Tricked Out Mouse: Adobe Site of the Day for 1/15/08

Wow... what a week! We got the news last night that Tricked Out Mouse was selected as the Adobe Site of the Day for January 15. Adobe reviews and filters hundreds of submissions every day and picks just one site per day to be featured in the Adobe Showcase.

With designers and agencies the world over vying for attention from the undisputed leader in creativity software, this recognition is a serious honor. Score one for Singularity!

Tricking out a brand

There are few things that are as much fun as breathing fire and creativity into an established brand. We had an opportunity to do this recently and I have to say that the end result is pretty damn cool!

Singularity Design recently launched Tricked Out Mouse, an interactive promotional microsite for Kensington Computer Products Group. The site lets visitors "trick out" a boring, beige, two-button computer mouse as if it was a wild hot rod. They can pick a paint job, wheels, headlights, ground fx, roof accessories and various other customizations. From there, they can pick a backdrop, and a set of tunes to play and then name and save their creation to display to the world.

To make this a more compelling marketing vehicle, we tied in a prize giveaway featuring Kensington products. The key here (and to really effective online branding) is to really tie the concept, message, execution and supporting details to the brand identity and business objectives. I like to think of it as a layering process. The more layers you add that reinforce the brand identity (carefully blended), the more clearly that identity will transfer to the minds of the consumers.

The site launched in December, and it has received visitors from over 75 countries (all of whom are now more familiar with Kensington's brand), received great feedback from end users and industry experts alike, and been featured on industry sites like Ads Of The World and NewsToday.

Visit the site at http://www.TrickedOutMouse.com/

A Taste of its own Chinese Medicine

China, long known as one of the biggest sources of counterfeit merchandise and piracy of intellectual property is suddenly getting a taste of its own medicine. Chinese authorities have had to scramble to try to rein in a burgeoning cottage industry of fake 2008 Olympics merchandise. According to the Beijing Youth Daily, Chinese authorities have investigated at least 80 websites selling fake Olympics gear.

There are two things about this report that made me stop and think:

1. This may be the first time that China has had a brand strong enough to attract the attention of its own counterfeiters and
2. I'm wondering if this taste of its own medicine will signal an era of stronger protection for international intellectual property.

Thoughts and comments are welcome. Xie Xie in advance.

Ripe, Juicy Apples: Quarterly Mac Sales Top 2 Million

Things are looking pretty good in the orchards of Cupertino, CA. Apple just announced its quarterly results, demolishing analyst estimates. The best part about this is that one of the main drivers of this performance was Mac sales, which topped 2 million units in the quarter.

This is the first time Mac sales have ever reached this level and it really validates Apple's strategy, which I will hereby dub "brand resonance". The strategy was to use the iPod and the iPhone to expose a wider range of consumers to the whole Apple "experience". This is the elegant melding of form, function and user experience that is at the core of Apple's brand. The theory (now proven) was that this little taste of Apple would leave consumers hungry for more, and drive some portion of them to abandon their Windows and jump into a Mac. Of course, that will make them more likely to stick with Apple's other media devices, and so the consumer's attachment to the brand will resonate and become stronger and stronger.

As a longtime Mac fan, and someone who loudly protested more than a decade of prophesies of Apple's demise, I guess I'd just say.... I TOLD YOU SO!