June 26, 2009

Human+Brand+Love | Michael Jackson


Loving the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.

I’ve written about that idea of the human brand, which I might more effectively relate to the notion of the “human torch” — a fiery inspiration. Going back, thousands of years, into the mists of proto-history, the concept of brand and fire, spark and imagining, flame in glint and waved banner of fired standard is at the heart of brand, and brandish. And how there are phases in that accomplishment, the embrace of person in community — that reflective factor. People get it, they embrace the story, or they do not.

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June 21, 2009

Human Brand | How about a hug?


Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Warmth, affection, connection, community: physical social networks and emerging branding trends.

It’s been suggested that the phenomenon of teenagers hugging has something to do with Michelle Obama. She hugs everyone. She’s even been decried for her supposed slip in royal protocol by [video] hugging the Queen of England, Royal Mother that she is.

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June 20, 2009

Who do you love? Google | Social Networks?

Who do you trust? Facebook search engine results?

Your friend’s a brand.

Google has long been the apex of search mechanisms, beating out the rivals of Yahoo, and still, so too, emergent entity bing.com. But Google has its sights on the social space, such as Facebook, according to the research team analyzing these results.

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June 14, 2009

Twitter-out | Twitter-in’


(Twitter founders: Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, Evan Williams)
Jessica B. Lifland | USA TODAY

Who stays, who goes?

I can’t push too hard on the proposition that I have anything truly ground breaking, in the context of twitterology, the new science of micro-blogging. My question is — who cares?

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June 13, 2009

The alphabet and the earth


Images credit

The geography of the mind, mapped in place

In a way, any drawing that we create, is a kind of signature. Designing is demarcation. And the origin of the alphabet, stretching back 3,500 to 4,000 years ago, to the proto-sinaitic beginnings is, in fact, a signing of “place” — a description, of sorts, to the early interpretations and imaginings of the semite tribes that wandered, and worked, the Sinai peninsula and the parched lands and deserts of the ancient Levant.

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