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New & Noteworthy

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Founded in 2008, ecopop is an idea farm that

lives at the intersection of ecology and pop

culture. We create, market, advise, and co-own

brands that make a positive global impact.

Advertising & branding

Behold, some of the most innovative ideas as they relate to ecology, pop culture & positive change.

What Does Charitable Giving Sound Like? Say Hello To SocioTones.

January 5th, 2012 | Posted By Chad Rea | Comments (0)

The following is an ecopop venture that failed to pass our 90-day proof of concept phase in 2011, partly due to a rather difficult creative brief to crack. While we still believe this innovative concept has legs, they have fallen asleep for the time being. Please let us know if you’d like to help us wake them up.

SocioTones is the world’s first brand of charitable ringtones that not only sound good but also send a message and create conversation about socio, economic or environmental issues. And, in the process, provide charitable donations towards a particular cause.
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Posted in: Advertising & branding   Lifestyle   Technology

Three Business Ideas That Are Good For Something, Like Changing The World.

January 2nd, 2012 | Posted By Chad Rea | Comments (0)

One of our favorite ad agencies, Mono, created an innovative campaign for Branson’s Virgin Unite to help put an end to homelessness.

“Do Whatever It Takes” is a website initiative that harnesses the power of wacky internet videos and combines it with charitable fundraising sites like FirstGiving. Anyone can make a pledge to do virtually anything, like drinking a gallon of milk in under an hour, for a set amount of money the individual determines, say $100. The online community then contributes to their fund and, if their goal is reached, the pledger does their “whatever” and the raised money gets donated to a homeless philanthropy.

Inspired.

We’d now like to triple dog dare you to think even broader than homelessness or even bigger than Virgin Unite. In fact, last year, ecopop had two similar ideas that could be stand-alone social ventures that anyone is welcome to do with or without us.
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Posted in: Advertising & branding   Lifestyle   Media   Noteworthy   Technology

Art + Games App Gets Redesigned, Repriced, And All Retro With Ode To 80′s Commercial.

November 22nd, 2011 | Posted By Chad Rea | Comments (0)

dabball, the first-ever art gallery + games app for the iPhone and iPad, relaunched this week with a completely new redesign, repricing structure, and retro-inspired web commercial to boot.

The new app, which launched in September as a freemium app, has been completely redesigned with a streamlined interface and repriced at $1.99. (Now on sale for $0.99 through the holidays.)

In addition to discovering more than 400 original artworks by 43 international artists, art and game enthusiasts can now play all 400+ dexterity games, download featured art as digital wallpapers, as well as take 20% off their favorite museum-quality prints ordered directly from their mobile device.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, ecopop teamed up with We Are Helsinki to create a commercial that pays homage to a popular peanut butter cup advertising campaign you might remember from the 80’s. (What can we say? Peanut butter cups have been on our minds a lot lately.) Using the same simple analogy to communicate dabball’s unique combination of art and games seemed just too delicious to pass up.

Click here to view the film.

(Film produced, directed, and edited by We Are Helsinki.)

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Posted in: Advertising & branding   Technology

From Adweek to IdeaMensch. A Three Year Evolution Of ecopop.

November 22nd, 2011 | Posted By Chad Rea | Comments (0)

There’s been a renewed interest in ecopop lately and I am both humbled and grateful. Thank you. A couple of recent product launches, speaking engagements, and interviews, including the one that appears on IdeaMensch.com today, has lead me to reflect on just how far ecopop has come since I shut down my brand communications agency, 86 the onions. (Bye 86 the onions, Hello ecopop! on Adland.tv)

Even before I 86ed my childhood dream of starting my own agency there were hints of ecopop already bubbling up. There was the agency-initiated homeless outreach campaign, ProjectHello.com, and the industry speaking engagement that followed. (Rea Promotes ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ by Adweek Staff on Adweek.com) There was the time we sent an intern on his bike 1,400 miles for a cup of coffee. (A Long Ride For A Cup of Coffee by Tim Nudd on Adweek.com) And there was even the time when we promoted reuse through a series of viral web films featuring an 89-year old DJ grandma. (Mountain Dew: elixir for the ages By Catharine P. Taylor on Adweek.com)
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Posted in: Advertising & branding   Media   Noteworthy

Mexican Coke Finder: The Mobile App You Should Make Already.

November 21st, 2011 | Posted By Chad Rea | Comments (0)

There are enough people in the world who think that Mexican Coke just tastes better. We like it more because it’s made from cane sugar instead of corn syrup and it comes in a glass bottle, not a plastic one. It’s a shame we have pay extra and tax the planet to have our preferred soda shipped to the States when Coke could just make it locally and put it in cans, but we digress. We’re always pleasantly surprised when we discover Mexican Coke, and perhaps that’s part of the charm, but we’d prefer to seek it out instead of stumbling upon it. So, why not make our lives easier by creating The Mexican Coke Finder app? Fans and businesses could even input the locations for you. And by you, we mean, Coca-Cola, their ad agencies, or anyone else interested in executing this idea.

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Posted in: Advertising & branding   Food & beverage   Lifestyle   Technology

SHIFT 7 Presentation: How A Peanut Butter Cup Can Change The World.

November 18th, 2011 | Posted By Chad Rea | Comments (0)

This is a reading of the 5-minute slide presentation I gave at the SHIFT 7 event on 11/17/11, an event to inform, inspire and engage peers, clients and students about sustainable design thinking and practices. It’s basically the follow up to one of our earlier posts. Let’s keep the discussion going.

Click here to view video. 

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Posted in: Advertising & branding   Design   Fashion   Food & beverage   Health & beauty   Lifestyle   Media   Noteworthy

Take Your Favorite Thing. Replace All The Bad With Good. Now That’s A Business Opportunity.

September 6th, 2011 | Posted By Chad Rea | Comments (0)

“Think of your favorite peanut butter cup. Next, magnify that feeling by a gazillion – that’s ours. Nuts? Yes. Crazy? No. Just imagine when I take the best tasting organic peanut butter in the world and delicately place it into the high quality organic and fair-trade chocolate available. Yup. Peanut Butter Cup Perfection!”

The copywriter pretty much nailed it when he wrote the description on the home-compostable package of Justin’s Organic Peanut Butter Cups. Sure, we’ve tried other natural peanut butter cups before and they just didn’t compare to the mainstream favorite, which is what we also imagine everyone does. Calling out this human truth like the copywriter did so well makes us feel like Justin’s really understands us and our quest for healthier yet sadly limited alternatives. But this isn’t all that Justin’s “gets”. In fact, Justin’s manages to successfully compete with, and beat, the candy giant on so many levels, making it our new favorite ecopop brand, or brand that successfully mergers ecology with pop culture.
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Posted in: Advertising & branding   Design   Food & beverage

Truth In Advertising.

August 27th, 2011 | Posted By Chad Rea | Comments (0)

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Posted in: Advertising & branding

You’re Soaking In It: Don’t Act Green. Be Green. Act Pop.

January 28th, 2011 | Posted By Chad Rea | Comments (1)

Segregation is alive and well in the media and in the grocery store.

There are websites, magazines, TV shows, and even TV channels devoted to the eco lifestyle. And there are mainstream media outlets that devote special columns, issues, episodes, and entire weeks to green themes.

Similarly, there are retail stores that specialize in sustainable goods and there are others that might have a small section. In the grocery store, for example, green brands are often quarantined to the heath food aisle, or a specialty store altogether.

If you ask us, this is not the most efficient way to change the way people make and buy things. Instead all brands and branded content, ecological and not, must live side-by-side in order for consumers to compare and businesses to compete. And let’s not forget the importance of discovery and the element of surprise.
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Posted in: Advertising & branding   Design   Noteworthy