Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

The Re-Branding of Australia

I'm not sure it needs to cost the budgeted $20 million...but Strategic Name Development's Bill Lozito is on it when he opines that Australia has ridden the Crocodile Dundee image long enough.

However, it sounds (at least from Bill's post) that this is more of a nation branding initiative to spur investment than a tourism marketing initiative. And that probably makes a lot of sense.

But, I gotta scratch my head at the concepting behind the idea of launching the new brand in February alongside an advertising campaign that channels the Jackman-Kidman movie "Australia."

Which a) didn't do well at all at the box office (though it seems to be picking up steam as a rental) and b) seemingly offers up a stereotypical (if not highly stylized) image of Australia in the days before World War II.

And that communicates the present-day investment opportunities in Australia, errr, how?

Peace, Love and a Blanket

40 years ago tomorrow, something simply amazing was about to happen on Max Yasgur's farm in upstate New York.

40 years ago next Monday, my Mom was gloating because she had heard about Woodstock before her Rock n Roll son (but, then again, my Mom was pretty hip...and still is).

And 40 years ago next Monday, the picture on the left was taken among the carnage of the single biggest rock n roll event to date. And the photo ended up on the cover of the 3-disc soundtrack of Woodstock.

Which meant the woman in the picture had to admit to her Mom that, uhhhh, yeah, she was there.

Great story about the couple that had no idea they were about to be the iconic image of the iconic cultural event of the Summer of Love.

The Mountains of Iowa

What is it with screenwriters in Hollywood?

A few years ago, the counter-terrorist agents of 24's CTU lost track of a stolen nuclear warhead in "the mountains" of Iowa. And now, in the new Star Trek movie, young Kirk bails out of his car just before it goes over a cliff...in Iowa.

I'm not sure what they're teaching in California schools these days...but it sure ain't geography.

But, in the meantime, the Iowa Department of Tourism might as well go with it...'cause perception is reality.

A Day in the Life of Abbey Road

Great catch by Gadling of a Time-Lapse video of Abbey Road. While I've recreated this iconic cover art twice in my life (once during my days in radio and once a couple years ago for an ad agency), I never realized how freaking tiring it must be for the people that drive that street every day.

I can hear them way over here, screaming "Stop It! It's not bloody funny anymore! Aaarrrgh!"

Yeah...that's me as Sir Paul

Got Video?

Don't have video on your site? You are so missing the boat.

New research from Comscore indicates that 77% of all internet users watched online videos last year. 40% of all videos viewed were on Google sites (which includes YouTube).

Which is another reason why you should not only post videos on your site...but on other aggregators as well.

Thanks to Guy Kawasaki for the catch.

Phil Connors Slept Here

Anyone who has been to Punxsutawney PA knows that the Bill Murray classic Groundhog Day wasn't filmed there. But that shouldn't keep you from going next February 2nd.

And those who have been to Woodstock IL (where the movie was filmed) are usually saddened to learn that the B&B in which Phil Connors keeps waking up isn't a B&B. It's just a house the producers used.

Until next summer. Gadling reports that the house has been purchased and the new owners are petitioning the City for the proper zoning to turn it into a B&B.

I'm sure they plan to...but if every alarm clock doesn't play "I Got You Babe" every morning, they've missed a huge a-ha moment.

Paul Newman's Start

One of the finest actors in history has left the building. But, Paul Newman was much more than a gifted performer. His philanthropy was simply outstanding.

And to think that he wanted to be an executive at a large department store. That's what he wrote on his application to attend Kenyon College. Drama was an "extracurricular" interest. Football and drinking were far more important.

Until he and members of the football team got into a bar brawl with some townies. After getting thrown off the team, he needed to fill his afternoons with some other activity. He tried out for a play.

The rest is history. The picture above shows Newman leading a class discussion on campus at Kenyon in 1978. The bearded student is my classmate and friend Doug Ballard, who went on to have rolls on countless TV shows including "Northern Exposure" and was recently a key character in "The Dark Knight."

Not the Movie You Hoped For

To land a movie in your community is a dream come true for most Destination Marketers. But, when that movie doesn't exactly portray your destination in the most positive of lights (think "Fargo" and that wood-chipper), what to do?

That's the issue before Tony Smithers at the Humboldt County (CA) CVB as the premier of "Humboldt County" is just days away. Not unlike the dilemma we posted on yesterday, what is a DMO pro to do when the message is, well, OFF-message?

For those that haven't seen the trailer, "Humboldt County" chronicles the misadventures of a mismash of characters involved in the marijuana trade. And, as Tony explained in a recent e-conversation, "any motion picture featuring my county—especially one named for my county—would seem an ideal branding springboard. On the other hand, the pervasive dope theme of the movie works to undo all of the positive brand connotations we’ve been working on for years. Yes, the county looks lovely in the film…but the people don’t."

What to do? Tony took a different tack by pushing their own video content onto YouTube and getting incredibly cool results. As Tony explained:

"It all started with the YouTube phenomenon video “Christian the Lion,", which has racked up over 12 million views. We rushed out our own parody video, "Bigfoot Reunion," and twisted it into a pitch to visit the Redwoods. In the first week on YouTube we got over 100,000 views. The video was blogged by the LA Times, which sent THOUSANDS of visitors to our website. We created a Bigfoot sweepstakes with special landing page, and pushed the video out through MySpace, Facebook, Vimeo, AOL video, etc.
 
Part of the success was timing—we launched the day before the “Georgia Bigfoot Hoax” press conference and there was a lot of interest and search going on. Our filmmaker also nailed the parody (the maker of the Lion video gave his highest praise). We think we’re on to something and are waiting for the next inspiration to strike."

So am I.

Ticks on a Plane

Not sure it has quite the Box Office appeal of "Snakes"...but if Samuel L. Jackson will star, the film version of the true story of a United flight that was taken out of service so that three ticks could be escorted off the plane should, err, at least go straight to video.

Well, since the airlines treat us like chimps, I guess we might as well pick bugs out of each others' hair while in flight...

Thanks to our bud John Groh for the catch...

Makes You Think

Some of the reviews of the new Redford/Cruise/Streep movie "Lions for Lambs" have been less than charitable. Heavy Handed. Preachy. That kind of stuff.

I found it just the opposite. Especially the scenes with Redford. Somewhat the scenes with Meryl. And Tom Cruise's performance as a Congressman should make just about every American squirm with the knowledge that we have allowed people like his character to subvert the will of the people for personal gain.

You know what it's like when most movies end in a theatre. This Saturday night, the silence was palpable.

We all moved toward the exit in silence...knowing what we had just seen was so sadly reality.

And all searching our souls for what we were willing to do to make a difference.