Everyone wants the legacy without the leg-work.
Lately, it’s become increasingly common for people, companies and agencies readily call themselves “big thinkers” or “visionaries” in the vein of Steve Jobs or Richard Branson – and I’m a little bit concerned.
Is your brand worth speaking to? In our “content is king” world, many businesses are falling over themselves to generate online content and start a conversation with the public about their brand. But precious few actually consider whether their content is worth anyone’s time.
What does it take to create content that stands the test of time? It seems there’s so much emphasis and advice these days about going viral and discovering the next big thing – but if we truly value content as “king”, shouldn’t we pay some attention to creating stuff that will last?
Back in 1994, no one cared what the French called a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Ezekiel 25:17 was just a dusty Bible verse, and ‘chronological’ was the only way to watch a film. Then Quentin Tarantino dropped Pulp Fiction on the world. Now here we are, 20 years — and countless awards, imitations and parodies – later, and Pulp Fiction is still as relevant to pop culture as ever.
So what can Pulp Fiction teach us about creating timeless content? In honour of its upcoming 20thanniversary, here are a few choice quotes from some of the key players behind the making of this classic.
Read my full article at MarketingMag.com.au.
So, you’ve been hired by Company X to “do something with our website and stuff”. You’re enthusiastic and come in with guns blazing, ready to usher in a bright new digital age for this organisation.
But there’s a slight hiccup: the big wigs – the ones who ultimately call the shots – aren’t convinced about this social stuff. Your hire was an anomaly – a position that was created so they could tell the CEO: “Yes sir, we’re totally doing something about that social media thing your daughter told you about”.
So here you are: a sharp-shootin’ digital gunslinger facing down the skeptical sheriff and his cronies. It’s you versus them in a social media showdown at high noon…
It’s a winner-take-all turf war where we, as digital outlaws, feel obligated to overcompensate by talking up the awesomeness of social media to the sceptics.
Well, at least that’s the scenario we’ve been led to believe…that the one who wins is the one that fights the hardest and longest.
The other day, I finally got around to watching a film that piqued my interest when it was first released.
Cloud Atlas is a David Mitchell novel that was adapted to screen by Andy & Lana Wachowski (The Matrix trilogy, Speed Racer) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run).
At the time of the film’s release, there was a minor dust-up about the use of “yellowface” (i.e. the Hollywood practice of predominantly Caucasian actors being made up to look like South-East Asians). I wanted to write about it then, but figured I’d give it time and actually watch the film before allowing my knee to be a jerk.
“I have to learn to ignore my feelings. Not just the feeling of hunger and the feeling of full, but the feeling of embarrassment, too. I have to remember that this is only weird if I make it weird.”
[Joey "Jaws" Chestnut - GQ]
That’s directly from the mouth of arguably the best competitive eater in the world.
Way back in March 2013, Google announced – quite unspectacularly – that it would put an end to Google Reader, it’s RSS service.
On 1 July 2013, they officially switched the lights off.
Since the announcement, many have expressed their opinions and perspectives on Google Reader’s demise. Admittedly, this is all old news now and, to be honest, I’ve been writing (and re-writing) this very post since the original announcement because:
So with that said, I don’t really have that much to add to the discussion – only a minor concern with a point that some people are celebrating:
“The death of Google Reader is great for RSS innovation!”
I recently started exercising again and in the midst of my unrealistic enthusiasm, I bought compression tights to aid in my quest for a fitter, healthier Chan.[1]
According to SKINS – the manufacturer of my particular brand of compression wear – these stretchy wonder clothes will help me reach new heights by:
Two things happened recently that left me shaking my head – partially because it resonated with me on a personal level[1] but mainly because it distracted me from keeping up with the latest memes.
Now, I fully realise that I’m wading into a horrible minefield riddled with raw nerves and hair-triggers. But let me get one thing straight: I have no desire to, interest in, or intention of lecturing anyone about who is right/wrong, or trying to “solve” these incredibly convoluted issues. My opinions and theories are probably just as ill-advised as the next person, so I won’t add to the noise with my nonsense.
I’m merely referencing these incidences because it got me thinking about how social media seems to be influencing our social conscience.
![[Source: Reservoir Dogs / Quentin Tarantino]](http://www.kenandchan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/reservoir-dogs.jpg)
What do Tarantino, Sorkin, Hip Hop and the Bible have in common?
No idea? Well, follow me along as I pull on this pop cultural thread…
Whereas previous posts have been inspired by current affairs or pertinent articles, this post wasn’t instigated by anything in particular. It’s just a topic that’s been kicking around in my head over the past few months.[1]
Instances of plagiarism aren’t exactly new in our media-saturated world, but lately they have become a source of fascination for me – particularly as someone who primarily makes a living as a keyboard monkey. This, coupled with recent discussions around the value of content and the current movement towards “quality online content”[2] got me thinking about the nature of originality. More specifically, can “real” creativity only exist in a vacuum?
Everywhere we look, it seems creativity is stemming from incremental remixes and improvements to existing ideas rather than blinding flashes of pure, unadulterated “new-ness”. Sure, the results run the gamut from inspired to plain lazy – but it’s proof that healthy doses of inspiration are being taken from the existing instead of the unknown these days.
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