Beautiful Jewelry.
Right Out of a Magazine.
Literally.

Meticulously crafted by HIV-positive Kenyan’s in Imani Workshops, the beads in this necklace are made of tightly wound strips of recycled magazines. Because of its beautiful, brilliant colors, the periodical of choice for the beads is Oprah’s “O” Magazine.

Often, the stigma of HIV precludes employment, and therefore income; however, as part of an overall program of nutrition, support and treatment provided by the Indiana University School of Medicine and the IU-Kenya Partnership, the creation and sale of these beads provides income and hope to those afflicted with HIV/AIDS.

Old magazines giving sick people hope and a new chance at life.

Wouldn’t Oprah be proud?

Image: Illig

A New World Order

What if the world of brick and mortar were to revolve around, say, Google instead of Wal-Mart?

Reminiscent of a Where’s Waldo illustration, this Eboy creation shows what a tangible online world might look like—a metropolis of commerce where names like AT&T, Wal-Mart and the New York Times are supplanted by Skype, Ebay and Newsvine among others.

A New Land of Opportunity

According to Alexa, among online shopping sites worldwide, brick and mortar behemoth Wal-Mart ranks 8th behind Ebay’s #1. Wal-Mart is an irrelevant 438th among global sites at large.

Consider your brand’s locale in this new landscape of ecommerce and social media advertising.

A New Breed of Illustrator

From their site, “Eboy is Steffen Sauerteig, Svend Smital and Kai Vermehr. We create re-usable pixel objects and take them to build complex and extensible artwork.” The poster is available here for about US $25.

SCORE!

Have a friend who loves soccer, collects novelties, enjoys a bold color triad and feels most comfortable in the company of reptiles? This signature Paul Smith soccer ball is for them.

To get your foot on a Moc Croc football or to check out Paul Smith furniture, novelties, clothing line, fragrances or other collections, click here.

Above: Benzo Larsson, Second Life avatar,
real life Japanese national and supporter of Kan Suzuki.

A New Lobby

Japanese corporations like Toyota and Honda already maintain a presence in Linden Lab’s Second Life (SL). Now Japanese politician Kan Suzuki, seeking re-election in the upper house this month, has set up shop in the virtual world. Suzuki hopes to use the SL platform for policy discussions, lectures and meetings.

Japanese laws and recent rulings restrict politicians from creating websites and limit means of distribution of campaign information to postcards and pamphlets. Perhaps a Suzuki clause will be in the offing—or virtual prison time for Mr. Suzuki’s avatar.

It’s Alive

SL is a three-dimensional online world. Using avatars (virtual characters with virtual identities), users can walk about, shop, play, fly, transport (think Star Trek), create, build, and even participate in real and virtual commerce.

And Growing

Our February article exploring SL metrics cited a running resident registry of 3.1 million users. As of June 2007, that number has expanded to nearly 7 million with 4.3 million unique residents.

Suzuki’s SL Office

At Suzuki’s SL office on Daifuku island (SL coordinates: 72,167,26), we met Benzo Larsson, a winged creature with a dragon headdress, who’s a Japanese national in real life.

A Suzuki supporter, Larsson was reading a Japanese billboard and drinking a beverage when asked about Kan Suzuki’s chances. He replied simply, “He will win.”

Miss Irresistible (Nice Teeth)

Meet Miss Irresistible, the new spokesperson/avatar for P&G’s Crest product line. A self-proclaimed “irresistible babe,” she’s helping brand giant P&G enter the realms of Social Media.

P&G’s Social Media Exploration

Miss Irresistible invites visitors to send a naughty—or nice—personalized e-card from her MySpace site—very “You.”

However, 80% of the real estate on the MySpace page seems designed for a Parent’s magazine print ad—predictable and less “social” than you’d expect.

Although the effort still needs some work, P&G is making the right move. Adopting a Social Media plan, sidestepping potential legal department concerns and institutional resistance to change is a critical move forward for the corporate behemoth.

As quoted on the Cincinnati Enquirer’s website, P&G global marketing officer James Stengel said:

“Consumers are right now very dynamic in their media habits. If you stay in touch with that and you want to be relevant in their lives, obviously, a lot of things change … It’s the same reason we got into television 60 years ago.”

New Media, New Lessons

Some large, less nimble corporations stumble a bit as they grapple with how to enter the Social Media market space.

In a move that drew fire from new media experts, Sears Canada recently launched a so-called Consumer Generated Media (CGM) site—a glossy Flash for Flash’s-sake basic voting booth where visitors could choose one of four catalog covers.

The fear of reprisal isn’t limited to corporate legal and marketing departments. The Internet is rife with examples of traditional corporate Public Relations (PR) handling and mishandling of Social Media events.

Something to Smile About

None of these companies has been ruined by its Social Media experiences. In fact, if embraced and acted upon, each Social Media corporate headline event presents an opportunity to learn and change.

Traditional approaches to marketing, public relations and legal issues can be disconnected in the Social Media marketing space.

Taking time to affirm that the people and firms with whom you’ve aligned have a demonstrated understanding and breadth of experience in the Social Media arena is a proactive step toward making your brand irresistible in a sea of free-flowing Social Media dialog.