After bookmarking the Time Magazine article “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live” a week ago, I finally got around to reading it. A week on the web is eons. Many of you have already read the article, or maybe you haven’t, given the world’s attention span has been relegated to information delivered in 140 character bits.

In the piece, @StevenBJohnson delivers an interesting read on end-user innovation and an optimistic take on American ingenuity.

I whole-heartedly agree that Twitter is delivering positive innovation: “ambient awareness,” a truly open social web and an incredible way to search what people are saying now. (The implications for search alone are enormous.) However, as a agency responsible for delivering branded content to our clients’ fans, I worry that Twitter may be birthing an entirely new kind of hyper-distracted society. (What was I saying?)

Now excuse me while I post this blog link on our Twitter page.

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The financial industry isn’t known for avant-garde design. So when my friend Cullen Thompson approached us about his new company, Bienville Capital Management, we jumped at the chance to inject some design goodness into an often stale category.

The New York-based company, with an office in Mobile, Alabama, is “an SEC-registered, independent investment advisory firm offering sophisticated and customized investment solutions to high-net-worth and institutional investors.”

For the mark, we chose a modern take on a traditional icon: the crest. Housed within is a simple “B,” and coupled with a clean sans serif type treatment, the mark conveys style and prestige. We kept everything in black and white, and we letter pressed the business papers.

The web site, while a temporary landing page, is simple and category defying. Subtle animation lends sophistication to the overall design.

Please visit BienvilleCapital.com to have a look. We’ll shout when the phase 2 site is live.

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We’re big fans of inventing new ways to utilize media. Taking something to which people have become accustomed and shaking it up is a good way to stand apart from your competition. Do what gets talked about, right?

I think there’s a natural progression pattern in media: introduction > early adoption > maturity > manipulation. It’s kind of a Darwinian way to look at things. Now that YouTube has reached maturity, emerging are several creative examples of its manipulation. Here are two that have done so beautifully.

First there’s Yooouuutuuube. It allows you to watch videos frame by frame simultaneously. Why? Because it’s awesome, that’s why. Here’s a screen shot of one of my favorite spots, by Sony:

Watch the video.

Another site, which can be filed under “wish we’d done that,” is for Charlotte, North Carolina, ad agency BooneOakley. Rather than the typical drivel most agencies litter the web with, this site tosses convention aside. Instead, it’s built entirely in YouTube. There are not enough superlatives to describe it. See for yourself.

Intelligence (or what many label too often “genius”) is merely looking at things differently. Come on kids. Let’s invent.

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All businesses should take a few minutes and think about this.

From Bud Caddell at Undercurrent in NYC. Follow him @bud_caddell.

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This post started as an email I sent to our entire agency. I was specifically addressing the planning process on a newly-acquired financial services account. The more I think about it, the more I realize my point has implications for nearly all of our clients as well as our own brand.

Here’s a slightly edited version of my email:

Reading through the latest One Club magazine, I found a great article that poses the question “Is it still OK to be funny?” It’s a question that has presented itself a lot at our agency, particularly with our financial clients.

Here are some points the article makes, that I strongly agree with:

1. Consumers may alter their spending habits during tough times, but not their personalities–and nor should advertisers. Remain consistent with your brand voice, and your audience will reward you when the economy rebounds.

-Roger Baldacci, ECD/EVP, Arnold/Boston

2. Humor and its chief side effect, laughter, are inherently therapeutic. Charlie Chaplin rose to fame because he dared to make people laugh during the Great Depression.

-John Maxham, Group Creative Director, DDB/Chicago

3. Brands that use humor smartly look confident. And confidence sells in a bad economy.

-Rob Reilly, ECD, Crispin Porter + Bogusky

4. Humans are hard-wired for fun.

-Roger Baldacci, ECD/EVP, Arnold/Boston

Don’t get me wrong. We should be aware of the gravity of the economic situation. It’s our job to help our client brands prove to consumers they understand what’s going on out there.

Yes, brands can still be smart and funny. Right now, it’s seriously important.

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