PLACEMAKE

My favorite part of marketing is marketing the experience. Whether it be traditional advertising, digital immersion or social engagement, the true test of successful marketing lies in the experience you create with your customer.  If they can experience your brand, help tell your story and engage your message with others, you become exponentially higher on the food chain of marketers.  I often research top brands to see what they are doing to effectively create the element of experience in their marketing efforts.

Here are some success stories that show you how this concept of experiential marketing goes way beyond a headline, image or song. It’s all about storytelling and connection.  Click here to experience.

“The sea has long enchanted human kind – perhaps through its unexplored mystery, awesome power and continual ability to provide useful resources. But Naomi Tolley meets one man who believes our connection runs deeper, and is using it as a focus for therapy.”

I truly believe that places have the ability to empower all of our senses and activate sensory experiences that we often neglect or push aside for other, less important matters.  Instead of driving in a car at 55 MPH and watching everything fly by, I often try and walk and observe life at 3 MPH.  We don’t realize that places and being present and mindful in those places have the power to heal us on many levels.  When we think about how we design places and create experiential memories, let’s not forget the power that we can harness from things that are right in front of us… like the ocean.

Read more from Naomi Tolley about the healing power of place here.

In community development and design, the third place (or third space) is defined as the social surroundings that separate the two usual social environments of home (“first place”) and the workplace (“second place”). Third Places can be just about anything you want them to be, like cafes, clubs or parks… maybe even a long road trip in your dream car or on that Harley.  Here’s an example of how Starbucks focuses on the Third Place as being their core business model.  Check it out.  But it doesn’t stop at the Bucks!  Harley Davidson, Apple, Amazon and even Under Armour all create brands that promote the concept of finding your own Third Place.  It reminds me of my favorite TV show FRIENDS.  Central Perk is a great example of a that Third Place.

Sometimes the best places are not always where you expect them to be.  Like where you work.  Culture, location, people and your environment all become a part of the places where you spend a majority of your day to day time.  Glassdoor identified some of those best places and how they make them successful places to work, and play.  Read more.

I am always fascinated to learn about new places.  What makes them so unique, so attractive, so popular or even so unknown.  I recently read this article from the New York Times and found it a must read.  Whether you like to travel or just expand your mind, take a look at this article.  Let’s see what happens next year!

Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute and former CEO of CNN, discusses the genius of creativity that’s exemplified by Ben Franklin, Albert Einstein, and Steve Jobs in this presentation at New York City’s 92nd Street Y cultural and community center.

The best-selling author and highly acclaimed journalist will give voice to the historical figures and business icons who have shaped and transformed the world in his keynote speech on Thursday, October 23, at the 2014 ULI Fall Meeting in New York City.

Since 1979, ULI has honored outstanding development projects in both the private and public sectors with the ULI Global Awards for Excellence, which today are widely recognized as the development community’s most prestigious recognition.

Twenty-three outstanding developments from around the globe, including 11 in North America, seven in Asia, and five in Europe, have been selected as finalists in the 2014 competition.

Take a look at these amazing achievements…

I had the opportunity to attend this year’s Fall Conference for the Urban Land Institute in New York City.  It is always inspiring to see what other cities around the country and the world are doing to engage their residents in innovative spaces.  Take a look at this year’s finalists and see what they are doing to improve the lives of so many by elevating the importance of placemaking as an anchor to successful urban hubs.

More than 8 million people are crowded together to live in New York City. What makes it possible? In part, it’s the city’s great public spaces — from tiny pocket parks to long waterfront promenades — where people can stroll and play. Amanda Burden helped plan some of the city’s newest public spaces, drawing on her experience as, surprisingly, an animal behaviorist. She shares the unexpected challenges of planning parks people love — and why it’s important.

Watch her TED talk below…

Effective public spaces are extremely difficult to accomplish, because their complexity is rarely understood. As William (Holly) Whyte said, “It’s hard to design a space that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.”

Project for Public Spaces has identified 11 key elements in transforming public spaces into vibrant community places, whether they’re parks, plazas, public squares, streets, sidewalks or the myriad other outdoor and indoor spaces that have public uses in common.  Click here to read the article put out by Project for Public Spaces.