The Cool Hunter article - Why Street Art Matters

Some city councils get it, others don’t. Tapping the creative talents of street artists, illustrators and graphic designers is an effective and cool way to make bland public spaces, old buildings, bridges and car parks new again, and to freshen up the concrete jungle. It is also an effective way of keeping graffiti away. Plus it draws attention to the building or structure as “potential” not as something to be hated. Maybe it will even bring a buyer, a new occupant or additional creative ideas about how to revitalize the building? Anything but the current dilapidated state of abandoned spaces!

Street artists and muralists bring with them vibrant and a new perspective that architects or designers may not have. This does not mean that millions need to be spent to upgrade the buildings immediately, all you need is vision, courage, local creative talent and some colorful paint like these perfect examples here. Our subscriber list reads like the Who-is-Who of city councils around the globe. So here’s a challenge to you: You need to step up and change the face of your city. There are way too many ugly, run-down buildings, bridges, tunnels and walkways that can be completely transformed into exciting and fun environments with some creative input.

Recommended places

The Big Chill Bar

After 6 years, The Big Chill Bar is part of the fabric of Brick Lane life. Sat in the heart of the Truman Brewery, it bustles with locals and visitors alike.  The Big Chill Bar remains consistently popular every day of the week, but don’t forget to come and see us on Sundays - market day on Brick Lane and chilled out party night in all the bars - when we have DJs all day until midnight, (and there’s always somewhere to go afterwards)…

The Book Club bar

Bringing together wit, wisdom and enough food and drink to see you through from early breakfast to a nightcap at last orders at the bar, The Book Club offers a cultural revolution to the East end’s social scene.

Casa Blue bar

Brick Lane offers a multitude of choice in terms of bars and nightlife but Casa Blue sticks out, not least because of all the fairy lights and candles glowing from within.

A lacquered wooden panel of peacocks is hung next to a watercolour painting of a naval fleet. 50′s memorabilia is plastered wearily to the wall. While the predominantly red kitsch bric-a-brac decor means your eyes don’t know where to settle, the kooky collection of plastic chandeliers, hanging baubles and blinking strings of light make a unique setting.

Even though the music ranges anywhere from the Beatles to Manu Chau, the tunes are familiar and well-chosen. There are comfy plus sofas and yummy cocktails. Food is also available. While the menu is limited, the house specialty comes in platter form – international mezze for two or more people. For only £5 each, sharing platters come with a selection of hot and cold tapas and you can choose Mediterranean, Indian or Greek cuisine.

Pasha restaurant & Lounge

Street art stencil book

Following up Ashleigh's idea of creating stencils from the Street Art created at the event:

'Street Fonts' by Claudia Walde

Fonts celebrates the beauty of graffiti writing literally. The book has been compiled by author Claudia Walde who enlisted 154 creative writers from across the globe to alphabetize their style of work into their own individual interpretations of the Latin alphabet. The book is a visual feast of typography, which inspires the reader to pick up an array of pens to create his or her own version of their ideal alphabet.  Street Fonts touches upon several styles of typography ranging from classic old school graffiti letter forms to modern font designs, leaving behind the generic Times New Roman font we have learnt to settle with. Our world would be a brighter place if we were to take this publication and use the revised and colourful alphabet letters in this book to communicate with one another. Walde highlights the fact that writing is an expression of personality and through the contributing artists vision of their ideal Latin alphabet, we can appreciate the alphabet in its entirety as a new form of artwork.

Street Artists

Bortusk Leer

Bortusk Leer is once again at large around the streets of London again and his neon monsters have been appearing everywhere.  It seems like his alter ego ‘Rots Rulebek’ has also been getting around London with a peculiar line of cosmetics consisting of “Eau de Toilet”, “Jizzy Palm”  and  “Pork Sword Shaving Foam”. 

RUN

Ben Eine

 

D*Face

 

http://streetartlondon.co.uk/blog/category/newstreetart/



Event Locations

http://www.derelictlondon.com/

Slogan and Tagline inspiration

Exclusive, Restricted, Privileged, Select, Unique, Limited, Chosen, Only, Limitation, Boundaries, Regulate, Differentiate

Individuality, Quirky, Rare, Unrivaled

Defy , Unleash, Embrace, Exclude, Expel, Forbid, Rebel

Regular, Normal, Monotony, Common, Typical, Average, Ordinary, Standard, Expected, Conventional, Monotonous, Usual

Potential ideas...
Defy the ordinary, Exclude the typical, Defy the standard, Embrace the exclusive

Guerilla Marketing Inspiration

19 Kobe and LeBron Footwear Releases

Sneakerheads and NBA fans alike are going to want to spend some time clicking through all of these Kobe and LeBron footwear finds. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are without a doubt two of the highest-profile stars in the NBA. Their branded apparel is worn by millions across the globe. This top list is dedicated to the unique court kicks sported by these badass ballers.

Choosing between a pair of Kobe or LeBrons is often an agonizing decision for many people. Gyms around the country are regularly filled with debates over the merits and demerits of each Nike-branded shoe. Luckily you won’t have to make any heartbreaking choices when viewing these Kobe and LeBron footwear releases. Check them out today.

Puma Spinstar by The Cool Hunter/ Access Agency

February 9 2010

Our new creative ideas agency ACCESS is helping brands and businesses see the world differently. We add substantial value by creating customized experiences that change the consumers’ thinking in some way. A simple idea for our McFancy project for McDonald's has already been viewed by over 3 million readers through this site. Millions more have interacted with it via hundreds of blogs that have featured it (google "McFancy Mcdonald's or McFancy by Access Agency"). And dozens of magazines internationally are featuring the concept in forthcoming issues. That's several million eyeballs before a single $ has been spent.

Enter our latest concept for Puma that we call SPINSTAR, which aligns perfectly with the brand image. It is a touring program that finds participants who can last the longest in a spin class, with Puma as the backdrop. Participants are offered a free pair of Puma sneakers and workout gear once they pass 2 hours (most spin classes run for 45 minutes). The winners of each session (which can last up to 8 hours) will receive the Puma bike and would then be invited to the final competition where the winner of the longest spin-class is crowned Puma SPINSTAR, receiving $25,000 cash along with $10,000 worth of Puma gear.

Two stellar examples of how ACCESS has taken brand expriences to a transformational level. Is your's crying out for the experience - contact bill@thecoolhunter.net 

Manchester Trip Analysis

We visisted shops such as Schuh, Office, Size?, Nike and Adidas in order to gain a wide view of trends - in store, colour palettes and shoe styles. Colour was again a key part of visual merchandising and many of New Balance's competitors displayed a selection of shoes that were bright and fluorescent in colour. It was noticable that in some stores such as Size? the selection of New Balance shoes available were all dull and dark in colour. When presented next to shoes from their competitors the New Balance range looked as though it would appeal to a much older age group than who they are actually trying to market i.e. those in tier 1 and 2. In addition, it was also noticable that their was a limited amount of point of sale material displayed by New Balance.

These findings highlighted key areas where New Balance may be failing to reach their target competitors of a younger audience.

Competitor Advert Analysis

The adverts shown below have all been selected from various magazines that I collected in Berlin. I looked specifically at competitors such as Nike, Boxfresh and Adidas. From analysis, it is clear that each brand has used a very strong use of colour and has incorporated the bright, fluorescent current colour trend into their advertising. This highlights a popular trend for attracting the young, stylish audience that New Balance are trying to appeal to. The key colours are orange and blue in particular. These adverts show a contrast to the New Balance adverts shown below which all have a focus on our Great Britain flag colours- red, blue and white. Very few of the adverts actually contain people and all place an emphasis on the shoes and their details instead of someone wearing the shoe. Many show a strong link to summer through- bright colours, BBQ's and nature.

Competitor's Recent Advertisements

Let's Make Excellent Happen

New Balance - new ad campaign

New Balance Launches ad Campaign

March 1, 2011 1.46 PM

New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc., said it is rolling out a new brand marketing campaign with the tag-line of, “Let’s Make Excellent Happen.”

The campaign includes TV, print, digital advertising, engagement with the company's online community, and viral video content as well as in-store and event exposure, Boston-based New Balance said. The campaign's marketing budget is not being disclosed.

The creative portion of the brand campaign was developed by Boston ad agency Arnold Worldwide, the first big work from Arnold since it was named New Balance's global creative agency of record in June. New Balance's previous brand campaign tag-line was "LOVE/hate. this is the new balance."

One component of the campaign is a TV ad that "celebrates 'Excellent' happening at a track built by New Balance at Pier 54 in New York, where Team New Balance athletes celebrate competition as a way to inspire themselves and others to achieve new levels of performance," New Balance said. "The spot features the song 'On the 54' by the Dandelions."

In a statement, New Balance director of global marketing and brand management Hilary Keates said: “We built this campaign on our core belief that New Balance serves as a coach and a catalyst to our consumer. However they interpret their definition of ‘Excellent,’ New Balance will be there to make it happen.”

The campaign also references two recent additions to the New Balance product line: the NB 890 featuring REVlite technology and NB Minimus Trail, a barefoot-inspired running shoe.

Rival brands have often made heavy use of sports starts to promote their wares. New Balance has tended to stay away from that marketing approach. But in the “Let’s Make Excellent Happen” campaign, New Balance plans to rely more heavily on "Team New Balance athletes."

The NB 890 is named “Barringer” (women’s version) and “Baddeley” (men’s version) after record holders Jenny Barringer Simpson and Andy Baddeley, said New Balance, which added that the NB Minimus Trail is inspired by Anton Krupicka.

Last year, New Balance reported worldwide sales of $1.78 billion.

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2011/03/new_balance_lau_1.html

New Balance advertising