Haiti donations pour in from Gen Y

As of yesterday, $27 million has been donated to Haiti relief efforts via text donations. (CBS News). The Red Cross mobile campaign - texting the word "Haiti" to 90999 is simple and ingenious. According to Peter Dunn in a recent MediaPost article, The Red Cross has "cracked the code to Gen Y giving."

What made the campaign all the more successful was how quickly the viral and PR efforts took off. Facebook certainly did their part. As have the major news networks. There hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't seen the "Text Haiti to 90999" on multiple TV stations. Talk about free advertising!

The Red Cross isn't the only organization that has seen an major influx of donations of course. But they definitely have the best campaign and I'm sure marketers all over the globe are taking note. Or getting on the bandwagon. I Heart Daily posted today that Gaia Online, an anime-themed site for tweens and teens, will match Red Cross Donations submitted by members.

What is your brand doing to support relief efforts?

A brief history of cartoon animation

Happy Birthday Popeye! (80) Scooby-Doo! (40), The Simpsons! (20), Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner! (60). You all look terrific, you haven’t aged at all. You’ve got what they call... timeless beauty. And a good story to tell.

Yesterday’s Seattle Times picked up the Toledo Blade’s recent retrospective of classic cartoons (and their 2009 birthdays) and I couldn’t help but smile. Regarding ancient classics like Felix the cat (90!) when cartoon shorts were just getting their start in the silent film era, Andrew Farago, curator of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, said “I don’t think the Disney empire could have happened without him.” (Was it a game of cat and mouse? Sorry—couldn’t resist that one.)

It reminded me of an Animation exhibit I attended earlier this winter at the Pacific Science Center where kids got to experience first hand the art of animation, including drawing, video and special effects.

One thing always leads to another. Yet as we go into 2010 and view new animated films – like the Princess and the Frog, getting back to the Disney magic minus all the bells and whistles or Avatar, and its breakthrough special 3D effects – I wonder what the next decades will reveal.

Roy Disney's brand strategy legacy

Sometimes it's the quiet guy who makes the biggest waves. Roy Disney, nephew of Walt Disney, longtime Disney board member and avid sailboat racer, died yesterday at the age of 79. He left a legacy that anyone in the children's entertainment or marketing business should pay close attention to.

1. Stay true to your core. In the 1980s Roy grew frustrated with Disney company management and likened the company to "a real-estate company that happened to be in the movie business." (Los Angeles Times, 12/17/09). It was time to get back to the company's core roots, i.e. the feature animation film business.

2. Clear out the dead wood, bad apples and in-laws, if necessary. If there people within your organization that are not upholding or enhancing your brand's mission and values, particularly at the highest levels of the company, get them out of the way as quickly as possible. Ousting of company executives, first with Ron Miller (Walt Disney's son-in-law) and later with a shareholder revolt against Michael Eisner (whom Roy had helped bring into the company) certainly was not a pleasant process, but a necessary one.

3. Evangelize. "It was Roy who was the protector. It was Roy who was the godfather, the champion and believer in it," said Peter Schneider, former President of Walt Disney Feature Animation, "Animation doesn't work without someone who believed, and Roy believed." (LA Times)

4. Protect the brand. "People always underestimated Roy," said Schneider. "You underestimate Roy at your peril, as many have learned." It does appear as though company management is finally on track, as anyone can attest with Disney's string of recent animation, film, TV and other on-brand success stories.

5. Continue the legacy. "Roy's commitment to the art of animation was unparalleled and will always remain his personal legacy and one of his greatest contributions to Disney's past, present and future," said Bob Iger, current Disney company president, who early on made peace with Roy Disney. Smart move.

And the shark jumped over New Moon

So I finally, finally got a chance to see New Moon. Yeah, you know, that one. The one with the cult-like following that’s breaking box office records? Maybe you’ve seen it twice already. All I have to say is… oh, what a disappointment. I laughed my way through almost the entire movie and not because the film was intended to be funny.

I did see the first Twilight movie and I’ve read the first two books. I wouldn’t call myself a fan necessarily, but I find the series to be entertaining – as well as wholesome—in a vampire meets werewolf love triangle sort of way of course. The first movie was pretty bad, mostly due to the lame special effects, poor acting and uninspired dialogue. With a new director, a new budget and the promise of a clan of shirtless young boys I had higher hopes for New Moon. How bad could it be?

Bad. I had a serious case of the giggles that began with the cheesy opening credits, increased with each gratuitous shirtless scene and glitter-glue-on-the-face special effect and resulted into flat out laughter when Bella and Edward took a Estee Lauder perfume ad-like jaunt through the woods.

Apparently I wasn’t the only theater goer who found the movie laughable. It seemed as if we (teens, moms, young girls, gray-haired couples) were all laughing and giggling at this ridiculous high-budget B-movie quality film.

So what on earth is driving sales? One thing: romance. Pure and simple, the Twilight saga connects with us on a deeper level and does an excellent job in this regard. What Stephanie Meyer has brilliantly done is created a brand that speaks to women and girls in a new old-fashioned way. When was the last time you saw a really good romantic film or read a great romance that wasn’t filled with gratuitous sex, violence or both? In my opinion, the market is wide open on this one. Even better, content creators and marketers don't even need to worry too much about quality.

Say what you want about vampires and werewolves being the next big craze, but it’s not about that. That’s just the icing—er, eyecandy—on the cake.

P.S. Go TEAM JACOB!!!

A hop, skip and an inside look at what's ahead for Hopscotch in 2010

Wow, December already. November was a flurry of activity and I didn’t even have time to write a single blog post. Not that you needed to pay close attention... perhaps you couldn't even find the blog. That's because I changed the name and the URL. The Hopscotch Consulting business strategy has shifted somewhat as well, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

First let me tell you about November. November was National Novel Writing Month or (NaNoWriMo). On a whim I decided to participate. The challenge seemed daunting – what kind of person can write 50,000 words in a month and create some semblance of a storyline? I can, I discovered, and that was exciting. The fire is now lit under my rear end to finish this book as well as one other novel that I’m co-writing with a friend that we began last year. My goal is to have both complete by spring 2010.

So, here comes the change in strategy part. Hopscotch will now exclusively focus on more of the content and brand strategy side of things, in other words, copywriting, editing, strategic planning, a bit of focused research and analysis.

If you think that you might want to work with me, please check out the newly revised Hopscotch Consulting website and list of services that I offer. Then, let’s talk!

In the meantime… Happy Holidays!