30.7.09

Why Generation X Has the Leaders We Need Now

William Strauss and Neil Howe, coauthors of Generations, posit that each generation makes a unique bequest to those that follow and generally seeks to correct the excesses of the previous generation. They argue that the Boomer excess is ideology and that the Generation X reaction to that excess involves an emphasis on pragmatism and effectiveness.

As many of you know, I've spent much of the last year talking with members of Generation X — those of you born roughly in the 1960s and '70s. The book I've written based on those conversations (What's Next, Gen X? Keeping Up, Moving Ahead, and Getting the Career You Want — safely in the hands of the publisher and due out in December) includes many of your voices — including quotes from your responses to posts on this site. Through this research, I developed a deep admiration for the generational traits evident among most X'ers, particularly in the context of our current challenges.

Future leaders in all spheres will have to contend with a world with finite limits, no easy answers, and the sobering realization that we are facing significant, seemingly intractable problems on multiple fronts. Perhaps the biggest change from the past: leaders will have to listen and respond to diverse points of view. There will be no dominant voice.

In this context, I'm convinced that Gen X'ers will be the leaders we need. The experiences that shaped those of you who were teens in the late '70s and '80s, as I've outlined in past posts, translate into valuable contemporary traits and perspectives.

  • Your accelerated contact with the real world, for many through a "latch-key" childhood, has made you resourceful and hardworking. You meet your commitments and take employability seriously.
  • Your distrust of institutions grew as you witnessed the lay-offs of the '80s and has prompted you to value self-reliance. You have developed strong survival skills and the ability to handle whatever comes your way with resilience. X'ers instinctively maintain a well-nurtured portfolio of options and networks.
  • A sense of alienation from your immediate surroundings as teens, coupled with rapidly expanding technology, has allowed you to look outward in ways no generation before could or did. You operate comfortably in a global and digital world. Many of you are avid adopters of the collaborative technology that promises to re-shape how we work and live.
  • Your awareness of global issues was shaped in your youth, and you are richly multicultural. You bring a more unconscious acceptance of diversity than any preceding generation. Your formative years followed the civil rights advances of the 1960s. High divorce rates during your youth meant you are the first generation to grow up with women in independent authority roles. You welcome the contributions of diverse individuals.
  • Your preference for "alternative" and early experience in making your own way left you inclined to innovate. You tend to look for a different way forward. Your strongest arena of financial success as a generation has been your entrepreneurial achievements.
  • Your skepticism and ability to isolate practical truths have resulted in rich humor and incisive perspective. You help us all redefine issues and question reality.
  • Your childhood made you fiercely dedicated to being good parents, prompting you to raise important questions about the way we all balance work with commitments beyond the corporation.
  • Your pragmatism has given you practical and value-oriented sensibilities that, I believe, will help you serve as effective stewards of both today's organizations and tomorrow's world.
The most difficult elements of your past may well be those that provide you with the strongest capabilities for today.

You have traded the idealism of my generation for realism, tempered by value-oriented sensibilities. At mid-life, you are well-prepared to serve as pragmatic managers, applying toughness and resolution to defend society while safeguarding the interests of the young. You will force nations to produce more than they consume and fix the infrastructure.

In today's challenging world, your humor may be your most-valued asset. Czech leader Václav Havel said, "There are no exact guidelines. There are probably no guidelines at all. The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and at ourselves, a sense of irony regarding everything that calls out for parody in this world." You help us step back . . . and remind us to laugh.

You will have the opportunity to change the corporate template, and create organizations that are more conducive to your values. As leaders, you will be able to reshape the organizations you lead to make them better places for future generations and yourselves, make them more humane, and break the cultural norms of corporate life — long hours, a focus on full-time work, heterogeneous perspectives, and language of combat. You will bring your desire to create better alternatives, including how to balance work with commitments beyond the corporation and finding meaning in work. Most importantly, your preference for "alternative" and your inclination to innovate will allow you to look for a different way forward.

Alfa Insurance | Let’s Talk About Tomorrow

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Alfa Insurance - "Transformation" :60






Client:Alfa Insurance
Agency:Lewis Communications, Birmingham
Production Company: FORM
Director(s):KEVIN DONOVAN
Creatives: Final Cut, New York (Post production)
Music: Copilot Music, New York
Sound Mix: Brooks Audio, Birmingham
Country:United States of America

Baskin-Robbins | Ice Cream & Cake Dance Contest

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So you think you've got what it takes to win the Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream and Cake Dance Contest? Gather your friends and dance for your chance to win $10,000 and more!! Visit Baskinrobbins.com/videocontest for more details.

promotion site: http://www.brvideocontest.com/





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The campaign is been picked up by generation Z and spreading like fire








Advertising Agency: Cliff Freeman & Partners.
Song by: Buckwheat Boyz, Miami

Print: Denver Water: IQ “Grass Is Dumb”

Released: July 2009
Avertiser: Denver Water
Brand name: WATER SAVING MESSAGE
Agency: Sukle Advertising & Design
Country: USA

Credits:

Advertising Agency: Sukle Advertising & Design, USA
Print Producer: Gail Barker

Stupidgrass copy

Sukle Advertising + Design has a new conservation campaign for hometown client Denver Water that asks people to curtail their lawn watering by two minutes a day. You'll get away with this, the ads suggest, because "grass is dumb" and won't know the difference. The work includes quote bubbles stuck in the ground that reveal the depths of grass's stupidity, and a couple of TV commercials (the one below and this other one) in which a few personified blades fail to grasp even the basics of the reality that surrounds them. Sukle's "Use only what you need" campaign has been down this road before, of course, with the pretty great drunk-flowers spot.

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“Naked Girls Get Interrupted”

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“Naked Girls Get Interrupted”


Rexona Men Energizing






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What is Parkour? In a nutshell, parkour is the art of movement in which one overcomes the obstacles in his/her surroundings in the most quick, efficient and flowing way. It encompasses running, jumping, vaulting and climbing to overcome those obstacles. Parkour can be performed without special equipment, in any environment, both natural and man-made. It requires one to develop and utilize strength, balance, agility and fluidity, and apply them with prudence, awareness, control, and cool-headedness.
The word "Parkour" is a modification of the French phrase "parcours du combattant," roughly translated as "military obstacle course." At first glance parkour looks like an extreme sport, and it certainly has many of the same qualities of an extreme sport. However, it is considered by many practitioners (known as "traceurs") as more of an art and discipline. It has creative and aesthetic elements that allow for individual expression, and also promotes inner strength and personal growth.

It introduces us to complete freedom from restraining obstacles, and it is this freedom amidst the routine and regimentation of much of modern society that makes parkour very appealing. It is a method that's available to us at any time to deal with the obstructions facing us, both mental and physical. No obstacle, no barrier, no restraint can stop the traceur; they continue moving forward in spite of, and in harmony with these.
While parkour does allow for a great deal of originality, there is a certain methodology commonly used when practicing it. The traceur chooses his/her own path through the environment adapting to and using anything in this path to create unique and flowing movement. When many techniques or moves used to overcome obstacles are linked together in an efficient and continuous way, it is known as a "run." If you see someone that looks like they're running from the police, but there is no one in pursuit, it's probably parkour.
This idea of the chase captures the movement of parkour quite well. In fact, it is the form of movement that our ancient ancestors may have used to hunt for food, or escape from predators on the plains of Africa. There is certainly an instinctual quality to it. In adapting instantaneously to whatever comes forth without thinking about it, we naturally flow over and around all obstacles. In practicing parkour, we are reviving and honing that ancient instinct.

The attitude behind parkour also incorporates the mentality of a child at play. That boundless imagination and energy combined with a complete disregard for social precedents and expectations epitomizes the traceur. Others look at a rail or wall and see a restraint; we look at it and see a launch pad. And hey, let's not forget that we do this because it's fun! The world is our jungle gym, let's go play.






Beamvertising Parkour Rexona from Lumina Motion on Vimeo.

‘an acupuncture session’ in every can

Out to help those looking for a quick relaxation fix, a new drink from Canada offers ‘an acupuncture session’ in every can. An antidote to energy drinks like Red Bull, Slow Cow was developed to help people de-stress.

Under the premise that caffeine-packed drinks tend to increase anxiety, Slow Cow contains theanine, chamomile, valerian, passiflora and other ingredients known for their calming effects. The beverage is meant to increase mental awareness while improving relaxation, without the post-hit dip that caffeine and other stimulants cause.

Slow Cow, whose tongue-in-cheek logo apparently did not amuse Red Bull, might have found a gap in a market saturated with energy drinks of every possible variety. It's not the only beverage to position itself as a relaxation drink, mind you, (Drank is another), but Slow Cow gets our vote for best branding. Seems like a natural fit for spas, hotels, airlines—or anywhere else consumers could use a serving of relaxation.

Website: www.slowcowdrink.com


Style your garage

On even the most tastefully appointed of houses, garage doors tend to be drab and monochrome eyesores, designed apparently without even the smallest nod to aesthetics. A German company aims to change all that, however, with large-scale posters that transform the doors through highly realistic 3D images.

Style-your-garage.com's photo tarpaulins are available with a variety of motifs and images that are sure to cause neighbours, friends and passers-by to stop and stare. A photographic version of trompe l'oeil, some are designed to give the impression that unusual contents can be found in the garage, such as an airplane, race car or monster-sized kitty. Others aim to provide a glimpse of the world beyond the garage door, such as a Tuscan landscape or what seems to be the home's very own golf course. Another series, meanwhile, aims to give the garage door itself another look altogether, such as through a rustic wooden appearance. Consumers can also upload the digital image of their choice and have it turned into a customised photo tarpaulin. In fact, Style-your-garage.com invites consumers to submit ideas for new designs as well, and promises a share of the profits if their idea gets accepted. The company's posters are designed primarily for up-and-over garage doors but can be adapted for sectional or wing doors as well. Crafted from material similar to that used for truck tarpaulins, they are rip-proof, weather-proof and even come with a fire safety certificate. Special promotional pricing through the end of this month is EUR 169 for all but the customised styles.

Coming soon from Munich-based Style-your-garage.com are Style-your-window.com and Style-your-door.com. One—or two, or three—to get in on early...?

Website: www.style-your-garage.com

Coca-Cola Freestyle

Developed on the assumption that there's no such thing as too much choice, Coca-Cola Freestyle is a new self-serve soda fountain that can dispense up to 100 different drink flavours. The machine is being tested this summer at fastfood restaurants in California and Atlanta, with the intention of rolling out units across the US early next year.

Flavoured teas, waters, juices and soft drinks will all be available from Coca-Cola Freestyle, letting customers select drinks based on brand, calorie content or caffeine levels, all through the system's touchscreen interface. Combinations will be pre-set, meaning Raspberry Coke and Peach Fanta are available on tap, but frat dares combining tea and Sprite won't be possible. Many of the flavours on offer are new to the US market.

RFID tags will keep track of the syrup the machine uses, telling retailers when to refill, and providing Coke HQ with insight into popular flavours and locations. By tracking sales, Coca-Cola gains valuable insight into which drinks would be most successful if offered bottled or canned. Which means the intelligent technology doesn't just offer a new level of choice for customers, but also streamlines supply chain management and informs new product development.

Website: www.thecoca-colacompany.com

7 Skills for a Post-Pandemic Marketer

The impact of Covid-19 has had a significant impact across the board with the marketing and advertising industry in 2020, but there is hope...