Chapter 5

Concepting for the Hive Mind

Creativity in analog and digital

BECAUSE I AM FREQUENTLY ACCUSED OF BEING OLD, I feel the need to point out that I was not a winner in—nor even in attendance at—the 1902 award ceremonies for the One Show. However, since you brought it up, I believe it was a very short program actually. They announced winners in two media categories—best WANTED poster and best sandwich board—and pretty much called it a night.

Times have changed. The other day I found myself in a meeting where somebody managed to keep a straight face as she proposed making a blog-isode or maybe a content-mercial. She also wanted to organize a tweet-up and a webinar.

I can wrinkle my patrician Merriam-Webster nose all I want, but the fact is, we’ve had to start inventing words for all the new media platforms that have been created since the whole grid reached critical mass. A truncated list of what’s called emerging media might includes banners, blogs, branded entertainment, microsites, buzz marketing, user-generated content, experiential marketing, gaming tie-ins, digital billboards and kiosks, intranets and extranets, SMS texting, Web apps, native apps, mobile video, PDA downloads, public relations and owned media, rich media, screen savers, video on demand, widgets, i-ads, keywords, and those gross viral videos you e-mail to friends even though their company firewalls block them.