carrie*connects

Grano Recliner on Inspired Designer

Thanks to the Inspired Designer for featuring our client Monte Designs new Grano Chair recently.  Love the way Kristin points out that the Grano is equally as gorgeous in a nursery as in a family room.  See the post here>>
 

Tsunami Glassworks ~ Behind the Glass Video

Love this video of our client Tsunami Glassworks discussing their art and their backgrounds.

Tsunami Glassworks on Style at Home

Style at Home - the authority for all things design and decor in Canada featured our client Tsunami Glassworks recently - writer Natalie Bahadur found the glass designing duo's work to be "Unique. Truly original.  One of a kind..."  We couldn't agree more!  Check out the entire post here>> 

Monte Designs Grano Chair on Design Milk

With a major online presence Design Milk is one of the most influential voices on the internet - so we were so thrilled that they featured our client Monte Designs new Grano Chair yesterday.  The Grano is an amazing piece that glides and reclines without a lot of bulk and frumpiness of similar concepts in sitting.  Love this!  Check out the whole post here>>

Tsunami Glassworks on Chesapeake Home

One of our favorite shelter publications, Chesapeake Home, featured our client Tsunami Glassworks on their blog today.  Tsunami Tubes, which are a forest of gorgeous color, were featured and they look really great.  Check out the whole post here.  

Monte Design Gets Hearts From Growing Your Baby

Our client Monte Design, the creator of very cool furniture for kids and nursery, was featured on the fabulous blog Growing Your Baby today.  They took a shine to the company's newest offerings, the Alto and Luca Chairs, which I love too.  Check out the post here>>

Animals and TV ~ Sometimes Not The Best Mix

I saw this piece from CNN correspondent Jeanne Moos over the weekend and couldn't stop laughing. Some doggies and kitties could use a little media training before making their small screen debut.

Video | Do You Need A Social Media Recovery Group?

If you erupt into a mini giggling fit when you watch this video (from Sony Vaio) about Social Media, you may need to seek counseling (like I do).

And You Thought Carrie Bradshaw Was Label Crazy ...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

A recent study group took a look at tweens and their relationship to some not so familiar branding tools such as sounds, logos, smells, and how they relate to products like computers, clothing and food. As you can imagine, the kids were all more tuned in than their parents. This isn't all that surprising to me, they have more time to invest in the various aspects of a brand, and since their buying power is diminished they probably covet expensive products more.  What is a bit surprising is that the kids in this study were found to be more brand savvy than previous generations, leading me to wonder what new cues have been added from just a few years ago. 

Mark Lindstrom, author of the fab book "Buyology,The Truth and Lies About Why We Buy"  explains that the kids are now the prime target of many branding campaigns for things they traditionally wouldn't directly buy.  The reason?  Children are making buying decisions for the family.  According to Lindstrom 67% of cars (purchased for families) were chosen by the children ~ and they make these choices based on what they see on TV. 

Social Media Marketing ~ How To Infuriate Your Fans & Friends on Facebook pt. 1

About a year ago if I mentioned the concept of harnessing the power of Facebook and Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, ect as a realistic strategy for marketing a brand, I would generally get a very long "hmmmmmm ....." followed by a very pregnant pause from many of the people I talked to.   A massive question mark would float over their heads as, more often than not, they just couldn't grasp the concept. 

Magically within the past six months however all that's changed with virtually every person I've ever known jumping on (at least) the Facebook bandwagon.  Unfortunately, rather than adopting the evolving norms of social media into the platform, which BTW are based on (1) actual human contact (2) original and interesting ideas (3) reciprocation ~ most Facebook newbies have attached dusty old marketing ideas to their shiny "new media" programs.  

As a result Facebook in particular is being used in some very annoying ways.  I thought I'd start tracking the most insidious behaviors and note them down here (mostly as a venue for venting my angst about the situation)....if you want to annoy on Facebook, here are some ideas:

1)  Businesses who want to really tick off their Facebook fans should be sure to send incessant group emails announcing minor sales, bland product announcements, and other information that is of interest only to their internal sales staff.  As a blogger, I'm used to getting press releases from other PR firms emailed rapid fire via specific email accounts, as such I really have little patience for this type of information sent to my Facebook in-box ~ and I'll lay you odds that I'm not in the minority here.  Even the most casual Facebook user is most likely not interested in being spammed about your 5% off sale once a day - if they are they'll visit your page to see it.  Facebook by definition is a "FACEBOOK" ie: people attached to faces, and personalized messages should only be sent this way. 

2) Keep requesting your friends "fan", join a group, or attend an event 0ver and over and over - even though they've probably repeatedly chosen to ignore your previous attempts for a reason.   Once is more than enough.

3)  Repeatedly poke, send game requests, gift requests, and all manner of the embeddable widget nature to people you've never had any sort of correspondence with and to whom you're a complete stranger - they love that.

4) Post only the dullest and most narrowly defined product photos and information about your company on your Facebook page so that instead of a lively interactive forum with an array of accessible ideas and information, it resembles a yellow page ad.

5) Never correspond with your fans or friends when they post info of their own (you know - the stuff that comes through on your homepage news-feed from them) ~ we know you're the only one that matters!  And when they comment on your posts or go so far as to post items to your page or wall, be sure to ignore them.  People love being treated solely as "consumers" and not individuals - isn't that what "social" means?  Oh it doesn't??  It means engaging and talking??  Whoa ....

Oh....there will be more .... stay tuned.   Yes, the Medium is the Message, but only if you know how to use it.  Otherwise it's just another cyber-armload of junk-mail to toss in the trash unopened.

Another Ode to Michael - the EternalMoonwalk Site is Just Fabulous

Yes, I've been on a Michael Jackson video binge the past few weeks - remembering anew, much like the rest of the world, what it was that made us pay so much attention to this guy in the first place.  I will absolutely never forget the first time I saw Thriller, and further than that, watching that Motown Anniversary Special when Michael first showed us the Moonwalk.  It stays permanently in my heart along with so many other cultural time capsule events from that era.

Funny, while gazillions of people have been backsliding across kitchen floors over the years since that first telecast, no one was ever able to work out the step quite like Mike.  But perhaps 99.9% of the fun is imagining that we can.  Now Studio Brussel has put together a brilliant, whiz bang project that involves the entire globe of MJ fans - and fancy that it came together in just the past ten days - amazing.

The site, eternalmoonwalk.com is an amalgamation of videos collected from all over the world and features people, cartoons, cats, dogs, goats .... yeah - if you can imagine it - it's there, moonwalking in 20 second clips from right to left.  The concept for the site alone is priceless, but then you add in the good natured creativity of the thousands of clips that have been collected from guys and gals just like you and me who are featured and you have some sheer brilliance - and a lot of laughs to get you through an afternoon.  Clever features include buttons you can hit to create Jacksonesque whoops and calls - all the while set to the Billie Jean beat. 

But before you click over you have to check out this very creative video from Abeja Mariposa who culled together archival footage of dancers from the 20th Century who were moonwalker pioneers - it's really quite amazing.

Technology Trendcaster | Become a Sociopath ~ It's the Latest Thing!

I recieved an invitation this morning to join the new social network StyleCaster (which sounds suspiciously like a column that I write called Trendcaster on Bloomacious.com) - naturally I immediately zoomed over to take a look and post my mug on my own page.  

While the site doesn't seem all that different from our own network Bloomacious Cafe it apparently is embedded with lots of watching and listening devices that when explained in the video below makes me yearn for a nice long nap. 

Terms like "associated neuro network"  and "associative dynamics" are a far cry from my favorite phrase "me likey!"  but they mean similar things.

If there's any doubt after listening to this explanation that networks are the new blogs (which are the new magazines) then take a sneak peek at Fashionair which is girding up to launch soon.

Broken down gently, networks allow companies to watch the patterns and flows of their members - whom they friend, what they comment on.  We've done the same thing for the past 6 months through our networks and it's not quite as scientific or reliable as the Sociocast guys would like you to believe. 

Networks do provide a venue in which individuals can enjoy a club-like camaraderie- they also can serve as a TV station, a community blog, a messaging system and a newsletter - and are the next step beyond Facebook and Twitter.

Karl Lagerfeld Talks Fur Helmets, iPods, and the '80's.

New York Magazine fashion director Harriet Powell chatted up Karl Lagerfeld this week and got a few comments about those much talked about fur-covered helmets. "They’re ice-cold if you put them under the arm," he explained. "It’s like hair. So it’s like having a huge wig.” He also noted that the helmets have an iPod hookup. "It’s a stupid idea, but the best ideas are stupid.” That's my Karl!