So…i’ve been trying to catch up with Mad Men. I just finished season 1 and starting on season 2 this weekend. I am WAY behind but everyone has been telling me that as the owner of an advertising agency it is a MUST see. Even my staff will sometimes refer to me as Don Draper depending on my mood. Is that a good thing? I’m not totally sure. Anyway… my partner Charlie forwarded me an email of some classic HORRIBLE ads from back in the Mad Men days (50’s – 60’s). They are SO bad I just have to post them. We have a bunch of them but please just scroll through and check them out. I am sure you will be shocked at where our culture was just over 50 years ago. ENJOY!

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On August 16, 1960, years before man had walked on the moon, Colonel Joseph Kittinger of the United States Air Force ventured higher into the atmosphere and saw the world like no human had ever before. When the Gondola (carried by a helium balloon named Excelsior) arrived at 102,800 feet Joe did something simply astonishing that day, he jumped. Plummeting for 4 minutes and 36 seconds and reaching speeds up to 614 miles per hour he fell back to earth before opening his parachute at 18,000 feet. His leap awarded him numerous (and still unbroken) United States Air Force Records, including highest ascent in a balloon, highest parachute jump and the fastest speed by a human through the atmosphere.

Fast forward some 50 years later and leave it to Red Bull to re-open the history books in search of some legendary record just waiting to break it. With the help of Joseph Kittinger, Red Bull and Felix Baumgartner have been preparing for the last 3 years to eclipse the record Joe set 50 years ago. Red Bull’s creative design strategists make the extra effort to revive the wonder and awe of man’s first fascination with space, of free fall and of the unknown by bringing Joe Kittinger on board. It appears to me that this is an attempt to re-brand Joe’s legendary leap with extreme authenticity. What are your thoughts?

In a city best known for its manufacturing, tourism, defense and agriculture industries, you would be hard pressed to find a concentration of innovative, creative, and inspiring professionals looking for way to change minds and spread good ideas, right? Wrong! At Jacob Tyler Creative Group, just one of many great agencies in the heart of downtown San Diego, we jump at any opportunity to positively influence the exchange of creative ideas and facilitate effective collaboration.

This explains why our office has been beaming with excitement since the announcement of an independently organized TED event coming to San Diego and the opportunities that come along with it. We are not only looking forward to listen, learn, and collaborate with this great independently organized not-for-profit design and technology based discussion, but we are hoping become more involved as well.

For those who aren’t in the know… TED prides itself on this core foundation: “We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we’re building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other (Source).”

Visit, Tedx-sandiego.com, to nominate an inspired San Diego thinker to speak, share and influence the spread of ideas and the power of collaboration at the upcoming Tedx Conference. TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, and Design.

“In November 2010, San Diego will host its inaugural TEDx event, The Next Wave at Anthology. Participants from throughout southern California and Baja are invited to interact in a sea of change of new ideas and shared passions. TEDx San Diego brings together innovators, explorers, teachers and learners in an environment that encourages collaboration, conversation and interaction. Join us at TEDx San Diego and come prepared to be the change that makes a difference. TEDx San Diego is a not-for-profit event organized entirely by local, unpaid volunteers (Source).”

by Jonathan Marshall

When people think about navigation, they don’t think about Nokia. So Nokia called for an idea that would not only drive interest into their navigation products, but more importantly, inspire people to start using their services – both on their phones and on the web. But most people see mobile navigation as something that gets you from A to B, and it’s not very fun or engaging.

So how does a company turn those opinions around and make navigation into something social – a channel where you could share your favorite places. Your Good things. Farfar, a Swedish advertising agency, found a solution based on the simplest thing around…

IDEA: The World’s Biggest Signpost

The interactive structure weighed over 60-tons, stood over 50 meters tall with an arrow the size of two double-deckers. During the two weeks when the sign-post was live, 1000s of locations were displayed and added by the public – either through the web or text messages. Through four webcams placed around the site, the information was streamed live to Nokia.com. And on the internet, the installation was shared through countless social media communities, blogs and news feeds.

Interactive campaigns like this are redefining brands. As well, this is the direction of new media and mobile marketing. The ability to micro target a single user and market directly to each individual based on their needs is in it’s infancy and will only get better and more widely used by major brands. Our creative agency looks forward to being a big part of this revolutionary new marketing medium.