Inside My Brain

Taking 16 credits a term and having a part time job takes a toll on my body and mind. Fortunately, I discovered a magical place where I can forget about these stresses and just take in the crispest breath of air in the world. This place is the summit of Spencer’s Butte. Typically I try to go once every week when it is sunny out to avoid the large mud puddles and slippery slopes, I don’t mind being wet from the rain. I try to go around 4pm so I can be at the summit by around 5pm for sunset. Being with close friends on the top of this peaceful place looking over a serene pink sky is what keeps me moving and gives more meaning to life. I am so grateful for this natural geological masterpiece that is right in my backyard. I feel that having your own escape from urban life and all the stress it burdens us with is key to living a happy and successful life.

Heroes of Newerth (HoN) is an online, multi-player, computer strategy game. This type of game is called a MOBA, which stands for multiplayer online battle arena. I have been playing mirrors of HoN for the past seven years. When I say mirror I am referring to DotA which is exactly the same game as HoN, except that HoN is a newer version of the game created and updated and slightly twisted by another gaming company called S2 Gaming. I have been playing HoN for the past three years and I love it. The game is quite simple to understand, yet it has deep and very complex dynamics. Each round is a match that lasts between 15 minutes to an hour or even more. There are two teams competing against each other, each having five players. Each palyer selects one hero from a total of over 100 heroes and you control this hero for the duration of the game until one team beats the other. The objective is to team up with your teammates and strategically outsmart the other team and defeat them in various battles. There are many spells and items in this game which makes it very hard to comprehend at first. This game requires ambition and critical thinking as well as being a team player. I feel that this game has taught me how to operate and communicate effectively and efficiently within a team in time-crunched situations. The game has recently become free to play and can be downloaded here.

HoN Gameplay Tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGtG8W25Q7E

My roommate and I were watching a hydroplane boat race on ESPN the other day. I noticed that when they cut to commercial and were advertising for the boat race itself, they focused primarily on violent boat crashes. I find it sad that in order to get the viewer’s attention to watch the “sport” that ESPN producers have decided to use highlights of crashes as their advertisement. I see this all too often in the world of sports. In ESPN advertisements for the National Hockey League (NHL) a viewer would see an assortment of fights between hockey players. This also is seen in NASCAR commercials as well as they highlight car crashes. As humans in the modern world, we have become so desensitized to violence that it has become a source of advertising for various sports, even though it is a very minuet and very unfortunate part of each sport. Advertising violence is not a good thing by any means and only promotes a more violence.

The best show I have ever seen to this date is Naruto. The plot behind Naruto is a world filled with several different villages each with their own ninja force that is their army force. Each village ninja force possesses a unique set of powers that are very different from village to village. The story follows a young boy named Naruto during his journey from being a shunned orphan to the hero of the entire world.  Naruto originally started as a comic in a Japanese magazine called Shonen Jump in 1997. The anime series began airing in the United States and Canada in 2005. In the United States it aired on Cartoon Network during the Toonami time slot which tends to air anime shows. The show blasted off, as I predicted it would. In 2007, creators of Naruto decided to continue Naruto, but with a twist to appeal to its original audience. Instead of keeping characters within the show the same age, creator’s decided to create a new show called Naruto Shippuden. Essentially Naruto Shippuden is a continuation of Naruto except it is five years into the future so the characters are aged as 16 year old compared to 10-11 years old in the original Naruto. I was instantly sucked into Naruto Shippuden because I felt that I grew up with characters. This was a brilliant business tactic on the producer’s / writer’s end because they kept appealing to their original audience.

If you are wanting to watch Naruto, you totally should! I watch the newest episodes of Naruto Shippuden on narutoget.com for free.

Often times musical artists, primarily electronic deejays, will change their alias to a new one. I would only imagine that this is done for economic reasons but there are other motives as well. In the economic aspect, an artist could change his or her name if his or her sales are unsatisfactory for a the electronic music scene is all about the new. When I think of artists changing their identity, I tend to think of Feed Me, or his old alias, Spor. The man behind these deejay names is Jon Gooch. Originally Jon Gooch was the co-founder of Lifted Music Label which focused on drum & bass music. After five years, Jon grew bored with the drum and bass genre and saw how large and popular the electronic house scene was getting with such artists as Hardwell and Avicii. The combination of boredom of D&B genre and ambition to be like the big dogs caused Jon Gooch to change his alias from Spor to Feed Me. I remember listening to Feed Me when he first announced his alias and was enticed by his hard electronic house beats. Before I knew it, popular deejay and electronic dance music producer, deadmau5, invited Jon Gooch to join his Mau5trap label. After signing this agreement, Jon’s career skyrocketed as he grew in fame off the wake of deadmau5’s enormous fan base. I think that this decision to change electronic styles into a new alias was a brilliant move on Jon’s behalf and I am glad to see him be successful compared to the Spor that I listened to seven years ago. Jon Gooch also still produces under his old Spor label on rare occasions which I find to be rejuvenating and grounding. Here are a two songs that I particularly enjoy, one from each alias.

Spor: Overdue

Feed Me: Love Is All I Got

One of my favorite past times in middle school was browsing “YouTube Poop” videos till me any my brother’s eyes were dry after hours of crying from laughter. Wikipedia defines “YouTube Poop” as: video mash-ups that deconstruct and piece together various videos (typically cartoons) for psychedelic or absurd effects. This internet phenomenon swept the YouTube scene with great force and became a large internet community. The community was all about promoting laughter and sharing of funny videos. My brother and I made a couple of videos ourselves, however we enjoyed watching rather than creating these “YouTube Poop” videos. These “YouTube Poop” videos are deeply ingrained into who I am today. I feel that the phenomenon was an awesome thing to have been involved with since its sole purpose promoted positive outcomes such as creativity and distortion of the norms. Here are a couple of examples of my favorite “YouTube Poop” videos:

1) King of the Hill YouTube Poop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCr-l9naPmE

2)Hotel Mario YouTube Poop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGGz_7HSL8w

If you enjoy this type of humor, you can browse it for eternity because there are so many videos because the community really supports each other. I am still laughing watching these videos nine years later.

In our Creative Strategist class we watched video of a cross media campaign executed in a modern art museum in London, England. The agency that had this genius idea invited a couple of talented music producing groups and individuals such as The Chemical Brothers and many others to come and check out seven pieces of modern artwork in the museum. Musical artists were asked to produce a song based off one of the pieces they saw in the museum as the source for inspiration. This is very significant in my eyes because it is bridging the gap between physical art and audible art. The project was then hyped up out on the streets and online and caused a huge influx of people to visit the Tate art museum to see the exhibit. The exhibit at completion had headphones at each of the art works, asking patrons of the museum to listen to the music that the art inspired of popular musical artists. This combination of art, music and expressing inspiration strikes my intrigue to the core like no other. I hope to see more projects like this done in the future by electronic deejays. A plus to this project is that it boosts the economy of the museum and musical artists that helped instil life into motionless pieces of artwork. All in all, everyone wins.

My mind was blown away from Scott Bedbury’s lecture. The first thing I noticed was the sheer simplicity of his PowerPoint presentation slides. Each slide had no more than 10 words. The important words were in bold yellow font. It was the most simplistic yet effective presentation I have ever witnessed. Not only did Scott touch on deep concepts behind advertising and marketing, but he also taught me several important life lessons that I will never forget. Here are some key points that stuck with me from his lecture.

1) Companies think its about them, when its really about the customer.

2) Create communication that moves people and builds brands.

3) The way you say something gives it a personality.

4)Find intersections between the timeless and the timely.

5) America is so good at worrying about things we have no business worrying about.

6) Show up stupid.

7) Evil brands won’t survive.

8) Be present in the moments that matter most.

9) Don’t compromise things that give us enjoyment.

10) It’s okay to be crazy as long as you can relate back to human nature.

This year, the X games have completely changed their set up. If you are a competitor for the X Games, then you better get in more shape. This year, the X games have decided to expand the number of winter X games to two locations instead of one. Also summer X games from one location to four locations. Competitors are encouraged to show up and compete at all the locations offering the events that they specialize in. So instead of only having one winter X games and one summer X games they now have a total of six. This new model is bound to rake in dollars and fans. It is also key to note that the X games are now moving outside of the USA, and this encourages foreign competitors to engage in the risky competitions as well. By bringing in new competition that couldn’t compete before due to distance limitations, the X games is heavily increasing the diversity of its audience which can only lead to positive results. From an advertising angle, by increasing of the number of X game appearances, they are increasing the value of being a sponsor for the X games. Now it is smarter than ever to be a sponsor for the X games, for your brand will now be seen internationally and domestically. If you are an international company wanting to promote in the United States then this is the perfect chance.

What does it mean for a brand to exhibit brand bravery? I think it means for a brand to establish an original image for itself that is risky and against old traditions. However, how risky and nontraditional can you be before you just make a complete fool of yourself. First off, a good example of brand bravery is exhibited by Chipotle. They achieved this by releasing a commercial, “Back to the Start”, that showed how they are against factory production and are in favor of local family farms. By establishing themselves as a different Mexican fast food company compared to the rest through the message that they are in favor of saving the environment, they are encouraging those who have the same ideals to become patrons to support the cause. Chipotle Ad Link

An example of failed brand bravery is exhibited by Dr.Pepper. The brand recently released a campaign that is targeted toward men only. The campaign was released through a commercial on TV. I feel that the goal was to gain more male soda drinkers with a “men only” campaign. This does in fact make them stand out from other soda brands, but in a completely negative way. The campaign went so far as to create a Facebook page that can only be joined if you are of the male sex. This is a horrible business practice as the company is cutting off 1/2 of its potential customers. Since when is soda a gender based product? After receiving much negative feedback, Dr.Pepper is on the path of self redemption by releasing ads that are very feminist and female empowerment focused.

Dr.Pepper For Men Only Ad

Dr.Pepper /1 Campaign Ad