I've read the reviews. And I clearly don't need one. But I'm getting one.

Experts say that many purchases have an emotional and rational aspect. We know that our emotions dominate our rational thoughts. But when selling anything, we need to give consumers the rational reasons as well - not because this will persuade them - but it allows them to post-rationalise their purchase.

Which leads to this "my wooden floors did cost a bit more, but re-sale value of the apartment is now better and they are easier to keep".

Nothing wrong with that. But I'm going on record to say that I have no rational reason to buy the iPad. I can post-rationalise my iPod, my MacBook and my iPhone. They all serve real needs (in my mind anyway). And I don't think the iPad can do anything new or much better than my other Apple stuff.

The other thing we know is consumers often need permission to buy or own something. For example, in the 1990's lots of men liked Porsche cars but didn't like the image Porsche drivers had.

Anyway, at the digital festival yesterday, digital guru Russell Davies said he was going to get himself an iPad.

And that's all I needed to hear - I've pre-registered for mine.

And some people think it's just an advertising campaign

I remember this Nike ad 'tag'. And remember liking it. But it wasn't until I read Grant McCracken's lastest book 'Chief Culture Officer' did I really understand perhaps why I liked it.

Wieden + Kennedy made this ad in 2001. At its most basic level, the ad is playful and enjoyable. Who wouldn't want to make their daily city commute less dull or mundane?

Grant points out more subtle culture trends - "Americans were giving up the northern European idea that public behaviour ought to be guarded and expressionless". Street theatre was becoming more popular. Cities were becoming the place for spontaneous expressive events. Grant points towards the influence of Mork & Mindy on TV, with Robin Williams bringing the idea of improv to american living rooms.

Another trend at the time that 'tag' picks up on is the value of simplicity. Physicists were interested in the idea that "complex order could issue from simple rules". Because 'tag' is a very simple game with easy-to-understand rules which bring pattern to the disorder of city life. To quote Grant directly - "At this time, culture that was 'emergent' was more interesting than culture that was organised."

Another trend at work here is what Grant called the 'generous stranger' - the concept of doing random acts of kindness for complete strangers. This was picked up in Hollywood with films like 'Pay it forward' and 'Serendipity'. This was acted out in real life with examples of 'phototagging' - disposable cameras left in a public place where the finder is asked to take one photo and pass the camera on. Grant points out that Howard Rheingold was also on trend at exactly the same time with his 'Smart Mobs' book about groups freezing together in public city places.

This is why 'tag' is genius. Dan Wieden understood these trends and tapped into them early. As a consumer, I loved the ad without really understanding or articulating why. I do now.

To quote Grant again - "And some people think it's just an advertising campaign".

Pick up his book here. Let me know your thoughts if you do.

YouTube page takeover

YouTube video where character comes out of video to read a comment. Worth a watch. Here. Found via bannerblog.

Whispurr - a new Irish social network

I got an email about a new Irish social network called Whispurr. I haven't looked into it in any real detail but wanted to give it a small push (to all my 12 readers), given it is based out of Ireland. If you join, let me know your thoughts.

More tv ads

I haven't been posting many TV ads recently. But will share some over next few weeks. Found this via adpunch.

Embrace Life

Embrace life. Found this engaging enough to watch. It is different to the usual way that these messages are demonstrated.

via Adpunch

What do you do when valentine's day falls on game day?

What do you do when valentine's day falls on game day? Puma Hardchoras. Funny stuff.

Found via Paul K.

Nice bit of digital advertising

I generally stay clear from writing about O2 here (nobody likes when folk that talk about themselves all the time). But I really like this little piece of digital advertising and felt it was worth sharing.

We have an ad on the recently-launched RTE News iPhone app.

The ad is part of our 'Be the difference' rugby campaign. The campaign is a lovely little idea with a nice fit for the O2 brand. Based on the insight that supporters can actually influence the action and result on the pitch - O2 are making it possible for rugby supporters to get their signatures literally on the back of the players' jerseys.

Well done to Kevin Dunne and our digital agency Brando for their integration of this for the iPhone - so we can sign up directly from our iPhones. As you'd expect I know - but still nice to see it working smoothly.

As there are only so many jerseys, I'm assuming it is a first-come-first-served set up. So if you'd like to show your support - pop over to the bethedifference site sooner rather than later. There is another nice feature there too - you can upload a team talk. The best ones are played to the team. (I'm thinking Any Given Sunday as featured on Piaras' blog this week.)

The RTE app itself is pretty good. I dip into it most days for a moment or two. It's free too.

Website for finding vintage ads

Anybody pursuing a career in marketing should know their advertising history, so you know what worked in the past, why it worked and if it could work now. If this is your thing, you'll like this - a search engine dedicated to vintage ads. Lot of VW ads from Bill Bernbach's time. And beer ads, coke ads etc.

Found via Drayton Bird's site.