What's happening during school recess?

If you want to know what's hot among kids, check out what's going on during recess in any school around the country.  Nowadays, the hottest property in Brazil (and what I've been reading in many countries around the World) is the FIFA 2010 World Cup Official Sticker Album.  In the past two weeks, I've been myself driving to the neighborhood newstand to buy more stickers for my two daughters... who aren't really soccer fans.  They tell me everyone at school (and even the teachers) is collecting the cards.  This is a fascinating cultural movement.

Why is this so hot?  Ok, I know that we're 45 days away from the coolest sports event in the World (I personally can't wait!), but why are kids so obsessed to collect these cards?  My personal feeling is the following...

There's a certain thrill of exchanging cards with other kids

There's a tangible feeling of opening the envelopes, sticking the cards, seeing the album being complete that beats the many virtual experiences these kids have after school in front of the computer

There's a sense of belonging, that kids all over the world are doing the same

What can we learn from this experience that can apply to the brand experiences we provide?

DVD on the innovation workshop

I borrowed a DVD on innovative thinking from my good friend Gilvan Azevedo, who works at IFF. Gilvan is a great source of information, always very wired.  So, I was curious to watch the video which is called Marty Neumeier's Innovation Workshop.    Marty Meumeier is president of San Francisco-based think tank Neutron and author of Zag, Brand Gap and The Designful Company. For those looking for inspiration and a few useful tips on how to jump-start the innovation journey, the video is worth watching.   

Innovation toolkit containing the DVD available at Amazon.

Two new spots for Doritos in Brazil

This weekend, we started airing two new 30" spots from Doritos 2010 TV Campaign. The new spots are a continuation of last year's successful campaign 'Wanna Share Something With Your Friends, Share a Doritos' which reinforces the brand as a social snack among teens.

In these two new executions, AlmapBBDO did a great job creating new situations which are interrupted by the campaign theme... reminding people that the best thing to share among friends is a bag of Doritos.

Doritos - Brazil's fastest-growing snack in 2009 - is becoming a lovemark among Brazilian millennials.

More news to come...

Photoshop free

On the cover of this month's French-edition of Maire Claire magazine you'll see a lettering that says "100% Sans Retouches" which means the edition is totally photoshop-free.  Another good example of a consumer trend that has been with us for a while now and my feeling is it's here to stay:  the search for authenticty.  In a climate of uncertainty and a mistrust in brand marketing, the interest people are finding in anything that keeps it real.  A positive attitude towards 'what you see is what you get'.    

You see this trend's manifestation from furniture retail (think Design Within Reach) to food (Innocent comes to mind as well as the recent launch of Haagen-Dazs Five) and now making it to the editorial world.  

Remembering a good wine

With thousands of wine labels available, often people try a wine at a restaurant or party and can't remember the next day what it was.  Wouldn't it be great if you could peel off a little sticker on the back panel with the wine's main features.? 

I couldn't find any example online.  What I did find was a site:  rememberwine.com that helps people keep records of the wines they have tasted over time. 

Good start.