gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards" (via Mowser)

July 9, 2009

sf & nyny

In about twelve hours time I head for the airport, heading for SFO for the anual Techcrunch Party. Like I've done for the last four years, for the event I designed a signed, limited edition print, pictured above- a play on the "Dream Big" campaign I'm doing here in Alpine, Texas.

Then it's off to New York, NY the following day to sign prints, including Purple Cow and Create or Die.

Hope to be back home, sleeping in my own bed by Wednesday night.

[NOTE TO SELF: Why is it, that the more internet-enabled the world becomes, the more time we all seem to have to spend on airplanes? Don't get me started...]

Posted by hugh macleod at 2:19 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

July 8, 2009

the "hughtrain" cube grenade

[Buy the "Hughtrain" print individually here.]

Another "Cube Grenade", Hurrah!

A while ago, I announced that we'd be making smaller prints available, based on the cartoons found in IGNORE EVERYBODY.

On June 11th, the same day the book came out, we announced our first efforts: The "Ignore Everybody" Portfolio Series Number One.

Four silkscreens, 11"x14", limited edition of 100, signed and numbered, $320 for the set.

So again, I'm delighted to report that we've just made the "Hughtrain" print available for purchase individually. $100, plus S&H. Here's the blurb on the gallery website:

It's probably my most famous cartoon. It pretty sums up my marketing philosophy. Like my friend, Seth Godin said:

"You canâ€™t drink any more bottled water than you already do. Or buy more wine. Or more tea. You canâ€™t wear more than one pair of shoes at a time. You canâ€™t get two massages at once..."

So, what grows? What do marketers sell that scales?

Iâ€™ll tell you what: Belief. Belonging. Mattering. Making a difference. We have an unlimited need for this."

I hope you'll check it out. Thanks!

[Backstory: About Hugh. Twitter. Newsletter. Book. Interview One. Interview Two. Limited Edition Prints. Private Commissions. Cube Grenades."EVIL PLANS".]

Posted by hugh macleod at 7:46 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

July 7, 2009

July 6, 2009

every product

{Cartoon inspired by this blog post.]

[Backstory: About Hugh. Twitter. Newsletter. Book. Interview One. Interview Two. Limited Edition Prints. Private Commissions. Cube Grenades."EVIL PLANS".]

Posted by hugh macleod at 9:24 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

smarter wine, cont'd...

A couple of years ago while working on Stormhoek, I came up with the "Smarter Wine" idea.

2. Everyoneâ€™s definition of â€œsmarterâ€ will be different. Iâ€™m OK with that. To me, it means continually engaging the customer at a higher level, continually raising the bar.

3. The brilliant thinker, Russell Davies identified four keywords that will govern the future of the advertising business. About as succinct a list as I've ever seen:

Blurry. Useful. Interesting. Always In Beta.

"Always In Betaâ€ is a popular term in Silicon Valley. In an ideal world, it would be equally popular in the wine trade as well. It's unfortunate that this is not the case.

The problem with most wine marketing, as I see it, most of it is product-driven, not principle driven.

Most wine makers make what they make, as best they can, then try to find a buyer, somewhere. Anywhere!

Stormhoek wasn't conceived as an act of love for the Western South African Cape. Stormhoek was conceived as a very simple idea: That if you took New Zealand wine tech, and used it with South African grapes, you could make a wine JUST as good as the New Zealanders, for about two thirds the price.

Idea-driven. Not product-driven. Not geography-driven. That's what "Smarter Wine" is all about.

Once we had this "Principle" nailed down, it became a LOT easier to market it. Because not only did we get "Smarter" about how we made it, we got "smarter" about how we talked to people about it, how we related to the existing market and the customers about it. Which explains the cartoon below.

It's REALLY hard to market something, if there's no higher purpose-idea behind it. Products are not just about price and quality. As I'm fond of saying, every product is some sort of idea amplifier.

Every product, whether we're talking German cars, cans of beans, laptop computers or bottles of wine, is an expression of human potential.

At least, it is, if you want it to be successful.

I don't think any of this rocket science, but it sure got our competition scratching their heads. Plus ca change...

[N.B. This post was written as something to keep in mind, while I plan my "Texas Road Trip", which starts at the end of this month...]

[UPDATE: Just added this blog post to "EVIL PLANS".]

[Backstory: About Hugh. Twitter. Newsletter. Book. Interview One. Interview Two. Limited Edition Prints. Private Commissions. Cube Grenades."EVIL PLANS".]