Benjamin Button: The Future of Film & Video

The scene towards the end of the movie, "Benjamin Button," where Benjamin/Brad appears at the dance studio as a twentysomething is breathtaking--gasps were heard in the audience. Got me curious about how the digital effects were created, so I searched. The guy who created Apple QuickTime and Web TV, Steve Perlman, created the Countur Reality Capture system. Genius. Phosphorecent powder makeup captures the subtle details of facial movement (green lady above). The actor is filmed simulataneously with 2 digital cameras in a dark-sealed room that captures performance with high-speed, pulsing light imperceptible to the human eye. In Benjamin Button's scenes, Brad's various digitized "faces" were cg'd onto other actors bodies. The commerical film industry believes that this technology will be as big and impactful as the launch of the steadicam.

Calling Aunt Bee: We've Gone Fishing

It's official: our leisure time is shrinking. The Harris Poll, tracking leisure since 1973, reports that in 2008, leisure hours dropped by 20%--to an all-time low of 16 hours/week. (vs. 1973: 26 hours).

Last year, Americans increased the work week by one hour. As our economy crashed, more reported spending time "just checking in" online. Looking at the top leisure activities, computer activities are reported as equal to fishing. There's an interesting theory that computer time is a netherland--perceived neither as work nor leisure.

Top Leisure Activities in 2008
#1 Reading (30%)
#2 TV (24%)
#3 Time with family (17%)
#4 Exercise (8%)
#5 Computer activity (7%)
#6 Fishing (7%)
#7 Going to movies (6%)
#8 Golf (6%)
#9 Walking (5%)
#10 Gardening (5%)

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

The headline is from T.S. Elliott, an appropriate one to close out the old year. How does web literacy, most of it offered as free information, reshape 21st century knowledge and the media platforms that fuel knowledge? News in the media world has focused on layoffs, newspaper bankruptcies, big box bookstore closings, and on and on. On the last day of 2008, Conde Nast kills more titles (adieu Domino). It's cliche, yet undeniable that the availability of cheap, free information is killing off last century's media model. Last Sunday's NYTimes article about the ability to buy books from online resellers for less than the cost of paper was rattling. How can a publisher and author have a livlihood? Just this week, JWT's trend guru predicts experiential, multi-media platforms as a key trend in 2009 (she references books that suggest music playlists--an idea that has been around for years!) How does one make money--and enough of it-- in the new model of integrated, interactive, participitative media? Perhaps an intellectual property becomes a "free trial" entry to trade-up to a bigger expereience for more dollars (i.e., Radiohead's music experiment, AC/DC's WalMart music/merch deal). Someone has to pay the writers, journalists, photographers, musicians and pundits. Information, news and entertainment always comes with a price tag--but who foots the bill? In the Great Repression of 2008, the pay-to-play media questions become even more intriguing.

What do these guys have in common?

Both of these iconic, gray-haired men were created by the same illustrator. Chicago-based artist, Haddon Sundblom, developed these guys from his office in the Wrigley Building. As the year winds down, I say adieu to the Quaker Man and hello Santa! Hopefully, Santa will be more giving to me than the Q-guy was this year.

Burrata: Oh-so Cheesy Mainstreaming

Last year, Saveur magazine wrote about the "secret" society of fans of this hard-to-find Italian premium cheese. Wrote to some friends in the Italian cheese biz to watch for this to mainstream. This summer, it was menued at Scott Conant's new place in NYC, Scarpetta. My sister just had it at the oh-so-hot Crescent Hts restaurant in San Diego. Now it's on the menu on the new mid-priced Italian mall restaurant that just opened at 900 N. Michigan (Frankie's Scalopini). Expect this cheese to continue to mainstream in 2009. Biggest hurdle will be the capacity of the cheese guys to supply.

Cocooning in Luxury

The renowned luxury Danish jeweler, Georg Jensen, has just restaged its flagship NYC store. The brand experience has been repositioned from "museum quality" to the heritage associated with Danish lifestyle. According to the Financial Times, Jensen’s approach may be a new model for rebranding in a recession, thanks to the company’s twin decisions to alter the store’s aesthetics from those of a “museum” to a “house." This is another great example of the return of "cocooning" as a key trend. Jensen's retailing strategy is considered unique for partnering with other Danish luxury brands who are showcased in the store. It's all about a total Danish style... and lifestyle experience. In the luxury realm, marketers beleive provenance, heritage and storytelling will become increasingly important, particulary as luxury brands begin to stake-out China.

I'll have to check-out the Jensen outpost in the Drake, Chicago to see if they've adopted some of these intriguing retail strategies (and a great excuse to visit an old haunt right next door, The Cape Cod Room, Queen of Restaurant Cocooning).

"Pantry Deloading"

P&G is taking its sales forecasts down, attributing slower growth to a new phenomenom: Pantry Deloading. Folk are depleting their pantry stocks and are not stocking back up. This phrase appears to have been trickling into marketing speak since this past August. However, Gillette may have been the first to coin and use the phrase way back in 2003 during an investors call.