The SPOKE Daily » Kai Exos

LIVE: Toy Story 3 for Disney & Toys “R” Us

Kai Exos — Mon, 03 May 2010 18:55:53 +0000

For the past couple months, we’ve been playing with the quirky characters of Disney Pixar’s newest sequel to the animation classic trilogy, Toy Story. Adding to the original cast, Toy Story 3 features 12 new lovable characters like Peas in a Pod (my personal favourite), Ken (of Barbie fame) and Mr. Prickle Pants, all of whom are ready to meet you in their new home that we’ve created for them on Toys “R” Us. Check out the site and don’t forget to turn up the speaker!

Marmite XO Tastemaker Outreach

Kai Exos — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:33:28 +0000

By We Are Social and Splendid Communications to launch the new (and delicious) spreadable yeast goodness. Packaged with perfection.

Gorillaz – Stylo Promo (HD)

Kai Exos — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:15:26 +0000

Gorillaz Promo for the new single: STYLO. Produced by Passion Pictures London. Directed by Jamie Hewlett & Pete Candeland. Pretty damn good reintro… via Motiongrapher

The Amazing Flamenco Chef

Kai Exos — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:49:03 +0000

By Goodby San Fran. Amazing, indeed. http://vimeo.com/9194146

Brilliant Mapping by Elastic Space

Kai Exos — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:11:49 +0000

I can’t even begin to tell you how excited this makes me. Back in December, I was invited into George Brown School of Design to mentor the post-grad students on their final projects. One of those bright, young stars had an idea to improve the wayfinding at Union Station. It would be incredible if an individual user could access Timo’s idea independently from another user. Then ‘outsiders’ who weren’t using the system would avoid confusion. But then again, they’d be confused anyway.

Map/Territory from timo on Vimeo.

Prosthetic Brands

Kai Exos — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:50:16 +0000

The theories around trust marketing assume a general ideology wherein brands ask for extended engagement by a consumer. Over the past few months, I’ve witnessed some rhetoric that calls upon a push-pull metaphor to somehow tip the scales in favour of a rudimentary idea. I’m tired of it. That kind of basic thinking doesn’t equate to insights that are valuable in a campaign’s development. Sure, it’s a good start. Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is promote an infectious brand personality to sell something. Why should anyone care for a product that barely works? A glow behind the type doesn’t make it our saviour. Or a video that tries to trick the viewer into associating humour with product benefit? Come on, be genuine. When you’ve chosen to market to a consumer’s belief system, reinforcement is more critical than the push or pull. Buyers are not necessarily part of your brand’s community just because they’ve purchased the product. No one has the time to care if it’s not useful. We can’t sell lies, no matter how clever the execution. Branded entertainment has given us freedom to create weird and wonderful stories that prepare the consumer to start caring. Think of all the great products you’re loyal to. Did you originally opt-in to be exposed to the brand? Probably not. Only when we’ve done enough work for a person to trust a product, can a brand can assert itself prosthetically. A brand becomes part of a person’s identity. Like Zugara’s Social Shopper, dubbed Fashionista on tobi.com. That’s some cool shit. Know why? ‘Cause it’s useful. Think of how much trust a woman has to give to allow an app to see her live and fit her into that little dress on a webcam. Spending money on awareness campaigns that don’t equate to dollars won’t help the brand build itself; so you’ve gotta build in efficiencies to save time and cost. SPOKE and Praxis did a custom publishing piece for Quaker, nearly 1M issues. Simultaneously, on the same full-day of shooting, our film crew captured coverage for the 15 second TV spot. The cost-efficient delivery mechanisms at retail, online and in health environments are what bring it all back to the brand’s personality. And useful, entertaining content with a fresh, integrated approach shows the audience why we care. It’s not enough to spout rhetoric to prove the media or delivery. It takes a deep conversation to find out who actually cares enough to trust your brand.

3D FX OMG

Kai Exos — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:54:43 +0000

James Cameron is changing the game. I need to change my pants.

Words of Wisdom: Don Draper

Kai Exos — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:24:14 +0000

Such an interesting fella. This is our requisite Mad Men post. Watch at Gawker

Miss Jackson

Kai Exos — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:26:18 +0000

She’s a dancing machine. My God, you’ve gotta see this. (Nico from SYTYCD Canada is in this, too. We saw him at the Canadian Liver Foundation Gala earlier this year; sick dancer.)

Keep It Goin’ Louder

Kai Exos — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:58:29 +0000

Album: Cobra
Year: 2009
Video: MySpace Label: Epic
Format: Buy: iTunes or Amazon