Embracing a cause makes good business sense. Nothing builds brand loyalty among today’s increasingly hard-to-please consumers like a company’s proven commitment to a worthy cause. Other things being equal, many consumers would rather do business with a company that stands for something beyond profits.

Mission Pickle

Our very own zoner Fearon is working with Pickle’s People to help bring the brand to life.

Pickle’s People is about inspiring positive attitudes and actions in children, and making the world a better place through finding our inner pickle.
Their products are designed to encourage, inspire and connect. Through honest, positive messaging our apparel, accessories and other products present creative, simple, fun life lessons for our little ones.
A portion of every sale will go to improving the lives of children through partnerships with various non-profit organizations.
You can become a friend of Pickles People on Facebook.

- Hamish

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Having your first kid is stressful, scary as hell, and drop dead amazing all at once. But, should you be fortunate to share the responsibilities with a spouse, you have the ability to tag team all the screams, cries, vomit, and piss on the walls. You have one responsibility and you do everything you can to take care of that little bugger.

Having another kid, on the other hand, evens out the teams. Now you need to worry about KID A (I love Radiohead) and KID B. You have to worry about meeting each of their needs. And you have to worry about how they both interact with you and your wife, and how they interact with each other.

I was Daddy Day Care yesterday as my Wife was a little under the weather.  Talk about hard work!  I was so happy to go to work today just to get a break!  I have a new respect for the stay at home Mum (notice I said Mum not Mom – I am still a Kiwi at heart!)…

- Hamish

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Since I last blogged, the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup for the first time in ages.  The city went crazy.  Richie and I spent the afternoon wandering through the celebration parade in between World Cup soccer matches (it was a good Friday!).  Over 2 million people turned out for the parade.

That meant the end of the Hockey season and Baseball is in full swing.  And guess what – the Chicago White Sox lead their division and are currently the hottest team in baseball!  Since June 9, American League Central-leading Chicago is 33-11 overall and 18-1 at home. Before the surge, the Sox were 24-33 and 9 1/2 games behind Minnesota. They are now 60-45 and 1 1/2 ahead.  The White Sox last won the World Series in 2005.

No team has ever won all four major championships at the same time.  We have the hockey – we are looking good in the baseball – the Bulls (basketball) are resurgent – unfortunately the Bears (football) suck… almost as much as this 1985 promo shot of them…

- Hamish

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“A home page should be useful if you want it to be used.”

The official Web sites for most consumer brands aren’t very exciting. You can pretty much bet on what you’ll see: A huge photo of the product, a button you click to see a list of ingredients or retail locations, perhaps some company history — and of course the ubiquitous “Contact Us” form. With the exception of some fancy Flash graphics (meant to impress viewers, but more often something that gets in their way), it seems like many home pages are trapped in time.

Well, it is time for home pages to become more interactive and engaging.

A growing number of major brands have taken a hard look at their home pages lately, rebuilding them into platforms that shatter the old cyber-billboard model in order to give consumers not just a page to visit, but a portal for learning and interacting. These new-generation home pages are becoming less isolated and more fully integrated into the Web. They feature more social cross-pollination. They also offer a lighter user experience (a refreshingly sparing use of Flash gimmickry) and are more search-friendly. Overall, the pages strive to achieve a greater depth of brand experience, be that selling actual products or simply cementing existing customer relationships.

- Hamish

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Firstly, I get bonus points (according to David’s last blog) for using a māori word in my title. “Mōrena” means good morning and is becoming integrated into New Zealand’s everyday language. It’s always used on Radio New Zealand which is where I heard this next important piece of kiwiana news. New Zealand is now celebrating the winner of its Supreme Pie Competition. The meat pie (meat and pastry) has always been a good part of a Kiwi’s diet from the early days of the school Tuck Shop/Canteen pie to a pie for lunch at your first job all the way to the family pie, New Zealander’s have always loved a great pie.

This year’s winner, Pat Lam (I know, appropriate name), has won the award for several years in a row. This years entry, a creamy mushroom, bacon and cheese combination (salivating already), won top pie out a record 4336 entries! The top baker, not a rotund, chuckly fellow from a quaint country bakery, is a Cambodian refugee who came to New Zealand 15 years ago!

Ka pai, Pat!

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My blogging this week took on a bit of a robot them, so here’s some more robot news.

Some clever blokes here in New Zealand (who are originally from Scotland, but have been calling God’s Own their own for 20 odd years) have created a pair of robot legs for paraplegics. Find out more at rexbionics.com

There are also robots taking over Chicago at the moment so be careful out there.

But don’t worry too much about robots enslaving us over any time soon, they’re still trying to master the basics, but they’re pretty fast learners as you’ll see below…

Now I’m off to prepare for the arrival of baby number 2, so expect baby photos next week, ā, kaua a wareware, it’s māori language week next week, so if you use a māori word between now and August 2nd you receive quadruple bonus points and your points in the next round are worth double!

David McLeod

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I don’t know how they get away with this and I’m concerned about the amount of paint used and the mess that is left behind, but I’m still impressed by the effort made for this entertaining, albeit unscientific, look at evolution.

And because that’s nearing the 10 minute mark here’s a little something for folks with either short attention spans or tight deadlines – saying that, if you have any deadline, being short or otherwise, you shouldn’t be looking at this blog, so this is just for the folks with short attention spans, who probably stopped reading by now. Here’s a robot doing cool things in the world of painting stuff on walls.

The Facadeprinter is a simple, software controlled robot that fires paintballs at walls in precise patterns. You’ll find a better explanation here.

David McLeod

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What makes people tick? When we’re working on projects we spend a lot of time thinking about what motivates people, how can we attract consumers to this product/service? There’s no simple answer, sometimes it’s about explaining tangible benefits, sometimes it’s about creating an emotional connection, most often it lies somewhere inbetween. Here’s an interesting wee look at what motivates people that may hold a few surprises for most people…

I found that pretty interesting, but at 10 minutes long I’m guessing a lot of people weren’t motivated to watch it. So here’s a Lego robot solving a Rubic’s Cube, the robot doesn’t have the same motivation that we humans possess and comes nowhere near beating the human record of 7:08, but it is quite an achievement by its motivated master.

David McLeod

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Here’s a final little taste of the Fifa World cup for those of you not quite sick of it yet…

More highlights here.

And as a bonus, here’s another little vehicle promotion from Brazil, that’s worth looking into..

Click the image below to see the flash banner.

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Tomorrow I am off on holiday (vacation) to the UK of Great Britannia. What do we know about this place?

- They use salad cream which is rather nice
- They love football (soccer) but they are not very good
- The roads are always getting repaired
- It is crowded
- The Queen lives there; she is very expensive but they don’t mind
- They remember The Blitz fondly (’everyone was more friendly’)
- They used to rule the waves
- The weather is not very reliable for a summer holiday, so I am packing an umbrella

So with this in mind I am off…..

Cheers

Tatts

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