The SPOKE Daily » Social

WVRST Is De BEST

Clay Rochemont — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:06:33 +0000

Attended the opening of WVRST last night. It is a “Sausage Joint” located on King West, where Thuet used to be. Impressive menu items included Rabbit, Boar and Duck, with veggie options as well. Presentation is killer, and the fries are some of the city’s best. The decor was beautiful, a blood red TTC Subway tile wall with their WVRST branding located dead center, impressive tables, and incandescent lighting sets the mood to be just right. Check out their site here, and go in for a few bangers.

From Class to Crass; Final High/Lo lights from SXSW

Rachel Noonan — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:55:56 +0000

Music is coming to SXSW. It starts slowly; the hair gets longer, the button downs are now distressed vintage t’s, and the beards multiply. Before you know it the geekfest turns into a city wide rock concert. Bands are performing in every nook and cranny throughout the city. Music is spilling into the streets from all different directions. People are jumping on trucks, sleeping on the street and looking to do two things; drink and vibe. It was kind of weird thinking of nature vs nurture paired with the juxtaposition of the Interactive, Film and Music crowds. How people communicate and why. From a hyper tuned in group of over communicators to another group who communicate through instruments and song lyrics, it made me wonder who is getting their message across in the most effective way. Then I remembered interactive is about connecting and music is about feeling. We can’t really exist without both. Well, we could, but it would be a pretty boring. I know I will be swallowed soon by the rock locks and dirty bass lines. In an attempt to create some space in my brain I took a mental look back for my final SX highlights.. What were the awesome new discoveries? The inspiring talks? The newly created connections with the international “Futures Community” (I just made that up and will now create a wiki page for it)? Perhaps the next level bionic style partying that took place? Here are the top 10, in no particular order: HIGHLIGHTS Crowdtap Party. Good product. Good people. The most amazing chocolate fountain EVER. FROG Design. AWESOME. Joseph Kahn’s new Movie Detention. He did a bunch of Britney’s vids. Detention is a real-time pop culture satire time travel horror comedy. The script was crazy tight, the story was funny and the pop culture references were plentiful. Stylistically it felt like a series of single shots. The music video DNA is embedded in Kahn. He made no apologies for it in the Q&A. He does what he does and knows his audience. Talk with Pete Cashmore and David Crowley from Four Square. Crowley did some serious tap dancing around Cashmore’s pointed questions about selling foursquare. Chevy making life a little easier with 30 cars providing complimentary rides throughout the city. They also created the best photo experience I’ve ever seen in the history of photo experiences! Check it: http://social-gen.com/sxsw11/index-v.php?u=eC6. Checked out their new electric car, VOLT. It’s nice to see a “Dinosaur” surprise the scene with a product the future gen may actually like. Feel free to judge me on this, I don’t care. Mashable events. You could tell they cared and they worked really hard to make it fun. They were missing their actual content integrated into the activities, which was a bit of a bummer. GE’s Carosolar. A beautiful use of solar energy. A white on white old era carousel outfitted with slick neon lighting sat in a large parking lot inviting people to take a ride. Powered by solar energy, the carousel moves around and around, throwing people back to a time of fun and magic. Beyond the slick activation, this new solar technology seems to have legs. I’ve been trying to decide what to invest in. Something that’s part of today while constantly evolving to reflect new technologies, the environment and our constantly decreasing shared space. GE’s new solar technology is IT. Andrew WK talked. It was inspiring. I wish he was my big brother. Check out the venue Santos he opened with some friends in Manhattan. PARTY HARD. Artists you have to hear; Sheepdogs, Cold War Kids, Dikta from Iceland, The Kills, Kawarka, Malajube, Defences, Does it offend you, Yeah?, The Naked and the Famous, Phantogram In closing; SXSW Interactive was has the largest concentration of the most amazing thought leaders, trend setters and visionaries I have ever come across. SXSW Film was good, wish I had seen more. They need to separate film from Interactive. SXSW Music is dirty, loud and one of a kind. SPOKE will be back in 2012 ready to learn, play and connect. SIDE NOTE: For the ladies who are reading: Geeks are hotter than music dudes.

Bushmills “Since Way Back” ft. Chromeo

Karen Lo — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 20:15:30 +0000

Way back in April this year, Bushmills launched their “Since Way Back” campaign to mark their brand as the “Seal of True Friendship” by telling the story of several groups of buddies whose friendship led them on to shape the music and arts scenes in NYC. The execution is integrated through the use of Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and a series of interviews and events. This time features Chromeo with their story told through a seamless animation by Kate Anderson.

SPOKE is attending TEDx Toronto

Rachel Noonan — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:16:50 +0000

SPOKE has been selected as a delegate for TEDx Toronto this Thursday, September 30th. We are excited to see how the organizers do at representing the TED banner in TO. We have collectively spent weeks on TED.com soaking up the amazing speaker talks that make us think about the way we live, love and learn in our new world. TED has been put on a pedestal by freaks, geeks and awesome people around the World. Let’s see if Thursday’s installment will have delegates blogging, tweeting and Facebooking from dawn to dusk. Hourly reports will come via SPOKE Daily. http://tedxtoronto.com/

FUBAR II Head-Bangs Toronto

Karen Lo — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:47:44 +0000

SPOKE helped launch FUBAR II on Thursday September 9, 2010 at The Toronto International Film Festival with a traveling street party that filled the streets with Rock, Energy and the Spirit of FUBAR. To kick-off the activation, over 1 million online ads were placed on YouTube and specialty lifestyle web portals. To build buzz, Facebook and Twitter were used to connect fans of the FUBAR legacy and the stars of the film, “Terry & Deaner”. The event took place on a tricked-out Flatbed truck, with vinyl branding and QR codes, alongside a police escorted convoy of Ford F-150 pickup trucks. A live stream was active from 5:OO PM EST, during an on-air interview with Terry & Deaner at The Edge 102.1’s Yonge Street location. Following a tour around Yonge-Dundas and throngs of fans vying for a photo, the loud and wild music by aptly-titled local Hamilton rocker band Monster Truck, continued down Queen West. “The crowning moment? When a hot girl we nicknamed Olive Oil hopped aboard and tore off her shirt while grinding to Black Sabbath’s Die Young. As the crowds grew, the convoy was joined by a bagpiper and FUBAR II’s rowdy cast of characters, including Terry & Dean, Trish, TRON and the film’s director, Michael Dowse. The grand entrance down to Ryerson Theatre for the Midnight Madness Premiere was reminiscent of the AC/DC classic, Long Way to the Top. Following a street-side performance to the endless lineup, the film stars were interviewed to a live streamed online audience of over 5000, following by a crowd surf onto the Red Carpet. PS: THE MOVIE ROCKS!

A DOC WITH HEART, TEENAGE PAPARAZZO

Rachel Noonan — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:00:05 +0000

Yet again, Torontonians were spoiled with another exclusive, and SPOKE was there. An intimate advanced screening of Adrian Grenier’s documentary, Teenage Paparazzo. SYNOPSIS When precocious 13-year-old paparazzo Austin Visschedyk snapped a photo of celebrity Adrian Grenier (HBO’s Entourage), little did he know his life was about to change. Turning the tables on the juvenile paparazzo, Grenier stepped to the other side of the lens in an attempt to mentor a teenager obsessed with the lure of the Hollywood lifestyle. Grenier develops a meaningful relationship with his camera-clicking young friend as he attempts to reconcile their mutual exploitation. Indeed, Grenier puts himself on the line here, trying to make sense of his own recently acquired fame. Post screening, a poorly managed Q&A session (Get a mic people) took place where Adrian and the host bantered back and forth about Plato, the contrast between Old and New Hollywood and how many times the host could call Adrian “Vince”. Some good questions were asked about the social commentary of the story and why society has this hyper obsession with celebrity. Much to my surprise, Adrian was reflective, articulate and very mild mannered. It became clear his intention with this documentary was not to exploit Austin, but to put a lens inward to the core of the industries intent. Why do we care about people we don’t know? Why do we want them built up and broken down? Why have we decided to idolize only a few, putting the common folk into a sort of “Peasant” like status? Paparazzo does not attempt to take a position about whether societies collective confidence is decreasing due to “us” creating unrealistic personal expectations set against these “god like” creatures. It doesn’t try to paint the “shooters” in a particular light or make excuses for celebrities. Paparazzo just asks questions. It was actually one of the most unbiased documentaries I have seen in a while. I am sure considering the intense nature of the subject, it was tough to keep it clean and not veer in one particular direction. It’s really cool that a “celebrity” is taking the time to look at the world we put on a pedestal. It’s the don’t bite the hand that feeds you thing. Nobody wants to put a microscope on it, especially when they are in it. With Adrian, he’s not just in it, but represents the epitome of it with his character “Vince” in Entourage. It was brave for him and his supporters to make this documentary. Well worth watching. I am going to go ahead and put this out there; I think Adrian Grenier’s calling may be behind the camera.

Fashion Against Aids with H&M Prelaunch Party

Karen Lo — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:00:58 +0000

H&M just launched their 3rd Fashion Against AIDS campaign on June 3 in Toronto and revealed their first ever festival collection under their Divided line the night before. 25% of the profit goes to AIDS awareness campaigns: Designers Against AIDS, YouthAIDS, MTV Staying Alive Foundation, and the United Nations Population Fund. The collection in store stretches from safari to rock for boys and girls, head to toe. While MTV’s Movie Night host, Johnny Hockin, was not spinning the night away, Bedouin Soundclash filled the store with a mellow flow of reggae tunes.

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.

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.

Oh, The Places You’ll Go

Fabio Abreu — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:05:32 +0000

There are seldom places on this globe where one man’s inherently good-natured vision gets transformed into reality. Along my travels in Copenhagen, I stumbled upon one of its gem neighbourhoods, whose humble, utopian origins are still echoed today: the Free Town of Christiana. The neighbourhood was once a deserted military barracks in the center of the city until the hippie-movement of the 70s called for change. In 1971, a journalist, Jacob Ludvigsen, and hundreds of squatters overtook the area to forge their peaceful anarchistic and libertarian existence with the following mission statement: “The objective of Christiania is to create a self-governing society whereby each and every individual holds themselves responsible over the wellbeing of the entire community. Our society is to be economically self-sustaining and, as such, our aspiration is to be steadfast in our conviction that psychological and physical destitution can be averted.” Today, the self-proclaimed autonomous neighbourhood is home to artists, vagabonds, musicians, the impoverished, and is arguably one of the best places to showcase the progressive and liberated Danish lifestyle. However, its forged-sovereignty is far from being exempt of political controversy, which becomes further complicated by Christiania’s main cash crop− cannabis. Along Pusherstreet amongst bakeries, falafel kiosks, beautiful street art, recycled urban architecture, and street vendors peddling Christiania souvenirs, are the infamous dealers. They are consensually obliged to adhere to, like every other resident under Christiana law, no selling of hard drugs, no stealing, no guns, and no bulletproof vests. Nonetheless, under Danish law there exists a smoking ban and police will randomly raid the area for vendors. This is accompanied by onlookers’ warning symphonies of “Ost, ost, ost” (the cheese are coming) to which follows the rapid scurrying of vendors into safer pastures. Amidst this confusion and Christiania’s controversial existence is my memory of the place. Seen for its creative, loving, and friendly nature where one perfect Sunday at a blues café, they let my friend, Pat, get on stage with the band. For over an hour, he held his own with the rest of the band. The music was fantastic and at one point I swear that every instrument I could name was on stage, even the mighty cowbell. It’s this memory that I’ll remember and it’s just as so that it is a memory because there’s one last Christianian law− NO PICTURES!