Random Culture

Nike Soccer: The Next Level

Awesome video for Nike Soccer, directed by Guy Ritchie.

Kenneth Cole Activist Blog

Kenneth Cole has launched a blog, and it's not about fashion. The Awearness blog is about politics, the environment, social responsibility and much more. The question remains, will users really care what Kenneth Cole thinks about this stuff? Read more at: Awearnessblog.com

Video and E-Commerce: Knicker Picker

Is it true that underwear could be at the forefront of technology? Knicker Picker is a great example of a company using video as a part of e-commerce. There are a few folks who've been experimenting with this, and I believe it's a harbinger of the future. As video production costs decrease, why wouldn't you have video of your inventory rather than a static image?

Visit the Knicker Picker Dressing Room.

Nike Supersonic

Nike has launched a MySpace community, which can be found at www.NikeSupersonic.com. The community supports a special invite-only run in London for 1,000 runners and 2,000 of their friends. It was designed by AKQA in London.

Clicks to Bricks: Threadless

Online t-shirt ecommerce site Threadless has opened it's first retail location in Chicago. Great example of a company starting out as an Internet pure-play and expanding the possibilities. According to Threadless:

"Why a store? A zillion reasons. Most of them revolve around ideas we come up with for giving back to the Threadless community and not having the staff, resources, venue or time to make happen. Ideas like teaching design classes, hosting galleries with Threadless artist's work, having real-world group critiques and other various events.

Another big reason has to do more with our product. We've been quite selective with which shops carry Threadless product and have even turned down some big-box retailers. Our reason for doing so is twofold. First, our product line changes every week and most retailers are not equipped to handle change that fast. Second, the story behind each of our products and who creates them, how they are created, scored and selected for print often gets lost in a traditional retail environment. Our tees lose some of their specialness and become just another tee on the shelf."

Find out more about the Threadless store here. Photo by cshimala.

Video and eCommerce: Cicatriz

A couple days ago, I posted about eBay's move into video and the prospect of seeing more ecommerce sites utilizing video. Well, today I ran across a boutique clothing shop called Cicatriz, that's doing a great job utilizing video on their ecommerce site... and it's a cool site at that.

Visit www.cicatriz.se to check it out.

Video and eCommerce: eBay

Advertising Age has a great article that got me very excited about the prospect of using video on ecommerce sites. It seems that eBay sellers have been trying to incorporate video into their listings, but eBay won't let them embed videos from YouTube or MySpace. So eBay is embarking on a quest to provide users with the ability to post videos in a more controlled manner. Read the full article here.

Pay attention to this one, folks. How long before a big online retailer has videos of all the merchandise? It's not that far of a stretch. Digital video is becoming cheaper, and some retailers certainly would rather demonstrate their product, rather than just show some still shots or spin a 3D model around.

Nike: The Second Coming

Nike has launched a new site, The Second Coming, that allows users to create a "mash-up" video for their AF25 basketball shoes. While the whole "consumer generated" TV spot idea is nothing new, it's a very well-done website, and worth checking out. One of the great things they've done is allow users to post the completed mash-up on their own blogs or MySpace pages, which certainly leverages the true consumer-generated power of the campaign.

Link via Adverblog.

Cool Isn't Always Flash

Levi's is proof of that. They've launched a unique new site for Levi's Copper Jeans in Singapore. The site doesn't use flash, but rather, makes use of good old HTML and scripting. It's refreshing to see someone experimenting. At least the FWA thought so, awarding it the site of the day on February 21.

Any word on who created the site?

Wrangler Europe

Wrangler has launched a good-looking new site in Europe. Check it out at eu.wrangler.com. No word on who designed the site.

Converse Russia Site

This is an amazing site for Converse in Russia. Sure, you might not be able to understand what the heck is going on, but this is quite a unique site that's fun to explore. Definitely worth checking out.

Designed by the folks at Red Keds Studio in Moscow.

Gucci Group: Full-Screen Video

The Gucci Group has launched a website for all of it's brands. While the site provides a gateway to the individual site for each brand, it also includes video footage from the latest "shows" that are full-screen. Definitely worth checking out.

Nike Cosplay Viral

Awesome viral video from Nike, featuring cosplay in the geek/cosplay capital of the world, Akihabara.

Nike Lab: Rise of the Hybrids

Nike has created a series of three pretty cool videos called "Rise of the Hybrids." The videos are available to watch on the Nike Lab site, but I've also included them below. Here's a description of the video from the site:

Rise of the Hybrids
From the chaotic aftermath of a galactic impact an order emerges unlike any other, an explosion of new forms never seen before. Suddenly, all combinations are possible; animals fuse with other animals. Plants fuse with minerals, beings and objects fuse with earlier ancestors of themselves. This is the rise of the hybrids.

Gucci: Web 2.0 Redesign

Flash is basically a staple for high-end fashion websites. This is because the "cool" factor flash provides is one of the most important goals many fashion brands have for their website. Gucci, however, is shaking things up a bit. They've redesigned Gucci.com to retain the "cool" animations and effects, but they haven't used a lick of Flash, it's all Javascript and Ajax. Interesting to see the types of "cool" transitions and dynamic behaviors that aren't solely the domain of Flash.

Link via Adverblog.

The Fruit Guys

The interactive agency I work for, Click Here, has just launched a new microsite for Fruit of the Loom. It's centered around the Fruit Guys. You can find the site at FruitGuyFans.com. Watch all the latest spots, download MP3s of such memorable songs as "You can't overlove your underwear", and check out some extra footage.

New Diesel Site: Diesel Heaven

Diesel has launched a new section of their site, called "Diesel Heaven." It's got some nice video/flash integration, and I have to say, it's straight up strange. Who knew heaven had a VIP door?

New Nike Air Site

Nike has launched a really nice looking new site for Nike Air. It's good because it's beautiful, although you might get bored pretty quickly.

I hear that Big Spaceship was involved in creating this one.

Converse.com Redesigns

Converse has just launched a nice website redesign. Check it out at: www.converse.com.

The Levi's Truth Booth

Levi's has launched "The Truth Booth", an online site that allows visitors to supply their own "truth" or see the "truths" of others, both audio and video. The "confession" idea isn't anything new, but the site was well designed by OgilvyOne Singapore.

Link via Adverblog.

Diesel Jewelery Site

Diesel has launched a new jewelery line, and a new site for the effort: Diesel.com/jewellery. It's certainly a unique site in the jewelery retail space. The site was created by hi-res and Geoff  Lillemon from Oculart.

Does it tell you anything about the jewelery? Not really, but it certainly lets you see the product, and gives you a feel for the style they're going for. Since Diesel really only sells watches online, they don't need to be bogged down with "product information" or a "shopping cart."

Nike Mashes Google Maps

Nike has launched a new feature on their RunLondon.com site called the "route finder." It's a mashup of Google Maps and user submitted running routes in London.

I think this is a great feature that provides real value to site visitors. Nice job Nike and AKQA!

Link via Adrants.

More Bad Holiday Marketing

It looks like now we have another less than stellar holiday marketing campaign to add to the list. The Banana Republic has launched HolidayStory.com as part of their holiday marketing.

I really hope that this isn't all they're doing... First off, going to HolidayStory.com doesn't actually take you to the "Holiday Story." I have a popup blocker, like millions of other web surfers. So the URL really just takes you to the Banana Republic homepage. On the homepage, you can see a link that says HolidayStory.com, that finally opens the real "Holiday Story" in a popup window.

All that trouble, and you get a pretty lame story that's very static, and offers you a closer look at the clothes and stuff featured in the story that you really didn't pay attention to in the first place.

Man... this holiday is off to a rough start.

Link via AdJab.

Let the Holiday Marketing Begin!

The holiday marketing onslaught is beginning. Gap is one of the first out of the gate so far. They've launched a microsite called "How to give a favorite gift", that's about... actually, I have no idea what the purpose of this site is. It's a hodgepodge of e-cards, attempts to sell Gap gift cards, and Macy Gray singing "Walking in a Winter Wonderland."

In all honesty, this Gap site doesn't do much for me. Am I missing something? I don't see why a consumer would spend time on this site...

Link via AdLand.

The New Gap.com?

I posted a link yesterday about how Gap.com has been shut down for a while the site is being redesigned. Of course, this doesn't seem to be a good call on their part, and you can read about it here, here and here.

BusinessLogs points out that now some people are being served the new site. I was able to access the new site by first visiting the Gapinc.com corporate site, and then navigating a link to Gap.com.

Red Bull Ascension

I posted before about Red Bull's efforts to align itself with high culture. I just caught wind of Red Bull Ascension, an event that happened in May of this year, and that has happened for the last two years. According to the website, Red Bull Ascension is a  "celebration of dance and art culture."

You can visit the 2005 Red Bull Ascension website for more information on what happened, including  photos, music and much more. Previous websites are also available to view for the event in 2004 and 2003.

Gap Viral: Watch Me Change

The Gap has launched a viral site called "Watch Me Change." The site involves creating a customized 3D character users can dress and then watch undress (not completely). Users can then send their customized scene to friends. This missed opportunity in this viral, however, is that Gap could have used the site to highlight the clothing more.

McDonald's Plans to Revamp Uniforms

"McDonald’s is recruiting Russell Simmons, P. Diddy and Tommy Hilfiger to perform a miracle makeover: Turn its employees' mundane uniforms into hip street wear."

Link to story on Ad Age.

Lithuania Shirt

Okay I want this shirt:

Olympic Slam Dunking Skullman

(David posting while John's off.)

Blog/Tshirt Empire

Gawker Media has opened an e-commerce site to sell t-shirts. Some are centered around their blogs, but a couple designs could hint to a "Busted Tees" type of business springing up in the future.

Urban Outfitters Misbehavior?

Crownfarmer makes some cool shirts. Urban Outfitters agreed... From the notice on the Crownfarmer site:

"the hip, mega chain store, urban outfitters, has taken two of our familiar t-shirt designs... cut them up and sewn them onto the backs of vintage blazers, essentially re-branding them to create all new pieces that appear to be crownfarmer garments, but they are not"

Crownfarmer contacted Urban Outfitters, and were told that the items would no longer be sold, but they've been offered no compensation, and have been told not to contact Urban Outfitters any more about the issue.

Pocket for Your Mobile

The P4P System is a specially designed shirt pocket that allows you to drop your mobile in from the top, and take it out from the bottom.

Check out the site here, and watch the movies that demonstrate how the shirt works.

Link via Dottocomu.

iPod Fashion + Function

Wow... Brighton Net is selling these cool bags in Japan that actually have functioning speakers inside, and a place to hook up your iPod. According to AkibaLive:

"The two channel/two speaker & amp are built-in to a leather handbag from Kawa Sozai, a famous high quality leather producer in Japan. In the center of the bag is a pocket for the insertion of an iPod. The exterior of the iPod pocket is covered with clear vinyl, allowing one to control the wheel of the iPod without removing it."

Check out AkibaLive for the story. You can also visit the product info section on the Brighton site here (in Japanese). You can check out this story about it on TechJapan as well.

Louis Vuitton Guerrilla

Apparently, Louis Vuitton needs saving. Despite skyrocketing profits, they've enlisted the help of some very enthusiastic college students, willing to work for fee in the service of their guerrilla marketing efforts.

Here's a pretty good breakdown of how Louis Vuitton showed up at Yale, including some conversations with the people who carried it out. This raises some pretty interesting questions... I can't help being a little put off by the whole "save louis" theme, but I'd be interested to hear about student reactions in general to this particular incident.

Link via Agenda Inc.

Levi's Viral: Uncomplicate

Well, it looks like yet another marketer thinks they can just throw some videos on a site and "viola"... we have a viral marketing campaign. I must say that I'm a little disappointed that this time Levi's is the offending party. As a part of their "uncomplicate" campaign, they're releasing videos with a "homemade" look at www.501uncomplicate.com.

What's worse is that Levi's apparently decided to "uncomplicate" their seeding efforts with blogs and used the same correspondence to talk to everyone. As you can see in the comments section on this post at AdFreak...
some folks got wise.

Custom Nike Jackets

Dave Goltl and I were talking last night about customized fashion, and he pointed me to Dr. Romanelli...  He basically takes old Nike clothes and breathes new life into them, many times by mixing them together with blazers, leather jackets and other coats. 

This is some really impressive stuff. Here, Here, Here, Here, Here and Here.

New Diesel Site

Diesel has a new site up with a preview of their Sping/Summer 2005 collection. Great interactivity...

The Best Branding is no Branding?

I'm excited to see this Clickz article about American Apparel. If you don't know who they are, you will. The buzz has being growing about them. American Apparel offers high-quality, simple, logo-less clothes for a very reasonable price.

In fact, what most people don't know, and what most interesting about this company is that other companies use their clothing, and have been for some time. Chances are, some of those pricey clothes you're buying may actually be an American Apparel shirt, with some other company logo slapped on it (as well as a significant mark-up in price).