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'A Library Thing'


I love reading magazines. On average I used to purchase ATLEAST between 10-15 magazines/month but obviously it got to a point where they just ended up all over the place and never got read. Needlees to say, it wasn't a very good investment. The problem is I still prefer some nice quiet slowcontent from a good magazine than spending time in front of my computer surveying my +300 feedsubscriptions in Shrook. A good 45 minutes in the sofa with Monocle or Fader is far more contemplative-friendly than the overinformation frenzy that the rss-feedsystem gathers for me. I've been looking for a good place to ease my magaddiction and some time ago I discovered that the Swedish Parliament here in Stockholm had a really good librarydepartment with an extensive section of national and international press, way better than the City Public Library. The latest newsmagazines and backissues of Economist, Time, Newsweek, China Quarterly and everyother magazine I used to buy. Obviously they don't carry any popcultural mags on music and such but I have still made it a weekly happening to drop in and spend an hour or two. I'm definitely the odd one out in the small bunch of superacademics and political partymembers occupying this place.
2008-apr-02 @ 4:20 pm Permalink
Tags: magazines, research


'Intel'

G. and I have 3-4 hour walkmeetings. Similar objectives, different contractors. G. is a strategic advisor within the nation's state sector. 

2007-apr-05 @ 1:25:16 pm Permalink
Tags: planning, research


'Countdown'

 

Om exakt fyra veckor bär det av till Bangkok, Hong Kong och Kuala Lumpur igen. Det har gått fyra månader sedan sist men det känns redan som evigheter och denna gång blir det lyckligtvis ett längre besök. Inplanerat är sex-sju veckor med en avstickare till Bali för surfsäsongen som drar igång på allvar om några veckor. Tanken är att hitta så mycket material som möjligt och förhoppningsvis kunna sätta ihop nya omvärldsanalyser utifrån ett populärkulturellt perspektiv. Denna gång med fokus på 'street culture'. Den intressanta paradoxen med sydöstra Asien är hur snabbt subkulturer som skateboarding, surfing, street art och diverse musikaliska genrer (hip hop, house, drum n bass...) fått fäste de senaste 5 åren. Med tanke på hur lokaltraditionellt många andra delar av tex Thailand, Kina och Malysias samhällsskikt ter sig så kan det bli oerhört intressant vad som komma skall inom ytterligare 5 år gällande kulturella hybridyttringar. Vad händer när exempelvis morgondagens 15åringar i Thailand och Kina börjar återupptäcka sitt egna kulturella arv och implementerar detta på allvar med vår västerländska populärkulturella tradition? Men för att hålla oss i nutiden så skall det framförallt bli riktigt kul att återse Bali igen! Det är nu sex år sedan sist och mycket ser och är säkert väldigt annorlunda än hur det var då. Nedräkningen har börjat...

 

Big city music for big city people:

Benny Page:'Turn Down The Lights '
(White Label, 2006)

Stephanie Mills: 'You Put A Rush On Me' /Paul Nice Rmx/
(The Rub: It's The Motherfucking Remix Vol 2)

Steve Spacek: 'Dollar'
(Space Shift, 2005)

2006-may-17 @ 6:46:20 pm Permalink
Tags: asia, research, planning


'Emotional Content'

I've finally morphed into a complete planner nerd... This pdf, a 50page paper that I chewed myself through last evening rightfully challenge and discuss how the world of creative advertising have allowed itself to be held hostage by an ill wised group of marketers (salespeople...) for the last 50 years. The paper discuss and question the IP model (information processing) and if it really is such an effective approach for producing advertising today. Having it's origin in the academic world of marketing and salesmanship it is primarily just as the actual discipline of marketing an economic model concerned with how to target goods to the most profitable groups by a rational information-based process (historically face-to-face selling) where the message itself is the most important aspect. Advertising in contrast is not necessarily about selling stuff or conveying a linear message but also extremely functional in the realm of creating experiences and nurturing a deeper consumer relation. (a relation that might be useful beyond quarterly reports...) Unfortunately for the ad industry such sharp creative instruments as 'feeling' and 'emotional content' are not hugely popular within the world of marketing very much because the effect such an approach might have on sales figues are not easily measured or subjected to rational analysis. Being probably as close to an extremist creative planner as possible I on the other hand always get suspiscious about anything deeming itself as rational, fact-based or logic (marketing anyone?) since that is certainly not the way people in general function. Humans are usually less clever and more emotional willy-nillys than they are willing to admit, even to themselves and in general we all make most decisions based on our emotional relationship to our surroundings. Personally I found it quite rewarding reading this paper, nodding my head in approval every other page that you don't need to be especially clever or rational to 'feel' what seem right.

2008-mar-01 @ 7:48 pm Permalink
Tags: planning, research, advertising


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