VerveCast

We at Z2 are huge fans of The Pfister Hotel—not only because it’s a client of ours, but also because it is just such a darn amazing place. One of our favorite projects we work on with the hotel is its Artist-in-Residence program. I mean, how many hotels do you know of that have an artist creating work right on site?

The hotel is currently in the process of selecting its next great artist. This year’s finalists are Pamela Anderson; Matt Duckett; Albin Erhart; Hal Koenig; Brandon Minga; and Timothy Westbrook. Now the public will help choose the next artist.

Beginning this evening, you can visit The Pfister’s website and Facebook page to vote for the artist you’d like to see as the next artist in residence. Votes can also be cast via Twitter (#ArtistInResidence). Voting will end Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012, and the selection committee will announce the next artist in residence soon thereafter. The public vote will equate to one seat on the selection committee, influencing the final decision.

If you’d like to check out work by the six finalists, head down to Gallerie M, inside InterContinental Milwaukee, for January Gallery Night, taking place this evening. You can cast your vote right there! And don’t forget to stop by The Pfister to say hello to The Pfister’s current artist Shelby Keefe, as she hosts her final Gallery Night in the space. Stick around The Pfister afterward for a fun reception and live entertainment. Hope to see you there!

Sometimes we give you a “Behind the Scenes” view of things after they’re done, but this time I thought I’d give you a sneak preview of our latest endeavor.

I won’t get into too much detail right now, but this is probably the largest prop we’ve built yet for any of our shoots.

Look for some nice BTS photos/video to show up soon…

By now, you’ve probably at least seen the new Facebook Timeline layout. (Maybe you even recall getting a sneak preview of it a few months back in a blog post by Pete.) I recently switched over to the new layout myself. Personally, I find it a little less user-friendly, but maybe that’s because I’m still getting used to it.

To my point… I just came across the first example I’ve seen of a business/organization using Facebook Timeline for marketing purposes. The Israel Anti-Drug Authority created a fictional profile of a guy that depicts what a year of his life would look like while using drug, versus a year of clean living. That was the concept at least, however, it really only goes back to Dec. 1, 2011. Although the execution fell flat, especially on the druggie side, which turned out a little cliché, the idea behind using the timeline in this way is creative.

This got me thinking about the potential uses for Facebook Timeline in terms of marketing and branding. The platform would be great for showing a company’s history, product innovations, major events, etc. Although Facebook has not revealed details on Timeline for brands just yet, I’m guessing it will follow this initial rollout for individuals. In the meantime, it’s exciting to imagine the possibilities.

Kelloggs recently said that they are considering burning their logo into corn flakes with a laser. (Talk about branding!) One of their representatives had this to say: “We’ve established that it is possible to apply a logo or image onto food.”

It’s true! In fact, look at this chocolate bar…

Chocolate is a little easier to get your name on, as molds are used instead of lasers. Lasers tend to melt chocolate. Sure, you can blast a laser at any piece of food, but I don’t want to get too deep into laser etching food right now…

Hey look, even our friends at Roundy’s have their name on their chocolate bars… which are the generic equivalent of a Hershey bar.

The idea behind Kelloggs “branding” some of the flakes in each box is to ensure that you’re getting genuine Kelloggs brand Corn Flakes™ and to let you know that some knock-off brand is just that, a cheap knock-off of the original.

So where will the future of branded food take us? I’ve got my own ideas (and I’ve done a few experiments) but I’d love to hear what others think.

In the spirit of the New Year, a post to address the best… and worst… of the past 12 months. TIME put out an article listing the Top 10 Everything of 2011, which includes 54 wide-ranging lists. Here are some of the top notables in selected categories.

TV Ads

1. Dear Sophie — Google
2. The Force — Volkswagen
3. Reply All — Bridgestone

Best Tweets

1. News of Osama bin Laden’s Death Breaks on Twitter
2. Gabrielle Giffords Returns to Congress (The #Capitol looks beautiful and I’m honored to be at work tonight. – @Rep_Giffords)
3. Wael Ghonim on the Egyptian Revolution (Mission accomplished. Thanks to all the brave young Egyptians. – @Ghonim)

Worst Tweets

1. Anthony Weiner on… Anthony’s ‘Weiner’ (I won’t share that one with you.)
2. Nir Rosen on Lara Logan (Lara Logan had to outdo Anderson. Where was her buddy McCrystal – @nirrosen)
3. Gilbert Gottfried on Japan (Japan is really advanced. They don’t go to the beach. The beach comes to them – @realgilbert)

Viral Videos

1. Rebecca Black, “Friday”
2. The Homeless Man with the Golden Voice
3. Volkswagen’s Darth Vader Commercial

Buzzwords

1. Occupy
2. Winning/Winner
3. Planking

You might notice that Volkswagen’s Darth Vader commercial made the top three on both the ‘Top 10 TV Ads’ and ‘Top 10 Viral Videos’ lists. In the ad world that is one of the biggest home runs you can hit. (Not to mention the fact that I’m aware of at least one kid who chose his Halloween costume based on that commercial. It seems to appeal to nearly all demographics.)

It’s entertaining to look back at the last year in our culture. Go ahead and take a minute to peruse the other 49 lists. Happy New Year, all!