144 pages of pure pleasure, plus politics

Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas.

144 pages of pure pleasure, plus politics

We’re proud to note that the new issue of Idealog is the stoutest ever, at a magnificent 144 pages. The girth comes from much good stuff, including our new bi-annual insert, EcoInnovator.

EcoInnovator features carbon-friendly ideas for business, articles and interviews with the likes of leading NZ biotech entrepreneur Jim Watson, who is searching for an alternative to fossil fuels. We’re also igniting the debate around the Emissions Trading Scheme—everyone’s agreed on it, and in theory, it will shift the cost of generating greenhouse gases from all of us to the emitters and consumers; that’s the theory at least, but what’s the reality?

In the new issue, we break our usual rule of not writing about politics. Yes, yes, we know … politicians get enough exposure as it is, but this is an election year after all. Vincent Heeringa has taken a long, hard look at what this Labour government has achieved during its terms in office. Did we have a good run of it, stand still, or even slide backwards? How does Labour compare to other Third Way political models, like the Clinton and Blair administrations? Check it out: the story will surprise you.

Idealog #17 will make newsstands groan under its considerable weight on Monday. Subscribers get first dibs though; their copies should turn up at the weekend.

Insightful innovation and authentic branding

Want the skinny on how people like Nathan Baird of The Hive help companies become more innovative through insight? Check out Simon Young’s how-to on gaining insight on our website.

Also new on the site: Building a brand is one thing, but making it enduring takes something rather special. Michael Beverland knows what makes Edmonds Cookbook, Buzzy Bee and 42 Below special. Read his how-to on building authentic brands.

Life’s too short, but not for these job ads

Recruitment advertising is a nightmare for creatives, but check out this wacky German campaign from last year. The rather clever visuals serve up the proposition rather nicely and certainly eye-catchingly.

You haul 8 golds, and what do you get?

Phelps takes more Olympic golds than anyone in history, a marvel that clearly failed to fire up TBWA/Chiat Day’s creatives. If we were the Visa client, we’d ask for a chargeback.

The art of the Olympics

Swimming, athletics and cycling competing against architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture in the Olympics; no, we’re not kidding: between 1912 and 1948, medals were awarded for art as well as sport in the Summer Olympics.

Baron de Coubertin was big on both the mind and the body competing in the Olympic games, hence the gold, silver and bronze opportunities for artists as well as athletes. The only caveat was that the art in question had to be inspired by sport.

Not a lot of people know this, but de Coubertin got a gold medal in 1912 for his Ode to Sport that he wrote under the pseudonym Georges Hohrod et Martin Eschbach. Another curiosity: shooter Walter Winans and swimmer Alfred Hajos manged to win medals for both sport and art over the years, presumably making them the epitome of de Coubertin’s lofty ideals.

Speaking of which, the lofty ideals put an end to arty competition in the Olympics. The artists were deemed to be professionals rather than amateurs in 1954, and that put an end to competing with the mind as well as the body.

No steenken blinky-blinky swim suits …

Even though the Olympics feature all kinds of new-fangled stuff that would have made de Coubertin go “merde!”, there are limits. Spain’s synchronised swimmers hit one of those with their swimsuits. These had embedded waterproof lights plus batteries and, well, looked a bit like Christmas lights.

Not having that, said the world swimming governing body, so it was lights out for the Spanish swimmers.

On the road sign

As some of us here at Idealog have done the road trip thing in the States, this excellent collection of wayside business signs brings back many fond memories.

Star Bores take over San Francisco

This might be a good test for the real-world Star Wars programme …

Vertiginous vastness

Speaking of Star Wars and the Death Star, the Burj Dubai Tower is almost done. It’ll stand a dizzying 819 metres tall when capped and pinnacled and is simply stunning in size and design.

Wonder how long the lifts will take to carry you to the top? (Via Kottke)

SES-y infrastructure things

The New Zealand Society for Sustainability Engineering and Science, or NZSSES as those in the know call it, is organising a further series of Friday Forums and short courses around the country for those of us with a particular interest in infrastructure.

There’s a long list of speakers and topics ranging from Strategies for Canterbury water to a sustainable housing debate, with speakers from well-known architect firms like Warren & Mahoney and academic institutions. The first Friday Forum is in Christchurch on August 29, with the short course kicking off in the same city on September 10. The programme for the events in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland can be downloaded at the NZSSES website.

Peri nice

Next up in our terrific-if-we-say-so-ourselves series of Kiwi over-achievers: Peri Drysdale, founder of Untouched World, will share her adventure in becoming a global leader in sustainable fashion at the AUT-Idealog Innovation Series Plus event in Auckland on September 17, at the Bellini Bar at The Hilton. We’d love to see you there. More info on our website.

Quote of the week

“I don’t think we ought to be completely pessimistic. If you look at some small, successful countries before their economy took off—say, go back to 1960 in Singapore and 1980 in Ireland—there was a huge amount of angst. Singapore was thought to be non-viable. Ireland was a basket case.”

—New Zealand Institute head David Skilling may be leaving Godzone, but he’s not writing us off yet. Read his exit interview in the latest Idealog

More at Idealog online

Read more on our website: web exclusives, opinion, creative directory, Idealog TV, the Idealog blogs and the Idealog podcast. See you at idealog.co.nz.

  Juha Saarinen
  Ideologue, Weekly