- No i cant forget his big blue eyes even when they are so far away from mine.

Maria was whispered every morning like a prayer, looking through the window to the sea. Bahia was her home, chocolate brown was her colour, and that exotic, gourmet man, her wait. He had gone to sea, left her after dawn, while her face was still asleep, she passes her days working on the lake washing clothes for a few coins to eat, singging “ensaboa mulata ensaboa, ensaboa, to ensaboando”. 

The insaciable desire, beyond the basic needs, for food, is what thrives their relashionship, he was a cook and a fisher man, and she washed clothes. They had met at a coffee place, two years before that day, and never were parted again, but twice a year he went to sea for a whole month.

Maria shed her tears with flow of the river asking Oxalá for indulgence.

A gathering of concepts, with usage of internet images, and personal archive.

In all this story, Microsoft got left behind, with an corporate image that was considered to be old-fashioned, hard to navigate, too much information and not objective layouts, the exact opposite of Apple. Microsoft sort of disappeared for a while in terms of innovation, marketing and communication. According to some specialists, Microsoft is as innovative as Apple but has a very bad time in Marketing, being weak, and not sending the message straight.

I recently read an article that goes on about both of them actually having two very different consumer profiles, and often they fight over the other’s share of market, trying to convince and convert the audience into theirs. These two target profiles differ in availability of internet usage time, and money – “Broadly speaking, there are two types of internet users, Time Rich (more time than money) and Time Poor (more money than time).” Well than Microsoft would have the Time Rich consumer, who has more time to spend on the visual interface with lots of options and information, and Apple would have the Time Poor, who has got no time to spend whatsoever, and needs an efficient design who helps him to optimize his time online and get things done. This interface used on computers, softwares, and gadgets, trespass to their corporate identities  and visual communication.

I believe that Apple has more potential users to grab, as opposed to Microsoft who might lose costumers forever if they don’t invest in wise marketing and costumer relationship (but they definitely have the ones that stick, along with the B2B supplying hardwares).

Specialists of various fields of human studies identified that individuals(humans and animals by instinct) tend to copy the behavior, style and ideas that they consider to be as basis to references by similarity to their own identity and individuality or because they project it as better, this attitude pattern establishes itself since the day we’re born, to adjust ourself to a community we copy our parents as a way of knowing how to act and what to do in all circumstances.

A market is formed by the peoples consumption, an individual preference for a certain type of product for example, might become someone’s(most likely of the same niche of identity) choice as well, and with that, a pattern begins, this pattern may very well be the next trend, with possibilities of expansion on bigger scales. But, not necessarily this small pattern (which could be called something like “fashion” for example, which passes quickly to out of fashion, so it’s not a trend) comes as a surprise, you can make predictions by trying to spot these possible trends before they actually become feverous and act on them by innovating and creating something that will satisfy this growing need.

Usually these trends are initiated by creative and innovative people, who will break and evolve a concept, with basis on past observation, with knowledge of cultural and behavior history, supported by the idea that nothing creates by itself, it is always a transformation of something that is already there to be explored.

To cool hunt, is to be connected, and paying attention to all, the people, the environment, and to guess supported by field studies(such as focus groups)  what they are going to want next, in a close future, even if they don’t know what it is yet.

Every idea could be a potential trend, therefore, what actually defines if it can eventually be absorbed by a group or a niche or a mass is the similarity degree of this product with their ideas, attitudes, behaviors and then their personal perceptions of it (the product), that is why is necessary to understand and study the market, and fundamentally the people who form it.

1. For cool stuff, and new products:

The Wired magazine or its website - http://www.wired.com/ - very big reference on trends and gadgets

The Google section for trends - http://www.google.com/trends - shows what people all over the world are searching for in the internet on a daily basis, so you are inside of what’s big right now

Very cool stuff, the hypest of the hype - http://www.geekandhype.com/ - unfortunately it’s in french, but you can get an idea and then maybe if needed research it where you can

A blog on new products - http://tendancehightech.com/blog/# - crazy design trends

Engage the gadgets - http://www.engadget.com/ - cool gadgets and new tech products

The Wallpaper magazine - http://www.wmagazine.com/ - reference for cool

 Flaunt magazine - http://flaunt.com/ - good for music, art and design news

Culture now - http://www.culturenow.com/ - need I say more?

Culture Critic - http://www.culturecritic.co.uk/ - gives you an over all of what’s happening in the scene

New York magazine - http://nymag.com/ - what happens in NY does not stay in NY

And many more (go to the Links section).

2. For print Ads:

http://adsoftheworld.com/

Archive - http://www.luerzersarchive.com/ - the advertisement bible

For old print ads - http://www.advertisingarchives.co.uk/ - big archive

3. For video Ads:

http://adsoftheworld.com/

Archive - http://www.luerzersarchive.com/ - the advertisement bible

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/ - obviously

Well, if it’d be a movie title that I like best, I would most definetly go for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, it has got a cling to it, sounds dynamic, I like the image it brings to my head, and love the meaning.

But, since it would have to describe me, i would have to say “Adaptation” – witch is that movie with Nicolas Cage, and he plays two characters with completely different personalities. The title refers to the adaptation of concepts such as a plant or a person to its environment and the events surrounding it.

What was the last book i read?

It was “1984″, by George Orwell, a dystopian vision of what 1984 could be, published in 1940′s, very creative, imaginative and complete, about political control of a population, by surveillance and propaganda, and I loved it, particularly the last chapters, that describe the interrogation process, and how one human being(aimed with psychological and physical methods) can distort and shape as he pleases, the mind and attitude of another.

A good metaphor for my problem solving approach?

Can I skip this one? No, just joking. Sideways, that’s how. Because i think, if you approach a problem too narrow fronted, that’s how cars end up crashing, or how people argue. My metaphor would be “like a sailboat crosses waves”, sideways(hopefully), and with constance.

The animal i have most in common with?

I would say something like a whale, for its majestic personality and heavy perseverance, but more agile and smaller, i took a personality test and got a penguin as result, for – and I quote “You are unique, interesting, and different than most people. You are often easily misunderstood, but have uncommon skills and an eccentric grace that intrigues others. When faced with complications, you dive deep into the issue to discover the root problem, making you an excellent problem-solver. In many traditional situations, you feel awkward and out of place, but your true beauty comes when you are soaring above small-mindedness and conformity and delving into the depths of the unexplored. You tend to think outside of the box and know how to think critically of things/people to discover any inherent weakness which exists. You always know how to keep things fresh and genuine, but find it hard to feel accepted by society and sometimes family members. In the right situation, you will amaze others with your natural beauty and special unique characteristics which make you celebrated. You have unending creativity and are sensitive and wise.” - I do believe it fits.

An essential paradox that defines my life?

Wanting everything at the same time, and then again not knowing exactly what is it that I truly want.

And, wanting to solve people’s problems, once they don’t depend on anything i could do, but anyways feeling frustrated by the lack of power in these situations. 

3 items love-hate list about:

1. Books:

“100 Years of Solitude”, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez – love it, probably my favorite till now;

“The Little Prince”, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – love it, read it 3 times;

A compilation of Tales, by Truman Capote – love it, it accompanied me during a sailing trip in the Caribbean, simple perfection.

2. Movies:

“Vanilla Sky”, diected by Cameron Crowe – love it, amazing plot, beautiful message;

“Un Homme et Une Femme”, directed by Claude Lelouch – love it, romantic as can be, visual poetry, and the soundtrack is stunningly perfect in all the scenes;

“The Weeping Meadow”, directed(with great excellence) by Theo Angelopoulos – love it, most poetic film i have ever seen, a greek tragedy of epic proportions, again visually impeccable, and the soundtrack fits as made fot it.

3. Commercials:

“Priceless”, by MasterCard – as direct and as funky as can get;

“Think Different”, by Macquintosh – genious;

“In an Absolut World(Currency will be Replaced with Acts of Kindness)”, by Absolut – sweet utopia, the whole campaign is flawless, and created loads of spontaneous media since people started doing their own versions of “In an Absolut World”.

4. Celebrities:

Barack Obama – love him, and yes he is a celebrity, no one living in this century could make the mistake of not mentioning him and his importance in social, cultural and political matters;

Lady Gaga – hate her, she is indeed revolutionary, i have got to agree, but in visual and esthetic terms, not musical, for the sake of my ears;

Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power – love her, for starters i love her musical sensibility, and she has quite an unusual artistic career story, ups and downs, but she made it through and is still very down to earth. (I could mention a thousand more with the same characteristics(for example Judy Garland) but chose to pick someone from now a days, whose music I apreciate).

My favorite subject/task in Marketing (apart from the ideas area along with creating and visual concepts) would be consumer behavior, wich formaly speaking, is “The study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society.” So basically, you have to understand to create and comunicate.

Another reason would be the vibrating aspects of this area, wich thrives with each moment, being different in matters of ideas and the mechanisms to apply them, using all sorts of new concepts, following technology and maintaining a really fast pace in terms of inovation.

I was born in the south of Brasil, in a town called Blumenau, I grew up between sailing on the shores of Santa Catarina and skiing in Vermont, a tiny state up on the north of the US of A. I’ve lived in Boston for a while and went to school while I was there, but you would probably call it kinder garden, since I was 6 years old. Later on moved to São Paulo in 1998, and been living here since, with a short break of 6 months to New Zealand in an exange program.

I’m a person who thinks that making most of what life’s got to offer (including both professional and personal concepts) should be everyone’s priority. I’ve lived abroad, i’ve travelled on my own, i have thought about the big questions and quests of humanity, I have great interest in psychologycal, anthopologycal, sociologycal and cultural matters, and am a lover of the fine arts including cinema, literature and music.

That’s what innicialy made me choose Publicity and Marketing (at ESPM), wich basicaly mixes all those subjects into communication with society. I also took a 3 year course on Basic Arts, Visual Communication and majored in Graphic Design at Escola Panamericana de Arte. Professionaly I could be categorized as a graphic designer with emphasys in advertising. The reason I aplied for the Symrise marketing area is because I think it might be a grand and enriching experience to work with coorporate identities, along with the additional idea of working with an internatinal company.