When James Monsees and Adam Bowen were studying product design in Stanford University, they became friends during the smoke breaks. Their struggle to quit smoking led them to try and create a product that might help. In 2007, they founded Ploom Inc, which became Pax Labs, and began development on a line of cannabis and […]
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In this fast-changing, crowded day and age, brand experimentation is essential. It’s not just about changing parts of a brand’s messaging, look & feel, or advertising — it’s also about trying out new or different platforms. The process can be a little hit and miss — I laughed when I saw that L’Oreal created Snapchat […]
Read MoreIt’s Tuesday afternoon in the office. There’s a disbelieving exclamation from the creative department: “Jeremy Renner had an app?” Yes. Jeremy Renner had an app. He’s the actor best known for the archer guy in the Avengers, whose main purpose appears to be mysteriously surviving one apocalypse after another despite just being a vanilla human, […]
Read MoreI stopped watching free-to-air TV long before Netflix even became a thing. It wasn’t just the ads. Other than Masterchef Australia, of which I remain a largely indifferent fan nowadays, there hasn’t really been much on Australian free-to-air TV that grabbed me. I’m not the only one: I don’t actually know anyone my age or […]
Read MoreOmnichannel is one of the popular buzzwords flying around the industry, randomly smacking the uninitiated in the face. You’d be forgiven for thinking it has something to do with science fiction. The star of some new Transformers movie, maybe. Or the name for a new Pacific Rim Jaeger. Put simply, an “omnichannel” approach is a […]
Read MoreMy cat is a purebred Birman, a fluffy fur-shedding machine created to have the temperament and self-preservation instincts of a soft toy. A year ago he ate an unknown substance that gave him acute pancreatitis. After several vet visits, a large bill, and an absolute refusal to switch to a fresh meat diet to save […]
Read MoreIt’s Monday afternoon. After lunch. There’s a discussion in the marketing half of the office, which ends with the youngest (millennial) member of Starship asking, “Who still watches TV anyway?” Making my afternoon cuppa tea in the kitchen, I thought back. When was the last time I watched TV? That’s right. Masterchef Australia’s 2017 finals, […]
Read MoreYou’re reading the newspaper. Maybe checking the stock market. You see yet another article talking about “blockchain”, “bitcoin”, or “cryptocurrency”. Depending on what you’re reading, the article’s either telling you how you can make ridiculous money through bitcoin, or predicting the bubble bursting. You probably know someone who knows someone who once bought bitcoin for […]
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