblings from the genius of Cindy Gallop, from The Selby.

Posted via web from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous